SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [February 
time. His hind legs sink very deep. Weary Willy is 
decidedly better. The Soldier takes a gloomy view of 
everything, but I've come to see that this is a charac- 
teristic of him. In spite of it he pays every attention 
to the weaker horses. 
We had frequent halts on the march, but managed 
4 miles before lunch and 3.V after. 
The temperature was — 15 0 at the lunch camp. It was 
cold sitting in the tent waiting for the ponies to rest. The 
thermometer is now -7 0 , but there is a bright sun and no 
wind, which makes the air feel quite comfortable : one's 
socks and finnesko dry well. Our provision allowance 
is working out very well. In fact all is well with us 
except the condition of the ponies. The more I see of the 
matter the more certain I am that we must save all the 
ponies to get better value out of them next year. It would 
have been ridiculous to have worked some out this year as 
the Soldier wished. Even now I feel we went too far 
with the first three. 
One thing is certain. A good snow-shoe would be 
worth its weight in gold on this surface, and if we can get 
something really practical we ought to greatly increase our 
distances next year. 
Mems. — Storage of biscuit next year, lashing cases on 
sledges. 
Look into sledgemeter. 
Picket lines for ponies. 
Food tanks to be size required. 
Two sledges altered to take steel runners. 
Stowage of pony food. Enough sacks for ready bags. 
