North-west again we turned.

We were directly north of the island on the following day, and I made another move south.

Heavy pack formed an impenetrable barrier.
To admit failure at this stage was hard, but the facts had to be faced.

The 'Southern Sky' could not enter ice of even moderate thickness.

The season was late, and we could not be sure that the ice would open for many months, though my opinion was that the pack would not become fast in that quarter even in the winter, owing to the strong winds and currents.