104 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [August 
gale. Large stretches of open water lay to the S.E. and 
east, while small pools and lanes were very numerous on the 
northern horizon, and a heavy bank of fog or mist seemed 
to indicate a lot of open water there. To the S.W. across 
Robertson Bay the open water appeared to reach right up 
to the cliffs of the mainland, but the day was not very 
clear, and it was hard to make out distinctly if there was 
a strip of fast ice along the coast. 
August 21. — A lovely clear day. We went up Cape 
Adare again to see the ice conditions to the westward. 
Owing to the young ice over the open water it was hard 
to make out if there was an ice foot along the cliffs of 
the mainland. If the ice remains in I shall go into 
Robertson Bay early in September to see if the coast 
joarnev is feasible, for our only other alternative is to 
find glaciers leading on to the plateau. 
To get a better idea of the gradient of these I climbed 
about 2500 feet up the slopes of Cape Adare, and the 
result was not very encouraging. I doubt if the glaciers 
in Robertson Bay lead directly to the plateau, as the 
Admiralty Range rises in a series of unbroken ridges of 
bare rock from the sea to apparently far inland. 
Altogether the outlook made me wish more than ever 
that the ship had had sufficient coal to take us back to 
Wood Bay. 
The spell of fine weather lasted till the 30th, allowing 
thin ice to form over the open water, except in some 
pools near Cape Adare which the current seemed to 
keep open. The night of the 30th a blizzard began, 
with heavy drift, some of the squalls being very heavy 
