274 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [JANUARY 



crossed en route, and Gran's men negotiated this by converting 

 their sledge into a ' kayak,' using a canvas cover which made 

 quite a good boat out of the sledge. On their way home to the 

 ship they had the fortune to get on to a loose ice floe with their 

 two sledges. Ferrying in this fashion much time was saved, and 

 the party returned hungry and tired but successful at 3 A.M. on 

 January 23. 



During the absence of this party some surveying work was 

 accomplished, and the astronomical observations taken by the 

 navigating officers in conjunction linked on the work of Griffith 

 Taylor and Debenham to the main survey. Off shore soundings 

 were obtained by Rennick with a view to throwing light on the 

 neighbouring glacier movements. Pennell carried out magnetic 

 observations, Lillie trawled with the Agassiz and obtained a fine 

 haul, which included enormous sponges. In short the usual bee- 

 hive industry in the scientific work was maintained. 



At 3.30 A.M. the sledge gear was brought on board by Gran's 

 party; they had secured all Taylor's and Debenham's beautiful 

 geological collections, consisting largely of fossils and coral. 

 These specimens had been left here a whole year ago. 



This accomplished, we hauled in our ice anchors and pro- 

 ceeded under steam as requisite for working through the pack 

 which barred our way to the Drygalski Barrier. 



At 11.30 A.M. the ice became so heavy that we were forced 

 to turn round and return towards Granite Harbour. 



All day we worked to clear out of the pack and made only 

 fair progress, the floes being so big that our weight would not 

 move them. The outlook was brighter at midnight, when we 

 were doing 5 knots to the northeastward, the ice-fields being less 

 compressed. The punching and butting through continued with 

 varying success till 9 P.M. on January 24, when the commander 

 concluded that it was a waste of coal and unfair to the ship to 

 proceed. We stopped, therefore, and banked fires. 



After a delay of seven or eight hours Bruce reported the ice 

 to be opening tremendously, and we accordingly proceeded on 

 January 25, as soon as steam was ready. Very gradually the 

 old ship worked towards Terra Nova Bay. Shortly after noon 

 we won through into a very big open lead and could make five 

 knots on our course. We stopped to sound at 8 A.M. and noon, 

 the soundings showing 437, 625, and 515 fathoms. These 



