9"] ON FIRM LAND 389 



of the day geologising. It has been extremely interesting. We 

 found ourselves under perpendicular cliffs of Beacon sandstone, 

 weathering rapidly and carrying veritable coal seams. From the 

 last Wilson, with his sharp eyes, has picked several plant impres- 

 sions, the last a piece of coal with beautifully traced leaves in 

 layers, also some excellently preserved impressions of thick stems, 

 showing cellular structure. In one place we saw the cast of small 

 waves on the sand. To-night Bill has got a specimen of lime- 

 stone with archeo-cyathus the trouble is one cannot imagine 

 where the stone comes from; it is evidently rare, as few speci- 

 mens occur in the moraine. There is a good deal of pure white 

 quartz. Altogether we have had a most interesting afternoon, 

 and the relief of being out of the wind and in a warmer tem- 

 perature is inexpressible. I hope and trust we shall all buck up 

 again now that the conditions are more favourable. We have 

 been in shadow all the afternoon, but the sun has just reached 

 us, a little obscured by night haze. A lot could be written on 

 the delight of setting foot on rock after 14 weeks of snow and 

 ice and nearly 7 out of sight of aught else. It is like going ashore 

 after a sea voyage. We deserve a little good bright weather 

 after all our trials, and hope to get a chance to dry our sleeping- 

 bags and generally make our gear more comfortable. 



Friday, February 9. R.23. Height 5,210 ft. Lunch Temp. 

 -f- io; Supper Temp. + 12-5. About 13 miles. Kept along 

 the edge of moraine to the end of Mt. Buckley. Stopped and 

 geologised. Wilson got great find of vegetable impression in 

 piece of limestone. Too tired to write geological notes. We all 

 felt very slack this morning, partly rise of temperature, partly 

 reaction, no doubt. Ought to have kept close in to glacier north 

 of Mt. Buckley, but in bad light the descent looked steep and 

 we kept out. Evidently we got amongst bad ice pressure and 

 had to come down over an ice-fall. The crevasses were much 

 firmer than expected and we got down with some difficulty, found 

 our night camp of December 20, and lunched an hour after. 

 Did pretty well in the afternoon, marching 3^ hours; the sledge- 

 meter is unshipped, so cannot tell distance traversed. Very 

 warm on march and we are all pretty tired. To-night it is won- 

 derfully calm and warm, though it has been overcast all the 

 afternoon. It is remarkable to be able to stand outside the tent 

 and sun oneself. Our food satisfies now, but we must march to 



