The seas through which we had to pass to reach the pack-ice must be the
most stormy in the world. Dante tells us that those who have committed
carnal sin are tossed about ceaselessly by the most furious winds in the
second circle of Hell. The corresponding hell on earth is found in the
southern oceans, which encircle the world without break, tempest-tossed
by the gales which follow one another round and round the world from West
to East. You will find albatross there--great Wanderers, and Sooties,
and Mollymawks--sailing as lightly before these furious winds as ever do
Paolo and Francesca. Round the world they go. I doubt whether they land
more than once a year, and then they come to the islands of these seas to
breed.

There are many other beautiful sea-birds, but most beautiful of all are
the Snowy petrels, which approach nearer to the fairies than anything
else on earth. They are quite white, and seemingly transparent. They are
the familiar spirits of the pack, which, except to nest, they seldom if
ever leave, flying "here and there independently in a mazy fashion,
glittering against the blue sky like so many white moths, or shining
snowflakes."[44] And then there are the Giant petrels, whose coloration
is a puzzle. Some are nearly white, others brown, and they exhibit every
variation between the one and the other. And, on the whole, the white
forms become more general the farther south you go. But the usual theory
of protective coloration will not fit in, for there are no enemies
against which this bird must protect itself. Is it something to do with
radiation of heat from the body?

A ship which sets out upon this journey generally has a bad time, and for
this reason the overladen state of the Terra Nova was a cause of anxiety.
The Australasian meteorologists had done their best to forecast the
weather we must expect. Everything which was not absolutely necessary had
been ruthlessly scrapped. Yet there was not a square inch of the hold and
between-decks which was not crammed almost to bursting, and there was as
much on the deck as could be expected to stay there. Officers and men
could hardly move in their living quarters when standing up, and
certainly they could not all sit down. To say that we were heavy laden is
a very moderate statement of the facts.

Thursday, December 1, we ran into a gale. We shortened sail in the
afternoon to lower topsails, jib and stay-sail. Both wind and sea rose
with great rapidi