On the starboard bow huge
blocks of ice, weighing many tons and 5 ft. in thickness, were pushed
up on the old floe to a height of 15 to 20 ft. The floe that held the
'Endurance' was swung to and fro by the pressure during the day, but
came back to the old bearing before midnight.
"The ice for miles around is much looser. There are numerous cracks
and short leads to the north-east and south-east. Ridges are being
forced up in all directions, and there is a water-sky to the south-
east. It would be a relief to be able to make some effort on our own
behalf; but we can do nothing until the ice releases our ship. If the
floes continue to loosen, we may break out within the next few weeks
and resume the fight. In the meantime the pressure continues, and it
is hard to foresee the outcome. Just before noon to-day (July 26) the
top of the sun appeared by refraction for one minute, seventy-nine days
after our last sunset. A few minutes earlier a small patch of the sun
had been thrown up on one of the black streaks above the horizon. All
hands are cheered by the indication that the end of the winter darkness
is near.... Clark finds that with returning daylight the diatoms are
again appearing. His nets and line are stained a pale yellow, and much
of the newly formed ice has also a faint brown or yellow tinge.
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