i9] LITTLE GEAR LOST 37 



have a further search for the tent. Birdie went off before Bill 

 and me. I dragged my eiderdown out on my feet all sopping wet ; 

 it was impossible to get it back, and I let it freeze it was soon 

 just like a rock. I followed Bill down the slope when we heard 

 a shout on our right and made for it with hope. We got on a 

 slope, slipped, and went sliding down, quite unable to stop our- 

 selves, and came to Birdie with the tent, outer lining still on the 

 bamboos. We were so thankful we said nothing. The tent was 

 over the ridge to the N.E. of the igloo at the bottom of the steep 

 slope about half of a mile away. I believe that it blew away be- 

 cause part of it was in the wind, and part in the lee of the igloo. 



It looked as if it would start blowing again at any moment 

 and was getting thick, and we hurried back with the tent, slither- 

 ing up and down, and pitched it where we had pitched it on our ar- 

 rival. Never was tent so firmly dug in, by Bill, while Birdie and 

 I got our gear, such as we could find, down from the igloo. 

 Luckily the wind from the S. and the back-draught from the N. 

 had blown everything inwards when the roof went, and we man- 

 aged to find or dig out almost everything except Bill's fur mits. 

 These were packed into a hole in rocks to prevent drift coming 

 in. We had a meal in the tent; searched for the parts of the 

 cooker down the slope, but only found a track of small bits of 

 roof cloth. We were very weak. We packed the tank ready for 

 a start back in the morning and turned in, utterly worn out. It 

 was only 12 that night, but my left big toe was frostbitten in 

 my bag, which I was trying to use without an eiderdown lining.] 



Tuesday, July 25, 1911. There was a stiff cold breeze of 

 force 4 and temp. 15-3 which came down our slope from 

 S.S.W., with thick weather and heavy clouds moving up from the 

 Barrier in the south. We quickly finished all our final arrange- 

 ments and got away down into the gut by the pressure ridges, 

 where we found ourselves pulling against a gale rapidly freshen- 

 ing from the S.W. [My job, writes Cherry-Garrard, was to bal- 

 ance the sledge behind: I was so utterly done I don't believe I 

 could have pulled effectively. Birdie was much the strongest of 

 us. The strain and want of sleep was getting me in the neck, 

 and Bill looked very bad.] 



This wind became so strong after we had gone a mile that we 

 camped, much against our inclinations, in amongst ice-hard, wind- 

 swept sastrugi [our hands going one after the other], and the 



