I902] WOOD BAY III 



keep constantly on the move, and when they thought of 

 smoking to relieve the monotony of the situation, the smokers 

 found they had pipes and tobacco, but no match. It was 

 whilst they were dismally discussing this fact that Dr. Wilson, 

 a non-smoker, came nobly to the rescue and succeeded in 

 producing fire with a small pocket magnifying glass— a fact 

 which shows not only the resource of the officer, but the power 

 of the midnight sun in these latitudes. 



As we turned the corner of the barrier-ice cliff I saw to my 

 disgust that the channels of open water which I had observed 

 to the south on the previous evening had now closed up, and 

 only thick pack lay in that direction. There was nothing for it 

 but to pass again round the north side of Coulman Island, 

 which, owing to many buffetings with loose pack, it took us the 

 whole day to circumnavigate. 



On the 17th we had to stand out farther and farther from 

 the land to clear the pack ; on our return voyage we also found 

 much pack in this vicinity, and it is evident that Coulman 

 Island forms a sort of cul-de-sac^ delaying the ice as it passes 

 up the coast. 



It was not easy under our varying conditions to arrive at 

 the currents along this coast. We found that there was 

 evidently a tidal stream setting alternately north and south. 

 Whilst we were delayed under Coulman Island we had been 

 influenced by this fact, and had on occasions seen small bergs 

 travelling against the wind ; a change of direction in the stream 

 had appeared to us to occur only once in twelve hours, and 

 this was supported by subsequent tidal observations. 



It is probable that the north running stream is stronger 

 than the south, as undoubtedly the bergs as well as the pack- 

 ice move gradually to the north. The pack-ice is of course 

 mostly influenced by the wind, which at this season of the year 

 appears to blow pretty constantly from a southerly direction. 



At 2.30 A.M. on the i8th we arrived in the entrance to 

 Wood Bay, only to find it heavily packed. I had hoped to be 

 able to land here and leave a record, but to have attempted to 

 force through this heavy ice would have involved an unjusti- 



