These embankments were bounded by cliffs from forty to fifty feet in height, with overhanging cornices of tough snow. The cliffs faced northwards, and such serious obstacles were the deep chasms which they produced to our advance that we had often to go a long way round in order to head them off.
December began with a very laborious day, and after battling on for several hours we had only advanced a little over half a mile. So we decided to camp, for Mackay and me to try to find a way for the sledge out of the maze of chasms that beset us, and for Mawson to take magnetic observations.
During that afternoon we discussed our situation at some length. Most probably the Drygalski Glacier was twenty miles wide, and if we were to cross it along the course we were travelling at the rate of a mile a day it would take us twenty days to get over, even if we took no account of the unforeseen delays which our experience had already taught us were sure to occur. From what Mackay and I had seen ahead of us, our difficulties were bound, for a considerable distance, to increase rather than grow less.
Under these circumstances we were reluctantly forced to the conclusion that our only hope of ultimate success lay in retreat, and so we resolved to drag the sledges back off the glacier on to the sea-ice by the way along which we had come.
CHAPTER XXXVIII
CREVASSES
Our retreat began early on the morning of December 2, and after a week's struggle on the glacier Mackay, just before camping-time on the 9th, sighted open water on the northern edge of the Drygalski Ice Barrier, from three to four miles away. This convinced us that we could not hope for sea-ice over which to sledge westwards to that part of the shore where we proposed to make our final depot, before attempting the ascent of the great inland plateau in order to reach the Magnetic Pole.
On the 10th, however, at the end of the day's sledging we rejoiced to find ourselves off the true glacier type of surface, and on to one of the undulating barrier type. This improvement enabled us to steer westwards, and on the following day we had a fine view of "Terra Nova" Bay, and as far as could be judged the edge of the Drygalski Ice Barrier on the north was scarcely a mile distant.
So surprised were we at the general appearance of the outline of the ice, which did not seem to agree with the shape of this region as shown on the Admiralty chart, that we halted a little earlier than usual to reconnoitre. Mackay started off with the field-glasses to a conspicuous ice-mound about half a mile to the north-west, Mawson began to change his plates, while I went out with my sketch-book to get an outline panoramic view of the grand coast ranges in sight.
So few had been the crevasses of late that I failed to take my ice-axe with me and I had scarcely gone half a dozen yards from the tent when the lid of a crevasse collapsed under me, and let me down nearly up to my shoulders.
I only saved myself from going right down by throwing out my arms and staying myself on the snow-lid on either side. The lid was so rotten that I did not dare to move for fear that I might be thrown into the abyss, but fortunately Maws on was near, and on my calling to him he brought an ice-axe and chipped a hole in the firm ice on the edge of the crevasse nearest to me. Then he inserted the chisel edge of the ice-axe in the hole and, holding on to the pick-point, swung the handle towards me. Grasping this, I was able to climb out on to the solid ice.