SOUTH 
looked from a distance as though they might prove to be 
passes. 
The weather was bad on Tuesday, May 16, and we stayed 
under the boat nearly all day. The quarters were cramped 
but gave full protection from the weather, and we regarded our 
little cabin with a great deal of satisfaction. Abundant meals 
of sea-elephant steak and liver increased our contentment. 
IMcNeish reported during the day that he had seen rats feeding 
on the scraps, but this interesting statement was not verified. 
One would not expect to find rats at such a spot, but there was 
a bare possibility that they had landed from a wreck and 
managed to survive the very rigorous conditions. 
A fresh west-south -westerly breeze was blowing on the 
following morning (Wednesday, May 17), with misty squalls, 
sleet, and rain. I took Worsley vnth. me on a pioneer journey 
to the west with the object of examining the country to be 
traversed at the beginning of the overland journey. We went 
round the seaward end of the snouted glacier, and after tramping 
about a mile over stony ground and snow-coated debris, we 
crossed some big ridges of scree and moraines. We found that 
there was good going for a sledge as far as the north-east corner 
of the bay, but did not get much information regarding the 
conditions farther on owing to the view becoming obscured by 
a snow-squall. We waited a quarter of an hoiu' for the weather 
to clear but were forced to turn back without having seen 
more of the country. I had satisfied myself, however, that 
we could reach a good snow-slope leading apparently to the 
inland ice. Worsley reckoned from the chart that the distance 
from our camp to Husvik, on an east magnetic course, was 
seventeen geographical miles, but we could not expect to follow 
a direct line. The carpenter started making a sledge for use 
on the overland journey. The materials at his disposal were 
limited in quantity and scarcely suitable in quality. 
We overhauled our gear on Thursday, May 18, and hauled 
our sledge to the lower edge of the snouted glacier. The vehicle 
proved heavy and cumbrous. We had to lift it empty over 
bare patches of rock along the shore, and I realized that it 
would be too heavy for three men to manage amid the snow- 
192 
