Page:Scott's Last Expedition, Volume 2.djvu/47

be the result of variable winds of no great force, and it is also covered to a very great extent by deep sheets of soft snow, on which the sledges hang up exactly as though they were going over sand. There is no surface marking on this snow except marks resembling horses' hoofs, with edges that have a peculiar planed-off appearance.

Whether harder or softer, the whole surface is crusted and lets one's feet in for a couple of inches, spoiling one's pull on the sticky-runnered sledges.

Thursday, July 6, 1911.—Again a calm day and clear, though a heavy bank of fog lies over the pressure ridges ahead of us, and over the seaward area to the east.

We had relay work again on a very heavy surface, which, however, improved slightly in the afternoon. But the result of 7½ hours' hauling was a forward move of 1½ miles only.

The min. temp. for the night had been −75·3°. At starting in the morning it was −70·2° and at noon −76·8°. At 5.15 p.m., when we camped for lunch, it was −77° exactly, and at midnight it had risen again to −69°, when there was some low-lying white fog and mist to the N. and N.N.W. The butter, when stabbed with a knife, 'flew' like very brittle toffee. Our paraffin at these temperatures was perfectly easy to pour, though there was just a trace of opalescent milkiness in its appearance.

Friday, July 7, 1911.—We got away late, at noon, in a thick white fog, in which it was impossible to see where we were going. We still had to relay, though the surface had distinctly improved. There was no sign of wind sastrugi yet.