push them aside, or go round them, observing that she cannot push
floes which are more than 200 or 300 yards across.

'Whether a ship can get through or not depends on the thickness and
nature of the ice, the size of the floes and the closeness with which
they are packed together, as well as on her own power.

'The situation of the main bodies of pack and the closeness with
which the floes are packed depend almost entirely on the prevailing
winds. One cannot tell what winds have prevailed before one's arrival;
therefore one cannot know much about the situation or density.

'Within limits the density is changing from day to day and even
from hour to hour; such changes depend on the wind, but it may
not necessarily be a local wind, so that at times they seem almost
mysterious. One sees the floes pressing closely against one another
at a given time, and an hour or two afterwards a gap of a foot or
more may be seen between each.

'When the floes are pressed together it is difficult and sometimes
impossible to force a way through, but when there is release of
pressure the sum of many little gaps allows one to take a zigzag path.'



CHAPTER II

In the Pack

_Sunday, December_ ll.--The ice grew closer during the night, and