BACK ON THE BARRIER 



factors can alone prevent us from finding our depots 

 in good time, we will be all right. The light became bad 

 this evening when we were on the last hour before camp- 

 ing, and we cannot say for certain whether we are clear 

 of the main chasm by the land or not, so must give its 

 line of direction a wide berth. The temperature is well 

 up, plus 26° Fahr., and it is warm indeed after the minus 

 temperatures which have been our lot for the last month 

 or so. 



January 29. — We are having a most unfriendly 

 greeting from the Barrier. We got up as usual and 

 had breakfast at 5.30 a.m., the weather thick and over- 

 cast, but the land showing enough for us to steer by. 

 We got away at 7.20 a.m., and soon after it began to 

 snow, which in a temperature of plus 30° Fahr. melted 

 on the sledge and all our gear, making everything into 

 a miserably wet state. We had to put the compass 

 down every now and then, for it became too thick to 

 see any landmarks, and at 9.30 the wind suddenly 

 sprang up from the east, cold and strong, freezing solid 

 all our wet clothes, and the various things on the sledge. 

 It was blowing a blizzard with snow and heavy drift 

 in less than five minutes from the time the wind started, 

 and with difficulty we managed to get up one tent and 

 crawl into it, where we waited in the hope that the weather 

 would clear. As there was no sign of an improvement 

 at noon we pitched the other tent, had food, and 

 lay in our bags patching our worn-out clothes. All day 

 the blizzard has continued to blow hard, with extra violent 

 gusts at times. Our tents get snowed up, and we have to 

 clear them by kicking at the snow every now and 

 then. 



January 30. — We made a start at 8.15 a.m., after 

 spending three-quarters of an hour digging out our 

 sledges and tents from the drift of the blizzard, which 



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