l9iol 
THE PACK FAR TO THE NORTH 
73 
' We hold the record for reaching the northern edge 
of the pack, whereas three or four times the open Ross 
Sea has been gained at an earlier date. 
' I can imagine few things more trying to the patience 
than the long wasted days of waiting. Exasperating as 
it is to see the tons of coal melting away with the smallest 
mileage to our credit, one has at least the satisfaction of 
active fighting and the hope of better fortune. To wait 
idly is the worst of conditions. You can imagine how 
often and how restlessly we climbed to the crow's nest 
and studied the outlook. And strangely enough there 
was generally some change to note. A water lead would 
mysteriously open up a few miles away or the place where 
it had been would as mysteriously close. Huge icebergs 
crept silently towards or past us, and continually we were 
observing these formidable objects with range finder and 
compass to determine the relative movement, sometimes 
with misgiving as to our ability to clear them. Under 
steam the change of conditions was even more marked. 
Sometimes we would enter a lead of open water and pro- 
ceed for a mile or two without hindrance ; sometimes 
we would come to big sheets of thin ice which broke 
easily as our iron-shod prow struck them, and sometimes 
even a thin sheet would resist all our attempts to break 
it ; sometimes we would push big floes with comparative 
case and sometimes a small floe would bar our passage 
with such obstinacy that one would almost believe it 
possessed of an evil spirit ; sometimes we passed through 
acres of sludgy sodden ice which hissed as it swept along 
the side, and sometimes the hissing ceased seemingly 
