SOUTH 
for we are unable to distiiigiiisli the liigli and low parts of the 
sastriigi surface. We are travelling on our ski. We camped 
at 6 p.m. after travelling 6 miles 100 yds. I am writing this 
sitting up in the bag. This is the first occasion I have been 
able to do this for some time, for usually the cold has penetrated 
through everything should one have the bag open. The 
temperatm^e is a little higher to-night, but still it is -21"^ Fahr. 
(53"^ of frost). Our matches, among other things, are running 
short, and we have given up using any except for lightmg the 
Primus.'' 
The party found the light bad again the next day. After 
stumbling on ski among the sastrugi for two hours, the men 
discarded the ski and made better progress ; but they still 
had many falls, owing to the impossibiUty of distinguishing 
slopes and irregularities in the grey, shadowless surface of the 
snow. They made over nine and a half miles that day, and 
managed to cover ten miles on the following day, March 18. 
one of the best marches of the journey. " I look forward to 
seeing the ship. All of us bear marks of our tramp. Wild 
takes first place. His nose is a picture for Punch to be jealous 
of ; his ears, too, are sore, and one big toe is a black sore. 
Joyce has a good nose and many minor sores. My jaw is swollen 
from the frost-bite I got on the cheek, and I also have a bit of a 
nose. . . . We have discarded the ski, which we hitherto used, 
and travel in the finneskoe. This makes the sledge go better 
but it is not so comfortable travelling as on ski. We encoun- 
tered a very high, rough sastrugi surface, most remarkably high, 
and had a cold breeze in our faces during the march. Our 
beards and moustaches are masses of ice. I will take care I 
am clean-shaven next time I come out. The frozen moustache 
makes the lobes of the nose freeze more easily than they would 
if there was no ice alongside them. ... 1 ask myself why on 
earth one comes to these parts of the earth. Here we are, frost- 
bitten in the day, frozen at night. What a life ! " The tem- 
perature at 1 p.m. that day was — 23^ Fahr., i.e. 65° of frost. 
The men camped abreast of " Corner Camp," where they 
had been on February 1, on the evening of March 19. The 
next day, after being delayed for some hours by bad weather, 
258 
