INTO THE WEDDELL SEA 
guins, also several humpback and finner whales. An ice-blink 
to the westward indicated the presence of pack in that direction. 
After rounding the pack we steered S. 40° E., and at noon on 
the 10th had reached lat. 58° 28' S., long. 20"^ 28' W. Observa- 
tions showed the compass variation to be less than the 
chart recorded. I kept the Endurance on the course till mid- 
night, when we entered loose open ice about ninety miles south- 
east of our noon position. TMs ice proved to fringe the pack, 
and progress became slow. There was a long easterly swell 
with a hght northerly breeze, and the weather was clear and 
fine. Numerous bergs lay outside the pack. 
The Endurance steamed through loose open ice till 8 a.m. 
on the nth, when we entered the pack in lat. 59^ 46' S., long. 
18° 22' W. We could have gone farther east, but the pack 
extended far in that direction, and an effort to circle it might 
have involved a lot of northing, I did not w^ish to lose the 
benefit of the original southing. The extra miles would not 
have mattered to a ship with larger coal capacity than the 
Endurance possessed, but we could not afford to sacrifice miles 
unnecessarily. The pack was loose and did not present great 
difficulties at this stage. The foresail was set in order to 
take advantage of the northerly breeze. The ship was in 
contact mth the ice occasionally and received some heavy 
blows. Once or twice she was brought up all standing against 
solid pieces, but no harm was done. The chief concern was 
to protect the propeller and rudder. If a collision seemed to 
be inevitable the officer in charge would order " slow " or " half 
speed " with the engines, and put the helm over so as to strike 
the floe a glancing blow. Then the helm would be put over 
towards the ice with the object of throwing the propeller clear 
of it, and the ship would forge ahead again. Worsley, Wild, 
and I, with three officers, kept tliree watches while we 
were working through the pack, so that w^e had two officers on 
deck all the time. The carpenter had rigged a six-foot wooden 
semaphore on the bridge to enable the navigating officer to give 
the seamen or scientists at the wheel the direction and the 
exact amount of helm required. This device saved time as 
well as the effort of shouting. We were pushing thi'ough this 
7 
