ii 4 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [OCTOBER 



being clear and cold, but the surface was vile; no pressure, but 

 soft sandy snow. We halted for a second lunch of raw seal at 

 3.30 P.M. Levick, Abbott, and Browning like it, the rest of us 

 do not. We camped at 6.15, all very tired. Distance 9 miles. 

 A lovely evening. 



October 20. A lovely morning, clear, calm, and cold. A 

 stiff pull over a heavy surface brought us to the foot of the cliff 

 of the Nordenskiold ice tongue. The cliff here is about 50 feet 

 high and very much indented. A few miles to the east a deep 

 bay or inlet ran in to the southward. 



A steep snow drift enabled us to get on the ice tongue, but 

 we had to unpack the sledges and carry most of the gear up, after 

 hauling the sledges up to the top with the Alpine rope, as it was 

 so steep. 



We camped on the top at about 5 P.M. Priestley, Levick, and 

 I then roped up and went on to see what the going was like for 

 the next day. 



We found long shallow undulations, and as far as we could 

 see no crevasses. We shall cross it a long way inside David's 

 route. Curiously enough there was hardly any tide crack be- 

 tween the sea ice and the tongue. 



Several seals were in sight, but we did not kill any, as I am 

 sure we shall get any amount south of this tongue. The tongue 

 seems to be ice to within 2 feet of the top and the surface is 

 rather a soft snow. Distance 6 miles. 



October 21. Turning out at 5.30 A.M. we depoted all un- 

 necessary gear and started considerably lighter. Should we have 

 to turn back we can always pick this depot up easily. The day 

 was lovely, but rather warm for pulling, and the surface soft but 

 not bad going. We came across no crevasses and by 3.30 ran 

 down an easy slope to the sea ice. The snow on the latter was 

 rather deep. We lashed the wooden runner sledge on the one 

 with the iron runners and pulled on till about 6, when we camped. 



October 22. A nice morning, but soon after starting a cold 

 southerly wind got up, resulting in several frostbitten noses. 

 We were travelling over pressure well hidden by soft snow. In 

 the afternoon we had some excitement seeing a dark conical ob- 

 ject ahead, much the same shape as a tent. As Browning was 

 rather bad, we left him with Dickason and Abbott to rest with 

 the sledges, while Levick, Priestley, and I went on to look at it, 



