250 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' [Feb. 



has been a great change. On the 26th the open water ex- 

 tended to the outer islet, on the 28th to the inner one, and 

 now it has reached inside the glacier. The ice broke away in 

 very large sheets, and so rapidly that he was carried away to 

 the westward. As if to show contempt for our puny efforts, the 

 scene of our sawing labours was carried away in the centre of a 

 large floe ; our feeble scratches did not even help to form one 

 of the cracks which broke up the ice-sheet about them. In 

 the last five days fully six miles of ice have broken away, so 

 that we are all inclined to be very cheerful again. There is 

 only one drawback : the swell is slowly but surely dying away, 

 and there is no doubt that we are entirely dependent on it.' 



^February i. — We seem to be hanging in the balance, with 

 even chances either way. On the one hand, the swell has died 

 away, the ice is very quiet again, and one lemembers that we 

 are not really further advanced than we were at this time last 

 year ; on the other, we hear the hopeful sign of a clear sea to 

 the north, and the knowledge that a swell will have full 

 freedom of action. It's a toss-up. 



' The work of transport has been going on steadily, and a 

 few more days will see its finish. The main tent is now about 

 five miles from the ship, so that the work progresses more 

 speedily. All our scientific collections and most of the valuable 

 instruments w^re taken across some time ago ; then followed 

 the scientific Hbrary, a very heavy item ; and now some of our 

 personal effects and the pictures, &c., from the wardroom are 

 packed for transit. Our living quarters are beginning to look 

 bare and unfurnished, but we shall not mind that a particle if 

 we can only get out. 



' I find myself growing ridiculously superstitious, and cannot 

 banish the notion that if we make every preparation for leaving 

 the " Discovery," Nature with its usual cussedness will free 

 her.' 



^February 3. — I imagine the ice all over the sound has 

 been thinning underneath ; off the various headlands it has 

 rotted right through to a greater extent than it did last year. 

 There is a very large open pool off Cape Armitage, and another 



