while Wordie was leading one of them towards the ship, Wild came along
with his team. The dogs, uncontrollable in a moment, made a frantic
rush for the bird, and were almost upon him when their harness caught
upon an ice-pylon, which they had tried to pass on both sides at once.
The result was a seething tangle of dogs, traces, and men, and an
overturned sled, while the penguin, three yards away, nonchalantly and
indifferently surveyed the disturbance. He had never seen anything of
the kind before and had no idea at all that the strange disorder might
concern him. Several cracks had opened in the neighbourhood of the
ship, and the emperor penguins, fat and glossy of plumage, were
appearing in considerable numbers. We secured nine of them on May 6, an
important addition to our supply of fresh food.

The sun, which had made "positively his last appearance" seven days
earlier, surprised us by lifting more than half its disk above the
horizon on May 8. A glow on the northern horizon resolved itself into
the sun at 11 a.m. that day. A quarter of an hour later the
unseasonable visitor disappeared again, only to rise again at 11.40
a.m., set at 1 p.m., rise at 1.10 p.m., and set lingeringly at 1.20
p.m. These curious phenomena were due to refraction, which amounted to
2° 37´ at 1.20 p.m. The temperature was 15° below zero Fahr. and we
calculated that the refraction was 2° above normal. In other words,
the sun was visible 120 miles farther south than the refraction tables
gave it any right to be. The navigating officer naturally was
aggrieved. He had informed all hands on May 1 that they would not see
the sun again for seventy days, and now had to endure the jeers of
friends who affected to believe that his observations were inaccurate
by a few degrees.

The 'Endurance' was drifting north-north-east under the influence of a