and neither of us could ever rise above a sitting posture. Still,
it was a shelter which protected us from the bad weather, and, with
plenty of snow blocks piled around it, was wonderfully resistant to the
wind.

When we retired to rest, it was not to sleep but to think out the best
plan for the return journey.

It was obvious that a descent to the frozen sea would be dangerous on
account of the heavily crevassed nature of the falling glacier, delay
would undoubtedly be caused and our distance from the Hut would be
increased. To decide definitely for the sea-ice would be to take other
risks as well, since, from the altitude at which we were placed, we
could not be sure that the floe-ice which covered the sea would provide
a good travelling surface. In any case it was likely to be on the point
of breaking up, for the season was nearing midsummer. On the other hand,
there was on the sea-ice a chance of obtaining seals for food.

After due consideration we resolved to follow the shorter route,
returning inland over the plateau, for it was reckoned that if the
weather were reasonable we might win through to Winter Quarters with
one and a half weeks' rations and the six dogs which still remained,
provided we ate the dogs to eke out our provisions. Fortunately neither
the cooker nor the kerosene had been lost.

George, the poorest of the dogs, was killed and partly fed to the
others, partly kept for ourselves. The meat was roughly fried on the lid
of the aluminium cooker, an operation which resulted in little more than
scorching the surface. On the whole it was voted good though it had a
strong, musty taste and was so stringy that it could not be properly
chewed.

As both mugs and spoons had been lost, I made two pannikins out of tins
in which cartridges and matches had been packed, and Mertz carved wooden
spoons out of a portion of the broken sledge. At this camp he also
spliced the handle of the broken shovel which had been picked up, so as
to make it temporarily serviceable.

It was midsummer, and therefore we found it easier to drag the sledge
over the snow at night when the surface was frozen hard. Camp was not
finally broken until 6 P.M., when the long and painful return journey
commenced.

For fourteen miles the way led up rising snow slopes to the north-west
until an elevation of two thousand five hundred feet had been reached.
After that, variable grades and flat country were met. Though the sledge
was light