f
nature should blot out these weeks of slow but inevitable torture."[50]

On December 7, noon position 61 deg. 22' S., 179 deg. 56' W., one berg was
sighted far away to the west, as it gleamed every now and then in the
sun. Two more were seen the next day, and at 6.22 A.M. on December 9,
noon position 65 deg. 8' S., 177 deg. 41' W., the pack was sighted ahead by
Rennick. All that day we passed bergs and streams of ice. The air became
dry and bracing, the sea was calm, and the sun shining on the islands of
ice was more than beautiful. And then Bump! We had just charged the first
big floe, and we were in the pack.

"The sky has been wonderful, with every form of cloud in every condition
of light and shade; the sun has continually appeared through breaks in
the cloudy heavens from time to time, brilliantly illuminating some field
of pack, some steep-walled berg, or some patch of bluest sea. So sunlight
and shadow have chased each other across our scene. To-night there is
little or no swell--the ship is on an even keel, steady, save for the
occasional shocks on striking ice.

"It is difficult to express the sense of relief this steadiness gives
after our storm-tossed passage. One can only imagine the relief and
comfort afforded to the ponies, but the dogs are visibly cheered and the
human element is full of gaiety. The voyage seems full of promise in
spite of the imminence of delay."[51]

We had met the pack farther north than any other ship.

What is pack? Speaking very generally indeed, in this region it is the
sea-ice which forms over the Ross Sea area during the winter, and is
blown northwards by the southerly blizzards. But as we shall see, the
ice which forms over this area is of infinite variety. As a rule great
sheets spread over the seas which fringe the Antarctic continent in the
autumn, grow thicker and thicker during the winter and spring, and break
up when the temperatures of sea and air rise in summer. Such is the ice
which forms in normal seasons round the shores of McMurdo Sound, and up
the coast of the western mountains of Victoria Land. In sheltered bays
this ice will sometimes remain in for two years or even more, growing all
the time, until some phenomenal break-up releases it. We found an example
of this in the sea-ice which formed between Hut Point and the Barrier.
But there are great waters which can never freeze for very long. Cape
Crozier, for instance, where the Emperor penguins nest in winter