Page:Scott's Last Expedition, Volume 2.djvu/175

so picking up our ski and a few things we had left there, we returned to camp. The temperature remains −15° F.

A lovely morning with the temperature −21° F.; we were on the march by 8.30 over a fairly good surface.

In the afternoon we got into deep snow again and had to put on ski; we had fitted each ski with a detachable strip of sealskin which made pulling on them much easier. We camped that night 4 miles south of Cape Wood, after picking up our 12-ft. sledge and depôt at Birthday Point. Temperature −28° F.

October 6.—The morning was overcast but warmer, the temperature being −3° F. To-day we reached a little bay north of Cape Barrow.

After supper we heard an extraordinary noise like a ship's siren, which I suppose must have been a seal, but none of us had heard anything like it before. During the night we were awakened by an avalanche falling near us, but we were not near enough to the cliff to be in danger.

October 7.—We made a depôt in Siren Bay, leaving one sledge and taking on the 12-ft. sledge and four weeks' provisions. We had an early lunch and started. By keeping some way from the coast we got into fairly good surface, but I noticed round some of the pressure ridges pools of very new ice, while some large areas of flat ice appeared to have been recently flooded, the ice being dark and slushy.

We camped at 6.30, having done five miles since noon. In clearing away the snow for the tent we found the ice brownish in colour and quite salt. While we were turning