The surface, too, was now very soft, so our progress was slow and tiring.

We managed to get another three-quarters of a mile before lunch, and a further mile due west over a very hummocky floe before we camped at 5.30 a.m.Greenstreet and Macklin killed and brought in a huge Weddell seal weighing about 800 lbs., and two emperor penguins made a welcome addition to our larder.
I climbed a small tilted berg nearby.

The country immediately ahead was much broken up.

Great open leads intersected the floes at all angles, and it all looked very unpromising.

Wild and I went out prospecting as usual, but it seemed too broken to travel over.
"December 29 .-- After a further reconnaissance the ice ahead proved quite un-negotiable, so at 8.30 p.m.last night, to the intense disappointment of all, instead of forging ahead, we had to retire half a mile so as to get on a stronger floe, and by 10 p.m.we had camped and all hands turned in again.