igii] ALCOVE CAMP i93 
picturesque alcoves. They were most beautiful specimens 
of Nature's architecture, the steep walls of clear ice being 
fretted by the sun into a thousand pilasters and niches. 
We lowered the sledge down 20 feet into one of these 
Gothic apses, and found ideal conditions for a sheltered 
camp. We had a strongly running stream — an inch deep 
— alongside ; and though the wind howled along the 
surface of the glacier nothing was even disturbed in 
Alcove Camp. 
We spent two days mapping the vicinity, and then 
started our trek to the sea. We packed up the tent, our 
sleeping-bags, and five days' food. Our method of march 
was rather amusing. Wright carried his pack in the 
Canadian method by a ' tump-line ' round his forehead. 
He took the theodolite. P.O. Evans wrapped his goods 
and the tent round the tent poles and proudly carried them 
like a standard over his shoulder. Debenham copied the 
Australian swagsman with a bundle in front nearly 
balancing the main bulk behind. I found, as usual, that 
a strap over the right shoulder (as used by the Italian 
harpist) suited my convenience best. Very reluctantly 
we left our trusty cooker behind, but Debenham carried his 
camera and half the food, while I bore the remainder and a 
veritable goldminer's dish, to try for gold in the gravels of 
Dry Valley. 
We marched down a narrow gap, cut through a great 
bar of granite, and saw ahead of us quite a large lake, some 
three miles long. It was of course frozen, but through the 
thick ice covering we could see water plants, and below the 
steep cHfIs the water seemed very deep. We lunched at 
VOL. Ill *0 
