The alarm was at once given, steam was got up, the siren was set to work, and its shrill notes penetrated far and wide, while relief parties were organised and despatched. Knowing the route the men were to have taken, no difficulty was experienced in tracking down the abandoned sledges. But on arrival there the relief party was astounded to find the officer and the two men who had vanished from the others while descending the snow slope. The astonishment was increased when not one of the three could explain how they had succeeded in returning to the sledges. They remembered their experiences as they were hurled down the snow slope, and each one told the same tale. Immediately they had stood up against the gale they felt their feet go from under them, they rushed forward with incredible speed, so fast, indeed, as to have absolutely no control over themselves, and then they plunged into a mass of soft snow. There they found themselves and one another. They were still dazed when found. Subsequent examination showed that the slope down which they had been hurled extended for a distance of five hundred yards and terminated with the bank of snow, into which they had plunged. The bank was within fifteen feet of a cliff which had a clear drop of two hundred feet to the shore-ice below. It was over this cliff that Vince had gone, and no trace of the unfortunate fellow was ever found. Nor were the relief parties successful in discovering Hare, the New Zealander. When all had returned to the ship he was also given up as lost, but to the amazement of every one he was seen returning to the ship on the second day after the gale. He explained that on his way back to the sledges he had fallen in the snow and had lost consciousness, returning to his senses some time after to find himself completely buried in a snow-drift. He had struggled out and made his way to the ship. It was his turn to be amazed when he was told he had been searched for during the whole of the previous day. It was some time before he would believe that what he referred to as to-day was in reality yesterday. He had lain in the snow for a period of thirty-six hours. When he fell, the heavy snow had apparently covered him, and so kept the heat of his body from leaving him. He had thus sunk into a heavy snow-sleep, and his physical stamina had done the rest in helping him towards recovery. His escape, without even a frost-bite, is unique in the annals of Polar experiences.