Early on the 24th the ship was put about and ran with the wind, while all hands assembled on the fo'c'sle. The crew, under the direction of Blair, had the ticklish job of replacing the chain stay by two heavy blocks, the lower of which was hooked on to the lug which secured the end of the stay, and the upper to the bowsprit. The running ropes connecting the blocks were tightened up by winding the hauling line round the capstan. When the boatswain and two sailors had finished the wet and chilly task of getting the tackle into position, the rest put their weight on to the capstan bars and the strain on the bowsprit was relieved. The fo'c'sle, plunging and swaying in the great waves, was encased in frozen spray, and along all the ropes and stays were continuous cylinders of ice. The 'Aurora' then resumed her easterly course against the blizzard.
Saturday January 24 was a day of high wind, rough seas, watery decks, lively meals and general discomfort. At 11.30 P.M. the waves had perceptibly decreased, and it was surmised that we were approaching the berg, about thirty miles in length, which lay to the west of the Shackleton Ice-Shelf.
At 6 A.M. on the 25th the sun managed to glimmer through the low rack flying from the east, lighting up the carven face of an ice-cliff along which the 'Aurora' was coasting. Up and down we steamed until the afternoon of the 26th, when the wind lulled away to nothing, and the grey, even pall of cloud rose and broke into fleecy alto-cumulus.
At the southern extremity of the long berg, fast bay-ice extended up to the land and for twenty miles across to the shelf on which the Winter Quarters of the Western Party had been situated. Further progress to the south was blocked, so our course was directed to the north along the western border of the berg.
When not engaged in sounding, dredging, or tow-netting members of the land party found endless diversion in trimming coal. Big inroads had been made in the supply of more than five hundred tons, and it now became necessary to shift many tons of it from the holds aft to the bunkers where it was accessible to the firemen. The work was good exercise, and every one enjoyed the shift below, "trucking"and "heaving." Another undoubted advantage, in the opinion of each worker, was that he could at least demand a wash from Chief Engineer Gillies, who at other times was forced to be thrifty with hot fresh water.
After supper on the 28th it was evident that we had reached a point where the shelf-ice veered away to the eastward and a wide tract of adhering sea-ice barred the way. The floe was exceedingly heavy and covered with a deep layer of soft snow. Emperor and Adelie penguins, crab-eater and Weddell seals were recognized through glasses along its edge. As there was a light obscuring fog and dusk was approaching, the 'Aurora' "hung up" for the night.
On January 29 the ship, after a preliminary trawling had been done in three hundred and twenty fathoms, pushed into the floe and was made fast with an ice-anchor. Emperor penguins were so plentiful in the neighbourhood that many specimens were secured for skins.
A sea-leopard was seen chasing a crab-eater seal quite close to the bow of the ship. The latter, after several narrow escapes, took refuge on an ice-foot projecting from the edge of the floe.
Advantage was taken of a clearing in the weather to walk over the sea-ice to a berg two and a half miles away, from the summit of which it was hoped that some sign of land might be apparent. Away in the distance, perhaps five miles further on, could be seen an immense congregation of Emperor Penguins—evidently another rookery. No certain land was visible.
The cruise was now continued to the north-west in order to skirt a collection of bergs and floe, with the ultimate object of proceeding in an easterly direction towards Termination Ice-Tongue at the northern limit of the Shackleton Shelf-Ice.