It was a grievous disappointment.

Instead of making a good run to the westward we had made a big drift to the south-east.

We were actually thirty miles to the east of the position we had occupied when we left the floe on the 9th.

It has been noted by sealers operating in this area that there are often heavy sets to the east in the Belgica Straits, and no doubt it was one of these sets that we had experienced.

The originating cause would be a north-westerly gale off Cape Horn, producing the swell that had already caused us so much trouble.