THE DEPOT JOURNEY 119 
animals, so we had to peg them down with anything we 
could and bank them up with snow. 
Weary was better the next day (February 20) but we 
decided at the outset to go no farther than the Bluff Camp 
where we had left some fodder. This was barely 10 miles 
off, yet my old animal showed signs of lassitude before the 
end; there was nothing alarming, however, and we saw 
the depot over five miles off which interested the beasts, 
who see these things and somehow connect them, in the 
backs of their silly old heads, with food and rest. Weary 
Willie made a decided improvement, so we camped in high 
spirits. Captain Scott had asked me if possible to take 
some theodolite observations for the determination of the 
position of Bluff Camp. Ours is much farther off and 
farther beyond the Bluff than the old Discovery Depét A, 
which was practically the same position Shackleton used. 
In both cases, Scott and Shackleton were keeping nearer 
the coast; now, however, that the Beardmore has been dis- 
covered we can aim straight for that, which takes one 
farther east by at least 15 miles off the Bluff. This is rather 
an advantage, I think, as close in to this remarkable head- 
land the onward movement of the Barrier arrested by the 
immovable hills causes a terrific chaos of crevasses off the 
cliffs at the end. These extend many miles and include 
some chasms big enough to take the Terra Nova all stand- 
ing. Needless to remark, one is well clear of this sort of 
scenery with ponies—hence our course. I was unable to 
get any observations, unfortunately, as it clouded over al- 
most at once and later in the day started to snow without 
wind. This often happens before a bliz, and as we were 
anxious about the ponies to say nothing of our own short- 
age of biscuit we felt a trifle apprehensive. It was very 
gloomy when we left camp at midnight, as the midnight 
sun was already cartwheeling the southern horizon, the 
first sign of autumn, also the season had undoubtedly 
broken up, and the sky was covered with low stratus clouds 
as thick as a hedge. We lost sight of the cairn almost at 
once and followed the remains of old tracks for a little while 
till the snowy gloom made it impossible to see them. You 
