Page:A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions Vol 2.djvu/399



period of the season had now arrived at which it became necessary, in order to prevent the ships being frozen into the pack, to give up any further attempt to penetrate it, more especially under the present unfavourable appearances; and, so soon as the gale abated and other circumstances suited, we began to make our way towards the clear water, which the sky indicated was at no great distance to the eastward. This, however, was not accomplished without some days of further labour and difficulty, owing to the thick weather and snow showers preventing our seeing the best leads through the pack.

At 6 on the 4th we got clear of the pack, in latitude 64° 0′, and longitude 54° 0′, with which we had been so fruitlessly contending for a period of nearly six weeks; and truly rejoiced we all felt to be once more bounding freely over the high easterly swell, which the late gale had occasioned. We passed many pieces of heavy loose ice before midnight, but after that time were in perfectly clear water, with the exception of a few small bergs.

Our object now was to trace the pack edge to the eastward, in the hope that by the time we reached the meridian of 40°, on which Weddell