THE ROSS SEA PARTY 
but the howl of the wind shows how impossible it is. The 
sleeping-bags are damp and sticky, so are our clothes. Fortu- 
nately, the temperature is fairly high and they do not freeze. 
One of the dogs gave a bark and Joyce went out to investigate. 
He found that Major, feeling hungry, had dragged his way to 
Joyce's ski and eaten off the leather binding. Another dog 
has eaten all his harness, canvas, rope, leather, brass, and rivets. 
I am afraid the dogs will not pull through ; they all look thin 
and these blizzards do not improve matters. ... We have a 
week's provisions and one hundred and sixty miles to travel. 
It appears that we will have to get another week's provisions 
from the depot, but don't wish it. WiU see what luck 
to-morrow. Of course, at Bluff we can replenish." 
" We are now reduced to one meal in the twenty-four 
hours," wrote Mackintosh a day later. " This going without 
food keeps us colder. It is a rotten, miserable time. It is bad 
enough having this wait, but we have also the wretched thought 
of having to use the provisions aheady depot-ed, for which we 
have had all this hard struggle." The weather cleared on the 
27th, and in the afternoon Mackintosh and Joyce went back 
to the depot, while Wild remained behind to build a cairn and 
attempt to dry the sleeping-bags in the sun. The stores left 
at the depot had been two and a quarter tins of biscuit (42 lb. 
to the tin), rations for three men for three weeks in bags, each 
intended to last one week, and three tins of oil. Mackintosh 
took one of the weekly bags from the depot and returned to 
the camp. The party resumed the homeward journey the 
next morning, and with a sail on the sledge to take advantage 
of the southerly breeze, covered nine miles and a half during 
the day. But the dogs had reached almost the limit of their 
endurance; three of them fell out, unable to work longer, 
while on the march. That evening, for the first time since 
leaving the Aurora, the men saw the sun dip to the horizon 
in the south, a remmder that the Antarctic summer was nearing 
its close. 
The remaining four dogs collapsed on March 2. " After 
lunch we went off fairly well for half an hour. Then Nigger 
commenced to wobble about, his legs eventually giving under 
253 
