To-day, for once in a way, we have falling snow, and enough of it.  It is snowing incessantly —­ big, hard flakes, almost like hail.  When the cooker was filled to provide water for dinner, the half-melted mass looked like sago.  The heavy flakes of snow make a noise against the tent that reminds one of the safety-valve of a large boiler blowing off:  Inside the tent it is difficult to hear oneself speak; when we have anything to say to each other we have to shout.

These days of involuntary idleness on a sledge journey may safely be reckoned among the experiences it is difficult to go through without a good deal of mental suffering.  I say nothing of the purely physical discomfort of having to pass the day in a sleeping-bag.  That may be endured; in any case, so long as the bag is fairly dry.  It is a far worse matter to reconcile oneself to the loss of the many solid hours that might otherwise have been put to a useful purpose, and to the irritating consciousness that every bit of food that is consumed is so much wasted of the limited store.  At this spot of all others we should have been so glad to spend the time in exploring round about, or still more in going farther.  But if we are to go on, we must be certain of having a chance of getting seals at a reasonable distance from here.  With our remaining supply of dogs’ food we cannot go on for more than three days.

What we have left will be just enough for the return journey, even if we should not find the depot of seals’ flesh left on the way.  There remained the resource of killing dogs, if it was a question of getting as far to the east as possible, but for many reasons I shrank from availing myself of that expedient.  We could form no idea of what would happen to the southern party’s animals.  The probability was that they would have none left on their return.  Supposing their return were delayed so long as to involve spending another winter on the Barrier, the transport of supplies from the ship could hardly be carried out in the necessary time with the ten untrained puppies that were left with Lindstrom.  We had picked out the useful ones, and I thought that, should the necessity arise, they could be used with greater advantage for this work than we should derive from slaughtering them here, and thereby somewhat prolonging the distance covered; the more so as, to judge from all appearance, there was a poor prospect of our finding anything of interest within a reasonable time.

Tuesday, December 5. —­ It looks as if our patience is to be given a really hard trial this time.  Outside the same state of things continues, and the barometer is going down.  A mass of snow has fallen in the last twenty-four hours.  The drift on the windward side of the tent is constantly growing; if it keeps on a little longer it will be as high as the top of the tent.  The sledges are completely snowed under, and so are the dogs; we had to haul them out one by one in the middle of the day.