After we left the ship the captain manoeuvred her in order to get close to the Barrier, but, unfortunately, the engines were loath to be reversed when required to go astern and the ship hit the Barrier end on.

The Barrier here is about twenty feet high, and her jib-boom took the weight and snapped at the cap.

When I returned Thompson was busy getting the broken boom and gear aboard.

Luckily the cap was not broken and no damage was done aloft, but it was rather a bad introduction to the Antarctic.

There is no place to land the Cape Crozier hut and stores, so we must build a hut in the winter here, which will mean so much extra sledging from winter quarters.