3l6 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [November 



little time, for even after 10 miles he seized a slight opportunity 

 to kick up. Some four miles from this camp Evans loosed 

 Snatcher momentarily. The little beast was off at a canter at 

 once and on slippery snow; it was all Evans could do to hold 

 to the bridle. As it was he dashed across the line, somewhat 

 to its danger. 



Six hundred yards from this camp there was a bale of forage. 

 Bowers stopped and loaded it on his sledge, bringing his weights 

 to nearly 800 lbs. His pony Victor stepped out again as though 

 nothing had been added. Such incidents are very inspiriting. 

 Of course, the surface is very good; the animals rarely sink 

 to the fetlock joint, and for a good part of the time are borne 

 up on hard snow patches without sinking at all. In passing I 

 mention that there are practically no places where ponies sink 

 to their hocks as described by Shackleton. On the only occasion 

 last year when our ponies sank to their hocks in one soft patch, 

 they were unable to get their loads on at all. The feathering of 

 the fetlock joint is borne up on the snow crust and its upward 

 bend is indicative of the depth of the hole made by the hoof; 

 one sees that an extra inch makes a tremendous difference. 



We are picking up last year's cairns with great ease, and 

 all show up very distinctly. This is extremely satisfactory for 

 the homeward march. What with pony walls, camp sites and 

 cairns, our track should be easily followed the whole way. 

 Everyone is as fit as can be. It was wonderfully warm as we 

 camped this morning at 1 1 o'clock; the wind has dropped com- 

 pletely and the sun shines gloriously. Men and ponies revel in 

 such weather. One devoutly hopes for a good spell of it as 

 we recede from the windy northern region. The dogs came 

 up soon after we had camped, travelling easily. 



Thursday, November 9. Camp 6. Sticking to programme, 

 we are going a little over the 10 miles (geo.) nightly. Atkinson 

 started his party at 1 1 and went on for 7 miles to escape a cold 

 little night breeze which quickly dropped. He was some time 

 at his lunch camp, so that starting to join the rearguard we 

 came in together the last 2 miles. The experience showed that 

 the slow advance guard ponies are forced out of their place by 

 joining with the others, whilst the fast rearguard is reduced in 

 speed. Obviously it is not an advantage to be together, yet all 

 the ponies are doing well. An amusing incident happened when 



