THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



speed with which we were able to travel. I have no 

 doubt at all that men engaged in polar exploration 

 should be clothed as hghtly as is possible, even if there 

 is a danger of frost-bite when they halt on the march. 



The surface over which we travelled during the 

 southern journey changed continually. During the 

 first few days we found a layer of soft snow on top 

 of a hard crust, with more soft snow underneath that 

 again. Our weight was sufficient to break through 

 the soft snow on top, and if we were pulling the increased 

 pressure would cause the crust to break also, letting 

 us through into the second layer of soft snow. This 

 surface made the travelling very heavy. Until we 

 had got beyond Minna Bluff we often passed over high, 

 sharp sastrugi, and beyond that we met with ridges 

 four to six feet high. The snow generally was dry 

 and powdery, but some of the crystals were large, and 

 showed in reflected hght all the million colours of 

 diamonds. After we had passed latitude 80° South 

 the snow got softer day by day, and the ponies would 

 often break through the upper crust and sink in right 

 up to their bellies. When the sun was hot the travelling 

 would be much better, for the surface snow got near 

 the melting-point and formed a slippery layer not easily 

 broken. Then again a fall in the temperature would 

 produce a thin crust, through which one broke very 

 easily. Between latitude 80° South and 83° South 

 there were hard sastrugi under the soft snow, and the 

 hoofs of the horses suffered in consequence. The 

 surface near the land was broken up by the pressure from 

 the glaciers, but right alongside the mountains there 

 was a smooth plain of glassy ice, caused by the freezing 

 of water that had run off the rocky slopes when they 

 were warm under the rays of the sun. This process 

 had been proceeding on the snow slopes that we had 



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