Aurora Australis
them to continue the ascent with the main party, without lessening the latter’s Chances of reaching the summit.
A start was made at a quarter to nine a. m. All hands accompanied the sledging party across the rocky ridge at the back of our hut, and along the slopes of Backdoor Bay to the Blue Lake, half a mile distant. There we bade farewell to our comrades.
We steered first straight up a snow slope, then skirted closely some rocky ridges and moraines, in order to avoid crevassed glaciers.
About a mile out, and 400 feet above sea level, a glacial moraine barred our path, and we had to portage the sledge over it by slipping our ice-axes under the load between the runners and the ‘bearers’ of the' sledge, and lifting it bodily over the obstruction. On the further side of the moraine was a sloping surface of ice and névé, on which the sledge soon capsized, but was quickly righted. Light snow was falling, and there was a slight wind.
Pulling the sledge proved fairly heavy work in places; at one spot, on the steep slope of a small glacier, we were struggling for some time, mostly on our hands and knees, in our efforts to drag the sledge up the surface of smooth blue ice thinly Coated with loose
