i9i i] THE EXD OF THE BARRIER JOURNEY 493 
or something, but under ordinary conditions they would 
have passed us with case. 
At 8 p.m. the ponies were quite done, one and all. 
They came on painfully slowly a few hundred yards at a 
time. By this time I was hauling ahead, a ridiculously 
light load, and yet finding the pulling heavy enough. 
We camped, and the ponies have been shot.* Poor beasts ! 
they have done wonderfully well considering the terrible 
circumstances under which they worked, but yet it is hard 
to have to kill them so early. The dogs are going well 
in spite of the surface, but here again one cannot get the 
help one would wish. (T. + 19 0 .) I cannot load the animals 
heavily on such snow. The scenery is most impressive ; 
three huge pillars of granite form the right buttress of the 
Gateway, and a sharp spur of Mount Hope the left. The 
land is much more snow-covered than when we saw it 
before the storm. In spite of some doubt in our outlook, 
everyone is very cheerful to-night and jokes arc flying 
freely around. 
* Camp 31 received the name of Shambles Camp. 
