i 9 o2] A NIGHT ON THE BARRIER 149 



pushing ahead on ski had crossed two further ones. Their 

 temperature during the night had fallen to o°, whilst at the 

 ship it was + 4° ; but as six people slept in a tent with bare 

 accommodation for three, instead of suffering from the cold, 

 one or two members had found the quarters so close that 

 during the night they had extricated themselves from the 

 general mass, preferring to spend the remaining hours in the 

 open. It was noted for future guidance that these members 

 reported most unfavourably on the snoring capabilities of the 

 others. 



Curiously enough this party was able to report that the 

 undulations were not gradual as we had supposed on seeing 

 them from the balloon, but that the crest of each wave was 

 flattened into a long plateau from which the descent into the 

 succeeding valley was comparatively sharp. Rather than 

 crossing a series of undulations, the party had appeared to be 

 travelling on a plain intersected by broad valleys, the general 

 depth of which as measured by aneroid was 120 feet. The 

 actual distances travelled were difficult to guess. At this time 

 we were very prone to exaggerate our walks, and it was not 

 until we came actually to measure them later on that we 

 appreciated how slowly we travelled on snowy surfaces. One 

 thing was certain, however ; the waves were by no means 

 regular in extent, nor the slopes regular in inclination. At 

 7.30 in the evening we cast off from the ice and put out to sea, 

 having no desire to spend another night on the look-out for 

 icebergs. During the night the wind carried a heavy drift off 

 the barrier, and covered the rigging with a thick rime, giving 

 the ship a very wintry appearance. We now shaped course 

 directly for Victoria Land, having no longer an object in 

 following the irregularities of the barrier. On the following 

 day, February 5, the wind came fair, and we were able to 

 make sail and so effect better progress. 



On the 6th we sighted a large number of icebergs, and 

 suddenly recognised one which had been seen and sketched 

 on January 25 on our passage to the eastward. It was a 

 curious, dilapidated berg, shaped somewhat like a ship, and 



