THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



hour. Thus, unfortunately, two valuable working days 

 were lost. 



When I went ashore I found that the little party 

 left behind had not only managed to get up to the site 

 of the hut all the heavy timber that had been landed, but 

 had also stacked on the bare land the various cases 

 of provisions which had been lying on the snow slope 

 by the tide-crack. We worked till 2 a.m. on the morning 

 of the 9th, and then knocked off till 9 a.m. Then we 

 commenced again, and put in one of the hardest day's 

 work one could imagine, pulling the sledges to the tide- 

 crack and then hauling them bodily over. Hour after 

 hour all hands toiled on the work, the crossing of the 

 tide-crack becoming more difficult with each succeeding 

 sledge-load, for the ice in the bay was loosening, and it 

 was over floating, rocking pieces of floe with gaps several 

 feet wide between them that we hauled the sledges. 

 In the afternoon the ponies were brought into action, 

 as they had had some rest, and their arrival facilitated 

 the discharge, though it did not lighten the labours of the 

 perspiring staff. None of our party were in very good 

 condition, having been cooped up in the ship, and the 

 heavy cases became doubly heavy to their arms and 

 shoulders by midnight. 



Next day the work continued, the ice still holding 

 in, but threatening every minute to go out. If there 

 had been sufficient water for the ship to lie right along- 

 side the shore we would have been pleased to see the 

 ice go out, but at the place where we were landing the 

 stores there was only twelve feet of water, and the 

 Nimrod, at this time, drew fourteen. We tried to anchor 

 one of the smaller loose pieces of bay ice to the ice-foot, 

 and this answered whilst the tide was setting in. As a 

 result of the tidal movement, the influx of heavy pack 

 in the bay where we were lying caused some anxiety, and 



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