IN THE ICE 163 



this belt of ice ; others had gone through in a few hours. 

 We unhesitatingly preferred to follow the latter example, 

 and therefore took the course that the luckier ones had 

 indicated. 



Of course, the width of the ice-belt may be subject to 

 somewhat fortuitous changes, but it seems, nevertheless, 

 that as a rule the region between the 175th and the 

 180th degrees of longitude offers the best chance of 

 getting through rapidly; in any case, one ought not to 

 enter the ice farther to the west. At noon on New 

 Year's Eve we were in lat. 62 15' S. We had reached 

 the end of the old year, and really it had gone incredibly 

 quickly. Like all its predecessors, the year had brought 

 its share of success and failure; but the main thing was 

 that at its close we found ourselves pretty nearly where 

 we ought to be to make good our calculations and all 

 safe and well. Conscious of this, we said good-bye to 

 1910 in all friendliness over a good glass of toddy in 

 the evening, and wished each other all possible luck in 

 1911. 



At three in the morning of New Year's Day the 

 officer of the watch called me with news that the first 

 iceberg was in sight. I had to go up and see it. Yes, 

 there it lay, far to windward, shining like a castle in the 

 rays of the morning sun. It was a big, flat-topped berg 

 of the typical Antarctic form. It will perhaps seem 

 paradoxical when I say that we all greeted this first 

 sight of the ice with satisfaction and joy; an iceberg is 



