THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



He pranced round, kicked up his heels, and showed 

 that it was a deliberate piece of destructiveness on his 

 part, for he had eaten his fill. His distended appearance 

 was obviously the result of many pounds of maize. 



In the afternoon three of the ponies hauled the 

 sledges with their full weights across the junction of 

 the sea and the Barrier ice, and in spite of the soft 

 snow they pulled splendidly. We are now all ready 

 for a start the first thing to-morrow. Socks seems 

 much better, and not at all lame. The sun is now 

 (9 p.m.) shining gloriously, and the wind has dropped, 

 all auguring for a fine day to-morrow. The perform- 

 ance of the ponies was most satisfactory, and if they 

 will only continue so for a month, it will mean a lot to 

 us. Adams' leg is nearly all right. 



November 3. — Started at 9.30 from Hut Point, Quan 

 pulling 660 lb., Grisi 615 lb., Socks 600 lb., and China- 

 man 600 lb. Five men hauled 660 lb., 153 lb. of this 

 being pony feed for our party. It was a beautifully 

 fine day, but we were not long under way when we 

 found that the surface was terribly soft, the ponies at 

 times sinking in up to their bellies and always over their 

 hocks. 



We picked up the other sledges at the Barrier junction, 

 and Brocklehurst photographed us all, with our sledge- 

 flags flying and the Queen's Union Jack. At 10.50 

 we left the sea ice, and instead of finding the Barrier 

 surface better, discovered that the snow was even 

 softer than earlier in the day. The ponies pulled 

 magnificently, and the supporting party toiled on 

 painfully in their wake. Every hour the pony leaders 

 changed places with the sledge haulers. At 1 p.m. the 

 advance party with the ponies pitched camp and 

 tethered out the ponies, and soon lunch was under 

 way, consisting of tea with plasmon, plasmon biscuits 



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