Possibly we were too far east. Our progress was very slow, and often
we were hung up for days at a time, motionless and immovable, the pack
all close about us. Patience and always more patience! "From the masthead
one can see a few patches of open water in different directions, but the
main outlook is the same scene of desolate hummocky pack."[77] And again:
"We have scarcely moved all day, but bergs which have become quite old
friends are on the move, and one has approached and almost circled
us."[78]
And then without warning and reason, as far as we could see, it would
open out again, and broad black leads and lakes would appear where there
had been only white snow and ice before, and we would make just a few
more miles, and sometimes we would raise steam only to suffer further
disappointment. Generally speaking, a dark black sky means open water,
and this is known as an open-water sky; high lights in the sky mean ice,
and this is known as ice-blink.
The changes were as sudden as they were unexpected. Thus early in the
morning of Christmas Eve, about a fortnight after we had entered the
pack, "we have come into a region of where the open water exceeds the
ice; the former lies in great irregular pools three or four miles or more
across and connecting with many leads. The latter--and the fact is
puzzling--still contain floes of enormous dimensions; we have just passed
one which is at least two miles in diameter.
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