28o THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' [Feb. 



followed it, but with a lag of many degrees, so that it was 

 evident that the connection between the two w^as quite insecure. 

 How we had come by such an injury I could not guess, unless 

 it was on the freeing of the ship or from collision w^ith some 

 submerged spur of the glacier in McMurdo Sound ; but it was 

 obvious that in such a condition we could not hope to weather 

 a gale without losing all control over the ship, and therefore 

 that the sooner we got our spare rudder shipped in place of 

 the damaged one, the better. On looking back at this incident 

 I cannot but recognise how exceedingly fortunate it was that 

 the sharp eyes of our carpenter should have detected the fault 

 at this time, for, as will be seen, a few days later we were in 

 such a position that the loss of our rudder would have been a 

 most serious matter, and the steps which we now took would 

 have been almost impossible in the open sea. The fault, such 

 as it was, was not easily seen, for the injured rudder-head was 

 below the level of the deck and partly submerged by the wash 

 of the screw. I have had reason before to speak of the 

 invaluable qualities of our warrant officers, and certainly this 

 was a case that proved them. As it was, immediately I realised 

 our crippled state, I determined to make for Cape Adare and 

 to seek shelter in Robertson Bay ; the events which followed 

 I quote from my diary : 



' We signalled to the " Terra Nova " that our rudder was 

 damaged and that we should anchor in the bay. There was 

 now a brisk breeze, and with sail, steam, and current we 

 approached Cape Adare at a rapid pace. As we came nearer 

 we could see a very large number of bergs scattered about off 

 the entrance of the bay ; nearly all were tabular, and they 

 varied from 50 to 150 feet in height and from a quarter to 

 three-quarters of a mile in length. Streams of pack were lying 

 inshore and stretching from berg to berg. It was not alto- 

 gether pleasant turning and twisting amongst these immense 

 masses of ice with the knowledge that the rudder might give 

 out at any moment. At the entrance of the bay we were 

 involved in a heavy pack, but it was noticeable that the floes 

 were decayed and water-worn to an extent which we have not 



