THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



running from this. There was a strap over the neck 

 to support the hauling band and a strap across the 

 back, with a girth. The traces were toggled to a 

 swingle-tree, which was attached to the sledge bow in 

 the centre. Our great fear was that the ponies would 

 chafe from the rubbing of the harness when they per- 

 spired and the moisture congealed from the cold, but 

 we had very little trouble from this source. All the 

 buckles were leather-covered in order that no metal 

 might touch the ponies, and we took great care to keep 

 the harness free from ice and dirt. 



The food for the ponies on the march consisted of 

 maize and Maujee ration, with a little of the Australian 

 compressed fodder. Each pony was to have 10 lb. of 

 food per day, and we took in all 900 lb. of food for the 

 animals. The maize was carried in linen bags weighing 

 about eighty pounds each, as was also the Maujee 

 ration. 



I had decided that Murray should be in charge of 

 the expedition during the absence of the Southern Party, 

 and I left with him instructions covering, as far as I 

 could see, all possible contingencies. Priestley was to 

 be given facilities for examining the geological condi- 

 tions on the north slope of Erebus, and at the beginning 

 of December Armytage, Priestley and Brocklehurst 

 were to be sent to lay a depot for the Northern Party 

 and then to proceed into the Western Mountains. All 

 the routine scientific work was to be carried on, and 

 stores were to be transported to Glacier Tongue and 

 Hut Point in case the ice broke up in the sound and 

 cut off the winter quarters from the points further 

 south. On January 15 a depot party was to proceed 

 south in order to place at a point off Minna Bluff suffi- 

 cient stores to provide for the return journey of the 

 Southern Party from that point. The depot party, 



252 



