inches square and tapered upwards to the small royal mast at a
prospective height of one hundred and twenty feet. At an early stage it
was realized that we could not expect to erect more than three sections.
Round the steel caps at each doubling a good deal of fitting had to
be done, and Bickerton, in such occupation, spent many hours aloft
throughout the year. Fumbling with bulky mitts, handling hammers
and spanners, and manipulating nuts and bolts with bare hands, while
suspended in a boatswain's chair in the wind, the man up the mast had
a difficult and miserable task. Bickerton was the hero of all such
endeavours. Hannam directed the other workers who steadied the stays,
cleared or made fast the ropes, pulled and stood by the hauling tackle
and so forth.

One day the man on the top-mast dislodged a heavy engineering hammer
which he thought secure. No warning was given, as he did not notice
that it had fallen. It whizzed down and buried itself in the snow, just
grazing the heads of Close and Hodgeman.

The ropes securing the aerial and running through various blocks were
in constant danger of chafing during the frequent hurricanes, from their
proximity to the mast and stays, or from friction on the sharp edges of
the blocks. Unknown to us, this had happened to a strong, new manilla
rope by which Murphy was being hauled to the top of the lower-mast. It
gave way, and, but for another rope close by, which he seized to break
his fall, an accident might have ensued.

Frost-bites were common. There were so many occasions when one had to
stand for a long time gripping a rope, pulling or maintaining a steady
strain, that fingers would promptly become numb and feet unbearably
cold. The usual restorative was to stamp about and beat the chest with
the hands--an old sailor's trick. Attempting to climb to a block on the
top-gallant mast one day, McLean had all his fingers frost-bitten at the
same time.

In May the weather was atrocious, and in June building the Astronomical
Hut and digging ice-shafts on the glacier absorbed a good many hands.
In July, despite the enthusiasm and preparation for sledging, much was
done. On August 10 the long looked-for top-mast of the southern mast
became a reality:

"We were early astir--about 7 A.M.--while the pink coloration of dawn
was stealing over the peaceful Barrier. For once, after months, it was
perfectly still. We hurried about making preparations--hauled Bickerton
up to the cross-