398 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY* [Oct. 



1 Hoping to find out more about the New Harbour glacier, 

 on the 21st they dragged their sledges over a rise of 1,000 feet 

 towards its entrance. They had great difficulty with the steep 

 descents, but eventually made their way down safely. A 

 second examination of this region did not give any more 

 promising results than the first, and Armitage came to the 

 conclusion that to attempt to reach the mainland by this route 

 was impracticable. On the 22nd they started their homeward 

 journey, skirting now around the base of the long snow-slope 

 on recently formed sea-ice. It was about this time that, in 

 cogitating over recent events in the journey, Armitage began to 

 suspect that there was something wrong with the health of the 

 party. Several men had complained of sprains and bruises 

 which seemed to give pain without much cause ; he thought, 

 too, that they tired more easily than strong men should have 

 done, and it seemed especially curious that such an active 

 officer as Ferrar should have collapsed under a hard day's 

 work. The thought of scurvy, however, did not enter the 

 leader's head, and he was inclined to put the troubles down to 

 the horrible weather conditions and to the fact that so few of 

 them had been able to sleep. 



' As the party gradually made their way back to the ship, 

 things got worse and his alarm grew. The light sledges hung 

 heavily on the men, and though there were no complaints, 

 several seemed only to keep themselves going with an effort. 

 The evening of the 25th found them within a few miles of the 

 ship, and in such a crippled state that Armitage thought it 

 wiser to struggle right on till they reached her, which they did 

 at 6 a.m. on the 26th. 



' The result of Wilson's medical examination of this party 

 on their return has been handed to me ; the gist of it is that 

 Heald, Mr. Ferrar and Cross have very badly swollen legs, 

 whilst Heald's are discoloured as well. Heald and Cross have 

 also swollen and spongy gums. The remainder of the party 

 seem fairly well, but not above suspicion ; Walker's ankles 

 are slightly swollen. 



1 Of course there is no good blinking our eyes to the fact 



