362 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1909. 
85° 55’ §., a plateau with icefalls appearing to the south. Much 
claciated land trended to the southeast, apparently ending in a high 
mountain shaped lke a keep. The land to the west had been left 
behind. It was evident that we were still below the plateau level, 
and though we were getting free of the crevasses, we were hindered 
by much soft snow. ‘The level was rising in a series of steep ridges 
about 7 miles apart. We had started to reduce rations before leaving 
the Barrier surface, and by Christmas Day were marching on very 
short commons. Our temperature was 2° subnormal, but otherwise 
we were well and fit. 
On December 31 we camped in latitude 86° 54’ 8. We had not yet 
reached the plateau level, for slopes still lay ahead, and our altitude 
was about 10,000 feet. We had three weeks’ food on a reduced ration, 
and were 186 geographical miles from the pole. The land had been 
left behind, and we were traveling over a white expanse of snow, still 
with rising slopes ahead. We were weakening from the combined 
effects of short food, low temperature, high altitude, and heavy work. 
We were able to march on the first six days of January, and on the 
night of January 6 camped in latitude 88° 7’ S. We had increased 
the daily ration, for it had become evident that vitality could not be 
maintained on the amount of food we had been taking. I had been 
forced to abandon the hope of reaching the pole, and we were concen- 
trating our efforts on getting within 100 miles of the goal. 
A fierce blizzard blew on January 7 and 8, and made any march 
impossible. We lay in our sleeping bags, frequently attacked by 
frostbite. The wind ceased at 1 a. m. on January 9, and at 4 a. m. 
we started south, leaving the camp standing, and taking only instru- 
ments, food, and the flag. At9a.m., after five hours’ marching over 
a fairly hard surface, we calculated we were in latitude 88° 23’ S., 
and we hoisted the flag. The snow plain stretched southward to the 
horizon without a break. 
The homeward march was rendered difficult by shortage of food 
and attacks-of dysentery, due to the meat from one of the ponies. 
We picked up a depot left on the plateau on January 4, and made 
rapid progress to the north. The blizzard winds from the south, 
which had hampered us on the outward journey, now proved of assist- 
ance, for we made a sail from the floor cloth of a tent and traveled 
fast with our one remaining sledge. On January 19 we covered a 
distance of 29 miles down the glacier. On January 16 we ran out of 
food when 16 miles from the glacier depot, and we marched for 
thirty-one hours with only a little tea and chocolate. We were able 
to reach the depot in an exhausted condition. We left the glacier 
and reached the Barrier surface on January 28, but Wild was 
attacked by dysentery, and a little later we all suffered. The trouble 
vas evidently due to the meat from one pony, and as the frozen flesh 
