CHAPTER XIX 
THE RETURN FROM THE POLE 
Friday, January 19.— Lunch 8'i, T. -22'6°. Early 
in the march wc picked up a Norwegian cairn and our 
outward tracks. We followed these to the ominous 
black flag which has first apprised us of our predecessors' 
success. Wc have picked this flag up, using the staff for 
our sail, and are now camped about ii miles further back 
on our tracks. So that is the last of the Norwegians for 
the present. The surface undulates considerably about 
this latitude ; it was more evident to-day than when we 
were outward bound. 
Night camp R. 2 * Height 9700. T. - 18-5°, Minimum 
-25*6°. Came along well this afternoon for three hours, 
then a rather dreary finish for the last ih. Weather very 
curious, snow clouds, looking very dense and spoiling 
the light, pass overhead from the S., dropping very minute 
crystals ; between showers the sun shows and the wind 
goes to the S.W. The fine crystals absolutely spoil the 
surface ; wc had heavy dragging during the last hour in 
spite of the light load and a full sail. Our old tracks are 
drifted up, deep in places, and toothed sastrugi have 
* A number preceded by R. marks the camps on the return journey. 
2 v 2 
