of their effects was beyond description.  The sleeping-bags were far too stiff to be rolled up, in fact they were so hard frozen that attempts to bend them actually split the skins; the eiderdown bags inside Wilson’s and C.-G.’s reindeer covers served but to fitfully stop the gaps made by such rents.  All socks, finnesko, and mits had long been coated with ice; placed in breast pockets or inside vests at night they did not even show signs of thawing, much less of drying.  It sometimes took C.-G. three-quarters of an hour to get into his sleeping-bag, so flat did it freeze and so difficult was it to open.  It is scarcely possible to realise the horrible discomforts of the forlorn travellers as they plodded back across the Barrier with the temperature again constantly below -60 deg..  In this fashion they reached Hut Point and on the following night our home quarters.

Wilson is disappointed at seeing so little of the penguins, but to me and to everyone who has remained here the result of this effort is the appeal it makes to our imagination as one of the most gallant stories in Polar History.  That men should wander forth in the depth of a Polar night to face the most dismal cold and the fiercest gales in darkness is something new; that they should have persisted in this effort in spite of every adversity for five full weeks is heroic.  It makes a tale for our generation which I hope may not be lost in the telling.

Moreover the material results are by no means despicable.  We shall know now when that extraordinary bird the Emperor penguin lays its eggs, and under what conditions; but even if our information remains meagre concerning its embryology, our party has shown the nature of the conditions which exist on the Great Barrier in winter.  Hitherto we have only imagined their severity; now we have proof, and a positive light is thrown on the local climatology of our Strait.

Experience of Sledging Rations and Equipment

For our future sledge work several points have been most satisfactorily settled.  The party went on a very simple food ration in different and extreme proportions; they took pemmican, butter, biscuit and tea only.  After a short experience they found that Wilson, who had arranged for the greatest quantity of fat, had too much of it, and C.-G., who had gone for biscuit, had more than he could eat.  A middle course was struck which gave a general proportion agreeable to all, and at the same time suited the total quantities of the various articles carried.  In this way we have arrived at a simple and suitable ration for the inland plateau.  The only change suggested is the addition of cocoa for the evening meal.  The party contented themselves with hot water, deeming that tea might rob them of their slender chance of sleep.

On sleeping-bags little new can be said—­the eiderdown bag may be a useful addition for a short time on a spring journey, but they soon get iced up.