376 WORST JOURNEY IN THE WORLD 



December 30, 191 1. Sledges going heavy, surface 

 and wind the same as yesterday. We depoted our ski to- 

 night, that is the party returning to-morrow^ when we march 

 in the forenoon and camp to change our sledge runners 

 into 10 feet. Done 1 1 miles but a bit stiff. 



December 31, 191 1. After doing 7 miles we camped 

 and done the sledges which took us until 1 1 p.m., and we 

 had to dig out to get them done by then, made a depot and 

 saw the old year out and the new year in. We all wondered 

 where we should be next New Year. It was so still and 

 quiet ; the weather was dull and overcast all night, in fact 

 we have not seen much of the sun lately ; it would be so 

 nice if we could sometimes get a glimpse of it, the sun is 

 always cheering. 



January 1912. New Tear's Day. We pushed on as 

 usual, but were rather late getting away, 9.10 — something 

 unusual for us to be as late. The temperature and wind is 

 still very troublesome. We are now ahead of Shackleton's 

 dates and have passed the 87th parallel, so it is only 180 

 miles to the Pole. 



January 2, 19 12. The dragging is still very heavy 

 and we seem to be always climbing higher. We are now 

 over 10,000 feet above sea level. It makes it bad as we 

 don't get enough heat in our food and the tea is not strong 

 enough to run out of the pot. Everything gets cold so 

 quickly, the water boils at about 19 6° F. 



Scott's own diary of this first fortnight on the plateau 

 shows the immense shove of the man : he was getting every 

 inch out of the miles, every ounce out of his companions. 

 Also he was in a hurry, he always was. That blizzard which 

 had delayed him just before the Gateway, and the resulting 

 surfaces which had delayed him in the lower reaches of the 

 glacier ! One can feel the averages running through his 

 brain : so many miles to-day : so many more to-morrow. 

 When shall we come to an end of this pressure ? Can we 

 go straight or must we go more west ? And then the great 

 undulating waves with troughs eight miles wide, and the 

 buried mountains, causing whirlpools in the ice — how 



