286 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' [Feb. 



petrels had increased in number ; at 3 a.m. we passed through 

 several loose streams, and immediately hauled to the north. 

 With a strong breeze we now bowled along at a good rate. 

 The "Terra Nova" was some distance astern, but turned in 

 our wake ; in order that she might come up with us, I stopped 

 the engines, and we stood on under sail alone. At six o'clock 

 she was some two miles astern, but soon after a heavy snow 

 squall blotted her out, and when this had passed nothing of her 

 could be seen. I do not think there is any cause for anxiety, 

 as the weather remained thick, but I cannot think why she did 

 not keep close touch with us, as she should have found it easy 

 to catch us after we stopped our engines. 



' During the forenoon it blew very hard with a rapidly rising 

 sea. I was very anxious about our foremost spars, as the hemp 

 rigging is now quite slack and we have had no chance of set- 

 ting it up. Our foretop-gallant-mast was bending like a whip ; 

 it must be a beautiful spar to have stood the strain. 



'The ship has been kicking and plunging about in the 

 most objectionable manner : the upper deck has been awash, 

 and water has been pouring down through the skylights and 

 chimneys. It has been horribly stuffy below, and the majority 

 of us have been feeling extremely sea-sick. Altogether it has 

 been a very unpleasant day, but perhaps the most serious thing 

 that it has disclosed is the uselessness of our small rudder 

 under such conditions ; it had so little effect on the ship that 

 we could only keep our course by constantly trimming our 

 sails. Had we met an iceberg, we should have had no choice 

 but to throw the yards aback. This is really a grave matter, 

 as the nights are long and we may fall across bergs at any 

 moment. Our deck watch is reduced to five hands, moreover, 

 and this is all too small a number to deal with any sudden 

 emergency ; as it is, they have to be constantly on the alert to 

 stand by the braces. 



'The barometer ceased to fall at seven o'clock, and the 

 wind immediately slackened.' 



' February 29. — We stood steadily on to the north last 

 night in hopes that the " Terra Nova " would catch us up, but 



