476 WORST JOURNEY IN THE WORLD 



during the last few days I for one was very glad of it. We 

 came on behind, and in sight of the mules this last march, 

 and the change in the dogs was wonderful. Where it 

 had been a job to urge them on over quite as good a sur- 

 face yesterday, to-day for some time we could not get off 

 the sledge except for short runs : although we had taken 

 312 lbs. weight off the mules and loaded it on to the 

 dogs. 



We had a most glorious night for marching, and it is 

 now bright sunlight, and the animals' fur is quite warm 

 where the sun strikes it. We have just had a bit of a fight 

 over the dog-food, Vaida going for Dyk, and now the 

 others are somewhat excited, and there are constant growl- 

 ings and murmurings. 



The camp makes more of a mark than last year, for the 

 mules are dark while the ponies were white or grey, and 

 the cloths are brown instead of light green. The conse- 

 quence is that the camp shows up from a long distance off. 

 We are building cairns at regular distances, and there 

 should be no difficulty in keeping on the course in fair 

 weather at any rate. Now in the land of big sastrugi. 

 Erebus is beginning to look small, but we could see an 

 unusually big smoke from the crater all day. 



November 7. Early morning. Not an easy day. It was 

 - 9 and overcast when we turned out, and the wind was 

 then dying down, but it had been blowing up to force 5, 

 with surface drift during the day. We started in a bad light 

 and the surface, which was the usual hard surface common 

 here, with big sastrugi, was covered by a thin layer of 

 crystals which were then falling. This naturally made it 

 very much harder pulling : we with the dogs have been 

 running nearly all the twelve miles, and I for one am tired. 

 At lunch Atkinson thought he saw a tent away to our right, 

 — the very thought of it came as a shock, — but it proved to 

 be a false alarm. We have been keeping a sharp look-out 

 for the gear which was left about this part by the Last 

 Return Party, but have seen no sign of it. 



It is now - 1 4 , but the sun is shining brightly in a 

 clear sky, and it feels beautifully warm. It seems a very 



