I9II] BRUSHING DOWN THE TENT 5 
suaded the three helpers to return from here. After 
this we had very little trouble with rough ice, and though 
the loads (about 250 lbs. each) were heavy enough to make 
us slow, we had a good surface to go on. 
We camped for lunch at 2.30 p.m., having made six 
and one-third miles from Cape Evans. The double tent 
was easy to pitch, and we began a routine of brushing 
down the inside, after removing all the contents, every 
time we broke camp. This routine we continued the whole 
way to Cape Crozier, and it made a great difference to the 
collection of ice on the upper two-thirds of the tent. 
It was the duty of the cook for the day to see to this, 
and we were each of us cook for one day in turn. The 
lower third of the tent skirt lining gradually got more 
and more iced up by trickles from above during the 
running of the primus, and nothing short of melting it 
out would have enabled us to keep it clear of ice. We 
gave up the brushing-down routine on the journey home 
from Cape Crozier, for we had to burn oil so sparingly 
that we tied up the ventilator permanently and kept in 
all the steam and heat we could, to thaw out our finnesko, 
which we hung in the roof at night. We were so iced up 
as to our clothes and sleeping-bags that nothing outside 
made any difference, and the omission of brushing down 
saved time in getting off. 
After lunch we got away at 4 p.m. and made for what 
we believed to be Hut Point, but in the dark we got a 
good deal too close in towards Castle Rock, much more 
than was necessary. Our pace was slow owing to the 
weights, but the surface was not bad. It was chiefly 
