I9II] AMONG THE PRESSURE RIDGES 33 
ago. Then we hoped to get in under the actual rock 
cliffs which had always been the best way down to the 
rookery in the Discovery days. But somehow we got 
down by a slope which led us into a valley between the 
first two pressure ridges, and we found it impossible 
to get back in under the land ice cliffs. Nor had we 
then seen any other way down from the land ice except 
by the slope we followed. The rest was apparently all 
ice cliff about 80 to 100 ft. high. We tried again and 
again to work our way in to the left where the land ice 
cliffs joined the rock cliffs, but though we made consider- 
able headway now and then along snow slopes and drift 
ridges by crossing the least tumbled parts of the inter- 
vening pressure lines, we yet came time after time to 
impossible places [with too great a drop], and had to 
turn back and try another way. [Bill led on a length 
of Alpine rope on the toggle of the sledge. Birdie was 
in his harness on the toggle, and I was in my harness 
on the rear of the sledge. Two or three times we tried 
to get down the ice slopes to the comparatively level 
road under the cliff, but it was always too great a drop. 
In that dim light every proportion was distorted, and 
some of the places we actually did manage to negotiate 
with ice axes and Alpine rope looked absolute precipices, 
and there were always crevasses at the bottom if you 
slipped. This day I went into various crevasses at 
least six times, once when we were close to the sea 
going right in to my waist, rolling out and then down 
a steep slope until brought up by Birdie and Bill 
on the rope.] We tried one possible opening after 
VOL. II. xy 
