1903] I 5 I 



CHAPTER XVII 



COMMENCEMENT OF OUR SECOND SLEDGING SEASON 



Parties Starting — Away to New Harbour — We Find a Good Road, Es- 

 tablish a Depot, and Return— Sledging in Record Temperatures- 

 Experiences in Different Directions— Emperor Penguin Chicks— Eclipse 

 of the Sun— A Great Capture— Preparing for the Western Journey- 

 Ascending Ferrar Glacier— Our Sledges Break Down — Forced to 

 Return— Some Good Marching— Fresh Start— More Troubles with the 

 Sledges— A Heavy Loss— Wind from the Summit — The Upper Glacier 

 — A Week in Camp — We Break Away and Reach the Summit— Hard 

 Conditions— Party Divided — Eight Days Onward — An Awe-inspiring 

 Plain — We Turn as the Month Ends. 



Where the great sun begins his state 



Robed in flames and amber light. — MiLTON. 



Path of advance ! but it leads 



A long steep journey through sunk 



Gorges, o'er mountains in snow. — M. Arnold. 



When the great sun had begun his state in 1903 we were all, 

 as I have said, eager to be off on our travels once more. 



Royds and Wilson were the first to get away, on Septem- 

 ber 7 ; they had with them four men — Cross, Whitfield, 

 Williamson, and Blissett ; their mission lay on the old track 

 to Cape Crozier, and the object of going thus early was to 

 catch those mysterious Emperor penguins before they should 

 have hatched out their young. 



Barne and his party were timed to start some days later, 

 with the idea of laying out a depot beyond the White Island, 

 in preparation for the longer journey to come. 



On the 9th I got away with my own party, which included 

 Mr. Skelton, Mr. Dailey, Evans, Lashly, and Handsley. Our 



