Page:Polar Exploration - Bruce - 1911.djvu/32

28 it. Presently we came out of this closely packed group of bergs into the open sea, where there were still many bergs scattered from horizon to horizon. Besides bergs we now fell in with pack ice, amongst which were "bergy-bits," that is, small irregular bits that had become detached from the bergs. Here and there a seal lay on the pack, sleeping or gracefully lifting its head to look at our ships with its large dark eyes, little dreaming of the cruel fate that was to befall his companions a few days later. Fussy penguins, with their white breasts and black backs, jumped out of the water on to the pieces of pack ice, and by their rather harsh cry and quaint attitudes appeared to be entering a protest at being disturbed in this unseemly manner. There was almost a perfect calm, and despite a dense canopy of cloud overhead the horizon was clear and bright. At midnight on Christmas Eve, in latitude 64° 13′ S. a little to the east of Mount Haddington, we were stopped from pushing any farther to the south because of solid field ice that stretched across our bow. Afterwards the edge of this ice was examined and was found to stretch for about 250 miles north-eastward without a break through which any of the three Scottish whalers, that were there together at the time, could have passed. It is true that, with united attack, these stout