We were pushing through this
loose pack all day, and the view from the crow's-nest gave no promise
of improved conditions ahead. A Weddell seal and a crab-eater seal
were noticed on the floes, but we did not pause to secure fresh meat.
It was important that we should make progress towards our goal as
rapidly as possible, and there was reason to fear that we should have
plenty of time to spare later on if the ice conditions continued to
increase in severity.
On the morning of December 12 we were working through loose pack which
later became thick in places. The sky was overcast and light snow was
falling. I had all square sail set at 7 a.m. in order to take
advantage of the northerly breeze, but it had to come in again five
hours later when the wind hauled round to the west. The noon position
was lat. 60° 26? S., long. 17° 58? W., and the run for the twenty-four
hours had been only 33 miles. The ice was still badly congested, and
we were pushing through narrow leads and occasional openings with the
floes often close abeam on either side. Antarctic, snow and stormy
petrels, fulmars, white-rumped terns, and adelies were around us. The
quaint little penguins found the ship a cause of much apparent
excitement and provided a lot of amusement aboard. One of the standing
jokes was that all the adelies on the floe seemed to know Clark, and
when he was at the wheel rushed along as fast as their legs could carry
them, yelling out "Clark! Clark!" and apparently very indignant and
perturbed that he never waited for them or even answered them.
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