During the night a moderate north-
easterly gale sprang up, and a survey of the position on the 20th
showed that the ship was firmly beset. The ice was packed heavily and
firmly all round the 'Endurance' in every direction as far as the eye
could reach from the masthead. There was nothing to be done till the
conditions changed, and we waited through that day and the succeeding
days with increasing anxiety. The east-north-easterly gale that had
forced us to take shelter behind the stranded berg on the 16th had
veered later to the north-east, and it continued with varying intensity
until the 22nd. Apparently this wind had crowded the ice into the
bight of the Weddell Sea, and the ship was now drifting south-west with
the floes which had enclosed it. A slight movement of the ice round
the ship caused the rudder to become dangerously jammed on the 21st,
and we had to cut away the ice with ice-chisels, heavy pieces of iron
with 6-ft. wooden hafts. We kept steam up in readiness for a move if
the opportunity offered, and the engines running full speed ahead
helped to clear the rudder. Land was in sight to the east and south
about sixteen miles distant on the 22nd. The land-ice seemed to be
faced with ice-cliffs at most points, but here and there slopes ran
down to sea-level. Large crevassed areas in terraces parallel with the
coast showed where the ice was moving down over foot-hills.
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