Page:Scott's Last Expedition, Volume 2.djvu/546

lifted in one spot or another. There was no movement in the ice in respect to the ship till 5 a.m., when Cheetham reported a general easing up, and shortly after the ship was able to turn and work out to the northward without unusual difficulty.

After taking bearings and making sketches from the edge of the pack we ran to the northward and north-westward, Feb. 26, 1911, 68° 57′ S., 158° 53′ E. with pack on the port hand and the coast beyond the pack till 2 p.m., when the coast made a sharp bend to the westward, though the edge of the pack still continued to trend to the northward. While one of the soundings was being taken on this day a rorqual fouled the sounding wire in a most extraordinary manner, and for a short time there was quite an exciting and very novel sport of playing whale, which naturally ended by the wire parting.

This was the last we saw of the land, the pack not being finally cleared till in Lat. 64°23′ S. Many times false hopes were raised by the ship running into clear water and being able to turn west and even south of west towards where C. Hudson is marked on the charts, but invariably it was only a few hours before she would be turned and, as a general rule, each noon position was east of the previous one. On the whole, after leaving the coast, the floes were of a less formidable character than those found off the north shore of Victoria Land, but the interspaces were filled with slush or else frozen over with new ice. This made pack that earlier in the season would have been easily negotiable now absolutely impassable. The nights also were drawing out, and after dark the first appearance of