446 WORST JOURNEY IN THE WORLD 



two feet thick, we had considered sure to stay. On it has 

 gone out the North Bay thermometer screen with its in- 

 struments, which was placed 400 yards out, the fish-trap, 

 some shovels and a sledge with a crowbar. The gusts were 

 exceptionally strong at lunch, and the ice must have gone 

 out very quickly. There was no sign of it afterwards, though 

 it was not drifting much and we could see some distance. 

 To lose this ice in North Bay is a great disappointment, for 

 it means so much to us here whether we have ice or water 

 at our doors. We are now pretty well confined to the cape 

 both for our own exercise and that of the mules, and in the 

 dark it is very rough walking. But if the ice in South Bay 

 were to follow, it would be a calamity, cutting us off en- 

 tirely from the south and all sledging next year. Let us 

 hope we shall be spared this." 



This blizzard lasted for eight days, up till then the 

 longest blizzard we had experienced: "It died as it had 

 lived, blowing hard to the last, averaging 68 miles an hour 

 from the south, and then 56 miles an hour from the north, 

 finally back to the south, and so to calm. To sit here with 

 no noise of wind whistling in the ventilator, calm and star- 

 light outside, and North Bay freezing over once more, is a 

 very great relief." x 



It is noteworthy that this clearance of the ice, as also 

 that in the beginning of May, coincided roughly with the 

 maximum declination of the moon, and therefore with a 

 run of spring tides. 



It would be tedious to give any detailed account of 

 the winds and drift which followed, night and day. There 

 were few days which did not produce their blizzard, but in 

 contrast the hours of bright starlight were very beautiful. 

 " Walking home over the cape in the darkness this after- 

 noon I saw an eruption of Erebus which, compared with 

 anything we have seen here before, was very big. It looked 

 as though a great mass of flame shot up some thousands 

 of feet into the air, and, as suddenly as it rose, fell again, 

 rising again to about half the height, and then disappearing. 

 There was then a great column of steam rising from the 



1 My own diary. 



