354 DISCOVERY REPORTS 



bays with every change of wind. It was not, however, until May 24 that Scotia Bay finally became 

 frozen and by the early date of November 5 all pack had cleared away from the group.^ 



Season 1909-10 



'Uruguay', February 1910. The 'Uruguay' arrived early in February the islands being ice-free.- 

 During the year 1910 Scotia Bay did not become blocked until the last week in July and broke up 

 again as early as November 18.' 



Season 1910 ii 



'Uruguay', February 1911. The group was quite clear early in February when the 'Uruguay' 

 arrived. Throughout the summer of 1910-1 1, however, there had been much pack around the islands 

 and the ice did not disperse until early February, a few days before the relief ship arrived.^ 



Winter season 191 i 

 The winter was an exceptionally mild one. Scotia Bay did not become blocked until June 28 and 

 broke up on September 23.* 



Season 1911-12 



'Falkland', from about the beginning of January until about the end of February 191 2. No details as 

 to the presence or absence of pack-ice are given. The 'Falkland' apparently arrived at the group 

 about the middle of January 1912 (see p. 325), but evidently one of her whale-catchers, the 'Powell' 

 (Fetter Sorlle), arrived before her, possibly about the beginning of the month. The ' Falkland ' lay in 

 Falkland Harbour at the southern end of Powell Island until about the end of February or possibly 

 the beginning of March. 



According to Argentine observations^ pack was seen in the neighbourhood of the islands in 

 January, while the winter ice seems to have arrived about the middle of April. 



' Undine', February 191 2. At the end of February 1912 the staff of the meteorological station was 

 relieved by the 'Undine'.'' 



Season 191 2-1 3 



'Falkland', ' Thule' , ' Normanna' , ' Tioga', November igiz-March 1913. From November 20 until 

 the end of December the group was entirely blocked by pack-ice. The 'Normanna' reached the land 

 and anchored on January i and the other three vessels apparently reached their respective bases about 

 the same time. From that date until about the middle of March whaling seems to have been carried 

 on around the islands so that they would appear to have been more or less free from pack for a period 

 at least as long as two and a half months. The season, however, was regarded by the whalers as a bad 

 one for ice — possibly because their work was hampered, as sometimes happens, by the periodic en- 

 croachment of streams of ice from the southward, or possibly because they were so late in gaining 

 access to the land. Falkland Harbour, Normanna Strait, and the west side of Signy Island were used 

 as bases (see p. 327). 



According to observations from Scotia Bay' there was ice in the neighbourhood of the islands 

 until the end of January and the winter pack arrived on May 27. 



1 See Mossman, R. C, 1910, Meteorology in the Weddell Quadrant during 1909, Scott. Geog. Mag., xxvi, 

 No. VIII, pp. 408-11. 



^ Ibid., p. 408. 



3 See Scott. Geog. Mag., 191 1, xxvii, No. vii, p. 377. 



■" Ibid., 1912, xxviii. No. v, pp. 268-9. 



5 See Mossman, R. C, 1922, Las Condiciones Fisicas del Atldntico Sur entre el Rio de la Plata y las 

 Islas Orcadas del Sur, Republica Argentina, Oficina Meteorologica Nacional, pp. 11-12, text-fig. 9. 



8 See Scott. Geog. Mag., 1912, xxviii, No. v, pp. 268-9. 



' Mossman, R. C, 1922, loc. cit., supra, pp. 11-12. 



