148 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [MARCH 



a tight boot but with rubbing they came back all right. We 

 camped at the edge of the pinnacles, which here were over thirty 

 feet high and separated by deep gullies filled with snags, glass- 

 house, and all manner of obstructions. 



Next day we moved along the edge of the pinnacles, which 

 led us towards Butter Point, much to our disgust. During the 

 forenoon we had heard weird ' blowings ' on our right, but it 

 was rather a shock to come on a great bay in the pinnacle ice, 

 where the latter had recently broken off, and to see our friends 

 the killer whales cruising around only 100 yards ahead! We 

 had to turn at once and march willy-nilly into the pinnacles, so 

 as to put a little distance between ourselves and the recent break 

 of ' Orca Bay.' 



Before going many yards into the pinnacles we came on 

 a * river ' of salt water, fifty feet or so below the general level. 

 Luckily the pancake ice from Orca Bay had jammed in this 

 * river ' and it was strong enough to carry the sledges. We 

 hauled them hand over hand up the further bank. 



After lunch we came to a fifteen-foot drop and we had of 

 course to adopt relaying. Either Debenham or myself went 

 ahead as quickly as possible and found a route by climbing pin- 

 nacles or bastions. The other three pulled the smaller sledge as 

 indicated by the guide. After a mile or so we all went back 

 and pulled the heavy sledge up to the other. 



Next day passed in the same way, but we were cheered 

 by the sight of a patch of smooth surface ahead of us. Though 

 only four miles off it took us nearly two days to reach it. 

 Bad sandy patches delayed us and ruined the runners. On 

 returning with the second sledge we could often see what looked 

 like wisps of yellow tobacco in the lee of the jagged points of 

 ice. These were long filaments of ash torn from our unfortunate 

 runners. 



So passed Edgar Evans' birthday, in honour of which we 

 had some superfine chocolates which seemed in some way to bring 

 us in touch with civilisation again. 



At noon on the loth we reached sea ice again beyond the 

 pinnacles and had good hopes of reaching Hut Point by night, 

 for it was only a little over ten miles away. I wrote in my 

 diary : ' The surface got so much better that we decided to 

 get to Hut Point or bust! About 5 P.M. we decided to bust, 



