Page:Scott's Last Expedition, Volume 2.djvu/58

and as the corner under the rock in situ [which, it was hoped, would make a large part of one of the walls] was too solidly iced up with ice and gravel to clear out, we chose a spot [a moderately level piece of moraine] some 6 or 8 yards on the lee side of the actual ridge, a position which we thought would be out of the wind's force itself, but which we eventually found was all the more dangerous for that reason, as it was right in the spot where the upward suction was to be at its greatest. At lunch time, 4.15 p.m., we still had a southerly wind of force 4, with the temp. at −13°, and this wind we found to be due to a more or less constant flow of cold air down from the slopes of Terror.

We had a magnificent outlook from this spot where we were building our hut: To the east we looked out over the Great Barrier with the whole range of pressure ridges laid out at our feet, about 800 feet below [looking as if giants had been ploughing up with ploughs which made furrows 40 or 50 feet high]. To the north and N.E. we had the Knoll, and beyond it a clear open view over the ice of the Ross Sea. And to the south we looked along the path we had come along the slopes of Terror, stretching away towards the Bluff, while on our right these slopes climbed up to the summit of Mt. Terror, which was plainly visible against the sky.

We saw that Ross Sea was completely frozen over. No open leads were to be seen, but much of the ice appeared to be young and thin, with little snow on it. These and the following notes on the ice of Ross Sea were kept by Bowers.