A DIFFICULT DESCENT 



and the light was very bad. We now reached a surface 

 of hard marble-hke neve, which descended by short 

 steep slopes. We did not at first realise that we were 

 about to descend what we had termed the Ice Falls on 

 the outward journey. Every now and then the sledge 

 would take charge and rush down this marble stair- 

 case, bumping very heavily over the steps. Mawson 

 and I frequently came heavy croppers. Mawson put 

 on crampons outside his finnesko to enable him to 

 get a grip of the slippery surface, but my crampons 

 were frozen so hard and so out of shape that I was 

 unable to get them on, so I followed behind and steadied 

 the sledge as it continued bumping its way down the 

 marble steps. At last we reached once more a flattened 

 surface and camped. Our run for the day was fourteen 

 and a half miles. 



January 27. — This morning we all felt very slack 

 after the night spent in the closely covered sleeping 

 bag, the sky at the time being cloudy. Under these 

 circumstances, as we now had come down from our 

 highest altitude by about 4000 ft., and the tempera- 

 ture of course, had somewhat risen, we felt stifled and 

 depressed. During the morning fine snow fell and the 

 weather was quite thick to the south and east of us. 

 Mawson steered us by the trend of the sastrugi. As 

 the day wore on, the weather cleared up and we had a 

 good view of the new mountain. Mount New Zealand, 

 and Mount Baxter. The pulling at first was very hard 

 work, being up-hill, but later we had a good run down 

 hill to the spot where we camped for lunch. After lunch 

 we sledged down a still steeper slope, the sledge occasion- 

 ally take charge. At this spot Mackay partially fell 

 into a crevasse. To-day we were much cheered by the 

 sight at last of Mount Larsen. By the time we reached 

 the spot where we camped that night we had a good clear 



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