THE HOMEWARD JOURNEY 



was that the sky once more cleared up, so that we could con- 

 tinue immediately after taking a noon observation which 

 showed us that we were on N. Lat. 75° 45'. After 20 kilo- 

 metres' march we had again to stop because of thick weather 

 and snow, so we definitely made camp for the day. 



Over a Pipe of Tobacco. 



August 17th. — It blew bravely last night, it beat and 

 whipped across our thin canvas tent, which has now the appear- 

 ance of a veteran ; and as we have no sleeping-bags and our 

 clothes are wet with the perspiration of the long marches, our 

 sleep was interrupted by little shudders of cold and frequent 

 stamping of the feet. 



In the middle of the night, after only two hours' sleep, I 

 light my pipe to think seriously about the position. Apart 

 from our dogs, which are no longer in the best condition, we 

 have provisions merely for two or three days. The only thing 

 we possess in abundance is paraffin ; therefore another week 

 will be possible on boiled dog meat — if one can really call that 

 thin bony food by the name meat. A more serious thing is 

 that, in a couple of days, we ourselves must pull the sledges 

 when the dogs can carry on no longer and are reduced to being 

 food for man. We yet possess nine, but their number speedily 

 decreases. Also other circumstances contribute to the desir- 

 ability of reaching land quickly. Harrigan carries a swollen 

 hand in a sling ; Koch has just got over an awful gumboil which 

 closed entirely one of his eyes, and he has now acquired a 

 choicely vicious boil under the nail of the big toe. Wulff is 

 walking, to speak plainly, with a boil on his behind, which I am 

 daily doctoring, and all these little painful incidents, in addition 

 to the daily semi-starvation which gradually develops into a 

 downright feeling of hunger, necessitate that we should as 

 quickly as possible find land and hunting. We had hoped to 

 be able to reach the land behind Marshall Bay, but it now seems 

 improbable that we can cover the remaining 200 kilometres. 

 I therefore decide, after this night's communion with myself, 

 to try a descent in the neighbourhood of Cape Agassiz. From 

 P 225 



