ound a mile from One Ton.
All we could do was to hang on to the sledge and let them go: there
wasn't a chance to go back, turn them or steer them. Dimitri broke his
driving-stick: my team fought as they went: once I was dragged with my
foot pinned under my driving-stick, which was itself jammed in the
grummet: several times I only managed to catch on anywhere: this went on
for six or seven miles, and then they got better."[266]

Our remaining sledge-meter was quite unreliable, but following our
outward tracks (for it became thick and overcast), and judging by our old
camping sites, we reckoned that we had done an excellent run of 23 to 24
miles (statute) for the day. The temperature when we camped was only
-14 deg.. However it became much colder in the night, and when we turned out
it was so thick that I decided we must wait. At 2 P.M. on March 11 there
was one small patch of blue sky showing, and we started to steer by this:
soon it was blowing a mild blizzard, and we stopped after doing what I
reckoned was eight miles, steering by trying to keep the wind on my ear:
but I think we were turning circles much of the time. It blew hard and
was very cold during the night, and we turned out on the morning of March
12 to a blizzard with a temperature of -33 deg.: this gradually took off, and
at 10 A.M. Dimitri said he could see the Bluff, and we were right into
the land, and therefore the pressure. This was startling, but later it
cleared enough to reassure me, though Dimitri was so certain that during
the first part of our run that day I steered east a lot. We did 25 to 30
miles this day in drift and a temperature of -28 deg..

By now I was becoming really alarmed and anxious about Dimitri, who
seemed to be getting much worse, and to be able to do less and less.
Sitting on a sledge the next day with a head wind and the temperature
-30 deg. was cold. The land was clear when we turned out and I could see that
we must be far outside our course, but almost immediately it became
foggy. We made in towards the land a good deal, and made a good run, but
owing to the sledge-meter being useless and the bad weather generally
during the last few days, I had a very hazy idea indeed where we were
when we camped, having been steering for some time by the faint gleam of
the sun through the mist. Just after camping Dimitri suddenly pointed to
a black spot which seemed to wave to and fro: we decided that it was the
flag of the derelict motor