i 9 i i] START OF THE MOTOR PARTY 301 



since learnt, or he should not have played). Wilson thinks it 

 will be a week before he is fit to travel, so here we have the 

 Western Party on our hands and wasting the precious hours 

 for that period. The only single compensation is that it gives 

 Forde's hand a better chance. If this waiting were to continue 

 it looks as though we should become a regular party of ' crocks.' 

 Clissold was out of the hut for the first time to-day; he is better 

 but still suffers in his back. 



The Start of the Motor Sledges 



Tuesday, October 24. Two fine days for a wonder. Yes- 

 terday the motors seemed ready to start and we all went out 

 on the floe to give them a ' send off.' But the inevitable little 

 defects cropped up, and the machines only got as far as the 

 Cape. A change made by Day in the exhaust arrangements had 

 neglected the heating jackets of the carburetters; one float valve 

 was bent and one clutch troublesome. Day and Lashly spent the 

 afternoon making good these defects in a satisfactory manner. 



This morning the engines were set going again, and shortly 

 after 10 A.M. a fresh start was made. At first there were a good 

 many stops, but on the whole the engines seemed to be im- 

 proving all the time. They are not by any means working up 

 to full power yet, and so the pace is very slow. The weights 

 seem to me a good deal heavier than we bargained for. Day 

 sets his motor going, climbs off the car, and walks alongside with 

 an occasional finger on the throttle. Lashly hasn't yet quite 

 got hold of the nice adjustments of his control levers, but I hope 

 will have done so after a day's practice. 



The only alarming incident was the slipping of the chains 

 when Day tried to start on some ice very thinly covered with 

 snow. The starting effort on such heavily laden sledges is very 

 heavy, but I thought the grip of the pattens and -studs would 

 have been good enough on any surface. Looking at the place 

 afterwards I found that the studs had grooved the ice. 



Now as I write at 12.30 the machines are about a mile out 

 in the South Bay; both can be seen still under weigh, progressing 

 steadily if slowly. 



I find myself immensely eager that these tractors should suc- 

 ceed, even though they may not be of great help to our southern 



