102 WORST JOURNEY IN THE WORLD 
‘Visions of the ship failing to return to New Zealand 
and of sixty people waiting here arose in my mind with 
sickening pertinacity, and the only consolation I could draw 
from such imaginations was the determination that the 
southern work should go on as before—meanwhile the 
least ill possible seemed to be an extensive lightening of 
the ship with boats as the tide was evidently high when she 
struck—a terribly depressing prospect. 
“Some three or four of us watched it gloomily from the 
shore whilst all was bustle on board, the men shifting cargo 
aft. Pennell tells me they shifted 10 tons in a very short 
time. 
“The first ray of hope came when by careful watching 
one could see that the ship was turning very slowly, then 
one saw the men running from side to side and knew that 
an attempt was being made to roll her off. The rolling 
produced a more rapid turning movement at first, and then 
she seemed to hang again. But only for a short time; the 
engines had been going astern all the time and presently a 
slight movement became apparent. But we only knew she 
was getting clear when we heard cheers on board, and 
more cheers from the whaler. 
“Then she gathered stern way and was clear. The 
relief was enormous.” } 
All this took some time, and Scott himself came back 
into the hut with us and went on bagging provisions for 
the Depét journey. At such times of real disaster he was 
a very philosophical man. We were not yet ready to go 
sledging, but on January 23 the ice in North Bay all went 
out, and that in South Bay began to follow it. Because 
this was our road to the Barrier, it was suddenly decided 
that we must start on the Depét journey the following day 
or perhaps not at all. Already it was impossible to get 
sledges south off the Cape: but there was a way to walk 
the ponies along the land until they could be scrambled 
down a steep rubbly slope on to sea-ice which still re- 
mained. Would it float away before we got there? It 
was touch and go. “‘ One breathes a prayer that the Road 
1 Scott’s Last Expedition, vol. i. p. 136. 
