ICE CONDITIONS 



a curious rhythmical motion which was fully accounted 

 for when he woke up, for the ship having got under way, 

 the up-and-down motion of the piston had moved his 

 limbs with every stroke. The sailors also were fast 

 asleep; so, in the face of this evidence of absolute ex- 

 haustion, I decided not to start work again till after one 

 o'clock, and told England definitely that when the ship 

 had been reduced in coal to ninety-two tons as a minimum 

 I would send her north. According to our experiences 

 on the last expedition, the latest date to which it would 

 be safe to keep the Nirnrod would be the end of February, 

 for the young ice forming about that time on the sound 

 would seriously hamper her getting clear of the Ross 

 Sea. Later observations of the ice conditions of 

 McMurdo Sound at our winter quarters showed us that 

 a powerfully-engined ship could have gone north later in 

 the year, perhaps even in the winter, for we had open 

 water close to us all the time. 



About 2 p.m. the Nimrod came close in to Flagstaff 

 Point to start discharging again. I decided that it was 

 time to land the more delicate instruments, such as 

 watches, chronometers, and all personal gear. The 

 members of the staff who were on board hauled their 

 things out of Oyster Alley, and, laden with its valuable 

 freight, we took the whale boat into Front Door Bay. 

 Those who had been ashore now went on board to collect 

 their goods and finish their correspondence. This party 

 consisted of Day, Wild, Adams and Marshall. Mackin- 

 tosh and the carpenter were ashore, the latter being still 

 busily engaged on the construction of the hut, which was 

 rapidly approaching completion. During the afternoon 

 we continued boating coal to Front Door Bay, which 

 was again free of ice, and devoted our attention almost 

 entirely to this work. 



