rough
and wet walking of the previous day, his boots had worn out and caused
him to twist a tendon in the right foot, so that he was not up to his
usual form, while Harrisson was hampered with a bulky cargo of eggs and
specimens.

Saddled with these heavy burdens, the party found the return journey
very laborious. Hurley's leg set the pace, and so, later in the day,
Harrisson decided to push on ahead in order to give us news, as they
had orders to be back as soon as possible and were then overdue. When
darkness came on, Harrisson was near The Nuggets, where he passed the
night amongst the tussock-grass. Hurley and Hutchinson, who were five
miles behind, also slept by the wayside. When dawn appeared, Harrisson
moved on, reaching the north-end huts at about 9 A.M. Mertz and Whetter
immediately set out and came to the relief of the other two men a few
hours later.

Fatigue and the lame leg subdued Hurley for the rest of the day, but the
next morning he was off to get pictures of the "flying fox" in action.
It was practically impossible for him to walk to the top of the hill,
but not to be baffled, he sent the cinematograph machine up by the
"flying fox," and then followed himself. Long before reaching the top
he realized how much his integrity depended on the strength of the
hauling-line and the care of those on Wireless Hill.

During the latter part of our stay at the island, the wind veered to the
north and north-north-east. We took advantage of this change to steam
round to the east side, intending to increase our supply of fresh water
at The Nuggets, where a stream comes down the hillside on to the beach.
In this, however, we were disappointed, for the sea was breaking too
heavily on the beach, and so we steamed back to North-East Bay
and dropped anchor. Wild went off in the launch to search for a
landing-place but found the sea everywhere too formidable.

Signals were made to those on shore, instructing them to finish off the
work on the wireless plant, and to kill a dozen sheep--enough for our
needs for some days.

The ship was now found to be drifting, and, as the wind was blowing
inshore, the anchor was raised, and with the launch in tow we steamed
round to the calmer waters of Hasselborough Bay. At the north end of the
island, for several miles out to sea along the line of a submerged reef,
the northerly swell was found to be piling up in an ugly manner, and
occasioned considerable damage to the launch. Thi