along the side, and sometimes the hissing ceased seemingly without rhyme
or reason, and we found our screw churning the sea without any effect.

"Thus the steaming days passed away in an ever-changing environment and
are remembered as an unceasing struggle.

"The ship behaved splendidly--no other ship, not even the Discovery,
would have come through so well. Certainly the Nimrod would never have
reached the south water had she been caught in such pack. As a result I
have grown strangely attached to the Terra Nova. As she bumped the floes
with mighty shocks, crushing and grinding a way through some, twisting
and turning to avoid others, she seemed like a living thing fighting a
great fight. If only she had more economical engines she would be
suitable in all respects.

[Illustration: TERRA NOVA]

"Once or twice we got among floes which stood 7 or 8 feet above water,
with hummocks and pinnacles as high as 25 feet. The ship could have stood
no chance had such floes pressed against her, and at first we were a
little alarmed in such situations. But familiarity breeds contempt;
there never was any pressure in the heavy ice, and I'm inclined to think
there never would be.

"The weather changed frequently during our journey through the pack. The
wind blew strong from the west and from the east; the sky was often
darkly overcast; we had snowstorms, flaky snow, and even light rain. In
all such circumstances we were better placed in the pack than outside of
it. The foulest weather could do us little harm. During quite a large
percentage of days, however, we had bright sunshine, which, even with the