Page:Scott's Last Expedition, Volume 2.djvu/564

The ship slipped immediately her party returned, and meeting a good deal of fog and snow had some difficulty Jan. 10, 1912, 76° 3′ S., 165° 55′ E. in working through the pack on the way out, being eventually held up during the forenoon of the 10th and kept there for thirty-six hours; but in the end she arrived off Beaufort Island during the afternoon of the 12th.

The prospect was not encouraging, as there was nothing but heavy pack in the direction of Granite Harbour Jan. 12, 1912, 76° 42′ S., 167° 12′ E. and across the whole entrance to McMurdo Sound. It was, however, a glorious day, and the opportunity was taken to swing ship for magnetic constants, take observations for variation on the ice, sound, and try to collect plankton. In the Antarctic seas the water is often so full of diatoms that the fine meshes of the plankton nets choke as soon as they are put over. This, by stopping the passage of water through the net, prevents it catching anything and so renders useless many opportunities for collecting that would otherwise be favourable.

Till February 4 nothing could be done. On January 13 fast ice was found to extend as far north as Jan. 13–Feb. 4, 1912. In or near McMurdo Sound. the southern end of Bird Peninsula; and, when it was possible to work through the pack towards Granite Harbour, fast ice was found on the 23rd to extend thirty miles from the head of this inlet.

These three weeks were one long succession of being caught in the pack and struggling to get out again. Whenever there appeared to be any change, the ship would