In the dark winter months of May, June and July, Shackleton was concerned to maintain fitness, training and morale. Although the scope for activity was limited, the dogs were exercised (and on occasion raced competitively), men were encouraged to take moonlight walks, and aboard ship there were attempted theatricals. Special occasions such as Empire Day were duly celebrated. The first signs of the ice breaking up occurred on 22 July. On 1 August, in a south-westerly gale with heavy snow, the ice floe began to disintegrate all around the ship, the pressure forcing masses of ice beneath the keel and causing a heavy list to port. The position was perilous; Shackleton wrote: "The effects of the pressure around us was awe-inspiring. Mighty blocks of ice [...] rose slowly till they jumped like cherry-stones gripped between thumb and finger [...] if the ship was once gripped firmly her fate would be sealed". This danger passed, and the succeeding weeks were quiet. During this relative lull the ship drifted into the area where, in 1823, Captain Benjamin Morrell of the sealer "Wasp" reported seeing a coastline which he identified as "New South Greenland". There was no sign of any such land; Shackleton concluded that Morrell had been deceived by the presence of large icebergs.