very slow owing to heavy floes and deep underfoots, which necessitated frequent stoppages of the engines.  Open water was in sight to the north and north-west the next morning, after a restless night spent among the rocking floes.  But progress was very slow.  The ‘Aurora’ went to leeward under the influence of a west-south-west breeze, and steering by means of the yards and a warp-anchor was a ticklish business.  The ship came to a full stop among heavy floes before noon on the 3rd, and three hours later, after vain attempts to warp ahead by means of ice-anchors, Stenhouse had the fires partially drawn (to save coal) and banked.

No advance was made on March 4 and 5.  A moderate gale from the east-north-east closed the ice and set it in motion, and the ‘Aurora’, with banked fires, rolled and bumped, heavily.  Seventeen bergs were in sight, and one of them was working southwards into the pack and threatening to approach the ship.  During the night the engines were turned repeatedly by the action of ice on the propeller blades.  “All theories about the swell being non-existent in the pack are false,” wrote the anxious master.  “Here we are with a suggestion only of open water-sky, and the ship rolling her scuppers under and sitting down bodily on the floes.”  The ice opened when the wind moderated, and on the afternoon of the 6th the ‘Aurora’ moved northward again.  “Without a rudder (no jury-rudder can yet be used amongst these swirling, rolling floes) the ship requires a lot of attention.  Her head must be pointed between floes by means of ice-anchors and warps, or by mooring to a floe and steaming round it.  We kept a fairly good course between two bergs to our northward and made about five miles northing till, darkness coming on, the men could no longer venture on the floes with safety to fix the anchors.”

The next three days were full of anxiety.  The ‘Aurora’ was held by the ice, and subjected to severe buffeting, while two bergs approached from the north.  On the morning of the 10th the nearest berg was within three cables of the ship.  But the pack had opened and by 9.30 a.m. the ship was out of the danger zone and headed north-north-east.  The pack continued to open during the afternoon, and the ‘Aurora’ passed through wide stretches of small loose floes and brash.  Progress was good until darkness made a stop necessary.  The next morning the pack was denser.  Stenhouse shipped a preventer jury-rudder (the weighted spanker gaff), but could not get steerage way.  Broad leads were sighted to the north-west in the afternoon, and the ship got within a quarter of a mile of the nearest lead before being held up by heavy pack.  She again bumped severely during the night, and the watch stood by with fenders to ease the more dangerous blows.