THE SHADOW OF EREBUS 



by means of his ice-axe. Marshall had a similar experi- 

 ence at about the same time. 



The party arrived at camp shortly after 6 p.m., 

 and found Brocklehurst progressing as well as could be 

 expected. They sat on the rocks after tea admiring 

 the glorious view to the west. Below them was a vast 

 rolling sea of cumulus cloud, and far away the western 

 mountains glowed in the setting sun. Next morning, 

 when they got up at 4 a.m., they had a splendid view of 

 the shadow of Erebus projected on the field of cumulus 

 cloud below them by the rising sun. Every detail of 

 the profile of the mountain as outlined on the clouds 

 could be readily recognised. After breakfast, while 

 Marshall was attending to Brocklehurst's feet, the 

 hypsometer, which had become frozen on the way up, 

 was thawed out and a determination of the boiling- 

 point made. This, when reduced and combined with 

 the mean of the aneroid levels, made the altitude of 

 the old crater rim, just above the camp, 11,400 ft. 

 At 6 a.m. the party left the camp and made all speed 

 to reach the summit of the present crater. On their 

 way across the old crater, Mawson photographed the 

 fumarole that resembled the lion and also took a view 

 of the active crater about one and a half miles distant, 

 though there was considerable difficulty in taking 

 photographs owing to the focal plane shutter having 

 become jammed by frost. Near the furthest point 

 reached by the travellers on the preceding afternoon they 

 observed several patches of yellow ice and found on 

 examination that the colour was due to sulphur. They 

 next ascended several r.ather steep slopes formed of 

 alternating beds of hard snow and vast quantities of 

 large and perfect felspar crystals, mixed with pumice. 

 A little further on they reached the base of the vol- 

 cano's active cone. Their progress now was painfully 



183 



