It was a
grievous disappointment. Instead of making a good run to the westward
we had made a big drift to the south-east. We were actually thirty
miles to the east of the position we had occupied when we left the floe
on the 9th. It has been noted by sealers operating in this area that
there are often heavy sets to the east in the Belgica Straits, and no
doubt it was one of these sets that we had experienced. The
originating cause would be a north-westerly gale off Cape Horn,
producing the swell that had already caused us so much trouble. After
a whispered consultation with Worsley and Wild, I announced that we had
not made as much progress as we expected, but I did not inform the
hands of our retrograde movement.
The question of our course now demanded further consideration.
Deception Island seemed to be beyond our reach. The wind was foul for
Elephant Island, and as the sea was clear to the south-west; I
discussed with Worsley and Wild the advisability of proceeding to Hope
Bay on the mainland of the Antarctic Continent, now only eighty miles
distant. Elephant Island was the nearest land, but it lay outside the
main body of pack, and even if the wind had been fair we would have
hesitated at that particular time to face the high sea that was running
in the open. We laid a course roughly for Hope Bay, and the boats
moved on again.
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