_Tuesday, March_ 21.--The wind returned to the south at 8 last
night. It gradually increased in force until 2 A.M., when it
was blowing from the S.S.W., force 9 to 10. The sea was breaking
constantly and heavily on the ice foot. The spray carried right over
the Point--covering all things and raining on the roof of the hut. Poor
Vince's cross, some 30 feet above the water, was enveloped in it.
Of course the dogs had a very poor time, and we went and released
two or three, getting covered in spray during the operation--our wind
clothes very wet.
This is the third gale from the south since our arrival here. Any
one of these would have rendered the Bay impossible for a ship, and
therefore it is extraordinary that we should have entirely escaped
such a blow when the _Discovery_ was in it in 1902.
The effects of this gale are evident and show that it is a most unusual
occurrence. The rippled snow surface of the ice foot is furrowed in
all directions and covered with briny deposit--a condition we have
never seen before. The ice foot at the S.W. corner of the bay is
broken down, bare rock appearing for the first time.
The sledges, magnetic huts, and in fact every exposed object on the
Point are thickly covered with brine. Our seal floe has gone, so it
is good-bye to seals on this side for some time.
The dogs are the main sufferers by this continuance of phenomenally
terrible weather.
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