igxx] TELEPHONES AT WORK 361 
on such days — more than once to-day we could hear the 
notes of some blithe singer — happily signalling the coming 
of the spring and the sun. 
This afternoon as I sit in the hut I find it worthy of 
record that two telephones are in use : the one keeping 
time for Wright who works at the transit instrument, and 
the other bringing messages from Nelson at his ice hole 
three-quarters of a mile away. This last connection is 
made with a bare aluminium wire and earth return, and 
shows that we should have little difficulty in completing 
our circuit to Hut Point as is contemplated. 
Account of the Winter Journey 
Wednesday, August 2. — The Crozier Party returned 
last night after enduring for five weeks the hardest con- 
ditions on record. They looked more weather-worn than 
anyone I have yet seen. Their faces were scarred and 
wrinkled, their eyes dull, their hands whitened and creased 
with the constant exposure to damp and cold, yet the 
scars of frostbite were very few and this evil had never 
seriously assailed them. The main part of their afflictions 
arose, and very obviously arose, from sheer lack of sleep, 
and to-day after a night's rest our travellers arc very 
different in appearance and mental capacity. 
The story of a very wonderful performance must be 
told by the actors. It is for me now to give but an out- 
line of the journey and to note more particularly the 
effects of the strain which they have imposed on them- 
selves and the lessons which their experiences teach for 
our future guidance. 
