392 WITH SCOTT: THE SILVER LINING 



three had found more coal near the sledge, and they soon 

 collected five specimen bags full. It was undoubtedly derived 

 from Beacon Sandstone beds close to our camp, and possibly 

 from the outcrop we had seen on Mount Suess. 



We marched straight back to the Flat Iron, camping for 

 lunch about halfway. It was interesting to note the way 

 the snow lay in various regions. Small cwm valleys at low 

 levels were filled with snow and ice, while large plains at 

 higher elevations to the west were seen to be almost bare. 

 Perhaps the snowfall varies with height, while the ablation 

 (evaporation) may depend largely on the wind direction. 



Next day we devoted to a survey of the Flat Iron. I went 

 to the northern face to see if we could drag or lower the sledge 

 down the glacier without unloading it. I had a light camera 

 and was able to take a few interesting photographs. The 

 first looking over Cuff Cape to the north illustrated the 

 following physiographic features : the ice-face, crevasses, 

 skauk, young calf-bergs, moraines, retreating glacier, granite 

 pavements, shear-cracks in bay-ice, the ice tongue, facets on 

 the cliffs, cwms, overflows, hog-bag ridges, the junction of the 

 granite and dolerite, and the Kar Plateau — all on one quarter- 

 plate negative ! 



To the south was the small tarn I have mentioned earlier. 

 The furrowed face of Mount England was reflected in its 

 still water, and a solitary skua gull was preening his feathers 

 on a boulder in the lake. I managed to get a successful 

 photo here also. 



Meanwhile a sea-fog was rolling in from the east. Gradu- 

 ally it blotted out all the features below us. I had just time 

 to hurry back to the tent before everything around us vanished. 

 Debenham turned up a minute or two later, but I was getting 

 anxious when Forde and Gran returned. It is impossible to 

 find one's way in these fogs, and exposure to Antarctic 

 weather is a thing to be dreaded even in summer. 



Next morning we started transporting our gear down to 

 the bay-ice. We followed our former route, which certainly 

 seemed to have been the best. We had now to carry down 

 many specimens, for the Flat Iron was a wonderful collecting 

 ground. The main mass is grey granite, but it includes many 

 varieties of schist and bands of altered limestone ; gabbros, 

 amphibolites, quartz porphyries, marble, mica-schists, felsites 



