THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



January 16. — With a strong following blizzard, we 

 did 18^ miles to the north to-day. My burst heels gave 

 me great pain all day. Marshall dressed them to-night. 

 We saw the land again to-day after being out of sight 

 of it for three weeks nearly. 



^ January 17. — Started sharp at 7 a.m., and in a fresh 

 blizzard wind, with a temperature of minus 23° Fahr., 

 we did our best march, for it was mainly downhill and 

 we covered 22J^ miles. At 10 a.m. we came up to our 

 Christmas camp and there took on a bamboo we had 

 left, and which now comes in useful for our sail. This 

 sail is now our great help. We dropped over 500 ft. 

 to-day, and in three days ought to reach our depot at 

 this rate. 



January 18. — Our best day, 26^ miles downhill, with 

 a strong following wind. We have nearly got to the 

 end of the main icefall. The temperature has risen sen- 

 sibly, it being minus 14° Fahr. to-night, and the 

 hypsometer, 196.5°, shows a good rise. With luck we 

 may reach our depot to-morrow night. With food now 

 in hand, we had a decent feed to-night. I have been 

 very unlucky to-day, falling into many crevasses and 

 hurting my shoulder badly. I have also had many 

 falls, besides the trouble with the bad heels on the hard 

 stuff. 



January 19. — Another record day, for we have done 

 about 29 miles to the north, rushing under sail down 

 icefalls and through crevasses, till, at 6 p.m., we picked 

 up our sledge tracks of December 18 outwards. We 

 camped, dead beat, at 6.30 p.m., and had a good hoosh. 

 We have descended to 7500 ft., and the temperature 

 to-night is minus 14° Fahr. We are now only 8^2 miles 

 from our depot, which we will reach to-morrow morn- 

 ing, all being well. This strong blizzard wind has 



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