SOUTH 
proceeded to arrange sledging parties. It was his intention to 
direct the laying of the depots himself and to leave his first 
officer, Lieut. J. R. Stenhouse, in command of the Aurwa^ 
with instructions to select a base and land a party. 
The first objective was Hut Point, where stands the hut 
erected by the Discovery expedition in 1902. An advance 
party, consisting of Joyce (in charge), Jack, and Gaze, with 
dogs and fully loaded sledges, left the ship on January 24 ; 
Mackintosh, with Wild and Smith, followed the next day ; and 
a supporting party, consisting of Cope (in charge), Stevens, 
Ninnis, Haywood, Hooke, and Richards, left the ship on 
January 30. The first two parties had dog teams. The third 
party took with it the motor-tractor, which does not appear 
to have given the good service that I had hoped to get from it. 
These parties had a strenuous time during the weeks that 
followed. The men, fresh from sliipboard, were not in the 
best of training, and the same was true of the dogs. It was 
unfortunate that the dogs had to be worked so early after their 
arrival in the Antarctic. They were in poor condition and 
they had not learned to work together as teams. The result 
was the loss of many of the dogs, and this proved a serious 
matter in the following season. Captain Mackintosh's record 
of the sledging in the early months of 1915 is fairly full. It 
will not be necessary here to follow the fortunes of the various 
parties in detail, for although the men were facing difficulties 
and dangers, they were on well-travelled ground, which has 
been made familiar to most readers by the histories of earlier 
Expeditions. 
Captain Mackintosh and his party left the Aurora on the 
evening of January 25. They had nine dogs and one heavily 
loaded sledge, and started off briskly to the accompaniment 
of a cheer from their shipmates. The dogs were so eager for 
exercise after their prolonged confinement aboard the ship that 
they dashed forward at their best speed, and it was necessary 
for one man to sit upon the sledge in order to moderate the 
pace. Mackintosh had hoped to get to Hut Point that night, 
but luck was against him. The weather broke after he had 
travelled about five miles, and snow, which completely obscured 
246 
