Chapter Ctoent^ 



STEADY PROGRESS : THE SIGHTING OF NEW LAND 



VV EMBER 10.— Got up to breakfast at 6 a.m., and 



v under way at 8.15 a.m. During the night we had to 

 get out to the ponies. Quan had eaten away the 

 straps on his rug, and Grisi and Socks were fighting 

 over it. Quan had also chewed Chinaman's tether, 

 and the latter was busy at one of the sledges, chewing 

 rope. Happily he has not the same mischievous 

 propensities as Quan, so the food-bags were not torn 

 about. All these things mean work for us when the 

 day's march is over, repairing the damage done. The 

 ponies started away well, with a good hard surface to 

 travel on, but a bad light, so we, being in fmnesko, 

 had frequent falls over the sastrugi. I at last took 

 my goggles off, and am paying the penalty to-night, 

 having a touch of snow-blindness. During the morn- 

 ing the land to the west became more distinct, and 

 the going still better, so that when we camped for 

 lunch, we had covered nine and a half statute miles. 

 All the ponies, except Quan, showed the result of the 

 Maujee ration, and are quite loose. Directly we started, 

 after lunch, we came across the track of an Adelie 

 penguin. It was most surprising, and one wonders 

 how the bird came out here. It had evidently only 

 passed a short time before, as its tracks were quite 

 fresh. It had been travelling on its stomach a good 

 way, and its course was due east towards the sea, but 

 where it had come from was a mystery, for the nearest 

 water in the direction from which it came was over 



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