The Winter in Victoria Land. 147 
Land already blushed in the reflection of the return- 
ing sun, in promise of brighter days for our work. 
It was hard not to have reached further, as I 
had hoped to have gained Possession Island by 
risking this journey through the Antarctic winter ; 
but little would have been gained by having worn 
out ourselves and our sledges for a purpose which 
could be better and more safely accomplished on 
the return of the Southern Cross, when our travel- 
ling gear would be required for more important 
work. 
We returned to our sledges and struggled north- 
westwards again towards a flat ice-field. Here we 
arrived during the evening, and pitched one of our 
silk tents in a snow-drift, as usual in a square formed 
by the tour sledses. The temperature was then 
found to be — 13.2. The reading on the aneroid 
barometer was 30.15, the highest barometric pressure 
we had had since our arrival at Victoria Land. A 
barometric pressure above 3o continued all through 
forty-six hours. During the night the temperature 
descended to — 15. 
An open vapour cloud had kept soaring above 
the open sheet of water to the southward, and 
rather a remarkable phenomenon took place, as a 
kind of water-spout formed between the open water 
and a dark, deep-hanging cloud. It was evident 
that the cloud continually renewed its store of 
vapour from this open sheet of water. We could 
distinctly observe how from time to time the cloud 
diminished and increased in size and colour, as the 
trunks between cloud and water alternately were 
broken and renewed to keep the cloud satisfied with 
15 
