SUSPENSE 421 



out at 8 a.m. Getting our gear together, and the dogs 

 more or less into order after their six days was cold 

 work, and we started in minus thirties and a head wind. 

 The dogs were mad, — stark, staring lunatics. Dimitri's 

 team wrecked my sledge-meter, and I left it lying on the 

 ground a mile from One Ton. All we could do was to hang 

 on to the sledge and let them go : there wasn't a chance to go 

 back, turn them or steer them. Dimitri broke his driving- 

 stick : my team fought as they went : once I was dragged 

 with my foot pinned under my driving-stick, which was 

 itself jammed in the grummet: several times I only man- 

 aged to catch on anywhere : this went on for six or seven 

 miles, and then they got better." 1 



Our remaining sledge-meter was quite unreliable, but 

 following our outward tracks (for it became thick and over- 

 cast), and judging by our old camping sites, we reckoned 

 that we had done an excellent run of 23 to 24 miles (statute) 

 for the day. The temperature when we camped was only 

 - 1 4 . However it became much colder in the night, and 

 when we turned out it was so thick that I decided we must 

 wait. At 2 p.m. on March 1 1 there was one small patch of 

 blue sky showing, and we started to steer by this : soon it 

 was blowing a mild blizzard, and we stopped after doing 

 what I reckoned was eight miles, steering by trying to 

 keep the wind on my ear: but I think we were turning 

 circles much of the time. It blew hard and was very cold 

 during the night, and we turned out on the morning of 

 March 12 to a blizzard with a temperature of - 23° • this 

 gradually took off, and at 10 a.m. Dimitri said he could see 

 the Bluff, and we were right into the land, and therefore 

 the pressure. This was startling, but later it cleared enough 

 to reassure me, though Dimitri was so certain that during 

 the first part of our run that day I steered east a lot. We 

 did 25 to 30 miles this day in drift and a temperature 

 of -28 . 



By now I was becoming really alarmed and anxious 

 about Dimitri, who seemed to be getting much worse, and 

 to be able to do less and less. Sitting on a sledge the next 



1 My own diary. 



