132 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' [Ma*. 



quite three and a half miles. The young ice nearly covers the 

 sea, and must be getting pretty solid. There were a good 

 many open leads in it, but very few seals were up, which is 

 curious on such a fine day ; yesterday we added twenty-eight 

 to our stock, which ought now to be ample. 



1 On my walks I can rarely think of much else but our 

 position and its possibilities. What does our imprisonment 

 mean ? Was it this summer or the last which was the excep- 

 tion ? Does the ice usually break away around the cape, or 

 does it usually stop short to the north ? For us these must be 

 the gravest possible questions, for on the answers depend our 

 prospects of getting away next year or at all. It is little wonder 

 that I think of these things continually and scan every nook 

 and corner in hopes of discovering evidences to support my 

 views ; for I hold steadily to a belief that the answers are in 

 our favour, and that our detention is due to exceptional 

 conditions. 



\ The Ross Sea has certainly never been found in such a 

 heavily packed state as it was this year, but how far this bears 

 on the question one can only surmise. Coming more im- 

 mediately to our neighbourhood, we have but one thing which 

 can help us in the comparison of the two seasons — namely, the 

 state of the old ice on our arrival. If this was one year's ice, 

 as we supposed, then there must have been open water round 

 the cape for two years in succession, and we could reasonably 

 complain of ill fortune if there are many close seasons to 

 follow ; but the question is, Was what we found one year's ice? 

 On our arrival we never doubted the fact, but for this reason 

 we never looked critically at it, and now it is most difficult to 

 remember the indications which we observed so casually more 

 than a year ago. All sorts of complicated difficulties arise in 

 thinking out this problem, yet if it were purely an academic 

 one, I should long ago have given my opinion unhesitatingly 

 in the direction I have indicated. But, alas ! it is far too 

 serious to be disposed of by the strongest expression of opinion, 

 and no certain answer will come until we have waited to see 

 what happens next year. 



