90 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' [Jan. 



fashion, painful to watch. Luckily the weather had cleared, 

 and, though there was a stiff south-westerly breeze and some 

 drift, the sun was shining brightly. At last he was got away, 

 and we watched him almost tottering along with frequent pain- 

 ful halts. 



' Re-sorting our provisions, in half an hour we had packed 

 our camp, set our sail, and started with the sledges. It was 

 not long before we caught our invalid, who was so exhausted 

 that we thought it wiser he should sit on the sledges, where 

 for the remainder of the forenoon, with the help of our sail, 

 we carried him. After lunch he was better, and in one way 

 and another we have brought off a very long march. If he can 

 only sleep to-night there is a chance of further improvement ; 

 much depends on this. It is all very anxious work ; if there 

 is no improvement I half think of pushing on to the ship for 

 assistance. Wilson thinks that the relapse is mainly due to 

 the blizzard, and doubts if he can stand another ; one would 

 give much to ensure three or four fine days. Nothing could 

 be better than the weather to-night, and the surface is 

 excellent. Just here it is swept hard by the wind, and the 

 relief of treading on something solid and firm is enormous. I 

 did not fully realise what terribly bad surfaces we had been 

 struggling with until we got back on this hard one.' 



' February i. — For two days the weather has been glorious, 

 and has had a wonderful effect on our invalid, who certainly 

 has great recuperative powers. He managed to sleep a little 

 last night, and to-day has kept going on his ski. After the 

 last halt he had an attack of vertigo and fell outside the tent, 

 which alarmed us greatly ; but after about ten minutes it 

 passed off, and to-night he is better again. 



' All day we have been travelling along outside the White 

 Island. So many parties have passed to and fro to the depot 

 that there is now a regular beaten track, and one's eye can 

 follow this highway for miles with a very cheering effect. This 

 afternoon to the north we had a glorious view of Erebus 

 and Terror ; the smoke of the former trailed away in a long 

 streamer to the east, and most curiously a second similar 



