They could not lie astern of us in a line, since cakes
of ice came drifting round the floe and gathering under its lee. As it
was we spent the next two hours poling off the drifting ice that surged
towards us. The blubber-stove could not be used, so we started the
Primus lamps. There was a rough, choppy sea, and the 'Dudley Docker'
could not get her Primus under way, something being adrift. The men in
that boat had to wait until the cook on the 'James Caird' had boiled up
the first pot of milk.
The boats were bumping so heavily that I had to slack away the painter
of the 'Stancomb Wills' and put her astern. Much ice was coming round
the floe and had to be poled off. Then the 'Dudley Docker', being the
heavier boat, began to damage the 'James Caird', and I slacked the
'Dudley Docker' away. The 'James Caird' remained moored to the ice,
with the 'Dudley Docker' and the 'Stancomb Wills' in line behind her.
The darkness had become complete, and we strained our eye to see the
fragments of ice that threatened us. Presently we thought we saw a
great berg bearing down upon us, its form outlined against the sky, but
this startling spectacle resolved itself into a low-lying cloud in
front of the rising moon. The moon appeared in a clear sky. The wind
shifted to the south-east as the light improved and drove the boats
broadside on towards the jagged edge of the floe.
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