I9I1] LITTLE GEAR LOST 55 
before Bill and me. I dragged my eiderdown out on my 
feet all sopping wet; it was impossible to get it back, and 
I let it freeze — it was soon just like a rock. I followed 
Bill down the slope when wc heard a shout on our right 
and made for it with hope. We got on a slope, slipped, 
and went sliding down, quite unable to stop ourselves, and 
came to Birdie with the tent, outer lining still on the 
bamboos. We were so thankful we said nothing. The 
tent was over the ridge to the N.E, of the igloo at the 
bottom of the steep slope about half of a mile away. 
I believe that it blew away because part of it was in 
the wind, and part in the lee of the igloo. 
It looked as if it would start blowing again at any 
moment and was getting thick, and we hurried back 
with the tent, slithering up and down, and pitched it 
where we had pitched it on our arrival. Never was tent 
so firmly dug in, by Bill, while Birdie and I got our gear, 
such as we could find, down from the igloo. Luckily the 
wind from the S. and the back-draught from the N. 
had blown everything inwards when the roof went, and 
we managed to find or dig out almost everything except 
Bill's fur mits. These were packed into a hole in rocks 
to prevent drift coming in. We had a meal in the tent ; 
searched for the parts of the cooker down the slope, but 
only found a track of small bits of roof cloth. We were 
very weak. We packed the tank ready for a start back 
in the morning and turned in, utterly worn out. It was 
only - 12° that night, but my left big toe was frostbitten 
in my bag, which I was trying to use without an eider- 
down lining. 
