i 3 o THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' [Jan. 



force of the stream is probably due to the recent wind. We 

 shall have to light up our second boiler. Along the barrier 

 there is a heavy vapour rising from the water, and the water 

 temperature has risen half a degree. 



'Noon, long. 174.22 W. ; negative progress for the day, 

 and only a very few miles to the eastward of our position on 

 the 25 th. . . . Two whole days practically wasted ; one 

 requires a great deal of patience for this sort of work. Tried 

 a new sounding tube, made with the object of getting mud 

 from below the surface ; the tube brought up a column of 

 mud 18 inches in length, but there appeared to be no differ- 

 ence in consistency between the upper and lower layers.' 



' January 28. — Passed abeam of the ice peninsula inside 

 which we steamed on the night of the 25th. It rose from 

 90 to 150 feet, and soundings off its edge were all about 

 300 fathoms. About noon a lot of loose ice appeared ahead. 

 It was found to consist of very low bergs and pieces of bergs, 

 apparently broken from the barrier where it is quite low, 

 and probably some way to the east, as the westerly drift is 

 strong. We were obliged to stand some way off the barrier to 

 avoid this ice, and at 4 p.m. a thick fog came down on us. In 

 the evening the weather cleared, and we stood in towards the 

 barrier again, passing a prominent ice peninsula with a cliff 

 200 feet in height. The barrier was again very irregular, and 

 detached bergs could be seen in the various indents. Noon, 

 long. 167.44 W. Progress, 80 miles. We are passing on 

 slowly but surely to Ross's most easterly position.' 



'■January 29. — The barrier became very rugged and broken 

 during the night, and soon after twelve it dropped to a few 

 feet. We were running close to it in a fairly thick fog, but the 

 speed was not great, and with a sharp look-out, the ice could 

 be seen in good time. At 2.30 we ran into a small creek, only 

 noticing our position by finding ice on both sides ; that on the 

 right was barely three or four feet above the water, sloping 

 gradually up to 30 to 40 feet ; that on the left was from 30 to 

 40 feet and sheer. The inlet was most irregular in shape, as, 

 indeed, was the ice surface. 



