364 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1909. 
very great difficulty, a fortnight being occupied in gaining 20 miles 
over steep ice ridges and crevasses, and twice failed in attempts to 
climb on to the inland plateau, first by means of the Mount Nansen 
Glacier, and then up the Bellingshausen Glacier. Finally, they suc- 
ceeded in finding a path up a small tributary glacier to the south of 
Mount Larsen and gained the plateau. Then came a painful march 
over the plateau, which gradually rose to an altitude of over 7,000 
feet, in the face of blizzards, broad undulations, and high sastrugi. 
On January 16, 1909, the party reached latitude 72° 25’ S., longi- 
tude 155° 16’ E., the approximate position of the magnetic pole as 
calculated from the observations taken by Mawson with the Lloyd- 
Creak dip circle. The journey back to the coast had to be made by 
forced marches, for the party knew that the sea ice would have 
broken out and that their hope of safety depended largely on the 
Nimrod, which was to cruise along the coast as far as Cape Wash- 
ington early in January. They reached the Drygalski Barrier 
‘ tongue on January 3, and on the following morning, by a happy 
combination of circumstances, were picked up by the ship, which was 
on its way back to the winter quarters after a fruitless search along 
the coast. The party did very useful geographical work in the 
course of its journey, for Mawson triangulated the coast of Victoria 
Land from McMurdo Sound to the Drygalski Barrier, and many new 
peaks, glaciers, and tongues were discovered, as well as two small 
islands. Professor David studied the geological conditions with 
good results. 
The western party consisted of Armytage, Priestley, and Brockle- 
hurst, and it first proceeded by the Ferrar Glacier as far as the Soli- 
tary Rocks, with the special object of searching for fossils in the 
Beacon sandstone formations. Priestly made'a thorough geological 
search of the neighborhood, but without success so far as fossils 
were concerned. The party descended the glacier with the object 
of joining the northern party, according to my instructions, but the 
junction was not effected owing to the delays that had overtaken 
Professor David and his companions. Priestley was able to work 
at the Stranded Moraines and in Dry Valley. The party was picked 
up by the Vimrod on January 25, after narrowly escaping disaster 
on a drifting ice floe. 
All the members of the expedition were aboard the Nimrod on 
March 4, 1909, and we proceeded north under steam at once, for the 
season was advancing and the sea ice had commenced to form. We 
were off Cape Adare on March 6, and I made an attempt to push 
on west of Cape North, with the object of securing knowledge of 
the coast line. The pack ice, which was thickening rapidly and 
threatened to imprison the ship, prevented the Vimrod going as far as 
I had hoped, but we got to longitude 166° 14’ E., latitude 69° 47’ S., 
