i 9 io] CLEARING THE PUMPS 15 
but the ship is not labouring so heavily as she was. 
I pray we may be under sail again before morning. 
Saturday, December 3. — Yesterday the wind slowly 
fell towards evening ; less water was taken on board, 
therefore less found its way below, and it soon became 
evident that our baling was gaining on the engine-room. 
The work was steadily kept going in two-hour shifts. 
By 10 p.m. the hole in the engine-room bulkhead was com- 
pleted, and (Lieut.) Evans, wriggling over the coal, found 
his way to the pump shaft and down it. He soon cleared 
the suction ■ of the coal balls (a mixture of coal and oil) 
which choked it,' and to the joy of all a good stream of 
water came from the pump for the first time. From 
this moment it was evident we should get over the diffi- 
culty, and though the pump choked again on several 
occasions the water in the engine-room steadily decreased. 
It was good to visit that spot this morning and to find 
that the water no longer swished from side to side. In 
the forenoon fires were laid and lighted — the hand pump 
was got into complete order and sucked the bilges almost 
dry, so that great quantities of coal and ashes could be 
taken out. 
Now all is well again, and we are steaming and sailing 
steadily south within two points of our course. Campbell 
and Bowers have been busy relisting everything on the 
upper deck. This afternoon we got out the two dead 
ponies through the forecastle skylight. It was a curious 
proceeding, as the space looked quite inadequate for 
their passage. We looked into the ice-house and found 
it in the best order. 
