IMrROVEMENT IN GEAR 
225 
heretofore. But greatest blessing of all is an ordinary 
scrubbing-brush. This lies just inside the door where 
a man may reach in and find it — brush himself free 
from loose snow outside the tent, then brush his 
boots when inside the tent, and finally sweep the floorcloth. 
It was wonderful what a difference this made to our 
comfort — for previously any little mass of snow fusl 
melted on one's body or bag and then froze into a cake 
of ice which had to be re-melted before one was warm 
enough to sleep. 
Our chance of a rapid journey to Butter Point s(jon 
became very slender. The snow drifted nearly to the ]>eak 
of the tent and drove in the windward side as a great 
swelling bulge. The sledges were soon covered a loot 
deep. There we lay ' all tliat day ' and read and talked 
and snoozed till 7.30 next nujrning. 
On the 8th we had done over 3 miles by lunch time 
and could see the cracks in the glacier of Butter i\)int so 
clearly that it seemed only five miles off". But it was a 
long twenty ! 
In the afternoon we did three more stages until we 
had been on the go for eleven hours. Eight miles seemed 
a poor result for such an expenditure of energy. 
At 4 o'clock on Thursday we were twenty-three miles 
from the Hut. It was gloomy weather, but the surface 
had not been so soft and we still lioped to reach. Butter 
Point. However, we saw the sky darkening to soulh'ard. 
Gradually Minna Bluff vanished, then Erebus clouded 
over, Castle Rock disappeared, and we knew that another 
blizzard was upon us. 
VOL. n. Q 
