A tally of the stores at the hut showed that on a reasonable allowance the supply would last till the middle of June.  Richards and Wild killed many seals, so that there was no scarcity of meat and blubber.  A few penguins were also secured.  The sole means of cooking food and heating the hut was an improvised stove of brick, covered with two sheets of iron.  This had been used by the former Expedition.  The stove emitted dense smoke and often made the hut very uncomfortable, while at the same time it covered the men and all their gear with clinging and penetrating soot.  Cleanliness was out of the question, and this increased the desire of the men to get across to Cape Evans.  During April the sea froze in calm weather, but winds took the ice out again.  On April 23 Joyce walked four miles to the north, partly on young ice two inches thick, and he thought then that the party might be able to reach Cape Evans within a few days.  But a prolonged blizzard took the ice out right up to the Point, so that the open water extended at the end of April right up to the foot of Vinie’s Hill.  Then came a spell of calm weather, and during the first week of May the sea-ice formed rapidly.  The men made several short trips over it to the north.  The sun had disappeared below the horizon in the middle of April, and would not appear again for over four months.

The disaster that followed is described by both Richards and Joyce.  “And now a most regrettable incident occurred,” wrote Richards.  “On the morning of May 8, before breakfast, Captain Mackintosh asked Joyce what he thought of his going to Cape Evans with Hayward.  Captain Mackintosh considered the ice quite safe, and the fine morning no doubt tempted him to exchange the quarters at the hut for the greater comfort and better food at Cape Evans.” (Mackintosh naturally would be anxious to know if the men at Cape Evans were well and had any news of the ship.) “He was strongly urged at the time not to take the risk, as it was pointed out that the ice, although firm, was very young, and that a blizzard was almost sure to take part of it out to sea.”

However, at about 1 p.m., with the weather apparently changing for the worse, Mackintosh and Hayward left, after promising to turn back if the weather grew worse.  The last sight the watching party on the hill gained of them was when they were about a mile away, close to the shore, but apparently making straight for Cape Evans.  At 3 p.m. a moderate blizzard was raging, which later increased in fury, and the party in the hut had many misgivings for the safety of the absent men.

On May 10, the first day possible, the three men left behind walked over new ice to the north to try and discover some trace as to the fate of the others.  The footmarks were seen clearly enough raised up on the ice, and the track was followed for about two miles in a direction leading to Cape Evans.  Here they ended abruptly, and in the dim light a wide stretch of water, very lightly covered with ice, was seen as far as the eye could reach.  It was at once evident that part of the ice over which they had travelled had gone out to sea.