55* 
SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION 
[January 
trouble. I shall indeed be glad to get it on the sledge. 
We are getting more hungry, there is no doubt. The 
lunch meal is beginning to seem inadequate. We are 
pretty thin, especially Evans, but none of us are feeling 
worked out. I doubt if we could drag heavy loads, but 
we can keep going well with our light one. We talk of food 
a good deal more, and shall be glad to open out on it. 
Monday y January 29. — R. 12. Lunch Temp. -23 0 . 
Supper Temp. -25 0 . Height 10,000. Excellent march 
of 19J miles, io - 5 before lunch. Wind helping greatly, 
considerable drift ; tracks for the most part very plain. 
Some time before lunch we picked up the return track 
of the supporting party, so that there are now three 
distinct sledge impressions. We are only 24 miles from 
our depot — an easy day and a half. Given a fine day 
to-morrow we ought to get it without difficulty. The 
wind and sastrugi are S.S.E. and S.E. If the weather 
holds we ought to do the rest of the inland ice journey 
in little over a week. The surface is very much altered 
since we passed out. The loose snow has been swept 
into heaps, hard and wind-tossed. The rest has a glazed 
appearance, the loose drifting snow no doubt acting on it, 
polishing it like a sand blast. The sledge with our good 
wind behind runs splendidly on it ; it is all soft and sandy 
beneath the glaze. We arc certainly getting hungrier 
every day. The day after to-morrow we should be able 
to increase allowances. It is monotonous work, but, 
thank God, the miles are coming fast at last. We ought 
not to be delayed much now with the down-grade in 
front of us. 
