28 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [December 



evident that a small increase of the periphery or a small out- 

 ward 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 be- 

 came 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 jubi- 

 lation. 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 be- 

 gins 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 con- 

 tinues in the N.W. It is comparatively warm. 



We saw the first full-grown Emperor penguin to-night. 



