COMRADES AND COMRADESHIP 
183 
was the ' farthest south ' reached in our two sledging 
trips. 
On clear days we could see every little cup-shaped 
valley which roughened the mighty scarp of Lister, so 
sharply that it seemed impossible that they were seventy 
miles away. Due west was the valley of the Lower Ferrar 
Glacier, while the long gleaming snow slope at its mouth 
was the Butter Point Piedmont — the starting place for 
all Western exploration, where depots have been made 
even since the butter was left there by the 1902 expedition. 
Hidden behind the ranges was the Great Ice Plateau, 
From this height of 7000 feet descended the great rivers of 
ice — the Koettlitz, Ferrar, Taylor, and Mackay Glaciers — 
with which the following pages are concerned. 
Now as to my mates. What is the ' Call to the Wild ' 
which seems to draw men back to the Antarctic ? In my 
opinion it is the association with picked companions, 
especially chosen for their suitability for the environment, 
which constitutes the charm of life in the Antarctic. The 
deserts of Australia or the wilds of Spitzbergen would 
appeal equally to me with the same companions. 
There is a famous old school near Sydney where for 
many years there were representatives from two families, 
the Debenhams and Taylors. So that Frank Debenham 
and myself were old friends and graduates in geology of 
the same 'Varsity. In later years at Cambridge there was 
an informal club of research students in which Wright of 
Caius and Taylor of Emmanuel were fellow-members. 
Debenham's experience as Commissary-General at many 
a camp in Australia made him invaluable sledging — 
