On the following morning (March 3) the ship came back to Cape Royds, and having got all the men and dogs aboard, went back to the Glacier Tongue anchorage to wait for the relief party. About ten o'clock that same night Mackintosh was on deck talking to some other members of the expedition, when he suddenly became excited and said, "I feel that Shackleton has arrived at Hut Point." He was very anxious that the ship should proceed to the Point, but no one paid much attention to him, and Dunlop advised him, if he was so sure about it, to go aloft and look for a signal. Accordingly Mackintosh went aloft, and immediately seeing our flare at Hut Point the ship left at once, and by 2 A.M. on March 4 the entire expedition was safe on board. If we were to try to complete our work there was no time to be lost, for the season was far advanced and the condition of the ice was already a matter of anxiety. But as I was very eager to undertake exploration with the ship to the westward towards Adelie Land, with the idea of mapping the coast-line in that direction, I gave orders to steam north, and in a very short time we were under way. First of all, I wished to round Cape Armitage and pick up some geological specimens and gear that had been left at Pram Point, but young ice was forming over the sea, and it was evident that we had scarcely an hour to waste if we were not to spend a second winter in the Antarctic. Having brought the _Nimrod_ right alongside the pressure ice at Pram Point, Mackintosh at once landed with a small party, and as soon as they returned we steamed north again. On passing our winter quarters at Cape Royds we all turned out to give three cheers, and to take a last look at the place where, in spite of discomforts and hardships, we had spent so many happy days. We watched the little hut, which had been our home for a year that must always live in our memories, fade away in the distance with feelings almost of sadness, and there were few men aboard who did not cherish a hope that some day they might again live strenuous days under the shadow of mighty Erebus. I left at the winter quarters on Cape Royds a supply of stores sufficient to last fifteen men for one year, for the changes and chances of life in the Antarctic are such that this supply might be most valuable to some future expedition. The hut was locked up and the key hung where it might easily be found, and we re-adjusted the lashing of our home so that it might withstand the fury of many blizzards. There our hut stands waiting to be used, and containing everything necessary to sustain life. I was anxious to pick up some geological specimens left on Depot Island, but as the wind had freshened to a gale, and we were passing through streams of ice, it was too risky to chance even a short delay, and consequently I gave instructions that the course should be altered to due north.