i 9 02] EFFECTS OF A BLIZZARD 237 



observe the results of the gale. The first discovery was that 

 the strait was clear of ice within 150 yards of the ship, and 

 here, almost in the middle of winter, we find open water little 

 more than a couple of ships' lengths ahead of us. Not only 

 has all the ten-days-old ice gone, but a considerable portion of 

 that which was formed five weeks ago has broken away. I 

 once thought of the possibility of wintering in Arrival Bay; 

 that place is now quite free of ice, and where we should now 

 be had we adopted that plan is beyond the power of guessing. 

 The snow lies in mountainous drifts around the ship ; from a 

 few hundred yards' distance she looks to be buried. On the 

 starboard and lee side the drift slopes down from the gunwale 

 itself, and on the port side it stands higher, but between it 

 and the ship there is a deep trench almost free of snow ; this 

 is always the manner in which snow drifts about an object. 



' The meteorological screen has drifted up to six feet, and 

 somewhere far beneath the present surface lies the snow-gauge 

 — a fact that makes comment on the utility of that instrument 

 unnecessary. The Dyne's anemometers have been drifted up 

 since the earlier hours of the storm, and thus fail to record the 

 wind at exactly the time when such a record would have been 

 most valuable. On such occasions even the Robertson ane- 

 mometer seems unreliable, as the caps get partially filled with 

 the clinging snow-crystals. The awning is heavily weighted 

 with snow and sadly torn : the boats' crutches and other pro- 

 jections have made clean breaches in it. The windmill lies 

 an ugly wreck on the forecastle, and the shaft and standards 

 which still remain up look particularly forlorn. We cannot 

 yet get at the chimneys to repair them, and though the fires 

 have been restarted we get a plentiful supply of smoke in our 

 quarters. 



'The dogs, or rather their kennels, were dug out this 

 morning and found none the worse ; we have lately brought 

 them from the shore and disposed them near the bows of the 

 ship, and luckily none were placed where the worst drifting 

 took place. It is evident, however, that the dogs do not like 

 the idea of being drifted up ; very few had used their kennels 



