, however, unable to land as the
swell was rather too heavy for boat work. We saw an Emperor penguin chick
and a couple of adult Emperors, besides many Adelie penguins and
skua-gulls. We pulled along close under the great cliffs which frown over
the end of the Great Ice Barrier. They contrasted strangely in their
blackness with the low crystal ice cliffs of the Barrier itself. In one
place we were splashed by the spray from quite a large waterfall, and one
realised that the summer sun, beating down on those black foothills, must
be melting enormous quantities of ice and snow. A curious ozone smell,
which must have been the stench of the guano from the penguin rookeries,
was noticed, but land smells of any sort were pleasant enough now for it
brought home to us the fact that we should shortly embark on yet another
stage of the Expedition.

Pennell conned the ship close under the cliffs and followed the boat
along the coast. The "Terra Nova" was quite dwarfed by the great rocky
bluffs and we realised the height of the cliffs for the first time.

Whilst we were prospecting Nelson obtained water-bottle samples and
temperatures at 10, 50, 100, and 200 fathoms. The deep water apparently
continued to the foot of the cliff in most places but there were two or
three tiny steep beaches close to the junction of the Barrier and Ross
Island.

Captain Scott being satisfied that no landing was possible, we in the
boat returned to the ship and proceeded in her to the penguin rookery, a
mile or so farther west. When half a mile from the shore, we found the
bottom rapidly shoaling, the least depth being 9 1/2 fathoms. Several
small bergs were ashore hereabouts, but the swell breaking on the beach
plainly told us that a landing was out of the question. After carefully
searching the shore with glasses while the ship steamed slowly along it
all, ideas of a landing were abandoned and we set course for McMurdo
Sound. As soon as the ship was headed for her new destination we
commenced to make a running survey of the coast to Cape Bird. This took
until ten o'clock at night, and we found a great bight existed in Ross
Island which quite changed its shape on the map. After 10 p.m. we ran
into some fairly heavy pack ice, gave up surveying, and had a meal.

I went up to the crow's-nest in order to work the ship to the best
advantage, and spent eleven hours on end there, but the excitement of
getting the "Terra Nova" round Cape Bird and into McMur