1903] FEELING THE STRAIN i8g 



them it was, I was obliged to keep a constant watch on their 

 actions. As was natural with such men, not one of them would 

 own that he was ■ done ' ; they had come to see the thing 

 through, and they would have dropped in their tracks sooner 

 than give in. And so it was only by the keenest attention, 

 and by playing the somewhat unattractive part of a spy, that I 

 could detect those who from sheer incapacity were relaxing 

 their strain on the traces. Even when the knowledge came to 

 me, my position seemed no clearer, for how could I tell these 

 lion-hearted people that they must turn back ? Thus it came 

 about that all six of us marched onward, though I knew that 

 progress would have been bettered had the party been 

 divided. 



But this state of affairs came to a climax on the 20th, as 

 the following extract shows : 



1 We have struggled on some miles to-day, but only with 

 difficulty. Late last night Handsley came to me to ask if there 

 was anything in the medical bag to relieve a sore throat ; of 

 course there was nothing. I asked his tent-mates about it, 

 and they told me that for some time he had suffered from his 

 chest, and that on getting up in the morning he had been un- 

 able to speak. This morning he could only answer my ques- 

 tions in a whisper, but declared that he was feeling perfectly 

 fit and quite up to pulling all day. I didn't like the look of 

 things, but we pushed on. After about two hours, however, 

 Skelton ranged alongside to say that Handsley had broken 

 down ; it appears that the rear sledge party is finding it 

 terribly hard work to keep up with us, and Handsley has been 

 overstraining himself in attempting to do so. We camped and 

 had lunch, after which Handsley said he felt sure he could go 

 on, so we packed up, but this time I put all hands on a single 

 sledge, marched it out about three miles, and leaving Handsley 

 to pitch camp, went back to fetch the other one. This sort of 

 thing won't do at all, but what is one to do ? 



1 Handsley came to me to-night to beg that he might not 

 be made an example of again. I tried to explain that I had 

 no intention of reflecting on his conduct, but apparently 



