i9l GLACIER MOVEMENTS 183 



Gran had my Goerz glasses, and lying full length on the snow he 

 observed Debenham. The latter was stationed at the theodolite 

 some two miles off at Cape Geology, and signalled to Gran with 

 a flag as to which way I was to move. Finally I got just in a 

 line with my transit of December 14. I measured the distance 

 to the stake and it was 82 feet! The glacier moves nearly a yard 

 a day. Debenham's conjecture that the Discovery made no men- 

 tion of this imposing tongue because it was not imposing in 1902 ! 

 is very likely correct. It may easily have been several miles 

 shorter when Captain Scott first saw the Rendezvous Bluff. 



The date of our relief now approached. Captain Scott 

 wrote : ' It will certainly be wise for you to confine your move- 

 ments to the region of Granite Harbour during the second week 

 in January. . . . You will of course make every effort to be at 

 the rendezvous at the proper time, January 15.' 



There was nothing further to do near Cape Geology. One 

 of the most difficult portions of our retreat was the nine miles 

 between Cape Geology and the mouth of Granite Harbour. I 

 decided after consulting the others to leave for Cape Roberts 

 on the 1 4th, for there we should also be in a better position to see 

 the ship, while if the bay ice ' went out ' there was no feasible 

 way out of the cul-de-sac at Cape Geology. 



We packed up all we should require at Terra Nova Bay 

 where we were to spend the last four weeks of summer and left 

 the 600 Ibs. of specimens, spare boots, &c., at Cape Geology, 

 where they could be picked up by the ship. 



We moved off at 7.30 on the I4th. We had a very heavy 

 load for one sledge 900 Ibs. I believe but I hoped we could 

 pull it without relaying. The surface was bad, being several 

 inches deep in new-fallen snow. We took an hour to do the first 

 mile and then had to cross one of the many wide shear cracks. 

 These were twenty feet wide and were literally torn in the six- 

 foot bay ice by the irresistible pressure of the Mackay Tongue. 

 The edges were ragged and composed of interlocking promon- 

 tories. By means of these and an island jammed between we got 

 our load across safely. The east was very gloomy and it started 

 to snow. In previous years this bay had been clear of ice in 

 January so that I did not want to be caught in a blizzard 

 on it in the middle of that month. The surface improved 

 slightly, but we next struck a 3O-foot shear crack filled with 

 mushy snow. 



