SOUTH 
indicating that the floe in which she was held was turning. 
During the night of the 14th a very pronounced swmg occurred, 
and when dayhght came at noon on the 15th we observed a 
large lead running from the north-west horizon towards the 
ship till it struck the western lead, circhng ahead of the ship, 
then continuing to the south-south-east. A lead astern con- 
nected with this new lead on either side of the Eiidurance, 
thus separating our floe completely from the main body of 
the pack. A bUzzard from the south-east swept down during 
the 16th. At 1 p.m. the bhzzard lulled for five minutes ; then 
the wuid jumped round to the opposite quarter and the baro- 
meter rose suddenly. The centre of a cyclonic movement had 
passed over us, and the compass recorded an extraordinarily 
rapid swing of the floe. I could see nothing thi-ough the mist 
and snow, and I thought it possible that a magnetic storm or 
a patch of local magnetic attraction had caused the compass, 
and not the floe, to swing. Our floe was now about 2| miles 
long north and south and 3 imles wide east and west. 
The month of May passed with few incidents of importance. 
Hurley, our handy man, iustafled our smaU electric-hghting 
plant and placed Ughts for occasional use in the observatory, 
the meteorological station, and various other points. We could 
not afford to use the electric lamps freely. Hurley also rigged 
two powerful hghts on poles projecting from the ship to port 
and starboard. These lamps would illuminate the " dogloos " 
briUiantly on the darkest winter's day and would be invaluable 
in the event of the floe breaking during the dark days of winter. 
We could imagine what it would mean to get fifty dogs aboard 
without Hghts while the floe was breaking and rafting under 
our feet. May 24, Empire Day, was celebrated with the singing 
of patriotic songs ui the Ritz, where all hands joined in wishing 
a speedy victory for the British arms. We could not know 
how the war was progressing, but we hoped that the Germans 
had abeady been driven from France and that the Eussian 
armies had put the seal on the Allies' success. The war was 
a constant subject of discussion aboard the Frndurame, and 
many campaigns were fought on the map during the long 
months of drifting. The moon in the lattOT part of May was 
50 
