BREAKING THE BULWARKS 



one than we had imagined; it was only by dint of great 

 exertions that Davis and Harboard accomplished it. It 

 was a sight to see Harboard, held by his legs, hanging over 

 the starboard side of the Nimrod, and wielding a heavy 

 axe, whilst Davis, whose length of limb enabled him to 

 lean over without being held, did the same on the other 

 side. The temperature at this time was several degrees 

 below zero. Occasionally on this night, as we ap- 

 proached the eastern shore, the coast of Ross Island, we 

 noticed the sea covered with a thick yellowish-brown 

 scum. This was due to the immense masses of snow 

 blown off the mountain sides out to sea, and this scum, 

 to a certain extent, prevented the tops of the waves from 

 breaking. Had it not been for this unexpected protec- 

 tion we would certainly have lost our starboard boat, 

 which had been unshipped in a sea and was hanging in 

 a precarious position for the time being. It was hard to 

 realise that so high and so dangerous a sea could possibly 

 have risen in the comparatively narrow waters of Mc- 

 Murdo Sound. The wind was as strong as that we ex- 

 perienced in the gales that assailed us after we first left 

 New Zealand, but the waves were not so huge as those 

 which had the whole run of the Southern Ocean in which 

 to gather strength before they met us. At 2 a.m. the 

 weather suddenly cleared, and though the wind still blew 

 strongly and gustily, it was apparent that the force of the 

 gale had been expended. We could now see our position 

 clearly. The wind and current, in spite of our efforts to 

 keep our position, had driven us over thirty miles to the 

 north, and at this time we were abeam of Cape Bird. 

 The sea was rapidly decreasing in height, enabling us to 

 steam for Cape Royds. 



We arrived there in the early morning, and I went 

 ashore at Back Door Bay, after pushing the whale boat 

 through pancake ice and slush, the result of the gale. 



123 



