on, Kennedy and I assisted the others down to the sea-ice by a long
sloping snow-drift and saw them off to a good start in a south-westerly
direction. We found that the heavy sledge used for carrying ice had been
blown more then five hundred yards to the edge of the glacier, capsized
among the rough pressure-slabs and broken. Two heavy boxes which were on
the sledge had disappeared altogether.

The rest of the day was devoted to clearing stores out of the tunnels.
It was evident to us that with the advent of warmer weather, the roof
of the caves or grottoes (by the way, the hut received the name of
"The Grottoes") would sink, and so it was advisable to repack the cases
outside rather than dig them out of the deep snow. By 6 P.M. nearly two
hundred boxes were passed up through the trap-door and the caverns were
all empty.

After two days of blizzard, Watson, Kennedy and I broke trail with loads
of one hundred and seventy pounds per man. Right from the start the
surface was so soft that pulling became very severe. On the first day,
September 29, we managed to travel more than nine miles, but during
the next six days the snow became deeper and more impassable, and only
nineteen miles were covered. Crevasses were mostly invisible, and on the
slope upwards to the ice-cap more troublesome than usual. The weather
kept up its invariable wind and drift. Finally, after making laborious
headway to two thousand feet, Kennedy strained his Achilles tendon and I
decided to return to "The Grottoes."

At 2 P.M. on October 8, the mast was sighted and we climbed down
into the Hut, finding it very cold, empty and dark. The sun had
shone powerfully that day and Kennedy and Watson had a touch of
snow-blindness.

Two weeks went by and there was no sign of the western depot party. In
fact, out of sixteen days, there were thirteen of thick drift and high
wind, so that our sympathies went out to the men in tents with soaking
bags, waiting patiently for a rift in the driving wall of snow. On
October 23 they had been away for four weeks; provisions for that time
having been taken. I had no doubt that they would be on reduced rations,
and, if the worst came, they could eat the dogs.

During a lull on October 24, I went to the masthead with the
field-glasses but saw nothing of the party. On that day we weighed out
provisions and made ready to go in search of them. It was my intention
to go on the outward track for a week. I wrote instructions t