106 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [SEPTEMBER 



glad to get these, as they seem to agree with Browning much 

 better than seal. He has been bad again and is getting pessi- 

 mistic about himself. 



September 29. Overhauled 'the sledge runners, scraping 

 and waxing them. We also carried down all the equipment that 

 was ready. We are taking the 12-ft. sledge and the io-ft., the 

 latter being fitted with iron runners, which will be a great help 

 on sea ice. The weather was overcast, with north-west wind. 



September 30. A calm morning. As Dickason and Brown- 

 ing were both better we abandoned the igloo after breakfast. 

 Carrying down the rest of our gear occupied four of us most of 

 the day, and I left the two sick men in the hut, cleaning the 

 cookers, until the last load. 



It came on very thick with snow in the afternoon and it was 

 6.30 P.M. before we pulled out. Snow drifts made the pulling 

 heavy and by 8.30 we had only pulled a mile, and as we were all 

 pretty tired after our long day's carrying we camped. Dickason 

 was bad in the night, but we are all very cheerful at being on the 

 march again, and the change from the dirt and dark of the 

 igloo will do us all good. Our sledging rations also seemed 

 sumptuous, the daily ration per man being: 



2 pannikins of meat. I stick of chocolate. 

 24 pannikin of blubber. 8 lumps of sugar. 



i pannikin of cocoa. A little pemmican. 



3 biscuits. 



At the commencement of the winter we had some spare wind 

 clothing, sweaters, mits, and under clothing, which we had landed 

 from the ship. This I put on one side for the journey down and 

 only issued it before leaving the igloo. There was not enough 

 of everything to go round, but by making the clothes into lots 

 and drawing for them we all got something. To keep them clean 

 we only changed into them just before leaving the igloo, but the 

 luxury of getting into dry clean clothing after the greasy rags we 

 discarded was indescribable. We had been in the same clothes 

 for nine months, carrying, cooking, and handling blubber, and all 

 our garments were black and soaked through and through with 

 grease. We were fairly well off for paraffin as we had only used 

 the primus to cook our morning hoosh. Dickason's generosity 

 in volunteering to work the primus always had also made a lot 



