i 9 ii] THE FIRST MOTOR ON THE BARRIER 443 
hitch on his top speed — the first man to run a motor on 
the Great Barrier ! There was great cheering from all 
assembled, but the motor party was not wasting time on 
jubilation. On dashed the motor, and it and the running 
men beside it soon grew small in the distance. We went 
back to help Lashly, who had restarted his engine. If 
not so dashingly, on account of his slower speed, he also 
now took the slope without hitch and got a last handshake 
as he clattered forward. His engine was not working so 
well as the other, but I think mainly owing to the first 
overheating and a want of adjustment resulting therefrom. 
Thus the motors left us, travelling on the best surface 
they have yet encountered — hard windswept snow without 
sastrugi — a surface which Meares reports to extend to 
Corner Camp at least. 
Providing there is no serious accident, the engine 
troubles will gradually be got over ; of that I feel pretty 
confident. Every day will see improvement as it has done 
to date, every day the men will get greater confidence 
with larger experience of the machines and the conditions. 
But it is not easy to foretell the extent of the result of 
older and earlier troubles with the rollers. The new rollers 
turned up by Day are already splitting, and one of Lashly's 
chains is in a bad way ; it may be possible to make 
temporary repairs good enough to cope with the improved 
surface, but it seems probable that Lashly's car will not 
get very far. 
It is already evident that had the rollers been metal 
cased and the runners metal covered, they would now be 
as good as new. I cannot think why we had not the 
