es to throb with its old rhythm, and the ship
slowly creeps out to meet the next peril. It comes with the onset of
a "bergy-bit" which smashes the martingale as it plunges into a deep
trough. The chain stay parts, dragging loose in the water, while a great
strain is put by the foremast on the bowsprit.

Early on the 24th the ship was put about and ran with the wind, while
all hands assembled on the fo'c'sle. The crew, under the direction of
Blair, had the ticklish job of replacing the chain stay by two heavy
blocks, the lower of which was hooked on to the lug which secured
the end of the stay, and the upper to the bowsprit. The running ropes
connecting the blocks were tightened up by winding the hauling line
round the capstan. When the boatswain and two sailors had finished the
wet and chilly task of getting the tackle into position, the rest put
their weight on to the capstan bars and the strain on the bowsprit was
relieved. The fo'c'sle, plunging and swaying in the great waves,
was encased in frozen spray, and along all the ropes and stays were
continuous cylinders of ice. The 'Aurora' then resumed her easterly
course against the blizzard.

Saturday January 24 was a day of high wind, rough seas, watery decks,
lively meals and general discomfort. At 11.30 P.M. the waves had
perceptibly decreased, and it was surmised that we were approaching
the berg, about thirty miles in length, which lay to the west of the
Shackleton Ice-Shelf.

At 6 A.M. on the 25th the sun managed to glimmer through the low rack
flying from the east, lighting up the carven face of an ice-cliff
along which the 'Aurora' was coasting. Up and down we steamed until the
afternoon of the 26th, when the wind lulled away to nothing, and the
grey, even pall of cloud rose and broke into fleecy alto-cumulus.

At the southern extremity of the long berg, fast bay-ice extended up to
the land and for twenty miles across to the shelf on which the Winter
Quarters of the Western Party had been situated. Further progress to
the south was blocked, so our course was directed to the north along the
western border of the berg.

When not engaged in sounding, dredging, or tow-netting members of the
land party found endless diversion in trimming coal. Big inroads had
been made in the supply of more than five hundred tons, and it now
became necessary to shift many tons of it from the holds aft to the
bunkers where it was accessible to the firemen. The work was good
exer