after marching in the soft snow all day where we have been comparatively restful on ski.
Night position.—Lat. 88° 57′ 25″ S.; Long. 160° 21′ E.; Var. 179° 49′ W. Minimum T. −23·5°.
Only 63 miles (geo.) from the Pole to-night. We ought to do the trick, but oh! for a better surface. It is quite evident this is a comparatively windless area. The sastrugi are few and far between, and all soft. I should imagine occasional blizzards sweep up from the S.E., but none with violence. We have deep tracks in the snow, which is soft as deep as you like to dig down.
Saturday, January 13.—Lunch Height 10,390. Barometer low? lunch Lat. 89° 3′ 18″. Started on some soft snow, very heavy dragging and went slow. We could have supposed nothing but that such conditions would last from now onward, but to our surprise, after two hours we came on a sea of sastrugi, all lying from S. to E., predominant E.S.E. Have had a cold little wind from S.E. and S.S.E., where the sky is overcast. Have done 5·6 miles and are now over the 89th parallel.
Night camp 65.—Height 10,270. T. −22·5°, Minimum −23·5°. Lat. 89° 9′ S. very nearly. We started very well in the afternoon. Thought we were going to make a real good march, but after the first two hours surface crystals became as sandy as ever. Still we did 5·6 miles geo., giving over 11 for the day. Well, another day with double figures and a bit over. The chance holds.
It looks as though we were descending slightly; sastrugi remain as in forenoon. It is wearisome work this tugging and straining to advance a light sledge. Still,
