THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



and Grisi not so well. They all like Maujee ration 

 and eat that up before touching the maize. They have 

 been very quiet, standing tails to the blizzard, which 

 has been so thick that at times we could not see them 

 from the peep-holes of our tents. There are great drifts 

 all round the tents, and some of the sledges are buried. 

 This evening about 5.30 the weather cleared a bit and 

 the wind dropped. When getting out the feed-boxes 

 at 6 p.m. I could see White Island and the Bluff, so I 

 hope that to-morrow will be fine. The barometer 

 has been steady all day at 28.60 in., with the temperature 

 up to 18° Fahr., so it is quite warm, and in our one-man 

 sleeping-bags each of us has a little home, where he can 

 read and write and look at the Penates and Lares brought 

 with him. I read Much Ado About Nothing during the 

 morning. The surface of the Barrier is better, for the 

 wind has blown away a great deal of the soft snow, 

 and we will, I trust, be able to see any crevasses before 

 we are on to them. This is our fourth day out from 

 Hut Point, and we are only twenty miles south. We 

 must do better than this if we are to make much use 

 of the ponies. I would not mind the blizzard so much 

 if we had only to consider ourselves, for we can save on 

 the food, whereas the ponies must be fed full. 



November 7. — Another disappointing day. We got 

 up at 5 a.m. to breakfast, so as to be in time to start 

 at 8 a.m. We cleared all the drift off our sledges, and, 

 unstowing them, examined the runners, finding them to 

 be in splendid condition. This work, with the assist- 

 ance of the supporting party, took us till 8.30 a.m. 

 Shortly afterwards we got under way, saying good- 

 bye to the supporting party, who are to return to- 

 day. As we drew away, the ponies pulling hard, 

 they gave us three cheers. The weather was thick 

 and overcast, with no wind. Part of White Island 



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