230 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [SEPTEMBER 



knee started now to give us a great deal of anxiety, and up to 

 the last week in October before she started we thought that she 

 would be unable to go. As it was, she went on to the Barrier 

 with a stiff foreleg, but she worked splendidly as the strain wore 

 off and proved to be the second best mule of the lot. 



Owing to the uncertain conditions of the ice it was essential 

 to remove as many stores as possible to Hut Point. On Septem- 

 ber 1 8 to 22, a party went there with dog teams, taking down a 

 load of stores and with the idea of putting the hut in order. The 

 hut had nearly been buried by the inclement season, but after a 

 great deal of digging had been done it was made more habitable. 

 The hut at Cape Evans had been very much snowed up by this 

 bad season and our roof in one part began to sag from the weight 

 of snow upon it. This was continually removed and as continually 

 was replaced by the next blizzard. During the remainder of this 

 month several trips were made by the dog teams to Hut Point, 

 taking down stores. The ponies also were given extra food so 

 as to get them in better condition for their trip on the Barrier. 



It was proposed after the previous year to make their allow- 

 ance 1 1 Ibs. per mule per day, a ration consisting of oil cake and 

 oats in the proportion of two of oil cake to one of oats. 



On September 26 we had a partial eclipse of the moon which 

 we saw very clearly. The maximum shadow fell just before mid- 

 night, and we thought we should be unable to see it, for the moon 

 rose behind clouds to the north of Erebus, but it cleared in time 

 and Nelson was able to get his telescope fixed up. Our winter 

 now was practically ended. With the return of light the health 

 and cheerfulness of the party, which had been excellent through- 

 out, improved still more, and we knew now that only a month 

 intervened before we should be away on the Barrier. Scientific 

 work had been carried on throughout the winter, although in 

 certain branches this had been necessarily prohibited by the ab- 

 sence of sea ice. 



On October 12 Debenham, Demetri, Cherry-Garrard, and 

 I went down to Hut Point, and on October 14 took the two dog 

 teams out to lay a depot 12 miles south of Corner Camp. This 

 consisted mainly of pony and dog food and was essential in order 

 to relieve the ponies over the first four days of the journey, on 

 which they would have to encounter heavy surfaces. On the re- 

 turn, as one of the dog teams was crossing a large crevasse, four 



