s fault that the
motor sledges did badly in the end.

Perhaps my diary from January 7, 1911, to the 8th gives a good idea of
the progress we were making with the base station and of the general
working day here. It reads as follows:

"_Saturday, January_ 7, 1911.

"All hands hard at work landing stores. Meares and Dimitri running dog
teams to and fro for light gear.

"Captain Scott, Dr. Wilson, Griffith Taylor, Debenham, Cherry-Garrard,
and Browning leading ponies. Campbell, Levick, and Priestley hauling
sledges with colossal energy and enormous loads, the majority of the
ship's party unloading stores; Bowers, two seamen, Atkinson, and I
unloading sledges on the beach and carrying their contents up to their
assigned positions, Simpson and Wright laying the foundations for a
magnetic hut, and so on. Every one happy and keen, working as
incessantly as ants. I took on the job of ice inspector, and three or
four times a day I go out and inspect the ice, building snow bridges
over the tide cracks and thin places. The ice, excepting the floe to
which the ship is fast, is several feet thick. The floe by the 'Terra
Nova' is very thin and rather doubtful. We, ashore, had dinner at 10
p.m. and turned in about 11."

But the following day, although included here, was by no means typical.

"_Sunday, January_ 8.

"This morning a regrettable accident took place. The third and newest
motor sledge was hoisted out and, while being hauled clear on to the
firm ice, it broke through and sank in deep water. Campbell and Day
came in with the news, which Captain Scott took awfully well.

"It was nobody's fault, as Simpson and Campbell both tested the floe
first and found it quite thick and apparently good. However, there it
is, in about 100 fathoms of water.

"We stopped sledging for the day and those on board shifted the ship
by warping, but could not get her into a satisfactory billet, so
raised steam.

"We spent the day working on the hut and putting chairs and benches
together. Captain Scott put the sledge meters together and I helped
him. These are similar to the distance meters on motor-cars. They
register in nautical miles (6084 feet) and yards, to 25 yards or less
by interpolation.

"Took a True Bearing and found the approximate variation for Simpson
(149 degrees E.)."

On the following day those on board the ship shifte