THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



as already explained, I did not want to run any risk of 

 losing another pony from our sadly diminished team. 

 We proceeded close in by the skuary, and a little further 

 on pitched camp for lunch. Professor David, whose 

 thirst for knowledge could not be quenched, imme- 

 diately went off to investigate the geology of the neigh- 

 bourhood. After lunch we started to pull our sledge 

 round the coast towards Hut Point, but the weather 

 became worse, making progress difficult, and at 6 p.m. 

 we camped close to the tide-crack at the south side of 

 Turk's Head. We slept well and soundly, although 

 the temperature was about forty degrees below zero, and 

 the experience made me more than ever convinced of the 

 superiority of one-man sleeping-bags. 



On the following morning, August 13, we marched 

 across to Glacier Tongue, having to cross a wide crack 

 that had been ridged up by ice-pressure between Tent 

 Island and the Tongue. As soon as we had crossed we 

 saw the depot standing up clear against the sky-line on 

 the Tongue. This was the depot that had been made 

 by the ship soon after our first arrival in the Sound. 

 We found no difficulty in getting on to the Tongue, for 

 a fairly gentle slope led up from the sea-ice to the glacier 

 surface. The snow had blown over from the south 

 during the winter and made a good way. We found the 

 depot intact, though the cases, lying on the ice, had 

 been bleached to a light yellow colour by the wind and 

 sun. We had lunch on the south side of the Tongue, 

 and found there another good way down to the sea ice. 

 There is a very awkward crack on the south side, but 

 this can hardly be called a tide-crack. I think it is 

 due to the fact that the tide has more effect on the 

 sea ice than on the heavy mass of the Tongue, though 

 there is no doubt this also is afloat; the rise and fall 

 of the two sections of ice are not coincident, and a 



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