On arrival at the camp a supper of
cold tinned mutton and tea was served, and everybody turned in at 2
p.m. It was my intention to sleep by day and march by night, so as to
take advantage of the slightly lower temperatures and consequent harder
surfaces.
At 8 p.m. the men were roused, and after a meal of cold mutton and
tea, the march was resumed. A large open lead brought us to a halt at
11 p.m., whereupon we camped and turned in without a meal. Fortunately
just at this time the weather was fine and warm. Several men slept out
in the open at the beginning of the march. One night, however, a slight
snow-shower came on, succeeded immediately by a lowering of the
temperature. Worsley, who had hung up his trousers and socks on a
boat, found them iced-up and stiff; and it was quite a painful process
for him to dress quickly that morning. I was anxious, now that we had
started, that we should make every effort to extricate ourselves, and
this temporary check so early was rather annoying. So that afternoon
Wild and I ski-ed out to the crack and found that it had closed up
again. We marked out the track with small flags as we returned. Each
day, after all hands had turned in, Wild and I would go ahead for two
miles or so to reconnoitre the next day's route, marking it with pieces
of wood, tins, and small flags.
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