i 9 o2] ACCIDENT TO CAPE CROZIER PARTY 173 



was some wind in the night. My leg better, and was able to 

 hobble to the shore station on a tour of inspection. Quite a 

 number of small round sponges have been picked up on the 

 hillsides; they must have been cast up on the ice-foot and 

 there dried, until they became so light that the wind caught 

 them up and whirled them to the rocky crannies above. The 

 men go out very regularly for exercise; they have mostly 

 given up their ski and have taken to tobogganing. Toboggans 

 are made of a pair of ski and the end of a packing case. As 

 many of the slopes are extremely steep, the pace is sometimes 

 terrific, and the least unevenness of surface inevitably causes 

 a capsize, when toboggan and man come whirling down in a 

 cloud of snow, much to the delight of the onlookers. 



1 The sun circles so low now that the effects of sunset are 

 visible for many hours, and the changes of light are very 

 gradual and very beautiful. As I returned from my walk at 

 six, the western sky bore a saffron tint, deepening to crimson 

 where the dark blue mountains were clearly outlined against 

 it ; the fleecy clouds showed dark, with bright gilded edges 

 where they stood against the sky, and whitish grey where they 

 nestled in the distant valleys. And yet now, five hours later, 

 though heavier cumulus clouds have spread overhead, the saffron 

 tint can still be seen through breaks in the cloudy mantle, 

 whilst the clear horizon has only turned to a richer crimson. 

 The beauties of the sky are reflected in deeper tone on the 

 patchy surface of the young ice, in which a few puffs of wind 

 have traced ink-black leads of open water. But it is still sun- 

 set, as it was five hours ago.' 



Tuesday, March 11, was to be one of our blackest days in 

 the Antarctic, but we had little suspicion of this as the day- 

 light hours passed quietly, and we remained snugly in our 

 comfortable quarters on board the ship. Since the departure 

 of our sledge party the weather had been exceptionally fine ; 

 but we awoke on the nth to find the wind blowing from the 

 east ; in the afternoon it increased in strength, and the air 

 was filled with thick driving snow. The main part of our 

 outdoor work was accomplished, and as there was plenty to 



