THE ROSS SEA PARTY 
by the path on which we travelled, the Barrier in its movement 
towards the sea had broken and showed signs of pressure. 
Seeing a turn in the cliffs ahead, which we thought might lead 
to better prospects, we trudged on, and were rewarded by a 
sight which Joyce admitted as being the grandest he had ever 
witnessed. The Barrier had come into contact with the cliffs 
and, from where we viewed it, it looked as if icebergs had fallen 
into a tremendous cavern and lay jumbled together in wild 
disorder. Looking down into that wonderful picture one 
realized a little the ' eternalness ' of things, 
" We had not long to wait, and, much as we wished to go 
ahead, had to turn back. I went into a small crevasse ; no 
damage. Arriving back at the place where we left the boat 
we found it had not returned, so sat down under an overhang 
and smoked and enjoyed the sense of loneliness. Soon the 
boat appeared out of the mist, and the crew had much news 
for us. After we left the ship the captain manoeuvred her in 
order to get close to the Barrier, but, unfortunately, the engines 
were loath to be reversed when required to go astern and 
the ship hit the Barrier end on. The Barrier here is about 
twenty feet high, and her jib-boom took the weight and snapped 
at the cap. When I returned Thompson was busy getting the 
broken boom and gear aboard. Luckily the cap was not 
broken and no damage was done aloft, but it was rather a 
bad introduction to the Antarctic. There is no place to landi 
the Cape Crozier hut and stores, so we must build a hut in the 
winter here, which will mean so much extra sledging from 
winter quarters. Bad start, good finish ! Joyce and I went 
aloft to the crow's-nest, but could see no opening in the 
Barrier to eastward where a ship might enter and get farther 
south." 
Mackintosh proceeded into McMurdo Sound. Heavy pack 
delayed the ship for three days, and it was not until January 16 
that she reached a point off Cape Evans, where he landed ten 
tons of coal and ninety-eight cases of oil. During succeeding 
days Captain Mackintosh worked the Aurora southward, and by 
January 24 he was within nine miles of Hut Point. There he 
made the ship fast to sea-ice, then breaking up rapidly, and 
245 
