A DEPOT LAID 



the carcass would be frozen solid, and we always tried to cut the 

 meat up into as small pieces as possible before this occurred, for the 

 cutting became very much more difficult after the process of freezing 

 was complete. On the following days, whenever there was time to 

 spare, we would proceed with the cutting until we had got all the 

 meat ready for cooking. It was some time before we found out that 

 it was better merely to warm the meat through when we wanted to 

 eat it, and not attempt to cook it properly. It was fairly tender 

 when only warmed, but if it were boiled it became very tough, and 

 we would not spare enough oil to stew it in order to soften it thor- 

 oughly. Our supply of oil had been cut down very fine in order to save 

 weight. The only meat that we cooked thoroughly was that from 

 Grisi, because we found, at a later stage of the journey, that this meat 

 was not good, and we thought that cooking might make it less liable to 

 cause attacks of dysentery. We used the harness from the dead 

 pony to make stays for the sledge which would be left at the depot. 

 The sledge was reared on to its end, about 3 ft. being sunk into the 

 snow, and a bamboo with a black flag stuck on the top, so that we 

 might be able to find the little " cache " of food on the return journey. 

 Stays were required lest a blizzard should blow down the whole 

 erection. 



November 22. — A beautiful morning. We left our 

 depot with its black flag flying on the bamboo lashed 

 to a discarded sledge, stuck upright in the snow, at 

 8.20 a.m. We now have three ponies dragging 500 lb. 

 each, and they did splendidly through the soft snow. 

 The going, I am thankful to say, is getting better, and 

 here and there patches of harder surface are to be met 

 with. The outstanding feature of to-day's march is 

 that we have seen new land to the south — land never 

 seen by human eyes before. The land consists of 

 great snow-clad heights rising beyond Mount Longstaff, 

 and also far inland to the north of Mount Markham. 

 These heights we did not see on our journey south on 

 the last expedition, for we were too close to the land 

 or, rather, foothills, but now at the great distance we 

 are out they can be seen plainly. It has been a beauti- 



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