about one o’clock
P.M.
The long bitter Polar winters must have `` fed it with fresh ice , '' in the countless centuries during which it was connected with the mainland . Even now its mean height was five or six feet above the sea level , and its base was probably of about the same thickness . Although in these quiet waters it was not likely to be broken , it could not fail gradually to melt , and the rapid dissolution could actually be watched at the edges , for as the long waves licked the sides , piece after piece of ground with its verdant covering sank to rise no more . On this 5th June a fall of this nature occurred at about one o'clock P.M. , on the site of the shed itself , which was very near the edge of the ice . There was fortunately no one in it at the time , and all that was saved was a few planks , and two or three of the timbers of the roofs . Most of the cooking utensils and all the astronomical instruments were lost . The colonists were now obliged to take refuge on the highest part of the islet , where nothing protected them from the weather , but fortunately a few tools had been left there , with the air pumps and the air-vessel , which Hobson had employed for catching a little of the rain-water for drinking purposes , as he no longer dared to draw for a supply upon the ice , every atom of which was of value .