THE POLAR JOURNEY 511 



broken sledge-runner of Amundsen's which we had found 

 at the Pole and made a temporary yard of. 



"As we had marched extra long in the forenoon in 

 order to reach the depot, our afternoon march was shorter 

 than usual. The wind increased to a moderate gale with 

 heavy gusts and considerable drift. We should have had a 

 bad time had we been facing it. After an hour I had to 

 shift my harness aft so as to control the motions of the 

 sledge. Unfortunately the surface got very sandy latterly, 

 but we finished up with 16. 1 miles to our credit and camped 

 in a stiff breeze, which resolved itself into a blizzard a few 

 hours later. I was glad we had our depot safe." 



" January 2 1 . Wind increased to force 8 during night 

 with heavy drift. In the morning it was blizzing like blazes 

 and marching was out of the question. The wind would 

 have been of great assistance to us, but the drift was so 

 thick that steering a course would have been next to im- 

 possible. We decided to await developments a<nd get under 

 weigh as soon as it showed any signs of clearing. Fortun- 

 ately it was shortlived, and instead of lasting the regulation 

 two days it eased up in the afternoon, and 3.45 found us off 

 with our sail full. It was good running on ski but soft 

 plodding for me on foot. I shall be jolly glad to pick up my 

 dear old ski. They are nearly 200 miles away yet, however. 

 The breeze fell altogether latterly and I shifted up into my 

 old place as middle number of the five. Our distance com- 

 pleted was $.5 miles, when camp was made again. Our old 

 cairns are of great assistance to us, also the tracks, which 

 are obliterated in places by heavy drift and hard sastrugi, 

 but can be followed easily." 



" January 22. We came across Evans' sheepskin 

 boots this morning. They were almost covered up after 

 their long spell since they fell off the sledge [on January 

 11]. The breeze was fair from the S.S.W. but got lighter 

 and lighter. At lunch camp we had completed 8.2 miles. 

 In the afternoon the breeze fell altogether, and the surface, 

 acted on by the sun, became perfect sawdust. The light 

 sledge pulled by five men came along like a drag without 

 a particle of slide or give. We were all glad to camp soon 



