244 COOK IN THE ANTARCTIC 



it was broken into small pieces, mixed with many glacial fragments and studded 

 by innumerable icebergs. While trying to keep the coast in view, we steamed 

 among a number of streams of small fragments of drift ice. An on-shore 

 swell forced the ice together, and we were hopelessly held for the night of the 

 13th. To the east of us were the high peaks and limitless glaciers of Graham 

 Land. The country was visible for only short periods and in patches, for a 

 high fog hung constantly over the land, leaving only an opening here and there. 



''To the west the sky was perfectly clear. A dark smoky zone near the 

 horizon indicated the limits of the ice and an open sea beyond. Those were 

 of a size and type quite similar to those of the Arctic Sea. The entire mass — 

 icebergs, sea-ice, and the ship — rose and fell with the gigantic heave of the South 

 Pacific, and for a time it seemed as though we should be carried with the mov- 

 ing drift against one of a number of small islands. But a change in the direc- 

 tion of the wind on the following morning so separated the ice that we were 

 able to force our way into the open sea westward. 



"After the first experience of the ensnaring powers of the drift ice, we 

 did not easily put ourselves in a position to be again entangled. The season 

 for a campaign to the far south was past, but M. de Gerlache, (one of the lead- 

 ers of the expedition) thought it incumbent upon himself to make as strong an 

 effort as possible to push into the main body of the pack and beat the "farthest 

 south" of other explorers. The entire scientific staff were opposed to this effort, 

 because it was thought to be too late in the season. No direct opposition, how- 

 ever, was offered when the 'Belgica' was headed southward. She was forced 

 into the pack and out again, time after time, making after each rebuff a new ef- 

 fort farther westward. On February 28th, we were forced to take to the ice 

 that the ship might better ride out a howling storm. 



" "I can imagine nothing more desperate than a storm on the edge of the 

 pack. At best it is a cold, dull and gloomy region, with a high humidity and 

 constant drizzly fogs. Clear weather here is a raie exception. Storm with 

 rain, sleet and snow is the normal weather condition throughout the entire 

 year. 



"During the day of the 28th, we were unable to get a glimpse of the sun, 

 and were in consequence in doubt as to our actual position. There was some- 

 thing about the sea and sky which promised a night of unusual terrors. The 

 wind came in a steady torrent from the east, and with it came alternate squalls 

 of rain and sleet and snow. Hour after hour it blew harder, and before night 

 it brought with it a heavy sea studded with moving mountains of blackness. 



