the pack grew thicker. I noticed large floes of comparatively thin
ice very sodden and easily split; these are similar to some we went
through in the _Discovery_, but tougher by a month.

At three we stopped and shot four crab-eater seals; to-night we had
the livers for dinner--they were excellent.

To-night we are in very close pack--it is doubtful if it is worth
pushing on, but an arch of clear sky which has shown to the southward
all day makes me think that there must be clearer water in that
direction; perhaps only some 20 miles away--but 20 miles is much
under present conditions. As I came below to bed at 11 P.M. Bruce
was slogging away, making fair progress, but now and again brought up
altogether. I noticed the ice was becoming much smoother and thinner,
with occasional signs of pressure, between which the ice was very thin.

'We had been very carefully into all the evidence of former voyages
to pick the best meridian to go south on, and I thought and still
think that the evidence points to the 178 W. as the best. We entered
the pack more or less on this meridian, and have been rewarded by
encountering worse conditions than any ship has had before. Worse, in
fact, than I imagined would have been possible on any other meridian
of those from which we could have chosen.

'To understand the difficulty of the position you must appreciate
what the pack is and how little is known of its movements.

'The pack in this part of the world consists (1) of the ice which has
formed over the sea on the fringe of the Antarctic continent during
the last winter; (2) of very heavy old ice floes which have broken