ther a singular fact that the search party only left this mound
at eight o'clock on the morning of that very day (January 29). It was
about 2 P.M. when I found it. Thus, during the night of the 28th, our
camps had been only about five miles apart.

With plenty of food, I speedily felt stimulated and revived, and
anticipated reaching the Hut in a day or two, for there was then not
more than twenty-three miles to cover. Alas, however, there was to be
another delay. I was without crampons--they had been thrown away on the
western side of Mertz Glacier--and in the strong wind was not able to
stand up on the slippery ice of the coastal slopes. The result was that
I sat on the sledge and ran along with the wind, nibbling at the food
as I went. The sledge made so much leeway that near the end of the day,
after fourteen miles, I reckoned that I had been carried to the east of
Aladdin's Cave. The course was therefore changed to the west, but the
wind came down almost broadside-on to the sledge, and it was swept away.
The only thing to do was to camp.

On the 30th I cut up the box of the theodolite and into two pieces
of wood stuck as many screws and tacks as I could procure from the
sledge-meter. In the repair-bag there were still a few ice-nails which
at this time were of great use. Late in the day the wind fell off, and
I started westward over the ice-slopes with the pieces of nail-studded
wood lashed to my feet.

After six miles these improvised crampons broke up, and the increasing
wind got me into difficulties. Finally, the sledge slipped sideways into
a narrow crevasse and was caught by the boom (which crossed from side to
side at the lower part of the mast). I was not strong enough for the job
of extricating it straight away, and by the time I had got it safely on
the ice, the wind had increased still more. So I pitched camp.

The blizzard was in full career on January 31 and I spent all day and
until late at night trying to make the crampons serviceable, but without
success.

On February 1 the wind and drift subsided late in the afternoon, and I
clearly saw to the west the beacon which marked Aladdin's Cave.

At 7 P.M. I reached this haven within the ice, and never again was I to
have the ordeal of pitching the tent. Inside the cave were three oranges
and a pineapple which had been brought from the Ship. It was wonderful
once more to be in the land of such things!

I waited to mend one of the crampons and then sta