THOUGHTS OF HOME 



encountering at 11 a.m. a steep snow ridge which 

 pretty well cooked us, but we got the sledge up 

 by noon and camped. We are pulling 150 lb. per 

 man. In the afternoon we had good going till 

 5 p.m. and then another ridge as difficult as the 

 previous one, so that our backs and legs were in a bad 

 way when we reached the top at 6 p.m., having done 

 14 miles 930 yards for the day. Thank heaven 

 it has been a fine day, with little wind. The tem- 

 perature is minus 9° Fahr. This surface is most peculiar, 

 showing layers of snow with little sastrugi all pointing 

 south-south-east. Short food make us think of plum 

 puddings, and hard half -cooked maize gives us indiges- 

 tion, but we are getting south. The latitude is 86° 19' 

 South to-night. Our thoughts are with the people at 

 home a great deal. 



December 28. — If the Barrier is a changing sea, the 

 plateau is a changing sky. During the morning march 

 we continued to go up hill steadily, but the surface was 

 constantly changing. First there was soft snow in 

 layers, then soft snow so deep that we were well over 

 our ankles, and the temperature being well below zero, 

 our feet were cold through sinking in. No one can say 

 what we are going to find next, but we can go steadily 

 ahead. We started at 6.55 a.m., and had done 7 miles 

 200 yards by noon, the pulling being very hard. Some 

 of the snow is blown into hard sastrugi, some that 

 looks perfectly smooth and hard has only a thin crust 

 through which we break when pulling; all of it 

 is a trouble. Yesterday we passed our last crevasse, 

 though there are a few cracks or ridges fringed with 

 shining crystals like diamonds, warning us that the 

 cracks are open. We are now 10,199 ft. above sea- 

 level, and the plateau is gradually flattening out, but 

 it was heavy work pulling this afternoon. The high 



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