“The weather changed frequently during our journey through the pack.  The wind blew strong from the west and from the east; the sky was often darkly overcast; we had snowstorms, flaky snow, and even light rain.  In all such circumstances we were better placed in the pack than outside of it.  The foulest weather could do us little harm.  During quite a large percentage of days, however, we had bright sunshine, which, even with the temperature well below freezing, made everything look bright and cheerful.  The sun also brought us wonderful cloud effects, marvellously delicate tints of sky, cloud and ice, such effects as one might travel far to see.  In spite of our impatience we would not willingly have missed many of the beautiful scenes which our sojourn in the pack afforded us.  Ponting and Wilson have been busy catching these effects, but no art can reproduce such colours as the deep blue of the icebergs."[81]

As a rule the officer of the watch conned from the crow’s nest, shouting his orders to the steersman direct, and to the engine-room through the midshipman of the watch, who stood upon the bridge.  It is thrilling work to the officer in charge, who not only has to face the immediate problem of what floes he dare and what he dare not charge, but also to puzzle out the best course for the future,—­but I expect he soon gets sick of it.

About this time Bowers made a fancy sketch of the Terra Nova hitting an enormous piece of ice.  The masts are all whipped forward, and from the crow’s nest is shot first the officer of the watch, followed by cigarette ends and empty cocoa mugs, and lastly the hay with which the floor was covered.  Upon the forecastle stands Farmer Hayseed (Oates) chewing a straw with the greatest composure, and waiting until the hay shall fall at his feet, at which time he will feed it to his ponies.  This crow’s nest, which was a barrel lashed to the top of the mainmast, to which entrance was gained by a hinged trap-door, shielded the occupant from most of the wind.  I am not sure that the steersman did not have the most uninviting job, but hot cocoa is a most comforting drink and there was always plenty to be had.

Rennick was busy sounding.  The depths varied from 1804 to at least 3890 fathoms, and the bottom generally showed volcanic deposits.  Our line of soundings showed the transition from the ocean depths to the continental shelf.  A series of temperatures was gained by Nelson by means of reversible thermometers down to 3891 metres.

The winch upon which the sounding line was wound was worked by hand on this cruise.  It was worked mechanically afterwards, and of course this ought always to be done if possible.  Just now it was a wearisome business, especially when we lowered a water-sample bottle one day to 1800 metres, spent hours in winding it up and found it still open when it arrived at the surface!  Water samples were also obtained at the various depths.  Lillie and Nelson were both busy tow-netting for plankton with full-speed, Apstein, Nansen, 24-and 180-mesh nets.