November 7.  Early morning. Not an easy day.  It was -9 deg. and overcast when we turned out, and the wind was then dying down, but it had been blowing up to force 5, with surface drift during the day.  We started in a bad light and the surface, which was the usual hard surface common here, with big sastrugi, was covered by a thin layer of crystals which were then falling.  This naturally made it very much harder pulling:  we with the dogs have been running nearly all the twelve miles, and I for one am tired.  At lunch Atkinson thought he saw a tent away to our right,—­the very thought of it came as a shock,—­but it proved to be a false alarm.  We have been keeping a sharp look-out for the gear which was left about this part by the Last Return Party, but have seen no sign of it.

It is now -14 deg., but the sun is shining brightly in a clear sky, and it feels beautifully warm.  It seems a very regular thing for the sky to cloud over as the sun gets low towards nightfall—­and directly the sun begins to rise again the clouds disappear in a most wonderful way.

November 8.  Early morning. Last night’s twelve miles was quite cold for the time of year, being -23 deg. at lunch and now -18 deg..  But it is calm, with bright sun, and this temperature feels warm.  However, there are some frost-bites as a result, both Nelson and Hooper having swollen faces.  The same powder and crystals have been on the surface, but we have carried the good Bluff surface so far, being now four miles beyond Bluff Depot.  This is fortunate, and to the best of my recollection we were already getting on to a soft surface at this point last summer.  If so there must have been more wind here this year than last, which, according to the winter we have had, seems probable.

We made up the Bluff Depot after lunch, putting up a new flag and building up the cairn, leaving two cases of dog-biscuit for the returning dog-teams.  It is curious that the drift to leeward of the cairn, that is N.N.E., was quite soft, the snow all round and the drifts on either side being hard—­exceptionally hard in fact.  Why this drift should remain soft when a drift in the same place is usually hard is difficult to explain.  All is happy in the mule camp.  They have given Lal a drink of water and he has started to eat, which is good news.  Some of the mules seem snow-blind, and they are now all wearing their blinkers.  I have just heard that Gran swung the thermometer at four this morning and found it -29 deg..  Nelson’s face is a sight—­his nose a mere swollen lump, frost-bitten cheeks, and his goggles have frosted him where the rims touched his face.  Poor Marie!