I902J LIFE IN THE PACK 93 



provement, and before the afternoon ended races were organ- 

 ised and figures were darting about in all directions, with 

 constant collisions and falls and much laughter. In the 

 evening we pushed on once more, and whilst the ice crashed 

 against our bows and came grinding along the side, a sing- 

 song was held below with choruses that went far to drown the 

 outer tumult. 



The position of officer of the watch in the pack was no 

 sinecure : he had to be constantly on the alert to avoid 

 contact with the heavier floes and to pick out the easiest path 

 for the ship. When the pack was open his best position was 

 in the ' crow's-nest,' where he could first see the open patches 

 of water and the heavier streams of ice, but in thicker pack he 

 could often handle the ship better by ' conning ' from the 

 bridge, and at such times he had to be constantly giving fresh 

 directions for the movement of the helm. Progress through 

 the pack depended very largely on the care with which the 

 ship was handled ; often, after forging slowly ahead for some 

 time, an incautious movement of the helm would bring us in 

 collision with some heavy piece of ice, and the ship would be 

 brought to a dead stop ; sometimes by pushing on, the 

 obstruction would be slowly forced aside, but oftener it was 

 necessary to reverse the engines and seek a new direction. 



The floes of this pack-ice through which we were now 

 passing varied very greatly in character. Generally speaking, 

 they increased in area as we advanced to the south, and this 

 might well be expected, as we did not lose the ocean swell 

 until we were 100 miles south of the northern edge. There 

 were very few signs of pressure ; only here and there a more 

 ancient floe could be seen with ridged hummocks evidently 

 produced far from its present position, but everything seemed 

 to give the impression that the ice had been constantly open- 

 ing out and allowing fresh ice to form in the channels thus 

 left free. This would produce sheets of ice of varying ages, 

 and when the sheets broke into pack, rupture would naturally 

 take place along the joints and would produce in close asso- 

 ciation floes of varied thickness and character. The nature of 



