masses of ice beneath the keel. Presently the 'Endurance' listed
heavily to port against the gale, and at the same time was forced
ahead, astern, and sideways several times by the grinding floes. She
received one or two hard nips, but resisted them without as much as a
creak. It looked at one stage as if the ship was to be made the
plaything of successive floes, and I was relieved when she came to a
standstill with a large piece of our old "dock" under the starboard
bilge. I had the boats cleared away ready for lowering, got up some
additional stores, and set a double watch. All hands were warned to
stand by, get what sleep they could, and have their warmest clothing at
hand. Around us lay the ruins of "Dog Town" amid the debris of pressure-
ridges. Some of the little dwellings had been crushed flat beneath
blocks of ice; others had been swallowed and pulverized when the ice
opened beneath them and closed again. It was a sad sight, but my chief
concern just then was the safety of the rudder, which was being
attacked viciously by the ice. We managed to pole away a large lump
that had become jammed between the rudder and the stern-post, but I
could see that damage had been done, though a close examination was not
possible that day.

After the ship had come to a standstill in her new position very heavy
pressure was set up. Some of the trenails were started and beams
buckled slightly under the terrific stresses. But the 'Endurance' had
been built to withstand the attacks of the ice, and she lifted bravely
as the floes drove beneath her. The effects of the pressure around us
were awe-inspiring. Mighty blocks of ice, gripped between meeting
floes, rose slowly till they jumped like cherry-stones squeezed between
thumb and finger. The pressure of millions of tons of moving ice was
crushing and smashing inexorably. If the ship was once gripped firmly
her fate would be sealed.