The 'James Caird' was in the lead, with the 'Stancomb Wills' next and the 'Dudley Docker' bringing up the rear.

In order to make the boats more seaworthy we had left some of our shovels, picks, and dried vegetables on the floe, and for a long time we could see the abandoned stores forming a dark spot on the ice.

The boats were still heavily loaded.

We got out of the lanes, and entered a stretch of open water at 11 a.m.

A strong easterly breeze was blowing, but the fringe of pack lying outside protected us from the full force of the swell, just as the coral-reef of a tropical island checks the rollers of the Pacific.