342 WITH SCOTT: THE SILVER LINING 



Next morning the narration of a dream caused some amuse- 

 ment. " I had invited Professor David to dine, and arrived 

 two hours late ; as I had no money to pay for the meal I 

 calmly decided to wake, and did so ! ' We often discussed 

 dreams, especially after my repeating what I could remember 

 of an article in a magazine I had read in the Old Discovery 

 Hut. It pointed out that one's own personality was often 

 revealed in the clearest fashion. I hope the above sample was 

 not of this type. 



We reached Marble Cape at noon, and from the top we 

 could see our wandering friend from Ross Island — the three- 

 mile fragment of Glacier Tongue. There was Oates' depot 

 as clear as ever, and the huge field of ice had almost filled 

 the bay between this cape and one to the north. Its 

 sides projected thirty feet above the sea ice, and we could 

 see that it was largely built of snow, which was folded in a 

 very complex manner, and probably originated largely as snow 

 cornices, just as current-bedding in rocks is formed from steep 

 delta deposits. 



To the west, behind the cape, was the sheer front of the 

 Piedmont Glacier. It ended in a face about thirty feet high, 

 and evidently was for the most part moulded over the hills, 

 though a few nunakoller projected through it. 



We reached a high cape built of gneiss, and camped there 

 for the night, among a colony of seals. We were doubtful 

 as to whether this, or the previous headland, was David's 

 " Marble Cape " ; in fact, as some one said, it was a " nice 

 point." At any rate this pun led to the name Gneiss Pointy 

 by which we knew it. 



Next morning it was a blow to our pride to drag the sledge 

 through the numerous seals, and to find that they evidently 

 despised us too much to move out of our way. It was a 

 favourite basking ground, and many square yards of snow 

 were rolled flat and hard by the sleeping seals, while canoe- 

 shaped hollows showed where some unsociable beast had lain 

 at a distance from his fellows. 



We started off relaying as usual, but as I was returning 



I felt this was just the time to test our outfit as an ice yacht ! 



A steady south wind was blowing almost directly behind us, 



and the next few miles showed a reasonably good surface. 



The six heavy bamboo poles, on which the tent is hung, 



