Page:South - the story of Shackleton's last expedition, 1914-1917.djvu/385

 party proceeded with loaded sledges to Safety Camp, on the edge of the Barrier. This camp would be the starting-point for the march over the Barrier to the Minna Bluff depot. They left the two sledges, with 660 lbs. of oil and 500 lbs. of oatmeal, sugar, and sundries, at Safety Camp and returned to Hut Point. The dogs shared the work on this journey. The next day Mackintosh and his companions took the motor to Cape Evans, hauling it with its gripwheels mounted on a sledge. After a pause due to bad weather, a party of eight men took another load to Hut Point on September 24, and on to Safety Camp the next day. They got back to Cape Evans on the 26th. Richards meanwhile had overhauled the motor and given it some trial runs on the sea-ice. But he reported that the machine was not working satisfactorily, and Mackintosh decided not to persevere with it.

"Everybody is up to his eyes in work," runs the last entry in the journal left by Mackintosh at Cape Evans. "All gear is being overhauled, and personal clothing is having the last stitches. We have been improvising shoes to replace the finneskoe, of which we are badly short. Wild has made an excellent shoe out of an old horse-rug he found here, and this is being copied by other men. I have made myself a pair of mitts out of an old sleeping-bag. Last night I had a bath, the second since being here.... I close this journal to-day (September 30) and am packing it with my papers here. To-morrow we start for Hut Point. Nine of us are going on the sledge party for laying depots— namely, Stevens, Spencer-Smith, Joyce, Wild, Cope, Hayward, Jack, Richards, and myself. Gaze, who is still suffering from bad feet, is remaining behind and will probably be relieved by Stevens after our first trip. With us we take three months' provisions to leave at Hut Point. I continue this journal in another book, which I keep with me."

The nine men reached Hut Point on October 1. They took the last loads with them. Three sledges and three tents were to be taken on to the Barrier, and the parties were as follows: No. 1: Mackintosh, Spencer-Smith, and Wild; No. 2: Joyce, Cope,