AN AMUSING INCIDENT 109 



again, so we took the precaution of waxing the runners, with 

 good results. 



It was warm work pulling through the soft snow and we were 

 glad to stop for lunch. We could make out the edge of the pied- 

 mont quite plainly, but could see nothing of the inlet until about 

 2 P.M., when we saw the mouth of it. A broad open water lead 

 several miles wide seemed to extend right along the barrier edge, 

 but in the inlet itself the sea was frozen over. The snow was soft 

 and the pulling very heavy, so it was 6 o'clock before we reached 

 camp, on the north side of the inlet, about fifty yards from the 

 cliff. Several seals and penguins were up on the sea ice, while 

 snow drifts gave us an easy road down from the barrier. The 

 surface of the piedmont was broken by small crevasses here, one 

 running right under the tent. We all enjoyed our salt water 

 hoosh and turned in very tired. Browning rather better. Dicka- 

 son quite recovered. A lovely evening. Distance 8-5 miles. 



October 7. -A beautiful morning after a comparatively 

 warm night. We were away soon after 8, down the snow drift 

 slope and over a tide crack 4 ft. wide. The sea ice proved very 

 heavy going, as it was covered with deep crusted snow through 

 which we had a job to move the sledges. We saw rather an 

 amusing incident here. A number of seals were lying along the 

 tide crack, and just after we had crossed we saw one more 

 struggle up on the ice and go to sleep with her tail within a few 

 inches of the tide crack. She had hardly gone to sleep when a 

 head came cautiously up, saw her, dipped down again, then com- 

 ing cautiously up again, bit her hard. The poor beast squealed, 

 hit at her assailant several times with her tail and wriggled off 

 as fast as she could across the ice, but the practical joker did not 

 follow up the attack. 



Beyond a stiff pull in deep snow we had no difficulty in get- 

 ting our sledges up the snow drift and on the south cliff. Once 

 on top we were troubled with a rather deep crusted snow surface, 

 with long undulations which were fairly hard and good going on 

 the summits, but with deep soft snow in the valleys. Curious 

 conical mounds of blue ice showed up here and there. These are 

 survivals, I imagine, of the seracs and icefalls visible on our 

 right hand where the David Glacier flows down from the moun- 

 tains, making a big disturbance. To avoid these we had to steer 

 in a south-easterly direction. The day was fine but cold and 



