i 9 i2] A HARD TIME ON THE SUMMIT 549 
holds. I shall be very glad when Bowers gets his ski ; 
Fm afraid he must find these long marches very trying 
with short legs, but he is an undefeated little sportsman. 
I think Oatcs is feeling the cold and fatigue more than 
most of us. It is blowing pretty hard to-night, but with 
a good march we have earned one good hoosh and arc 
very comfortable in the tent. It is everything now to 
keep up a good marching pace ; I trust we shall be able 
to do so and catch the ship. Total march, i8£ miles. 
Sunday, January 21— R. 4. 10,010. Temp, blizzard, 
- 18 0 to - to - 14 0 now. Awoke to a stiff blizzard ; 
air very thick with snow and sun very dim. We decided 
not to march owing to likelihood of losing track ; expected 
at least a day of lay up, but whilst at lunch there was a 
sudden clearance and wind dropped to light breeze. We 
got ready to march, but gear was so iced up we did not 
get away till 3.45. Marched till 7.40 — a terribly weary 
four-hour drag; even with helping wind we only did 5^ 
miles (6} statute). The surface bad, horribly bad on new 
sastrugi, and decidedly rising again in elevation. 
We are going to have a pretty hard time this next 
100 miles I expect. If it was difficult to drag downhill 
over this belt, it will probably be a good deal more difficult 
to drag up. Luckily the cracks arc fairly distinct, though 
we only sec our cairns when less than a mile away ; 45 miles 
to the next depot and 6 days' food in hand — then pick up 
7 days' food (T. -22 0 ) and 90 miles to go to the * Three 
Degree ' Depot. Once there we ought to be safe, but we 
ought to have a day or two in hand on arrival and may 
have difficulty with following the tracks. However, if 
