gry, and camped and had hoosh and tea and 3
biscuits each. Then away again with our three and a half days' food from
this red flag depot and off down by the Cloudmaker moraine. We travelled
about 4 hours on hard blue ice, and I was allowed to geologize the last
hour down the two outer lines of boulders. The outer one all dolerite and
quartz rocks, the inner all dolerite and sandstone.... We camped on the
inner line of boulders, weather clearing all the afternoon."[337]

Meanwhile both Wilson and Bowers had been badly snow-blind, though Wilson
does not mention it in his diary; and this night Scott says Evans had no
power to assist with camping work. A good march followed on February 14,
but "there is no getting away from the fact that we are not pulling
strong. Probably none of us: Wilson's leg still troubles him and he
doesn't like to trust himself on ski; but the worst case is Evans, who is
giving us serious anxiety. This morning he suddenly disclosed a huge
blister on his foot. It delayed us on the march, when he had to have his
crampon readjusted. Sometimes I feel he is going from bad to worse, but I
trust he will pick up again when we come to steady work on ski like this
afternoon. He is hungry and so is Wilson. We can't risk opening out our
food again, and as cook at present I am serving something under full
allowance. We are inclined to get slack and slow with our camping
arrangement, and small delays increase. I have talked of the matter
to-night and hope for improvement. We cannot do distance without the
hours."[338]

There was something wrong with this party: more wrong, I mean, than was
justified by the tremendous journey they had already experienced. Except
for the blizzard at the bottom of the Beardmore and the surfaces near the
Pole it had been little worse than they expected. Evans, however, who was
considered by Scott to be the strongest man of the party, had already
collapsed, and it is admitted that the rest of the party was becoming far
from strong. There seems to be an unknown factor here somewhere.

[Illustration: MT. KYFFIN--E. A. Wilson, del.]

Wilson's diary continues: "_February 15. 133/4 m. geog._ I got on ski again
first time since damaging my leg and was on them all day for 9 hours. It
was a bit painful and swelled by the evening, and every night I put on
snow poultice. We are not yet abreast of Mt. Kyffin, and much discussion
how far we are from the Lower Glacier Depot, probably 18 to 20 m.