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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



We reached on December 26 a plateau, 

 after crossing ice falls, at an altitude of 

 9,000 feet, thence rising gradually in long 

 ridges to 10,500 feet. 



Finishing the relay work, we discarded 

 our second sledge. There was a constant 

 southerly blizzard, wind, and drifting 

 snow, with the temperature ranging from 

 37 to 70 degrees of frost. We lost sight 

 of the new mountains on December 27. 



Finding the party weakening from the 

 effects of the shortage of food and rare- 

 fied air and cold, I decided to risk making 

 a depot on the plateau. We proceeded 

 on January 4 with one tent, utilizing the 

 poles of the second tent for guiding 

 marks for our return. The surface be- 

 came soft and the blizzard continued. 



WITHIN III MILES OF THE) POLE) 



For sixty hours during January 7, 8, 

 and 9 the blizzard raged, with 72 0 of 

 frost and the wind blowing seventy miles 

 an hour. It was impossible to move. 

 Members of the party were frequently 

 frostbitten in their sleeping bags. We 

 left camp on January 9 and reached lati- 

 tude 88° 23', longitude 162 0 . 



This is the most southerly point ever 

 reached. Here we hoisted the Union 

 Jack presented to us by the Queen. No 

 mountains were visible. We saw a plain 

 stretching to the south. 



We returned to pick up our depot on 

 the plateau, guided by our outward 

 tracks, for the flags attached to the tent 

 poles had been blown away. Less violent 

 blizzards blowing at our backs helped us 

 to travel from twenty to twenty-nine 

 miles daily. We reached the upper 

 glacier depot on January 19. 



The snow had been blown from the 

 glacier surface, leaving slippery, blue ice. 

 The descent was slow work in the heavy 

 gale. The sledge was lowered by stages 

 by the Alpine rope. 



On the morning of January 26 our 

 food was finished. It was slow going. Six- 

 teen miles were covered in twenty-two 

 hours' march. The snow was two feet 

 deep, concealing the crevasses. We 

 reached the lower glacier depot in lati- 

 tude 83 0 45' on the afternoon of Janu- 

 ary 27. There we obtained food and, 



proceeding, reached the Grisi depot, 

 named after the dead pony, on Febru- 

 ary 2. 



There was no food remaining. Wild 

 was suffering from dysentery, the effect 

 of horse meat. The entire party were 

 prostrated by dysentery on February 4 

 and were unable to move. The dysentery 

 continued eight days, but helped by 

 strong southerly blizzards we reached 

 Chinaman depot on February 13. The 

 food had again run out. 



The blizzards continued, with 50 0 of 

 frost. We discarded everything except 

 our camp outfit and geological specimens 

 and on February 20 reached the next 

 depot, all our food being finished. 



Helped by the southerly blizzard, 

 which was accompanied by 67 0 of frost, 

 we reached on February 23 a depot on 

 Minna Bluff, which had been laid by 

 the Joyce party in January. Here we 

 received news from the ship. Marshall 

 had a relapse and return of dysentery. 



We made a forced march of twenty- 

 four miles on February 26. Marshall 

 was suffering greatly. On February 27 

 Marshall was unable to march. I left 

 him in camp in charge of Adams, while 

 Wild and I made a forced march to the 

 ship for relief. I returned on March 1 

 with a relief party, and all reached the 

 ship at Hut Point on March 4 in a bliz- 

 zard. 



The total distance of the journey, in- 

 cluding relays, was 1,708 statute miles. 

 The time occupied was 126 days. The 

 main result is a good geological collec- 

 tion. We found coal measures in lime- 

 stone. We also made a complete mete- 

 orological record. We discovered eight 

 distinct mountain ranges and more than 

 a hundred mountains. We surveyed and 

 photographed many glaciers and found 

 signs of former greater glaciation. 



The Geographical South Pole is doubt- 

 less situated on a plateau, from 10,000 

 to 11,000 feet above the sea level. The 

 new mountains' altitudes range from 

 3,000 to 12,000 feet approximately. The 

 violent blizzards in latitude 88° show that 

 if the "polar calm" exists it must be in 

 a small area or is not coincident with 

 the Geographic Pole. 



