1st February, 1911

A day of comparative inactivity and some disappointment. Wilson and Meares returned at noon reporting that the ice is out and therefore passage to Cape Evans is impossible. We shall have to proceed with just the one pair of snow-shoes.

Atkinson's foot isn't getting any better and he shan't be able to walk on it for some days. I must leave him here, and have asked Crean to stay with him. He can fetch loads of fodder from the last camp and dig a big hole in the Barrier ice for observations. That'll keep him busy while playing nursemaid.

I sent Gran to the Discovery Hut with our last mail. The Terra Nova will pick it up and take it back to New Zealand for us. He was gone 4 hours in ski, and as the wind had sprung up I was most anxious to get him back.

The good news, I suppose, is that our food allowance seems to be very ample, and if we go on as at present we shall thrive amazingly.