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was the 'farthest south' reached in our two sledging trips.

On clear days we could see every little cup-shaped valley which roughened the mighty scarp of Lister, so sharply that it seemed impossible that they were seventy miles away. Due west was the valley of the Lower Ferrar Glacier, while the long gleaming snow slope at its mouth was the Butter Point Piedmont—the starting place for all Western exploration, where depôts have been made even since the butter was left there by the 1902 expedition.

Hidden behind the ranges was the Great Ice Plateau. From this height of 7000 feet descended the great rivers of ice—the Koettlitz, Ferrar, Taylor, and Mackay Glaciers—with which the following pages are concerned.

Now as to my mates. What is the 'Call to the Wild' which seems to draw men back to the Antarctic? In my opinion it is the association with picked companions, especially chosen for their suitability for the environment, which constitutes the charm of life in the Antarctic. The deserts of Australia or the wilds of Spitzbergen would appeal equally to me with the same companions.

There is a famous old school near Sydney where for many years there were representatives from two families, the Debenhams and Taylors. So that Frank Debenham and myself were old friends and graduates in geology of the same 'Varsity. In later years at Cambridge there was an informal club of research students in which Wright of Caius and Taylor of Emmanuel were fellow-members. Debenham's experience as Commissary-General at many a camp in Australia made him invaluable sledging—