SOUTH 
have put in a good day, having had fourteen hours' solid 
marching. We are now sitting in here enjoying a very excellent 
thick hoosh. A light has been improvised out of an old tin 
with methylated spirit." 
The party spent the next day in their sleeping-bags, while a 
blizzard raged outside. The weather was fine again on March 12, 
and they built a cairn for the depot. The stores placed on 
this cairn comprised a six weeks' supply of biscuit and three 
weeks' full ration for three men, and three tins of oil. Early 
in the afternoon the men resumed their march northwards and 
made three miles before camping. Our bags are getting into 
a bad state," wrote Mackintosh, " as it is some time now since 
we have had an opportunity of drying them. We use our 
bodies for drying socks and such-like clothing, which we place 
inside our jerseys and produce when required. Wild carries 
a regular wardrobe in this position, and it is amusing to see 
him searching round the back of his clothes for a pair of socks. 
Getting away in the mornings is our bitterest time. The putting 
on of the finneskoe is a nightmare, for they are always frozen 
stiff, and w^e have a great struggle to force our feet into them. 
The icy semiegrass round one's fingers is another punishment 
that causes much pain. We are miserable until we are actually 
on the move, then warmth returns with the work. Our con- 
versation now is principally conjecture as to what can have 
happened to the other parties. We have various ideas." 
Saturday, March 13, was another day spent in the sleeping- 
bags. A blizzard was raging and everything was obscured. 
The men saved food by taking only one meal during the day, 
and they felt the effect of the short rations in loAvered vitality. 
Both Joyce and Wild had toes frost-bitten while in their bags 
and found difficulty in getting the circulation restored. Wild 
suffered particularly in this way and his feet were very sore. 
The weather cleared a little the next morning, but the drift 
began again before the party could break camp, and another 
day had to be spent in the frozen bags. 
The march was resumed on March 15. About 11 p.m. 
last night the temperature commenced to get lower and the 
gale also diminished. The lower temperature caused the bags, 
256 
