Page:Scott's Last Expedition, Volume 2.djvu/268

and I felt very cold when I turned out at about 5 a.m. We soon got warm, however, for the snowdrifts between the pressure were awful. We made out Tripp Island at the head of the bay in the afternoon. It has been a very tiring day, and as Browning was rather bad we camped at 4.30. Distance 7 miles.

October 26.—A fine morning. We started away after breakfast with both sledges, while Priestley went into the bay on ski to look at Tripp Island and see if Professor David had left his depôt of rocks there. We knew he had depôted the specimens on some island on the coast, but did not know which.

The surface had improved, so the rest of us were able to get the sledges along at a fair pace and it was noon before Priestley caught us up. He had seen nothing of the depôt, but collected some rock specimens himself. By 5 p.m. we were off another little island on the top of which I made out a bamboo with my glasses. We pulled in and camped under the north end. We had a hard struggle over the pack, but within a few hundred yards of land we found a smooth lead up and down the coast. After this we made a point of keeping close to the coast line on our journey, and it certainly paid us, in spite of the extra mileage. After hoosh Priestley and I climbed to the top of the island and collected Professor David's specimens, also some letters his party had left in a tin, addressed to Mrs. David, Dr. Mawson, Lieutenant Shackleton, and to Commanding Officer, S.Y. Nimrod. We brought all these down and packed them on the sledge. When I got back to camp Levick came to me