Southern Party (Bage, Webb and Hurley) were a short distance
in advance, but by the help of the dogs we were soon abreast of
them. Then Bickerton, who had given Bage's party a pull as far as the
three-mile post, bade us good-bye and returned to the Hut where he was
to remain in charge with Whetter and Hannam until the return of Murphy's
party.

At Aladdin's Cave, while some prepared supper, others selected tanks of
food from the depot and packed the sledges. After the meal, the Southern
Party bade us farewell and set off at a rapid rate, intending to
overhaul their supporting party on the same evening at the Cathedral
Grotto, eleven and three-quarter miles from the Hut. Many finishing
touches had to be put to our three sledges and two teams of dogs, so
that the departure was delayed till next morning.

We were up betimes and a good start was made before anything came of the
overcast sky which had formed during the night. The rendezvous appointed
for meeting the others, in case we had not previously caught them up,
was eighteen miles south-east of Aladdin's Cave. But, with a view to
avoiding crevasses as much as possible, a southerly course was followed
for several miles, after which it was directed well to the east. In the
meantime the wind had arisen and snow commenced to fall soon after noon.
In such weather it was impossible to locate the other parties, so a halt
was made and the tent pitched after eight miles.

Five days of wind and drift followed, and for the next two days we
remained in camp. Then, on the afternoon of the 13th, the drift became
less dense, enabling us to move forward on an approximate course to what
was judged to be the vicinity of the rendezvous, where we camped again
for three days.

Comfortably ensconced in the sleeping-bags, we ate only a small ration
of food; the savings being carefully put away for a future "rainy day."
Outside, the dogs had at first an unpleasant time until they were buried
in snow which sheltered them from the stinging wind. Ninnis and Mertz
took turns day by day attending to their needs.

The monotony and disappointment of delay were just becoming acute
when the wind fell off, and the afternoon of November 16 turned out
gloriously fine.

Several excursions were immediately made in the neighbourhood to seek
for the whereabouts of the other parties, but all were unsuccessful. At
length it occurred to us that something serious might have happened, so
we left our loads