INTO THE WEDDELL SEA 
showed to study the natures and habits of their cliarges gave 
promise of efficient handling and good work later on. 
During December 6 the Endurance made good progress on 
a south-easterly course. The northerly breeze had freshened 
during the night and had brought np a high foUoAA'ing sea. 
The weather was hazy, and we passed two bergs, several 
growlers, and numerous lumps of ice. Staff and crew were 
settling down to the routine. Bird life was plentiful, and we 
noticed Cape pigeons, whale-birds, terns, moUymauks, nellies, 
sooty and wandering albatrosses in the neighbourhood of 
I the ship. The course was laid for the passage between 
Sanders Island and Candlemas Volcano. December 7 brought 
the first check. At six o'clock that morning the sea, which 
had been green in colour all the previous day, changed suddenly 
to a deep indigo. The ship was behaving well in a rough sea, 
and some members of the scientific staff were transferring to 
the bunkers the coal we had stowed on deck. Sanders Island 
and Candlemas were sighted early in the afternoon, and the 
Endurance passed between them at 6 p.m. Worsley's observa- 
tions indicated that Sanders Island was, roughly, three miles 
east and five miles north of the charted position. Large numbers 
of bergs, mostly tabular in form, lay to the west of the islands, 
and we noticed that many of them were yellow with diatoms. 
One berg had large patches of red-brown soil down its sides. The 
presence of so many bergs was ominous, and immediately after 
passing between the islands we encountered stream-ice. All 
sail was taken in and we proceeded slowly under steam. Two 
liours later, fifteen miles north-east of Sanders Island, the Endur- 
ance was confronted by a belt of heavy pack-ice, half a mile 
broad and extending north and south. There was clear water 
beyond, but the heavy south-westerly swell made the pack 
impenetrable in our neighbourhood. This was disconcerting. 
The noon latitude had been 57° 26' S., and I had not expected 
to find pack-ice nearly so far nortli, though the whalers had 
reported pack right up to South Thule. 
The situation became dangerous that night. We puslied 
into the pack in the hope of reaching open water beyond, and 
found ourselves after dark in a pool which was growing smaller 
5 
