THE START 



Weight. 



Lb. Oz. 



Cheese: 2 oz. per man per day, 3 days per week = 



18 oz. per week. 18 oz. X 13 = 2S9 oz. . . = 15 0 



Plasmon and dried milk . . . . . . = 17 7 



Salt: 2 oz. per week for 2 men = 4 oz. per week X 13 



= 52 oz = 3 4. 



Paraffin oil in 10-lb. tins = 100 0 



709 lb. 



October 4 was a Sunday, and after the morning service 

 we took the ponies out for exercise. In the evening the 

 gramophone discoursed appropriate music, such as " We 

 parted on the Shore," " I and my true love will never meet 

 again by the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond," 

 concluding with the universal favourite, " Lead, Kindly 

 Light." 



Meanwhile, Mackay had his damaged wrist attended 

 to, and I put the question to him as to whether or not 

 he was prepared to undertake the long journey to the 

 Magnetic Pole under the circumstances. He said that 

 he was quite ready, provided Mawson and I did not 

 object to his going with his wrist damaged and in a 

 sling. We raised no objection, and so the matter was 

 settled. All that night Mawson and I were occupied in 

 writing final letters, and packing little odds and ends. 



The following morning, October 5, after an early 

 breakfast, we prepared for the final start. It was 

 quite wonderful what a lot of things had been forgotten 

 until this last moment. The sledges were dragged 

 down from our hut to the edge of the sea ice at the 

 Penguin Rookery, a distance of a little over a quarter of 

 a mile. Day was there with the motor-car, ready 

 for the start. Every now and then some one of the 

 pilgrims would remember that he had left something 

 very important behind at the hut, and would go running 



83 



