THE TERRA NOPA GOES SOUTH 



93 



perspiration, and required frequent cleaning unless the sun 

 were very bright, when luckily they warmed up somewhat, 

 and the moisture did not condense so rapidly. At first we 

 would follow the motor trail marked by staves and empty oil 

 drums. But this was too heavily drifted in places, so we 

 deviated south to reach clear ice. All goes merrily until we 

 reach a snow belt. The first sledge touches the snow, and a 

 slight jerk makes us pull to our belts. Another jerk announces 

 the arrival of the second sledge, and if we are pulling three 

 sledges the combined resistance reminds one of hauling three 

 ploughs through stiff wet clay. On this snowdrift we see the 

 pony hoof-marks and the long furrow cut by the dog-driver's 

 staff. Then on to clear ice again, where spiked boots are 

 essential. We reach a broad band of troubled ice crossing the 



Son -holes 



2. - i - ti 



smooth surface. This is a recemented crevasse, and is practi- 

 cally as strong as the rest of the surface. 



The older ice near the shore is " pitted " in a curious 

 fashion. Imagine a red-hot horse-shoe planked down on the 

 ice, with the front forced deeper into the ice. This is the 

 shape and size of these holes, and it seems probable that they 

 might save a man's life in a blizzard ; for they are all directed 

 to the south, and would form a sort of compass if he had no 

 better ! The explanation is that they are due to the action of 

 the hottest solar rays, which, of course, occur when the sun is 

 in the north. Curiously enough, those small holes have no 

 effect on the sledge haulage, except that they tear the runners 

 somewhat. On another patch of snow is a queer " spoor." 

 A serpentine trail of four or five parallel lines, with large 



