THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



tinual rain of the previous twelve hours had flattened the 

 sea considerably. 



At noon on January 11, we were in latitude 57° 38' 

 South, and longitude 178° 39' East, and during the day 

 the wind and sea increased again from the north-west. 

 The nature of this particular sea made it necessary for us 

 to keep the ship away, altering our course from south to 

 south-east, and before midnight the gale had reached its 

 now customary force and violence. As I was standing 

 on the bridge at 2 a.m., peering out to windward 

 through a heavy snow-squall that enveloped us, I saw, 

 in the faint light of breaking day, a huge sea, apparently 

 independent of its companions, rear itself up alongside 

 the ship. Fortunately only the crest of the wave struck 

 us, but away went the starboard bulwarks forward and 

 abreast of the pony stalls, leaving a free run for the water 

 through the stables. When we left port it was our augean 

 problem how best to clean out the stables, but after 

 the first experience of the herculean waves, the diffi- 

 culty was to try and stop the flushing of them by every 

 sea that came on board forward, and now not only each 

 wave that fell on board, but the swell of the ocean 

 itself swept the stables clean. This particular sea shifted 

 the heavy starboard whaleboat from its chocks, land- 

 ing it almost amidships on top of the " Cavalry 

 Club," and swept some of our bales of fodder down on 

 to the main deck, where they mingled with the drums 

 of oil and cases of carbide torn from their lashings. Our 

 position at noon on the 12th was latitude 59° 28' South and 

 longitude 179° 30' East. The squalls of sleet and snow 

 gave place later to clearer weather with a mackerel sky, 

 which was of special interest to the meteorologists, as indi- 

 cating the trend of the upper currents of the air. 



During the afternoon the strength of the expedition 

 was increased by Possum, one of our dogs, giving birth 



56 



