SOUTH 
light showed that our island had been reduced considerably 
during the night. Our long months of rest and safety seemed 
to be at an end, and a period of stress had begun. 
During the following day I had a store of sledging provisions, 
oil, matches, and other essentials placed on the upper deck 
handy to the starboard quarter boat, so as to be in readiness 
for a sudden emergency. The ice was grinding and. working 
steadily to the southward, and in the evening some large cracks 
appeared on the port quarter, while a crack alongside opened 
out to 15 yds. The blizzard seemed to haA^e set the ice in 
strong movement towards the north, and the south-westerly 
and west-south-westerly winds that prevailed tAVO days out of 
three maintained the drift. I hoped that this would continue 
unchecked, since our chance of getting clear of the pack early 
in the spring appeared to depend upon our making a good 
northing. Soundings at this time gave depths of from 186 to 
190 fathoms, with a glacial mud bottom. No land was in sight. 
The light was improving. A great deal of ice-pressure was 
heard and observed in all directions diiring the 25th, much of it 
close to the port quarter of the ship. On the starboard bow 
huge blocks of ice, weighing many tons and 5 ft. in thickness, 
were pushed up on the old floe to a height of 15 to 20 ft. The 
floe that held the Endurance was swung to and fro by the 
pressure during the day, but came back to the old bearing 
before midnight. " The ice for miles around is much looser. 
There are numerous cracks and short leads to the north-east 
and south-east. Kidges are being forced up in all directions, 
and there is a water-sky to the south-east. It would be a 
relief to be able to make some effort on our own behalf ; but 
we can do nothing until the ice releases our ship. If the floes 
continue to loosen, we may break out within the next few 
Aveeks and resume the fight. In the meantime the pressure 
continues, and it is hard to foresee the outcome. Just before 
noon to-day (July 26) the top of the sun appeared by refraction 
for one minute, seventy-nine days after our last sunset. A 
feAV minutes earlier a small patch of the sun had been thrown 
up on one of the black streaks above the liorizon. All hands 
are cheered by the indication that the end of the Avinter darkness 
56 
