Apart from the zoological knowledge Wilson hoped to gain from the Cape
Crozier visit in mid-winter, there was a wealth of other information to
be collected concerning the Barrier conditions, particularly the
meteorological conditions, but above all we knew that with such quick and
reliable observers as Wilson and his companions we must derive additional
experience in the matter of sledging rations, for the party had agreed to
make experiments in order to arrive at the standard ration to be adopted
for the colder weather we must face during the second half of the
forthcoming Polar journey.

Wilson took two small 9 ft. sledges, and after being photographed was
helped out to Glacier Tongue by a small hurrah party. In the bad light he
was handicapped from the very first, and it took the party two days to
get on to the Ice Barrier. Their progress was dreadfully slow, which was
not to be wondered at, for they were pulling loads of 250 lb. per man,
the surfaces were beyond anything they had faced hitherto, and the
temperatures seldom above 60 degrees. Relay work had to be resorted to,
and in consequence the party took eighteen days to reach Cape Crozier.
They met with good weather, that is, calm weather, to begin with, but the
bad surfaces handicapped them severely. After rounding Cape Mackay they
reached a wind-swept area and met with a series of blizzards. Their best
light was moonlight, and they were denied this practically by overcast
skies. Picture their hardships: frozen bags to sleep in, frozen finnesko
to put their feet in every time they struck camp, finger-tips always
getting frost-bitten and sometimes toes and heels; no comfort was to be
derived within camp, for, at the best, they could only sit and shiver
when preparing the food, and once the bags were unrolled to sleep in more
trouble came. It is on record that Cherry-Garrard took as long as
three-quarters of an hour to break his way into his sleeping-bag, and
once inside it he merely shook and froze. The party used a double tent
for this journey, that is to say, a light lining was fitted on the inner
side of the five bamboo tent poles, so that when the ordinary wind-proof
tent cloth was spread over the poles an air space was provided. There
was, I may say, a sharp difference of opinion as to the value of the
tent; Wilson's party swore by it and Scott was always loud in its praise.
The sailors hated it and despised it; they always argued, when consulted
on the sub