Our floe is a heavy one and it withstood the blows
it received. There is a light wind from the north-west to north-north-
west, and the weather is fine. We are twenty-eight men with forty-nine
dogs, including Sue's and Sallie's five grown-up pups. All hands this
morning were busy preparing gear, fitting boats on sledges, and
building up and strengthening the sledges to carry the boats.... The
main motor-sledge, with a little fitting from the carpenter, carried
our largest boat admirably. For the next boat four ordinary sledges
were lashed together, but we were dubious as to the strength of this
contrivance, and as a matter of fact it broke down quickly under
strain.... The ship is still afloat, with the spurs of the pack driven
through her and holding her up. The forecastle-head is under water,
the decks are burst up by the pressure, the wreckage lies around in
dismal confusion, but over all the blue ensign flies still.
"This afternoon Sallie's three youngest pups, Sue's Sirius, and Mrs.
Chippy, the carpenter's cat, have to be shot. We could not undertake
the maintenance of weaklings under the new conditions. Macklin, Crean,
and the carpenter seemed to feel the loss of their friends rather
badly. We propose making a short trial journey to-morrow, starting
with two of the boats and the ten sledges.
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