I had never seen such a large area of unbroken ice in the Ross Sea.
We waited with banked fires for the strong easterly breeze to moderate
or the pack to open. At 6.30 p.m. on December 22 some lanes opened and
we were able to move towards the south again. The following morning
found us working slowly through the pack, and the noon observation gave
us a gain of 19 miles S. 41° W. for the seventeen and a half hours
under steam. Many year-old adelies, three crab-eaters, six sea-
leopards, one Weddell and two blue whales were seen. The air
temperature, which had been down to 25° Fahr. on December 21, had risen
to 34° Fahr. While we were working along leads to the southward in the
afternoon, we counted fifteen bergs. Three of these were table-topped,
and one was about 70 ft high and 5 miles long. Evidently it had come
from a barrier-edge. The ice became heavier but slightly more open,
and we had a calm night with fine long leads of open water. The water
was so still that new ice was forming on the leads. We had a run of 70
miles to our credit at noon on December 24, the position being lat. 64°
32? S., long. 17° 17? W. All the dogs except eight had been named. I
do not know who had been responsible for some of the names, which
seemed to represent a variety of tastes. They were as follows Rugby,
Upton Bristol, Millhill, Songster, Sandy, Mack, Mercury, Wolf,
Amundsen, Hercules, Hackenschmidt, Samson, Sammy, Skipper, Caruso, Sub,
Ulysses, Spotty, Bosun, Slobbers, Sadie, Sue, Sally, Jasper, Tim,
Sweep, Martin, Splitlip, Luke, Saint, Satan, Chips, Stumps, Snapper,
Painful, Bob, Snowball, Jerry, Judge, Sooty, Rufus, Sidelights, Simeon,
Swanker, Chirgwin, Steamer, Peter, Fluffy, Steward, Slippery, Elliott,
Roy, Noel, Shakespeare, Jamie, Bummer, Smuts, Lupoid, Spider, and
Sailor.
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