THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



The following day, October 23, we held a serious 

 council as to the future of our journey towards the 

 Magnetic Pole. It was quite obvious that at our present 

 rate of traveUing, about four statute miles daily by the 

 relay method, we could not get to the Pole and return 

 to Butter Point early in January. I suggested that the 

 most hkely means of getting to the Pole and back in the 

 time specified by Lieutenant Shackleton would be to 

 travel on half rations, depoting the remainder of our 

 provisions at an early opportunity. They both agreed, 

 after some discussion, to try this expedient, and we 

 decided to think the matter over for a few days and then 

 make our depot. 



We found, as the result of the fall of snow on the 

 preceding day, that the runners of our sledge clogged, 

 making it difficult to start the sledge after each halt. 

 The temperature at 5 p.m. was now as high as plus 

 5° Fahr. There were numerous seals, mostly mother seals 

 with young ones, on the ice near the course of our sledge, 

 as many as seventeen seals being sometimes visible 

 simultaneously. 



The previous day we had observed a mother seal 

 with twin baby seals. Mackay took up one of these in 

 his arms and stroked it while it was nuzzling round. 

 It somewhat resembled a large lizard. The mother 

 snorted at him indignantly, meanwhile, but made no 

 attempt to attack him. 



We encountered some large cracks in the sea ice. 

 The sea water between the opposite walls had been only 

 recently frozen over so that the ice was not more than 

 a few inches in thickness. One of these was eighteen 

 feet wide, and we found that the ice bent under our 

 weight when we tested it primarily. Mackay called 

 it " The Bridge of the Beresina." We rushed the 

 sledges over at a good speed, and although the ice bent 



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