204 VOYAGE TO THE POLAR SEA. Deokmisfu 



lowered the temperature immediately ; by midnight it 

 had fallen to 4°.' 



We subsequently learnt that this very warm blast 

 of air from the southward passed the latitude of Dis- 

 covery Bay without affecting the temperature there, the 

 highest registered being only 4°. While we experienced 

 southerly winds the ' Discovery ' had light north-westerly 

 airs and calms. 



' 4th. — At 6 a.m., after calms and light airs from the 

 southward for the five or six previous hours, a southerly 

 squall of half an hour's duration was experienced, the 

 temperature again rising to 23°. After 8 o'clock the 

 weather was calm and the temperature below zero. 

 While walking for exercise, although the temperature 

 was only minus 12°, everyone complained of the sting- 

 ing cold air ; when only three days ago, with the 

 same degree of cold, but after a rise in temperature, we 

 were actually complaining of the warmth.' 



The ' Discovery ' experienced a similar southerly 

 squall affecting the temperature to the same extent, 

 but, curiously enough, the disturbance took place there 

 four hours later in the day. 



' Owing to the weight of the snow that has accumu- 

 lated during the gale in a bank near the bows of the 

 ship, the ice has sunk down and the water has flooded 

 it to the depth of six inches. 



' As the ice has increased in thickness, so the ship's 

 situation, only twenty feet distant from a large floeberg, 

 has caused us annoyance and extra work. Before 

 securing her for the winter, this trouble was foreseen, 

 but owing to the shallowness of the water and the 



