OFF FOR INACCESSIBLE ISLAND 



it, only to find himself being dragged towards the ship. 

 His companions did not seem to realise that their com- 

 rade was in any difficulty, but appeared to think rather 

 that he had some particularly dainty morsel of which 

 they were being deprived, for they at once proceeded 

 to attack him in the hope of making him disgorge. About 

 ten or twelve skuas were caught in this way before they 

 began to suspect that anything was amiss, but when they 

 did realise the situation, the lure of the most dainty bits 

 of meat proved ineffectual. In the afternoon we also 

 killed a couple of Weddel seals and next morning had 

 bacon and fresh seal liver for breakfast. 



There was no perceptible change in the state of the 

 ice on February 2, though occasional floes were breaking 

 off, and as the weather kept fine a party consisting 

 of Professor David, Mawson, Cotton, Priestly and 

 Armytage started off across the ice bound for Inaccessible 

 Island. I went out with England towards the south on 

 ski to examine the ice for cracks, but the result of our 

 walk was not at all satisfactory, for the ice was firm and 

 the only cracks were those alongside the ship. I there- 

 fore decided to wait no longer at the ice-face, but, when 

 the sledge-party returned, to seek for winter quarters 

 on the east coast of Ross Island. Early in the after- 

 noon a breeze sprang up from the eastward, the sky 

 became overcast, and a slight drift blew across the fast 

 ice. The loose ice drifted rapidly from the eastward, 

 so the ship was backed into clear water, and it was well 

 that this was done, for shortly afterwards the loose ice 

 over-rode the solid floe and would have given the ship a 

 nasty squeeze had she been lying at her former moorings. 

 On the wind springing up in the afternoon, the recall flag- 

 had been hoisted as a signal to the party ashore, but 

 they did not see it, and it was nearly five o'clock before 

 they turned up. We had, by that time, remoored the 



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