i9l THE SHIP 197 



I finally decided to keep to land ice on the principle of the ' Devil 

 you know being preferable to the Devil you don't.' 



It was annoying to find that the Blue Glacier had so com- 

 pletely changed its complexon in the twelve months. In place 

 of clear blue ice where one could see every crevasse, it was one 

 uniform sheet of smooth snow, and we soon began to fall into 

 the crevasses. In a very short time we had all been in a couple 

 of times, and it was evidently an unhealthy region for sledging, 

 i deviated to the edge of the glacier to try and lower the sledge 

 on to the sea ice; and we soon got abreast of the calved berg, 

 where we halted a few minutes. 



Away to the south-east we could see a blizzard coming up, 

 and I wanted to get a snug camp in the gullies south of the Blue 

 Glacier. We had an argument as to who had won the bet, for 

 there was a high jumble of ice where the calf jammed the parent 

 glacier. The other two decided in my favour, and so we pushed 

 off on the top of the glacier edge to the wished-for camp. Gran 

 was dissatisfied with the court's decision and kept glancing back 

 to the scene under discussion. Just as we were dipping down 

 the slope which cut off all view to northward he yelled out: 

 ' Ship Ho ! ' and there she was over the top of the black 

 moraines. 



* We turned back good and quick to retraverse the crevasses, 

 for she was four miles off and we were afraid might miss us, as 

 a snowstorm was brewing in the east. She steamed along past 

 the berg and out along the floe. We pulled back hard, crossing 

 crevasses carelessly, but not falling in much, and finally could 

 make out that she had a flag on the gaff, apparently recognising 

 us. We kept along the edge of the glacier till we could find a 

 place to get down. Here was a drop of 30 feet, almost vertical, 

 with a big tide crack and a tide pool at the bottom. Gran went 

 down first, and then I got down half-way. Unluckily as we were 

 lowering the sledge Forde was pulled over by his harness and 

 fell right on to Gran, who was squashed into the snow while the 

 sledge came down on top of us. It nearly broke in the middle; 

 however, we lugged it over to the ice and set off hot-foot over 

 the two miles of ice. The ship now anchored near the floe and 

 four men came to meet us. They harnessed up and told us the 

 news. We heard that the Southern party were going very well, 

 that there was no sign of Amundsen, and that there had been no 



