124 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [February 
Priestley found an extraordinary quantity of lichens 
on the island. 
Fehruary 6. — Fine morning, but a strange south- 
westerly wind. 
Getting under way after breakfast, we reached the 
main depot about 3 o'clock, and found to our surprise 
Debenham's party had never landed, our letters to him 
being still in the ' post box ' we had fixed up. 
February 7. — -The wind, which had fallen yesterday 
evening, freshened up between i and 2 a.m., and, when we 
turned out, was blowing a whole gale, but with a clear sky. 
An ex-meridian altitude gave the latitude of this place 
74° 55^ S. In the afternoon Levick, Priestley, Dickason, 
and I climbed to the top of what we afterwards called 
Inexpressible Island to see if we could make out the 
Nansen Moraine, which Priestley wanted to visit. I told 
him to take Abbott and Dickason to-morrow, while I carry 
the theodolite up here and get a round of angles. 
Fehruary 8.— Both parties started directly after 
breakfast : Priestley, taking Abbott and Dickason and a 
week's provisions, went round west of the island, keeping 
on the piedmont ice, and I climbed the island with the 
theodolite, taking Levick and Browning with me. 
It was a clear day but blowing a regular gale from the 
west, the wind from the plateau feeling very cold— an 
unpleasant day for theodolite work. By aneroid I made 
the height of the island 1320 feet. We returned to camp 
about 7 P.M. 
Fehruary 9.— It came on to blow very hard in the 
morning, and we had to secure the tents with big stones 
