THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



now, but one realises what it would mean if any member 

 of our party were to be damaged under these conditions 

 and in this place. This afternoon we came on to a better 

 surface, and were able to pull both sledges instead of 

 relaying. We are still gradually rising, and to-night 

 our hypsometer gives 203.7 or 4370 feet up. There is a 

 cool southerly wind ; indeed, more than we have had before, 

 and as we have only a patch of neve on the glacier for 

 our tents, we had to take the provision bags and gear off 

 the sledges to keep the tent cloths down. The temperature 

 is plus 19° Fahr. New mountains are still appearing to 

 the west-south- west as we rise. We seem now to be going 

 up a long yellow track, for the ice is not so blue, and we 

 are evidently travelling over an old moraine, where the 

 stones have sunk through the ice when its onward move- 

 ment has been arrested. I am sure that the bulk of the 

 glacier is growing less, but the onward movement still 

 continues, though at a much slower pace than at some 

 previous period. The gain for the day was 5 miles, and 

 in addition we did 4 miles relay work. 



December 14. — This has been one of our hardest day's 

 work so far. We have been steering all day about 

 south-south-west up the glacier, mainly in the bed of 

 an ancient moraine, which is full of holes through which 

 the stones and boulders have melted down long years 

 ago. It has been snowing all day with a high tempera- 

 ture, and this has made everything very wet. We have 

 ascended over 1000 ft. to-day, our altitude at 6 p.m. 

 being 5600 ft. above sea-level, so the mountains to the 

 west must be from 10,000 to 15,000 ft. in height, 

 judging from their comparative elevation. My knee 

 is better to-day. We have had a heavy pull and many 

 falls on the slippery ice. Just before camping, Adams 

 went through some snow, but held up over an awful 

 chasm. Our sledges are much the worse for wear, and 



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