PREPARING A DEPOT 



at 5 a.m. in the face of a bitterly cold wind from the 

 north-east, with low drift. We marched without a 

 stop for nine miles, until we reached Glacier Tongue, 

 and then had an early lunch. An afternoon march of 

 fourteen miles took us to the winter quarters at Cape 

 Royds, where we arrived at 5 p.m. We were not 

 expected at the hut, for the weather was thick and windy, 

 but our comrades were delighted to see us, and we had 

 a hearty dinner and enjoyed the luxury of a good 

 bath. 



The chief result of this journey was to convince me 

 that we could not place much reliance on the motor-car 

 for the southern journey. Professor David and Armi- 

 tage had received a good baptism of frost, and as it 

 was very desirable that all the members of the expedi- 

 tion should have personal experience of travelling over 

 the ice and snow in low temperatures before the real 

 work began, I arranged to despatch a small party every 

 week to sledge stores and equipment south to Hut 

 Point. These journeys were much alike in general 

 character, though they all gave rise to incidents that 

 were afterwards related in the winter quarters, and it 

 will be sufficient if I describe briefly one trip as a 

 specimen. 



On September 1, Wild, Day and Priestley started 

 for Hut Point via Glacier Tongue with 450 lb. of gear 

 and provisions, their instructions being to leave 230 lb. 

 of provisions at the Discovery hut in readiness for the 

 southern journey. They made a start at 10.20 a.m., 

 being accompanied by Brocklehurst with a pony for 

 the first five miles. The weather was fine, but a very 

 low barometer gave an indication that bad weather 

 was coming. I did not hesitate to let these parties face 

 bad weather, because the road they were to travel was 

 well known, and a rough experience would be very useful 



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