Page:Scott's Last Expedition, Volume 2.djvu/62

ready for placing and fixing the roof, but couldn't do it in the wind. We left the work at noon and turned in to spend a very cold night, a thing which we generally found was the consequence of not having done any hard work or marching during the day. [During this time our bags were getting worse and worse, but were still very possible, and we always looked forward to the days of the 'Stone Age' when the blubber stove should be going and we were to dry everything. When we arrived we had begun our fifth out of six tins of oil, and we were economising oil as much as possible, often only having two hot meals a day.

It was curious how the estimate of how much oil was necessary to our return, diminished as our stock decreased: at first we said we must have at least two gallons to go back with: then about Terror Point a tin and two full primus lamps; until it came down to one full gallon tin, and this is what we actually did use.]

Wednesday, July 19, 1911.—As it was a fine, calm day we decided to use it in an effort to reach the Emperor rookery and get some blubber, as our last can of oil but one was already running low and we had determined to keep the last can untouched for the journey home. We started down at 9.30 a.m., just as dawn appeared on the horizon in the east. We took an empty sledge, with a couple of ice axes, Alpine rope, harnesses, and skinning tools. We had about a mile to go down snow slopes to the edge of the first pressure ridge, and our intention was to keep close in under the land ice cliffs which are very much more extensive now than they were ten years