h the
sledge-meters which we had were working wrong: the better of the two
seemed however to be marking the total mileage fairly correctly at
present, though the hands which indicated more detailed information were
quite at sea. We had no minimum thermometer, but the present temperature
was -4 deg..

"_February 27._ Mount Terror has proved our friend to-day, for the slope
just above the Knoll has remained clear when everything else was covered,
and we have steered by that--behind us. It seemed, when we started in low
drift, that we should pick up nothing, but by good luck, or good I don't
know what, we have got everything: first the motor, then pony walls at 10
miles, where we stopped and had a cup of tea. I wanted to do 15 miles,
but we have done 181/2 miles on the best running surface I have ever seen.
After lunch we got a cairn which we could not see twenty yards away after
we had reached it, but which we could see for a long way on the southern
horizon, against a thin strip of blue sky. We camped just in time to get
the tent pitched before a line of drift we saw coming out of the sky hit
us. It is now blowing a mild blizzard and drifting. Forty-eight miles in
two days is more than I expected: may our luck continue. Dogs pulling
very fit and not done up.

"_February 28._ I had my first upset just after starting, the sledge
capsizing on a great sastrugus like the Ramp. Dimitri was a long way
ahead and all behind was very thick. I had to unload the sledge for I
could not right it alone. Just as I righted it the team took charge. I
missed the driving-stick but got on to the sledge with no hope of
stopping them, and I was carried a mile to the south, leaving four boxes
of dog-food, the weekly bag, cooker, and tent poles on the ground. The
team stopped when they reached Dimitri's team, and by then the gear was
out of sight. We went back for it, and made good 163/4 miles for the day on
a splendid surface. The sun went down at 11.15 (10.15 A.T.), miraged
quite flat on top. After he had gone down a great bonfire seemed to blaze
out from the horizon. Now -22 deg. and we use a candle for the first time.

"_February 29. Bluff Depot._ If anybody had told me we could reach Bluff
Depot, nearly ninety miles, in four days, I would not have believed it.
We have had a good clear day with much mirage. Dogs a bit tired."[262]

The next three days' run took us to One Ton. On the day we left Bluff
Depot, which had been made a little mo