THE TERRA NOVA GOES SOUTH 



4i 



under several feet of water. Casks of petrol were drifting 

 about and staving in ; the hammering on the port bulwarks 

 was tremendous, and it was a risky business to get from the 

 poop to the foc'sle. This was, of course, not unnatural in 

 a gale, and would have caused little anxiety beyond that 

 consequent on conditions of heavy lading and loose deck 

 cargo. But it can be readily understood that water was 

 finding its way into the bilge by a hundred channels with the 

 constant sweeping of the decks by the waves. The poop 

 was repeatedly washed, giving the helmsman a tough time 

 to keep her head in the right direction. At this time 

 the pumps all refused duty ! A curious compound of 

 coal-dust and oil had formed into balls and pellets, which 

 collected in the bilge and choked both the hand and engine- 

 driven pumps. But this could not be cleared out because 

 the bilge was feet deep in water ; moreover, the suction end 

 of the hand-pumps could not be reached without lifting the 

 hatches, an impossible expedient under the circumstances. 

 Thus were we driven to a method almost unique with a ship 

 of 750 tons — that of bailing out with buckets ! 



Day and night — in two-hour shifts — the bailing went on, 

 until, luckily, the gale moderated. A very strenuous time, 

 which I never desire to experience again. 



Down in the engine-room floor are some movable iron 

 plates, which cover a hole about two feet deep. Into this 

 sump the bilge-water and normal leakage drains, and is 

 pumped out with the greatest ease either by the donkey- 

 pump or by the hand-pumps. But during this gale the 

 water was nearly four feet deep, covering the whole floor 

 of the engine-room from side to side, and gradually creeping 

 up till it was in the ashpits, only an inch or two from the 

 heated bottom plates of the boilers. If these latter were 

 reached there was great probability that they would buckle, 

 and practically ruin the boilers. Luckily there was no lack 

 of unskilled labour in the persons of the after-guard, and they 

 assisted the stokers by forming a chain from the bottom of 

 the ship to the poop-deck. Three iron ladders with two 

 intermediate platforms led from the floor plates to the open 

 air, and a gang of a dozen men occupied this for twenty 

 continuous hours. 



Outside was the sound of the booming gale shrilling 



