This showed us to have drifted 84 miles north in six days, the longest
drift we had made. For weeks we had remained on the 67th parallel, and
it seemed as though some obstruction was preventing us from passing it.
By this amazing leap, however, we had crossed the Antarctic Circle, and
were now 146 miles from the nearest land to the west of us--Snow Hill--
and 357 miles from the South Orkneys, the first land directly to the
north of us.
As if to make up for this, an equally strong north-easterly wind
sprang up next day, and not only stopped our northward drift but set us
back three miles to the south. As usual, high temperatures and wet fog
accompanied these northerly winds, though the fog disappeared on the
afternoon of January 25, and we had the unusual spectacle of bright hot
sun with a north-easterly wind. It was as hot a day as we had ever
had. The temperature was 36° Fahr. in the shade and nearly 80° Fahr.
inside the tents. This had an awful effect on the surface, covering it
with pools and making it very treacherous to walk upon. Ten days of
northerly winds rather damped our spirits, but a strong southerly wind
on February 4, backing later, to south-east, carried us north again.
High temperatures and northerly winds soon succeeded this, so that our
average rate of northerly drift was about a mile a day in February.
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