294 THE VOYAGE OF THE ' DISCOVERY ' [Mar. 



like a cork. There are few things more exasperating than the 

 unceasing pitching and plunging of a very lively ship. Many 

 of us were very seasick, and, to add to our distress, our decks 

 were leaking badly, so that we lived in a perpetual drip below. 

 The wind blew almost constantly northward of west, so that 

 we were obliged to remain close-hauled. Our crab-like motion 

 under sail soon showed us that we should be drifted to leeward 

 of our rendezvous, and on the 9th we were obliged to start our 

 engines again. Even with steam and sail it was touch and go 

 whether we lay our course until the 13th, when a lucky slant of 

 wind sent us well to windward. On the 14th we sighted the 

 Auckland Islands on our lee bow, and early on the following 

 morning we furled our sails off the entrance of Ross Harbour, 

 and steamed into the calm waters of the bay. 



It is not easy to forget that morning when, weary and worn 

 with all our long struggle with the ice and the tempests of the 

 South, we steered into this placid shelter and, for the first time 

 for more than two years, feasted our eyes on hillsides clothed 

 with the green of luxuriant vegetation. 



Ross Harbour is a splendidly protected winding inlet, and 

 it was in its deepest arm, shut off from all view of the sea, that 

 we finally came to an anchor, within a hundred yards of the 

 thick scrub which grows down to the water's edge. A glance 

 at our bunkers was alone sufficient to show by how narrow a 

 margin we had accomplished our work, for less than ten tons 

 remained of our stock of coal, and yet not an ounce had been 

 wasted on our northward voyage. Our plans had barely 

 carried us to this uninhabited island, and with such a remnant 

 we could not have made the longer journey to New Zealand. 



It was with great surprise, and not altogether without 

 anxiety, that I found neither of our consorts had yet arrived at 

 the rendezvous. However, I reflected that it was quite pos- 

 sible that by going to the west we had achieved a windward 

 position and thus got ahead of them in spite of their long start, 

 and this conjecture proved to be correct. 



Meanwhile we settled ourselves down to wait, determined 

 to enjoy our new surroundings thoroughly, and to make our 



