“All day we went on in dull cloudy weather with hardly any land visible, and the glacier to be seen only for a short distance.  In the afternoon the clouds lifted somewhat and showed us the Adam Mountains.  The surface was better for the sledges but worse for us, as there were countless cracks and small crevasses, into which we constantly trod, barking our shins.  As the afternoon sun came round the perspiration fairly streamed down, and it was impossible to keep goggles clear.  The surface was so slippery and uneven that it was difficult to keep one’s foothold.  However we did 121/2 miles, and felt that we had really done a good day’s work when we camped.  It was not clear enough to survey in the evening, so I took the sledge-meter in hand and worked at it half the night to repair Christopher’s damage.[235] I ended up by making a fixing of which I was very proud, but did not dare to look at the time, so I don’t know how much sleep I missed.

“There is no doubt that Scott knows where to aim for in a glacier, as it was just here that Shackleton had two or three of his worst days’ work, in such a maze of crevasses that he said that often a slip meant death for the whole party.  He avoids the sides of the glacier and goes nowhere near the snow:  he often heads straight for apparent chaos and somehow, when we appear to have reached a cul-de-sac, we find it an open road."[236] However, we all found the trouble on our way back.

“On our right we have now a pretty good view of the Adam, Marshall and Wild Mountains, and their very curious horizontal stratification.  Wright has found, amongst bits of wind-blown debris, an undoubted bit of sandstone and a bit of black basalt.  We must get to know more of the geology before leaving the glacier finally."[237]

December 19, +7 deg..  Total height 5800 feet.  “Things are certainly looking up, seeing that we have risen 1100 feet, and marched 17 to 18 statute miles during the day, whereas Shackleton’s last march was 13 statute.  It was still thick when we turned out at 5.45, but it soon cleared with a fresh southerly wind, and we could see Buckley Island and the land at the head of the glacier just rising.  We started late for Birdie wanted to get our sledge-meter dished up:  it has been quite a job to-day getting it on, but it rode well this afternoon.  We started over the same crevassed stuff, but soon got on to blue ice, and for two hours had a most pleasant pull, and then up a steepish rise sometimes on blue ice and sometimes on snow.  After the pleasantest morning we have had, we completed 81/2 miles.

[Illustration:  FROM MOUNT DEAKIN TO MOUNT KINSEY—­E.  A. Wilson, del.  Emery Walker Limited, Collotypers.]