SOUTHWARD 59 
such fearful discomfort will remain with them—animals so 
often remember places and conditions where they have en- 
countered difficulties or hurt. Do they only recollect cir- 
cumstances which are deeply impressed by some shock of 
fear or sudden pain, and does the remembrance of pro- 
longed strain pass away? Who can tell? But it would 
seem strangely merciful if nature should blot out these 
weeks of slow but inevitable torture.” ! 
On December 7, noon position 61° 22’5.,179° 56’ W., 
one berg was sighted far away to the west, as it gleamed 
every now and then in the sun. Two more were seen the 
next day, and at 6.22 a.m. on December g, noon position 
65° 8’S.,177° 41’ W.,the pack was sighted ahead by Ren- 
nick. All that day we passed bergs and streams of ice. 
The air became dry and bracing, the sea was calm, and the 
sun shining on the islands of ice was more than beautiful. 
And then Bump! We had just charged the first big floe, 
and we were in the pack. 
“The sky has been wonderful, with every form of cloud 
in every condition of light and shade; the sun has con- 
tinually appeared through breaks in the cloudy heavens 
from time to time, brilliantly illuminating some field of 
pack, some steep-walled berg, or some patch of bluest sea. 
So sunlight and shadow have chased each other across our 
scene. ‘lo-night there is little or no swell—the ship is on 
an even keel, steady, save for the occasional shocks on 
striking ice. 
“Tt is difficult to express the senseof relief this steadiness 
givesafter our storm-tossed passage. Onecan only imagine 
the relief and comfort afforded to the ponies, but the dogs 
are visibly cheered and the human element is full of gaiety. 
The voyage seems full of promise in spite of the imminence 
pt delay.” 2 
We had met the pack farther north than any other 
ship. 
What is pack? Speaking very generally indeed, in this 
region it is the sea-ice which forms over the Ross Sea area 
during the winter, and is blown northwards by the southerly 
1 Scott's Last Expedition, vol. i. pp. 21-22. 2 Ibid. pp. 24-25. 
