temperature, which had been down to 25° Fahr. on December 21, had risen
to 34° Fahr. While we were working along leads to the southward in the
afternoon, we counted fifteen bergs. Three of these were table-topped,
and one was about 70 ft high and 5 miles long. Evidently it had come
from a barrier-edge. The ice became heavier but slightly more open,
and we had a calm night with fine long leads of open water. The water
was so still that new ice was forming on the leads. We had a run of 70
miles to our credit at noon on December 24, the position being lat. 64°
32´ S., long. 17° 17´ W. All the dogs except eight had been named. I
do not know who had been responsible for some of the names, which
seemed to represent a variety of tastes. They were as follows Rugby,
Upton Bristol, Millhill, Songster, Sandy, Mack, Mercury, Wolf,
Amundsen, Hercules, Hackenschmidt, Samson, Sammy, Skipper, Caruso, Sub,
Ulysses, Spotty, Bosun, Slobbers, Sadie, Sue, Sally, Jasper, Tim,
Sweep, Martin, Splitlip, Luke, Saint, Satan, Chips, Stumps, Snapper,
Painful, Bob, Snowball, Jerry, Judge, Sooty, Rufus, Sidelights, Simeon,
Swanker, Chirgwin, Steamer, Peter, Fluffy, Steward, Slippery, Elliott,
Roy, Noel, Shakespeare, Jamie, Bummer, Smuts, Lupoid, Spider, and
Sailor. Some of the names, it will be noticed, had a descriptive
flavour.

Heavy floes held up the ship from midnight till 6 a.m. on December 25,
Christmas Day. Then they opened a little and we made progress till
11.30 a.m., when the leads closed again. We had encountered good leads
and workable ice during the early part of the night, and the noon
observation showed that our run for the twenty-four hours was the best
since we entered the pack a fortnight earlier. We had made 71 miles S.
4° W. The ice held us up till the evening, and then we were able to
follow some leads for a couple of hours before the tightly packed floes
and the increasing wind compelled a stop. The celebration of Christmas