6o 
SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [December 
frame of mind producing every action could be so easily 
imagined and put into human sentiments. 
On the other side of the ship part of another group of 
penguins were quarrelling for the possession of a small 
pressure block which offered only the most insecure foot- 
hold. The scrambling antics to secure the point of vantage, 
the ousting of the bird in possession, and the incon- 
tinent loss of balance and position as each bird reached 
the summit of his ambition was almost as entertaining 
as the episode of the skua. Truly these little creatures 
afford much amusement. 
Monday, December 26.— Obs. 69 0 9' S., 178 0 13' W. 
Made good 48 hours, S. 35 E. 10'. The position to-night 
is very cheerless. All hope that this easterly wind will 
open the pack seems to have vanished. We are sur- 
rounded with compacted floes of immense area. Openings 
appear between these floes and we slide crab-like from one 
to another with long delays between. It is difficult 
to keep hope alive. There are streaks of water sky over 
open leads to the north, but everywhere to the south 
we have the uniform white sky. The day has been 
overcast and the wind force 3 to 5 from the E.N.E. — 
snow has fallen from time to time. There could scarcely 
be a more dreary prospect for the eye to rest upon. 
As I lay in my bunk last night I seemed to note a 
measured crush on the brash ice, and to-day first it was 
reported that the floes had become smaller, and then 
we seemed to note a sort of measured send alongside the 
ship. There may be a long low swell, but it is not helping 
us apparently : to-night the floes around are indisputably 
