4 o8 WITH SCOTT: THE SILVER LINING 



grief, for Pennell knew we were free to move off on the ist of 

 February. 



After supper Debenham got out his plane-table and con- 

 tinued his survey. He was much puzzled by the position of 

 his station on the stranded Glacier Tongue to the south-east. 

 He realized soon, however, that it had twisted round, and 

 was even now preparing to continue its journey to the Nirvana 

 of warm northern waters. 



We had been blessed with sunshine the last few days. I 

 don't believe we should have managed to dodge the crevasses 

 otherwise, for in dull weather you cannot tell any difference 

 between a ten-foot hollow or a ten-foot hummock when it is 

 only a yard or two away. However, as a result, Forde got a 

 bad touch of snow-blindness. Debenham got out the medical 

 chest. He ground up some ZnS0 4 , picked it up on a paint- 

 brush, and dropped it in the corner of Forde's eye. Later in 

 the night I gave Forde another dose, for the pain is pretty 

 considerable. 



The next day my right eye was sore and watering, in spite 

 of the amber glasses, and I feared I was to become a patient 

 also. We plugged along over an absolutely level snow-plain, 

 when Debenham dropped into a crevasse, over which I had 

 crossed without puncturing the lid. 



In the afternoon my eyes gave out, and I put on bandages 

 on the right eye, and gave up the lead to Debenham. It was 

 an astonishing relief to cease from staring at the glaring surface, 

 and either pull along with shut eyes or keep one eye on the 

 gratefully dirty back of Debenham's jacket. 



Debenham led us safely past three huge crevasses, and 

 we halted for a spell among a cluster of smaller ones. That 

 evening we climbed up the snow hill behind Gneiss Point, 

 about 1350 feet above the sea ; and as we had now passed 

 the third valley glacier, I felt we had finished with the cre- 

 vasses for the time being. We camped on hard snow, and 

 Debenham treated me for snow-blindness. The zinc sulphate 

 may truthfully be described as an eye-opener, but later the 

 cocaine in the mixture calms things down. You are advised 

 "to keep your face cool." But 1 had to keep my head in the 

 bag to get warm. However, Forde was pretty right next day, 

 and mine had stopped aching, though everything appeared 

 double for many hours ! 



