I moved along a series of ice bridges, and the excitement gave me strength once more.  I was surprised at myself for not being more giddy when I walked along the narrow ice spines, but the crampons attached to my finneskoe were like cat’s claws, and without the weight of the sledge I seemed to develop a panther-like tenacity, for I negotiated the dangerous parts with the utmost ease.  After some twenty minutes hunting round I came to a great ice hollow.

Down into it I went and up the other side.  This hollow was free from crevasses, and when I got to the top of the ice mound opposite I saw yet another hollow.  Turning round I gazed back towards where I had left our sledge.  Two tiny, disconsolate figures were silhouetted against the sunlight—­my two companions on our great homeward march, one sitting and one standing, probably looking for my reappearance as I vanished and was sighted again from time to time.  I felt a tremendous love for those two men that day.  They had trusted me so implicitly and believed in my ability to win through.  I turned northward again, stepped down into the next hollow and stopped.  I was in an enormous depression but not a crevasse to be seen, for the sides of the depression met quite firmly at the bottom in smooth, blue, solid ice.

In a flash I called to mind the view of the Ice Fall from the glacier on our outward journey with Captain Scott, I remembered the huge frozen waves, and hoped with all my optimistic nature that this might be the end of the great disturbance.  I stood still and surveyed the wonderful valley of ice, and then fell on my knees and prayed to God that a way out would be shown me.

Then I sprang to my feet, and hurried on boldly.  Clambering up the opposite slope of ice, I found a smooth, round crest over which I ran into a similar valley beyond.  Frozen waves here followed in succession, and hollow followed hollow, each less in magnitude than its forerunner.

Suddenly I saw before me the smooth, shining bed of the glacier itself, and away to the north-west was the curious reddish rock under which the Mid Glacier Depot had been placed.  My feelings hardly bear setting down.  I was overcome with emotion, but my prayer was answered and we were saved.

I had considerable difficulty in working back to the party amongst the labyrinth of ice bridges, but I fortunately found a patch of hard snow whereon my crampons had made their mark.  From here I easily traced my footmarks back, and was soon in company with my friends.  They were truly relieved at my news.  On consulting my watch I found that I had been away one hour.  It took us actually three times as long to work our sledge out into the smooth ice of the glacier, but this reached, we camped and made some tea before marching on to the depot, which lay but a few miles from us.

We ate the last of our biscuits at this camp and finished everything but tea and sugar, then, new men, we struck our little camp, harnessed up and swept down over the smooth ice with scarcely an effort needed to move the sledge along.  When we reached the depot we had another meal and slept through the night and well on into the next day.