temperatures at depths of 150 and 200 fathoms in the concluding days
of September. The ice obviously had attained its maximum thickness by
direct freezing, and the heavier older floes had been created by the
consolidation of pressure-ice and the overlapping of floes under
strain. The air temperatures were still low, -24.5° Fahr. being
recorded on October 4.

The movement of the ice was increasing. Frost-smoke from opening
cracks was showing in all directions during October 6. It had the
appearance in one place of a great prairie fire, rising from the
surface and getting higher as it drifted off before the wind in heavy,
dark, rolling masses. At another point there was the appearance of a
train running before the wind, the smoke rising from the locomotive
straight upwards; and the smoke columns elsewhere gave the effect of
warships steaming in line ahead. During the following day the leads and
cracks opened to such an extent that if the 'Endurance' could have been
forced forward for thirty yards we could have proceeded for two or
three miles; but the effort did not promise any really useful result.
The conditions did not change materially during the rest of that week.
The position on Sunday, October 10, was lat. 69° 21´ S., long. 50° 34´
W. A thaw made things uncomfortable for us that day. The temperature
had risen from -10° Fahr. to +29.8° Fahr., the highest we had
experienced since January, and the ship got dripping wet between decks.
The upper deck was clear of ice and snow and the cabins became
unpleasantly messy. The dogs, who hated wet, had a most unhappy air.
Undoubtedly one grows to like familiar conditions. We had lived long
in temperatures that would have seemed distressingly low in civilized
life, and now we were made uncomfortable by a degree of warmth that
would have left the unaccustomed human being still shivering. The thaw
was an indication that winter was over, and we began preparations for