BLIZZARDS 
463 
of temperatures between the Barrier and McMurdo Sound 
is at present unknown, but it is ]iopcd that tlie correct 
solution will be found when all the data have been 
discussed. 
Blizzards 
It is a matter of experience, even in England, that 
great cold without wind is mucli easier to bear than a 
much higher temperature with wind. One does not 
wrap oneself in furs when going for a motor ride because 
of the cold, but because of the wind. It is the same in 
Polar exploration ; the wind is the chiel enemy, not 
the cold. 
Those who, previous to reading this book, have read 
Amundsen's ' Soutli Pole ' cannot but have been struck 
by the fact that while tliis book is full of descriptions 
and references to blizzards the word Jiardly appears in 
the other. It is very natural to ask the reason for this 
strange difference. The reason is an important one, and 
if it had been known previously the history of the con- 
quest of the Soutii Pole would liave been very different. 
One can now say definitely that the blizzards which have 
been so fateful to British Antarctic exploration are local 
winds confined to the western half of the Ross Barrier. 
The meteorological observations made simultaneously at 
Framheim, Cape Evans, and Cape Adare have tiirown 
a flood of light on to the nature of these winds, and 
although at the time of writing tJie observations have 
not been sufficiently discussed to give us a complete 
solution of all the problems connected with their origin, 
