The month has opened with a very beautiful day. This morning I took a circuitous walk over our land ‘estate,’ winding to and fro in gulleys filled with smooth ice patches or loose sandy soil, with a twofold object. I thought I might find the remains of poor Julick – in this I was unsuccessful; but I wished further to test our new crampons, and with these I am immensely pleased – they possess every virtue in a footwear designed for marching over smooth ice – lightness, warmth, comfort, and ease in the putting on and off.

The light was especially good to-day; the sun was directly reflected by a single twisted iridescent cloud in the north, a brilliant and most beautiful object. The air was still, and it was very pleasant to hear the crisp sounds of our workers abroad. The tones of voices, the swish of ski or the chipping of an ice pick carry two or three miles on such days – more than once to-day we could hear the notes of some blithe singer – happily signalling the coming of the spring and the sun.

This afternoon as I sit in the hut I find it worthy of record that two telephones are in use: the one keeping time for Wright who works at the transit instrument, and the other bringing messages from Nelson at his ice hole three-quarters of a mile away. This last connection is made with a bare aluminium wire and earth return, and shows that we should have little difficulty in completing our circuit to Hut Point as is contemplated.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 1st, 1911 at 10:41 pm and is filed under Chapter XII: Awaiting the Crozier Party. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.