250 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [April 
but I'm rapidly altering my opinion ; we may miss the 
hill climbing here, but in every direction there is abundance 
of interest. To-day I walked round the shores of the 
North Bay examining the kenyte cliffs and great masses 
of morainic material of the Barne Glacier, then on under 
the huge blue ice cliffs of the Glacier itself. With the 
sunset lights, deep shadows, the black islands and white 
bergs it was all very beautiful. 
Simpson and Bowers sent up a balloon to-day with a 
double thread and instrument attached ; the line was 
checked at about 3 miles, and soon after the instrument 
was seen to disengage. The balloon at first went north 
with a light southerly breeze till it reached 300 or 400 feet, 
then it turned to the south but did not travel rapidly ; 
when 2 miles of thread had gone it seemed to be going 
north again or rising straight upward. 
In the afternoon Simpson and Bowers went to recover 
their treasure, but somewhere south of Inaccessible Island 
they found the thread broken and the light was not good 
enough to continue the search. 
The sides of the galley fire have caved in — there should 
have been checks to prevent this ; we got some fireclay 
cement to-day and plastered up the sides. I hope this 
will get over the difficulty, but have some doubt. 
Wednesday, April 26 —Calm. Went round Cape Evans 
— remarkable effects of icicles on the ice foot, formed 
by spray of southerly gales. 
Thursday, April 27. — The fourth day in succession 
without wind, but overcast. Light snow has fallen 
during the day — to-night the wind comes from the north. 
