igtt] DOGS, PONIES, AND DRIVING 479 
in the tracks well. Both have a continually cunning 
eye on their driver, ready to stop the moment he pauses. 
They eat snow every few minutes. It's a relief not having 
to lead an animal ; such trifles annoy one on these marches, 
the animal's vagaries, his everlasting attempts to eat his 
head rope, &c. Yet all these animals are very full of 
character. Some day I must write of them and their 
individualities. 
The men-haulers started i£ hours before us and got 
here a good hour ahead, travelling easily throughout. 
Such is the surface with the sun on it, justifying my 
decision to work towards day marching. Evans has 
suggested the word 'glide' for the quality of surface 
indicated. 1 Surface ' is more comprehensive, and includes 
the crusts and liability to sink in them. From this point 
of view the surface is distinctly bad. The ponies plough 
deep all the time, and the men most of the time. The 
sastrugi are rather more clearly S.E. ; this would be from 
winds sweeping along the coast. We have a recurrence 
of * sinking crusts ' — areas which give way with a report. 
There has been little of this since we left One Ton Camp 
until yesterday and to-day, when it is again very marked. 
Certainly the open Barrier conditions are different from 
those near the coast. Altogether things look much better 
and everyone is in excellent spirits. Meares has been 
measuring the holes made by ponies' hooves and finds an 
average of about 8 inches since we left One Ton Camp. 
He finds many holes a foot deep. This gives a good 
indication of the nature of the work. In Bowers' tent 
they had some of Chinaman's undercut in their hoosh 
