m. had covered a mile in a north-north-westerly
direction. The condition of the ice ahead was chaotic, for since the
morning increased pressure had developed and the pack was moving and
crushing in all directions. So I gave the order to pitch camp for the
night on flat ice, which, unfortunately, proved to be young and salty.
The older pack was too rough and too deeply laden with snow to offer a
suitable camping-ground. Although we had gained only one mile in a
direct line, the necessary deviations made the distance travelled at
least two miles, and the relays brought the distance marched up to six
miles. Some of the dog teams had covered at least ten miles. I set
the watch from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m., one hour for each man in each tent in
rotation.
During the night snow fell heavily, and the floor-cloths of the tents
got wet through, as the temperature had risen to +25° Fahr. One
of the things we hoped for in those days was a temperature in the
neighbourhood of zero, for then the snow surface would be hard, we
would not be troubled by damp, and our gear would not become covered in
soft snow. The killers were blowing all night, and a crack appeared
about 20 ft. from the camp at 2 a.m. The ice below us was quite thin
enough for the killers to break through if they took a fancy to do so,
but there was no other camping-ground within our reach and we had to
take the risk.
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