no apparent reason, leads would appear and black water-skies would tempt
us to raise steam again. Scott himself showed an admirable patience, for
the rest of us had something to occupy our time with. Pennell and I, for
instance, were constantly taking sights and working them out to find our
position and also to get the set and drift of the current. Then there
were magnetic observations to be taken on board and out on the ice away
from the magnetic influence of the ship, such as it was. Simpson had
heaps to busy himself with, and Ponting was here, there, and everywhere
with his camera and cinematograph machine. Had it not been for our
anxiety to make southward progress, the time would have passed pleasantly
enough, especially in fine weather. Days came when we could get out on
the floe and exercise on ski, and Gran zealously looked to all our
requirements in this direction.

December 11 witnessed the extraordinary sight of our company standing
bareheaded on deck whilst Captain Scott performed Divine Service. Two
hymns were sung, which broke strangely the great white silence. The
weather was against us this day in that we had snow, thaw, and actually
rain, but we could not complain on the score of weather conditions
generally. Practically all the ship's company exercised on the floes
while we remained fast frozen. Next day there was some slight loosening
of the pack and we tried sailing through it and managed half a degree
southward in the forty-eight hours. We got along a few miles here and
there, but when ice conditions continued favourable for making any
serious advance it was better to light up and push our way onward with
all the power we could command. We got some heavy bumps on the 13th
December and as this hammering was not doing the ship much good, since I
was unable to make southing then at a greater rate than one mile an hour,
we let fires right out and prepared, as Captain Scott said, "To wait till
the clouds roll by." For the next few days there was not much doing nor