A great shock came when we passed the depoted fodder and made for this camp.  The ponies sank very deep and only brought on their loads with difficulty, getting pretty hot.  The distance was but 1 1/2 miles, but it took more out of them than the rest of the march.  We camped and held a council of war after lunch.  I unfolded my plan, which is to go forward with five weeks’ food for men and animals:  to depot a fortnight’s supply after twelve or thirteen days and return here.  The loads for ponies thus arranged work out a little over 600 lbs., for the dog teams 700 lbs., both apart from sledges.  The ponies ought to do it easily if the surface is good enough for them to walk, which is doubtful—­the dogs may have to be lightened—­such as it is, it is the best we can do under the circumstances!

This afternoon I went forward on ski to see if the conditions changed.  In 2 or 3 miles I could see no improvement.

Bowers, Garrard, and the three men went and dug out the Nimrod tent.  They found a cooker and provisions and remains of a hastily abandoned meal.  One tent was half full of hard ice, the result of thaw.  The Willesden canvas was rotten except some material used for the doors.  The floor cloth could not be freed.

The Soldier doesn’t like the idea of fetching up the remainder of the loads to this camp with the ponies.  I think we will bring on all we can with the dogs and take the risk of leaving the rest.

The Nimrod camp was evidently made by some relief or ship party, and if that has stood fast for so long there should be little fear for our stuff in a single season.  To-morrow we muster stores, build the depot, and pack our sledges.

Tuesday, January 31.—­Camp 3.  We have everything ready to start—­but this afternoon we tried our one pair of snow-shoes on ‘Weary Willy.’  The effect was magical.  He strolled around as though walking on hard ground in places where he floundered woefully without them.  Oates hasn’t had any faith in these shoes at all, and I thought that even the quietest pony would need to be practised in their use.

Immediately after our experiment I decided that an effort must be made to get more, and within half an hour Meares and Wilson were on their way to the station more than 20 miles away.  There is just the chance that the ice may not have gone out, but it is a very poor one I fear.  At present it looks as though we might double our distance with the snow-shoes.

Atkinson is better to-day, but not by any means well, so that the delay is in his favour.  We cannot start on till the dogs return with or without the shoes.  The only other hope for this journey is that the Barrier gets harder farther out, but I feel that the prospect of this is not very bright.  In any case it is something to have discovered the possibilities of these shoes.

Low temperature at night for first time.  Min. 2.4 deg..  Quite warm in tent.