112 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [February 



Meares and Wilson to attend to the dogs the rest of us as 

 occasion required. The ponies are fairly comfortable, though 

 one sees now what great improvements could be made to the 

 horse clothes. The dogs ought to be quite happy. They are 

 curled snugly under the snow and at meal times issue from 

 steaming warm holes. The temperature is high, luckily. We 

 are comfortable enough in the tent, but it is terribly trying to 

 the patience over fifty hours already and no sign of the end. 

 The drifts about the camp are very deep some of the sledges 

 almost covered. It is the old story, eat and sleep, sleep and 

 eat and it's surprising how much sleep can be put in. 



Tuesday, February 7, 5 p.m. Corner Camp, No. 6. The 

 wind kept on through the night, commencing to lull at 8 A.M. 

 At 10 A.M. one could see an arch of clear sky to the S.W. and 

 W., White Island, the Bluff, and the Western Mountains clearly 

 defined. The wind had fallen very light and we were able to 

 do some camp work, digging out sledges and making the ponies 

 more comfortable. At 1 1 a low dark cloud crept over the 

 southern horizon and there could be no doubt the wind was 

 coming upon us again. At 1 p.m. the drift was all about us 

 once more and the sun obscured. One began to feel that for- 

 tune was altogether too hard on us but now as I write the 

 wind has fallen again to a gentle breeze, the sun is bright, and 

 the whole southern horizon clear. A good sign is the freedom 

 of the Bluff from cloud. One feels that we ought to have a 

 little respite for the next week, and now we must do everything 

 possible to tend and protect our ponies. All looks promising for 

 the night march. 



Wednesday, February 8. No. 7 Camp. Bearings : Lat. 

 78 13'; Mt. Terror N. 3 W. ; Erebus 23^ Terror 2nd peak 

 from south; Pk. 2 White Island 74 Terror; Castle Rk. 43 

 Terror. Night march just completed. 10 miles, 200 yards. 

 The ponies were much shaken by the blizzard. One supposes 

 they did not sleep all look listless and two or three are visibly 

 thinner than before. But the worst case by far is Forde's little 

 pony; he was reduced to a weight little exceeding 400 lbs. 

 on his sledge and caved in altogether on the second part of the 

 march. The load was reduced to 200 lbs., and finally Forde 

 pulled this in, leading the pony. The poor thing is a miserable 

 scarecrow and never ought to have been brought it is the same 



