NEW LAND 
we went west in some open water, and by 4 p.m. we 
were making west-south-west with more water opening up 
ahead. The sun was shining ])rightly, over three degrees high 
at midnight, and we Avere able to maintain this direction in fine 
weather till the following noon. The position then was lat. 
TO"" 28' S., long. 20° IG' W., and the run had been 62 miles 
S, 62° W. At 8 a.m. there had been open water from north 
round by west to south-west, but impenetrable pack to the 
south and east. At 3 p.m. the way to the south-west and 
west-north-west was absolutely bloc^ked. and as we experienced 
a set to the west, I did not feel justified in burning more of the 
reduced stock of coal to go west or north. I took the ship back 
over our course for four miles, to a point where some looser pack 
gave faint promise of a way through ; but, after battling for 
three hours with very heavy humniocked ice and making four 
miles to the south, we were brought up by huge blocks and floes 
of very old pack. Further effort seemed useless at that time, 
and I gave the order to bank fires after we had moored the 
Endurance to a solid floe. The weather was clear, and some 
enthusiastic football-players had a game on the floe until, about 
midnight, Worsley dropped through a hole in rotten ice while 
retrieving the ball. He had to be retrieved himself. 
Solid pack still barred the way to the south on the f olloA\nng 
morning (January 6). There was some open water north of 
the floe, but as the day was calm and 1 did not wish to use coal 
in a possibly vain search for an opening to the southward, 
I kept the ship moored to the floe. This pause in good weather 
gave an opportunity to exercise the dogs, which were taken on 
to the floe by the men in charge of them. The excitement of 
the animals was intense. Several managed to get into the 
water, and the muzzles they were wearing did not prevent 
some hot fights. Two dogs which had contrived to slip their 
muzzles fought themselves into an icy pool and were hauled 
out still locked in a grapple. However, men and dogs enjoyed 
the exercise. A sounding gave a depth of 2400 fathoms, with 
a blue mud bottom. The wind freshened from the west early 
the next morning, and we started to skirt the northern edge 
of the solid pack in an easterly direction under sail. We had 
21 
