THE VOYAGE OVER THE PACK ICE 



197 



weird noises in the rigging; it sung, whistled, and groaned; the 

 awnings over the ship were flapping, the snow drifted in every- 

 where, and it was not safe to go outside the ship. And down 

 in the cabin we lay listening to the noise above, wondering how 



OUR TENT AFTER THE GALE. 



long it would last, and whether our next attempt would prove 

 more successful than the previous ones. 



Those were dreary days we spent on board waiting for the 

 weather to improve. The sledges were in shape and were 

 cached about four miles away, so we had absolutely nothing 

 with which to pass the time, except reading and talking, 

 sleeping and eating. And the talk was not very cheerful 

 either ; our only subject of conversation was our prospects, and 

 we were perfectly aware of the fact that they diminished with 

 every day we idled away, waiting for the weather to improve. 

 But the bad weather could not last for ever, and on Sunday 

 the I7th it was fine, with a light easterly breeze. 



We started at 7 A.M. and soon reached our sledges. After 

 some work in digging them out we were off at last and following 

 the sand-spits. At 6 P.M. we arrived at Pole Island, where we 

 camped,* having made about twenty-five miles. The wind 



