The month was not uneventful. During the night of the 3rd we heard
the ice grinding to the eastward, and in the morning we saw that young
ice was rafted 8 to 10 ft. high in places. This was the first murmur
of the danger that was to reach menacing proportions in later months.
The ice was heard grinding and creaking during the 4th and the ship
vibrated slightly. The movement of the floe was sufficiently
pronounced to interfere with the magnetic work. I gave orders that
accumulations of snow, ice, and rubbish alongside the 'Endurance'
should be shovelled away, so that in case of pressure there would be no
weight against the topsides to check the ship rising above the ice. All
hands were busy with pick and shovel during the day, and moved many
tons of material. Again, on the 9th, there were signs of pressure.
Young ice was piled up to a height of 11 ft. astern of the ship, and
the old floe was cracked in places. The movement was not serious, but
I realized that it might be the beginning of trouble for the
Expedition. We brought certain stores aboard and provided space on
deck for the dogs in case they had to be removed from the floe at short
notice. We had run a 500-fathom steel wire round the ship, snow-huts,
and kennels, with a loop out to the lead ahead, where the dredge was
used. This wire was supported on ice-pillars, and it served as a guide
in bad weather when the view was obscured by driving snow and a man
might have lost himself altogether. I had this wire cut in five
places, since otherwise it might have been dragged across our section
of the floe with damaging effect in the event of the ice splitting
suddenly.

The dogs had been divided into six teams of nine dogs each. Wild,
Crean, Macklin, McIlroy, Marston, and Hurley each had charge of a team,
and were fully responsible for the exercising, training, and feeding of
their own dogs. They called in one of the surgeons when an animal was