In the Pack
_Sunday, December_ ll.--The ice grew closer during the night, and
at 6 it seemed hopeless to try and get ahead. The pack here is very
regular; the floes about 2 1/2 feet thick and very solid. They are
pressed closely together, but being irregular in shape, open spaces
frequently occur, generally triangular in shape.
It might be noted that such ice as this occupies much greater space
than it originally did when it formed a complete sheet--hence if the
Ross Sea were wholly frozen over in the spring, the total quantity
of pack to the north of it when it breaks out must be immense.
This ice looks as though it must have come from the Ross Sea, and
yet one is puzzled to account for the absence of pressure.
We have lain tight in the pack all day; the wind from 6 A.M. strong
from W. and N.W., with snow; the wind has eased to-night, and for some
hours the glass, which fell rapidly last night, has been stationary. I
expect the wind will shift soon; pressure on the pack has eased,
but so far it has not opened.
This morning Rennick got a sounding at 2015 fathoms from bottom
similar to yesterday, with small pieces of basic lava; these two
soundings appear to show a great distribution of this volcanic rock
by ice. The line was weighed by hand after the soundings. I read
Service in the wardroom.
This afternoon all hands have been away on ski over the floes. It
is delightful to get the exercise. I'm much pleased with the ski and
ski boots--both are very well adapted to our purposes.
This waiting requires patience, though I suppose it was to be expected
at such an early season. It is difficult to know when to try and push
on again.
_Monday, December_ 12.--The pack was a little looser this morning;
there was a distinct long swell apparently from N.W. The floes were
not apart but barely touching the edges, which were hard pressed
yesterday; the wind still holds from N.W., but lighter. Gran, Oates,
and Bowers went on ski towards a reported island about which there
had been some difference of opinion. I felt certain it was a berg,
and it proved to be so; only of a very curious dome shape with very
low cliffs all about.
Fires were ordered for 12, and at 11.30 we started steaming with plain
sail set. We made, and are making fair progress on the whole, but it
is very uneven. We escaped from the heavy floes about us into much
thinner pack, then through two water holes, then back to the thinner
pack consisting of thin floes of large area fairly easily broken. All
went well till we struck heavy floes again, then for half an hour we
stopped dead. Then on again, and since alternately bad and good--that
is, thin young floes and hoary older ones, occasionally a pressed up
berg, very heavy.
The best news of yesterday was that we drifted 15 miles to the S.E.,
so that we have not really stopped our progress at all, though it has,
of course, been pretty slow.
I really don't know what to think of the pack, or when to hope for
open water.
We tried Atkinson's blubber stove this afternoon with great
success. The interior of the stove holds a pipe in a single coil
pierced with holes on the under side. These holes drip oil on to an
asbestos burner. The blubber is placed in a tank suitably built around
the chimney; the overflow of oil from this tank leads to the feed pipe
in the stove, with a cock to regulate the flow. A very simple device,
but as has been shown a very effective one; the stove gives great heat,
but, of course, some blubber smell. However, with such stoves in the
south one would never lack cooked food or warm hut.
Discussed with Wright the fact that the hummocks on sea ice always
yield fresh water. We agreed that the brine must simply run down
out of the ice. It will be interesting to bring up a piece of sea
ice and watch this process. But the fact itself is interesting as
showing that the process producing the hummock is really producing
fresh water. It may also be noted as phenomenon which makes _all_
the difference to the ice navigator._5_
Truly the getting to our winter quarters is no light task; at first the
gales and heavy seas, and now this continuous fight with the pack ice.
8 P.M.--We are getting on with much bumping and occasional 'hold ups.'
_Tuesday, December_ 13.--I was up most of the night. Never have I
experienced such rapid and complete changes of prospect. Cheetham
in the last dog watch was running the ship through sludgy new ice,
making with all sail set four or five knots. Bruce, in the first,
took over as we got into heavy ice again; but after a severe tussle
got through into better conditions. The ice of yesterday loose with
sludgy thin floes between. The middle watch found us making for an
open lead, the ice around hard and heavy. We got through, and by
sticking to the open water and then to some recently frozen pools
made good progress. At the end of the middle watch trouble began
again, and during this and the first part of the morning we were
wrestling with the worst conditions we have met. Heavy hummocked
bay ice, the floes standing 7 or 8 feet out of water, and very deep
below. It was just such ice as we encountered at King Edward's Land
in the _Discovery_. I have never seen anything more formidable. The
last part of the morning watch was spent in a long recently frozen
lead or pool, and the ship went well ahead again.
These changes sound tame enough, but they are a great strain on
one's nerves--one is for ever wondering whether one has done right
in trying to come down so far east, and having regard to coal, what
ought to be done under the circumstances.
In the first watch came many alterations of opinion; time and again it
looks as though we ought to stop when it seemed futile to be pushing
and pushing without result; then would come a stretch of easy going and
the impression that all was going very well with us. The fact of the
matter is, it is difficult not to imagine the conditions in which one
finds oneself to be more extensive than they are. It is wearing to have
to face new conditions every hour. This morning we met at breakfast
in great spirits; the ship has been boring along well for two hours,
then Cheetham suddenly ran her into a belt of the worst and we were
held up immediately. We can push back again, I think, but meanwhile
we have taken advantage of the conditions to water ship. These big
floes are very handy for that purpose at any rate. Rennick got a
sounding 2124 fathoms, similar bottom _including_ volcanic lava.
_December_ 13 (_cont_.).--67° 30' S. 177° 58' W. Made good S. 20
E. 27'. C. Crozier S. 21 W. 644'.--We got in several tons of ice,
then pushed off and slowly and laboriously worked our way to one of
the recently frozen pools. It was not easily crossed, but when we came
to its junction with the next part to the S.W. (in which direction I
proposed to go) we were quite hung up. A little inspection showed that
the big floes were tending to close. It seems as though the tenacity of
the 6 or 7 inches of recent ice over the pools is enormously increased
by lateral pressure. But whatever the cause, we could not budge.
We have decided to put fires out and remain here till the conditions
change altogether for the better. It is sheer waste of coal to make
further attempts to break through as things are at present.
We have been set to the east during the past days; is it the normal
set in the region, or due to the prevalence of westerly winds? Possibly
much depends on this as concerns our date of release. It is annoying,
but one must contain one's soul in patience and hope for a brighter
outlook in a day or two. Meanwhile we shall sound and do as much
biological work as is possible.
The pack is a sunless place as a rule; this morning we had bright
sunshine for a few hours, but later the sky clouded over from the
north again, and now it is snowing dismally. It is calm.
_Wednesday, December_ 14.--Position, N. 2', W. 1/2'. The pack still
close around. From the masthead one can see a few patches of open
water in different directions, but the main outlook is the same
scene of desolate hummocky pack. The wind has come from the S.W.,
force 2; we have bright sunshine and good sights. The ship has swung
to the wind and the floes around are continually moving. They change
their relative positions in a slow, furtive, creeping fashion. The
temperature is 35°, the water 29.2° to 29.5°. Under such conditions
the thin sludgy ice ought to be weakening all the time; a few inches
of such stuff should allow us to push through anywhere.
One realises the awful monotony of a long stay in the pack, such as
Nansen and others experienced. One can imagine such days as these
lengthening into interminable months and years.
For us there is novelty, and everyone has work to do or makes work,
so that there is no keen sense of impatience.
Nelson and Lillie were up all night with the current meter; it is not
quite satisfactory, but some result has been obtained. They will also
get a series of temperatures and samples and use the vertical tow net.
The current is satisfactory. Both days the fixes have been good--it
is best that we should go north and west. I had a great fear that we
should be drifted east and so away to regions of permanent pack. If
we go on in this direction it can only be a question of time before
we are freed.
We have all been away on ski on the large floe to which we anchored
this morning. Gran is wonderfully good and gives instruction well. It
was hot and garments came off one by one--the Soldier [2] and Atkinson
were stripped to the waist eventually, and have been sliding round
the floe for some time in that condition. Nearly everyone has been
wearing goggles; the glare is very bad. Ponting tried to get a colour
picture, but unfortunately the ice colours are too delicate for this.
To-night Campbell, Evans, and I went out over the floe, and each in
turn towed the other two; it was fairly easy work--that is, to pull
310 to 320 lbs. One could pull it perhaps more easily on foot, yet
it would be impossible to pull such a load on a sledge. What a puzzle
this pulling of loads is! If one could think that this captivity was
soon to end there would be little reason to regret it; it is giving
practice with our deep sea gear, and has made everyone keen to learn
the proper use of ski.
The swell has increased considerably, but it is impossible to tell
from what direction it comes; one can simply note that the ship and
brash ice swing to and fro, bumping into the floe.
We opened the ice-house to-day, and found the meat in excellent
condition--most of it still frozen.
_Thursday, December_ 15.--66° 23' S. 177° 59' W. Sit. N. 2', E. 5
1/2'.--In the morning the conditions were unaltered. Went for a ski
run before breakfast. It makes a wonderful difference to get the
blood circulating by a little exercise.
After breakfast we served out ski to the men of the landing party. They
are all very keen to learn, and Gran has been out morning and afternoon
giving instruction.
Meares got some of his dogs out and a sledge--two lots of seven--those
that looked in worst condition (and several are getting very fat) were
tried. They were very short of wind--it is difficult to understand
how they can get so fat, as they only get two and a half biscuits
a day at the most. The ponies are looking very well on the whole,
especially those in the outside stalls.
Rennick got a sounding to-day 1844 fathoms; reversible thermometers
were placed close to bottom and 500 fathoms up. We shall get a very
good series of temperatures from the bottom up during the wait. Nelson
will try to get some more current observations to-night or to-morrow.
It is very trying to find oneself continually drifting north, but
one is thankful not to be going east.
To-night it has fallen calm and the floes have decidedly opened;
there is a lot of water about the ship, but it does not look to extend
far. Meanwhile the brash and thinner floes are melting; everything
of that sort must help--but it's trying to the patience to be delayed
like this.
We have seen enough to know that with a north-westerly or westerly
wind the floes tend to pack and that they open when it is calm. The
question is, will they open more with an easterly or south-easterly
wind--that is the hope.
Signs of open water round and about are certainly increasing rather
than diminishing.
_Friday, December_ 16.--The wind sprang up from the N.E. this morning,
bringing snow, thin light hail, and finally rain; it grew very thick
and has remained so all day.
Early the floe on which we had done so much ski-ing broke up, and
we gathered in our ice anchors, then put on head sail, to which she
gradually paid off. With a fair wind we set sail on the foremast,
and slowly but surely she pushed the heavy floes aside. At lunch
time we entered a long lead of open water, and for nearly half an
hour we sailed along comfortably in it. Entering the pack again,
we found the floes much lighter and again pushed on slowly. In all
we may have made as much as three miles.
I have observed for some time some floes of immense area forming a
chain of lakes in this pack, and have been most anxious to discover
their thickness. They are most certainly the result of the freezing
of comparatively recent pools in the winter pack, and it follows
that they must be getting weaker day by day. If one could be certain
firstly, that these big areas extend to the south, and, secondly,
that the ship could go through them, it would be worth getting up
steam. We have arrived at the edge of one of these floes, and the
ship will not go through under sail, but I'm sure she would do so
under steam. Is this a typical floe? And are there more ahead?
One of the ponies got down this afternoon--Oates thinks it was probably
asleep and fell, but the incident is alarming; the animals are not
too strong. On this account this delay is harassing--otherwise we
should not have much to regret.
_Saturday, December_ 17.--67° 24'. 177° 34'. Drift for 48 hours S. 82
E. 9.7'. It rained hard and the glass fell rapidly last night with
every sign of a coming gale. This morning the wind increased to force
6 from the west with snow. At noon the barograph curve turned up and
the wind moderated, the sky gradually clearing.
To-night it is fairly bright and clear; there is a light south-westerly
wind. It seems rather as though the great gales of the Westerlies must
begin in these latitudes with such mild disturbances as we have just
experienced. I think it is the first time I have known rain beyond
the Antarctic circle--it is interesting to speculate on its effect
in melting the floes.
We have scarcely moved all day, but bergs which have become quite
old friends through the week are on the move, and one has approached
and almost circled us. Evidently these bergs are moving about in an
irregular fashion, only they must have all travelled a little east in
the forty-eight hours as we have done. Another interesting observation
to-night is that of the slow passage of a stream of old heavy floes
past the ship and the lighter ice in which she is held.
There are signs of water sky to the south, and I'm impatient to
be off, but still one feels that waiting may be good policy, and I
should certainly contemplate waiting some time longer if it weren't
for the ponies.
Everyone is wonderfully cheerful; there is laughter all day
long. Nelson finished his series of temperatures and samples to-day
with an observation at 1800 metres.
Series of Sea Temperatures
Depth
Metres Temp. (uncorrected)
Dec. 14 0 -1.67
,, 10 -1.84
,, 20 -1.86
,, 30 -1.89
,, 50 -1.92
,, 75 -1.93
,, 100 -1.80
,, 125 -1.11
,, 150 -0.63
,, 200 0.24
,, 500 1.18
,, 1500 0.935
Dec. 17 1800 0.61
,, 2300 0.48
Dec. 15 2800 0.28
,, 3220 0.11
,, 3650 -0.13 no sample
,, 3891 bottom
Dec. 20 2300 (1260 fms.) 0.48° C.
,, 3220 (1760 fms.) 0.11° C.
,, 3300 bottom
A curious point is that the bottom layer is 2 tenths higher on the
20th, remaining in accord with the same depth on the 15th.
_Sunday, December_ 18.--In the night it fell calm and the floes
opened out. There is more open water between the floes around us,
yet not a great deal more.
In general what we have observed on the opening of the pack means a
very small increase in the open water spaces, but enough to convey
the impression that the floes, instead of wishing to rub shoulders
and grind against one another, desire to be apart. They touch lightly
where they touch at all--such a condition makes much difference to
the ship in attempts to force her through, as each floe is freer to
move on being struck.
If a pack be taken as an area bounded by open water, it is evident
that a small increase of the periphery or a small outward movement
of the floes will add much to the open water spaces and create a
general freedom.
The opening of this pack was reported at 3 A.M., and orders were given
to raise steam. The die is cast, and we must now make a determined
push for the open southern sea.
There is a considerable swell from the N.W.; it should help us to
get along.
_Evening_.--Again extraordinary differences of fortune. At first
things looked very bad--it took nearly half an hour to get started,
much more than an hour to work away to one of the large area floes to
which I have referred; then to my horror the ship refused to look at
it. Again by hard fighting we worked away to a crack running across
this sheet, and to get through this crack required many stoppages
and engine reversals.
Then we had to shoot away south to avoid another unbroken floe of
large area, but after we had rounded this things became easier; from 6
o'clock we were almost able to keep a steady course, only occasionally
hung up by some thicker floe. The rest of the ice was fairly recent
and easily broken. At 7 the leads of recent ice became easier still,
and at 8 we entered a long lane of open water. For a time we almost
thought we had come to the end of our troubles, and there was much
jubilation. But, alas! at the end of the lead we have come again to
heavy bay ice. It is undoubtedly this mixture of bay ice which causes
the open leads, and I cannot but think that this is the King Edward's
Land pack. We are making S.W. as best we can.
What an exasperating game this is!--one cannot tell what is going
to happen in the next half or even quarter of an hour. At one moment
everything looks flourishing, the next one begins to doubt if it is
possible to get through.
_New Fish_.--Just at the end of the open lead to-night we capsized
a small floe and thereby jerked a fish out on top of another one. We
stopped and picked it up, finding it a beautiful silver grey, genus
_Notothenia_--I think a new species.
Snow squalls have been passing at intervals--the wind continues in
the N.W. It is comparatively warm.
We saw the first full-grown Emperor penguin to-night.
_Monday, December_ 19.--On the whole, in spite of many bumps, we made
good progress during the night, but the morning (present) outlook is
the worst we've had. We seem to be in the midst of a terribly heavy
screwed pack; it stretches in all directions as far as the eye can see,
and the prospects are alarming from all points of view. I have decided
to push west--anything to get out of these terribly heavy floes. Great
patience is the only panacea for our ill case. It is bad luck.
We first got amongst the very thick floes at 1 A.M., and jammed
through some of the most monstrous I have ever seen. The pressure
ridges rose 24 feet above the surface--the ice must have extended
at least 30 feet below. The blows given us gave the impression of
irresistible solidity. Later in the night we passed out of this into
long lanes of water and some of thin brash ice, hence the progress
made. I'm afraid we have strained our rudder; it is stiff in one
direction. We are in difficult circumstances altogether. This morning
we have brilliant sunshine and no wind.
Noon 67° 54.5' S., 178° 28' W. Made good S. 34 W. 37'; C. Crozier
606'. Fog has spread up from the south with a very light southerly
breeze.
There has been another change of conditions, but I scarcely know
whether to call it for the better or the worse. There are fewer heavy
old floes; on the other hand, the one year's floes, tremendously
screwed and doubtless including old floes in their mass, have now
enormously increased in area.
A floe which we have just passed must have been a mile across--this
argues lack of swell and from that one might judge the open water to be
very far. We made progress in a fairly good direction this morning,
but the outlook is bad again--the ice seems to be closing. Again
patience, we must go on steadily working through.
5.30.--We passed two immense bergs in the afternoon watch, the first
of an irregular tabular form. The stratified surface had clearly
faulted. I suggest that an uneven bottom to such a berg giving unequal
buoyancy to parts causes this faulting. The second berg was domed,
having a twin peak. These bergs are still a puzzle. I rather cling
to my original idea that they become domed when stranded and isolated.
These two bergs had left long tracks of open water in the pack. We came
through these making nearly 3 knots, but, alas! only in a direction
which carried us a little east of south. It was difficult to get from
one tract to another, but the tracts themselves were quite clear of
ice. I noticed with rather a sinking that the floes on either side
of us were assuming gigantic areas; one or two could not have been
less than 2 or 3 miles across. It seemed to point to very distant
open water.
But an observation which gave greater satisfaction was a steady
reduction in the thickness of the floes. At first they were still much
pressed up and screwed. One saw lines and heaps of pressure dotted over
the surface of the larger floes, but it was evident from the upturned
slopes that the floes had been thin when these disturbances took place.
At about 4.30 we came to a group of six or seven low tabular
bergs some 15 or 20 feet in height. It was such as these that we
saw in King Edward's Land, and they might very well come from that
region. Three of these were beautifully uniform, with flat tops and
straight perpendicular sides, and others had overhanging cornices,
and some sloped towards the edges.
No more open water was reported on the other side of the bergs,
and one wondered what would come next. The conditions have proved a
pleasing surprise. There are still large floes on either side of us,
but they are not much hummocked; there are pools of water on their
surface, and the lanes between are filled with light brash and only an
occasional heavy floe. The difference is wonderful. The heavy floes and
gigantic pressure ice struck one most alarmingly--it seemed impossible
that the ship could win her way through them, and led one to imagine
all sorts of possibilities, such as remaining to be drifted north
and freed later in the season, and the contrast now that the ice all
around is little more than 2 or 3 feet thick is an immense relief. It
seems like release from a horrid captivity. Evans has twice suggested
stopping and waiting to-day, and on three occasions I have felt my
own decision trembling in the balance. If this condition holds I need
not say how glad we shall be that we doggedly pushed on in spite of
the apparently hopeless outlook.
In any case, if it holds or not, it will be a great relief to feel
that there is this plain of negotiable ice behind one.
Saw two sea leopards this evening, one in the water making short,
lazy dives under the floes. It had a beautiful sinuous movement.
I have asked Pennell to prepare a map of the pack; it ought to give
some idea of the origin of the various forms of floes, and their
general drift. I am much inclined to think that most of the pressure
ridges are formed by the passage of bergs through the comparatively
young ice. I imagine that when the sea freezes very solid it carries
bergs with it, but obviously the enormous mass of a berg would need
a great deal of stopping. In support of this view I notice that
most of the pressure ridges are formed by pieces of a sheet which
did not exceed one or two feet in thickness--also it seems that the
screwed ice which we have passed has occurred mostly in the regions
of bergs. On one side of the tabular berg passed yesterday pressure
was heaped to a height of 15 feet--it was like a ship's bow wave on a
large scale. Yesterday there were many bergs and much pressure; last
night no bergs and practically no pressure; this morning few bergs
and comparatively little pressure. It goes to show that the unconfined
pack of these seas would not be likely to give a ship a severe squeeze.
Saw a young Emperor this morning, and whilst trying to capture it
one of Wilson's new whales with the sabre dorsal fin rose close to
the ship. I estimated this fin to be 4 feet high.
It is pretty to see the snow petrel and Antarctic petrel diving
on to the upturned and flooded floes. The wash of water sweeps the
Euphausia [3] across such submerged ice. The Antarctic petrel has a
pretty crouching attitude.
Notes On Nicknames
Evans Teddy
Wilson Bill, Uncle Bill, Uncle
Simpson Sunny Jim
Ponting Ponco
Meares
Day
Campbell The Mate, Mr. Mate
Pennell Penelope
Rennick Parnie
Bowers Birdie
Taylor Griff and Keir Hardy
Nelson Marie and Bronte
Gran
Cherry-Garrard Cherry
Wright Silas, Toronto
Priestley Raymond
Debenham Deb
Bruce
Drake Francis
Atkinson Jane, Helmin, Atchison
Oates Titus, Soldier, 'Farmer Hayseed' (by Bowers)
Levick Toffarino, the Old Sport
Lillie Lithley, Hercules, Lithi_6_
_Tuesday, December_ 20.--Noon 68° 41' S., 179° 28' W. Made good S. 36
W. 58; C. Crozier S. 20 W. 563'.--The good conditions held up to
midnight last night; we went from lead to lead with only occasional
small difficulties. At 9 o'clock we passed along the western edge of
a big stream of very heavy bay ice--such ice as would come out late
in the season from the inner reaches and bays of Victoria Sound,
where the snows drift deeply. For a moment one imagined a return to
our bad conditions, but we passed this heavy stuff in an hour and
came again to the former condition, making our way in leads between
floes of great area.
Bowers reported a floe of 12 square miles in the middle watch. We
made very fair progress during the night, and an excellent run in the
morning watch. Before eight a moderate breeze sprang up from the west
and the ice began to close. We have worked our way a mile or two on
since, but with much difficulty, so that we have now decided to bank
fires and wait for the ice to open again; meanwhile we shall sound
and get a haul with tow nets. I'm afraid we are still a long way from
the open water; the floes are large, and where we have stopped they
seem to be such as must have been formed early last winter. The signs
of pressure have increased again. Bergs were very scarce last night,
but there are several around us to-day. One has a number of big humps
on top. It is curious to think how these big blocks became perched so
high. I imagine the berg must have been calved from a region of hard
pressure ridges. [Later] This is a mistake--on closer inspection it
is quite clear that the berg has tilted and that a great part of the
upper strata, probably 20 feet deep, has slipped off, leaving the
humps as islands on top.
It looks as though we must exercise patience again; progress is more
difficult than in the worst of our experiences yesterday, but the
outlook is very much brighter. This morning there were many dark
shades of open water sky to the south; the westerly wind ruffling
the water makes these cloud shadows very dark.
The barometer has been very steady for several days and we ought to
have fine weather: this morning a lot of low cloud came from the
S.W., at one time low enough to become fog--the clouds are rising
and dissipating, and we have almost a clear blue sky with sunshine.
_Evening_.--The wind has gone from west to W.S.W. and still blows
nearly force 6. We are lying very comfortably alongside a floe with
open water to windward for 200 or 300 yards. The sky has been clear
most of the day, fragments of low stratus occasionally hurry across
the sky and a light cirrus is moving with some speed. Evidently it
is blowing hard in the upper current. The ice has closed--I trust it
will open well when the wind lets up. There is a lot of open water
behind us. The berg described this morning has been circling round
us, passing within 800 yards; the bearing and distance have altered
so un-uniformly that it is evident that the differential movement
between the surface water and the berg-driving layers (from 100 to
200 metres down) is very irregular. We had several hours on the floe
practising ski running, and thus got some welcome exercise. Coal is
now the great anxiety--we are making terrible inroads on our supply--we
have come 240 miles since we first entered the pack streams.
The sounding to-day gave 1804 fathoms--the water bottle didn't work,
but temperatures were got at 1300 and bottom.
The temperature was down to 20° last night and kept 2 or 3 degrees
below freezing all day.
The surface for ski-ing to-day was very good.
_Wednesday, December_ 21.--The wind was still strong this morning,
but had shifted to the south-west. With an overcast sky it was very
cold and raw. The sun is now peeping through, the wind lessening and
the weather conditions generally improving. During the night we had
been drifting towards two large bergs, and about breakfast time we
were becoming uncomfortably close to one of them--the big floes were
binding down on one another, but there seemed to be open water to
the S.E., if we could work out in that direction.
(_Note_.--All directions of wind are given 'true' in this book.)
_Noon Position_.--68° 25' S., 179° 11' W. Made good S. 26 E. 2.5'. Set
of current N., 32 E. 9.4'. Made good 24 hours--N. 40 E. 8'. We got the
steam up and about 9 A.M. commenced to push through. Once or twice
we have spent nearly twenty minutes pushing through bad places, but
it looks as though we are getting to easier water. It's distressing
to have the pack so tight, and the bergs make it impossible to lie
comfortably still for any length of time.
Ponting has made some beautiful photographs and Wilson some charming
pictures of the pack and bergs; certainly our voyage will be well
illustrated. We find quite a lot of sketching talent. Day, Taylor,
Debenham, and Wright all contribute to the elaborate record of the
bergs and ice features met with.
5 P.M.--The wind has settled to a moderate gale from S.W. We went
2 1/2 miles this morning, then became jammed again. The effort has
taken us well clear of the threatening bergs. Some others to leeward
now are a long way off, but they _are_ there and to leeward, robbing
our position of its full measure of security. Oh! but it's mighty
trying to be delayed and delayed like this, and coal going all the
time--also we are drifting N. and E.--the pack has carried us 9'
N. and 6' E. It really is very distressing. I don't like letting
fires go out with these bergs about.
Wilson went over the floe to capture some penguins and lay flat on the
surface. We saw the birds run up to him, then turn within a few feet
and rush away again. He says that they came towards him when he was
singing, and ran away again when he stopped. They were all one year
birds, and seemed exceptionally shy; they appear to be attracted to
the ship by a fearful curiosity._7_
A chain of bergs must form a great obstruction to a field of pack ice,
largely preventing its drift and forming lanes of open water. Taken
in conjunction with the effect of bergs in forming pressure ridges,
it follows that bergs have a great influence on the movement as well
as the nature of pack.
_Thursday, December_ 22.--Noon 68° 26' 2'' S., 197° 8' 5'' W. Sit. N. 5
E. 8.5'.--No change. The wind still steady from the S.W., with a
clear sky and even barometer. It looks as though it might last any
time. This is sheer bad luck. We have let the fires die out; there
are bergs to leeward and we must take our chance of clearing them--we
cannot go on wasting coal.
There is not a vestige of swell, and with the wind in this direction
there certainly ought to be if the open water was reasonably close. No,
it looks as though we'd struck a streak of real bad luck; that
fortune has determined to put every difficulty in our path. We have
less than 300 tons of coal left in a ship that simply eats coal. It's
alarming--and then there are the ponies going steadily down hill in
condition. The only encouragement is the persistence of open water to
the east and south-east to south; big lanes of open water can be seen
in that position, but we cannot get to them in this pressed up pack.
Atkinson has discovered a new tapeworm in the intestines of the Adélie
penguin--a very tiny worm one-eighth of an inch in length with a
propeller-shaped head.
A crumb of comfort comes on finding that we have not drifted to the
eastward appreciably.
_Friday, December_ 23.--The wind fell light at about ten last night
and the ship swung round. Sail was set on the fore, and she pushed a
few hundred yards to the north, but soon became jammed again. This
brought us dead to windward of and close to a large berg with the
wind steadily increasing. Not a very pleasant position, but also
not one that caused much alarm. We set all sail, and with this help
the ship slowly carried the pack round, pivoting on the berg until,
as the pressure relieved, she slid out into the open water close
to the berg. Here it was possible to 'wear ship,' and we saw a fair
prospect of getting away to the east and afterwards south. Following
the leads up we made excellent progress during the morning watch,
and early in the forenoon turned south, and then south-west.
We had made 8 1/2' S. 22 E. and about 5' S.S.W. by 1 P.M., and could
see a long lead of water to the south, cut off only by a broad strip
of floe with many water holes in it: a composite floe. There was just
a chance of getting through, but we have stuck half-way, advance and
retreat equally impossible under sail alone. Steam has been ordered
but will not be ready till near midnight. Shall we be out of the pack
by Christmas Eve?
The floes to-day have been larger but thin and very sodden. There
are extensive water pools showing in patches on the surface, and one
notes some that run in line as though extending from cracks; also here
and there close water-free cracks can be seen. Such floes might well
be termed '_composite_' floes, since they evidently consist of old
floes which have been frozen together--the junction being concealed
by more recent snow falls.
A month ago it would probably have been difficult to detect
inequalities or differences in the nature of the parts of the floes,
but now the younger ice has become waterlogged and is melting rapidly,
hence the pools.
I am inclined to think that nearly all the large floes as well as
many of the smaller ones are 'composite,' and this would seem to show
that the cementing of two floes does not necessarily mean a line of
weakness, provided the difference in the thickness of the cemented
floes is not too great; of course, young ice or even a single season's
sea ice cannot become firmly attached to the thick old bay floes,
and hence one finds these isolated even at this season of the year.
Very little can happen in the personal affairs of our company in this
comparatively dull time, but it is good to see the steady progress
that proceeds unconsciously in cementing the happy relationship that
exists between the members of the party. Never could there have been
a greater freedom from quarrels and trouble of all sorts. I have
not heard a harsh word or seen a black look. A spirit of tolerance
and good humour pervades the whole community, and it is glorious to
realise that men can live under conditions of hardship, monotony,
and danger in such bountiful good comradeship.
Preparations are now being made for Christmas festivities. It is
curious to think that we have already passed the longest day in the
southern year.
Saw a whale this morning--estimated 25 to 30 feet. Wilson thinks a
new species. Find Adélie penguins in batches of twenty or so. Do not
remember having seen so many together in the pack.
_After midnight, December_ 23.--Steam was reported ready at 11
P.M. After some pushing to and fro we wriggled out of our ice prison
and followed a lead to opener waters.
We have come into a region where the open water exceeds the ice; the
former lies in great irregular pools 3 or 4 miles or more across and
connecting with many leads. The latter, and the fact is puzzling, still
contain floes of enormous dimensions; we have just passed one which
is at least 2 miles in diameter. In such a scattered sea we cannot
go direct, but often have to make longish detours; but on the whole
in calm water and with a favouring wind we make good progress. With
the sea even as open as we find it here it is astonishing to find the
floes so large, and clearly there cannot be a southerly swell. The
floes have water pools as described this afternoon, and none average
more than 2 feet in thickness. We have two or three bergs in sight.
_Saturday, December 24, Christmas Eve_.--69° 1' S., 178° 29' W. S. 22
E. 29'; C. Crozier 551'. Alas! alas! at 7 A.M. this morning we were
brought up with a solid sheet of pack extending in all directions,
save that from which we had come. I must honestly own that I turned
in at three thinking we had come to the end of our troubles; I had
a suspicion of anxiety when I thought of the size of the floes, but
I didn't for a moment suspect we should get into thick pack again
behind those great sheets of open water.
All went well till four, when the white wall again appeared ahead--at
five all leads ended and we entered the pack; at seven we were close
up to an immense composite floe, about as big as any we've seen. She
wouldn't skirt the edge of this and she wouldn't go through it. There
was nothing to do but to stop and bank fires. How do we stand?--Any
day or hour the floes may open up, leaving a road to further open
water to the south, but there is no guarantee that one would not be
hung up again and again in this manner as long as these great floes
exist. In a fortnight's time the floes will have crumbled somewhat,
and in many places the ship will be able to penetrate them.
What to do under these circumstances calls for the most difficult
decision.
If one lets fires out it means a dead loss of over 2 tons, when the
boiler has to be heated again. But this 2 tons would only cover a day
under banked fires, so that for anything longer than twenty-four hours
it is economy to put the fires out. At each stoppage one is called upon
to decide whether it is to be for more or less than twenty-four hours.
Last night we got some five or six hours of good going ahead--but it
has to be remembered that this costs 2 tons of coal in addition to
that expended in doing the distance.
If one waits one probably drifts north--in all other respects
conditions ought to be improving, except that the southern edge of
the pack will be steadly augmenting.
Rough Summary of Current in Pack
Dec. Current Wind
11-12 S. 48 E. 12'? N. by W. 3 to 5
13-14 N. 20 W. 2' N.W. by W. 0-2
14-15 N. 2 E. 5.2' S.W. 1-2
15-17 apparently little current variable light
20-21 N. 32 E. 9.4 N.W. to W.S.W. 4 to 6
21-22 N. 5 E. 8.5 West 4 to 5
The above seems to show that the drift is generally with the wind. We
have had a predominance of westerly winds in a region where a
predominance of easterly might be expected.
Now that we have an easterly, what will be the result?
_Sunday, December_ 25, _Christmas Day_.--Dead reckoning 69° 5'
S., 178° 30' E. The night before last I had bright hopes that this
Christmas Day would see us in open water. The scene is altogether
too Christmassy. Ice surrounds us, low nimbus clouds intermittently
discharging light snow flakes obscure the sky, here and there small
pools of open water throw shafts of black shadow on to the cloud--this
black predominates in the direction from whence we have come, elsewhere
the white haze of ice blink is pervading.
We are captured. We do practically nothing under sail to push
through, and could do little under steam, and at each step forward
the possibility of advance seems to lessen.
The wind which has persisted from the west for so long fell light
last night, and to-day comes from the N.E. by N., a steady breeze
from 2 to 3 in force. Since one must have hope, ours is pinned to
the possible effect of a continuance of easterly wind. Again the
call is for patience and again patience. Here at least we seem to
enjoy full security. The ice is so thin that it could not hurt by
pressure--there are no bergs within reasonable distance--indeed the
thinness of the ice is one of the most tantalising conditions. In
spite of the unpropitious prospect everyone on board is cheerful and
one foresees a merry dinner to-night.
The mess is gaily decorated with our various banners. There was full
attendance at the Service this morning and a lusty singing of hymns.
Should we now try to go east or west?
I have been trying to go west because the majority of tracks lie that
side and no one has encountered such hard conditions as ours--otherwise
there is nothing to point to this direction, and all through the last
week the prospect to the west has seemed less promising than in other
directions; in spite of orders to steer to the S.W. when possible it
has been impossible to push in that direction.
An event of Christmas was the production of a family by Crean's
rabbit. She gave birth to 17, it is said, and Crean has given away 22!
I don't know what will become of the parent or family; at present
they are warm and snug enough, tucked away in the fodder under the
forecastle.
_Midnight_.--To-night the air is thick with falling snow; the
temperature 28°. It is cold and slushy without.
A merry evening has just concluded. We had an excellent dinner: tomato
soup, penguin breast stewed as an entrée, roast beef, plum-pudding,
and mince pies, asparagus, champagne, port and liqueurs--a festive
menu. Dinner began at 6 and ended at 7. For five hours the company
has been sitting round the table singing lustily; we haven't much
talent, but everyone has contributed more or less, 'and the choruses
are deafening. It is rather a surprising circumstance that such an
unmusical party should be so keen on singing. On Xmas night it was
kept up till 1 A.M., and no work is done without a chanty. I don't
know if you have ever heard sea chanties being sung. The merchant
sailors have quite a repertoire, and invariably call on it when
getting up anchor or hoisting sails. Often as not they are sung in
a flat and throaty style, but the effect when a number of men break
into the chorus is generally inspiriting.'
The men had dinner at midday--much the same fare, but with beer
and some whisky to drink. They seem to have enjoyed themselves
much. Evidently the men's deck contains a very merry band.
There are three groups of penguins roosting on the floes quite close
to the ship. I made the total number of birds 39. We could easily
capture these birds, and so it is evident that food can always be
obtained in the pack.
To-night I noticed a skua gull settle on an upturned block of ice at
the edge of the floe on which several penguins were preparing for
rest. It is a fact that the latter held a noisy confabulation with
the skua as subject--then they advanced as a body towards it; within a
few paces the foremost penguin halted and turned, and then the others
pushed him on towards the skua. One after another they jibbed at being
first to approach their enemy, and it was only with much chattering
and mutual support that they gradually edged towards him.
They couldn't reach him as he was perched on a block, but when they
got quite close the skua, who up to that time had appeared quite
unconcerned, flapped away a few yards and settled close on the other
side of the group of penguins. The latter turned and repeated their
former tactics until the skua finally flapped away altogether. It
really was extraordinarily interesting to watch the timorous protesting
movements of the penguins. The frame of mind producing every action
could be so easily imagined and put into human sentiments.
On the other side of the ship part of another group of penguins
were quarrelling for the possession of a small pressure block which
offered only the most insecure foothold. The scrambling antics to
secure the point of vantage, the ousting of the bird in possession,
and the incontinent loss of balance and position as each bird reached
the summit of his ambition was almost as entertaining as the episode
of the skua. Truly these little creatures afford much amusement.
_Monday, December 26_.--Obs. 69° 9' S., 178° 13' W. Made good 48 hours,
S. 35 E. 10'.--The position to-night is very cheerless. All hope
that this easterly wind will open the pack seems to have vanished. We
are surrounded with compacted floes of immense area. Openings appear
between these floes and we slide crab-like from one to another with
long delays between. It is difficult to keep hope alive. There are
streaks of water sky over open leads to the north, but everywhere to
the south we have the uniform white sky. The day has been overcast
and the wind force 3 to 5 from the E.N.E.--snow has fallen from time
to time. There could scarcely be a more dreary prospect for the eye
to rest upon.
As I lay in my bunk last night I seemed to note a measured crush on
the brash ice, and to-day first it was reported that the floes had
become smaller, and then we seemed to note a sort of measured send
alongside the ship. There may be a long low swell, but it is not
helping us apparently; to-night the floes around are indisputably
as large as ever and I see little sign of their breaking or becoming
less tightly locked.
It is a very, very trying time.
We have managed to make 2 or 3 miles in a S.W. (?) direction under
sail by alternately throwing her aback, then filling sail and pressing
through the narrow leads; probably this will scarcely make up for our
drift. It's all very disheartening. The bright side is that everyone
is prepared to exert himself to the utmost--however poor the result
of our labours may show.
Rennick got a sounding again to-day, 1843 fathoms.
One is much struck by our inability to find a cause for the periodic
opening and closing of the floes. One wonders whether there is a reason
to be found in tidal movement. In general, however, it seems to show
that our conditions are governed by remote causes. Somewhere well
north or south of us the wind may be blowing in some other direction,
tending to press up or release pressure; then again such sheets of open
water as those through which we passed to the north afford space into
which bodies of pack can be pushed. The exasperating uncertainty of
one's mind in such captivity is due to ignorance of its cause and
inability to predict the effect of changes of wind. One can only
vaguely comprehend that things are happening far beyond our horizon
which directly affect our situation.
_Tuesday, December_ 27.--Dead reckoning 69° 12' S., 178° 18' W. We
made nearly 2 miles in the first watch--half push, half drift. Then
the ship was again held up. In the middle the ice was close around,
even pressing on us, and we didn't move a yard. The wind steadily
increased and has been blowing a moderate gale, shifting in direction
to E.S.E. We are reduced to lower topsails.
In the morning watch we began to move again, the ice opening out with
the usual astonishing absence of reason. We have made a mile or two in
a westerly direction in the same manner as yesterday. The floes seem
a little smaller, but our outlook is very limited; there is a thick
haze, and the only fact that can be known is that there are pools of
water at intervals for a mile or two in the direction in which we go.
We commence to move between two floes, make 200 or 300 yards, and
are then brought up bows on to a large lump. This may mean a wait
of anything from ten minutes to half an hour, whilst the ship swings
round, falls away, and drifts to leeward. When clear she forges ahead
again and the operation is repeated. Occasionally when she can get
a little way on she cracks the obstacle and slowly passes through
it. There is a distinct swell--very long, very low. I counted the
period as about nine seconds. Everyone says the ice is breaking up. I
have not seen any distinct evidence myself, but Wilson saw a large
floe which had recently cracked into four pieces in such a position
that the ship could not have caused it. The breaking up of the big
floes is certainly a hopeful sign.
'I have written quite a lot about the pack ice when under ordinary
conditions I should have passed it with few words. But you will
scarcely be surprised when I tell you what an obstacle we have found
it on this occasion.'
I was thinking during the gale last night that our position might
be a great deal worse than it is. We were lying amongst the floes
perfectly peacefully whilst the wind howled through the rigging. One
felt quite free from anxiety as to the ship, the sails, the bergs
or ice pressures. One calmly went below and slept in the greatest
comfort. One thought of the ponies, but after all, horses have been
carried for all time in small ships, and often enough for very long
voyages. The Eastern Party [4] will certainly benefit by any delay
we may make; for them the later they get to King Edward's Land the
better. The depot journey of the Western Party will be curtailed,
but even so if we can get landed in January there should be time for
a good deal of work. One must confess that things might be a great
deal worse and there would be little to disturb one if one's release
was certain, say in a week's time.
I'm afraid the ice-house is not going on so well as it might. There is
some mould on the mutton and the beef is tainted. There is a distinct
smell. The house has been opened by order when the temperature has
fallen below 28°. I thought the effect would be to 'harden up' the
meat, but apparently we need air circulation. When the temperature
goes down to-night we shall probably take the beef out of the house
and put a wind sail in to clear the atmosphere. If this does not
improve matters we must hang more carcasses in the rigging.
_Later_, 6 P.M.--The wind has backed from S.E. to E.S.E. and the
swell is going down--this seems to argue open water in the first but
not in the second direction and that the course we pursue is a good
one on the whole.
The sky is clearing but the wind still gusty, force 4 to 7; the ice
has frozen a little and we've made no progress since noon.
9 P.M.--One of the ponies went down to-night. He has been down
before. It may mean nothing; on the other hand it is not a circumstance
of good omen.
Otherwise there is nothing further to record, and I close this volume
of my Journal under circumstances which cannot be considered cheerful.
A FRESH MS. BOOK. 1910-11.
[_On the Flyleaf_]
'And in regions far
Such heroes bring ye forth
As those from whom we came
And plant our name
Under that star
Not known unto our North.'
'To the Virginian Voyage.'
DRAYTON.
'But be the workemen what they may be, let us speake of the worke;
that is, the true greatnesse of Kingdom and estates; and the meanes
thereof.'
BACON.
Still in the Ice
_Wednesday, December 28, 1910_.--Obs. Noon, 69° 17' S., 179° 42'
W. Made good since 26th S. 74 W. 31'; C. Crozier S. 22 W. 530'. The
gale has abated. The sky began to clear in the middle watch;
now we have bright, cheerful, warm sunshine (temp. 28°). The wind
lulled in the middle watch and has fallen to force 2 to 3. We made
1 1/2 miles in the middle and have added nearly a mile since. This
movement has brought us amongst floes of decidedly smaller area and
the pack has loosened considerably. A visit to the crow's nest shows
great improvement in the conditions. There is ice on all sides, but a
large percentage of the floes is quite thin and even the heavier ice
appears breakable. It is only possible to be certain of conditions
for three miles or so--the limit of observation from the crow's nest;
but as far as this limit there is no doubt the ship could work through
with ease. Beyond there are vague signs of open water in the southern
sky. We have pushed and drifted south and west during the gale and
are now near the 180th meridian again. It seems impossible that we
can be far from the southern limit of the pack.
On strength of these observations we have decided to raise steam. I
trust this effort will carry us through.
The pony which fell last night has now been brought out into the
open. The poor beast is in a miserable condition, very thin, very weak
on the hind legs, and suffering from a most irritating skin affection
which is causing its hair to fall out in great quantities. I think
a day or so in the open will help matters; one or two of the other
ponies under the forecastle are also in poor condition, but none
so bad as this one. Oates is unremitting in his attention and care
of the animals, but I don't think he quite realises that whilst in
the pack the ship must remain steady and that, therefore, a certain
limited scope for movement and exercise is afforded by the open deck
on which the sick animal now stands.
If we can get through the ice in the coming effort we may get all the
ponies through safely, but there would be no great cause for surprise
if we lost two or three more.
These animals are now the great consideration, balanced as they are
against the coal expenditure.
This morning a number of penguins were diving for food around and
under the ship. It is the first time they have come so close to the
ship in the pack, and there can be little doubt that the absence of
motion of the propeller has made them bold.
The Adélie penguin on land or ice is almost wholly ludicrous. Whether
sleeping, quarrelling, or playing, whether curious, frightened, or
angry, its interest is continuously humorous, but the Adélie penguin
in the water is another thing; as it darts to and fro a fathom or two
below the surface, as it leaps porpoise-like into the air or swims
skimmingly over the rippling surface of a pool, it excites nothing
but admiration. Its speed probably appears greater than it is, but
the ability to twist and turn and the general control of movement is
both beautiful and wonderful.
As one looks across the barren stretches of the pack, it is sometimes
difficult to realise what teeming life exists immediately beneath
its surface.
A tow-net is filled with diatoms in a very short space of time,
showing that the floating plant life is many times richer than that
of temperate or tropic seas. These diatoms mostly consist of three
or four well-known species. Feeding on these diatoms are countless
thousands of small shrimps (_Euphausia_); they can be seen swimming at
the edge of every floe and washing about on the overturned pieces. In
turn they afford food for creatures great and small: the crab-eater
or white seal, the penguins, the Antarctic and snowy petrel, and an
unknown number of fish.
These fish must be plentiful, as shown by our capture of one on an
overturned floe and the report of several seen two days ago by some men
leaning over the counter of the ship. These all exclaimed together,
and on inquiry all agreed that they had seen half a dozen or more a
foot or so in length swimming away under a floe. Seals and penguins
capture these fish, as also, doubtless, the skuas and the petrels.
Coming to the larger mammals, one occasionally sees the long lithe
sea leopard, formidably armed with ferocious teeth and doubtless
containing a penguin or two and perhaps a young crab-eating seal. The
killer whale (_Orca gladiator_), unappeasably voracious, devouring
or attempting to devour every smaller animal, is less common in the
pack but numerous on the coasts. Finally, we have the great browsing
whales of various species, from the vast blue whale (_Balænoptera
Sibbaldi_), the largest mammal of all time, to the smaller and less
common bottle-nose and such species as have not yet been named. Great
numbers of these huge animals are seen, and one realises what a demand
they must make on their food supply and therefore how immense a supply
of small sea beasts these seas must contain. Beneath the placid ice
floes and under the calm water pools the old universal warfare is
raging incessantly in the struggle for existence.
Both morning and afternoon we have had brilliant sunshine, and
this afternoon all the after-guard lay about on the deck sunning
themselves. A happy, care-free group.
10 P.M.--We made our start at eight, and so far things look well. We
have found the ice comparatively thin, the floes 2 to 3 feet in
thickness except where hummocked; amongst them are large sheets from
6 inches to 1 foot in thickness as well as fairly numerous water
pools. The ship has pushed on well, covering at least 3 miles an hour,
though occasionally almost stopped by a group of hummocked floes. The
sky is overcast: stratus clouds come over from the N.N.E. with wind in
the same direction soon after we started. This may be an advantage,
as the sails give great assistance and the officer of the watch has
an easier time when the sun is not shining directly in his eyes. As
I write the pack looks a little closer; I hope to heavens it is not
generally closing up again--no sign of open water to the south. Alas!
12 P.M.--Saw two sea leopards playing in the wake.
_Thursday, December_ 29.--No sights. At last the change for which
I have been so eagerly looking has arrived and we are steaming
amongst floes of small area evidently broken by swell, and with edges
abraded by contact. The transition was almost sudden. We made very
good progress during the night with one or two checks and one or two
slices of luck in the way of open water. In one pool we ran clear
for an hour, capturing 6 good miles.
This morning we were running through large continuous sheets of ice
from 6 inches to 1 foot in thickness, with occasional water holes and
groups of heavier floes. This forenoon it is the same tale, except
that the sheets of thin ice are broken into comparatively regular
figures, none more than 30 yards across. It is the hopefullest sign
of the approach to the open sea that I have seen.
The wind remains in the north helping us, the sky is overcast and
slight sleety drizzle is falling; the sun has made one or two attempts
to break through but without success.
Last night we had a good example of the phenomenon called 'Glazed
Frost.' The ship everywhere, on every fibre of rope as well as on her
more solid parts, was covered with a thin sheet of ice caused by a
fall of light super-cooled rain. The effect was pretty and interesting.
Our passage through the pack has been comparatively uninteresting
from the zoologist's point of view, as we have seen so little of
the rarer species of animals or of birds in exceptional plumage. We
passed dozens of crab-eaters, but have seen no Ross seals nor have we
been able to kill a sea leopard. To-day we see very few penguins. I'm
afraid there can be no observations to give us our position.
Release after Twenty Days in the Pack
_Friday, December_ 30.--Obs. 72° 17' S. 177° 9' E. Made good in
48 hours, S. 19 W. 190'; C. Crozier S. 21 W. 334'. We are out of
the pack at length and at last; one breathes again and hopes that
it will be possible to carry out the main part of our programme,
but the coal will need tender nursing.
Yesterday afternoon it became darkly overcast with falling snow. The
barometer fell on a very steep gradient and the wind increased to
force 6 from the E.N.E. In the evening the snow fell heavily and the
glass still galloped down. In any other part of the world one would
have felt certain of a coming gale. But here by experience we know
that the barometer gives little indication of wind.
Throughout the afternoon and evening the water holes became more
frequent and we came along at a fine speed. At the end of the first
watch we were passing through occasional streams of ice; the wind had
shifted to north and the barometer had ceased to fall. In the middle
watch the snow held up, and soon after--1 A.M.--Bowers steered through
the last ice stream.
At six this morning we were well in the open sea, the sky thick and
overcast with occasional patches of fog. We passed one small berg
on the starboard hand with a group of Antarctic petrels on one side
and a group of snow petrels on the other. It is evident that these
birds rely on sea and swell to cast their food up on ice ledges--only
a few find sustenance in the pack where, though food is plentiful,
it is not so easily come by. A flight of Antarctic petrel accompanied
the ship for some distance, wheeling to and fro about her rather than
following in the wake as do the more northerly sea birds.
It is [good] to escape from the captivity of the pack and to feel that
a few days will see us at Cape Crozier, but it is sad to remember
the terrible inroad which the fight of the last fortnight has made
on our coal supply.
2 P.M.--The wind failed in the forenoon. Sails were clewed up, and
at eleven we stopped to sound. The sounding showed 1111 fathoms--we
appear to be on the edge of the continental shelf. Nelson got some
samples and temperatures.
The sun is bursting through the misty sky and warming the air. The
snowstorm had covered the ropes with an icy sheet--this is now peeling
off and falling with a clatter to the deck, from which the moist slush
is rapidly evaporating. In a few hours the ship will be dry--much to
our satisfaction; it is very wretched when, as last night, there is
slippery wet snow underfoot and on every object one touches.
Our run has exceeded our reckoning by much. I feel confident that
our speed during the last two days had been greatly under-estimated
and so it has proved. We ought to be off C. Crozier on New Year's Day.
8 P.M.--Our calm soon came to an end, the breeze at 3 P.M. coming
strong from the S.S.W., dead in our teeth--a regular southern
blizzard. We are creeping along a bare 2 knots. I begin to wonder
if fortune will ever turn her wheel. On every possible occasion she
seems to have decided against us. Of course, the ponies are feeling
the motion as we pitch in a short, sharp sea--it's damnable for them
and disgusting for us.
Summary of the Pack
We may be said to have entered the pack at 4 P.M. on the 9th in
latitude 65 1/2 S. We left it at 1 A.M. on 30th in latitude 71 1/2
S. We have taken twenty days and some odd hours to get through, and
covered in a direct line over 370 miles--an average of 18 miles a
day. We entered the pack with 342 tons of coal and left with 281 tons;
we have, therefore, expended 61 tons in forcing our way through--an
average of 6 miles to the ton.
These are not pleasant figures to contemplate, but considering the
exceptional conditions experienced I suppose one must conclude that
things might have been worse.
9th. Loose streams, steaming.
10th. Close pack.
11th. 6 A.M. close pack, stopped.
12th. 11.30 A.M. started.
13th. 8 A.M. heavy pack, stopped; 8 P.M. out fires.
14th. Fires out.
15th. ...
16th. ...
17th. ...
18th. Noon, heavy pack and leads, steaming
19th. Noon, heavy pack and leads, steaming.
20th. Forenoon, banked fires.
21st. 9 A.M. started. 11 A.M. banked.
22nd. ,, ,,
23rd. Midnight, started.
24th. 7 A.M. stopped
25th. Fires out.
26th. ,, ,,
27th. ,, ,,
28th. 7.30 P.M. steaming.
29th. Steaming.
30th. Steaming.
These columns show that we were steaming for nine out of twenty
days. We had two long stops, one of _five_ days and one of _four and
a half_ days. On three other occasions we stopped for short intervals
without drawing fires.
I have asked Wright to plot the pack with certain symbols on the chart
made by Pennell. It promises to give a very graphic representation
of our experiences.
'We hold the record for reaching the northern edge of the pack,
whereas three or four times the open Ross Sea has been gained at an
earlier date.
'I can imagine few things more trying to the patience than the long
wasted days of waiting. Exasperating as it is to see the tons of
coal melting away with the smallest mileage to our credit, one has
at least the satisfaction of active fighting and the hope of better
fortune. To wait idly is the worst of conditions. You can imagine how
often and how restlessly we climbed to the crow's nest and studied
the outlook. And strangely enough there was generally some change to
note. A water lead would mysteriously open up a few miles away or the
place where it had been would as mysteriously close. Huge icebergs
crept silently towards or past us, and continually we were observing
these formidable objects with range finder and compass to determine
the relative movement, sometimes with misgiving as to our ability
to clear them. Under steam the change of conditions was even more
marked. Sometimes we would enter a lead of open water and proceed for
a mile or two without hindrance; sometimes we would come to big sheets
of thin ice which broke easily as our iron-shod prow struck them, and
sometimes even a thin sheet would resist all our attempts to break it;
sometimes we would push big floes with comparative ease and sometimes
a small floe would bar our passage with such obstinacy that one would
almost believe it possessed of an evil spirit; sometimes we passed
through acres of sludgy sodden ice which hissed as it swept along
the side, and sometimes the hissing ceased seemingly without rhyme
or reason, and we found our screw churning the sea without any effect.
'Thus the steaming days passed away in an ever changing environment
and are remembered as an unceasing struggle.
'The ship behaved splendidly--no other ship, not even the _Discovery_,
would have come through so well. Certainly the _Nimrod_ would never
have reached the south water had she been caught in such pack. As
a result I have grown strangely attached to the _Terra Nova_. As
she bumped the floes with mighty shocks, crushing and grinding a way
through some, twisting and turning to avoid others, she seemed like a
living thing fighting a great fight. If only she had more economical
engines she would be suitable in all respects.
'Once or twice we got among floes which stood 7 or 8 feet above water,
with hummocks and pinnacles as high as 25 feet. The ship could have
stood no chance had such floes pressed against her, and at first we
were a little alarmed in such situations. But familiarity breeds
contempt; there never was any pressure in the heavy ice, and I'm
inclined to think there never would be.
'The weather changed frequently during our journey through the
pack. The wind blew strong from the west and from the east; the
sky was often darkly overcast; we had snowstorms, flaky snow, and
even light rain. In all such circumstances we were better placed in
the pack than outside of it. The foulest weather could do us little
harm. During quite a large percentage of days, however, we had bright
sunshine, which, even with the temperature well below freezing,
made everything look bright and cheerful. The sun also brought us
wonderful cloud effects, marvellously delicate tints of sky, cloud,
and ice, such effects as one might travel far to see. In spite of our
impatience we would not willingly have missed many of the beautiful
scenes which our sojourn in the pack afforded us. Ponting and Wilson
have been busy catching these effects, but no art can reproduce such
colours as the deep blue of the icebergs.
'Scientifically we have been able to do something. We have managed to
get a line of soundings on our route showing the raising of the bottom
from the ocean depths to the shallow water on the continental shelf,
and the nature of the bottom. With these soundings we have obtained
many interesting observations of the temperature of different layers
of water in the sea.
'Then we have added a great deal to the knowledge of life in the pack
from observation of the whales, seals, penguins, birds, and fishes as
well as of the pelagic beasts which are caught in tow-nets. Life in
one form or another is very plentiful in the pack, and the struggle
for existence here as elsewhere is a fascinating subject for study.
'We have made a systematic study of the ice also, both the bergs and
sea ice, and have got a good deal of useful information concerning
it. Also Pennell has done a little magnetic work.
'But of course this slight list of activity in the cause of science is
a very poor showing for the time of our numerous experts; many have
had to be idle in regard to their own specialities, though none are
idle otherwise. All the scientific people keep night watch when they
have no special work to do, and I have never seen a party of men so
anxious to be doing work or so cheerful in doing it. When there is
anything to be done, such as making or shortening sail, digging ice
from floes for the water supply, or heaving up the sounding line, it
goes without saying that all the afterguard turn out to do it. There
is no hesitation and no distinction. It will be the same when it
comes to landing stores or doing any other hard manual labour.
'The spirit of the enterprise is as bright as ever. Every one strives
to help every one else, and not a word of complaint or anger has
been heard on board. The inner life of our small community is very
pleasant to think upon and very wonderful considering the extremely
small space in which we are confined.
'The attitude of the men is equally worthy of admiration. In the
forecastle as in the wardroom there is a rush to be first when work is
to be done, and the same desire to sacrifice selfish consideration to
the success of the expedition. It is very good to be able to write in
such high praise of one's companions, and I feel that the possession
of such support ought to ensure success. Fortune would be in a hard
mood indeed if it allowed such a combination of knowledge, experience,
ability, and enthusiasm to achieve nothing.'