THE DOG TEAM HELD UP 207 



stopped. The weather was coming on thick, and it was an 

 anxious time, as their weekly bag, cooker and tent poles had been 

 left behind. Eventually both teams returned and the sledge was 

 re-packed. A blizzard came on and they were unable to travel 

 until the next afternoon. There was a strong wind and the tem- 

 perature began falling on this day. They completed i6^4 miles 

 for the day. 



February 29 proved a good clear day and they reached the 

 Bluff Depot in latitude 79 south. The sledgemeters had been 

 giving a great deal of trouble and did not tally; this, with the 

 bad light, increased the difficulty of navigation enormously. 



On March I they started about mid-day after giving the dogs 

 a good rest, which they needed after their long runs of the pre- 

 vious days. They proceeded for 10 miles without seeing any- 

 thing. The weather came on thick and they had to camp at 

 6.30 P.M. It cleared a little later and they made good two more 

 miles. The party on this day saw a snowy petrel. The position 

 of this bird so far south and away from food is remarkable. 



On March 2 they had a cold and sleepless night with a low 

 temperature and a blizzard blowing from the north-west. The 

 rate of travel was so quick that the dogs' run was finished early 

 and the two men had to spend an unusually long time in their 

 sleeping-bags, which in this cold weather was bad for them and 

 bad for their gear. About mid-day the weather cleared enough 

 to let them start. 



On March 4 they reached One Ton Depot in the morning, 

 travelling during a clear night and morning. A blizzard came 

 on after their arrival and the temperature had fallen consider- 

 ably. Cherry-Garrard, owing to the low temperature, found his 

 glasses of no use and had to trust to Demetri to pick out the 

 cairns. Owing to the cold weather and the thin coats of the 

 dogs he rightly decided to give them more food. 



On March 5, 6, 7 and 8 they had exceedingly cold weather 

 and blizzard. On none of these days would it have been pos- 

 sible for them to proceed south had they wished to do so. This 

 party had no minimum thermometer, but on most of the nights 

 before the sun had set the temperature had fallen to nearly minus 

 40, which probably meant a minimum temperature of between 

 40 and 50 for the night. The dogs were in bad condition and 

 feeling the cold. Demetri also declared that he felt far from 



