On clear days we could get an
extended view in all directions from the mast-head, and the line of the
pack was broken only by familiar bergs. About one hundred bergs were in
view on a fine day, and they seemed practically the same as when they
started their drift with us nearly seven months earlier. The
scientists wished to inspect some of the neighbouring bergs at close
quarters, but sledge travelling outside the well-trodden area
immediately around the ship proved difficult and occasionally
dangerous. On August 20, for example, Worsley, Hurley, and Greenstreet
started off for the Rampart Berg and got on to a lead of young ice that
undulated perilously beneath their feet. A quick turn saved them.
A wonderful mirage of the Fata Morgana type was visible on August 20.
The day was clear and bright, with a blue sky overhead and some rime
aloft.
"The distant pack is thrown up into towering barrier-like cliffs,
which are reflected in blue lakes and lanes of water at their base.
Great white and golden cities of Oriental appearance at close intervals
along these clifftops indicate distant bergs, some not previously known
to us. Floating above these are wavering violet and creamy lines of
still more remote bergs and pack. The lines rise and fall, tremble,
dissipate, and reappear in an endless transformation scene.
Pages:
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123