The weather had now become too thick for us to
distinguish anything in the distance and we remained in ignorance as to
the party adrift until Saturday. I had also lent my glasses to Captain
Scott. This night I had first go in the bag, and turned out to shiver
for eight hours till breakfast. There was literally nothing in the
hut that one could cover oneself with to keep warm and we couldn't
run to keeping the fire going. It was very cold work. There were
heaps of biscuit cases here which we had left in _Discovery_ days,
and with these we built up a small inner hut to live in.
_March_ 3. Spent the day in transferring dogs in couples from the
Gap to the hut. In the afternoon Teddie Evans and Atkinson turned up
from over the hills, having returned from their Corner Camp journey
with one horse and two seamen, all of which they had left encamped at
Castle Rock, three miles off on the hills. They naturally expected
to find Scott here and everyone else and had heard nothing of the
pony party going adrift, but having found only open water ahead of
them they turned back and came to land by Castle Rock slopes. We fed
them and I walked half-way back to Castle Rock with them.
_March_ 4. Meares, Gran, and I walked up Ski Slope towards Castle
Rock to meet Evans's party and pilot them and the dogs safely to Hut
Point, but half-way we met Atkinson, who told us that they had now
been joined by Scott and all the catastrophe party, who were safe,
but who had lost all the ponies except one--a great blow.
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