y by
the deep, wet snow which had accumulated in the lower reaches of the
Glacier.

Panting and sweating we could only make 4 mile marches until the 13th
December, and even then the soft snow was 18 inches deep. On the 14th we
made a good 9 miles, but only by dint of our utmost efforts--we worked on
ski, and I tremble to think what we should have done here without them.
The aneroids gave us a rise of about 500 feet a day. Things were
improving now, and on December 15 we passed the 84 degree parallel--about
this time we succeeded in covering 9 to 10 miles daily, and to do this we
marched that same number of hours. A good deal of snow covering the
mountain ranges, but some remarkable outcrops of rock to vary the
scenery. The temperature was very high, and we were punished severely on
this account, for the snow was like beef dripping, and we flopped about
in it and hove our sledges along with no glide whatever to help us move
forward. Such panting, puffing, and sweating, but all in good humour and
bent on doing our best. Snowing hard in the latter part of the afternoon
just as the surface was improving--we were forced to camp before the
proper time on this account. On camping we calculated that we were 2500
feet above the Barrier, the surface promising better things, for there
was hard blue ice six inches from the surface, and the snow itself was
fairly close-packed and good for ski.

On December 16 we were out of our sleeping bags at 5 and we were under
way by 7 a.m., marching till noon, when we lunched and took sights and
angles. The surface remained fairly good until 2 p.m., when it took an
unaccountable turn for the worse. We covered 12 miles.

Several of us dropped a leg down crevasses here and there, nothing
alarming. We reached 3000 feet altitude, and the day ended in the most
perfect weather. For the first time since leaving Corner Camp we felt
that our ration was sufficient; we had now commenced the "Summit ration,"
which contained considerable extra fats. Snow-blindness caused trouble
here and there, due principally to our removing our goggles when they
clouded up--due to sweating so much in the high temperature. The goggles,
which Wilson was responsible for, served excellently. Yellow and orange
glasses were popular, but some preferred green. As we progressed and our
eyes had to be used for long periods without glasses for clearing
crevasses, etc., we found that a double glass acted best, and used this
whenev