were seen.  The air temperature, which had been down to 25° Fahr. on December 21, had risen to 34° Fahr.  While we were working along leads to the southward in the afternoon, we counted fifteen bergs.  Three of these were table-topped, and one was about 70 ft high and 5 miles long.  Evidently it had come from a barrier-edge.  The ice became heavier but slightly more open, and we had a calm night with fine long leads of open water.  The water was so still that new ice was forming on the leads.  We had a run of 70 miles to our credit at noon on December 24, the position being lat. 64° 32´ S., long. 17° 17´ W. All the dogs except eight had been named.  I do not know who had been responsible for some of the names, which seemed to represent a variety of tastes.  They were as follows Rugby, Upton Bristol, Millhill, Songster, Sandy, Mack, Mercury, Wolf, Amundsen, Hercules, Hackenschmidt, Samson, Sammy, Skipper, Caruso, Sub, Ulysses, Spotty, Bosun, Slobbers, Sadie, Sue, Sally, Jasper, Tim, Sweep, Martin, Splitlip, Luke, Saint, Satan, Chips, Stumps, Snapper, Painful, Bob, Snowball, Jerry, Judge, Sooty, Rufus, Sidelights, Simeon, Swanker, Chirgwin, Steamer, Peter, Fluffy, Steward, Slippery, Elliott, Roy, Noel, Shakespeare, Jamie, Bummer, Smuts, Lupoid, Spider, and Sailor.  Some of the names, it will be noticed, had a descriptive flavour.

Heavy floes held up the ship from midnight till 6 a.m. on December 25, Christmas Day.  Then they opened a little and we made progress till 11.30 a.m., when the leads closed again.  We had encountered good leads and workable ice during the early part of the night, and the noon observation showed that our run for the twenty-four hours was the best since we entered the pack a fortnight earlier.  We had made 71 miles S. 4° W. The ice held us up till the evening, and then we were able to follow some leads for a couple of hours before the tightly packed floes and the increasing wind compelled a stop.  The celebration of Christmas was not forgotten.  Grog was served at midnight to all on deck.  There was grog again at breakfast, for the benefit of those who had been in their bunks at midnight.  Lees had decorated the wardroom with flags and had a little Christmas present for each of us.  Some of us had presents from home to open.  Later there was a really splendid dinner, consisting of turtle soup, whitebait, jugged hare, Christmas pudding, mince-pies, dates, figs and crystallized fruits, with rum and stout as drinks.  In the evening everybody joined in a “sing-song.”  Hussey had made a one-stringed violin, on which, in the words of Worsley, he “discoursed quite painlessly.”  The wind was increasing to a moderate south-easterly gale and no advance could be made, so we were able to settle down to the enjoyments of the evening.

The weather was still bad on December 26 and 27, and the ‘Endurance’ remained anchored to a floe.  The noon position on the 26th was lat. 65° 43´ S., long. 17° 36´ W. We made another sounding on this day with the Lucas machine and found bottom at 2819 fathoms.  The specimen brought up was a terrigenous blue mud (glacial deposit) with some radiolaria.  Every one took turns at the work of heaving in, two men working together in ten-minute spells.