Sounds of moderate pressure came
to our ears occasionally, but the ship was not involved. At midnight
on the 11th a crack in the lead ahead of the 'Endurance' opened out
rapidly, and by 2 a.m. was over 200 yds. wide in places with an area of
open water to the south-west. Sounds of pressure were heard along this
lead, which soon closed to a width of about 30 yds. and then froze
over. The temperature at that time was -23° Fahr.
The most severe blizzard we had experienced in the Weddell Sea swept
down upon the 'Endurance' on the evening of the 13th, and by breakfast-
time on the following morning the kennels to the windward, or southern
side of the ship were buried under 5 ft. of drift. I gave orders that
no man should venture beyond the kennels. The ship was invisible at a
distance of fifty yards, and it was impossible to preserve one's sense
of direction in the raging wind and suffocating drift. To walk against
the gale was out of the question. Face and eyes became snowed up
within two minutes, and serious frost-bites would have been the penalty
of perseverance. The dogs stayed in their kennels for the most part,
the "old stagers" putting out a paw occasionally in order to keep open
a breathing-hole. By evening the gale had attained a force of 60 or 70
miles an hour, and the ship was trembling under the attack.
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