THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



999 



order to look ahead, found coal, six 

 seams ranging from 4 inches to 7 or 8 

 feet in thickness, with sandstone inter- 

 vening. Close to this point I found a 

 piece of sandstone showing an impres- 

 sion, and microscopic investigation has 

 shown that this was fossil coniferous 

 wood. 



The glacier proved to be about 130 

 miles in length, rising to an altitude of 

 over 9,000 feet. Christmas day, 190S, 

 found us in latitude 85 ° 55' south, a 

 plateau with ice-falls appearing to the 

 ■south. Much glaciated land trended to 

 "the southeast, apoarently ending in a 

 "high mountain shaped like a keep. The 

 land to the west had been left behind. 

 It was evident that we were still below 

 the plateau level, and, though we were 

 getting free of crevasses, we were hin- 

 dered by much soft snow. The level was 

 rising in a series of steep ridges about 7 

 miles apart. We had started to reduce 

 rations before leaving the Barrier sur- 

 face, and by Christmas day were march- 

 ing on very short commons. Our tem- 

 perature was 2 subnormal, but other- 

 wise we were well and fit. 



On December 31 we camped in lati- 

 tude 86° 54' south. We had not yet 

 reached the plateau level, for slopes still 

 lay ahead, and our altitude was about 

 10,000 feet. We had three weeks' food 

 on a reduced ration, and were 186 geo- 

 graphical miles from the pole. The land 

 had been left behind, and we were travel- 

 ing over a white expanse of snow, still 

 "with rising slopes ahead. We were 

 weakening from the combined effects of 

 short food, low temperature, high alti- 

 tude, and heavy work. We were able to 

 march on the first six days of January, 

 and on the night of January 6 camped in 

 latitude 88° 7' south. We had increased 

 the daily ration, for it had become evi- 

 dent that vitality could not be maintained 

 on the amount of food we had been 

 taking. I had been forced to abandon 

 the hope of reaching the pole, and we 

 "were concentrating our efforts on getting 

 ■within 100 miles of the goal. 



CAUGHT IN A BUZZARD 



A fierce blizzard blew on January 7 

 and 8, and made any inarch impossible. 

 We lay in our sleeping bags, frequently 

 attacked by frost-bite. The following 

 paragraphs are quoted from my diary. 



"January 7. — A blinding, shrieking 

 blizzard all day, with the temperature 

 ranging from 6o° to 70° of frost. It 

 has been impossible to leave the tent, 

 which is snowed up on the lee side. We 

 have been lying in our bags all day, only 

 warm at food time, with fine snow mak- 

 ing through the walls of the worn tent 

 and covering our bags. We are greatly 

 cramped. Adams is suffering from cramp 

 every now and then. We are eating our 

 valuable food without marching. 



The wind has been blowing 80 to 90 

 miles an hour. We can hardly sleep. 

 Tomorrow I trust this will be over. 

 Directly the wind drop's we inarch as far 

 south as possible, then plant the flag 

 and turn homeward. Our chief anxiety 

 is that our tracks may drift up, for to 

 them we must trust mainly to find our 

 depot ; we have no land bearings in this 

 great plain of snow. It is a serious risk 

 that we have taken, but we had to play 

 the game to the utmost, and Providence 

 will look after us. 



January 8. — Again all day in our bags, 

 suffering considerably physically from 

 cold hands and feet and from hunger, 

 but more mentally, for we cannot get on 

 south, and we simply lie here shivering. 

 Every now and then one of our party's 

 feet go, and the unfortunate beggar has 

 to take his leg out of the sleeping bag 

 and have his frozen foot nursed into life 

 again by placing it inside the shirt, 

 against the skin, of his almost equally 

 unfortunate neighbor. 



We must do something more to the 

 south, even though the food is going, 

 and we weaken lying in the cold, for 

 with 72° of frost the wind cuts through 

 our thin tent, and even the drift is find- 

 ing its way in and on to our bags, which 

 are wet enough as it is. Cramp is not 

 uncommon every now and then, and the 



