THE WINTER JOURNEY 297 
links with decent civilization which we could still keep 
going. I’ll swear there was still a grace about us when we 
staggered in. And we kept our tempers—even with God. 
We might reach Hut Point to-night: we were burning 
more oil now, that one-gallon tin had lasted us well: and 
burning more candle too; at one time we feared they 
would give out. A hell of a morning we had: — 57° in our 
present state. But it was calm, and the Barrier edge could 
not be much farther now. The surface was getting harder: 
there were afew wind-blown furrows, the crust was coming 
up tous. The sledge was dragging easier: we always sus- 
pected the Barrier sloped downwards hereabouts. Now 
the hard snow was on the surface, peeping out like great 
inverted basins on which we slipped, and our feet became 
warmer for not sinking into soft snow. Suddenly we saw 
a gleam of light in a line of darkness running across our 
course. It was the Barrier edge: we were all right now. 
We ran the sledge off a snow-drift on to the sea-ice, 
with the same cold stream of air flowing down it which 
wrecked my hands five weeks ago: pushed out of this, 
camped and had a meal: the temperature had already 
risen to — 43. We could almost feel it getting warmer as 
we went round Cape Armitage on the last three miles. We 
managed to haul our sledge up the ice foot, and dug the 
drift away from the door. The old hut struck us as fairly 
warm. 
Bill was convinced that we ought not to go into the 
warm hut at Cape Evans when we arrived there—to- 
morrow night! We ought to get back to warmth gradu- 
ally, live in a tent outside, or in the annexe for a day or two. 
But I’m sure we never meant to doit. Just now Hut Point 
did not prejudice us in favour of such abstinence. It was 
just as we had left it: there was nothing sent down for us 
there—no sleeping-bags, nor sugar: but there was plenty 
of oil. Inside the hut we pitched a dry tent left there since 
Depét Journey days, set two primuses going in it; sat doz- 
ing on our bags; and drank cocoa without sugar so thick 
that next morning we were gorged with it. We were very 
happy, falling asleep between each mouthful, and after 
