Wednesday, February 8.—­No. 7 Camp.  Bearings:  Lat. 78 deg. 13’; Mt.  Terror N. 3 W.; Erebus 23 1/2 Terror 2nd peak from south; Pk. 2 White Island 74 Terror; Castle Rk. 43 Terror.  Night march just completed. 10 miles, 200 yards.  The ponies were much shaken by the blizzard.  One supposes they did not sleep—­all look listless and two or three are visibly thinner than before.  But the worst case by far is Forde’s little pony; he was reduced to a weight little exceeding 400 lbs. on his sledge and caved in altogether on the second part of the march.  The load was reduced to 200 lbs., and finally Forde pulled this in, leading the pony.  The poor thing is a miserable scarecrow and never ought to have been brought—­it is the same pony that did so badly in the ship.  To-day it is very fine and bright.  We are giving a good deal of extra food to the animals, and my hope is that they will soon pick up again—­but they cannot stand more blizzards in their present state.  I’m afraid we shall not get very far, but at all hazards we must keep the greater number of the ponies alive.  The dogs are in fine form—­the blizzard has only been a pleasant rest for them.

Memo.—­Left No. 7 Camp. 2 bales of fodder.

Thursday, February 9.—­No. 8 Camp.  Made good 11 miles.  Good night march; surface excellent, but we are carrying very light loads with the exception of one or two ponies.  Forde’s poor ‘Misery’ is improving slightly.  It is very keen on its feed.  Its fate is much in doubt.  Keohane’s ‘Jimmy Pigg’ is less lame than yesterday.  In fact there is a general buck up all round.

It was a coldish march with light head wind and temperature 5 deg. or 6 deg. below zero, but it was warm in the sun all yesterday and promises to be warm again to-day.  If such weather would hold there would be nothing to fear for the ponies.  We have come to the conclusion that the principal cause of their discomfort is the comparative thinness of their coats.

We get the well-remembered glorious views of the Western Mountains, but now very distant.  No crevasses to-day.  I shall be surprised if we pass outside all sign of them.

One begins to see how things ought to be worked next year if the ponies hold out.  Ponies and dogs are losing their snow blindness.

Friday, February 10.—­No. 9 Camp. 12 miles 200 yards.  Cold march, very chilly wind, overcast sky, difficult to see surface or course.

Noticed sledges, ponies, &c., cast shadows all round.

Surface very good and animals did splendidly.

We came over some undulations during the early part of the march, but the last part appeared quite flat.  I think I remember observing the same fact on our former trip.

The wind veers and backs from S. to W. and even to N., coming in gusts.  The sastrugi are distinctly S.S.W.  There isn’t a shadow of doubt that the prevailing wind is along the coast, taking the curve of the deep bay south of the Bluff.