tapped and a screw plug put into it to allow of a hot iron rod being inserted to thaw out the ice between the cock and the ship’s side—­about two feet of hard ice. 4.30 p.m.—­The hot iron has been successful.  Donolly (second engineer) had the pleasure of stopping the first spurt of water through the pipe; he got it in the eye.  Fires were lit in furnaces, and water commenced to blow in the boiler—­the first blow in our defence against the terrific forces of Nature in the Antarctic. 8 p.m.—­The gale has freshened, accompanied by thick drift.”

The ‘Aurora’ drifted helplessly throughout May 7.  On the morning of May 8 the weather cleared a little and the Western Mountains became indistinctly visible.  Cape Bird could also be seen.  The ship was moving northwards with the ice.  The daylight was no more than a short twilight of about two hours’ duration.  The boiler was being filled with ice, which had to be lifted aboard, broken up, passed through a small porthole to a man inside, and then carried to the manhole on top of the boiler.  Stenhouse had the wireless aerial rigged during the afternoon, and at 5 p.m. was informed that the watering of the boiler was complete.  The wind freshened to a moderate southerly gale, with thick drift, in the night, and this gale continued during the following day, the 9th.  The engineer reported at noon that he had 40-lb. pressure in the boiler and was commencing the thawing of the auxiliary sea-connexion pump by means of a steam-pipe.

“Cape Bird is the only land visible, bearing north-east true about eight miles distant,” wrote, Stenhouse on the afternoon of the 9th.  “So this is the end of our attempt to winter in McMurdo Sound.  Hard luck after four months’ buffeting, for the last seven weeks of which we nursed our moorings.  Our present situation calls for increasing vigilance.  It is five weeks to the middle of winter.  There is no sun, the light is little and uncertain, and we may expect many blizzards.  We have no immediate water-supply, as only a small quantity of fresh ice was aboard when we broke drift.

“The ‘Aurora’ is fast in the pack and drifting God knows where.  Well, there are prospects of a most interesting winter drift.  We are all in good health, except Grady, whose rib is mending rapidly; we have good spirits and we will get through.  But what of the poor beggars at Cape Evans, and the Southern Party?  It is a dismal prospect for them.  There are sufficient provisions at Cape Evans, Hut Point, and, I suppose, Cape Royds, but we have the remaining Burberrys, clothing, etc., for next year’s sledging still on board.  I see little prospect of getting back to Cape Evans or anywhere in the Sound.  We are short of coal and held firmly in the ice.  I hope she drifts quickly to the north-east.  Then we can endeavour to push through the pack and make for New Zealand, coal and return to the Barrier eastward of Cape Crozier.  This could be done, I think, in the early spring, September.  We must get back to aid the depot-laying next season.”