“April 17, 1 am.—­Pressure increased and wind shifted to north-west.  Ice continued to override and press into shore until 5 o’clock; during this time pressure into bay was very heavy; movement of ice in straits causing noise like heavy surf.  Ship took ground gently at rudder-post during pressure; bottom under stern shallows very quickly. 10 p.m.—­ Ice-moving out of bay to westward; heavy strain on after moorings and cables, which are cutting the floe.”

Stenhouse continued to nurse his moorings against the onslaughts of the ice during the rest of April and the early days of May.  The break-away from the shore came suddenly and unexpectedly on the evening of May 6: 

“May 6, 1915.—­Fine morning with light breezes from east-south-east.... 3.30 p.m.—­Ice nearly finished.  Sent hands ashore for sledge-load. 4 p.m.—­Wind freshening with blizzardy appearance of sky. 8 p.m.—. . .  Heavy strain on after-moorings. 9.45 p.m.—­The ice parted from the shore; all moorings parted.  Most fascinating to listen to waves and chain breaking.  In the thick haze I saw the ice astern breaking up and the shore receding.  I called all hands and clapped relieving tackles (4-in.  Manila luff tackles) on to the cables on the forepart of the windlass.  The bos’n had rushed along with his hurricane lamp, and shouted, ‘She’s away wi’ it!’ He is a good fellow and very conscientious.  I ordered steam on main engines, and the engine-room staff, with Hooke and Ninnis, turned to.  Grady, fireman, was laid up with a broken rib.  As the ship, in the solid floe, set to the north-west, the cables rattled and tore at the hawse-pipes; luckily the anchors, lying as they were on a strip-sloping bottom, came away easily, without damage to windlass or hawse-pipes.  Slowly as we disappeared into Sound, the light in the hut died away.  At 11.30 p.m. the ice around us started to break up, the floes playing tattoo on the ship’s sides.  We were out in the Sound and catching the full force of the wind.  The moon broke through the clouds after midnight and showed us the pack, stretching continuously to northward, and about one mile to the south.  As the pack from the southward came up and closed in on the ship, the swell lessened and the banging of floes alongside eased a little.

“May 7, 8 a.m.—­Wind east-south-east.  Moderate gale with thick drift.  The ice around ship is packing up and forming ridges about two feet high.  The ship is lying with head to the eastward, Cape Bird showing to north-east.  When steam is raised I have hopes of getting back to the fast ice near the Glacier Tongue.  Since we have been in winter quarters the ice has formed and, held by the islands and land at Cape Evans, has remained north of the Tongue.  If we can return we should be able now to moor to the fast ice.  The engineers are having great difficulty with the sea connexions, which are frozen.  The main bow-down cock, from which the boiler is ‘run up,’ has been