8 T. V. HODGSON. 



side 150 fathoms. It is impossible to understand how such a mass of ice, if floating, 

 can hold together at such an angle to the general current. 



Speaking broadly, it may be said that the Sound forms a deep trench with a fairly 

 even bottom, the greatest depth sounded being close to the permanent or barrier ice 

 some four miles from Cape Armitage ; at that point, 410 fathoms, no bottom was found. 

 The hundred-fathom line lay about a mile from the ship and about half that 

 distance from Cape Armitage. My two principal holes were a mile and a ■ half from 

 Hut Point, in 125 fms., one to the N.W., the other S.E. Two others, quite 

 two miles due west of Hut Point and not far from each other, were in 163 and 

 178 fms. respectively. Another hole a mile south of the Glacier Snout and eight 

 miles from Hut Point was in 180 fms. Numerous other soundings were taken 

 by Lieut. Barne within a radius of a few miles of Hut Point, but I have not yet 

 seen the details. 



The ice reaches an average thickness of eight and a half feet in the course of a 

 season, and for operating under such conditions tools of a certain kind are 

 indispensable. After consultation with the engineer, Mr. Skelton, it was decided 

 that all tools should be made of mild steel, case-hardened. The effects of 

 temperature were not always borne in mind, and the muscular A.B. was invariably 

 tempted to use his tools as in temperate climates ; a very slight leverage caused them 

 to snap, so that notwithstanding the skill of the engineering department, there was 

 very soon a shortage of effective instruments. Not being endowed with the 

 average amount of muscular strength, I did not lose my tools in this way. The 

 tools provided consisted of a pick, pointed at both ends, a shovel and a crowbar 

 termed a "pricker." This was of iron, six feet long and about an inch in diameter, 

 with a chisel edge about two inches broad. These tools are essential ; with regard 

 to the pricker, its use for any length of time makes the hands very cold, irrespective 

 of the amount of covering one may wear. The weight of the tool is an important 

 factor, and it should be maintained, though the length of the iron could be reduced to 

 about three feet, and a wooden stock of the same length added. As its only use is 

 as a stabber, the wooden stock would not be a disadvantage. As the ice thickens, 

 and as long as the hole is kept in trim it is only necessary to remove a slab of ice one 

 or two feet thick every day, but as the water is at freezing point for fully six 

 months of the year, the holes freeze up and close in at the sides and bottom ; they 

 therefore have to be shaved in order to maintain their size. A tool was made for this 

 purpose, but the resources of the ship were not equal to making it heavy enough. It 

 should be a sharp chisel about 3 inches wide, and near 1 lbs. in weight, attached to 

 a wooden handle 9 feet long. Another essential tool, but one readily improvised, is a 

 stout hook at the end of a 12-foot pole. The lines were always carefully placed in the 

 centre of the hole, but were invariably more or less displaced, partly by the current, 

 but more generally by the seals. After the ice had become 4 feet thick the lines were 

 frequently caught up at the lower edge of the hole and frozen in. This was a frequent 



