50 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [AUGUST 



On the return journey we never rolled our bags up, but let 

 them freeze out straight arranging them carefully so that they 

 should freeze in the best shape for gettting into them again. 

 On the Barrier they were literally as hard as boards, but coming 

 back down the Sound they never got so hard that they would not 

 bend. I cannot say what a self-sacrifice I consider it to have 

 been that Birdie handed over his dry eiderdown to me when we 

 were coming back. At the time a dry sleeping-bag would have 

 been of more value to any of us than untold wealth. 



Our bags were of course much worse after lying out a bliz- 

 zard in them. 



Clothes. The details of our clothes were all taken down by 

 Scott after we got in, and I will not repeat. We all agreed that 

 we could not have bettered our clothing. I was foolish in start- 

 ing with a vest which I had worn some time and which had 

 stretched. A close-fitting vest would have been much warmer. 

 As it was, on the march on the stillest [day] there seemed to be 

 a draught blowing straight up my back. 



Before we had been many days in these very cold tempera- 

 tures our clothes used to freeze so stiff in a few seconds after 

 stepping outside the tent, that from our waists upwards we could 

 never move our body or heads from that position until they 

 were thawed out again at the next meal. We therefore got into 

 the way of getting frozen in a position which would be most com- 

 fortable. Our arms we moved with a good deal of straining, and 

 getting into our harness was always a long job, all three doing one 

 set of harness at a time. We got into the way of doing every- 

 thing with mits on and very slowly, stopping immediately our 

 hands were going, and restoring the circulation. 



Routine. We used to turn in for at least seven hours. This 

 was the worst part of the day, and breakfast to me became in 

 consequence quite the best meal. Sometimes I used to feel like 

 shouting that it must be time to get up. Getting under weigh in 

 the morning used to take generally a little under four hours, 3^ 

 hours as far as I can remember was good. Going out we had 

 the primus going a large part of the time, though we turned it 

 low after the meal was cooked. In the worst times we used to 

 light the primus while we were in our bags in the morning and 

 keep it going until we were just getting or had got the mouth 

 of our bags levered open in the evening. We also tried getting 



