inland at 10 P.M. on December 14. The discovery of
two nunataks springing out of the piedmont glacier to the south, lured
us on.

The first rock--Possession Nunataks--loomed ahead, two hundred feet
above, up a slope of half a mile. Here a depot of provisions and spare
gear was made, sufficient to take us back to the Hippo. The rock was
found by Watson to be gneiss, rich in mica, felspar and garnets. We
lunched in this place and resumed our march at midnight.

The second nunatak was on the course; a sharp peak in the south,
hidden by the contour of the uprising ridges. In four miles we steadily
ascended eight hundred feet. While we were engaged pitching camp, a Cape
pigeon flew overhead.

There were advantages in travelling at night. The surface was firmer,
our eyes were relieved from the intense glare and our faces no longer
blistered. On the other hand, there were disadvantages. The skirt of the
tent used to get very wet through the snow thawing on it in the midday
sun, and froze solid when packed up; the floor-cloths and sleeping-bags,
also, never had a chance of drying and set to the same icy hardness.
When we had mounted higher I intended to return to work by day.

It was not till the altitude was three thousand feet that we came
in sight of the far peak to the south. We were then pulling again in
daylight. The ice-falls of the Denman Glacier on the left were still
seen descending from the plateau, while down on the plain we saw that
the zone of disrupted ice, into which the short and intricate track of
our northern attempt had been won, extended for quite thirty miles.

The surface then softened in a most amazing fashion and hauling became
a slow, dogged strain with frequent spells. A little over four miles
was the most we could do on the 18th, and on the 19th the loads were
dragging in a deluge of dry, flour-like snow. A long halt was made at
lunch to repair a badly torn tent.

The peak ahead was named Mount Barr-Smith. It was fronted by a steep
rise which we determined to climb next day. On the eastern margin of the
Denman Glacier were several nunataks and higher, rising ground.

Following a twenty-four hours' blizzard, the sky was overcast, with the
usual dim light filtering through a mist of snow. We set off to scale
the mountain, taking the dip-circle with us. The horizon was so obscured
that it was useless to take a round of angles. Fifteen miles south of
Mount Barr-Smith, and a little higher there was