A RETREAT NECESSARY 



length. It appeared that the Drygalski Glacier must 

 be at least twenty miles in width. If we were to cross 

 it along the course which we were now following at the 

 rate of half a mile every half day it would obviously 

 take at least twenty days to get to the other side, and 

 this estimate did not allow for those unforseen delays 

 which experience by this time had taught us were sure 

 to occur. The view which Mackay and I had obtained 

 of the glacier ice ahead of us showed that our difficulties, 

 for a considerable distance, would materially increase. 

 Under these circumstances we were reluctantly forced to 

 the conclusion that our only hope of ultimate success lay in 

 retreat. We accordingly determined to drag the sledges 

 back olF the glacier on to the sea ice by the way along 

 which we had come. 



Early on the morning of December 2 the retreat 

 began. Just before midnight it had been clear and 

 sunny, but as midnight approached a thick fog sud- 

 denly came up and obscured everything. Consequently 

 we had great difficulty in picking up our old sledge 

 tracks as we retreated over the glacier ice. The weather 

 was still very thick and foggy at 3 a.m., but a little before 

 6 A.M. the fog cleared off and the sun shone through. 

 We had now reached the southern edge of the 

 glacier, and were back on the old undulating sea ice. 

 We turned our sledges eastwards following parallel 

 with the glacier edge. Immediately on our left rose 

 large rounded hummocky masses of ice belonging to 

 the Drygalski Glacier, and from fifty to sixty feet in 

 height. The sky, meanwhile, had become again overcast 

 with dense cumulus which drifted across rapidly from a 

 south-easterly direction. 



The following day we still travelled eastwards 

 parallel to the southern edge of the Drygalski Glacier. 

 The sledging was chiefly over soft snow, ankle deep, 



137 



