was almost impossible to see the irregularities of the surface. Only a
dull-white glare met the eyes, and the first indication of a hillock was
to stub one's toes against it, or of a depression to fall into it. We
pulled up the dogs at 7.30 P.M. after covering thirteen and a quarter
miles in the day.

At 9.45 A.M. on November 18 everything was ready for a fresh start. The
other parties could be seen rapidly bearing down on us under full
sail, but our willing teams had soon dragged the three sledges over an
eminence and out of their sight.

It was a lovely day; almost like a dream after the lengthy months of
harassing blizzards. A venturesome skua gull appeared at lunch time,
just as an observation for latitude was being taken. By the time Ninnis
had unpacked the rifle the bird had flown away.

The direction of the sastrugi was found to vary from that which obtained
farther west, owing to a slight swing in the direction of the prevailing
wind. The irregularities in the coastline account for this; the wind
tending to flow down to sea-level by the nearest route.

To the north-west, behind us, a projecting ridge of rock--Madigan
Nunatak--came into sight. From the camp of the previous evening it had
evidently been hidden from view by an undulation in the surface.

During the afternoon it was noted that the surface had become very
deeply eroded by the wind, troughs three feet in depth being common,
into which the sledges frequently capsized. Each of us took it in turn
to run ahead, jumping from one sastruga to another. As these were firm
and polished by the constant wind, one often slipped with a sudden shock
to the ground. Our bodies were well padded with clothing and we were
beginning to get into good form, so that these habitual tumbles were
taken with the best grace we could muster. I surprised myself during the
afternoon, when my turn came as forerunner, by covering two and a half
miles at a jog-trot without a break. The grade was slightly downhill and
the sledges moved along of their own accord, accelerated by jerks
from the dogs, gliding at right angles to the knife-edge crests of the
snow-waves.

The roughness of the surface was not without its effect on the
sledge-meter, which had to be repaired temporarily. It was a matter of
some inconvenience that after this date its records were erroneous
and approximate distances were only obtained by checking the readings
against absolute observations made for latitude