THE MOTOR-CAR TRIED 



to be impossible, as the acid and water froze solid, 

 but the magneto gave no trouble. A second petrol 

 tank, which fed the carburetter by gravity, was taken 

 off in order to save weight. The car had a drip-feed 

 lubricator for oiling the crank-case, but as the oil got 

 frozen in the pipes it was not at all reliable, so oil was 

 poured into the case through holes every five miles or 

 so. Ordinary heavy oil got thick at a temperature of 

 20° Fahr., and solid at zero Fahr., but a special Antarctic 

 oil supplied by Messrs. Price and Co. gave good results 

 even at a temperature of minus 30° Fahr. 



The power was transmitted to the gear-box through 

 a leather- faced case clutch, and the gears, which were 

 specially low, were four speeds forward and one reverse. 

 When Day first tried to get the car under way he found 

 that he could not declutch, as the leather had frozen 

 to the metal, and it was necessary to warm up the parts 

 and dry them off with a sponge. We had wheels of 

 several types, but soon found that ordinary wheels 

 with rubber tyres and non-skid chains gave the best 

 results. At a temperature of minus 30° Fahr. the tyres 

 became quite hard, with no spring in them, but we had 

 no tyre troubles at all, even when the ice was very 

 rough. 



On September 19 the motor-car took Day, Rrockle- 

 hurst and Adams, with a sledge on which were packed 

 750 lb. of stores, to lay a depot at Glacier Tongue for 

 the southern journey. There was a stiff breeze blowing, 

 with a temperature of minus 23° Fahr., but the car ran 

 well for eight miles as far as Inaccessible Island over 

 the sea ice. Then it got into the heavy sastrugi caused 

 by the wind blowing between Inaccessible Island and 

 Tent Island, and was stopped by soft snow, into which 

 it ploughed deeply. An easier route was found about 

 a mile further north, at a point where the sastrugi were 



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