THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



less marked. The car reached a point a quarter of a 

 mile distant from the Tongue, and the sledge was hauled 

 the rest of the way by the men, as the surface was very 

 soft. The return journey presented fewer difficulties, 

 for Day was able to drive in the outward tracks. The 

 total distance covered by the car that day was at least 

 thirty miles, and the speed had ranged from three to 

 fifteen miles an hour. The three men left the winter 

 quarters at 9.30 a.m., and arrived back at 6.45 p.m., 

 having accomplished an amount of work that would have 

 occupied six men for two or three days without the assist- 

 ance of the car. 



It was always a matter of difficulty to get the car 

 from the hut to the sea ice, and this was often the most 

 formidable part of a journey. A short slope at an 

 angle of about forty-five degrees, led down to the large 

 tide-crack, and beyond this were some smaller cracks 

 and one large crack with hummocky ice on either side 

 of it and big drifts. Sometimes the car got stuck 

 altogether, and then the assistance of all hands would 

 be required to pull and push. The car could not be 

 left on the sea ice because no shelter could be provided 

 there, and a blizzard might sweep down at very short 

 notice. 



About September 14 we started to make active 

 preparations for the depot journey. I decided to place 

 a depot one hundred geographical miles south of the 

 Discovery winter quarters, the depot to consist of pony 

 maize. If by any chance we were not able to pick it 

 up when going south on our attempt to reach the Pole, 

 the loss of the maize would be a less serious matter than 

 the loss of any portion of the provisions for our own 

 consumption. I did not anticipate that there would 

 be much difficulty in picking up the depot again, but 

 there was the possibility that severe weather might 



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