49o WORST JOURNEY IN THE WORLD 



was caught against one of the cairns. They left a flag there 

 to guide us, and though we saw and brought along the 

 flag, we never saw the cairns. The temperature is - 22. 5 , 

 and it is now blowing a full blizzard. All this snow has 

 hitherto been lying on the ground and making a very soft 

 surface, for though the wind has always been blowing it 

 has never been very strong. This snow and wind, which 

 have now persisted for nine out of the last ten days, make 

 most dispiriting marches; for there is nothing to see, and 

 finding tracks or steering is a constant strain. We are cer- 

 tainly lucky to have been able to march as we have. 



Note on Mules. — The most ardent admirer of mules 

 could not say that they were a success. The question is 

 whether they might be made so. There was really only one 

 thing against them but that is a very important one — they 

 would not eat on the Barrier. From the time they went 

 away to the day they returned (those that did return, poor 

 things) they starved themselves, and yet they pulled big- 

 gish loads for 30 days. 



If they would have eaten they would have been a huge 

 success. They travelled faster than the ponies and, with one 

 exception, kept together better than the ponies. If both 

 were eating their ration it is questionable whether a good 

 mule or a good pony is to be preferred. Our mules were of 

 the best, and they were beautifully trained and equipped 

 by the Indian Government: yet on November 13, a fort- 

 night from the start, Wright records, "mules are a poor 

 substitute for ponies. Not many will see Hut Point again, 

 I think. Doubt if any would have got much farther than 

 this if surfaces had been as bad this year as last." 1 



Though they would not eat oats, compressed fodder 

 and oil-cake, they were quite willing to eat all kinds of other 

 things. If we could have arrived at the mule equivalent to 

 a vegetarian diet they might have pulled to the Beardmore 

 without stopping. The nearest to this diet at which we 

 could arrive was saennegrass, tea-leaves, tobacco ash and 

 rope — all of which were eaten with gusto. But supplies 

 were very limited. They ate dog-biscuit as long as they 



1 Wright's diary. 



