Blocks weighing many tons were raised 15 ft. above the level of the
floe. I arranged to divide the night watches with Worsley and Wild,
and none of us had much rest. The ship was shaken by heavy bumps, and
we were on the alert to see that no dogs had fallen into cracks. The
morning light showed that our island had been reduced considerably
during the night. Our long months of rest and safety seemed to be at an
end, and a period of stress had begun.

During the following day I had a store of sledging provisions, oil,
matches, and other essentials placed on the upper deck handy to the
starboard quarter boat, so as to be in readiness for a sudden
emergency. The ice was grinding and working steadily to the southward,
and in the evening some large cracks appeared on the port quarter,
while a crack alongside opened out to 15 yds. The blizzard seemed to
have set the ice in strong movement towards the north, and the south-
westerly and west-south-westerly winds that prevailed two days out of
three maintained the drift. I hoped that this would continue unchecked,
since our chance of getting clear of the pack early in the spring
appeared to depend upon our making a good northing. Soundings at this
time gave depths of from 186 to 190 fathoms, with a glacial mud bottom.
No land was in sight. The light was improving. A great deal of ice-
pressure was heard and observed in all directions during the 25th, much
of it close to the port quarter of the ship. On the starboard bow huge
blocks of ice, weighing many tons and 5 ft. in thickness, were pushed
up on the old floe to a height of 15 to 20 ft. The floe that held the
'Endurance' was swung to and fro by the pressure during the day, but
came back to the old bearing before midnight.

"The ice for miles around is much looser. There are numerous cracks
and short leads to the north-east and south-east. Ridges are being