-circle, theodolite, tripod, smaller
instruments such as aneroid, barometer and thermometer, tools, medical
outfit and sledge-fittings, our total load amounted to nearly 800 lbs.,
and Stillwell's was about the same.

All were ready at 9 A.M., and, shaking hands with Murphy's party, who
set off due south, we steered with Stillwell to the south-east. The
preliminary instructions were to proceed south-east from the Cave to a
distance of eighteen miles and there await the arrival of Dr. Mawson and
his party, who were to overtake us with their dogteams.

The first few miles gave a gradual rise of one hundred feet per mile,
so that, with a heavy load against wind and drift, travelling was very
slow. The wind now dropped to almost calm, and the drift cleared. In the
afternoon progress was hampered by crevasses, which were very frequent,
running east and west and from one to twenty feet in width. The wider
ones were covered with firm snow-bridges; the snow in places having
formed into granular and even solid ice. What caused most delay were the
detours of several hundreds of yards which had to be made to find a
safe crossing over a long, wide crevasse. At 6.30 P.M. we pitched camp,
having only made five miles from the Cave.

We got away at 9 A.M. the next morning. Throughout the whole journey
we thought over the same mysterious problem as confronted many another
sledger: Where did the time go to in the mornings? Despite all our
efforts we could not cut down the interval from "rise and shine" to the
start below two hours.

Early that day we had our first experience of the treacherous crevasse.
Correll went down a fissure about three feet wide. I had jumped across
it, thinking the bridge looked thin, but Correll stepped on it and went
through. He dropped vertically down the full length of his harness--six
feet. McLean and I soon had him out. The icy walls fell sheer for about
sixty feet, where snow could be seen in the blue depths. Our respect for
crevasses rapidly increased after this, and we took greater precautions,
shuddering to think of the light-hearted way we had trudged over the
wider ones.

At twelve miles, blue, wind-swept ice gave place to an almost flat snow
surface. Meanwhile the sky had rapidly clouded over, and the outlook was
threatening. The light became worse, and the sastrugi indistinguishable.
Such a phenomenon always occurs on what we came to call a "snow-blind
day." On these days the sky is covered with