THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



the hundred and eighty odd tons of equipment in the time 

 available. 



I was troubled at this time in regard to the health of 

 Captain England; he did not seem at all well, and it was 

 evident that the strain of the bad weather we had en- 

 countered, and more especially of the difficulties in the ice 

 had told upon him. Our circumstances at the time were not 

 likely to afford him much rest. He was naturally anxious 

 to get the ship away as soon as possible, as he felt that 

 she could not be much depended on for sailing, but I 

 could not see my way to fixing an actual date for the 

 Nimrodfs departure, especially in view of the fact that I 

 did not even know where our winter quarters were to be. 



On the evening of January 29 we took the sides and 

 top off the motor-car case and put the wheels on the car, 

 for I hoped to try it on the floe. The member of the 

 staff in charge was Day, who soon had the engine run- 

 ning, and the following morning, the 30th, though the 

 temperature was low, it seemed to go without any hitch. 

 Its behaviour on the floe, where the snow was lying deep, 

 had yet to be tested. We put on the light wheels and 

 Dunlop tyres and the non-skid chains, for we had hopes 

 that it might be unnecessary to use the heavier wheels, 

 and we wished to have everything ready. 



During the day a fresh breeze sprang up from the 

 south-east with drifting snow, and the vessel soon assumed 

 a wintry appearance. At meal times on this day every- 

 body crowded into the wardroom for warmth, as it was no 

 longer possible to take one's food standing by the galley 

 door. The ship broke from her anchors two or three 

 times, and the ice to which she had been attached drifted 

 away to the north, and though the pieces were only about 

 a hundred yards long our hopes were raised, for we felt 

 that the ice was beginning to break up, though we realised 

 that if only a few hundred yards shifted in a day it would 



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