150 WITH SCOTT : THE SILVER LINING 



As I have explained elsewhere (p. 280), when, after our 

 return, I described this interesting parallel between Lake 

 Luzern and the " opposed " glaciers at Knob Head, Captain 

 Scott was good enough to honour me by naming the northern 

 " twin " the Taylor Glacier. 



That evening we camped near the ice divide between the 

 glaciers. We had intended to ascend the South Arm, but 

 after making our way in that direction for some time, we saw 

 that a snowstorm was brewing, and so turned towards the 

 Kukri Hills. 



They seemed to me less than a mile distant, but knowing 

 the difficulty of judging distances, I suggested we should camp 

 under the slopes, " about a mile and a half on." Wright, 

 with his Canadian experience, thought this would be well over 

 two miles, and 1 remember the distance turned out to be three 

 miles ! Thereafter I calculated apparent distances with great 

 care, and when convinced I had allowed for everything I would 

 use a " factor of safety " of 3 — and come out about right ! 



Debenham finished cooking, and being already an adept, 

 had very properly saved some " thickers" for his final " flutter " 

 at breakfast. So Wright started with the evening meal. He 

 imparted a scientific and physical aspect to the operation by 

 suggesting a " drop test " to estimate the viscosity of the 

 pemmican ; an observation of its meniscus (or curved surface) 

 to see its sticking power ; notes on colour and taste ; and — 

 added one of his hungry audience — tc I suggest 50 per cent, 

 be subtracted from the cook's allowance on account of 

 grits ! " 



Perhaps as a result I had a dream in which my astral self 

 did some logical reasoning ! It is a fact that the fossils called 

 trilobites gradually become more supple and less clumsily built 

 as one traces them through newer formations. It occurred 

 to me in the dream that this also held true for man and his 

 monkey ancestors, and that the stiff", clumsy orang-outang, etc., 

 developed into the limber human acrobat. Not a very epoch- 

 making correlation, but the best my astral self has accom- 

 plished to date ! 



On the evening of the 10th we reached our depot at 

 Cathedral Rocks. We could see our flag from five miles off" 

 with the glasses. On arrival we found the food uncovered, so 

 that the sun had melted the pemmican and butter. The skua 



