SOUTH 
moderate north-easterly gale sprang up, and a survey of the 
position on the 20th showed that the ship was firmly beset. 
The ice was packed heavily and firmly all round the Endurance 
in every direction as far as the eye could reach from the mast- 
head. There was nothing to be done till the conditions changed, 
and we Avaited through that day and the succeeding days with 
increasing anxiety. The east-north-easterly gale that had 
forced us to take shelter behind the stranded berg on the 16th 
had veered later to the north-east, and it continued with varying 
intensity until the 22nd. Apparently this wind had crowded 
the ice into the bight of the Weddell Sea, and the ship was now 
drifting south-west with the floes which had enclosed it. A 
slight movement of the ice round the ship caused the rudder to 
become dangerously jammed on the 21st, and we had to cut 
away the ice wdth ice-cliisels, heavy pieces of iron with 6-ft, 
wooden hafts. We kept steam up in readiness for a move if the 
opportunity offered, and the engines running full speed ahead 
helped to clear the rudder. Land was in sight to the east and 
south about sixteen miles distant on the 22nd. The land-ice 
seemed to be faced with ice-cliffs at most points, but here and 
there slopes ran down to sea-level. Large crevassed areas in 
terraces parallel with the coast showed where the ice was moving 
down over foot-hills. The inland ice appeared for the most 
part to be undulating, smooth, and easy to march over, but 
ma.ny crevasses might have been concealed from us by the 
surface snow or by the absence of shadows. I thought that the 
land probably rose to a height of 5000 ft. forty or fifty miles 
inland. The accurate estimation of heights and distances in the 
Antarctic is always difi&cult, owing to the clear air, the confusing 
monotony of colouring, and the deceptive effect of mirage arid 
refraction. The land appeared to increase in height to the 
southward, where we saw a line of land or barrier that must 
have been seventy miles, and possibly was even more distant. 
Sunday, January 24, was a clear sunny day, with gentle 
easterly and southerly breezes. No open water could be seen 
from the mast-head, but there was a slight water-sky to the 
west and north-west. This is the first time for ten days that 
the wind has varied from north-east and east, and on five of 
30 
