These were anxious days.

In the early morning of September 2 the ship jumped and shook to the accompaniment of cracks and groans, and some of the men who had been in the berths hurried on deck.

The pressure eased a little later in the day, when the ice on the port side broke away from the ship to just abaft the main rigging.

The 'Endurance' was still held aft and at the rudder, and a large mass of ice could be seen adhering to the port bow, rising to within three feet of the surface.

I wondered if this ice had got its grip by piercing the sheathing..