SOUTH 
pushed our way for many hundreds of miles. Another point 
that may require to be exphiined was the delay caused by wind 
while we were in the pack. When a strong breeze or moderate 
gale was blowmg the ship could not safely work through any 
except young ice, up to about two feet in thickness. As ice of 
that nature never extended for more than a mile or so, it 
followed that in a gale in the pack we had always to lie to. 
The ship was 3 ft. 3 in. down by the stern, and while this saved 
the propeller and rudder a good deal, it made the Endiirame 
practically mimanageable in close pack when the wind attained 
a force of six miles an hour from ahead, since the air currents 
had such a big surface forward to act upon. The pressure of 
wind on bows and the yards of the foremast would cause the 
bows to fall away, and in these conditions the ship could not 
be steered into the narrow lanes and leads through which we 
had to tliread our way. The falling away of the bows, more- 
over, would tend to bring the stern against the ice, compelling 
us to stop the engines in order to save the propeller. Then the 
ship would become unmanageable and drift away, with the 
possibility of getting excessive sternway on her and so damaging 
rudder or propeller, the Achilles heel of a ship in pack-ice. 
While we were waitiug for the weather to moderate and 
the ice to open, I had the Lucas sounding-machine rigged over 
the rudder-trunk and found the depth to be 2810 fathoms. 
The bottom sample was lost, owing to the Hne parting 60 fathoms 
from the end. During the afternoon three adelie penguins 
approached the ship across the floe while Hussey was discoursing 
sweet music on the banjo. The solemn-looking little birds 
appeared to appreciate It's a Long Way to Tipperary," but 
they fled in horror when Hussey treated them to a little of the 
music that comes from Scotland. The shouts of laughter from 
the ship added to their dismay, and they made off as fast as 
their short legs would carry them. The pack opened slightly 
at 6.15 p.m., and we proceeded through lanes for three hours 
before being forced to anchor to a floe for the night. We fired 
a Hjort mark harpoon, No. 171, into a blue whale on this day. 
The conditions did not improve during December 19. A 
fresh to strong northerly breeze brought haze and snow, and 
12 
