day, covering sixteen miles in
all.

November 26 broke overcast, the light being bad for travelling and the
wind still strong. Nevertheless we set out at 10 A.M. through falling
snow.

As the day progressed the wind subsided and Mertz was able to put on his
skis over a surface which sloped gradually away to the east. The light
was diffused uniformly over the irregularities of snow and ice so that
depressions only a few feet away were invisible. Black objects, on the
other hand, stood out with startling distinctness, and our attention was
soon arrested by a hazy, dark patch which appeared in front and to the
left. At first there was much doubt as to its nature, but it was
soon clear that it must be a group of rocks, apparently situated at a
considerable distance. They were subsequently found to be sixty miles
away (Organ Pipe Cliffs, near Cape Blake).

Presently our course ended abruptly at the edge of a precipitous fall.
We skirted round this for a while, but were ultimately forced to camp
owing to the uncertainty of the light and the proximity of several large
crevasses.

At 11 P.M. the sky cleared and a better idea could be gained of what
lay ahead. In a line between our elevated position and the distant rocky
outcrops the ice fell in a steep descent to a broad, glacial valley,
undulating and in places traversed by torn masses of serac-ice. We
examined the country to the east very carefully with a view to selecting
a track for the journey next day and finally resolved to pass to the
south of a large ice-capped island--Dixson Island, which was only about
ten miles to the north-east, set within Ninnis Glacier near its western
border

On the 27th Mertz and I roped up, reconnoitred for a while and returned
to the sledges. We then spent several hours in advancing a mile over
badly broken ground, arriving at a slope covered with sastrugi and
descending steeply for one thousand feet into the bed of the glacier.

In order the more safely to negotiate this, the dogs were all let
loose excepting two in each sledge. Even then the sledges were often
uncontrollable, rolling over and over many times before the bottom was
reached.

When the dogs were re-harnessed it was found that Betli was missing
and was not to be seen when we scanned the slopes in our rear with
binoculars. It was expected that unless she had fallen into a crevasse
she would turn up at the camp that night. However, she did not reappear,
and we saw no mor