ACROSS SOUTH GEORGIA 
almost to the seaward edge of the great riven ice-mass. I knew 
there was no glacier in Stromness and realized that this must 
be Fortuna Glacier. The disappointment was severe. Back 
we turned and tramped up the glacier again, not directly tracing 
our steps but working at a tangent to the south-east. We were 
very tired. 
At 5 a.m. we were at the foot of the roclcy spurs of the 
range. We were tired, and the wind that blew down from the 
heights was chilling us. We decided to get down under the 
lee of a rock for a rest. We put our sticks and the adze on the 
snow, sat down on them as close to one another as possible, 
and put our arms round each other. The wind was bringing 
a little drift with it and the white dust lay on our clothes. 
I thought that we might be able to keep warm and have half 
an hour's rest this way. Within a minute my two companions 
were fast asleep. I realized that it would be disastrous if 
we all slumbered together, for sleep under such conditions 
merges into death. After five minutes I shook them into 
consciousness again, told them that they had slept for half an 
hour, and gave the word for a fresh start. We were so stiff 
that for the first two or three hundred yards we marched with 
our knees bent. A jagged line of peaks with a gap like a 
broken tooth confronted us. This was the ridge that runs in 
a southerly direction from Fortuna Bay, and our course east- 
ward to Stromness lay across it. A very steep slope led up 
to the ridge and an icy wind burst through the gap. 
We went through the gap at 6 a.m. with anxious hearts 
as well as weary bodies. If the farther slope had proved 
impassable our situation would have been almost desperate ; 
but the worst was turning to the best for us. The twisted, wave- 
like rock-formations of Husvik Harbour appeared right ahead 
in the opening of dawn. Without a word we shook hands 
with one another. To our minds the journey was over, though 
as a matter of fact twelve miles of difficult country had still to 
be traversed. A gentle snow-slope descended at our feet 
towards a valley that separated our ridge from the hills imme- 
diately behind Husvik, and as we stood gazing Worsley said 
solemnly, " Boss, it looks too good to be true ! " Down we 
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