THE POLAR JOURNEY 327 



oats on the surface of the snow hoping to get a measure- 

 ment of the accretion of snow during the winter. Unfor- 

 tunately we were unable to find the oats again, but other 

 evidence went to show that the snow deposit was very 

 small. A minimum thermometer which was lashed with 

 great care to a framework registered - 73 . After the 

 temperatures already experienced by us on the Barrier 

 during the winter and spring this was surprisingly high, 

 especially as our minimum temperatures were taken under 

 the sledge, which means that the thermometer is shaded 

 from radiation, while this thermometer at One Ton was 

 left open to the sky. On the Winter Journey we found 

 that a shaded thermometer registered - 6g° when an un- 

 shaded one registered - 75 , a difference of 6°. All the 

 provisions left here were found to be in excellent condition. 



We then had a prolonged council of war. This meant 

 that Scott called Bowers, and perhaps Oates, into our tent 

 after supper was finished in the morning. Somehow these 

 conferences were always rather serio-comic. On this occa- 

 sion, as was usually the case, the question was ponies. It 

 was decided to wait here one day and rest them, as there 

 was ample food. The main discussion centred round the 

 amount of forage to be taken on from here, while the state 

 of the ponies, the amount they could pull and the distance 

 they could go had to be taken into consideration. 



"Oates thinks the ponies will get through, but that 

 they have lost condition quicker than he expected. Con- 

 sidering his usually pessimistic attitude this must be 

 thought a hopeful view. Personally I am much more 

 hopeful. I think that a good many of the beasts are 

 actually in better form than when they started, and that 

 there is no need to be alarmed about the remainder, 

 always excepting the weak ones which we have always 

 regarded with doubt. Well, we must wait and see how 

 things go." 1 



The decision made was to take just enough food to get 

 the ponies to the glacier, allowing for the killing of some 

 of them before that date. It was obvious that Jehu and 



1 Scott's Last Expedition, vol. i. p. 465. 



