We longed to explore these inland rocks, but time was too precious. Later on we discovered that the point opposite which we had arrived was really Granite Harbour, and that its position was not correctly shewn on the chart.
By the night of October 29 we were all thoroughly done up after completing our four miles of relay work, and we discussed the important question whether it was possible to eke out our food supplies with seal-meat so as to avoid putting ourselves on half-rations, and we all agreed that this should be done. The chief problem in connection with the seal-meat was how to cook it without the aid of paraffin oil, for we could not afford paraffin for that purpose.
On the next day we tried the experiment of strengthening the brew of the tea by using the old tea-leaves of a previous meal mixed with the new ones—an idea of Mackay's which Mawson and I did not appreciate at first, though later on we were glad enough to adopt it.
By this time the weather had become warmer, and consequently the saline snow on the sea-ice was sticky, and gripped the runners of the sledges like glue. Only by the greatest exertion could we drag the sledges along even at a snail's pace.
But although we were thoroughly exhausted when we camped on the evening of the 30th, our evening meal revived us so much that we walked over to a small island about three-quarters of a mile distant, which turned out to be a truly wonderful place for a geologist and a perfect paradise for the mineralogist.
On this island, which we afterwards called Depot Island, Mawson discovered a translucent brown mineral, which was proved to be titanium mineral.
CHAPTER XXXVI
ACROSS THE ICE BARRIER
How to reach the Pole was still our engrossing subject of discussion, and on November 1 we decided that our only hope of reaching it, was by travelling on half-rations from the point we had reached to the point on the coast at the Drygalski Glacier, where we might hope to be able to turn inland with reasonable prospect of success. Mawson was convinced that we must keep six weeks of full rations for our inland journey, and this meant that we must march on half-rations for about 100 miles.
While I was busy in calculating times and distances for the remainder of our journey, Mawson and Mackay conducted experiments upon the cooking of seal-meat with blubber. At winter quarters Mackay had experimented with blubber as a fuel, but his efforts had not been taken seriously, and, to our sorrow, his blubber lamp had been left behind.
Eventually, however, as a result of Mackay and Mawson's experiments, we secured an effective cooking stove, which was made out of one of our large empty biscuit tins, and a broth from seal-meat was made upon this stove. The broth was apparently very nutritious, but in my case it was also indigestible.