i88 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' [Nov. 



the 1 6th it had reached —44°, and although it rose slightly in 

 the daytime, the general conditions of our work were such as 

 we had experienced on the spring journeys at sea level. The 

 snow surface in places became extremely hard and slippery, so 

 that we were obliged to wear crampons, and between the hard 

 patches lay softer areas through which we had the greatest 

 difficulty in dragging our sledges. But the worst feature of 

 our new conditions was the continuous wind ; it was not a 

 heavy wind — probably its force never much exceeded 3 or 4 in 

 the Beaufort scale — but, combined with the low temperature 

 and the rarefied air, its effect was blighting. It blew right in 

 our teeth, and from the first it was evidently not the effect of 

 temporary atmospheric disturbance, but was a permanent con- 

 dition on this great plateau. 



I do not think that it would be possible to conceive a more 

 cheerless prospect than that which faced us at this time, when 

 on this lofty, desolate plateau we turned our backs upon the 

 last mountain peak that could remind us of habitable lands. 

 Yet before us lay the unknown. What fascination lies in that 

 word ! Could anyone wonder that we determined to push on, 

 be the outlook ever so comfortless ? 



And so we plodded on to the west, working long hours and 

 straining at our harness with all our strength, but in spite of 

 every effort our progress became slower. Up to the 17th we 

 kept a fairly good pace, but on the i8th and 19th there was a 

 visible slackening. By this time we had divided our sledges ; 

 Feather, Evans, and I pulled one of them, whilst Skelton, 

 Handsley, and Lashly pulled the other. It was customary for 

 my sledge to pull ahead whilst the other followed as best it 

 could, but soon I found that the second sledge was only 

 keeping up with the greatest difficulty, and it was borne in on 

 me that the excessive strain of our labour was beginning to tell 

 on the party. 



The reahsation of this fact placed me in a rather amusing 

 but awkward predicament, because, whilst I knew my own 

 strength was unimpaired, I was forced to admit that some of 

 my companions were failing, and in order to find out which of 



