We seem to be drifting helplessly in a strange
world of unreality. It is reassuring to feel the ship beneath one's
feet and to look down at the familiar line of kennels and igloos on the
solid floe."
The floe was not so solid as it appeared. We had reminders
occasionally that the greedy sea was very close, and that the floe was
but a treacherous friend, which might open suddenly beneath us. Towards
the end of the month I had our store of seal meat and blubber brought
aboard. The depth as recorded by a sounding on the last day of March
was 256 fathoms. The continuous shoaling from 606 fathoms in a drift
of 39 miles N. 26° W. in thirty days was interesting. The sea shoaled
as we went north, either to east or to west, and the fact suggested
that the contour-lines ran east and west, roughly. Our total drift
between January 19, when the ship was frozen in, and March 31, a period
of seventy-one days, had been 95 miles in a N. 80° W. direction. The
icebergs around us had not changed their relative positions.
The sun sank lower in the sky, the temperatures became lower, and the
'Endurance' felt the grip of the icy hand of winter. Two north-easterly
gales in the early part of April assisted to consolidate the pack. The
young ice was thickening rapidly, and though leads were visible
occasionally from the ship, no opening of a considerable size appeared
in our neighbourhood.
Pages:
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95