274 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' [Feb. 



premature separation of the ships or the failure of any to 

 arrive at the rendezvous before a certain limiting date. 



We finished our coaling from the ' Morning ' at 6 a.m. on 

 the 19th, and by seven were alongside the glacier for the pur- 

 pose of getting in water, as our tanks were quite empty, and 

 we had nothing to supply the wastage of the boilers. Our 

 people had now been almost continuously at work for thirty- 

 six hours, but not a moment was lost in setting about this 

 fresh task. Now, however, commenced all those small diffi- 

 culties which were a natural result with complicated machinery 

 which had so long been idle. It was beyond expectation that 

 things would be found to work as efficiently as if they had 

 been in constant use, and the engine-room staff especially 

 knew that, as they expressed it, they would have to work 

 1 double tides ' to put their department in order again. 



On this particular morning it was the steam -pipes of our 

 ice-melters which gave out and caused a long and tantalising 

 delay, so that by the afternoon, when we were preparing to 

 start work, the wind had sprung up from the south again, 

 making our position untenable. We got clear of the south 

 side of the glacier with some difficulty, and steered round to 

 the north side, but scarcely had we planted our anchors when 

 the wind increased to a gale. So swiftly did it sweep down on 

 us that the ship could be kept up to the ice only by steaming 

 full speed, and we had barely time to recover our men and 

 anchors before we were drifted out of the inlet altogether. 

 There was nothing for it now but to run to the north and 

 hope to get our water elsewhere, and away we flew with our 

 consorts at our heels. 



And so that night, running swiftly through the water with 

 a howling gale behind, we saw the last of McMurdo Sound. 

 It was a fine scene, for although the wind blew with great 

 force, the sky was comparatively clear. Away to the south- 

 west behind the ragged storm clouds could be seen the deep 

 red of the setting sun, against which there stood in sharp out- 

 line the dark forms of the western mountains and the familiar 

 cone of Mount Discovery. On our right in a gloomy threaten- 



