FEARS ABOUT GETTING BACK 



January 1. — Head too bad to write much. We did 

 11 miles 900 yards (statute) to-day, and the latitude 

 at 6 p.m. was 87° 6J^' South, so we have beaten North 

 and South records. Struggling uphill all day in very 

 soft snow. Every one done up and weak from want of 

 food. When we camped at 6 p.m. fine warm weather, 

 thank God. Only 172^ miles from the Pole. The 

 height above sea-level, now 10,755 ft., makes all work 

 difficult. Surface seems to be better ahead. I do trust 

 it will be so to-morrow. 



January 2. — Terribly hard work to-day. We started 

 at 6.45 a.m. with a fairly good surface, which soon be- 

 came very soft. We were sinking in over our ankles, 

 and our broken sledge, by running sideways, added to 

 the drag. We have been going uphill all day, and to- 

 night are 11,034 ft. above sea-level. It has taken us all 

 day to do 10 miles 450 yards, though the weights are 

 fairly light. A cold wind, with a temperature of minus 

 14° Fahr., goes right through us now, as we are weaken- 

 ing from want of food, and the high altitude makes every 

 movement an effort, especially if we stumble on the 

 march. My head is giving me trouble all the time. Wild 

 seems the most fit of us. ,God knows we are doing all 

 we can, but the outlook is serious if this surface continues 

 and the plateau gets higher, for we are not travelling 

 fast enough to make our food spin out and get back to 

 our depot in time. I cannot think of failure yet. I 

 must look at the matter sensibly and consider the lives 

 of those who are with me. I feel that if we go on too 

 far it will be impossible to get back over this surface, 

 and then all the results will be lost to the world. We 

 can now definitely locate the South Pole on the highest 

 plateau in the world, and our geological work and meteor- 

 ology will be of the greatest use to science; but all this 

 is not the Pole. Man can only do his best, and we have 

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