THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



high, stretching away to the north beyond the Snow 

 Cape, and continuing the land on which Mount A. 

 Markham lies. To the south-south-east ever appear 

 new mountains. I trust that no land will block our 

 path. We celebrated the breaking of the " furthest 

 South " record with a four-ounce bottle of Curagoa, 

 sent us by a friend at home. After this had been shared 

 out into two tablespoonfuls each, we had a smoke and 

 a talk before turning in. One wonders what the next 

 month will bring forth. We ought by that time to be 

 near our goal, all being well. 



Note. — It falls to the lot of few men to view land not previously 

 seen by human eyes, and it was with feelings of keen curiosity, not 

 unmingled with awe, that we watched the new mountains rise from the 

 great unknown that lay ahead of us. Mighty peaks they were, the 

 eternal snows at their bases, and their rough-hewn forms rising high 

 towards the sky. No man of us could tell what we would discover 

 in our march south, what wonders might not be revealed to us, and 

 our imaginations would take wings until a stumble in the snow, the 

 sharp pangs of hunger, or the dull ache of physical weariness brought 

 back our attention to the needs of the immediate present. As the 

 days wore on, and mountain after mountain came into view, grimly 

 majestic, the consciousness of our insignificance seemed to grow upon 

 us. We were but tiny black specks crawling slowly and painfully 

 across the white plain, and bending our puny strength to the task 

 of wresting from nature secrets preserved inviolate through all the 

 ages. Our anxiety to learn what lay beyond was none the less keen, 

 however, and the long days of marching over the Barrier surface 

 were saved from monotony by the continued appearance of new land 

 to the south-east. 



November 27. — Started at 8 a.m., the ponies pulling 

 well over a bad surface of very soft snow. The weather 

 is fine and clear save for a strong mirage, which throws 

 all the land up much higher than it really is. All day 

 we have seen new mountains arise, and it is causing 

 us some anxiety to note that they trend more and more 



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