low, flying drift.

"December 21.--The night-march was a miserable one. The only thing which
helped to relieve it was that for a moment Dixson Island was miraged up
in the north, and we felt that we had met an old friend, which means
a lot in this icy desolation. The surface was furrowed by hard, sharp
sastrugi.

"We camped at 9 A.M. after only eleven miles. Haldane was finished off
before we retired.

"We were up again at 9 P.M., and when a start was made at 11 P.M. there
was a strong south-south-east wind blowing, with low drift; temperature,
zero Fahr.

"December 22.--The surface of hard, polished sastrugi caused many falls.
The track was undulating, rising in one case several hundred feet and
finally falling in a long slope.

"Pavlova gave in late in the march and was taken on the sledge.

"Camped at 6.40 A.M. in a forty-mile wind with low drift. Distance
marched was twelve miles one thousand four hundred yards.

"Before turning in, we effected sundry repairs. Mertz re-spliced the
handle of the shovel which had broken apart and I riveted the broken
spindle of the sledge-meter. The mechanism of the latter had frozen
during the previous day's halt, and, on being started, its spindle had
broken off short. It was a long and tedious job tapping at the steed
with a toy hammer, but the rivet held miraculously for the rest of the
journey.

"Up at 11.30 P.M., a moderate breeze blowing, overcast sky, light snow
falling."

On December 28 an uphill march commenced which was rendered very heavy
by the depth of the soft snow. Pavlova had to be carried on the sledge.

Suddenly, gaping crevasses appeared dimly through the falling snow which
surrounded us like a blanket. There was nothing to do but camp, though
it was only 4.30 A.M., and we had covered but five miles one thousand
two hundred and thirty yards.

Pavlova was killed and we made a very acceptable soup from her bones. In
view of the dark outlook, our ration of food had to be still further cut
down. We had no proper sleep, hunger gnawing at us all the time, and the
question of food was for ever in our thoughts. Dozing in the fur bags,
we dreamed of gorgeous "spreads" and dinner-parties at home. Tramping
along through the snow, we racked our brains thinking of how to make the
most of the meagre quantity of dogs' meat at hand.

The supply of kerosene for the primus stove promised to be ample, for
none of it had been lost in the accident. We found that it was w