1870 EXERCISE OF SLEDGE CREWS. 273 



' Mr. Egerton, with Lieutenant Eawson, accompanied 

 by John Simmons, and Michael Eegan one of the 

 ciew of the " Discovery," started with a sledge drawn 

 by seven dogs for Discovery Bay ; the dogs dragging 

 seventy- eight pounds each. 



' The sledge crews have commenced exercising for 

 their long journeys. In order to utilise their labours 

 I intend to form a large depot of provisions near the 

 " Crossing Floe," ready for Beaumont's use. 



4 During a walk of about twelve miles the only 

 tracks of animals met with were those of a fcx and an 

 ermine. The fox, like our Eskimo dogs, had melted 

 the snow in its lair, leaving an icy surface. 



' The weather was so calm, and the sun so powerful 

 that, when standing still and facing it, although the 

 temperature was actually minus 30°, it felt appreciably 

 warm ; and yet ice formed on our eye-lashes thick 

 enough to impede our sight considerably. After a 

 six hours' exposure the cold had penetrated so far 

 into our dresses that a woollen waistcoat, worn inside 

 a thick box cloth coat and a duck outer covering, 

 had ice on it thick enough to brush off. This may 

 enable people to realise the condition of a traveller's 

 clothes after eleven hours' hard work and how quickly 

 his garments, which he can never dry, or indeed ever 

 change night or day, become saturated with moisture. 



4 It is extraordinary how little snow there is left on 

 the uplands, certainly not more than an average thick- 

 ness of two feet. Had our winter not been specially 

 calm even this measurement must have been lessened. 



' The fallen snow drifting before the winds in the 

 form of fine dust is for ever depositing itself in thin 

 vol. I. T 



