32 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [D eB MBE* 



Rcnnick Parnic 



Bowers Birdie 



Taylor Griff and Keir Hardy 



Nelson Marie and Bronte 



Gran 



Cherry-Garrard . . Cherry 



Wright Silas, Toronto 



Priestley .... Raymond 



Debenham .... Deb 



Bruce 



Drake Francis 



Atkinson .... Jane, Helmin, Atchison 



Oates Titus, Soldier, ' Farmer Hayseed ' 



(by Bowers) 



Levick Toffarino, the Old Sport 



Lillie Lithley, Hercules, Lithi a 



Tuesday, December 20. Noon 68 41' S., 179 28' W. 

 Made good S. 36 W. 58; C. Crozier S. 20 W. 563'. The 

 good conditions held up to midnight last night; we went from 

 lead to lead with only occasional small difficulties. At 9 o'clock 

 we passed along the western edge of a big stream of very heavy 

 bay ice such ice as would come out late in the season from the 

 inner reaches and bays of Victoria Sound, where the snows drift 

 deeply. For a moment one imagined a return to our bad con- 

 ditions, but we passed this heavy stuff in an hour and came again 

 to the former condition, making our way in leads between floes 

 of great area. 



Bowers reported a floe of 12 square miles in the middle 

 watch. We made very fair progress during the night, and an 

 excellent run in the morning watch. Before eight a moderate 

 breeze sprang up from the west and the ice began to close. We 

 have worked our way a mile or two on since, but with much 

 difficulty, so that we have now decided to bank fires and wait 

 for the ice to open again; meanwhile we shall sound and get 

 a haul with tow nets. I'm afraid we are still a long way from 

 the open water; the floes are large, and where we have stopped 

 they seem to be such as must have been formed early last win- 

 ter. The signs of pressure have increased again. Bergs were 

 very scarce last night, but there are several around us to-day. 



