X9xx] A SECURE BERTH 127 
last night ; steam was ordered, but the floe began breaking 
up fast at 1 a.m., and the rest of the night was passed in 
struggling with ice anchors ; steam was reported ready- 
just as the ship broke adrift. In the morning she secured 
to the ice edge on the same line as before but a few hundred 
yards nearer. After getting things going at the hut, I 
walked over and suggested that Pennell should come 
round the corner close in shore. The ice anchors were 
tripped and we steamed slowly in, making fast to the 
floe within 200 yards of the ice foot and 400 yards of 
the hut. 
For the present the position is extraordinarily com- 
fortable. With a southerly blow she would simply bind 
on to the ice, receiving great shelter from the end of the 
Cape. With a northerly blow she might turn rather close 
to the shore, where the soundings run to 3 fathoms, but 
behind such a stretch of ice she could scarcely get a sea 
or swell without warning. It looks a wonderfully com- 
fortable little nook, but, of course, one can be certain 
of nothing in this place ; one knows from experience 
how deceptive the appearance of security may be. Pennell 
is truly excellent in his present position — he's invari- 
ably cheerful, unceasingly watchful, and continuously 
ready for emergencies. I have come to possess implicit 
confidence in him. 
The temperature fell to 4 0 last night, with a keen S.S.E. 
breeze ; it was very unpleasant outside after breakfast. 
Later in the forenoon the wind dropped and the sun 
shone forth. This afternoon it fell almost calm, but the 
sky clouded over again and now there is a gentle warm 
