15ｰ 52ｴ W., and the run for the preceding twenty-four hours was 51 miles S.29ｰ E.
"Since noon the character of the pack has improved," wrote Worsley on this day.

"Though the leads are short, the floes are rotten and easily broken through if a good place is selected with care and judgment.

In many cases we find large sheets of young ice through which the ship cuts for a mile or two miles at a stretch.

I have been conning and working the ship from the crow's-nest and find it much the best place, as from there one can see ahead and work out the course beforehand, and can also guard the rudder and propeller, the most vulnerable parts of a ship in the ice.

At midnight, as I was sitting in the 'tub' I heard a clamorous noise down on the deck, with ringing of bells, and realized that it was the New Year." Worsley came down from his lofty seat and met Wild, Hudson, and myself on the bridge, where we shook hands and wished one another a happy and successful New Year.