THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



up to the cairn. Here, after carefully depoting several 

 bags of geological specimens at the base of the flagstaff, 

 I lashed the little post office by means of cord and copper- 

 wire securely to the flagstaff*, and then carried some large 

 slabs of exfohated granite to the cairn, and built them 

 up on the leeward side of it in order to strengthen it 

 against the southerly blizzards. A keen wind was 

 blowing, as was usual in the early morning, off* the high 

 plateau, and one's hands got frequently frost-bitten in 

 the work of securing the tin to the flagstaff. The 

 cairn was at the seaward end of a sheer cliff* two hundred 

 feet high. 



On returning to camp I put some chopped seal 

 meat into the cooking-pot on our blubber stove, which 

 Mawson had meanwhile lighted, and about three- 

 quarters of an hour later we partook of some nourishing, 

 but no less indigestible seal bouillon. It was later 

 than usual when we started our sledges, and the pulling 

 proved extremely heavy. The sun's heat was thawing the 

 snow surface and making it extremely sticky. Our pro- 

 gress was so painfully slow that we decided, after, with 

 great efforts, doing two miles, to camp, have our hoosh, 

 and then turn in for six hours, having meanwhile started 

 the blubber lamp. At the expiration of that time we 

 intended to get out of our sleeping-bag, breakfast, and 

 start sledging about midnight. We hoped that by adopt- 

 ing nocturnal habits of travelling, we would avoid the 

 sticky ice-surface which by daytime formed such an 

 obstacle to our progress. 



We carried out this programme on the evening 

 of November 2, and the morning of November 3. 

 We found the experiment fairly successful, as at mid- 

 night and for a few hours afterwards, the temperature 

 remained sufficiently low to keep the surface of the snow 

 on the sea ice moderately crisp. 



112 



