I0O4] THE ICE BREAKING AWAY 249 



Advices from the relief ships inform me that the ice is still 

 breaking away, but not so rapidly as at the beginning of the 

 week. I fear, I much fear, that things are going badly for us.' 



'•January 28. — This morning as I lay in my bunk, I was 

 astonished to hear the ship creaking. On getting up I found 

 that she was moving in the ice with a very slow rhythmic 

 motion. After breakfast we all went out to Hut Point and 

 found that the whole ice-sheet was swaying very slightly under 

 the action of a long swell ; its edge against the land was rising 

 and falling as much as 18 inches. This is the most promising 

 event that has happened ; we have not known such a thing 

 since our first imprisonment. It is too thick to see what is 

 happening to seaward, but one cannot but regard this as a hopeful 

 sign. We are all very restless, constantly dashing up the hill 

 to the look-out station or wandering from place to place to 

 observe the effects of the swell. But it is long since we 

 enjoyed such a cheerful experience as we get on watching the 

 loose pieces of ice jostling one another at Hut Point.' 



i Ja?iuary 29. — Still no definite news of what is happening 

 to seaward. The ship worked loose yesterday, and moves an 

 inch or two in her icy bed. This has caused a great increase 

 in the creaking and groaning of the timbers. This pleasant 

 music is now almost continuous, and one feels immensely 

 cheered till one goes up the hill and looks out on the long 

 miles of ice and the misty screen which hides the sea. I grow 

 a little sceptical of reports which tell of the departure of a mile 

 or half a mile of ice, for if all these distances could be added 

 together the relief ships should have been at Hut Point by 

 now.' 



'January 30. — Went up the hill with Koettlitz, and saw a 

 most cheering sight. The ice has broken away well inside the 

 glacier, and the relief ships are not much more than eight 

 miles away. Through the telescope one can see the hull and 

 rigging very distinctly, and even the figures of men walking 

 about. 



' Later came full reports from the ships with excellent 

 news, Colbeck tells me that during the last few days there 



