and camped close on 9 p.m.

The day turned out beautifully fine and calm, but the hard ice was
absolutely spoiling the rollers of both cars.

Whilst we were preparing for bed, Simpson and Gran passed our tent and
called on us. They were bound for Hut Point. I told Simpson our troubles
about the surface, and he promised to telephone from Hut Point to Captain
Scott.

Next day we got going with certain difficulties, and met Gran and Simpson
four miles from Hut Point. They told us that a large man-hauling party
was on its way out from Cape Evans to assist us. The weather was superb
and we all got very sunburnt. Captain Scott and seven others came up with
us at 2 p.m., but both motors were then forging ahead, so they went on to
Hut Point without waiting.

Meantime we lunched, and afterwards struck a bad patch of surface which
caused us frequent stops. We reached Hut Point at 8 p.m. after stopping
the motors near Cape Armitage, and spent the night in the Hut there,
camping with Scott's party, Meares and Dimitri.

The motor engines were certainly good in moderate temperatures, but our
slow advance was due to the chains slipping on hard ice. Scott was
concerned, but he made it quite clear that if we got our loads clear of
the Strait between White Island and Ross Isle, he would be more than
satisfied.

Meares and Bowers cooked a fine seal fry for us all, and we spent a happy
evening at Hut Point. The Hut, thanks to Meares and Dimitri, was now, for