94 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' [Jan. 



sea-ice depends largely on the temperature at which it is pro- 

 duced, and, in turn, when the ice arrives in warmer water the 

 process of decay seems to depend on its nature. All the ice 

 we met with in the pack was undergoing decay, but whilst the 

 older snow-covered floes were more or less completely honey- 

 combed, the younger ice seemed to have become merely very 

 sodden and brittle. Progress was not rapid in the pack ; on 

 January 6 our latitude was 68.20 S., in long. 175 E., and we 

 had only made thirty-five miles in the last twenty-four hours. 

 The ice was now so close that we could make no headway 

 with the power of the single boiler, and we were obliged to 

 light up both. 



Whilst waiting for our second boiler to be prepared, we 

 took the opportunity of replenishing our stock of water. 

 Although fitted with condensers, to have produced water for 

 the engines and general ship purposes with them would have 

 necessitated a large expenditure of coal. By far the most 

 economical plan was to obtain water by melting ice, and for 

 this purpose we had immediately inside the engine-room, two 

 long tanks fitted with steam coils, in which blocks of ice or 

 snow could very speedily be converted into water and supplied 

 to the engines, or wherever else it might be required. Our 

 fresh-water tanks had a considerable capacity, but every now 

 and again we were forced to stop and refill them, and after 

 selecting the most promising floe the ship would be secured to 

 it, and all hands set to work to dig out and pass on board the 

 blocks of snow. 



' Watering ship ' was always a very busy scene, and since 

 the hours spent at it were so much loss to our exploring 

 season, it soon became the custom for the officers as well as 

 the men to share in the work. As the pack-ice is frozen sea- 

 water, it may be a surprise to many that fresh water can be 

 obtained from it, and it should be explained that for making 

 the fresh water one does not take the ice itself but the snow 

 which has fallen on its surface ; in many cases this is only a 

 thin layer, so that it is always advisable to secure a floe which 

 has been hummocked, as about the pressure ridges the snow 



