The pressure was severe, and we were not sorry to have the ship out of
its reach. The noon position was lat. 66° 47? S., long. 15° 52? W.,
and the run for the preceding twenty-four hours was 51 miles S. 29° E.
"Since noon the character of the pack has improved," wrote Worsley on
this day. "Though the leads are short, the floes are rotten and easily
broken through if a good place is selected with care and judgment. In
many cases we find large sheets of young ice through which the ship
cuts for a mile or two miles at a stretch. I have been conning and
working the ship from the crow's-nest and find it much the best place,
as from there one can see ahead and work out the course beforehand, and
can also guard the rudder and propeller, the most vulnerable parts of a
ship in the ice. At midnight, as I was sitting in the 'tub' I heard a
clamorous noise down on the deck, with ringing of bells, and realized
that it was the New Year." Worsley came down from his lofty seat and
met Wild, Hudson, and myself on the bridge, where we shook hands and
wished one another a happy and successful New Year. Since entering the
pack on December 11 we had come 480 miles, through loose and close pack-
ice. We had pushed and fought the little ship through, and she had
stood the test well, though the propeller had received some shrewd
blows against hard ice and the vessel had been driven against the floe
until she had fairly mounted up on it and slid back rolling heavily
from side to side.
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