i 9 o 3 ] A NEW EXPERIENCE 65 



very clearly j we are inside our course in passing down the 

 coast, and about ten miles from the remarkable cliffs we then 

 noticed. To the north-west we recognise well-known land- 

 marks. In spite of our troubles we managed to keep going 

 for seven hours to-day, but we feel that this is the utmost that 

 we can do at present owing to our poor team.' 



1 January 6. — This morning saw us start off in overcast 

 weather, but with a high temperature making very wet snow, 

 and in consequence a comparatively easy surface. By lunch- 

 time it had commenced to snow in large flakes, and the 

 temperature had risen to + 33° by the sling thermometer ; this 

 is the first time the air-temperature has been above freezing ; 

 the snow falling on us or on the sledges immediately melted, 

 so that the effect was precisely the same as a shower of rain ; 

 and it was ludicrous to see us trying to push things into holes 

 and corners where they would not get sopping wet. We wore 

 our gaberdine blouses this afternoon, and they had the appear- 

 ance and the effect of mackintoshes. All this is a strangely 

 new experience to us, and certainly one would never have 

 dreamt that an umbrella might be a desirable thing on the 

 Great Barrier. This wave of heat with thick foggy snow came 

 from the south with a fairish breeze. 



' We have been trying once or twice lately to go on ski as 

 the snow is very soft and we sink deeply, but we find that we 

 cannot put the same weight on the traces as we do on foot. 

 On the whole our ski so far have been of little value. They 

 have saved us labour on the rare occasions on which we have 

 not had to pull, such as when we returned for the second load 

 at our relay work ; but the labour thus saved is a doubtful 

 compensation for the extra weight which they add to the load. 

 Another thing to be remembered is that one gets used to 

 plodding, even in heavy snow, and, though it is very tiring at 

 first, one's capacity for performance on foot ought not to be 

 judged until one is thoroughly accustomed to the work. 



' We have passed our old track once or twice lately ; it is 

 partly obliterated but much clearer than I expected to find it 

 after the recent winds. We made sail again this afternoon, 



VOL. II. F 



