Wednesday, February 1.—­Camp 3.  A day of comparative inactivity and some disappointment.  Meares and Wilson returned at noon, reporting the ice out beyond the Razor Back Island—­no return to Cape Evans—­no pony snow-shoes—­alas!  I have decided to make a start to-morrow without them.  Late to-night Atkinson’s foot was examined:  it is bad and there’s no possibility of its getting right for some days.  He must be left behind—­I’ve decided to leave Crean with him.  Most luckily we now have an extra tent and cooker.  How the ponies are to be led is very doubtful.  Well, we must do the best that circumstances permit.  Poor Atkinson is in very low spirits.

I sent Gran to the Discovery hut with our last mail.  He went on ski and was nearly 4 hours away, making me rather anxious, as the wind had sprung up and there was a strong surface-drift; he narrowly missed the camp on returning and I am glad to get him back.

Our food allowance seems to be very ample, and if we go on as at present we shall thrive amazingly.

Thursday, February 2.—­Camp 4.  Made a start at last.  Roused out at 7, left camp about 10.30.  Atkinson and Crean remained behind—­very hard on the latter.  Atkinson suffering much pain and mental distress at his condition—­for the latter I fear I cannot have much sympathy, as he ought to have reported his trouble long before.  Crean will manage to rescue some more of the forage from the Barrier edge—­I am very sorry for him.

On starting with all the ponies (I leading Atkinson’s) I saw with some astonishment that the animals were not sinking deeply, and to my pleased surprise we made good progress at once.  This lasted for more than an hour, then the surface got comparatively bad again—­but still most of the ponies did well with it, making 5 miles.  Birdie’s [10] animal, however, is very heavy and flounders where the others walk fairly easily.  He is eager and tries to go faster as he flounders.  As a result he was brought in, in a lather.  I inquired for our one set of snow-shoes and found they had been left behind.  The difference in surface from what was expected makes one wonder whether better conditions may not be expected during the night and in the morning, when the temperatures are low.  My suggestion that we should take to night marching has met with general approval.  Even if there is no improvement in the surface the ponies will rest better during the warmer hours and march better in the night.

So we are resting in our tents, waiting to start to-night.  Gran has gone back for the snow-shoes—­he volunteered good-naturedly—­certainly his expertness on ski is useful.

Last night the temperature fell to -6 deg. after the wind dropped—­to-day it is warm and calm.

Impressions

The seductive folds of the sleeping-bag.

The hiss of the primus and the fragrant steam of the cooker issuing from the tent ventilator.