the top of the slope their troubles were not finished, for they
were still ignorant of the position of the ship. Wild, however,
again took the lead, and it was largely due to him that the party
eventually saw the ship looming through the whirl of snow. 'It
is little wonder that after such an experience they should have
been, as I have mentioned, both excited and tired.'

The hours following the departure of Armitage and his search party
on this fatal night were unforgettable. Scott, hatefully conscious
of his inability to help on account of his injured leg, admits
that he could not think of any further means to render assistance,
but he says, 'as was always my experience in the _Discovery_, my
companions were never wanting in resource.' Soon the shrill screams
of the siren were echoing among the hills, and in ten minutes after
the suggestion had been made, a whaler was swinging alongside ready
to search the cliffs on the chance of finding Vince.

But for Scott and those who had to wait inactively on board there
was nothing to do but stand and peer through the driving snow, and
fully three hours passed before there was a hail from without,
and Ferrar appeared leading three of the lost--Barne, Evans and
Quartley. An hour later the main search party returned, having
done all that men could do in such weather. A more complete search
was impossible, but it had to be admitted that the chance of seeing
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Hare or Vince again was very small. Sadly it had to be realized
that two men were almost certainly lost, but there was also no
disguising the fact that a far greater tragedy might have happened.
Indeed, it seemed miraculous that any of the party were alive to
tell the tale, and had not Barne, Evans and Quartley heard the