48 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [December 



snow. The barometer fell on a very steep gradient and the wind 

 increased to force 6 from the E.N.E. In the evening the snow 

 fell heavily and the glass still galloped down. In any other part 

 of the world one would have felt certain of a coming gale. But 

 here by experience we know that the barometer gives little indi- 

 cation of wind. 



Throughout the afternoon and evening the water holes be- 

 came more frequent and we came along at a fine speed. At 

 the end of the first watch we were passing through occasional 

 streams of ice; the wind had shifted to north and the barom- 

 eter had ceased to fall. In the middle watch the snow held up, 

 and soon after — i A.M. — Bowers steered through the last ice 

 stream. 



At six this morning we were well in the open sea, the sky 

 thick and overcast with occasional patches of fog. We passed 

 one small berg on the starboard hand with a group of Antarctic 

 petrels on one side and a group of snow petrels on the other. 

 It is evident that these birds rely on sea and swell to cast their 

 food up on ice ledges — only a few find sustenance in the pack 

 where, though food is plentiful, it is not so easily come by. A 

 flight of Antarctic petrel accompanied the ship for some distance, 

 wheeling to and fro about her rather than following in the wake 

 as do the more northerly sea birds. 



It is [good] to escape from the captivity of the pack and to 

 feel that a few days will see us at Cape Crozier, but it is sad to 

 remember the terrible inroad which the fight of the last fortnight 

 has made on our coal supply. 



2 P.M. — The wind failed in the forenoon. Sails were clewed 

 up, and at eleven we stopped to sound. The sounding showed 

 1 1 1 1 fathoms — we appear to be on the edge of the continental 

 shelf. Nelson got some samples and temperatures. 



The sun is bursting through the misty sky and warming the 

 air. The snowstorm had covered the ropes with an icy sheet 

 — this is now peeling off and falling with a clatter to the deck, 

 from which the moist slush is rapidly evaporating. In a few 

 hours the ship will be dry — much to our satisfaction; it is very 

 wretched when, as last night, there is slippery wet snow under- 

 foot and on every object one touches. 



Our run has exceeded our reckoning by much. I feel confi- 

 dent that our speed during the last two days had been greatly 



