THE VOYAGE BACK 417 



came along as mule-overseer. His remuneration was " all 

 found, and one shilling a month." We often used to discuss 

 what he would do with the treasure accruing to him when he 

 was paid off! An ashtray, beaten out of the four-shilling 

 piece, was the memento he favoured. 



But it was fairly uncomfortable on board. It was now 

 very cold, and the sun rarely showed for long. Spray was 

 driven over us, and froze where it fell, so that we spent hours 

 chipping the decks free from some of the icy layer. The 

 wardroom seemed all doors, and draughts assailed us every- 

 where. As usual, on approaching civilization, the Antarctickers 

 contracted influenza. Debenham was really quite ill, and 1 

 had a fearful attack of neuralgia, which lasted a fortnight, due 

 to a gaping tooth. We used to think of our snug little tent 

 on terra firma, and after a week of storm at sea decided that 

 we were sorry we had been picked up by the trusty whaler. 

 Such is man's ingratitude. 



" February lyrd. — We spent a most forlorn day. The ship 

 absolutely jammed in new ice, formed of pancakes only three 

 or four inches thick, but gummy, not brittle (so that the ship 

 couldn't break through). These were formed of still smaller 

 cakes, cemented together. I was sure they had grown in situ, 

 perhaps in the lee of a huge piece of pack which had drifted off. 



This was very serious, for every hour increased the risk of 

 our being frozen in, and this was obviously still more probable 

 when we returned to Cape Evans than in our present position, 

 so much further north. However, very suddenly the soggy 

 ice was broken by long leads — lying rather far apart — and we 

 managed to push and butt our way considerably to the east. 



I was down below when I heard the ominous " three 

 whistles," which signifies " all hands on deck." However, 

 in this case it was a call to " rock ship." We all lined up at 

 the port bulwarks, in the waist of the ship. Then Bruce 

 gave the word, and we " set to partners " across the hatches, 

 and through the narrow spaces to the starboard side. The 

 ship swung very slightly in consequence. Bruce timed its 

 swing, and then we all ran back in unison. This time the 

 swing was a little larger. So by degrees the ship became a 

 self-acting pendulum, and gradually rocked herself free from 

 the close embrace of the ice. At the same time the propeller 

 revolved about \\ times the normal speed, and the ship began 



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