not matter very much, because we had heaps of
people to work the depot-laying journey, only it meant a disappointment
for Atkinson, which he took to heart very much. The question of sledging
experience made us wish to have Atkinson on this trip, but he gained it a
few weeks later. Accordingly, I took over Crean's pony, Blossom, whilst
he took charge of our sick man and returned with him to Hut Point. Scott
himself took Atkinson's pony, and on the 2nd February the caravan
proceeded in an E.S.E. direction to make for a point in approximately 78
degrees S. 169 degrees E. Most of the ponies had 600 lb. leads on their
sledges, Meare's dog team 750, and Wilson's 600. We found the surface
very bad, most of the ponies sinking deep in the snow. After doing
roughly five miles we halted and had a meal. Oates was called into our
tent and consulted with a view to bettering the conditions for the
ponies. As a result it was decided to march by night and rest during the
day when the sun would be higher and the air warmer. There was quite a
drop in the temperature between noon and midnight, and it was natural to
suppose that we should get better and harder surfaces with the sun at its
lower altitude. We still, of course, had the sun above the horizon for
the full twenty-four hours, and should have for three weeks yet; the
choice was altogether a wise one and we therefore turned in during the
afternoon and remained in our sleeping-bags until 10 p.m. when we arose
and cooked our breakfast.

Camp was broken at midnight and the march resumed. For three hours we
plodded along, a little leg weary perhaps, on account of the unusual time
for marching and working physically. We had lunch about 3 a.m. and rested
the ponies for a couple of hours. The surface was still very bad, the
ponies labouring heavily, and my own animal, Blossom, suffered through
his hoofs being very small, so that he sank into the snow far more than
did the other horses. It was on his account that we only covered nine
miles. I did some surveying work after our 7.30 a.m. supper and turned in
at 10 o'clock until 7 p.m. Captain Scott took over cook in our tent and
made the breakfast.

For the next few days we continued marching over the Great Ice Barrier,
the distances covered depending on the condition of Blossom and another
pony, Bluecher. Both of these animals caused anxiety from the start, and,
owing to their weakness the depot-laying distances scarcely exceeded ten
miles