4 o6 WORST JOURNEY IN THE WORLD 



asleep. We are looking for a mail now. How funny we 

 should always be looking for something else, now we are 

 safe. 



[End of Lashly's Diary.] 



Crean has told me the story of his walk as follows : 

 He started at 10 on Sunday morning and "the surface 

 was good, very- good surface indeed," and he went about 

 sixteen miles before he stopped. Good clear weather. He 

 had three biscuits and two sticks of chocolate. He stopped 

 about five minutes, sitting on the snow, and ate two biscuits 

 and the chocolate, and put one biscuit back in his pocket. 

 He was quite warm and not sleepy. 



He carried on just the same and passed Safety Camp on 

 his right some five hours later, and thinks it was about 

 twelve-thirty on Monday morning that he reached the edge 

 of the Barrier, tired, getting cold in the back and the 

 weather coming on thick. It was bright behind him but 

 it was coming over the Bluff, and White Island was ob- 

 scured though he could still see Cape Armitage and Castle 

 Rock. He slipped a lot on the sea-ice, having several falls 

 on to his back and it was getting thicker all the time. At 

 the Barrier edge there was a light wind, now it was blowing 

 a strong wind, drifting and snowing. He made for the Gap 

 and could not get up at first. To avoid taking a lot out of 

 himself he started to go round Cape Armitage ; but soon 

 felt slush coming through his finnesko (he had no cram- 

 pons) and made back for the Gap. He climbed up to the 

 left of the Gap and climbed along the side of Observation 

 Hill to avoid the slippery ice. When he got to the top it was 

 still clear enough to see vaguely the outline of Hut Point, 

 but he could see no sledges nor dogs. He sat down under 

 the lee of Observation Hill, and finished his biscuit with a 

 bit of ice : "I was very dry, ' ' — slid down the side of Obser- 

 vation Hill and thought at this time there was open water 

 below, for he had no goggles on the march and his eyes 

 were strained. But on getting near the ice-foot he found it 

 was polished sea-ice and made his way round to the hut 

 under the ice-foot. When he got close he saw the dogs and 



