Ci^aptet: fiU 



THE WESTERN JOURNEY 



jV/TE AN WHILE the Western Party, which had left 

 the winter quarters for the second time on 

 December 9, had been working in the western moun- 

 tains. The three men ( Armytage, Priestley and Brockle- 

 hurst) reached the stranded moraines on December 13, 

 and on this occasion succeeded in securing a large 

 supply of skuas' eggs. The anticipated feast was not 

 enjoyed, however, for only about a dozen of the eggs 

 were " good enough for eating," to quote the words of 

 a member of the party. The other eggs were thrown 

 on to the snow near the tent, and the result was an 

 invasion of skuas, which not only ate the eggs, but also 

 made themselves a general nuisance by pulling about 

 the sledge harness and stores. At this time the men 

 were troubled by patches of thin ice, about an eighth to a 

 quarter of an inch thick, forming a lenticle, the top of 

 the middle being sometimes as much as five or six inches 

 from the actual surface. When these patches of ice were 

 trodden on they broke down, and not infrequently dis- 

 closed a puddle of salt water an inch or two deep. 

 Priestley thought that they were the final product of the 

 thawing of snowdrifts, and owed their character to the 

 fact that the salt water worked faster from below than 

 did the sun from above. 



On December 15 the party started to ascend the Ferrar 

 Glacier, Priestley examining the rocks carefully on the 

 way with a view to securing fossils if any were to be 

 found. The surface was bad for the most part, soft 



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