SOUTH 
with heavy loads Then he would use the Bluff depot as a base 
for the journey to Mount Hope, at the foot of the Beardmore 
Glacier, where tlie final depot was to be laid. 
The party left Hut Point on the morning of October 9, the 
nine men hauling on one rope and trailing three loaded sledges. 
They reached Safety Camp in the early afternoon, and, after 
repacking the sledges with a load of about 2000 lb., they began 
the journey over the Barrier. The pulling proved exceedingly 
heavy, and they camped at the end of half a mile. It was 
decided next day to separate the sledges, three men to haul 
each sledge. Mackintosh hoped that better progress could be 
made in this way. The distance for the day was only four miles, 
and the next day's journey was no better. Joyce mentions that 
he had never done harder pulling, the surface being soft, and 
the load amounting to 220 lb. per man. The new arrangement 
was not a success, owing to difierences in hauling capacity and 
inequalities in the loading of the sledges ; and on the morning 
of the 12th, Mackintosh, after consultation, decided to push 
forward with Wild and Spencer-Smith, hauling one sledge and 
a relatively light load, and leave Joyce and the remaining five 
men to bring two sledges and the rest of the stores at their best 
pace. This arrangement was maintained on the later journeys. 
The temperatures were falling below —30*^ Fahr. at some hours, 
and, as the men perspired freely while hauling their heavy 
loads in the sun, they suffered a great deal of discomfort in the 
damp and freezing clothes at night. Joyce cut down his load 
on the 13th by depot-ing some rations and spare clothing, and 
made better progress. He was building snow-cairns as guide- 
posts for use on the return journey. He mentions passing some 
large crevasses during succeeding days. Persistent head winds 
with occasional drift made the conditions unpleasant and 
caused many frost-bites. When the surface was hard, and the 
pulling comparatively easy, the men slipped and fell con- 
tinually, " looking much like classical dancers." 
On the 20th a northerly wind made possible the use of a 
sail, and Joyce's party made rapid progress. Jack sighted a 
bamboo pole during the afternoon, and Joyce found that it 
marked a depot he had laid for my own Farthest South " 
276 
