110 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [OCTOBER 



we were all in good spirits, as even if we could not get down to 

 Cape Evans by the sea ice, we could make certain of getting 

 plenty of food here. Distance about 6 miles. 



October 8. Bright sun but cold westerly wind with low 

 drift when we turned out at 5.30. We were away by 8 and the 

 going was much the same as yesterday, only the ice hummocks 

 were more numerous and the undulations steeper. In the after- 

 noon the sun went behind nimbus haze and the light got very bad 

 indeed, and was the cause of us nearly coming to grief. The 

 snow was very wind-blown and slippery on the top of the undula- 

 tions, but soft in the hollows, and we had been racing down the 

 slopes to help us through the soft snow. Soon after 4 the light 

 got so bad we could not see where we were stepping, and when 

 well on our way down one of these slopes, I thought I saw a 

 crevasse in front, so swung the sledge, and was going ahead to 

 reconnoitre, when I found we were on the edge of a steep slope 

 about 20 ft. high, which went sheer down into a barranca. We 

 had to get the sledges up the slippery slope again, no easy job, 

 and try round. After about a mile we found a place we could 

 cross, but the delays of roping up to prospect made our day's 

 march small. Dickason is bad again. I suppose it must be the 

 heavy pulling. Distance 6 miles. The weather thick, with slight 

 snow. 



October 9. I turned out to look at the weather at 4 A.M. 

 and found it snowing and so thick I could only just see the other 

 tent. 



By 7 it was better though still thick, so after breakfast we 

 started and steered a more easterly course to try and get out 

 of this broken country. The light and surface were vile, while a 

 cold westerly wind did not improve matters. We found our- 

 selves in country just as bad, so steered due south, and went 

 straight ahead, but even going as cautiously as we could we 

 nearly repeated yesterday's experience, stopping the sledge just 

 in time on the edge of the cliff and having to work back up the 

 slope and round. The wind had increased to a gale with drift 

 to add to our discomfort. About 4 o'clock, however, the sun 

 came out, the wind eased, and we got into better country. Just 

 before camping, from the top of one of the ridges, I got a view 

 of the coast line south of the Drygalski, and the sea ice in Geikie 

 Inlet, so I hope the worst of the Drygalski is past. Dickason 



