THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



became, as the Professor remarked, the occasion for an 

 additional scientific instrument to be used by the shore 

 party. A watch was set to use this pump, and two mem- 

 bers of the staff worked it for two hours, or as long as 

 occasion demanded, and at the end of that time were 

 relieved by two more. The weather grew steadily worse, 

 and by midnight the squalls were of hurricane force. 

 Even the mastheads of the Koonya disappeared from you 

 at times, and the light we were steering by would only be 

 seen for a few seconds, and would then disappear behind 

 the mounting wall of waters that separated the two ships. 

 A moderate estimate of the height of the waves is forty- 

 two feet. During the squalls, which were accompanied 

 by hail and sleet, the tops of the seas were cut off by the 

 force of the wind and flung in showers of stinging spray 

 against our faces, drenching even the topsail yards of 

 the Nimrod. Each green wave rushed at us as though 

 it meant to swamp the ship, but each time the Nimrod 

 rose bravely, and, riding over the seemingly overwhelm- 

 ing mass, steadied for a moment on the other side as it 

 passed on, seething and white, baffled of its prey. All 

 night there were squalls of terrific force, and the morn- 

 ing of January 7 brought no abatement of the storm. 

 The seas now came on board with increasing frequency, 

 finding out any odd article that had escaped our vigilance 

 and survived the rolling of the ship. A sack of potatoes 

 was washed on to the deck, and the contents were floating 

 in two or three feet of water. But standing on the poop 

 bridge I heard one of the crew, in no way disheartened, 

 singing, as he gathered them up, " Here we go gathering 

 nuts in May." 



At noon we were in latitude 53° 26' South and longi- 

 tude 172° 42' East. In the afternoon the weather 

 moderated slightly, though there was a heavy, lumpy sea. 

 Albatrosses were becoming much more numerous, 



52 



