-and-afters'; the minimum
temperatures the first two nights were -39 deg. and -25 deg.; strong blizzard at
Corner Camp; a lie-up for a day and a half, before they could push on in
wind and drift and lay the depot. The dogs ran back from Corner Camp to
Hut Point on October 19, a distance of thirty miles. Three miles from
Corner Camp three dogs of Atkinson's team fell into a crevasse, one of
them falling right down to the length of his harness. The rest of the
team, however, pulled on, and dragged the three dogs out as they went.
Atkinson lost his driving-stick, which was left standing in the snow and
served to mark a place to be avoided. Altogether a rather lucky escape:
two men out alone with two dog-teams are somewhat helpless in case of
emergency.

On October 25 Dimitri and I started to take a further depot out to Corner
Camp with the two dog-teams, pulling about 600 lbs. each. We found a much
better surface than that experienced by Atkinson; in places really smooth
and hard. "It is good to be out again in such weather, and it has been a
very pleasant day." The minimum was only -24 deg. that night, and we reached
Corner Camp on the afternoon of the next day, following the old tracks
where possible, and halting occasionally to hunt when we lost them. "Here
we made the depot and the dogs had a rest of 31/2 hours, and two biscuits.
It was quaint to see them waiting for more food, for they knew they had
not had their full whack."[287]

There was plenty of evidence that the Barrier had moved a long way during
the last year. It had buckled up the sea-ice at Pram Point; there were at
least three new and well-marked undulations before reaching Corner Camp;
and the camp itself had moved visibly, judged by the bearings and
sketches we possessed. I believe the annual movement had not been less
than half a mile.

Corner Camp is a well-known trap for blizzards on the line of their exit
at Cape Crozier, and it was clouding up, the barometer falling, and the
temperature rising rapidly. "So we decided to come back some way, and
have in the end come right back to the Biscuit Depot, since it looked
very threatening to the east. Here the temperature is lower (-15 deg.) and it
is clearing. Ross Island has been largely obscured, but the clouds are
opening on Terror. We had a very good run and the dogs pulled splendidly,
making light work of it: 29 miles for the day, half of it with loaded
sledges! Lappy's feet are bleeding a good bit, o