On the second day their way was blocked by open water with pressure ice floating past, and although they walked for two hours in a westerly direction to see how far the water reached, they did not get to the end of it. The whole of the ice to the southward seemed to be moving, and as the open water seemed to take away any possibility of reaching Cape Royds, they started back to the ship. Presently Mackintosh discovered that there was also open water ahead of them, blocking the way to the ship, and a survey of the position revealed the unpleasant fact that the floe-ice was breaking up altogether, and that they were in serious danger of drifting out into the Sound. Safety lay only in a hurried dash for the shore to the east, and every two hundred yards or so they had to drag their sledge to the edge of a floe, jump over a lane of water, and then with a big effort pull the sledge after them. After an hour of this work their hands were cut and bleeding, and their clothes were frozen as stiff as boards, for they had frequently slipped and fallen when crossing from floe to floe. At last, however, they approached the land, and came to a piece of glacier ice that formed a bridge. The floe that they were on was moving rapidly, so they had to make a great effort and drag the sledge over a six-foot breach. They succeeded in doing this and were in a safe position again, but had they been fifteen minutes later they would have been lost, for by that time there was open water where they had gained the land. Near this spot they decided to camp, and McGillan was almost at once so badly attacked by snow-blindness that his face was badly swollen and his eyes tightly closed. So bad indeed was McGillan that, until Mackintosh could bear the pain no longer in silence, he did not know that his companion was suffering from the same complaint as himself. For several days they stayed in camp, and when their eyes were better they studied the bird-life of the neighbourhood, until, tired of seeing no sign of the ship. Mackintosh decided that they would leave the heavy mail-bag in their tent and march to Cape Royds. Then followed one of those battles against crevasses and hidden dangers with which those who take part in polar exploration are too intimately acquainted. Once McGillan fell into a yawning chasm and was only held up on a projection of ice, and frequently one slip would have meant the end of all things in this world for both of them. At last a point was reached at which their way was blocked in every direction by crevasses, ascent was no longer possible, and below them lay a steep slope running down for about 300 ft. What lay at the bottom they could not tell, but their case was desperate and they decided to glissade down. Their knives, which they attempted to use as brakes, were torn from their grasp, but they managed to keep their heels in the snow and to reach the bottom in safety.