A BLIZZARD 



distance, and on coming up to it found that it was a dead 

 Weddell seal with its head, neck, and shoulders firmly 

 frozen into the ice. Evidently it had stuck fast in a 

 seal hole in the ice in trying to get down to the sea-water. 



The sky was overcast, and light snow began to fall 

 in the afternoon. A little later a mild blizzard sprang 

 up from the south-east; we thought this a favourable 

 opportunity for testing the sailing qualities of our 

 sledges, and so made sail on the Plum Duff sledge. 

 As Mackay put it, we " brought her to try with main 

 course." As the strength of the blizzard increased, we 

 found that we could draw both sledges simultaneously, 

 which was, of course, a great saving in labour. We 

 were tempted to carry on in the increasing strength 

 of the blizzard rather longer than was wise, and con- 

 sequently, when at last we decided that we must camp, 

 had great difficulty in getting the tent up. We slipped 

 the tent over the poles placed close to the ground in the 

 lee of a sledge. While two of us raised the poles, the 

 third shovelled snow on to the skirt of the tent, which we 

 pulled out little by little, until it was finally spread to its 

 full dimensions. We were glad to turn in and escape 

 from the biting blast and drifting snow. 



The following day, Sunday, October 11, a violent 

 blizzard was still blowing, and we lay in our sleeping- 

 bag until past noon, by which time the snow had drifted 

 high upon the door side of our tent. As this drift was 

 pressing heavily on our feet and cramping us, I got up 

 and dug it away. The cooker and Primus were then 

 brought in and we all got up and had some hoosh and 

 tea. The temperature, as usually happens in a blizzard, 

 had now risen considerably, being 8.5° Fahr. at 1.30 p.m. 

 The copper wire on our sledges was polished and 

 burnished by the prolonged blast against it of tiny 

 ice crystals, and the surface of the sea ice was also 



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