Long leads of open water ran towards the south-west, and the ship smashed at full speed through occasional areas of young ice till brought up with a heavy thud against a section of older floe.

Worsley was out on the jib- boom end for a few minutes while Wild was conning the ship, and he came back with a glowing account of a novel sensation.

The boom was swinging high and low and from side to side, while the massive bows of the ship smashed through the ice, splitting it across, piling it mass on mass and then shouldering it aside.

The air temperature was 37ｰ Fahr., pleasantly warm, and the water temperature 29ｰ Fahr.

We continued to advance through fine long leads till 4 a.m.on December 17, when the ice became difficult again.