124 WITH SCOTT: THE SILVER LINING 



As usual we found the pemmican too rich at first, and I 

 note that I could only eat three of the biscuits ! This delicate 

 appetite did not survive many days of Antarctic sledging. I 

 slept soundly, only waking once at four ; but the thought that 

 I carried the chronometer and was responsible for the punctual 

 rising at 7.30 (6.30 local time) made me uneasy for many 

 ensuing mornings ! 



We did not expect to return by this route, so that I 

 thought it advisable to investigate the physiography of the 

 lower end of the glacier. After breakfast we all went over to 

 the south side of the valley. Wright was soon busy on hands 

 and knees investigating the beautiful " fan " crystals. Deben- 

 ham and I walked on further to some isolated moraine heaps, 

 which projected about ten feet above the ice. I made a 

 traverse over the glacier as far as the lower slope of the hills 

 with the following results. The moraine heaps seemed to be 

 the outward and visible sign of a large continuous ridge — or 

 sheet — most of which was buried in old ice and snow. The 

 mingling of fine silts and huge boulders, some four feet long, 

 was characteristic of a glacial deposit, and a few doubtful 

 striae were present. Many varieties of rock were represented, 

 granites, recalling the famous " Shap " of the Lake District ; 

 splendid porphyries with large almond-like felspars in a brown 

 matrix ; gneisses of many varieties with parallel layers of 

 glistening mica and dull black hornblende ; and some 

 crystalline limestones and much dolerite ; both of which 

 occurred in situ about ten miles further west. These elon- 

 gated silt and boulder ridges showed deep cracks along their 

 sides, indicating, I imagine, considerable movement of the 

 glacier which bore them. 



The next half a mile was rather difficult travelling, through 

 pinnacle ice and through large lately frozen pools of water. 

 Very striking were some of the ice-forms here. " Topsy- 

 turvy " icicles, whose original support had almost melted 

 away — leaving them attached below and surmounted with 

 knobs like hatpins, and unsupported crusts of ice which 

 dropped one into a pool of water, were types that made the 

 most lasting impression. I soon reached the land — a sunny 

 slope facing the noon sun. Here several merry little brooks 

 hurried down over the powdery silt to hide themselves 

 beneath the glacier. To be sure, they were only an inch deep 



