The Ely miner., 1912-04-05

lety Tor our companions. MY Iears
travelled out over land, reported hav-
ing seen with glasses ponies adrfft on
sea ice: An. hour later Cream and l
set off Immediately to the west. Work
ing around the bay we approached the
barrier edge, and at p. m: by good
fortune discovered the missing party
slowly northwest and had. temporarily
stopped, owing to swell subsiding.
with Alpine ropes the men were res
Working on through the. night we
succeeded in saving the sledges and
their loads, but could do nothing for
yards var pGt11es; aWas. w' At a. % m. the pack be-
gan to move again. We left the
ponies with full nose bags and rested
stationary. We made desperate efforts
to save them. Bowers and Oats risked
a long detour over the pack and led
the remainder of us dug trench to
the lower part of the barrier.
The edges of the foes were high
whales hung about within a few yards
The ponies failing at the jump were
irretrievably lost. One pony only won
as left It ana Radft drfted fe Is eIear to s the
north. On March we assembled hills
east of Castle Rock, and on the 5th
ponies and the dog teams was safely
housed at Hut Point. By this incident
we lost three of our strongest ponies.
Inis tinn wa was a severe blow to the expedi-
II the remaining animals could be pre-
served.
The heavy swell which caused this
OF sea ice, large fragments from the
barrier, and two miles of glacier
tongue. feature which had remained
in 1902. The hut was found almost
completely filled with hard snow, the
windows broken and the door unhinged.
paired it. It then afforded good shell
ter. While forced to wait for the sea
breeze to blow over we settled down
and discarded fragments of metal we
constructed an excellent blubber stove
and several blubber lamps. We fed
almost entirely on seal meat. Seals
over hills and were sometimes scarce,
but the supply never failed entirely,
thanks to the ingenuity shown by my
companions in improvising arrange
mentS with the slenderest resources.
With splendid health we were quite
comfortable and enjoyed the luxury of
a box of old magazines.
On March Is. the Western Geological
party returned, bringing our total to
sixteen persons This party had spent
six weeks, making a close survey of
Koettlitz glacier regions, thus complet-
ing an important part of our plan for
the SeOlOSlcdl survey 1Or the coast.
Preparing for the Winter.
On March II, Lieutenant Evans led
a party to Corner Camp, completing
the depot arrangements for the coming
season. The temperature at the barrier
had already fallen to minus 40 degrees.
Throughout the month ice continually
formed over the sea but strong winds
quickly drove it, out. After March %,
the ice remained fast in the sheltered
bays but continued to drive out of the
sound. Huge land-ice falls on the
vented any possibility of returning. to
Cape Evans by land, but with the
freezing of the bay I decided to make
an attempt to reach the station partly
With eight companions l started on
April II, and, although caught by
storm on sea ice, we reached Cape
the station, which had been left in
Simpsons charge, in excellent order,
and arrangements for comfort remark
instruments were in full swing. and
all records complete to date. All the
news was good except the loss of one
of the nine remaining ponies and one
been much wind, the mean velocity for
two months being twenty-four miles
the whole time, the wind had been
over gale strength. All observations
pointed to an exceptionally severe sea-
son.
on April II returned to Hut Point
with fresh sledge party carrying sup
plies and stores. AS it was impossible
for animals to travel on the route TAX
en-, / left Mears and five others in
charge of those at Hut Point and again
returned TO Cape Evans on April 30.
Sea ice continued to drive out of the
was not until May 13, three weeks aft
err the sun had gone that the men and
animals left Hut Point and safely re-
turned to the main station. The Sound
froZe solid in May and later in winter
pack ice extended to an unapprehended
distance northward After the return
of absenteeS we settled down very COM
fortably in our winter hut, it's arrange
ments for lighting, heating, cooking
and ventilation proved eminently sat,
isfactory A comfortable stable had
been built for, the ponies and some
shelter improvised for the dogs dur
ing the four winter months.
The temperature at at the station wa, was
est minus so degrees. The wind aver
aged fifteen miles an hour, but some
times blew hard with the temperature
fully occupied with station and scien-
tific work, exercising animals. etc.
series of lectures was organized and
football was played to within month
of midwinter. Frequent visits We're
made to Cape Royds and Hut Point.
The animals steadily improved in con-
wilson, Bowers. Cherry and Gerard
started on sledge journey to Cape
CroZier to observe the Incubation of
Emperor Penguins at their rookery.
forced the party to relay work during
the main part and fortnight was
taken on the outward journey. The
temperature was seldom above minus
60 degrees and often below minus 20
degrees, the lowest observed with
sling thermometer being minus II de-
slopes of Mount Terror the party spent
three days in building a stone hut
which they rooted witf canvas from
this camp. The men had great diff
Guilty in crossing the huge barrier pres
sure ridges in the dim noon twilight
to reach the rookery: They were sue
found comparatively few birds at the
rookery, but these had began to lay
at even this early date. Fortunately
some eggs at different stages of de,
give considerable information concern
ing the embryoloSy of this interesting
bird.
The same night violent gale COM
menced and the ridge proved made
quate shelter from the hurricane gusts
which whirled down on the hut.
ticles were blown away, and after
straining for fourteen hours the roof
of the hut flew to ribbons. For thirty
hours more the travellers were confined
in their frozen sleeping beds, half
buried beneath snow and rock debris.
Forty-eight hours elapsed before the
wln0 decreased ana Iney were dDle 10
get a meal Searching for lost articles
they were fortunate in finding the
missing tent between some morainic
boulderS, practically uninjured. The
state of their equipment now forced
them to turn homeward. On the return
journey they were held for two days
by another storm after which the tenn
perature fell and remained below minus
so degrees. The party returned after
FIVE absences incasted in ice and suf-
fering from want of sleep. but other
wise we'll
Having regard to the darkness and
extreme temperatures this first winter
in,, t., rot;