i 9 ii] FIFTEEN MILES NOT ENOUGH! 521 
slices of horse meat flavoured with onion and curry powder 
and thickened with biscuit ; then an arrowroot, cocoa and 
biscuit hoosh sweetened ; then a plum-pudding ; then 
cocoa with raisins, and finally a dessert of caramels and 
ginger. After the feast it was difficult to move. Wilson 
and I couldn't finish our share of plum-pudding. We have 
all slept splendidly and feel thoroughly warm — such is 
the effect of full feeding. 
Tuesday, December 26. — Lunch. Bar. 21*11. Four 
and three-quarter hours, 6| miles (gco.). Perhaps a little 
slow after plum-pudding, but I think we are getting on 
to the surface which is likely to continue the rest of the 
way. There are still mild differences of elevation, but 
generally speaking the plain is flattening out ; no doubt 
we are rising slowly. 
Camp 48. Bar. 21 -02. The first two hours of the 
afternoon march went well ; then we got on a rough rise 
and the sledge came badly. Camped at 6.30, sledge 
coming easier again at the end. 
It seems astonishing to be disappointed with a march 
of 15 (stat.) miles, when I had contemplated doing little 
more than 10 with full loads. 
We are on the 86th parallel. Obs. : 86° 2' S. ; i6o°26'E. 
The temperature has been pretty consistent of late, 
- io° to - 12 0 at night, -3 0 in the day. The wind has 
seemed milder to-day— it blows anywhere from S.E. to 
south. I had thought to have done with pressures, but 
to-night a crevassed slope appears on our right. We shall 
pass well clear of it, but there may be others. The un- 
dulating character of the plain causes a great variety of 
