2IO THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' [Dec. 



of ice. My next step was to get Evans into the same position 

 as myself, and when he had slipped his harness well up under 

 his arms I found I could pilot his feet to the bridge. 



* All this had occupied some time, and it was only now 

 that I realised what had happened above us, for there, some 

 twelve feet over our heads, was the outline of the broken 

 sledge. I saw at once what a frail support remained, and 

 shouted to Lashly to ask what he could do, and then I knew 

 the value of such a level-headed companion; for whilst he 

 held on grimly to the sledge and us with one hand, his other 

 was busily employed in withdrawing our ski. At length he 

 succeeded in sliding two of these beneath the broken sledge 

 and so making our support more secure. The device was well 

 thought of, but it still left us without his active assistance ; for, 

 as he told us, directly he relaxed his strain the sledge began to 

 slip, and he dared not trust only to the ski. 



' There remained no other course for Evans and me but to 

 climb out by our own unaided efforts, and I saw that one of 

 us would have to make the attempt without delay for the 

 chill of the crevasse was already attacking us and oui faces 

 and fingers were on the verge of freezing. After a word with 

 Evans I decided to try the first climb myself, but I must 

 confess I never expected to reach the top. It is some time 

 since I swarmed a rope, and to have to do so in thick clothing 

 and heavy crampons and with frost-bitten fingers seemed to 

 me in the nature of the impossible. But it was no use think- 

 ing about it, so I slung my mits over my shoulders, grasped 

 the rope, and swung off the bridge. I don't know how long 1 

 took to climb or how I did it, but I remember I got a rest 

 when I could plant my foot in the belt of my harness, and 

 again when my feet held on the rings of the belt. Then 

 came a mighty effort till I reached the stirrup formed by the 

 rope span of the sledge, and then, mustering all the strength 

 that remained, I reached the sledge itself and flung myself 

 panting on to the snow beyond. Lashly said, " Thank God ! " 

 and it was perhaps then that I realised that his position had 

 been the worst of all. 



