A QUESTION OF KOUTE 



discovered that the wheel of our sledge meter had 

 disappeared. Probably it had got into one of the 

 crevasses, and gone to the bottom. As we were now 

 so close to the end of our journey, the loss of this, which 

 earlier in our travels would have been a serious disaster, 

 was not of much importance. We had run about 

 eight miles before this lunch, previous to the loss of our 

 sledge meter wheel. At lunch-time Mawson compounded 

 a wonderful new hoosh made out of seal liver, pounded 

 up with a geological hammer, and mixed with crushed 

 biscuit. 



We had some discussion as to whether it would be 

 better to descend on to the sea ice by the old track up 

 which we had come, which we termed Backstairs Passage, 

 or make down the main Larsen Glacier to the point 

 where it junctioned with the Drygalski Glacier. Mackay 

 was in favour of the former, Mawson and I of the latter. 

 Mackay thought the devil one knew was better than 

 the devil one didn't know, while Mawson and I feared 

 that during the thaw, which was rapidly breaking up 

 the sea ice at the time when we were ascending the 

 plateau, the ice might have gone away from the base 

 of Backstairs Passage right up to the steep granite cliffs 

 of the coast. Had this been the case, and had we 

 descended by our old route, we should have had to 

 retrace our steps and become involved in a very arduous 

 uphill piece of sledging necessitating an ascent of at 

 least 1000 to 1500 ft. in a distance of a little over a 

 mile. As subsequent events proved, Mackay was right and 

 we were wrong. 



We held on down the main glacier with the imposing 

 cliffs and slopes of dark-red granite and blackish eruptive 

 rock intermixed with it close on our left. Mawson's 

 leg was now so bad that it was only with considerable 

 pain and difficulty that he could proceed, and both 



Vol. n.— 13 193 



