24 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION iDbcembbr 
layers of blue ice ' was a remarkable feature ; one could 
imagine that these layers represent surfaces which have 
been transformed by regelation under hot sun and wind. 
This point required investigation. 
The second berg was distinguished by innumerable 
vertical cracks. These seemed to run criss-cross and to 
weaken the structure, so that the various seracs formed 
by them had bent to different angles and shapes, giving 
a very irregular surface to the berg, and a face scarred 
with immense vertical fissures. 
One imagines that such a berg has come from a region 
of ice disturbance such as King Edward's Land. 
We have seen a good many whales to-day, rorquals 
with high black spouts — Bal&noptera Sibbaldi. 
The birds with us : Antarctic and snow petrel — a 
fulmar — and this morning Cape pigeon. 
We have pack ice farther north than expected, and it's 
impossible to interpret the fact. One hopes that we shall 
not have anything heavy, but I'm afraid there's not much 
to build upon. 10 p.m. — We have made good progress 
throughout the day, but the ice streams thicken as we 
advance, and on cither side of us the pack now appears 
in considerable fields. We still pass quantities of bergs, 
perhaps nearly one-half the number tabular, but the rest 
worn and fantastic. 
The sky has been wonderful, with every form of cloud 
in every condition of light and shade ; the sun has con- 
tinually appeared through breaks in the cloudy heavens 
from time to time, brilliantly illuminating some field of 
pack, some steep-walled berg, or some patch of bluest sea. 
