SUSPENSE 425 



when it was still far away, and they had done so when 

 Crean came in on his walk from Corner Camp. We were 

 cheered by the noise. But no party arrived, and the sing- 

 ing of the dogs was explained later by some seal appear- 

 ing on the new ice in Arrival Bay. Atkinson decided 

 to go out on to the Barrier man-hauling with Keohane on 

 the 26th. It was obvious that I could not go with them: 

 he told me afterwards that when I came in with the dog- 

 teams he was sure I could not go out again. 



" March 2 5. The wind cameaway yesterday evening, first 

 S.W. and then S.E. but not bad, though very thick. It was 

 a surprise to find we could see the Western Mountains this 

 morning, and I believe it has been a good day on the Bar- 

 rier, though it is still blowing with low drift this evening. 

 We are now on the days when I expect the Polar Party 

 in: pray God I may be right. Atkinson and I look at 

 one another, and he looks, and I feel, quite haggard with 

 anxiety. He says he does not think they have scurvy. We 

 both, I think, feel quite comfortable, in comparison, about 

 Campbell : he only wants to exercise care, and his great 

 care was almost a byword on the ship. They are fresh and 

 they have plenty of seal. 1 He discussed with Pennell both 

 the possibility of shipwreck and that of the ship being un- 

 able to get to him, and for this reason landed an extra 

 month's rations as a depot; also he contemplated the idea of 

 living on seal. He knows of the Butter Point Depot, and 

 knows that a party has been sledging in that neighbourhood: 

 though he does not know of the depots they left at Cape 

 Roberts and Cape Bernacchi, they are right out on the 

 Points and Taylor says he could not miss them on his way 

 down the coast." 2 



This day Atkinson thought he saw Campbell's party 

 coming in, and the next day Keohane and Dimitri came in 

 great excitement and said they could see them, and we 

 were out on the Point and on the sea-ice in the drift for 

 quite a long time. "Last night we had turned in about 

 two hours when five or six knocks were hit on the little 



1 As a matter of fact this was not the case. 

 2 My own diary. 



