THE GRANITE HARBOUR EXPEDITION 411 



keep to land ice, on the principle of the " Devil you know 

 being preferable to the Devil you don't." 



It was annoying to find that the Blue Glacier had so 

 completely changed its complexion in the twelve months. In 

 place of clear blue ice where one could see every crevasse, it 

 was one uniform sheet of smooth snow, and we soon began to 

 fall into the crevasses. In a yery short time we had all been 

 in a couple of times, and it was evidently an unpropitious 

 region for sledging. I deviated to the edge of the glacier 

 to try and lower the sledge on to the sea-ice, for we were 

 now abreast of the calved berg, where we halted a few minutes. 



Away to the south-east we could see a blizzard brewing, 

 and I wanted to get a snug camp in the gullies south of the 

 Blue Glacier. We had an argument as to who had won the 

 bet, for there was a jumble of ice where the calf jammed 

 the parent glacier. The other two decided in my favour, and 

 so we pushed off on the top of the glacier-edge to the wished- 

 for camp. Gran was dissatisfied with the court's decision, and 

 kept glancing back to the scene under discussion. Just as 

 we were dipping down the slope he yelled out " Ship ho ! 

 and there she was over the top of the black moraines. 



" We turned back at full speed to retraverse the crevasses, 

 for she was four miles off and we were afraid might miss us, 

 as a snowstorm was brewing in the east. She steamed along 

 past the berg and out along the floe. We pulled back hard, 

 crossing crevasses carelessly, but not falling in much, and 

 finally could make out that she had a flag on the gaff, ap- 

 parently recognizing us. We kept "along the edge of the 

 glacier till we could find a place to get down. Here was 

 a drop of thirty feet almost vertical with a big tide crack and 

 a tide-pool at the bottom ! Gran went down first, and then 

 I got down halfway. Unluckily as we were lowering the 

 sledge Forde was pulled over by his harness and fell right 

 on to Gran, who was pressed into the snow while the sledge 

 came down on top of us. It nearly broke in the middle ; 

 however, we lugged it over to the ice and set off hot-foot over 

 the two miles of ice. The ship now anchored near the floe 

 and four men came to meet us. They harnessed up and 

 told us the news. We heard that the Southern party were 

 going very well, that there were no signs of Amundsen, and 

 that there had been no accidents of importance. Also that 



