Sunday, January 15.—­We had decided to observe this day as a ’day of rest,’ and so it has been.

At one time or another the majority have employed their spare hours in writing letters.

We rose late, having breakfast at nine.  The morning promised well and the day fulfilled the promise:  we had bright sunshine and practically no wind.

At 10 A.M. the men and officers streamed over from the ship, and we all assembled on the beach and I read Divine Service, our first Service at the camp and impressive in the open air.  After Service I told Campbell that I should have to cancel his two ponies and give him two others.  He took it like the gentleman he is, thoroughly appreciating the reason.

He had asked me previously to be allowed to go to Cape Royds over the glacier and I had given permission.  After our talk we went together to explore the route, which we expected to find much crevassed.  I only intended to go a short way, but on reaching the snow above the uncovered hills of our Cape I found the surface so promising and so free from cracks that I went quite a long way.  Eventually I turned, leaving Campbell, Gran, and Nelson roped together and on ski to make their way onward, but not before I felt certain that the route to Cape Royds would be quite easy.  As we topped the last rise we saw Taylor and Wright some way ahead on the slope; they had come up by a different route.  Evidently they are bound for the same goal.

I returned to camp, and after lunch Meares and I took a sledge and nine dogs over the Cape to the sea ice on the south side and started for Hut Point.  We took a little provision and a cooker and our sleeping-bags.  Meares had found a way over the Cape which was on snow all the way except about 100 yards.  The dogs pulled well, and we went towards the Glacier Tongue at a brisk pace; found much of the ice uncovered.  Towards the Glacier Tongue there were some heaps of snow much wind blown.  As we rose the glacier we saw the Nimrod depot some way to the right and made for it.  We found a good deal of compressed fodder and boxes of maize, but no grain crushed as expected.  The open water was practically up to the Glacier Tongue.

We descended by an easy slope 1/4 mile from the end of the Glacier Tongue, but found ourselves cut off by an open crack some 15 feet across and had to get on the glacier again and go some 1/2 mile farther in.  We came to a second crack, but avoided it by skirting to the west.  From this point we had an easy run without difficulty to Hut Point.  There was a small pool of open water and a longish crack off Hut Point.  I got my feet very wet crossing the latter.  We passed hundreds of seals at the various cracks.

On the arrival at the hut to my chagrin we found it filled with snow.  Shackleton reported that the door had been forced by the wind, but that he had made an entrance by the window and found shelter inside—­other members of his party used it for shelter.  But they actually went away and left the window (which they had forced) open; as a result, nearly the whole of the interior of the hut is filled with hard icy snow, and it is now impossible to find shelter inside.