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diff --git a/5199-0.txt b/5199-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3498094 --- /dev/null +++ b/5199-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14628 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of South, by Sir Ernest Shackleton + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: South + The Story of Shackleton’s Last Expedition 1914–1917 + +Author: Sir Ernest Shackleton + +Release Date: May 15, 2002 [eBook #5199] +[Most recently updated: July 18, 2021] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +Produced by: Geoffrey Cowling, Jose Menendez and Eric Eldred + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOUTH *** + + + + +South + +THE STORY OF SHACKLETON’S LAST EXPEDITION 1914–1917 + +by Sir Ernest Shackleton C.V.O. + +[Illustration: IN THE PRIDE OF HER YOUTH. +Colour Photograph by F. Hurley] + + +TO + +MY COMRADES + +WHO FELL IN THE WHITE WARFARE +OF THE SOUTH AND ON THE +RED FIELDS OF FRANCE +AND FLANDERS + + +Contents + + PREFACE + I. INTO THE WEDDELL SEA + II. NEW LAND + III. WINTER MONTHS + IV. LOSS OF THE _ENDURANCE_ + V. OCEAN CAMP + VI. THE MARCH BETWEEN + VII. PATIENCE CAMP + VIII. ESCAPE FROM THE ICE + IX. THE BOAT JOURNEY + X. ACROSS SOUTH GEORGIA + XI. THE RESCUE + XII. ELEPHANT ISLAND + XIII. THE ROSS SEA PARTY + XIV. WINTERING IN McMURDO SOUND + XV. LAYING THE DEPOTS + XVI. THE _AURORA’S_ DRIFT + XVII. THE LAST RELIEF + XVIII. THE FINAL PHASE + + APPENDIX I: + SCIENTIFIC WORK + SEA-ICE NOMENCLATURE + METEOROLOGY + PHYSICS + SOUTH ATLANTIC WHALES AND WHALING + + APPENDIX II: + THE EXPEDITION HUTS AT McMURDO SOUND + + INDEX + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + IN THE PRIDE OF HER YOUTH. Colour Photograph by F. Hurley + The Leader + The Weddell Sea Party + Young Emperor Penguins + A Huge Floe of Consolidated Pack + Samson + Ice-Flowers + Midnight off the New Land + New Land: Caird Coast + Close Under the Barrier + Trying to cut a way for the Ship through the Ice to a Lead ahead (February 14, 1915) + The Night Watchman’s Story + The Dying Sun: The _Endurance_ firmly frozen in + The Rampart Berg + A Bi-Weekly Performance: Scrubbing out the “Ritz” + Pylon Avenue + The Long, Long Night + The Pups + Ice-Pressure Approaching the Ship + Ice-Rafting + The Returning Sun + Wild and Shackleton in the Heavy Pressure + Exercising the Dogs + Crab-eater Seals + The Beginning of the End + “Within a few Seconds she heeled over until she had a List of Thirty Degrees to Port” + Almost Overwhelmed + [Attack of the floes] + “The Driving Floe, moving laterally across the Stern, split the Rudder and tore out the Rudder-Post and Stern-Post” + The End + A Week Later + “The Wreckage lies around in Dismal Confusion” + The First Attempt to reach the Land 346 Miles Away + Ocean Camp + The Look-out at Ocean Camp + The Emergency Sledges being packed in case of a sudden break up of the Ice + The Sledges packed and ready + Relaying the _James Caird_ + Potash and Perlmutter + “Loneliness”: Patience Camp + The Kitchen at Patience Camp + The Stove at Patience Camp constructed out of old Oil-drums + Worsley taking Observations of the Sun to determine our Position + “We cut Steps in this Twenty-five Foot Slab and it makes a fine Look-out” + “There was no Sleep for us that Night, so we lit the Blubber Stove” + Hauling up the Boats for the Night + The Reeling Berg + Sailing South Again + The First Landing ever made on Elephant Island, April 15, 1916 + “We Pulled the Three Boats a little Higher on the Beach” + Rough sketch map of landing place and first camp at C. Valentine, Elephant Island + The First Drink and Hot Food for Three-and-a-Half Days + Mount Frank Houlder, Elephant Island + Launching the _James Caird_ + The _Stancomb Wills_ + In Sight of our Goal: Nearing South Georgia + Landing on South Georgia + [Cave Cove on South Georgia] + [Surroundings of King Haakon Bay] + [Plan of Sleeping Berths in Cave] + Sea Elephants on South Georgia + The Cliffs we descended whilst crossing the Island + One of the Glaciers we Crossed + A Typical View in South Georgia + [Rough Memory Map of Route Across South Georgia] + Panorama of South Georgia + The _Yelcho_ + Arrival at Punta Arenas with the Rescued Men + Frank Wild, Second in Command of the Expedition + Our Dugout + The Hut on Elephant Island + View of Interior of Hut on Elephant Island + Marooned on Elephant Island + Elephant Island + The Rescue Ship Sighted + “All Safe! All Well!” + View through a Cave on Elephant Island + The Aurora + Ice Stalactites at the Entrance to a Cave on Elephant Island + A Newly-frozen Lead + The Ross Sea Party + Mackintosh and Spencer-Smith being dragged on the sledge + “The Rudder was bent over to Starboard and Smashed” + “Next Morning the Jury-Rudder was Shipped” + Ice Nomenclature: 1. Young Ice (Bay Ice of Scoresby) in the Middle Distance + 2. Light Pack + 3. Heavy Hummocked Pack + 4. Hummocky Pack and Frozen Lead of Young-Ice + 5. Close Pack + 6. Open Pack + 7. Very Open Pack, approximating to Drift-ice + 8. Drift-Ice + “The Rookery” + The Anemometer covered with Rime + Map: The Voyage of the _Endurance_ + + + + +PREFACE + + +After the conquest of the South Pole by Amundsen, who, by a narrow +margin of days only, was in advance of the British Expedition under +Scott, there remained but one great main object of Antarctic +journeyings—the crossing of the South Polar continent from sea to sea. + +When I returned from the _Nimrod_ Expedition on which we had to turn +back from our attempt to plant the British flag on the South Pole, +being beaten by stress of circumstances within ninety-seven miles of +our goal, my mind turned to the crossing of the continent, for I was +morally certain that either Amundsen or Scott would reach the Pole on +our own route or a parallel one. After hearing of the Norwegian success +I began to make preparations to start a last great journey—so that the +first crossing of the last continent should be achieved by a British +Expedition. + +We failed in this object, but the story of our attempt is the subject +for the following pages, and I think that though failure in the actual +accomplishment must be recorded, there are chapters in this book of +high adventure, strenuous days, lonely nights, unique experiences, and, +above all, records of unflinching determination, supreme loyalty, and +generous self-sacrifice on the part of my men which, even in these days +that have witnessed the sacrifices of nations and regardlessness of +self on the part of individuals, still will be of interest to readers +who now turn gladly from the red horror of war and the strain of the +last five years to read, perhaps with more understanding minds, the +tale of the White Warfare of the South. The struggles, the +disappointments, and the endurance of this small party of Britishers, +hidden away for nearly two years in the fastnesses of the Polar ice, +striving to carry out the ordained task and ignorant of the crises +through which the world was passing, make a story which is unique in +the history of Antarctic exploration. + +Owing to the loss of the _Endurance_ and the disaster to the _Aurora_, +certain documents relating mainly to the organization and preparation +of the Expedition have been lost; but, anyhow, I had no intention of +presenting a detailed account of the scheme of preparation, storing, +and other necessary but, to the general reader, unimportant affairs, as +since the beginning of this century, every book on Antarctic +exploration has dealt fully with this matter. I therefore briefly place +before you the inception and organization of the Expedition, and insert +here the copy of the programme which I prepared in order to arouse the +interest of the general public in the Expedition. + +“_The Trans-continental Party._ + +“The first crossing of the Antarctic continent, from sea to sea via the +Pole, apart from its historic value, will be a journey of great +scientific importance. + +“The distance will be roughly 1800 miles, and the first half of this, +from the Weddell Sea to the Pole, will be over unknown ground. Every +step will be an advance in geographical science. It will be learned +whether the great Victoria chain of mountains, which has been traced +from the Ross Sea to the Pole, extends across the continent and thus +links up (except for the ocean break) with the Andes of South America, +and whether the great plateau around the Pole dips gradually towards +the Weddell Sea. + +“Continuous magnetic observations will be taken on the journey. The +route will lead towards the Magnetic Pole, and the determination of the +dip of the magnetic needle will be of importance in practical +magnetism. The meteorological conditions will be carefully noted, and +this should help to solve many of our weather problems. + +“The glaciologist and geologist will study ice formations and the +nature of the mountains, and this report will prove of great scientific +interest. + +“_Scientific Work by Other Parties._ + +“While the Trans-continental party is carrying out, for the British +Flag, the greatest Polar journey ever attempted, the other parties will +be engaged in important scientific work. + +“Two sledging parties will operate from the base on the Weddell Sea. +One will travel westwards towards Graham Land, making observations, +collecting geological specimens, and proving whether there are +mountains in that region linked up with those found on the other side +of the Pole. + +“Another party will travel eastward toward Enderby Land, carrying out a +similar programme, and a third, remaining at the base, will study the +fauna of the land and sea, and the meteorological conditions. + +“From the Ross Sea base, on the other side of the Pole, another party +will push southward and will probably await the arrival of the +Trans-continental party at the top of the Beardmore Glacier, near Mount +Buckley, where the first seams of coal were discovered in the +Antarctic. This region is of great importance to the geologist, who +will be enabled to read much of the history of the Antarctic in the +rocks. + +“Both the ships of the Expedition will be equipped for dredging, +sounding, and every variety of hydrographical work. The Weddell Sea +ship will endeavour to trace the unknown coast-line of Graham Land, and +from both the vessels, with their scientific staffs, important results +may be expected. + +“The several shore parties and the two ships will thus carry out +geographical and scientific work on a scale and over an area never +before attempted by any one Polar expedition. + +“This will be the first use of the Weddell Sea as a base for +exploration, and all the parties will open up vast stretches of unknown +land. It is appropriate that this work should be carried out under the +British Flag, since the whole of the area southward to the Pole is +British territory. In July 1908, Letters Patent were issued under the +Great Seal declaring that the Governor of the Falkland Islands should +be the Governor of Graham Land (which forms the western side of the +Weddell Sea), and another section of the same proclamation defines the +area of British territory as ‘situated in the South Atlantic Ocean to +the south of the 50th parallel of south latitude, and lying between 20 +degrees and 80 degrees west longitude.’ Reference to a map will show +that this includes the area in which the present Expedition will work. + +“_How the Continent will be crossed._ + +“The Weddell Sea ship, with all the members of the Expedition operating +from that base, will leave Buenos Ayres in October 1914, and endeavour +to land in November in latitude 78 degrees south. + +“Should this be done, the Trans-continental party will set out on their +1800-mile journey at once, in the hope of accomplishing the march +across the Pole and reaching the Ross Sea base in five months. Should +the landing be made too late in the season, the party will go into +winter quarters, lay out depots during the autumn and the following +spring, and as early as possible in 1915 set out on the journey. + +“The Trans-continental party will be led by Sir Ernest Shackleton, and +will consist of six men. It will take 100 dogs with sledges, and two +motor-sledges with aerial propellers. The equipment will embody +everything that the experience of the leader and his expert advisers +can suggest. When this party has reached the area of the Pole, after +covering 800 miles of unknown ground, it will strike due north towards +the head of the Beardmore Glacier, and there it is hoped to meet the +outcoming party from the Ross Sea. Both will join up and make for the +Ross Sea base, where the previous Expedition had its winter quarters. + +“In all, fourteen men will be landed by the _Endurance_ on the Weddell +Sea. Six will set out on the Trans-continental journey, three will go +westward, three eastward, and two remain at the base carrying on the +work already outlined. + +“The _Aurora_ will land six men at the Ross Sea base. They will lay +down depots on the route of the Trans-continental party, and make a +march south to assist that party, and to make geological and other +observations as already described. + +“Should the Trans-continental party succeed, as is hoped, in crossing +during the first season, its return to civilization may be expected +about April 1915. The other sections in April 1916. + +“_The Ships of the Expedition._ + +“The two ships for the Expedition have now been selected. + +“The _Endurance_, the ship which will take the Trans-continental party +to the Weddell Sea, and will afterwards explore along an unknown +coast-line, is a new vessel, specially constructed for Polar work under +the supervision of a committee of Polar explorers. She was built by +Christensen, the famous Norwegian constructor of sealing vessels, at +Sandefjord. She is barquentine rigged, and has triple-expansion engines +giving her a speed under steam of nine to ten knots. To enable her to +stay longer at sea, she will carry oil fuel as well as coal. She is of +about 350 tons, and built of selected pine, oak, and greenheart. This +fine vessel, equipped, has cost the Expedition £14,000. + +“The _Aurora_, the ship which will take out the Ross Sea party, has +been bought from Dr. Mawson. She is similar in all respects to the +_Terra Nova_, of Captain Scott’s last Expedition. She had extensive +alterations made by the Government authorities in Australia to fit her +for Dr. Mawson’s Expedition, and is now at Hobart, Tasmania, where the +Ross Sea party will join her in October next.” + +I started the preparations in the middle of 1913, but no public +announcement was made until January 13, 1914. For the last six months +of 1913 I was engaged in the necessary preliminaries, solid mule work, +showing nothing particular to interest the public, but essential for an +Expedition that had to have a ship on each side of the Continent, with +a land journey of eighteen hundred miles to be made, the first nine +hundred miles to be across an absolutely unknown land mass. + +On January 1, 1914, having received a promised financial support +sufficient to warrant the announcement of the Expedition, I made it +public. + +The first result of this was a flood of applications from all classes +of the community to join the adventure. I received nearly five thousand +applications, and out of these were picked fifty-six men. + +In March, to my great disappointment and anxiety, the promised +financial help did not materialize, and I was now faced with the fact +that I had contracted for a ship and stores, and had engaged the staff, +and I was not in possession of funds to meet these liabilities. I +immediately set about appealing for help, and met with generous +response from all sides. I cannot here give the names of all who +supported my application, but whilst taking this opportunity of +thanking every one for their support, which came from parts as far +apart as the interior of China, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia, I +must particularly refer to the munificent donation of £24,000 from the +late Sir James Caird, and to one of £10,000 from the British +Government. I must also thank Mr. Dudley Docker, who enabled me to +complete the purchase of the _Endurance_, and Miss Elizabeth Dawson +Lambton, who since 1901 has always been a firm friend to Antarctic +exploration, and who again, on this occasion, assisted largely. The +Royal Geographical Society made a grant of £1000; and last, but by no +means least, I take this opportunity of tendering my grateful thanks to +Dame Janet Stancomb Wills, whose generosity enabled me to equip the +_Endurance_ efficiently, especially as regards boats (which boats were +the means of our ultimate safety), and who not only, at the inception +of the Expedition, gave financial help, but also continued it through +the dark days when we were overdue, and funds were required to meet the +need of the dependents of the Expedition. + +The only return and privilege an explorer has in the way of +acknowledgment for the help accorded him is to record on the discovered +lands the names of those to whom the Expedition owes its being. + +Owing to the exigencies of the war the publication of this book has +been long delayed, and the detailed maps must come with the scientific +monographs. I have the honour to place on the new land the names of the +above and other generous donors to the Expedition. The two hundred +miles of new coast-line I have called Caird Coast. Also, as a more +personal note, I named the three ship’s boats, in which we ultimately +escaped from the grip of the ice, after the three principal donors to +the Expedition—the _James Caird_, the _Stancomb Wills_ and the _Dudley +Docker_. The two last-named are still on the desolate sandy spit of +Elephant Island, where under their shelter twenty-two of my comrades +eked out a bare existence for four and a half months. + +The _James Caird_ is now in Liverpool, having been brought home from +South Georgia after her adventurous voyage across the sub-Antarctic +ocean. + +Most of the Public Schools of England and Scotland helped the +Expedition to purchase the dog teams, and I named a dog after each +school that helped. But apart from these particular donations I again +thank the many people who assisted us. + +So the equipment and organization went on. I purchased the _Aurora_ +from Sir Douglas Mawson, and arranged for Mackintosh to go to Australia +and take charge of her, there sending sledges, equipment and most of +the stores from this side, but depending somewhat on the sympathy and +help of Australia and New Zealand for coal and certain other +necessities, knowing that previously these two countries had always +generously supported the exploration of what one might call their +hinterland. + +Towards the end of July all was ready, when suddenly the war clouds +darkened over Europe. + +It had been arranged for the _Endurance_ to proceed to Cowes, to be +inspected by His Majesty on the Monday of Cowes week. But on Friday I +received a message to say that the King would not be able to go to +Cowes. My readers will remember how suddenly came the menace of war. +Naturally, both my comrades and I were greatly exercised as to the +probable outcome of the danger threatening the peace of the world. + +We sailed from London on Friday, August 1, 1914, and anchored off +Southend all Saturday. On Sunday afternoon I took the ship off Margate, +growing hourly more anxious as the ever-increasing rumours spread; and +on Monday morning I went ashore and read in the morning paper the order +for general mobilization. + +I immediately went on board and mustered all hands and told them that I +proposed to send a telegram to the Admiralty offering the ships, +stores, and, if they agreed, our own services to the country in the +event of war breaking out. All hands immediately agreed, and I sent off +a telegram in which everything was placed at the disposal of the +Admiralty. We only asked that, in the event of the declaration of war, +the Expedition might be considered as a single unit, so as to preserve +its homogeneity. There were enough trained and experienced men amongst +us to man a destroyer. Within an hour I received a laconic wire from +the Admiralty saying “Proceed.” Within two hours a longer wire came +from Mr. Winston Churchill, in which we were thanked for our offer, and +saying that the authorities desired that the Expedition, which had the +full sanction and support of the Scientific and Geographical Societies, +should go on. + +So, according to these definite instructions, the _Endurance_ sailed to +Plymouth. On Tuesday the King sent for me and handed me the Union Jack +to carry on the Expedition. That night, at midnight, war broke out. On +the following Saturday, August 8, the _Endurance_ sailed from Plymouth, +obeying the direct order of the Admiralty. I make particular reference +to this phase of the Expedition as I am aware that there was a certain +amount of criticism of the Expedition having left the country, and +regarding this I wish further to add that the preparation of the +Expedition had been proceeding for over a year, and large sums of money +had been spent. We offered to give the Expedition up without even +consulting the donors of this money, and but few thought that the war +would last through these five years and involve the whole world. The +Expedition was not going on a peaceful cruise to the South Sea Islands, +but to a most dangerous, difficult, and strenuous work that has nearly +always involved a certain percentage of loss of life. Finally, when the +Expedition did return, practically the whole of those members who had +come unscathed through the dangers of the Antarctic took their places +in the wider field of battle, and the percentage of casualties amongst +the members of this Expedition is high. + +The voyage out to Buenos Ayres was uneventful, and on October 26 we +sailed from that port for South Georgia, the most southerly outpost of +the British Empire. Here, for a month, we were engaged in final +preparation. The last we heard of the war was when we left Buenos +Ayres. Then the Russian Steam-Roller was advancing. According to many +the war would be over within six months. And so we left, not without +regret that we could not take our place there, but secure in the +knowledge that we were taking part in a strenuous campaign for the +credit of our country. + +Apart from private individuals and societies I here acknowledge most +gratefully the assistance rendered by the Dominion Government of New +Zealand and the Commonwealth Government of Australia at the start of +the Ross Sea section of the Expedition; and to the people of New +Zealand and the Dominion Government I tender my most grateful thanks +for their continued help, which was invaluable during the dark days +before the relief of the Ross Sea Party. + +Mr. James Allen (acting Premier), the late Mr. McNab (Minister of +Marine), Mr. Leonard Tripp, Mr. Mabin, and Mr. Toogood, and many others +have laid me under a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. + +This is also the opportunity for me to thank the Uruguayan Government +for their generous assistance in placing the government trawler, +_Instituto de Pesca_, for the second attempt at the relief of my men on +Elephant Island. + +Finally, it was the Chilian Government that was directly responsible +for the rescue of my comrades. This southern Republic was unwearied in +its efforts to make a successful rescue, and the gratitude of our whole +party is due to them. I especially mention the sympathetic attitude of +Admiral Muñoz Hurtado, head of the Chilian Navy, and Captain Luis +Pardo, who commanded the _Yelcho_ on our last and successful venture. + +Sir Daniel Gooch came with us as far as South Georgia. I owe him my +special thanks for his help with the dogs, and we all regretted losing +his cheery presence, when we sailed for the South. + + + + +CHAPTER I +INTO THE WEDDELL SEA + + +I decided to leave South Georgia about December 5, and in the intervals +of final preparation scanned again the plans for the voyage to winter +quarters. What welcome was the Weddell Sea preparing for us? The +whaling captains at South Georgia were generously ready to share with +me their knowledge of the waters in which they pursued their trade, +and, while confirming earlier information as to the extreme severity of +the ice conditions in this sector of the Antarctic, they were able to +give advice that was worth attention. + +It will be convenient to state here briefly some of the considerations +that weighed with me at that time and in the weeks that followed. I +knew that the ice had come far north that season and, after listening +to the suggestions of the whaling captains, had decided to steer to the +South Sandwich Group, round Ultima Thule, and work as far to the +eastward as the fifteenth meridian west longitude before pushing south. +The whalers emphasized the difficulty of getting through the ice in the +neighbourhood of the South Sandwich Group. They told me they had often +seen the floes come right up to the group in the summer-time, and they +thought the Expedition would have to push through heavy pack in order +to reach the Weddell Sea. Probably the best time to get into the +Weddell Sea would be the end of February or the beginning of March. The +whalers had gone right round the South Sandwich Group and they were +familiar with the conditions. The predictions they made induced me to +take the deck-load of coal, for if we had to fight our way through to +Coats’ Land we would need every ton of fuel the ship could carry. + +I hoped that by first moving to the east as far as the fifteenth +meridian west we would be able to go south through looser ice, pick up +Coats’ Land and finally reach Vahsel Bay, where Filchner made his +attempt at landing in 1912. Two considerations were occupying my mind +at this juncture. I was anxious for certain reasons to winter the +_Endurance_ in the Weddell Sea, but the difficulty of finding a safe +harbour might be very great. If no safe harbour could be found, the +ship must winter at South Georgia. It seemed to me hopeless now to +think of making the journey across the continent in the first summer, +as the season was far advanced and the ice conditions were likely to +prove unfavourable. In view of the possibility of wintering the ship in +the ice, we took extra clothing from the stores at the various stations +in South Georgia. + +The other question that was giving me anxious thought was the size of +the shore party. If the ship had to go out during the winter, or if she +broke away from winter quarters, it would be preferable to have only a +small, carefully selected party of men ashore after the hut had been +built and the stores landed. These men could proceed to lay out depots +by man-haulage and make short journeys with the dogs, training them for +the long early march in the following spring. The majority of the +scientific men would live aboard the ship, where they could do their +work under good conditions. They would be able to make short journeys +if required, using the _Endurance_ as a base. All these plans were +based on an expectation that the finding of winter quarters was likely +to be difficult. If a really safe base could be established on the +continent, I would adhere to the original programme of sending one +party to the south, one to the west round the head of the Weddell Sea +towards Graham Land, and one to the east towards Enderby Land. + +We had worked out details of distances, courses, stores required, and +so forth. Our sledging ration, the result of experience as well as +close study, was perfect. The dogs gave promise, after training, of +being able to cover fifteen to twenty miles a day with loaded sledges. +The trans-continental journey, at this rate, should be completed in 120 +days unless some unforeseen obstacle intervened. We longed keenly for +the day when we could begin this march, the last great adventure in the +history of South Polar exploration, but a knowledge of the obstacles +that lay between us and our starting-point served as a curb on +impatience. Everything depended upon the landing. If we could land at +Filchner’s base there was no reason why a band of experienced men +should not winter there in safety. But the Weddell Sea was notoriously +inhospitable and already we knew that its sternest face was turned +toward us. All the conditions in the Weddell Sea are unfavourable from +the navigator’s point of view. The winds are comparatively light, and +consequently new ice can form even in the summer-time. The absence of +strong winds has the additional effect of allowing the ice to +accumulate in masses, undisturbed. Then great quantities of ice sweep +along the coast from the east under the influence of the prevailing +current, and fill up the bight of the Weddell Sea as they move north in +a great semicircle. Some of this ice doubtless describes almost a +complete circle, and is held up eventually, in bad seasons, against the +South Sandwich Islands. The strong currents, pressing the ice masses +against the coasts, create heavier pressure than is found in any other +part of the Antarctic. This pressure must be at least as severe as the +pressure experienced in the congested North Polar basin, and I am +inclined to think that a comparison would be to the advantage of the +Arctic. All these considerations naturally had a bearing upon our +immediate problem, the penetration of the pack and the finding of a +safe harbour on the continental coast. + +The day of departure arrived. I gave the order to heave anchor at 8.45 +a.m. on December 5, 1914, and the clanking of the windlass broke for us +the last link with civilization. The morning was dull and overcast, +with occasional gusts of snow and sleet, but hearts were light aboard +the _Endurance_. The long days of preparation were over and the +adventure lay ahead. + +We had hoped that some steamer from the north would bring news of war +and perhaps letters from home before our departure. A ship did arrive +on the evening of the 4th, but she carried no letters, and nothing +useful in the way of information could be gleaned from her. The captain +and crew were all stoutly pro-German, and the “news” they had to give +took the unsatisfying form of accounts of British and French reverses. +We would have been glad to have had the latest tidings from a +friendlier source. A year and a half later we were to learn that the +_Harpoon_, the steamer which tends the Grytviken station, had arrived +with mail for us not more than two hours after the _Endurance_ had +proceeded down the coast. + +The bows of the _Endurance_ were turned to the south, and the good ship +dipped to the south-westerly swell. Misty rain fell during the +forenoon, but the weather cleared later in the day, and we had a good +view of the coast of South Georgia as we moved under steam and sail to +the south-east. The course was laid to carry us clear of the island and +then south of South Thule, Sandwich Group. The wind freshened during +the day, and all square sail was set, with the foresail reefed in order +to give the look-out a clear view ahead; for we did not wish to risk +contact with a “growler,” one of those treacherous fragments of ice +that float with surface awash. The ship was very steady in the +quarterly sea, but certainly did not look as neat and trim as she had +done when leaving the shores of England four months earlier. We had +filled up with coal at Grytviken, and this extra fuel was stored on +deck, where it impeded movement considerably. The carpenter had built a +false deck, extending from the poop-deck to the chart-room. We had also +taken aboard a ton of whale-meat for the dogs. The big chunks of meat +were hung up in the rigging, out of reach but not out of sight of the +dogs, and as the _Endurance_ rolled and pitched, they watched with +wolfish eyes for a windfall. + +I was greatly pleased with the dogs, which were tethered about the ship +in the most comfortable positions we could find for them. They were in +excellent condition, and I felt that the Expedition had the right +tractive-power. They were big, sturdy animals, chosen for endurance and +strength, and if they were as keen to pull our sledges as they were now +to fight one another all would be well. The men in charge of the dogs +were doing their work enthusiastically, and the eagerness they showed +to study the natures and habits of their charges gave promise of +efficient handling and good work later on. + + +[Illustration: The Leader] + + +[Illustration: The Weddell Sea Party] + + +During December 6 the _Endurance_ made good progress on a +south-easterly course. The northerly breeze had freshened during the +night and had brought up a high following sea. The weather was hazy, +and we passed two bergs, several growlers, and numerous lumps of ice. +Staff and crew were settling down to the routine. Bird life was +plentiful, and we noticed Cape pigeons, whale-birds, terns, mollymauks, +nellies, sooty, and wandering albatrosses in the neighbourhood of the +ship. The course was laid for the passage between Sanders Island and +Candlemas Volcano. December 7 brought the first check. At six o’clock +that morning the sea, which had been green in colour all the previous +day, changed suddenly to a deep indigo. The ship was behaving well in a +rough sea, and some members of the scientific staff were transferring +to the bunkers the coal we had stowed on deck. Sanders Island and +Candlemas were sighted early in the afternoon, and the _Endurance_ +passed between them at 6 p.m. Worsley’s observations indicated that +Sanders Island was, roughly, three miles east and five miles north of +the charted position. Large numbers of bergs, mostly tabular in form, +lay to the west of the islands, and we noticed that many of them were +yellow with _diatoms_. One berg had large patches of red-brown soil +down its sides. The presence of so many bergs was ominous, and +immediately after passing between the islands we encountered +stream-ice. All sail was taken in and we proceeded slowly under steam. +Two hours later, fifteen miles north-east of Sanders Island, the +_Endurance_ was confronted by a belt of heavy pack-ice, half a mile +broad and extending north and south. There was clear water beyond, but +the heavy south-westerly swell made the pack impenetrable in our +neighbourhood. This was disconcerting. The noon latitude had been 57° +26´ S., and I had not expected to find pack-ice nearly so far north, +though the whalers had reported pack-ice right up to South Thule. + +The situation became dangerous that night. We pushed into the pack in +the hope of reaching open water beyond, and found ourselves after dark +in a pool which was growing smaller and smaller. The ice was grinding +around the ship in the heavy swell, and I watched with some anxiety for +any indication of a change of wind to the east, since a breeze from +that quarter would have driven us towards the land. Worsley and I were +on deck all night, dodging the pack. At 3 a.m. we ran south, taking +advantage of some openings that had appeared, but met heavy rafted +pack-ice, evidently old; some of it had been subjected to severe +pressure. Then we steamed north-west and saw open water to the +north-east. I put the _Endurance’s_ head for the opening, and, steaming +at full speed, we got clear. Then we went east in the hope of getting +better ice, and five hours later, after some dodging, we rounded the +pack and were able to set sail once more. This initial tussle with the +pack had been exciting at times. Pieces of ice and bergs of all sizes +were heaving and jostling against each other in the heavy +south-westerly swell. In spite of all our care the _Endurance_ struck +large lumps stem on, but the engines were stopped in time and no harm +was done. The scene and sounds throughout the day were very fine. The +swell was dashing against the sides of huge bergs and leaping right to +the top of their icy cliffs. Sanders Island lay to the south, with a +few rocky faces peering through the misty, swirling clouds that swathed +it most of the time, the booming of the sea running into ice-caverns, +the swishing break of the swell on the loose pack, and the graceful +bowing and undulating of the inner pack to the steeply rolling swell, +which here was robbed of its break by the masses of ice to windward. + +We skirted the northern edge of the pack in clear weather with a light +south-westerly breeze and an overcast sky. The bergs were numerous. +During the morning of December 9 an easterly breeze brought hazy +weather with snow, and at 4.30 p.m. we encountered the edge of pack-ice +in lat. 58° 27´ S., long. 22° 08´ W. It was one-year-old ice +interspersed with older pack, all heavily snow-covered and lying +west-south-west to east-north-east. We entered the pack at 5 p.m., but +could not make progress, and cleared it again at 7.40 p.m. Then we +steered east-north-east and spent the rest of the night rounding the +pack. During the day we had seen adelie and ringed penguins, also +several humpback and finner whales. An ice-blink to the westward +indicated the presence of pack in that direction. After rounding the +pack we steered S. 40° E., and at noon on the 10th had reached lat. 58° +28´ S., long. 20° 28´ W. Observations showed the compass variation to +be 1½° less than the chart recorded. I kept the _Endurance_ on the +course till midnight, when we entered loose open ice about ninety miles +south-east of our noon position. This ice proved to fringe the pack, +and progress became slow. There was a long easterly swell with a light +northerly breeze, and the weather was clear and fine. Numerous bergs +lay outside the pack. + +The _Endurance_ steamed through loose open ice till 8 a.m. on the 11th, +when we entered the pack in lat. 59° 46´ S., long. 18° 22´ W. We could +have gone farther east, but the pack extended far in that direction, +and an effort to circle it might have involved a lot of northing. I did +not wish to lose the benefit of the original southing. The extra miles +would not have mattered to a ship with larger coal capacity than the +_Endurance_ possessed, but we could not afford to sacrifice miles +unnecessarily. The pack was loose and did not present great +difficulties at this stage. The foresail was set in order to take +advantage of the northerly breeze. The ship was in contact with the ice +occasionally and received some heavy blows. Once or twice she was +brought up all standing against solid pieces, but no harm was done. The +chief concern was to protect the propeller and rudder. If a collision +seemed to be inevitable the officer in charge would order “slow” or +“half speed” with the engines, and put the helm over so as to strike +floe a glancing blow. Then the helm would be put over towards the ice +with the object of throwing the propeller clear of it, and the ship +would forge ahead again. Worsley, Wild, and I, with three officers, +kept three watches while we were working through the pack, so that we +had two officers on deck all the time. The carpenter had rigged a +six-foot wooden semaphore on the bridge to enable the navigating +officer to give the seamen or scientists at the wheel the direction and +the exact amount of helm required. This device saved time, as well as +the effort of shouting. We were pushing through this loose pack all +day, and the view from the crow’s-nest gave no promise of improved +conditions ahead. A Weddell seal and a crab-eater seal were noticed on +the floes, but we did not pause to secure fresh meat. It was important +that we should make progress towards our goal as rapidly as possible, +and there was reason to fear that we should have plenty of time to +spare later on if the ice conditions continued to increase in severity. + +On the morning of December 12 we were working through loose pack which +later became thick in places. The sky was overcast and light snow was +falling. I had all square sail set at 7 a.m. in order to take advantage +of the northerly breeze, but it had to come in again five hours later +when the wind hauled round to the west. The noon position was lat. 60° +26´ S., long. 17° 58´ W., and the run for the twenty-four hours had +been only 33 miles. The ice was still badly congested, and we were +pushing through narrow leads and occasional openings with the floes +often close abeam on either side. Antarctic, snow and stormy petrels, +fulmars, white-rumped terns, and adelies were around us. The quaint +little penguins found the ship a cause of much apparent excitement and +provided a lot of amusement aboard. One of the standing jokes was that +all the adelies on the floe seemed to know Clark, and when he was at +the wheel rushed along as fast as their legs could carry them, yelling +out “Clark! Clark!” and apparently very indignant and perturbed that he +never waited for them or even answered them. + +We found several good leads to the south in the evening, and continued +to work southward throughout the night and the following day. The pack +extended in all directions as far as the eye could reach. The noon +observation showed the run for the twenty-four hours to be 54 miles, a +satisfactory result under the conditions. Wild shot a young Ross seal +on the floe, and we manœuvred the ship alongside. Hudson jumped down, +bent a line on to the seal, and the pair of them were hauled up. The +seal was 4 ft. 9 in. long and weighed about ninety pounds. He was a +young male and proved very good eating, but when dressed and minus the +blubber made little more than a square meal for our twenty-eight men, +with a few scraps for our breakfast and tea. The stomach contained only +_amphipods_ about an inch long, allied to those found in the whales at +Grytviken. + + +[Illustration: Young Emperor Penguins] + + +[Illustration: A Huge Floe of Consolidated Pack] + + +The conditions became harder on December 14. There was a misty haze, +and occasional falls of snow. A few bergs were in sight. The pack was +denser than it had been on the previous days. Older ice was +intermingled with the young ice, and our progress became slower. The +propeller received several blows in the early morning, but no damage +was done. A platform was rigged under the jib-boom in order that Hurley +might secure some kinematograph pictures of the ship breaking through +the ice. The young ice did not present difficulties to the _Endurance_, +which was able to smash a way through, but the lumps of older ice were +more formidable obstacles, and conning the ship was a task requiring +close attention. The most careful navigation could not prevent an +occasional bump against ice too thick to be broken or pushed aside. The +southerly breeze strengthened to a moderate south-westerly gale during +the afternoon, and at 8 p.m. we hove to, stem against a floe, it being +impossible to proceed without serious risk of damage to rudder or +propeller. I was interested to notice that, although we had been +steaming through the pack for three days, the north-westerly swell +still held with us. It added to the difficulties of navigation in the +lanes, since the ice was constantly in movement. + +The _Endurance_ remained against the floe for the next twenty-four +hours, when the gale moderated. The pack extended to the horizon in all +directions and was broken by innumerable narrow lanes. Many bergs were +in sight, and they appeared to be travelling through the pack in a +south-westerly direction under the current influence. Probably the pack +itself was moving north-east with the gale. Clark put down a net in +search of specimens, and at two fathoms it was carried south-west by +the current and fouled the propeller. He lost the net, two leads, and a +line. Ten bergs drove to the south through the pack during the +twenty-four hours. The noon position was 61° 31´ S., long. 18° 12´ W. +The gale had moderated at 8 p.m., and we made five miles to the south +before midnight and then we stopped at the end of a long lead, waiting +till the weather cleared. It was during this short run that the +captain, with semaphore hard-a-port, shouted to the scientist at the +wheel: “Why in Paradise don’t you port!” The answer came in indignant +tones: “I am blowing my nose.” + +The _Endurance_ made some progress on the following day. Long leads of +open water ran towards the south-west, and the ship smashed at full +speed through occasional areas of young ice till brought up with a +heavy thud against a section of older floe. Worsley was out on the +jib-boom end for a few minutes while Wild was conning the ship, and he +came back with a glowing account of a novel sensation. The boom was +swinging high and low and from side to side, while the massive bows of +the ship smashed through the ice, splitting it across, piling it mass +on mass and then shouldering it aside. The air temperature was 37° +Fahr., pleasantly warm, and the water temperature 29° Fahr. We +continued to advance through fine long leads till 4 a.m. on December +17, when the ice became difficult again. Very large floes of +six-months-old ice lay close together. Some of these floes presented a +square mile of unbroken surface, and among them were patches of thin +ice and several floes of heavy old ice. Many bergs were in sight, and +the course became devious. The ship was blocked at one point by a +wedge-shaped piece of floe, but we put the ice-anchor through it, towed +it astern, and proceeded through the gap. Steering under these +conditions required muscle as well as nerve. There was a clatter aft +during the afternoon, and Hussey, who was at the wheel, explained that +“The wheel spun round and threw me over the top of it!” The noon +position was lat. 62° 13´ S., long. 18° 53´ W., and the run for the +preceding twenty-four hours had been 32 miles in a south-westerly +direction. We saw three blue whales during the day and one emperor +penguin, a 58-lb. bird, which was added to the larder. + +The morning of December 18 found the _Endurance_ proceeding amongst +large floes with thin ice between them. The leads were few. There was a +northerly breeze with occasional snow-flurries. We secured three +crab-eater seals—two cows and a bull. The bull was a fine specimen, +nearly white all over and 9 ft. 3 in. long; he weighed 600 lbs. Shortly +before noon further progress was barred by heavy pack, and we put an +ice-anchor on the floe and banked the fires. I had been prepared for +evil conditions in the Weddell Sea, but had hoped that in December and +January, at any rate, the pack would be loose, even if no open water +was to be found. What we were actually encountering was fairly dense +pack of a very obstinate character. Pack-ice might be described as a +gigantic and interminable jigsaw-puzzle devised by nature. The parts of +the puzzle in loose pack have floated slightly apart and become +disarranged; at numerous places they have pressed together again; as +the pack gets closer the congested areas grow larger and the parts are +jammed harder till finally it becomes “close pack,” when the whole of +the jigsaw-puzzle becomes jammed to such an extent that with care and +labour it can be traversed in every direction on foot. Where the parts +do not fit closely there is, of course, open water, which freezes over, +in a few hours after giving off volumes of “frost-smoke.” In obedience +to renewed pressure this young ice “rafts,” so forming double +thicknesses of a toffee-like consistency. Again the opposing edges of +heavy floes rear up in slow and almost silent conflict, till high +“hedgerows” are formed round each part of the puzzle. At the junction +of several floes chaotic areas of piled-up blocks and masses of ice are +formed. Sometimes 5-ft. to 6-ft. piles of evenly shaped blocks of ice +are seen so neatly laid that it seems impossible for them to be +Nature’s work. Again, a winding canyon may be traversed between icy +walls 6 ft. to 10 ft. high, or a dome may be formed that under renewed +pressure bursts upward like a volcano. All the winter the drifting pack +changes—grows by freezing, thickens by rafting, and corrugates by +pressure. If, finally, in its drift it impinges on a coast, such as the +western shore of the Weddell Sea, terrific pressure is set up and an +inferno of ice-blocks, ridges, and hedgerows results, extending +possibly for 150 or 200 miles off shore. Sections of pressure ice may +drift away subsequently and become embedded in new ice. + +I have given this brief explanation here in order that the reader may +understand the nature of the ice through which we pushed our way for +many hundreds of miles. Another point that may require to be explained +was the delay caused by wind while we were in the pack. When a strong +breeze or moderate gale was blowing the ship could not safely work +through any except young ice, up to about two feet in thickness. As ice +of that nature never extended for more than a mile or so, it followed +that in a gale in the pack we had always to lie to. The ship was 3 ft. +3 in. down by the stern, and while this saved the propeller and rudder +a good deal, it made the _Endurance_ practically unmanageable in close +pack when the wind attained a force of six miles an hour from ahead, +since the air currents had such a big surface forward to act upon. The +pressure of wind on bows and the yards of the foremast would cause the +bows to fall away, and in these conditions the ship could not be +steered into the narrow lanes and leads through which we had to thread +our way. The falling away of the bows, moreover, would tend to bring +the stern against the ice, compelling us to stop the engines in order +to save the propeller. Then the ship would become unmanageable and +drift away, with the possibility of getting excessive sternway on her +and so damaging rudder or propeller, the Achilles’ heel of a ship in +pack-ice. + +While we were waiting for the weather to moderate and the ice to open, +I had the Lucas sounding-machine rigged over the rudder-trunk and found +the depth to be 2810 fathoms. The bottom sample was lost owing to the +line parting 60 fathoms from the end. During the afternoon three adelie +penguins approached the ship across the floe while Hussey was +discoursing sweet music on the banjo. The solemn-looking little birds +appeared to appreciate “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary,” but they fled in +horror when Hussey treated them to a little of the music that comes +from Scotland. The shouts of laughter from the ship added to their +dismay, and they made off as fast as their short legs would carry them. +The pack opened slightly at 6.15 p.m., and we proceeded through lanes +for three hours before being forced to anchor to a floe for the night. +We fired a Hjort mark harpoon, No. 171, into a blue whale on this day. +The conditions did not improve during December 19. A fresh to strong +northerly breeze brought haze and snow, and after proceeding for two +hours the _Endurance_ was stopped again by heavy floes. It was +impossible to manœuvre the ship in the ice owing to the strong wind, +which kept the floes in movement and caused lanes to open and close +with dangerous rapidity. The noon observation showed that we had made +six miles to the south-east in the previous twenty-four hours. All +hands were engaged during the day in rubbing shoots off our potatoes, +which were found to be sprouting freely. We remained moored to a floe +over the following day, the wind not having moderated; indeed, it +freshened to a gale in the afternoon, and the members of the staff and +crew took advantage of the pause to enjoy a vigorously contested game +of football on the level surface of the floe alongside the ship. Twelve +bergs were in sight at this time. The noon position was lat. 62° 42´ +S., long. 17° 54´ W., showing that we had drifted about six miles in a +north-easterly direction. + + +[Illustration: Samson] + + +[Illustration: Ice-Flowers] + + +Monday, December 21, was beautifully fine, with a gentle +west-north-westerly breeze. We made a start at 3 a.m. and proceeded +through the pack in a south-westerly direction. At noon we had gained +seven miles almost due east, the northerly drift of the pack having +continued while the ship was apparently moving to the south. Petrels of +several species, penguins, and seals were plentiful, and we saw four +small blue whales. At noon we entered a long lead to the southward and +passed around and between nine splendid bergs. One mighty specimen was +shaped like the Rock of Gibraltar but with steeper cliffs, and another +had a natural dock that would have contained the _Aquitania_. A spur of +ice closed the entrance to the huge blue pool. Hurley brought out his +kinematograph-camera, in order to make a record of these bergs. Fine +long leads running east and south-east among bergs were found during +the afternoon, but at midnight the ship was stopped by small, heavy +ice-floes, tightly packed against an unbroken plain of ice. The outlook +from the mast-head was not encouraging. The big floe was at least 15 +miles long and 10 miles wide. The edge could not be seen at the widest +part, and the area of the floe must have been not less than 150 square +miles. It appeared to be formed of year-old ice, not very thick and +with very few hummocks or ridges in it. We thought it must have been +formed at sea in very calm weather and drifted up from the south-east. +I had never seen such a large area of unbroken ice in the Ross Sea. + +We waited with banked fires for the strong easterly breeze to moderate +or the pack to open. At 6.30 p.m. on December 22 some lanes opened and +we were able to move towards the south again. The following morning +found us working slowly through the pack, and the noon observation gave +us a gain of 19 miles S. 41° W. for the seventeen and a half hours +under steam. Many year-old adelies, three crab-eaters, six +sea-leopards, one Weddell and two blue whales were seen. The air +temperature, which had been down to 25° Fahr. on December 21, had risen +to 34° Fahr. While we were working along leads to the southward in the +afternoon, we counted fifteen bergs. Three of these were table-topped, +and one was about 70 ft high and 5 miles long. Evidently it had come +from a barrier-edge. The ice became heavier but slightly more open, and +we had a calm night with fine long leads of open water. The water was +so still that new ice was forming on the leads. We had a run of 70 +miles to our credit at noon on December 24, the position being lat. 64° +32´ S., long. 17° 17´ W. All the dogs except eight had been named. I do +not know who had been responsible for some of the names, which seemed +to represent a variety of tastes. They were as follows Rugby, Upton +Bristol, Millhill, Songster, Sandy, Mack, Mercury, Wolf, Amundsen, +Hercules, Hackenschmidt, Samson, Sammy, Skipper, Caruso, Sub, Ulysses, +Spotty, Bosun, Slobbers, Sadie, Sue, Sally, Jasper, Tim, Sweep, Martin, +Splitlip, Luke, Saint, Satan, Chips, Stumps, Snapper, Painful, Bob, +Snowball, Jerry, Judge, Sooty, Rufus, Sidelights, Simeon, Swanker, +Chirgwin, Steamer, Peter, Fluffy, Steward, Slippery, Elliott, Roy, +Noel, Shakespeare, Jamie, Bummer, Smuts, Lupoid, Spider, and Sailor. +Some of the names, it will be noticed, had a descriptive flavour. + +Heavy floes held up the ship from midnight till 6 a.m. on December 25, +Christmas Day. Then they opened a little and we made progress till +11.30 a.m., when the leads closed again. We had encountered good leads +and workable ice during the early part of the night, and the noon +observation showed that our run for the twenty-four hours was the best +since we entered the pack a fortnight earlier. We had made 71 miles S. +4° W. The ice held us up till the evening, and then we were able to +follow some leads for a couple of hours before the tightly packed floes +and the increasing wind compelled a stop. The celebration of Christmas +was not forgotten. Grog was served at midnight to all on deck. There +was grog again at breakfast, for the benefit of those who had been in +their bunks at midnight. Lees had decorated the wardroom with flags and +had a little Christmas present for each of us. Some of us had presents +from home to open. Later there was a really splendid dinner, consisting +of turtle soup, whitebait, jugged hare, Christmas pudding, mince-pies, +dates, figs and crystallized fruits, with rum and stout as drinks. In +the evening everybody joined in a “sing-song.” Hussey had made a +one-stringed violin, on which, in the words of Worsley, he “discoursed +quite painlessly.” The wind was increasing to a moderate south-easterly +gale and no advance could be made, so we were able to settle down to +the enjoyments of the evening. + +The weather was still bad on December 26 and 27, and the _Endurance_ +remained anchored to a floe. The noon position on the 26th was lat. 65° +43´ S., long. 17° 36´ W. We made another sounding on this day with the +Lucas machine and found bottom at 2819 fathoms. The specimen brought up +was a terrigenous blue mud (glacial deposit) with some _radiolaria_. +Every one took turns at the work of heaving in, two men working +together in ten-minute spells. + +Sunday, December 27, was a quiet day aboard. The southerly gale was +blowing the snow in clouds off the floe and the temperature had fallen +to 23° Fahr. The dogs were having an uncomfortable time in their deck +quarters. The wind had moderated by the following morning, but it was +squally with snow-flurries, and I did not order a start till 11 p.m. +The pack was still close, but the ice was softer and more easily +broken. During the pause the carpenter had rigged a small stage over +the stern. A man was stationed there to watch the propeller and prevent +it striking heavy ice, and the arrangement proved very valuable. It +saved the rudder as well as the propeller from many blows. + +The high winds that had prevailed for four and a half days gave way to +a gentle southerly breeze in the evening of December 29. Owing to the +drift we were actually eleven miles farther north than we had been on +December 25. But we made fairly good progress on the 30th in fine, +clear weather. The ship followed a long lead to the south-east during +the afternoon and evening, and at 11 p.m. we crossed the Antarctic +Circle. An examination of the horizon disclosed considerable breaks in +the vast circle of pack-ice, interspersed with bergs of different +sizes. Leads could be traced in various directions, but I looked in +vain for an indication of open water. The sun did not set that night, +and as it was concealed behind a bank of clouds we had a glow of +crimson and gold to the southward, with delicate pale green reflections +in the water of the lanes to the south-east. + +The ship had a serious encounter with the ice on the morning of +December 31. We were stopped first by floes closing around us, and then +about noon the _Endurance_ got jammed between two floes heading +east-north-east. The pressure heeled the ship over six degrees while we +were getting an ice-anchor on to the floe in order to heave astern and +thus assist the engines, which were running at full speed. The effort +was successful. Immediately afterwards, at the spot where the +_Endurance_ had been held, slabs of ice 50 ft. by 15 ft. and 4 ft. +thick were forced ten or twelve feet up on the lee floe at an angle of +45°. The pressure was severe, and we were not sorry to have the ship +out of its reach. The noon position was lat. 66° 47´ S., long. 15° 52´ +W., and the run for the preceding twenty-four hours was 51 miles S. 29° +E. + +“Since noon the character of the pack has improved,” wrote Worsley on +this day. “Though the leads are short, the floes are rotten and easily +broken through if a good place is selected with care and judgment. In +many cases we find large sheets of young ice through which the ship +cuts for a mile or two miles at a stretch. I have been conning and +working the ship from the crow’s-nest and find it much the best place, +as from there one can see ahead and work out the course beforehand, and +can also guard the rudder and propeller, the most vulnerable parts of a +ship in the ice. At midnight, as I was sitting in the ‘tub’ I heard a +clamorous noise down on the deck, with ringing of bells, and realized +that it was the New Year.” Worsley came down from his lofty seat and +met Wild, Hudson, and myself on the bridge, where we shook hands and +wished one another a happy and successful New Year. Since entering the +pack on December 11 we had come 480 miles, through loose and close +pack-ice. We had pushed and fought the little ship through, and she had +stood the test well, though the propeller had received some shrewd +blows against hard ice and the vessel had been driven against the floe +until she had fairly mounted up on it and slid back rolling heavily +from side to side. The rolling had been more frequently caused by the +operation of cracking through thickish young ice, where the crack had +taken a sinuous course. The ship, in attempting to follow it, struck +first one bilge and then the other, causing her to roll six or seven +degrees. Our advance through the pack had been in a S. 10° E. +direction, and I estimated that the total steaming distance had +exceeded 700 miles. The first 100 miles had been through loose pack, +but the greatest hindrances had been three moderate south-westerly +gales, two lasting for three days each and one for four and a half +days. The last 250 miles had been through close pack alternating with +fine long leads and stretches of open water. + +During the weeks we spent manœuvring to the south through the tortuous +mazes of the pack it was necessary often to split floes by driving the +ship against them. This form of attack was effective against ice up to +three feet in thickness, and the process is interesting enough to be +worth describing briefly. When the way was barred by a floe of moderate +thickness we would drive the ship at half speed against it, stopping +the engines just before the impact. At the first blow the _Endurance_ +would cut a V-shaped nick in the face of the floe, the slope of her +cutwater often causing her bows to rise till nearly clear of the water, +when she would slide backwards, rolling slightly. Watching carefully +that loose lumps of ice did not damage the propeller, we would reverse +the engines and back the ship off 200 to 300 yds. She would then be +driven full speed into the V, taking care to hit the centre accurately. +The operation would be repeated until a short dock was cut, into which +the ship, acting as a large wedge, was driven. At about the fourth +attempt, if it was to succeed at all, the floe would yield. A black, +sinuous line, as though pen-drawn on white paper, would appear ahead, +broadening as the eye traced it back to the ship. Presently it would be +broad enough to receive her, and we would forge ahead. Under the bows +and alongside, great slabs of ice were being turned over and slid back +on the floe, or driven down and under the ice or ship. In this way the +_Endurance_ would split a 2-ft. to 3-ft. floe a square mile in extent. +Occasionally the floe, although cracked across, would be so held by +other floes that it would refuse to open wide, and so gradually would +bring the ship to a standstill. We would then go astern for some +distance and again drive her full speed into the crack, till finally +the floe would yield to the repeated onslaughts. + + + + +CHAPTER II +NEW LAND + + +The first day of the New Year (January 1, 1915) was cloudy, with a +gentle northerly breeze and occasional snow-squalls. The condition of +the pack improved in the evening, and after 8 p.m. we forged ahead +rapidly through brittle young ice, easily broken by the ship. A few +hours later a moderate gale came up from the east, with continuous +snow. After 4 a.m. on the 2nd we got into thick old pack-ice, showing +signs of heavy pressure. It was much hummocked, but large areas of open +water and long leads to the south-west continued until noon. The +position then was lat. 69° 49´ S., long. 15° 42´ W., and the run for +the twenty-four hours had been 124 miles S. 3° W. This was cheering. + +The heavy pack blocked the way south after midday. It would have been +almost impossible to have pushed the ship into the ice, and in any case +the gale would have made such a proceeding highly dangerous. So we +dodged along to the west and north, looking for a suitable opening +towards the south. The good run had given me hope of sighting the land +on the following day, and the delay was annoying. I was growing anxious +to reach land on account of the dogs, which had not been able to get +exercise for four weeks, and were becoming run down. We passed at least +two hundred bergs during the day, and we noticed also large masses of +hummocky bay-ice and ice-foot. One floe of bay-ice had black earth upon +it, apparently basaltic in origin, and there was a large berg with a +broad band of yellowish brown right through it. The stain may have been +volcanic dust. Many of the bergs had quaint shapes. There was one that +exactly resembled a large two-funnel liner, complete in silhouette +except for smoke. Later in the day we found an opening in the pack and +made 9 miles to the south-west, but at 2 a.m. on January 3 the lead +ended in hummocky ice, impossible to penetrate. A moderate easterly +gale had come up with snow-squalls, and we could not get a clear view +in any direction. The hummocky ice did not offer a suitable anchorage +for the ship, and we were compelled to dodge up and down for ten hours +before we were able to make fast to a small floe under the lee of a +berg 120 ft. high. The berg broke the wind and saved us drifting fast +to leeward. The position was lat. 69° 59´ S., long. 17° 31´ W. We made +a move again at 7 p.m., when we took in the ice-anchor and proceeded +south, and at 10 p.m. we passed a small berg that the ship had nearly +touched twelve hours previously. Obviously we were not making much +headway. Several of the bergs passed during this day were of solid blue +ice, indicating true glacier origin. + +By midnight of the 3rd we had made 11 miles to the south, and then came +to a full stop in weather so thick with snow that we could not learn if +the leads and lanes were worth entering. The ice was hummocky, but, +fortunately, the gale was decreasing, and after we had scanned all the +leads and pools within our reach we turned back to the north-east. Two +sperm and two large blue whales were sighted, the first we had seen for +260 miles. We saw also petrels, numerous adelies, emperors, +crab-eaters, and sea-leopards. The clearer weather of the morning +showed us that the pack was solid and impassable from the south-east to +the south-west, and at 10 a.m. on the 4th we again passed within five +yards of the small berg that we had passed twice on the previous day. +We had been steaming and dodging about over an area of twenty square +miles for fifty hours, trying to find an opening to the south, +south-east, or south-west, but all the leads ran north, north-east, or +north-west. It was as though the spirits of the Antarctic were pointing +us to the backward track—the track we were determined not to follow. +Our desire was to make easting as well as southing so as to reach the +land, if possible, east of Ross’s farthest South and well east of +Coats’ Land. This was more important as the prevailing winds appeared +to be to easterly, and every mile of easting would count. In the +afternoon we went west in some open water, and by 4 p.m. we were making +west-south-west with more water opening up ahead. The sun was shining +brightly, over three degrees high at midnight, and we were able to +maintain this direction in fine weather till the following noon. The +position then was lat. 70° 28´ S., long. 20° 16´ W., and the run had +been 62 miles S. 62° W. At 8 a.m. there had been open water from north +round by west to south-west, but impenetrable pack to the south and +east. At 3 p.m. the way to the south-west and west-north-west was +absolutely blocked, and as we experienced a set to the west, I did not +feel justified in burning more of the reduced stock of coal to go west +or north. I took the ship back over our course for four miles, to a +point where some looser pack gave faint promise of a way through; but, +after battling for three hours with very heavy hummocked ice and making +four miles to the south, we were brought up by huge blocks and floes of +very old pack. Further effort seemed useless at that time, and I gave +the order to bank fires after we had moored the _Endurance_ to a solid +floe. The weather was clear, and some enthusiastic football-players had +a game on the floe until, about midnight, Worsley dropped through a +hole in rotten ice while retrieving the ball. He had to be retrieved +himself. + +Solid pack still barred the way to the south on the following morning +(January 6). There was some open water north of the floe, but as the +day was calm and I did not wish to use coal in a possibly vain search +for an opening to the southward, I kept the ship moored to the floe. +This pause in good weather gave an opportunity to exercise the dogs, +which were taken on to the floe by the men in charge of them. The +excitement of the animals was intense. Several managed to get into the +water, and the muzzles they were wearing did not prevent some hot +fights. Two dogs which had contrived to slip their muzzles fought +themselves into an icy pool and were hauled out still locked in a +grapple. However, men and dogs enjoyed the exercise. A sounding gave a +depth of 2400 fathoms, with a blue mud bottom. The wind freshened from +the west early the next morning, and we started to skirt the northern +edge of the solid pack in an easterly direction under sail. We had +cleared the close pack by noon, but the outlook to the south gave small +promise of useful progress, and I was anxious now to make easting. We +went north-east under sail, and after making thirty-nine miles passed a +peculiar berg that we had been abreast of sixty hours earlier. +Killer-whales were becoming active around us, and I had to exercise +caution in allowing any one to leave the ship. These beasts have a +habit of locating a resting seal by looking over the edge of a floe and +then striking through the ice from below in search of a meal; they +would not distinguish between seal and man. + +The noon position on January 8 was lat. 70° 0´ S., long. 19° 09´ W. We +had made 66 miles in a north-easterly direction during the preceding +twenty-four hours. The course during the afternoon was east-south-east +through loose pack and open water, with deep hummocky floes to the +south. Several leads to the south came in view, but we held on the +easterly course. The floes were becoming looser, and there were +indications of open water ahead. The ship passed not fewer than five +hundred bergs that day, some of them very large. A dark water-sky +extended from east to south-south-east on the following morning, and +the _Endurance_, working through loose pack at half speed, reached open +water just before noon. A rampart berg 150 ft. high and a quarter of a +mile long lay at the edge of the loose pack, and we sailed over a +projecting foot of this berg into rolling ocean, stretching to the +horizon. The sea extended from a little to the west of south, round by +east to north-north-east, and its welcome promise was supported by a +deep water-sky to the south. I laid a course south by east in an +endeavour to get south and east of Ross’s farthest south (lat. 71° 30´ +S.). + +We kept the open water for a hundred miles, passing many bergs but +encountering no pack. Two very large whales, probably blue whales, came +up close to the ship, and we saw spouts in all directions. Open water +inside the pack in that latitude might have the appeal of sanctuary to +the whales, which are harried by man farther north. The run southward +in blue water, with a path clear ahead and the miles falling away +behind us, was a joyful experience after the long struggle through the +ice-lanes. But, like other good things, our spell of free movement had +to end. The _Endurance_ encountered the ice again at 1 a.m. on the +10th. Loose pack stretched to east and south, with open water to the +west and a good watersky. It consisted partly of heavy hummocky ice +showing evidence of great pressure, but contained also many thick, flat +floes evidently formed in some sheltered bay and never subjected to +pressure or to much motion. The swirl of the ship’s wash brought +diatomaceous scum from the sides of this ice. The water became thick +with _diatoms_ at 9 a.m., and I ordered a cast to be made. No bottom +was found at 210 fathoms. The _Endurance_ continued to advance +southward through loose pack that morning. We saw the spouts of +numerous whales and noticed some hundreds of crab-eaters lying on the +floes. White-rumped terns, Antarctic petrels and snow petrels were +numerous, and there was a colony of adelies on a low berg. A few +killer-whales, with their characteristic high dorsal fin, also came in +view. The noon position was lat. 72° 02´ S., long. 16° 07´ W., and the +run for the twenty-four hours had been 136 miles S. 6° E. + +We were now in the vicinity of the land discovered by Dr. W. S. Bruce, +leader of the _Scotia_ Expedition, in 1904, and named by him Coats’ +Land. Dr. Bruce encountered an ice-barrier in lat. 72° 18´ S., long. +10° W., stretching from north-east to south-west. He followed the +barrier-edge to the south-west for 150 miles and reached lat. 74° 1´ +S., long. 22° W. He saw no naked rock, but his description of rising +slopes of snow and ice, with shoaling water off the barrier-wall, +indicated clearly the presence of land. It was up those slopes, at a +point as far south as possible, that I planned to begin the march +across the Antarctic continent. All hands were watching now for the +coast described by Dr. Bruce, and at 5 p.m. the look-out reported an +appearance of land to the south-south-east. We could see a gentle +snow-slope rising to a height of about one thousand feet. It seemed to +be an island or a peninsula with a sound on its south side, and the +position of its most northerly point was about 72° 34´ S., 16° 40´ W. +The _Endurance_ was passing through heavy loose pack, and shortly +before midnight she broke into a lead of open sea along a barrier-edge. +A sounding within one cable’s length of the barrier-edge gave no bottom +with 210 fathoms of line. The barrier was 70 ft. high, with cliffs of +about 40 ft. The _Scotia_ must have passed this point when pushing to +Bruce’s farthest south on March 6, 1904, and I knew from the narrative +of that voyage, as well as from our own observation, that the coast +trended away to the south-west. The lead of open water continued along +the barrier-edge, and we pushed forward without delay. + +An easterly breeze brought cloud and falls of snow during the morning +of January 11. The barrier trended south-west by south, and we skirted +it for fifty miles until 11 am. The cliffs in the morning were 20 ft. +high, and by noon they had increased to 110 and 115 ft. The brow +apparently rose 20 to 30 ft. higher. We were forced away from the +barrier once for three hours by a line of very heavy pack-ice. +Otherwise there was open water along the edge, with high loose pack to +the west and north-west. We noticed a seal bobbing up and down in an +apparent effort to swallow a long silvery fish that projected at least +eighteen inches from its mouth. The noon position was lat. 73° 13´ S., +long. 20° 43´ W., and a sounding then gave 155 fathoms at a distance of +a mile from the barrier. The bottom consisted of large igneous pebbles. +The weather then became thick, and I held away to the westward, where +the sky had given indications of open water, until 7 p.m., when we laid +the ship alongside a floe in loose pack. Heavy snow was falling, and I +was anxious lest the westerly wind should bring the pack hard against +the coast and jam the ship. The _Nimrod_ had a narrow escape from a +misadventure of this kind in the Ross Sea early in 1908. + +We made a start again at 5 a.m. the next morning (January 12) in +overcast weather with mist and snow-showers, and four hours later broke +through loose pack-ice into open water. The view was obscured, but we +proceeded to the south-east and had gained 24 miles by noon, when three +soundings in lat. 74° 4´ S., long. 22° 48´ W. gave 95, 128, and 103 +fathoms, with a bottom of sand, pebbles, and mud. Clark got a good haul +of biological specimens in the dredge. The _Endurance_ was now close to +what appeared to be the barrier, with a heavy pack-ice foot containing +numerous bergs frozen in and possibly aground. The solid ice turned +away towards the north-west, and we followed the edge for 48 miles N. +60° W. to clear it. + + +[Illustration: Midnight off the New Land] + + +[Illustration: New Land: Caird Coast] + + +Now we were beyond the point reached by the _Scotia_, and the land +underlying the ice-sheet we were skirting was new. The northerly trend +was unexpected, and I began to suspect that we were really rounding a +huge ice-tongue attached to the true barrier-edge and extending +northward. Events confirmed this suspicion. We skirted the pack all +night, steering north-west; then went west by north till 4 a.m. and +round to south-west. The course at 8 a.m. on the 13th was +south-south-west. The barrier at midnight was low and distant, and at 8 +a.m. there was merely a narrow ice-foot about two hundred yards across +separating it from the open water. By noon there was only an occasional +shelf of ice-foot. The barrier in one place came with an easy sweep to +the sea. We could have landed stores there without difficulty. We made +a sounding 400 ft. off the barrier but got no bottom at 676 fathoms. At +4 p.m., still following the barrier to the south-west, we reached a +corner and found it receding abruptly to the south-east. Our way was +blocked by very heavy pack, and after spending two hours in a vain +search for an opening, we moored the _Endurance_ to a floe and banked +fires. During that day we passed two schools of seals, swimming fast to +the north-west and north-north-east. The animals swam in close order, +rising and blowing like porpoises, and we wondered if there was any +significance in their journey northward at that time of the year. +Several young emperor penguins had been captured and brought aboard on +the previous day. Two of them were still alive when the _Endurance_ was +brought alongside the floe. They promptly hopped on to the ice, turned +round, bowed gracefully three times, and retired to the far side of the +floe. There is something curiously human about the manners and +movements of these birds. I was concerned about the dogs. They were +losing condition and some of them appeared to be ailing. One dog had to +be shot on the 12th. We did not move the ship on the 14th. A breeze +came from the east in the evening, and under its influence the pack +began to work off shore. Before midnight the close ice that had barred +our way had opened and left a lane along the foot of the barrier. I +decided to wait for the morning, not wishing to risk getting caught +between the barrier and the pack in the event of the wind changing. A +sounding gave 1357 fathoms, with a bottom of glacial mud. The noon +observation showed the position to be lat. 74° 09´ S., long. 27° 16´ W. +We cast off at 6 a.m. on the 15th in hazy weather with a north-easterly +breeze, and proceeded along the barrier in open water. The course was +south-east for sixteen miles, then south-south-east. We now had solid +pack to windward, and at 3 p.m. we passed a bight probably ten miles +deep and running to the north-east. A similar bight appeared at 6 p.m. +These deep cuts strengthened the impression we had already formed that +for several days we had been rounding a great mass of ice, at least +fifty miles across, stretching out from the coast and possibly destined +to float away at some time in the future. The soundings—roughly, 200 +fathoms at the landward side and 1300 fathoms at the seaward +side—suggested that this mighty projection was afloat. Seals were +plentiful. We saw large numbers on the pack and several on low parts of +the barrier, where the slope was easy. The ship passed through large +schools of seals swimming from the barrier to the pack off shore. The +animals were splashing and blowing around the _Endurance_, and Hurley +made a record of this unusual sight with the kinematograph-camera. + +The barrier now stretched to the south-west again. Sail was set to a +fresh easterly breeze, but at 7 p.m. it had to be furled, the +_Endurance_ being held up by pack-ice against the barrier for an hour. +We took advantage of the pause to sound and got 268 fathoms with +glacial mud and pebbles. Then a small lane appeared ahead. We pushed +through at full speed, and by 8.30 p.m. the _Endurance_ was moving +southward with sails set in a fine expanse of open water. We continued +to skirt the barrier in clear weather. I was watching for possible +landing-places, though as a matter of fact I had no intention of +landing north of Vahsel Bay, in Luitpold Land, except under pressure of +necessity. Every mile gained towards the south meant a mile less +sledging when the time came for the overland journey. + +Shortly before midnight on the 15th we came abreast of the northern +edge of a great glacier or overflow from the inland ice, projecting +beyond the barrier into the sea. It was 400 or 500 ft. high, and at its +edge was a large mass of thick bay-ice. The bay formed by the northern +edge of this glacier would have made an excellent landing-place. A flat +ice-foot nearly three feet above sea-level looked like a natural quay. +From this ice-foot a snow-slope rose to the top of the barrier. The bay +was protected from the south-easterly wind and was open only to the +northerly wind, which is rare in those latitudes. A sounding gave 80 +fathoms, indicating that the glacier was aground. I named the place +Glacier Bay, and had reason later to remember it with regret. + +The _Endurance_ steamed along the front of this ice-flow for about +seventeen miles. The glacier showed huge crevasses and high pressure +ridges, and appeared to run back to ice-covered slopes or hills 1000 or +2000 ft. high. Some bays in its front were filled with smooth ice, +dotted with seals and penguins. At 4 a.m. on the 16th we reached the +edge of another huge glacial overflow from the ice-sheet. The ice +appeared to be coming over low hills and was heavily broken. The +cliff-face was 250 to 350 ft. high, and the ice surface two miles +inland was probably 2000 ft. high. The cliff-front showed a tide-mark +of about 6 ft., proving that it was not afloat. We steamed along the +front of this tremendous glacier for 40 miles and then, at 8.30 a.m., +we were held up by solid pack-ice, which appeared to be held by +stranded bergs. The depth, two cables off the barrier-cliff, was 134 +fathoms. No further advance was possible that day, but the noon +observation, which gave the position as lat. 76° 27´ S. long. 28° 51´ +W., showed that we had gained 124 miles to the south-west during the +preceding twenty-four hours. The afternoon was not without incident. +The bergs in the neighbourhood were very large, several being over 200 +ft. high, and some of them were firmly aground, showing tidemarks. A +barrier-berg bearing north-west appeared to be about 25 miles long. We +pushed the ship against a small banded berg, from which Wordie secured +several large lumps of biotite granite. While the _Endurance_ was being +held slow ahead against the berg a loud crack was heard, and the +geologist had to scramble aboard at once. The bands on this berg were +particularly well defined; they were due to morainic action in the +parent glacier. Later in the day the easterly wind increased to a gale. +Fragments of floe drifted past at about two knots, and the pack to +leeward began to break up fast. A low berg of shallow draught drove +down into the grinding pack and, smashing against two larger stranded +bergs, pushed them off the bank. The three went away together +pell-mell. We took shelter under the lee of a large stranded berg. + +A blizzard from the east-north-east prevented us leaving the shelter of +the berg on the following day (Sunday, January 17). The weather was +clear, but the gale drove dense clouds of snow off the land and +obscured the coast-line most of the time. “The land, seen when the air +is clear, appears higher than we thought it yesterday; probably it +rises to 3000 ft. above the head of the glacier. Caird Coast, as I have +named it, connects Coats’ Land, discovered by Bruce in 1904, with +Luitpold Land, discovered by Filchner in 1912. The northern part is +similar in character to Coats’ Land. It is fronted by an undulating +barrier, the van of a mighty ice-sheet that is being forced outward +from the high interior of the Antarctic Continent and apparently is +sweeping over low hills, plains, and shallow seas as the great Arctic +ice-sheet once pressed over Northern Europe. The barrier surface, seen +from the sea, is of a faint golden brown colour. It terminates usually +in cliffs ranging from 10 to 300 ft. in height, but in a very few +places sweeps down level with the sea. The cliffs are of dazzling +whiteness, with wonderful blue shadows. Far inland higher slopes can be +seen, appearing like dim blue or faint golden fleecy clouds. These +distant slopes have increased in nearness and clearness as we have come +to the south-west, while the barrier cliffs here are higher and +apparently firmer. We are now close to the junction with Luitpold Land. +At this southern end of the Caird Coast the ice-sheet, undulating over +the hidden and imprisoned land, is bursting down a steep slope in +tremendous glaciers, bristling with ridges and spikes of ice and seamed +by thousands of crevasses. Along the whole length of the coast we have +seen no bare land or rock. Not as much as a solitary nunatak has +appeared to relieve the surface of ice and snow. But the upward sweep +of the ice-slopes towards the horizon and the ridges, terraces, and +crevasses that appear as the ice approaches the sea tell of the hills +and valleys that lie below.” + + +[Illustration: Close Under the Barrier] + + +[Illustration: Trying to cut a way for the Ship through the Ice to a +Lead ahead (February 14, 1915)] + + +The _Endurance_ lay under the lee of the stranded berg until 7 a.m. on +January 18. The gale had moderated by that time, and we proceeded under +sail to the south-west through a lane that had opened along the +glacier-front. We skirted the glacier till 9.30 a.m., when it ended in +two bays, open to the north-west but sheltered by stranded bergs to the +west. The coast beyond trended south-south-west with a gentle +land-slope. + +“The pack now forces us to go west 14 miles, when we break through a +long line of heavy brash mixed with large lumps and ‘growlers.’ We do +this under the fore-topsail only, the engines being stopped to protect +the propeller. This takes us into open water, where we make S. 50° W. +for 24 miles. Then we again encounter pack which forces us to the +north-west for 10 miles, when we are brought up by heavy snow-lumps, +brash, and large, loose floes. The character of the pack shows change. +The floes are very thick and are covered by deep snow. The brash +between the floes is so thick and heavy that we cannot push through +without a great expenditure of power, and then for a short distance +only. We therefore lie to for a while to see if the pack opens at all +when this north-east wind ceases.” + +Our position on the morning of the 19th was lat. 76° 34´ S., long. 31° +30´ W. The weather was good, but no advance could be made. The ice had +closed around the ship during the night, and no water could be seen in +any direction from the deck. A few lanes were in sight from the +mast-head. We sounded in 312 fathoms, finding mud, sand, and pebbles. +The land showed faintly to the east. We waited for the conditions to +improve, and the scientists took the opportunity to dredge for +biological and geological specimens. During the night a moderate +north-easterly gale sprang up, and a survey of the position on the 20th +showed that the ship was firmly beset. The ice was packed heavily and +firmly all round the _Endurance_ in every direction as far as the eye +could reach from the masthead. There was nothing to be done till the +conditions changed, and we waited through that day and the succeeding +days with increasing anxiety. The east-north-easterly gale that had +forced us to take shelter behind the stranded berg on the 16th had +veered later to the north-east, and it continued with varying intensity +until the 22nd. Apparently this wind had crowded the ice into the bight +of the Weddell Sea, and the ship was now drifting south-west with the +floes which had enclosed it. A slight movement of the ice round the +ship caused the rudder to become dangerously jammed on the 21st, and we +had to cut away the ice with ice-chisels, heavy pieces of iron with +6-ft. wooden hafts. We kept steam up in readiness for a move if the +opportunity offered, and the engines running full speed ahead helped to +clear the rudder. Land was in sight to the east and south about sixteen +miles distant on the 22nd. The land-ice seemed to be faced with +ice-cliffs at most points, but here and there slopes ran down to +sea-level. Large crevassed areas in terraces parallel with the coast +showed where the ice was moving down over foot-hills. The inland ice +appeared for the most part to be undulating, smooth, and easy to march +over, but many crevasses might have been concealed from us by the +surface snow or by the absence of shadows. I thought that the land +probably rose to a height of 5000 ft. forty or fifty miles inland. The +accurate estimation of heights and distances in the Antarctic is always +difficult, owing to the clear air, the confusing monotony of colouring, +and the deceptive effect of mirage and refraction. The land appeared to +increase in height to the southward, where we saw a line of land or +barrier that must have been seventy miles, and possibly was even more +distant. + +Sunday, January 24, was a clear sunny day, with gentle easterly and +southerly breezes. No open water could be seen from the mast-head, but +there was a slight water-sky to the west and north-west. “This is the +first time for ten days that the wind has varied from north-east and +east, and on five of these days it has risen to a gale. Evidently the +ice has become firmly packed in this quarter, and we must wait +patiently till a southerly gale occurs or currents open the ice. We are +drifting slowly. The position to-day was 76° 49´ S., 33° 51´ W. Worsley +and James, working on the floe with a Kew magnetometer, found the +variation to be six degrees west.” Just before midnight a crack +developed in the ice five yards wide and a mile long, fifty yards ahead +of the ship. The crack had widened to a quarter of a mile by 10 a.m. on +the 25th, and for three hours we tried to force the ship into this +opening with engines at full speed ahead and all sails set. The sole +effect was to wash some ice away astern and clear the rudder, and after +convincing myself that the ship was firmly held I abandoned the +attempt. Later in the day Crean and two other men were over the side on +a stage chipping at a large piece of ice that had got under the ship +and appeared to be impeding her movement. The ice broke away suddenly, +shot upward and overturned, pinning Crean between the stage and the +haft of the heavy 11-ft. iron pincher. He was in danger for a few +moments, but we got him clear, suffering merely from a few bad bruises. +The thick iron bar had been bent against him to an angle of 45 degrees. + +The days that followed were uneventful. Moderate breezes from the east +and south-west had no apparent effect upon the ice, and the ship +remained firmly held. On the 27th, the tenth day of inactivity, I +decided to let the fires out. We had been burning half a ton of coal a +day to keep steam in the boilers, and as the bunkers now contained only +67 tons, representing thirty-three days’ steaming, we could not afford +to continue this expenditure of fuel. Land still showed to the east and +south when the horizon was clear. The biologist was securing some +interesting specimens with the hand-dredge at various depths. A +sounding on the 26th gave 360 fathoms, and another on the 29th 449 +fathoms. The drift was to the west, and an observation on the 31st +(Sunday) showed that the ship had made eight miles during the week. +James and Hudson rigged the wireless in the hope of hearing the monthly +message from the Falkland Islands. This message would be due about 3.20 +a.m. on the following morning, but James was doubtful about hearing +anything with our small apparatus at a distance of 1630 miles from the +dispatching station. We heard nothing, as a matter of fact, and later +efforts were similarly unsuccessful. The conditions would have been +difficult even for a station of high power. + +We were accumulating gradually a stock of seal meat during these days +of waiting. Fresh meat for the dogs was needed, and seal-steaks and +liver made a very welcome change from the ship’s rations aboard the +_Endurance_. Four crab-eaters and three Weddells, over a ton of meat +for dog and man, fell to our guns on February 2, and all hands were +occupied most of the day getting the carcasses back to the ship over +the rough ice. We rigged three sledges for man-haulage and brought the +seals about two miles, the sledging parties being guided among the +ridges and pools by semaphore from the crow’s-nest. Two more seals were +sighted on the far side of a big pool, but I did not allow them to be +pursued. Some of the ice was in a treacherous condition, with thin +films hiding cracks and pools, and I did not wish to risk an accident. + +A crack about four miles long opened in the floe to the stern of the +ship on the 3rd. The narrow lane in front was still open, but the +prevailing light breezes did not seem likely to produce any useful +movement in the ice. Early on the morning of the 5th a north-easterly +gale sprang up, bringing overcast skies and thick snow. Soon the pack +was opening and closing without much loosening effect. At noon the ship +gave a sudden start and heeled over three degrees. Immediately +afterwards a crack ran from the bows to the lead ahead and another to +the lead astern. I thought it might be possible to reeve the ship +through one of these leads towards open water, but we could see no +water through the thick snow; and before steam was raised, and while +the view was still obscured, the pack closed again. The northerly gale +had given place to light westerly breezes on the 6th. The pack seemed +to be more solid than ever. It stretched almost unbroken to the horizon +in every direction, and the situation was made worse by very low +temperatures in succeeding days. The temperature was down to zero on +the night of the 7th and was two degrees below zero on the 8th. This +cold spell in midsummer was most unfortunate from our point of view, +since it cemented the pack and tightened the grip of the ice upon the +ship. The slow drift to the south-west continued, and we caught +occasional glimpses of distant uplands on the eastern horizon. The +position on the 7th was lat. 76° 57´ S., long. 35° 7´ W. Soundings on +the 6th and 8th found glacial mud at 630 and 529 fathoms. + +The _Endurance_ was lying in a pool covered by young ice on the 9th. +The solid floes had loosened their grip on the ship itself, but they +were packed tightly all around. The weather was foggy. We felt a slight +northerly swell coming through the pack, and the movement gave rise to +hope that there was open water near to us. At 11 a.m. a long crack +developed in the pack, running east and west as far as we could see +through the fog, and I ordered steam to be raised in the hope of being +able to break away into this lead. The effort failed. We could break +the young ice in the pool, but the pack defied us. The attempt was +renewed on the 11th, a fine clear day with blue sky. The temperature +was still low, –2° Fahr. at midnight. After breaking through some young +ice the _Endurance_ became jammed against soft floe. The engines +running full speed astern produced no effect until all hands joined in +“sallying” ship. The dog-kennels amidships made it necessary for the +people to gather aft, where they rushed from side to side in a mass in +the confined space around the wheel. This was a ludicrous affair, the +men falling over one another amid shouts of laughter without producing +much effect on the ship. She remained fast, while all hands jumped at +the word of command, but finally slid off when the men were stamping +hard at the double. We were now in a position to take advantage of any +opening that might appear. The ice was firm around us, and as there +seemed small chance of making a move that day, I had the motor crawler +and warper put out on the floe for a trial run. The motor worked most +successfully, running at about six miles an hour over slabs and ridges +of ice hidden by a foot or two of soft snow. The surface was worse than +we would expect to face on land or barrier-ice. The motor warped itself +back on a 500-fathom steel wire and was taken aboard again. “From the +mast-head the mirage is continually giving us false alarms. Everything +wears an aspect of unreality. Icebergs hang upside down in the sky; the +land appears as layers of silvery or golden cloud. Cloud-banks look +like land, icebergs masquerade as islands or nunataks, and the distant +barrier to the south is thrown into view, although it really is outside +our range of vision. Worst of all is the deceptive appearance of open +water, caused by the refraction of distant water, or by the sun shining +at an angle on a field of smooth snow or the face of ice-cliffs below +the horizon.” + +The second half of February produced no important change in our +situation. Early in the morning of the 14th I ordered a good head of +steam on the engines and sent all hands on to the floe with +ice-chisels, prickers, saws, and picks. We worked all day and +throughout most of the next day in a strenuous effort to get the ship +into the lead ahead. The men cut away the young ice before the bows and +pulled it aside with great energy. After twenty-four hours’ labour we +had got the ship a third of the way to the lead. But about 400 yards of +heavy ice, including old rafted pack, still separated the _Endurance_ +from the water, and reluctantly I had to admit that further effort was +useless. Every opening we made froze up again quickly owing to the +unseasonably low temperature. The young ice was elastic and prevented +the ship delivering a strong, splitting blow to the floe, while at the +same time it held the older ice against any movement. The abandonment +of the attack was a great disappointment to all hands. The men had +worked long hours without thought of rest, and they deserved success. +But the task was beyond our powers. I had not abandoned hope of getting +clear, but was counting now on the possibility of having to spend a +winter in the inhospitable arms of the pack. The sun, which had been +above the horizon for two months, set at midnight on the 17th, and, +although it would not disappear until April, its slanting rays warned +us of the approach of winter. Pools and leads appeared occasionally, +but they froze over very quickly. + +We continued to accumulate a supply of seal meat and blubber, and the +excursions across the floes to shoot and bring in the seals provided +welcome exercise for all hands. Three crab-eater cows shot on the 21st +were not accompanied by a bull, and blood was to be seen about the hole +from which they had crawled. We surmised that the bull had become the +prey of one of the killer-whales. These aggressive creatures were to be +seen often in the lanes and pools, and we were always distrustful of +their ability or willingness to discriminate between seal and man. A +lizard-like head would show while the killer gazed along the floe with +wicked eyes. Then the brute would dive, to come up a few moments later, +perhaps, under some unfortunate seal reposing on the ice. Worsley +examined a spot where a killer had smashed a hole 8 ft. by 12 ft. in +12½ in. of hard ice, covered by 2½ in. of snow. Big blocks of ice had +been tossed on to the floe surface. Wordie, engaged in measuring the +thickness of young ice, went through to his waist one day just as a +killer rose to blow in the adjacent lead. His companions pulled him out +hurriedly. + +On the 22nd the _Endurance_ reached the farthest south point of her +drift, touching the 77th parallel of latitude in long. 35° W. The +summer had gone; indeed the summer had scarcely been with us at all. +The temperatures were low day and night, and the pack was freezing +solidly around the ship. The thermometer recorded 10° below zero Fahr. +at 2 a.m. on the 22nd. Some hours earlier we had watched a wonderful +golden mist to the southward, where the rays of the declining sun shone +through vapour rising from the ice. All normal standards of perspective +vanish under such conditions, and the low ridges of the pack, with mist +lying between them, gave the illusion of a wilderness of mountain-peaks +like the Bernese Oberland. I could not doubt now that the _Endurance_ +was confined for the winter. Gentle breezes from the east, south, and +south-west did not disturb the hardening floes. The seals were +disappearing and the birds were leaving us. The land showed still in +fair weather on the distant horizon, but it was beyond our reach now, +and regrets for havens that lay behind us were vain. + +“We must wait for the spring, which may bring us better fortune. If I +had guessed a month ago that the ice would grip us here, I would have +established our base at one of the landing-places at the great glacier. +But there seemed no reason to anticipate then that the fates would +prove unkind. This calm weather with intense cold in a summer month is +surely exceptional. My chief anxiety is the drift. Where will the +vagrant winds and currents carry the ship during the long winter months +that are ahead of us? We will go west, no doubt, but how far? And will +it be possible to break out of the pack early in the spring and reach +Vahsel Bay or some other suitable landing-place? These are momentous +questions for us.” + +On February 24 we ceased to observe ship routine, and the _Endurance_ +became a winter station. All hands were on duty during the day and +slept at night, except a watchman who looked after the dogs and watched +for any sign of movement in the ice. We cleared a space of 10 ft. by 20 +ft. round the rudder and propeller, sawing through ice 2 ft. thick, and +lifting the blocks with a pair of tongs made by the carpenter. Crean +used the blocks to make an ice-house for the dog Sally, which had added +a little litter of pups to the strength of the expedition. Seals +appeared occasionally, and we killed all that came within our reach. +They represented fuel as well as food for men and dogs. Orders were +given for the after-hold to be cleared and the stores checked, so that +we might know exactly how we stood for a siege by an Antarctic winter. +The dogs went off the ship on the following day. Their kennels were +placed on the floe along the length of a wire rope to which the leashes +were fastened. The dogs seemed heartily glad to leave the ship, and +yelped loudly and joyously as they were moved to their new quarters. We +had begun the training of teams, and already there was keen rivalry +between the drivers. The flat floes and frozen leads in the +neighbourhood of the ship made excellent training grounds. Hockey and +football on the floe were our chief recreations, and all hands joined +in many a strenuous game. + + +[Illustration: The Night Watchman’s Story] + + +[Illustration: The Dying Sun: The _Endurance_ firmly frozen in] + + +Worsley took a party to the floe on the 26th and started building a +line of igloos and “dogloos” round the ship. These little buildings +were constructed, Esquimaux fashion, of big blocks of ice, with thin +sheets for the roofs. Boards or frozen sealskins were placed over all, +snow was piled on top and pressed into the joints, and then water was +thrown over the structures to make everything firm. The ice was packed +down flat inside and covered with snow for the dogs, which preferred, +however, to sleep outside except when the weather was extraordinarily +severe. The tethering of the dogs was a simple matter. The end of a +chain was buried about eight inches in the snow, some fragments of ice +were pressed around it, and a little water poured over all. The icy +breath of the Antarctic cemented it in a few moments. Four dogs which +had been ailing were shot. Some of the dogs were suffering badly from +worms, and the remedies at our disposal, unfortunately, were not +effective. All the fit dogs were being exercised in the sledges, and +they took to the work with enthusiasm. Sometimes their eagerness to be +off and away produced laughable results, but the drivers learned to be +alert. The wireless apparatus was still rigged, but we listened in vain +for the Saturday-night time signals from New Year Island, ordered for +our benefit by the Argentine Government. On Sunday the 28th, Hudson +waited at 2 a.m. for the Port Stanley monthly signals, but could hear +nothing. Evidently the distances were too great for our small plant. + + + + +CHAPTER III +WINTER MONTHS + + +The month of March opened with a severe north-easterly gale. Five +Weddells and two crab-eaters were shot on the floe during the morning +of March 1, and the wind, with fine drifting snow, sprang up while the +carcasses were being brought in by sledging parties. The men were +compelled to abandon some of the blubber and meat, and they had a +struggle to get back to the ship over the rough ice in the teeth of the +storm. This gale continued until the 3rd, and all hands were employed +clearing out the ’tween decks, which was to be converted into a living- +and dining-room for officers and scientists. The carpenter erected in +this room the stove that had been intended for use in the shore hut, +and the quarters were made very snug. The dogs appeared indifferent to +the blizzard. They emerged occasionally from the drift to shake +themselves and bark, but were content most of the time to lie, curled +into tight balls, under the snow. One of the old dogs, Saint, died on +the night of the 2nd, and the doctors reported that the cause of death +was appendicitis. + +When the gale cleared we found that the pack had been driven in from +the north-east and was now more firmly consolidated than before. A new +berg, probably fifteen miles in length, had appeared on the northern +horizon. The bergs within our circle of vision had all become familiar +objects, and we had names for some of them. Apparently they were all +drifting with the pack. The sighting of a new berg was of more than +passing interest, since in that comparatively shallow sea it would be +possible for a big berg to become stranded. Then the island of ice +would be a centre of tremendous pressure and disturbance amid the +drifting pack. We had seen something already of the smashing effect of +a contest between berg and floe, and had no wish to have the helpless +_Endurance_ involved in such a battle of giants. During the 3rd the +seal meat and blubber was re-stowed on hummocks around the ship. The +frozen masses had been sinking into the floe. Ice, though hard and +solid to the touch, is never firm against heavy weights. An article +left on the floe for any length of time is likely to sink into the +surface-ice. Then the salt water will percolate through and the article +will become frozen into the body of the floe. + +Clear weather followed the gale, and we had a series of mock suns and +parhelia. Minus temperatures were the rule, 21° below zero Fahr. being +recorded on the 6th. We made mattresses for the dogs by stuffing sacks +with straw and rubbish, and most of the animals were glad to receive +this furnishing in their kennels. Some of them had suffered through the +snow melting with the heat of their bodies and then freezing solid. The +scientific members of the expedition were all busy by this time. The +meteorologist had got his recording station, containing anemometer, +barograph, and thermograph, rigged over the stern. The geologist was +making the best of what to him was an unhappy situation; but was not +altogether without material. The pebbles found in the penguins were +often of considerable interest, and some fragments of rock were brought +up from the sea floor with the sounding-lead and the drag-net. On the +7th Wordie and Worsley found some small pebbles, a piece of moss, a +perfect bivalve shell, and some dust on a berg fragment, and brought +their treasure-trove proudly to the ship. Clark was using the drag-net +frequently in the leads and secured good hauls of _plankton_, with +occasional specimens of greater scientific interest. Seals were not +plentiful, but our store of meat and blubber grew gradually. All hands +ate seal meat with relish and would not have cared to become dependent +on the ship’s tinned meat. We preferred the crab-eater to the Weddell, +which is a very sluggish beast. The crab-eater seemed cleaner and +healthier. The killer-whales were still with us. On the 8th we examined +a spot where the floe-ice had been smashed up by a blow from beneath, +delivered presumably by a large whale in search of a breathing-place. +The force that had been exercised was astonishing. Slabs of ice 3 ft. +thick, and weighing tons, had been tented upwards over a circular area +with a diameter of about 25 ft., and cracks radiated outwards for more +than 20 ft. + +The quarters in the ’tween decks were completed by the 10th, and the +men took possession of the cubicles that had been built. The largest +cubicle contained Macklin, McIlroy, Hurley, and Hussey and it was named +“The Billabong.” Clark and Wordie lived opposite in a room called “Auld +Reekie.” Next came the abode of “The Nuts” or engineers, followed by +“The Sailors’ Rest,” inhabited by Cheetham and McNeish. “The Anchorage” +and “The Fumarole” were on the other side. The new quarters became +known as “The Ritz,” and meals were served there instead of in the ward +room. Breakfast was at 9 a.m., lunch at 1 p.m., tea at 4 p.m., and +dinner at 6 p.m. Wild, Marston, Crean, and Worsley established +themselves in cubicles in the wardroom, and by the middle of the month +all hands had settled down to the winter routine. I lived alone aft. + +Worsley, Hurley, and Wordie made a journey to a big berg, called by us +the Rampart Berg, on the 11th. The distance out was 7½ miles, and the +party covered a total distance of about 17 miles. Hurley took some +photographs and Wordie came back rejoicing with a little dust and some +moss. + +“Within a radius of one mile round the berg there is thin young ice, +strong enough to march over with care,” wrote Worsley. “The area of +dangerous pressure, as regards a ship, does not seem to extend for more +than a quarter of a mile from the berg. Here there are cracks and +constant slight movement, which becomes exciting to the traveller when +he feels a piece of ice gradually upending beneath his feet. Close to +the berg the pressure makes all sorts of quaint noises. We heard +tapping as from a hammer, grunts, groans and squeaks, electric trams +running, birds singing, kettles boiling noisily, and an occasional +swish as a large piece of ice, released from pressure, suddenly jumped +or turned over. We noticed all sorts of quaint effects, such as huge +bubbles or domes of ice, 40 ft. across and 4 or 5 ft. high. Large +sinuous pancake-sheets were spread over the floe in places, and in one +spot we counted five such sheets, each about 2½ in. thick, imbricated +under one another. They look as though made of barley-sugar and are +very slippery.” + +The noon position on the 14th was lat. 76° 54´ S., long. 36° 10´ W. The +land was visible faintly to the south-east, distant about 36 miles. A +few small leads could be seen from the ship, but the ice was firm in +our neighbourhood. The drift of the _Endurance_ was still towards the +north-west. + + +[Illustration: The Rampart Berg] + + +[Illustration: A Bi-Weekly Performance: Scrubbing out the “Ritz”] + + +I had the boilers blown down on the 15th, and the consumption of 2 cwt. +of coal per day to keep the boilers from freezing then ceased. The +bunkers still contained 52 tons of coal, and the daily consumption in +the stoves was about 2½ cwt. There would not be much coal left for +steaming purposes in the spring, but I anticipated eking out the supply +with blubber. A moderate gale from the north-east on the 17th brought +fine, penetrating snow. The weather cleared in the evening, and a +beautiful crimson sunset held our eyes. At the same time the ice-cliffs +of the land were thrown up in the sky by mirage, with an apparent +reflection in open water, though the land itself could not be seen +definitely. The effect was repeated in an exaggerated form on the +following day, when the ice-cliffs were thrown up above the horizon in +double and treble parallel lines, some inverted. The mirage was due +probably to lanes of open water near the land. The water would be about +30° warmer than the air and would cause warmed strata to ascend. A +sounding gave 606 fathoms, with a bottom of glacial mud. Six days +later, on the 24th, the depth was 419 fathoms. We were drifting +steadily, and the constant movement, coupled with the appearance of +lanes near the land, convinced me that we must stay by the ship till +she got clear. I had considered the possibility of making a landing +across the ice in the spring, but the hazards of such an undertaking +would be too great. + +The training of the dogs in sledge teams was making progress. The +orders used by the drivers were “Mush” (Go on), “Gee” (Right), “Haw” +(Left), and “Whoa” (Stop). These are the words that the Canadian +drivers long ago adopted, borrowing them originally from England. There +were many fights at first, until the dogs learned their positions and +their duties, but as days passed drivers and teams became efficient. +Each team had its leader, and efficiency depended largely on the +willingness and ability of this dog to punish skulking and +disobedience. We learned not to interfere unless the disciplinary +measures threatened to have a fatal termination. The drivers could sit +on the sledge and jog along at ease if they chose. But the prevailing +minus temperatures made riding unpopular, and the men preferred usually +to run or walk alongside the teams. We were still losing dogs through +sickness, due to stomach and intestinal worms. + +Dredging for specimens at various depths was one of the duties during +these days. The dredge and several hundred fathoms of wire line made a +heavy load, far beyond the unaided strength of the scientists. On the +23rd, for example, we put down a 2 ft. dredge and 650 fathoms of wire. +The dredge was hove in four hours later and brought much glacial mud, +several pebbles and rock fragments, three sponges, some worms, +_brachiapods_, and _foraminiferæ_. The mud was troublesome. It was +heavy to lift, and as it froze rapidly when brought to the surface, the +recovery of the specimens embedded in it was difficult. A haul made on +the 26th brought a prize for the geologist in the form of a lump of +sandstone weighing 75 lbs., a piece of fossiliferous limestone, a +fragment of striated shale, sandstone-grit, and some pebbles. Hauling +in the dredge by hand was severe work, and on the 24th we used the +Girling tractor-motor, which brought in 500 fathoms of line in thirty +minutes, including stops. One stop was due to water having run over the +friction gear and frozen. It was a day or two later that we heard a +great yell from the floe and found Clark dancing about and shouting +Scottish war-cries. He had secured his first complete specimen of an +Antarctic fish, apparently a new species. + +Mirages were frequent. Barrier-cliffs appeared all around us on the +29th, even in places where we knew there was deep water. + +“Bergs and pack are thrown up in the sky and distorted into the most +fantastic shapes. They climb, trembling, upwards, spreading out into +long lines at different levels, then contract and fall down, leaving +nothing but an uncertain, wavering smudge which comes and goes. +Presently the smudge swells and grows, taking shape until it presents +the perfect inverted reflection of a berg on the horizon, the shadow +hovering over the substance. More smudges appear at different points on +the horizon. These spread out into long lines till they meet, and we +are girdled by lines of shining snow-cliffs, laved at their bases by +waters of illusion in which they appear to be faithfully reflected. So +the shadows come and go silently, melting away finally as the sun +declines to the west. We seem to be drifting helplessly in a strange +world of unreality. It is reassuring to feel the ship beneath one’s +feet and to look down at the familiar line of kennels and igloos on the +solid floe.” + +The floe was not so solid as it appeared. We had reminders occasionally +that the greedy sea was very close, and that the floe was but a +treacherous friend, which might open suddenly beneath us. Towards the +end of the month I had our store of seal meat and blubber brought +aboard. The depth as recorded by a sounding on the last day of March +was 256 fathoms. The continuous shoaling from 606 fathoms in a drift of +39 miles N. 26° W. in thirty days was interesting. The sea shoaled as +we went north, either to east or to west, and the fact suggested that +the contour-lines ran east and west, roughly. Our total drift between +January 19, when the ship was frozen in, and March 31, a period of +seventy-one days, had been 95 miles in a N. 80° W. direction. The +icebergs around us had not changed their relative positions. + +The sun sank lower in the sky, the temperatures became lower, and the +_Endurance_ felt the grip of the icy hand of winter. Two north-easterly +gales in the early part of April assisted to consolidate the pack. The +young ice was thickening rapidly, and though leads were visible +occasionally from the ship, no opening of a considerable size appeared +in our neighbourhood. In the early morning of April 1 we listened again +for the wireless signals from Port Stanley. The crew had lashed three +20-ft. rickers to the mast-heads in order to increase the spread of our +aerials, but still we failed to hear anything. The rickers had to come +down subsequently, since we found that the gear could not carry the +accumulating weight of rime. Soundings proved that the sea continued to +shoal as the _Endurance_ drifted to the north-west. The depth on April +2 was 262 fathoms, with a bottom of glacial mud. Four weeks later a +sounding gave 172 fathoms. The presence of grit in the bottom samples +towards the end of the month suggested that we were approaching land +again. + +The month was not uneventful. During the night of the 3rd we heard the +ice grinding to the eastward, and in the morning we saw that young ice +was rafted 8 to 10 ft. high in places. This was the first murmur of the +danger that was to reach menacing proportions in later months. The ice +was heard grinding and creaking during the 4th and the ship vibrated +slightly. The movement of the floe was sufficiently pronounced to +interfere with the magnetic work. I gave orders that accumulations of +snow, ice, and rubbish alongside the _Endurance_ should be shovelled +away, so that in case of pressure there would be no weight against the +topsides to check the ship rising above the ice. All hands were busy +with pick and shovel during the day, and moved many tons of material. +Again, on the 9th, there were signs of pressure. Young ice was piled up +to a height of 11 ft. astern of the ship, and the old floe was cracked +in places. The movement was not serious, but I realized that it might +be the beginning of trouble for the Expedition. We brought certain +stores aboard and provided space on deck for the dogs in case they had +to be removed from the floe at short notice. We had run a 500-fathom +steel wire round the ship, snow-huts, and kennels, with a loop out to +the lead ahead, where the dredge was used. This wire was supported on +ice-pillars, and it served as a guide in bad weather when the view was +obscured by driving snow and a man might have lost himself altogether. +I had this wire cut in five places, since otherwise it might have been +dragged across our section of the floe with damaging effect in the +event of the ice splitting suddenly. + +The dogs had been divided into six teams of nine dogs each. Wild, +Crean, Macklin, McIlroy, Marston, and Hurley each had charge of a team, +and were fully responsible for the exercising, training, and feeding of +their own dogs. They called in one of the surgeons when an animal was +sick. We were still losing some dogs through worms, and it was +unfortunate that the doctors had not the proper remedies. Worm-powders +were to have been provided by the expert Canadian dog-driver I had +engaged before sailing for the south, and when this man did not join +the Expedition the matter was overlooked. We had fifty-four dogs and +eight pups early in April, but several were ailing, and the number of +mature dogs was reduced to fifty by the end of the month. Our store of +seal meat amounted now to about 5000 lbs., and I calculated that we had +enough meat and blubber to feed the dogs for ninety days without +trenching upon the sledging rations. The teams were working well, often +with heavy loads. The biggest dog was Hercules, who tipped the beam at +86 lbs. Samson was 11 lbs. lighter, but he justified his name one day +by starting off at a smart pace with a sledge carrying 200 lbs. of +blubber and a driver. + + +[Illustration: Pylon Avenue] + + +[Illustration: The Long, Long Night] + + +A new berg that was going to give us some cause for anxiety made its +appearance on the 14th. It was a big berg, and we noticed as it lay on +the north-west horizon that it had a hummocky, crevassed appearance at +the east end. During the day this berg increased its apparent altitude +and changed its bearing slightly. Evidently it was aground and was +holding its position against the drifting pack. A sounding at 11 a.m. +gave 197 fathoms, with a hard stony or rocky bottom. During the next +twenty-four hours the _Endurance_ moved steadily towards the crevassed +berg, which doubled its altitude in that time. We could see from the +mast-head that the pack was piling and rafting against the mass of ice, +and it was easy to imagine what would be the fate of the ship if she +entered the area of disturbance. She would be crushed like an egg-shell +amid the shattering masses. + +Worsley was in the crow’s-nest on the evening of the 15th, watching for +signs of land to the westward, and he reported an interesting +phenomenon. The sun set amid a glow of prismatic colours on a line of +clouds just above the horizon. A minute later Worsley saw a golden +glow, which expanded as he watched it, and presently the sun appeared +again and rose a semi-diameter clear above the western horizon. He +hailed Crean, who from a position on the floe 90 ft. below the +crow’s-nest also saw the re-born sun. A quarter of an hour later from +the deck Worsley saw the sun set a second time. This strange phenomenon +was due to mirage or refraction. We attributed it to an ice-crack to +the westward, where the band of open water had heated a stratum of air. + +The drift of the pack was not constant, and during the succeeding days +the crevassed berg alternately advanced and receded as the _Endurance_ +moved with the floe. On Sunday, April 18, it was only seven miles +distant from the ship. + +“It is a large berg, about three-quarters of a mile long on the side +presented to us and probably well over 200 ft. high. It is heavily +crevassed, as though it once formed the serac portion of a glacier. Two +specially wide and deep chasms across it from south-east to north-west +give it the appearance of having broken its back on the shoal-ground. +Huge masses of pressure-ice are piled against its cliffs to a height of +about 60 ft., showing the stupendous force that is being brought to +bear upon it by the drifting pack. The berg must be very firmly +aground. We swing the arrow on the current-meter frequently and watch +with keen attention to see where it will come to rest. Will it point +straight for the berg, showing that our drift is in that direction? It +swings slowly round. It points to the north-east end of the berg, then +shifts slowly to the centre and seems to stop; but it moves again and +swings 20 degrees clear of our enemy to the south-west.... We notice +that two familiar bergs, the Rampart Berg and the Peak Berg, have moved +away from the ship. Probably they also have grounded or dragged on the +shoal.” + +A strong drift to the westward during the night of the 18th relieved +our anxiety by carrying the _Endurance_ to the lee of the crevassed +berg, which passed out of our range of vision before the end of the +month. + +We said good-bye to the sun on May 1 and entered the period of twilight +that would be followed by the darkness of midwinter. The sun by the aid +of refraction just cleared the horizon at noon and set shortly before 2 +p.m. A fine aurora in the evening was dimmed by the full moon, which +had risen on April 27 and would not set again until May 6. The +disappearance of the sun is apt to be a depressing event in the polar +regions, where the long months of darkness involve mental as well as +physical strain. But the _Endurance’s_ company refused to abandon their +customary cheerfulness, and a concert in the evening made the Ritz a +scene of noisy merriment, in strange contrast with the cold, silent +world that lay outside. “One feels our helplessness as the long winter +night closes upon us. By this time, if fortune had smiled upon the +Expedition, we would have been comfortably and securely established in +a shore base, with depots laid to the south and plans made for the long +march in the spring and summer. Where will we make a landing now? It is +not easy to forecast the future. The ice may open in the spring, but by +that time we will be far to the north-west. I do not think we shall be +able to work back to Vahsel Bay. There are possible landing-places on +the western coast of the Weddell Sea, but can we reach any suitable +spot early enough to attempt the overland journey next year? Time alone +will tell. I do not think any member of the Expedition is disheartened +by our disappointment. All hands are cheery and busy, and will do their +best when the time for action comes. In the meantime we must wait.” + +The ship’s position on Sunday, May 2, was lat. 75° 23´ S., long. 42° +14´ W. The temperature at noon was 5° below zero Fahr., and the sky was +overcast. A seal was sighted from the mast-head at lunch-time, and five +men, with two dog teams, set off after the prize. They had an +uncomfortable journey outward in the dim, diffused light, which cast no +shadows and so gave no warning of irregularities in the white surface. +It is a strange sensation to be running along on apparently smooth snow +and to fall suddenly into an unseen hollow, or bump against a ridge. + +“After going out three miles to the eastward,” wrote Worsley in +describing this seal-hunt, “we range up and down but find nothing, +until from a hummock I fancy I see something apparently a mile away, +but probably little more than half that distance. I ran for it, found +the seal, and with a shout brought up the others at the double. The +seal was a big Weddell, over 10 ft. long and weighing more than 800 +lbs. But Soldier, one of the team leaders, went for its throat without +a moment’s hesitation, and we had to beat off the dogs before we could +shoot the seal. We caught five or six gallons of blood in a tin for the +dogs, and let the teams have a drink of fresh blood from the seal. The +light was worse than ever on our return, and we arrived back in the +dark. Sir Ernest met us with a lantern and guided us into the lead +astern and thence to the ship.” + +This was the first seal we had secured since March 19, and the meat and +blubber made a welcome addition to the stores. + +Three emperor penguins made their appearance in a lead west of the ship +on May 3. They pushed their heads through the young ice while two of +the men were standing by the lead. The men imitated the emperor’s call +and walked slowly, penguin fashion, away from the lead. The birds in +succession made a magnificent leap 3 ft. clear from the water on to the +young ice. Thence they tobogganed to the bank and followed the men away +from the lead. Their retreat was soon cut off by a line of men. + +“We walk up to them, talking loudly and assuming a threatening aspect. +Notwithstanding our bad manners, the three birds turn towards us, +bowing ceremoniously. Then, after a closer inspection, they conclude +that we are undesirable acquaintances and make off across the floe. We +head them off and finally shepherd them close to the ship, where the +frenzied barking of the dogs so frightens them that they make a +determined effort to break through the line. We seize them. One bird of +philosophic mien goes quietly, led by one flipper. The others show +fight, but all are imprisoned in an igloo for the night.... In the +afternoon we see five emperors in the western lead and capture one. +Kerr and Cheetham fight a valiant action with two large birds. Kerr +rushes at one, seizes it, and is promptly knocked down by the angered +penguin, which jumps on his chest before retiring. Cheetham comes to +Kerr’s assistance; and between them they seize another penguin, bind +his bill and lead him, muttering muffled protests, to the ship like an +inebriated old man between two policemen. He weighs 85 lbs., or 5 lbs. +less than the heaviest emperor captured previously. Kerr and Cheetham +insist that he is nothing to the big fellow who escaped them.” + +This penguin’s stomach proved to be filled with freshly caught fish up +to 10 in. long. Some of the fish were of a coastal or littoral variety. +Two more emperors were captured on the following day, and, while Wordie +was leading one of them towards the ship, Wild came along with his +team. The dogs, uncontrollable in a moment, made a frantic rush for the +bird, and were almost upon him when their harness caught upon an +ice-pylon, which they had tried to pass on both sides at once. The +result was a seething tangle of dogs, traces, and men, and an +overturned sled, while the penguin, three yards away, nonchalantly and +indifferently surveyed the disturbance. He had never seen anything of +the kind before and had no idea at all that the strange disorder might +concern him. Several cracks had opened in the neighbourhood of the +ship, and the emperor penguins, fat and glossy of plumage, were +appearing in considerable numbers. We secured nine of them on May 6, an +important addition to our supply of fresh food. + +The sun, which had made “positively his last appearance” seven days +earlier, surprised us by lifting more than half its disk above the +horizon on May 8. A glow on the northern horizon resolved itself into +the sun at 11 a.m. that day. A quarter of an hour later the +unseasonable visitor disappeared again, only to rise again at 11.40 +a.m., set at 1 p.m., rise at 1.10 p.m., and set lingeringly at 1.20 +p.m. These curious phenomena were due to refraction, which amounted to +2° 37´ at 1.20 p.m. The temperature was 15° below zero Fahr. and we +calculated that the refraction was 2° above normal. In other words, the +sun was visible 120 miles farther south than the refraction tables gave +it any right to be. The navigating officer naturally was aggrieved. He +had informed all hands on May 1 that they would not see the sun again +for seventy days, and now had to endure the jeers of friends who +affected to believe that his observations were inaccurate by a few +degrees. + +The _Endurance_ was drifting north-north-east under the influence of a +succession of westerly and south-westerly breezes. The ship’s head, at +the same time, swung gradually to the left, indicating that the floe in +which she was held was turning. During the night of the 14th a very +pronounced swing occurred, and when daylight came at noon on the 15th +we observed a large lead running from the north-west horizon towards +the ship till it struck the western lead, circling ahead of the ship, +then continuing to the south-south-east. A lead astern connected with +this new lead on either side of the _Endurance_, thus separating our +floe completely from the main body of the pack. A blizzard from the +south-east swept down during the 16th. At 1 p.m. the blizzard lulled +for five minutes; then the wind jumped round to the opposite quarter +and the barometer rose suddenly. The centre of a cyclonic movement had +passed over us, and the compass recorded an extraordinarily rapid swing +of the floe. I could see nothing through the mist and snow, and I +thought it possible that a magnetic storm or a patch of local magnetic +attraction had caused the compass, and not the floe, to swing, Our floe +was now about 2½ miles long north and south and 3 miles wide east and +west. + +The month of May passed with few incidents of importance. Hurley, our +handy man, installed our small electric-lighting plant and placed +lights for occasional use in the observatory, the meteorological +station, and various other points. We could not afford to use the +electric lamps freely. Hurley also rigged two powerful lights on poles +projecting from the ship to port and starboard. These lamps would +illuminate the “dogloos” brilliantly on the darkest winter’s day and +would be invaluable in the event of the floe breaking during the dark +days of winter. We could imagine what it would mean to get fifty dogs +aboard without lights while the floe was breaking and rafting under our +feet. May 24, Empire Day, was celebrated with the singing of patriotic +songs in the Ritz, where all hands joined in wishing a speedy victory +for the British arms. We could not know how the war was progressing, +but we hoped that the Germans had already been driven from France and +that the Russian armies had put the seal on the Allies’ success. The +war was a constant subject of discussion aboard the _Endurance_, and +many campaigns were fought on the map during the long months of +drifting. The moon in the latter part of May was sweeping continuously +through our starlit sky in great high circles. The weather generally +was good, with constant minus temperatures. The log on May 27 recorded: + +“Brilliantly fine clear weather with bright moonlight throughout. The +moon’s rays are wonderfully strong, making midnight seem as light as an +ordinary overcast midday in temperate climes. The great clearness of +the atmosphere probably accounts for our having eight hours of twilight +with a beautiful soft golden glow to the northward. A little rime and +glazed frost are found aloft. The temperature is –20° Fahr. A few wisps +of cirrus-cloud are seen and a little frost-smoke shows in one or two +directions, but the cracks and leads near the ship appear to have +frozen over again.” + + +[Illustration: The Pups] + + +[Illustration: Ice-Pressure Approaching the Ship] + + +Crean had started to take the pups out for runs, and it was very +amusing to see them with their rolling canter just managing to keep +abreast by the sledge and occasionally cocking an eye with an appealing +look in the hope of being taken aboard for a ride. As an addition to +their foster-father, Crean, the pups had adopted Amundsen. They +tyrannized over him most unmercifully. It was a common sight to see +him, the biggest dog in the pack, sitting out in the cold with an air +of philosophic resignation while a corpulent pup occupied the entrance +to his “dogloo.” The intruder was generally the pup Nelson, who just +showed his forepaws and face, and one was fairly sure to find Nelly, +Roger, and Toby coiled up comfortably behind him. At hoosh-time Crean +had to stand by Amundsen’s food, since otherwise the pups would eat the +big dog’s ration while he stood back to give them fair play. Sometimes +their consciences would smite them and they would drag round a seal’s +head, half a penguin, or a large lump of frozen meat or blubber to +Amundsen’s kennel for rent. It was interesting to watch the big dog +play with them, seizing them by throat or neck in what appeared to be a +fierce fashion, while really quite gentle with them, and all the time +teaching them how to hold their own in the world and putting them up to +all the tricks of dog life. + +The drift of the _Endurance_ in the grip of the pack continued without +incident of importance through June. Pressure was reported +occasionally, but the ice in the immediate vicinity of the ship +remained firm. The light was now very bad except in the period when the +friendly moon was above the horizon. A faint twilight round about noon +of each day reminded us of the sun, and assisted us in the important +work of exercising the dogs. The care of the teams was our heaviest +responsibility in those days. The movement of the floes was beyond all +human control, and there was nothing to be gained by allowing one’s +mind to struggle with the problems of the future, though it was hard to +avoid anxiety at times. The conditioning and training of the dogs +seemed essential, whatever fate might be in store for us, and the teams +were taken out by their drivers whenever the weather permitted. +Rivalries arose, as might have been expected, and on the 15th of the +month a great race, the “Antarctic Derby,” took place. It was a notable +event. The betting had been heavy, and every man aboard the ship stood +to win or lose on the result of the contest. Some money had been +staked, but the wagers that thrilled were those involving stores of +chocolate and cigarettes. The course had been laid off from Khyber +Pass, at the eastern end of the old lead ahead of the ship, to a point +clear of the jib-boom, a distance of about 700 yds. Five teams went out +in the dim noon twilight, with a zero temperature and an aurora +flickering faintly to the southward. The starting signal was to be +given by the flashing of a light on the meteorological station. I was +appointed starter, Worsley was judge, and James was timekeeper. The +bos’n, with a straw hat added to his usual Antarctic attire, stood on a +box near the winning-post, and was assisted by a couple of shady +characters to shout the odds, which were displayed on a board hung +around his neck—6 to 4 on Wild, “evens” on Crean, 2 to 1 against +Hurley, 6 to 1 against Macklin, and 8 to 1 against McIlroy. Canvas +handkerchiefs fluttered from an improvised grand stand, and the pups, +which had never seen such strange happenings before, sat round and +howled with excitement. The spectators could not see far in the dim +light, but they heard the shouts of the drivers as the teams approached +and greeted the victory of the favourite with a roar of cheering that +must have sounded strange indeed to any seals or penguins that happened +to be in our neighbourhood. Wild’s time was 2 min. 16 sec., or at the +rate of 10½ miles per hour for the course. + +We celebrated Midwinter’s Day on the 22nd. The twilight extended over a +period of about six hours that day, and there was a good light at noon +from the moon, and also a northern glow with wisps of beautiful pink +cloud along the horizon. A sounding gave 262 fathoms with a mud bottom. +No land was in sight from the mast-head, although our range of vision +extended probably a full degree to the westward. The day was observed +as a holiday, necessary work only being undertaken, and, after the best +dinner the cook could provide, all hands gathered in the Ritz, where +speeches, songs, and toasts occupied the evening. After supper at +midnight we sang “God Save the King” and wished each other all success +in the days of sunshine and effort that lay ahead. At this time the +_Endurance_ was making an unusually rapid drift to the north under the +influence of a fresh southerly to south-westerly breeze. We travelled +39 miles to the north in five days before a breeze that only once +attained the force of a gale and then for no more than an hour. The +absence of strong winds, in comparison with the almost unceasing winter +blizzards of the Ross Sea, was a feature of the Weddell Sea that +impressed itself upon me during the winter months. + +Another race took place a few days after the “Derby.” The two crack +teams, driven by Hurley and Wild, met in a race from Khyber Pass. +Wild’s team, pulling 910 lbs., or 130 lbs. per dog, covered the 700 +yds. in 2 min. 9 sec., or at the rate of 11.1 miles per hour. Hurley’s +team, with the same load, did the run in 2 min. 16 sec. The race was +awarded by the judge to Hurley owing to Wild failing to “weigh in” +correctly. I happened to be a part of the load on his sledge, and a +skid over some new drift within fifty yards of the winning post +resulted in my being left on the snow. It should be said in justice to +the dogs that this accident, while justifying the disqualification, +could not have made any material difference in the time. + +The approach of the returning sun was indicated by beautiful sunrise +glows on the horizon in the early days of July. We had nine hours’ +twilight on the 10th, and the northern sky, low to the horizon, was +tinted with gold for about seven hours. Numerous cracks and leads +extended in all directions to within 300 yds. of the ship. Thin +wavering black lines close to the northern horizon were probably +distant leads refracted into the sky. Sounds of moderate pressure came +to our ears occasionally, but the ship was not involved. At midnight on +the 11th a crack in the lead ahead of the _Endurance_ opened out +rapidly, and by 2 a.m. was over 200 yds. wide in places with an area of +open water to the south-west. Sounds of pressure were heard along this +lead, which soon closed to a width of about 30 yds. and then froze +over. The temperature at that time was –23° Fahr. + +The most severe blizzard we had experienced in the Weddell Sea swept +down upon the _Endurance_ on the evening of the 13th, and by +breakfast-time on the following morning the kennels to the windward, or +southern side of the ship were buried under 5 ft. of drift. I gave +orders that no man should venture beyond the kennels. The ship was +invisible at a distance of fifty yards, and it was impossible to +preserve one’s sense of direction in the raging wind and suffocating +drift. To walk against the gale was out of the question. Face and eyes +became snowed up within two minutes, and serious frost-bites would have +been the penalty of perseverance. The dogs stayed in their kennels for +the most part, the “old stagers” putting out a paw occasionally in +order to keep open a breathing-hole. By evening the gale had attained a +force of 60 or 70 miles an hour, and the ship was trembling under the +attack. But we were snug enough in our quarters aboard until the +morning of the 14th, when all hands turned out to shovel the snow from +deck and kennels. The wind was still keen and searching, with a +temperature of something like –30° Fahr., and it was necessary for us +to be on guard against frost-bite. At least 100 tons of snow were piled +against the bows and port side, where the weight of the drift had +forced the floe downward. The lead ahead had opened out during the +night, cracked the pack from north to south and frozen over again, +adding 300 yds. to the distance between the ship and “Khyber Pass.” The +breakdown gang had completed its work by lunch-time. The gale was then +decreasing and the three-days-old moon showed as a red crescent on the +northern horizon. The temperature during the blizzard had ranged from +–21° to –33.5° Fahr. It is usual for the temperature to rise during a +blizzard, and the failure to produce any Föhn effect of this nature +suggested an absence of high land for at least 200 miles to the south +and south-west. The weather did not clear until the 16th. We saw then +that the appearance of the surrounding pack had been altered completely +by the blizzard. The “island” floe containing the _Endurance_ still +stood fast, but cracks and masses of ice thrown up by pressure could be +seen in all directions. An area of open water was visible on the +horizon to the north, with a water indication in the northern sky. + +The ice-pressure, which was indicated by distant rumblings and the +appearance of formidable ridges, was increasingly a cause of anxiety. +The areas of disturbance were gradually approaching the ship. During +July 21 we could bear the grinding and crashing of the working floes to +the south-west and west and could see cracks opening, working, and +closing ahead. + +“The ice is rafting up to a height of 10 or 15 ft. in places, the +opposing floes are moving against one another at the rate of about 200 +yds. per hour. The noise resembles the roar of heavy, distant surf. +Standing on the stirring ice one can imagine it is disturbed by the +breathing and tossing of a mighty giant below.” + +Early on the afternoon of the 22nd a 2-ft. crack, running south-west +and north-east for a distance of about two miles, approached to within +35 yds. of the port quarter. I had all the sledges brought aboard and +set a special watch in case it became necessary to get the dogs off the +floe in a hurry. This crack was the result of heavy pressure 300 yds. +away on the port bow, where huge blocks of ice were piled up in wild +and threatening confusion. The pressure at that point was enormous. +Blocks weighing many tons were raised 15 ft. above the level of the +floe. I arranged to divide the night watches with Worsley and Wild, and +none of us had much rest. The ship was shaken by heavy bumps, and we +were on the alert to see that no dogs had fallen into cracks. The +morning light showed that our island had been reduced considerably +during the night. Our long months of rest and safety seemed to be at an +end, and a period of stress had begun. + +During the following day I had a store of sledging provisions, oil, +matches, and other essentials placed on the upper deck handy to the +starboard quarter boat, so as to be in readiness for a sudden +emergency. The ice was grinding and working steadily to the southward, +and in the evening some large cracks appeared on the port quarter, +while a crack alongside opened out to 15 yds. The blizzard seemed to +have set the ice in strong movement towards the north, and the +south-westerly and west-south-westerly winds that prevailed two days +out of three maintained the drift. I hoped that this would continue +unchecked, since our chance of getting clear of the pack early in the +spring appeared to depend upon our making a good northing. Soundings at +this time gave depths of from 186 to 190 fathoms, with a glacial mud +bottom. No land was in sight. The light was improving. A great deal of +ice-pressure was heard and observed in all directions during the 25th, +much of it close to the port quarter of the ship. On the starboard bow +huge blocks of ice, weighing many tons and 5 ft. in thickness, were +pushed up on the old floe to a height of 15 to 20 ft. The floe that +held the _Endurance_ was swung to and fro by the pressure during the +day, but came back to the old bearing before midnight. + +“The ice for miles around is much looser. There are numerous cracks and +short leads to the north-east and south-east. Ridges are being forced +up in all directions, and there is a water-sky to the south-east. It +would be a relief to be able to make some effort on our own behalf; but +we can do nothing until the ice releases our ship. If the floes +continue to loosen, we may break out within the next few weeks and +resume the fight. In the meantime the pressure continues, and it is +hard to foresee the outcome. Just before noon to-day (July 26) the top +of the sun appeared by refraction for one minute, seventy-nine days +after our last sunset. A few minutes earlier a small patch of the sun +had been thrown up on one of the black streaks above the horizon. All +hands are cheered by the indication that the end of the winter darkness +is near.... Clark finds that with returning daylight the _diatoms_ are +again appearing. His nets and line are stained a pale yellow, and much +of the newly formed ice has also a faint brown or yellow tinge. The +_diatoms_ cannot multiply without light, and the ice formed since +February can be distinguished in the pressure-ridges by its clear blue +colour. The older masses of ice are of a dark earthy brown, dull +yellow, or reddish brown.” + + +[Illustration: Ice-Rafting] + + +[Illustration: The Returning Sun] + + +The break-up of our floe came suddenly on Sunday, August 1, just one +year after the _Endurance_ left the South-West India Docks on the +voyage to the Far South. The position was lat. 72° 26´ S., long. 48° +10´ W. The morning brought a moderate south-westerly gale with heavy +snow, and at 8 a.m., after some warning movements of the ice, the floe +cracked 40 yds. off the starboard bow. Two hours later the floe began +to break up all round us under pressure and the ship listed over 10 +degrees to starboard. I had the dogs and sledges brought aboard at once +and the gangway hoisted. The animals behaved well. They came aboard +eagerly as though realizing their danger, and were placed in their +quarters on deck without a single fight occurring. The pressure was +cracking the floe rapidly, rafting it close to the slip and forcing +masses of ice beneath the keel. Presently the _Endurance_ listed +heavily to port against the gale, and at the same time was forced +ahead, astern, and sideways several times by the grinding floes. She +received one or two hard nips, but resisted them without as much as a +creak. It looked at one stage as if the ship was to be made the +plaything of successive floes, and I was relieved when she came to a +standstill with a large piece of our old “dock” under the starboard +bilge. I had the boats cleared away ready for lowering, got up some +additional stores, and set a double watch. All hands were warned to +stand by, get what sleep they could, and have their warmest clothing at +hand. Around us lay the ruins of “Dog Town” amid the debris of +pressure-ridges. Some of the little dwellings had been crushed flat +beneath blocks of ice; others had been swallowed and pulverized when +the ice opened beneath them and closed again. It was a sad sight, but +my chief concern just then was the safety of the rudder, which was +being attacked viciously by the ice. We managed to pole away a large +lump that had become jammed between the rudder and the stern-post, but +I could see that damage had been done, though a close examination was +not possible that day. + +After the ship had come to a standstill in her new position very heavy +pressure was set up. Some of the trenails were started and beams +buckled slightly under the terrific stresses. But the _Endurance_ had +been built to withstand the attacks of the ice, and she lifted bravely +as the floes drove beneath her. The effects of the pressure around us +were awe-inspiring. Mighty blocks of ice, gripped between meeting +floes, rose slowly till they jumped like cherry-stones squeezed between +thumb and finger. The pressure of millions of tons of moving ice was +crushing and smashing inexorably. If the ship was once gripped firmly +her fate would be sealed. + +The gale from the south-west blew all night and moderated during the +afternoon of the 2nd to a stiff breeze. The pressure had almost ceased. +Apparently the gale had driven the southern pack down upon us, causing +congestion in our area; the pressure had stopped when the whole of the +pack got into motion. The gale had given us some northing, but it had +dealt the _Endurance_ what might prove to be a severe blow. The rudder +had been driven hard over to starboard and the blade partially torn +away from the rudder-head. Heavy masses of ice were still jammed +against the stern, and it was impossible to ascertain the extent of the +damage at that time. I felt that it would be impossible in any case to +effect repairs in the moving pack. The ship lay steady all night, and +the sole sign of continuing pressure was an occasional slight rumbling +shock. We rigged shelters and kennels for the dogs inboard. + +The weather on August 3 was overcast and misty. We had nine hours of +twilight, with good light at noon. There was no land in sight for ten +miles from the mast-head. The pack as far as the eye could reach was in +a condition of chaos, much rafted and consolidated, with very large +pressure-ridges in all directions. At 9 p.m. a rough altitude of +_Canopus_ gave the latitude as 71° 55´ 17´´ S. The drift, therefore, +had been about 37 miles to the north in three days. Four of the poorest +dogs were shot this day. They were suffering severely from worms, and +we could not afford to keep sick dogs under the changed conditions. The +sun showed through the clouds on the northern horizon for an hour on +the 4th. There was no open water to be seen from aloft in any +direction. We saw from the masthead to west-south-west an appearance of +barrier, land, or a very long iceberg, about 20 odd miles away, but the +horizon clouded over before we could determine its nature. We tried +twice to make a sounding that day, but failed on each occasion. The +Kelvin machine gave no bottom at the full length of the line, 370 +fathoms. After much labour we made a hole in the ice near the +stern-post large enough for the Lucas machine with a 32-lb. lead; but +this appeared to be too light. The machine stopped at 452 fathoms, +leaving us in doubt as to whether bottom had been reached. Then in +heaving up we lost the lead, the thin wire cutting its way into the ice +and snapping. All hands and the carpenter were busy this day making and +placing kennels on the upper deck, and by nightfall all the dogs were +comfortably housed, ready for any weather. The sun showed through the +clouds above the northern horizon for nearly an hour. + +The remaining days of August were comparatively uneventful. The ice +around the ship froze firm again and little movement occurred in our +neighbourhood. The training of the dogs, including the puppies, +proceeded actively, and provided exercise as well as occupation. The +drift to the north-west continued steadily. We had bad luck with +soundings, the weather interfering at times and the gear breaking on +several occasions, but a big increase in the depth showed that we had +passed over the edge of the Weddell Sea plateau. A sounding of about +1700 fathoms on August 10 agreed fairly well with Filchner’s 1924 +fathoms, 130 miles east of our then position. An observation at noon of +the 8th had given us lat. 71° 23´ S., long. 49° 13´ W. Minus +temperatures prevailed still, but the daylight was increasing. We +captured a few emperor penguins which were making their way to the +south-west. Ten penguins taken on the 19th were all in poor condition, +and their stomachs contained nothing but stones and a few cuttle-fish +beaks. A sounding on the 17th gave 1676 fathoms, 10 miles west of the +charted position of Morell Land. No land could be seen from the +mast-head, and I decided that Morell Land must be added to the long +list of Antarctic islands and continental coasts that on close +investigation have resolved themselves into icebergs. On clear days we +could get an extended view in all directions from the mast-head, and +the line of the pack was broken only by familiar bergs. About one +hundred bergs were in view on a fine day, and they seemed practically +the same as when they started their drift with us nearly seven months +earlier. The scientists wished to inspect some of the neighbouring +bergs at close quarters, but sledge travelling outside the well-trodden +area immediately around the ship proved difficult and occasionally +dangerous. On August 20, for example, Worsley, Hurley, and Greenstreet +started off for the Rampart Berg and got on to a lead of young ice that +undulated perilously beneath their feet. A quick turn saved them. + +A wonderful mirage of the Fata Morgana type was visible on August 20. +The day was clear and bright, with a blue sky overhead and some rime +aloft. + +“The distant pack is thrown up into towering barrier-like cliffs, which +are reflected in blue lakes and lanes of water at their base. Great +white and golden cities of Oriental appearance at close intervals along +these clifftops indicate distant bergs, some not previously known to +us. Floating above these are wavering violet and creamy lines of still +more remote bergs and pack. The lines rise and fall, tremble, +dissipate, and reappear in an endless transformation scene. The +southern pack and bergs, catching the sun’s rays, are golden, but to +the north the ice-masses are purple. Here the bergs assume changing +forms, first a castle, then a balloon just clear of the horizon, that +changes swiftly into an immense mushroom, a mosque, or a cathedral. The +principal characteristic is the vertical lengthening of the object, a +small pressure-ridge being given the appearance of a line of +battlements or towering cliffs. The mirage is produced by refraction +and is intensified by the columns of comparatively warm air rising from +several cracks and leads that have opened eight to twenty miles away +north and south.” + +We noticed this day that a considerable change had taken place in our +position relative to the Rampart Berg. It appeared that a big lead had +opened and that there had been some differential movement of the pack. +The opening movement might presage renewed pressure. A few hours later +the dog teams, returning from exercise, crossed a narrow crack that had +appeared ahead of the ship. This crack opened quickly to 60 ft. and +would have given us trouble if the dogs had been left on the wrong +side. It closed on the 25th and pressure followed in its neighbourhood. + + +[Illustration: Wild and Shackleton in the Heavy Pressure] + + +[Illustration: Exercising the Dogs] + + +On August 24 we were two miles north of the latitude of Morell’s +farthest south, and over 10° of longitude, or more than 200 miles, west +of his position. From the mast-head no land could be seen within twenty +miles, and no land of over 500 ft. altitude could have escaped +observation on our side of long. 52° W. A sounding of 1900 fathoms on +August 25 was further evidence of the non-existence of New South +Greenland. There was some movement of the ice near the ship during the +concluding days of the month. All hands were called out in the night of +August 26, sounds of pressure having been followed by the cracking of +the ice alongside the ship, but the trouble did not develop +immediately. Late on the night of the 31st the ice began to work ahead +of the ship and along the port side. Creaking and groaning of timbers, +accompanied by loud snapping sounds fore and aft, told their story of +strain. The pressure continued during the following day, beams and deck +planks occasionally buckling to the strain. The ponderous floes were +grinding against each other under the influence of wind and current, +and our ship seemed to occupy for the time being an undesirable +position near the centre of the disturbance; but she resisted staunchly +and showed no sign of water in the bilges, although she had not been +pumped out for six months. The pack extended to the horizon in every +direction. I calculated that we were 250 miles from the nearest known +land to the westward, and more than 500 miles from the nearest outpost +of civilization, Wilhelmina Bay. I hoped we would not have to undertake +a march across the moving ice-fields. The _Endurance_ we knew to be +stout and true; but no ship ever built by man could live if taken +fairly in the grip of the floes and prevented from rising to the +surface of the grinding ice. These were anxious days. In the early +morning of September 2 the ship jumped and shook to the accompaniment +of cracks and groans, and some of the men who had been in the berths +hurried on deck. The pressure eased a little later in the day, when the +ice on the port side broke away from the ship to just abaft the main +rigging. The _Endurance_ was still held aft and at the rudder, and a +large mass of ice could be seen adhering to the port bow, rising to +within three feet of the surface. I wondered if this ice had got its +grip by piercing the sheathing. + + + + +CHAPTER IV +LOSS OF THE _ENDURANCE_ + + +The ice did not trouble us again seriously until the end of September, +though during the whole month the floes were seldom entirely without +movement. The roar of pressure would come to us across the otherwise +silent ice-fields, and bring with it a threat and a warning. Watching +from the crow’s-nest, we could see sometimes the formation of +pressure-ridges. The sunshine glittered on newly riven ice-surfaces as +the masses of shattered floe rose and fell away from the line of +pressure. The area of disturbance would advance towards us, recede, and +advance again. The routine of work and play on the _Endurance_ +proceeded steadily. Our plans and preparations for any contingency that +might arise during the approaching summer had been made, but there +seemed always plenty to do in and about our prisoned ship. Runs with +the dogs and vigorous games of hockey and football on the rough +snow-covered floe kept all hands in good fettle. The record of one or +two of these September days will indicate the nature of our life and +our surroundings: + +“_September_ 4.—Temperature, –14.1° Fahr. Light easterly breeze, blue +sky, and stratus clouds. During forenoon notice a distinct terra-cotta +or biscuit colour in the stratus clouds to the north. This travelled +from east to west and could conceivably have come from some of the +Graham Land volcanoes, now about 300 miles distant to the north-west. +The upper current of air probably would come from that direction. Heavy +rime. Pack unbroken and unchanged as far as visible. No land for 22 +miles. No animal life observed.” + +“_September_ 7.—Temperature, –10.8° Fahr. Moderate easterly to +southerly winds, overcast and misty, with light snow till midnight, +when weather cleared. Blue sky and fine clear weather to noon. Much +rime aloft. Thick fresh snow on ship and floe that glistens brilliantly +in the morning sunlight. Little clouds of faint violet-coloured mist +rise from the lower and brinier portions of the pack, which stretches +unbroken to the horizon. Very great refraction all round. A tabular +berg about fifty feet high ten miles west is a good index of the amount +of refraction. On ordinary days it shows from the mast-head, clear-cut +against the sky; with much refraction, the pack beyond at the back of +it lifts up into view; to-day a broad expanse of miles of pack is seen +above it. Numerous other bergs generally seen in silhouette are, at +first sight, lost, but after a closer scrutiny they appear as large +lumps or dark masses well below the horizon. Refraction generally +results in too big an altitude when observing the sun for position, but +to-day, the horizon is thrown up so much that the altitude is about 12´ +too small. No land visible for twenty miles. No animal life observed. +Lower Clark’s tow-net with 566 fathoms of wire, and hoist it up at two +and a half miles an hour by walking across the floe with the wire. +Result rather meagre—jelly-fish and some fish larvæ. Exercise dogs in +sledge teams. The young dogs, under Crean’s care, pull as well, though +not so strongly, as the best team in the pack. Hercules for the last +fortnight or more has constituted himself leader of the orchestra. Two +or three times in the twenty-four hours he starts a howl—a deep, +melodious howl—and in about thirty seconds he has the whole pack in +full song, the great deep, booming, harmonious song of the half-wolf +pack.” + +By the middle of September we were running short of fresh meat for the +dogs. The seals and penguins seemed to have abandoned our neighbourhood +altogether. Nearly five months had passed since we killed a seal, and +penguins had been seen seldom. Clark, who was using his trawl as often +as possible, reported that there was a marked absence of _plankton_ in +the sea, and we assumed that the seals and the penguins had gone in +search of their accustomed food. The men got an emperor on the 23rd. +The dogs, which were having their sledging exercise, became wildly +excited when the penguin, which had risen in a crack, was driven +ashore, and the best efforts of the drivers failed to save it alive. On +the following day Wild, Hurley, Macklin, and McIlroy took their teams +to the Stained Berg, about seven miles west of the ship, and on their +way back got a female crab-eater, which they killed, skinned, and left +to be picked up later. They ascended to the top of the berg, which lay +in about lat. 69° 30´ S., long. 51° W., and from an elevation of 110 +ft. could see no land. Samples of the discoloured ice from the berg +proved to contain dust with black gritty particles or sand-grains. +Another seal, a bull Weddell, was secured on the 26th. The return of +seal-life was opportune, since we had nearly finished the winter supply +of dog-biscuit and wished to be able to feed the dogs on meat. The +seals meant a supply of blubber, moreover, to supplement our small +remaining stock of coal when the time came to get up steam again. We +initiated a daylight-saving system on this day by putting forward the +clock one hour. “This is really pandering to the base but universal +passion that men, and especially seafarers, have for getting up late, +otherwise we would be honest and make our routine earlier instead of +flogging the clock.” + +During the concluding days of September the roar of the pressure grew +louder, and I could see that the area of disturbance was rapidly +approaching the ship. Stupendous forces were at work and the fields of +firm ice around the _Endurance_ were being diminished steadily. +September 30 was a bad day. It began well, for we got two penguins and +five seals during the morning. Three other seals were seen. But at 3 +p.m. cracks that had opened during the night alongside the ship +commenced to work in a lateral direction. The ship sustained terrific +pressure on the port side forward, the heaviest shocks being under the +forerigging. It was the worst squeeze we had experienced. The decks +shuddered and jumped, beams arched, and stanchions buckled and shook. I +ordered all hands to stand by in readiness for whatever emergency might +arise. Even the dogs seemed to feel the tense anxiety of the moment. +But the ship resisted valiantly, and just when it appeared that the +limit of her strength was being reached the huge floe that was pressing +down upon us cracked across and so gave relief. + +“The behaviour of our ship in the ice has been magnificent,” wrote +Worsley. “Since we have been beset her staunchness and endurance have +been almost past belief again and again. She has been nipped with a +million-ton pressure and risen nobly, falling clear of the water out on +the ice. She has been thrown to and fro like a shuttlecock a dozen +times. She has been strained, her beams arched upwards, by the fearful +pressure; her very sides opened and closed again as she was actually +bent and curved along her length, groaning like a living thing. It will +be sad if such a brave little craft should be finally crushed in the +remorseless, slowly strangling grip of the Weddell pack after ten +months of the bravest and most gallant fight ever put up by a ship.” + +The _Endurance_ deserved all that could be said in praise of her. +Shipwrights had never done sounder or better work; but how long could +she continue the fight under such conditions? We were drifting into the +congested area of the western Weddell Sea, the worst portion of the +worst sea in the world, where the pack, forced on irresistibly by wind +and current, impinges on the western shore and is driven up in huge +corrugated ridges and chaotic fields of pressure. The vital question +for us was whether or not the ice would open sufficiently to release +us, or at least give us a chance of release, before the drift carried +us into the most dangerous area. There was no answer to be got from the +silent bergs and the grinding floes, and we faced the month of October +with anxious hearts. + +The leads in the pack appeared to have opened out a little on October +1, but not sufficiently to be workable even if we had been able to +release the _Endurance_ from the floe. The day was calm, cloudy and +misty in the forenoon and clearer in the afternoon, when we observed +well-defined parhelia. The ship was subjected to slight pressure at +intervals. Two bull crab-eaters climbed on to the floe close to the +ship and were shot by Wild. They were both big animals in prime +condition, and I felt that there was no more need for anxiety as to the +supply of fresh meat for the dogs. Seal-liver made a welcome change in +our own menu. The two bulls were marked, like many of their kind, with +long parallel scars about three inches apart, evidently the work of the +killers. A bull we killed on the following day had four parallel scars, +sixteen inches long, on each side of its body; they were fairly deep +and one flipper had been nearly torn away. The creature must have +escaped from the jaws of a killer by a very small margin. Evidently +life beneath the pack is not always monotonous. We noticed that several +of the bergs in the neighbourhood of the ship were changing their +relative positions more than they had done for months past. The floes +were moving. + + +[Illustration: Crab-eater Seals] + + +[Illustration: The Beginning of the End] + + +Our position on Sunday, October 3, was lat. 69° 14´ S., long. 51° 8´ W. +During the night the floe holding the ship aft cracked in several +places, and this appeared to have eased the strain on the rudder. The +forenoon was misty, with falls of snow, but the weather cleared later +in the day and we could see that the pack was breaking. New leads had +appeared, while several old leads had closed. Pressure-ridges had risen +along some of the cracks. The thickness of the season’s ice, now about +230 days old, was 4 ft. 5 in. under 7 or 8 in. of snow. This ice had +been slightly thicker in the early part of September, and I assumed +that some melting had begun below. Clark had recorded plus temperatures +at depths of 150 and 200 fathoms in the concluding days of September. +The ice obviously had attained its maximum thickness by direct +freezing, and the heavier older floes had been created by the +consolidation of pressure-ice and the overlapping of floes under +strain. The air temperatures were still low, –24.5° Fahr. being +recorded on October 4. + +The movement of the ice was increasing. Frost-smoke from opening cracks +was showing in all directions during October 6. It had the appearance +in one place of a great prairie fire, rising from the surface and +getting higher as it drifted off before the wind in heavy, dark, +rolling masses. At another point there was the appearance of a train +running before the wind, the smoke rising from the locomotive straight +upwards; and the smoke columns elsewhere gave the effect of warships +steaming in line ahead. During the following day the leads and cracks +opened to such an extent that if the _Endurance_ could have been forced +forward for thirty yards we could have proceeded for two or three +miles; but the effort did not promise any really useful result. The +conditions did not change materially during the rest of that week. The +position on Sunday, October 10, was lat. 69° 21´ S., long. 50° 34´ W. A +thaw made things uncomfortable for us that day. The temperature had +risen from –10° Fahr. to +29.8° Fahr., the highest we had experienced +since January, and the ship got dripping wet between decks. The upper +deck was clear of ice and snow and the cabins became unpleasantly +messy. The dogs, who hated wet, had a most unhappy air. Undoubtedly one +grows to like familiar conditions. We had lived long in temperatures +that would have seemed distressingly low in civilized life, and now we +were made uncomfortable by a degree of warmth that would have left the +unaccustomed human being still shivering. The thaw was an indication +that winter was over, and we began preparations for reoccupying the +cabins on the main deck. I had the shelter-house round the stern pulled +down on the 11th and made other preparations for working the ship as +soon as she got clear. The carpenter had built a wheel-house over the +wheel aft as shelter in cold and heavy weather. The ice was still +loosening and no land was visible for twenty miles. + +The temperature remained relatively high for several days. All hands +moved to their summer quarters in the upper cabins on the 12th, to the +accompaniment of much noise and laughter. Spring was in the air, and if +there were no green growing things to gladden our eyes, there were at +least many seals, penguins, and even whales disporting themselves in +the leads. The time for renewed action was coming, and though our +situation was grave enough, we were facing the future hopefully. The +dogs were kept in a state of uproar by the sight of so much game. They +became almost frenzied when a solemn-looking emperor penguin inspected +them gravely from some point of vantage on the floe and gave utterance +to an apparently derisive “Knark!” At 7 p.m. on the 13th the ship broke +free of the floe on which she had rested to starboard sufficiently to +come upright. The rudder freed itself, but the propeller was found to +be athwartship, having been forced into that position by the floe some +time after August 1. The water was very clear and we could see the +rudder, which appeared to have suffered only a slight twist to port at +the water-line. It moved quite freely. The propeller, as far as we +could see, was intact, but it could not be moved by the hand-gear, +probably owing to a film of ice in the stern gland and sleeve. I did +not think it advisable to attempt to deal with it at that stage. The +ship had not been pumped for eight months, but there was no water and +not much ice in the bilges. Meals were served again in the wardroom +that day. + +The south-westerly breeze freshened to a gale on the 14th, and the +temperature fell from +31° Fahr. to –1° Fahr. At midnight the ship came +free from the floe and drifted rapidly astern. Her head fell off before +the wind until she lay nearly at right-angles across the narrow lead. +This was a dangerous position for rudder and propeller. The spanker was +set, but the weight of the wind on the ship gradually forced the floes +open until the _Endurance_ swung right round and drove 100 yds. along +the lead. Then the ice closed and at 3 a.m. we were fast again. The +wind died down during the day and the pack opened for five or six miles +to the north. It was still loose on the following morning, and I had +the boiler pumped up with the intention of attempting to clear the +propeller; but one of the manholes developed a leak, the packing being +perished by cold or loosened by contraction, and the boiler had to be +emptied out again. + +The pack was rather closer on Sunday the 17th. Top-sails and head-sails +were set in the afternoon, and with a moderate north-easterly breeze we +tried to force the ship ahead out of the lead; but she was held fast. +Later that day heavy pressure developed. The two floes between which +the _Endurance_ was lying began to close and the ship was subjected to +a series of tremendously heavy strains. In the engine-room, the weakest +point, loud groans, crashes, and hammering sounds were heard. The iron +plates on the floor buckled up and overrode with loud clangs. Meanwhile +the floes were grinding off each other’s projecting points and throwing +up pressure-ridges. The ship stood the strain well for nearly an hour +and then, to my great relief, began to rise with heavy jerks and jars. +She lifted ten inches forward and three feet four inches aft, at the +same time heeling six degrees to port. The ice was getting below us and +the immediate danger had passed. The position was lat. 69° 19´ S., +long. 50° 40´ W. + +The next attack of the ice came on the afternoon of October 18th. The +two floes began to move laterally, exerting great pressure on the ship. +Suddenly the floe on the port side cracked and huge pieces of ice shot +up from under the port bilge. Within a few seconds the ship heeled over +until she had a list of thirty degrees to port, being held under the +starboard bilge by the opposing floe. The lee boats were now almost +resting on the floe. The midship dog-kennels broke away and crashed +down on to the lee kennels, and the howls and barks of the frightened +dogs assisted to create a perfect pandemonium. Everything movable on +deck and below fell to the lee side, and for a few minutes it looked as +if the _Endurance_ would be thrown upon her beam ends. Order was soon +restored. I had all fires put out and battens nailed on the deck to +give the dogs a foothold and enable people to get about. Then the crew +lashed all the movable gear. If the ship had heeled any farther it +would have been necessary to release the lee boats and pull them clear, +and Worsley was watching to give the alarm. Hurley meanwhile descended +to the floe and took some photographs of the ship in her unusual +position. Dinner in the wardroom that evening was a curious affair. +Most of the diners had to sit on the deck, their feet against battens +and their plates on their knees. At 8 p.m. the floes opened, and within +a few minutes the _Endurance_ was nearly upright again. Orders were +given for the ice to be chipped clear of the rudder. The men poled the +blocks out of the way when they had been detached from the floe with +the long ice-chisels, and we were able to haul the ship’s stern into a +clear berth. Then the boiler was pumped up. This work was completed +early in the morning of October 19, and during that day the engineer +lit fires and got up steam very slowly, in order to economize fuel and +avoid any strain on the chilled boilers by unequal heating. The crew +cut up all loose lumber, boxes, etc., and put them in the bunkers for +fuel. The day was overcast, with occasional snowfalls, the temperature ++12° Fahr. The ice in our neighbourhood was quiet, but in the distance +pressure was at work. The wind freshened in the evening, and we ran a +wire-mooring astern. The barometer at 11 p.m. stood at 28.96, the +lowest since the gales of July. An uproar among the dogs attracted +attention late in the afternoon, and we found a 25-ft. whale cruising +up and down in our pool. It pushed its head up once in characteristic +killer fashion, but we judged from its small curved dorsal fin that it +was a specimen of _Balænoptera acutorostrata_, not _Orca gladiator_. + + +[Illustration: “Within a few Seconds she heeled over until she had a +List of Thirty Degrees to Port”] + + +[Illustration: Almost Overwhelmed] + + +A strong south-westerly wind was blowing on October 20 and the pack was +working. The _Endurance_ was imprisoned securely in the pool, but our +chance might come at any time. Watches were set so as to be ready for +working ship. Wild and Hudson, Greenstreet and Cheetham, Worsley and +Crean, took the deck watches, and the Chief Engineer and Second +Engineer kept watch and watch with three of the A.B.’s for stokers. The +staff and the forward hands, with the exception of the cook, the +carpenter and his mate, were on “watch and watch”—that is, four hours +on deck and four hours below, or off duty. The carpenter was busy +making a light punt, which might prove useful in the navigation of +lanes and channels. At 11 a.m. we gave the engines a gentle trial turn +astern. Everything worked well after eight months of frozen inactivity, +except that the bilge-pump and the discharge proved to be frozen up; +they were cleared with some little difficulty. The engineer reported +that to get steam he had used one ton of coal, with wood-ashes and +blubber. The fires required to keep the boiler warm consumed one and a +quarter to one and a half hundred-weight of coal per day. We had about +fifty tons of coal remaining in the bunkers. + +October 21 and 22 were days of low temperature, which caused the open +leads to freeze over. The pack was working, and ever and anon the roar +of pressure came to our ears. We waited for the next move of the +gigantic forces arrayed against us. The 23rd brought a strong +north-westerly wind, and the movement of the floes and pressure-ridges +became more formidable. Then on Sunday, October 24, there came what for +the _Endurance_ was the beginning of the end. The position was lat. 69° +11´ S., long. 51° 5´ W. We had now twenty-two and a half hours of +daylight, and throughout the day we watched the threatening advance of +the floes. At 6.45 p.m. the ship sustained heavy pressure in a +dangerous position. The attack of the ice is illustrated roughly in the +appended diagram. The shaded portions represent the pool, covered with +new ice that afforded no support to the ship, and the arrows indicate +the direction of the pressure exercised by the thick floes and +pressure-ridges. The onslaught was all but irresistible. The +_Endurance_ groaned and quivered as her starboard quarter was forced +against the floe, twisting the sternpost and starting the heads and +ends of planking. The ice had lateral as well as forward movement, and +the ship was twisted and actually bent by the stresses. She began to +leak dangerously at once. + + +[Illustration] + +I had the pumps rigged, got up steam, and started the bilge-pumps at 8 +p.m. The pressure by that time had relaxed. The ship was making water +rapidly aft, and the carpenter set to work to make a coffer-dam astern +of the engines. All hands worked, watch and watch, throughout the +night, pumping ship and helping the carpenter. By morning the leak was +being kept in check. The carpenter and his assistants caulked the +coffer-dam with strips of blankets and nailed strips over the seams +wherever possible. The main or hand pump was frozen up and could not be +used at once. After it had been knocked out Worsley, Greenstreet, and +Hudson went down in the bunkers and cleared the ice from the bilges. +“This is not a pleasant job,” wrote Worsley. “We have to dig a hole +down through the coal while the beams and timbers groan and crack all +around us like pistol-shots. The darkness is almost complete, and we +mess about in the wet with half-frozen hands and try to keep the coal +from slipping back into the bilges. The men on deck pour buckets of +boiling water from the galley down the pipe as we prod and hammer from +below, and at last we get the pump clear, cover up the bilges to keep +the coal out, and rush on deck, very thankful to find ourselves safe +again in the open air.” + +Monday, October 25, dawned cloudy and misty, with a minus temperature +and a strong south-easterly breeze. All hands were pumping at intervals +and assisting the carpenter with the coffer-dam. The leak was being +kept under fairly easily, but the outlook was bad. Heavy +pressure-ridges were forming in all directions, and though the +immediate pressure upon the ship was not severe, I realized that the +respite would not be prolonged. The pack within our range of vision was +being subjected to enormous compression, such as might be caused by +cyclonic winds, opposing ocean currents, or constriction in a channel +of some description. The pressure-ridges, massive and threatening, +testified to the overwhelming nature of the forces that were at work. +Huge blocks of ice, weighing many tons, were lifted into the air and +tossed aside as other masses rose beneath them. We were helpless +intruders in a strange world, our lives dependent upon the play of grim +elementary forces that made a mock of our puny efforts. I scarcely +dared hope now that the _Endurance_ would live, and throughout that +anxious day I reviewed again the plans made long before for the +sledging journey that we must make in the event of our having to take +to the ice. We were ready, as far as forethought could make us, for +every contingency. Stores, dogs, sledges, and equipment were ready to +be moved from the ship at a moment’s notice. + +The following day brought bright clear weather, with a blue sky. The +sunshine was inspiriting. The roar of pressure could be heard all +around us. New ridges were rising, and I could see as the day wore on +that the lines of major disturbance were drawing nearer to the ship. +The _Endurance_ suffered some strains at intervals. Listening below, I +could hear the creaking and groaning of her timbers, the pistol-like +cracks that told of the starting of a trenail or plank, and the faint, +indefinable whispers of our ship’s distress. Overhead the sun shone +serenely; occasional fleecy clouds drifted before the southerly breeze, +and the light glinted and sparkled on the million facets of the new +pressure-ridges. The day passed slowly. At 7 p.m. very heavy pressure +developed, with twisting strains that racked the ship fore and aft. The +butts of planking were opened four and five inches on the starboard +side, and at the same time we could see from the bridge that the ship +was bending like a bow under titanic pressure. Almost like a living +creature, she resisted the forces that would crush her; but it was a +one-sided battle. Millions of tons of ice pressed inexorably upon the +little ship that had dared the challenge of the Antarctic. The +_Endurance_ was now leaking badly, and at 9 p.m. I gave the order to +lower boats, gear, provisions, and sledges to the floe, and move them +to the flat ice a little way from the ship. The working of the ice +closed the leaks slightly at midnight, but all hands were pumping all +night. A strange occurrence was the sudden appearance of eight emperor +penguins from a crack 100 yds. away at the moment when the pressure +upon the ship was at its climax. They walked a little way towards us, +halted, and after a few ordinary calls proceeded to utter weird cries +that sounded like a dirge for the ship. None of us had ever before +heard the emperors utter any other than the most simple calls or cries, +and the effect of this concerted effort was almost startling. + +Then came a fateful day—Wednesday, October 27. The position was lat. +69° 5´ S., long. 51° 30´ W. The temperature was –8.5° Fahr., a gentle +southerly breeze was blowing and the sun shone in a clear sky. + +“After long months of ceaseless anxiety and strain, after times when +hope beat high and times when the outlook was black indeed, the end of +the _Endurance_ has come. But though we have been compelled to abandon +the ship, which is crushed beyond all hope of ever being righted, we +are alive and well, and we have stores and equipment for the task that +lies before us. The task is to reach land with all the members of the +Expedition. It is hard to write what I feel. To a sailor his ship is +more than a floating home, and in the _Endurance_ I had centred +ambitions, hopes, and desires. Now, straining and groaning, her timbers +cracking and her wounds gaping, she is slowly giving up her sentient +life at the very outset of her career. She is crushed and abandoned +after drifting more than 570 miles in a north-westerly direction during +the 281 days since she became locked in the ice. The distance from the +point where she became beset to the place where she now rests mortally +hurt in the grip of the floes is 573 miles, but the total drift through +all observed positions has been 1186 miles, and probably we actually +covered more than 1500 miles. We are now 346 miles from Paulet Island, +the nearest point where there is any possibility of finding food and +shelter. A small hut built there by the Swedish expedition in 1902 is +filled with stores left by the Argentine relief ship. I know all about +those stores, for I purchased them in London on behalf of the Argentine +Government when they asked me to equip the relief expedition. The +distance to the nearest barrier west of us is about 180 miles, but a +party going there would still be about 360 miles from Paulet Island and +there would be no means of sustaining life on the barrier. We could not +take from here food enough for the whole journey; the weight would be +too great. + +“This morning, our last on the ship, the weather was clear, with a +gentle south-south-easterly to south-south-westerly breeze. From the +crow’s-nest there was no sign of land of any sort. The pressure was +increasing steadily, and the passing hours brought no relief or respite +for the ship. The attack of the ice reached its climax at 4 p.m. The +ship was hove stern up by the pressure, and the driving floe, moving +laterally across the stern, split the rudder and tore out the +rudder-post and stern-post. Then, while we watched, the ice loosened +and the _Endurance_ sank a little. The decks were breaking upwards and +the water was pouring in below. Again the pressure began, and at 5 p.m. +I ordered all hands on to the ice. The twisting, grinding floes were +working their will at last on the ship. It was a sickening sensation to +feel the decks breaking up under one’s feet, the great beams bending +and then snapping with a noise like heavy gunfire. The water was +overmastering the pumps, and to avoid an explosion when it reached the +boilers I had to give orders for the fires to be drawn and the steam +let down. The plans for abandoning the ship in case of emergency had +been made well in advance, and men and dogs descended to the floe and +made their way to the comparative safety of an unbroken portion of the +floe without a hitch. Just before leaving, I looked down the +engine-room skylight as I stood on the quivering deck, and saw the +engines dropping sideways as the stays and bed-plates gave way. I +cannot describe the impression of relentless destruction that was +forced upon me as I looked down and around. The floes, with the force +of millions of tons of moving ice behind them, were simply annihilating +the ship.” + +Essential supplies had been placed on the floe about 100 yds. from the +ship, and there we set about making a camp for the night. But about 7 +p.m., after the tents were up, the ice we were occupying became +involved in the pressure and started to split and smash beneath our +feet. I had the camp moved to a bigger floe about 200 yds. away, just +beyond the bow of the ship. Boats, stores, and camp equipment had to be +conveyed across a working pressure-ridge. The movement of the ice was +so slow that it did not interfere much with our short trek, but the +weight of the ridge had caused the floes to sink on either side and +there were pools of water there. A pioneer party with picks and shovels +had to build a snow-causeway before we could get all our possessions +across. By 8 p.m. the camp had been pitched again. We had two +pole-tents and three hoop-tents. I took charge of the small pole-tent, +No. 1, with Hudson, Hurley, and James as companions; Wild had the small +hoop-tent, No. 2, with Wordie, McNeish, and McIlroy. These hoop-tents +are very easily shifted and set up. The eight forward hands had the +large hoop-tent, No. 3; Crean had charge of No. 4 hoop-tent with +Hussey, Marston, and Cheetham; and Worsley had the other pole-tent, No. +5, with Greenstreet, Lees, Clark, Kerr, Rickenson, Macklin, and +Blackborrow, the last named being the youngest of the forward hands. + + +[Illustration: “The Driving Floe, moving laterally across the Stern, +split the Rudder and tore out the Rudder-Post and Stern-Post”] + + +[Illustration: The End] + + +“To-night the temperature has dropped to –16° Fahr., and most of the +men are cold and uncomfortable. After the tents had been pitched I +mustered all hands and explained the position to them briefly and, I +hope, clearly. I have told them the distance to the Barrier and the +distance to Paulet Island, and have stated that I propose to try to +march with equipment across the ice in the direction of Paulet Island. +I thanked the men for the steadiness and good morale they have shown in +these trying circumstances, and told them I had no doubt that, provided +they continued to work their utmost and to trust me, we will all reach +safety in the end. Then we had supper, which the cook had prepared at +the big blubber-stove, and after a watch had been set all hands except +the watch turned in.” For myself, I could not sleep. The destruction +and abandonment of the ship was no sudden shock. The disaster had been +looming ahead for many months, and I had studied my plans for all +contingencies a hundred times. But the thoughts that came to me as I +walked up and down in the darkness were not particularly cheerful. The +task now was to secure the safety of the party, and to that I must bend +my energies and mental power and apply every bit of knowledge that +experience of the Antarctic had given me. The task was likely to be +long and strenuous, and an ordered mind and a clear programme were +essential if we were to come through without loss of life. A man must +shape himself to a new mark directly the old one goes to ground. + +At midnight I was pacing the ice, listening to the grinding floe and to +the groans and crashes that told of the death-agony of the _Endurance_, +when I noticed suddenly a crack running across our floe right through +the camp. The alarm-whistle brought all hands tumbling out, and we +moved the tents and stores lying on what was now the smaller portion of +the floe to the larger portion. Nothing more could be done at that +moment, and the men turned in again; but there was little sleep. Each +time I came to the end of my beat on the floe I could just see in the +darkness the uprearing piles of pressure-ice, which toppled over and +narrowed still further the little floating island we occupied. I did +not notice at the time that my tent, which had been on the wrong side +of the crack, had not been erected again. Hudson and James had managed +to squeeze themselves into other tents, and Hurley had wrapped himself +in the canvas of No. 1 tent. I discovered this about 5 a.m. All night +long the electric light gleamed from the stern of the dying +_Endurance_. Hussey had left this light switched on when he took a last +observation, and, like a lamp in a cottage window, it braved the night +until in the early morning the _Endurance_ received a particularly +violent squeeze. There was a sound of rending beams and the light +disappeared. The connexion had been cut. + +Morning came in chill and cheerless. All hands were stiff and weary +after their first disturbed night on the floe. Just at daybreak I went +over to the _Endurance_ with Wild and Hurley, in order to retrieve some +tins of petrol that could be used to boil up milk for the rest of the +men. The ship presented a painful spectacle of chaos and wreck. The +jib-boom and bowsprit had snapped off during the night and now lay at +right angles to the ship, with the chains, martingale, and bob-stay +dragging them as the vessel quivered and moved in the grinding pack. +The ice had driven over the forecastle and she was well down by the +head. We secured two tins of petrol with some difficulty, and postponed +the further examination of the ship until after breakfast. Jumping +across cracks with the tins, we soon reached camp, and built a +fireplace out of the triangular water-tight tanks we had ripped from +the lifeboat. This we had done in order to make more room. Then we +pierced a petrol-tin in half a dozen places with an ice-axe and set +fire to it. The petrol blazed fiercely under the five-gallon drum we +used as a cooker, and the hot milk was ready in quick time. Then we +three ministering angels went round the tents with the life-giving +drink, and were surprised and a trifle chagrined at the matter-of-fact +manner in which some of the men accepted this contribution to their +comfort. They did not quite understand what work we had done for them +in the early dawn, and I heard Wild say, “If any of you gentlemen would +like your boots cleaned just put them outside.” This was his gentle way +of reminding them that a little thanks will go a long way on such +occasions. + +The cook prepared breakfast, which consisted of biscuit and hoosh, at 8 +a.m., and I then went over to the _Endurance_ again and made a fuller +examination of the wreck. Only six of the cabins had not been pierced +by floes and blocks of ice. Every one of the starboard cabins had been +crushed. The whole of the after part of the ship had been crushed +concertina fashion. The forecastle and the Ritz were submerged, and the +wardroom was three-quarters full of ice. The starboard side of the +wardroom had come away. The motor-engine forward had been driven +through the galley. Petrol-cases that had been stacked on the fore-deck +had been driven by the floe through the wall into the wardroom and had +carried before them a large picture. Curiously enough, the glass of +this picture had not been cracked, whereas in the immediate +neighbourhood I saw heavy iron davits that had been twisted and bent +like the ironwork of a wrecked train. The ship was being crushed +remorselessly. + +Under a dull, overcast sky I returned to camp and examined our +situation. The floe occupied by the camp was still subject to pressure, +and I thought it wise to move to a larger and apparently stronger floe +about 200 yds. away, off the starboard bow of the ship. This camp was +to become known as Dump Camp, owing to the amount of stuff that was +thrown away there. We could not afford to carry unnecessary gear, and a +drastic sorting of equipment took place. I decided to issue a complete +new set of Burberrys and underclothing to each man, and also a supply +of new socks. The camp was transferred to the larger floe quickly, and +I began there to direct the preparations for the long journey across +the floes to Paulet Island or Snow Hill. + +Hurley meanwhile had rigged his kinematograph-camera and was getting +pictures of the _Endurance_ in her death-throes. While he was engaged +thus, the ice, driving against the standing rigging and the fore-, +main- and mizzen-masts, snapped the shrouds. The foretop and +topgallant-mast came down with a run and hung in wreckage on the +fore-mast, with the fore-yard vertical. The main-mast followed +immediately, snapping off about 10 ft. above the main deck. The +crow’s-nest fell within 10 ft. of where Hurley stood turning the handle +of his camera, but he did not stop the machine, and so secured a +unique, though sad, picture. + +The issue of clothing was quickly accomplished. Sleeping-bags were +required also. We had eighteen fur bags, and it was necessary, +therefore, to issue ten of the Jaeger woollen bags in order to provide +for the twenty-eight men of the party. The woollen bags were lighter +and less warm than the reindeer bags, and so each man who received one +of them was allowed also a reindeer-skin to lie upon. It seemed fair to +distribute the fur bags by lot, but some of us older hands did not join +in the lottery. We thought we could do quite as well with the Jaegers +as with the furs. With quick dispatch the clothing was apportioned, and +then we turned one of the boats on its side and supported it with two +broken oars to make a lee for the galley. The cook got the +blubber-stove going, and a little later, when I was sitting round the +corner of the stove, I heard one man say, “Cook, I like my tea strong.” +Another joined in, “Cook, I like mine weak.” It was pleasant to know +that their minds were untroubled, but I thought the time opportune to +mention that the tea would be the same for all hands and that we would +be fortunate if two months later we had any tea at all. It occurred to +me at the time that the incident had psychological interest. Here were +men, their home crushed, the camp pitched on the unstable floes, and +their chance of reaching safety apparently remote, calmly attending to +the details of existence and giving their attention to such trifles as +the strength of a brew of tea. + +During the afternoon the work continued. Every now and then we heard a +noise like heavy guns or distant thunder, caused by the floes grinding +together. + +“The pressure caused by the congestion in this area of the pack is +producing a scene of absolute chaos. The floes grind stupendously, +throw up great ridges, and shatter one another mercilessly. The ridges, +or hedgerows, marking the pressure-lines that border the +fast-diminishing pieces of smooth floe-ice, are enormous. The ice moves +majestically, irresistibly. Human effort is not futile, but man fights +against the giant forces of Nature in a spirit of humility. One has a +sense of dependence on the higher Power. To-day two seals, a Weddell +and a crabeater, came close to the camp and were shot. Four others were +chased back into the water, for their presence disturbed the dog teams, +and this meant floggings and trouble with the harness. The arrangement +of the tents has been completed and their internal management settled. +Each tent has a mess orderly, the duty being taken in turn on an +alphabetical rota. The orderly takes the hoosh-pots of his tent to the +galley, gets all the hoosh he is allowed, and, after the meal, cleans +the vessels with snow and stores them in sledge or boat ready for a +possible move.” + + +[Illustration: A Week Later] + + +[Illustration: “The Wreckage lies around in Dismal Confusion”] + + +“_October_ 29.—We passed a quiet night, although the pressure was +grinding around us. Our floe is a heavy one and it withstood the blows +it received. There is a light wind from the north-west to +north-north-west, and the weather is fine. We are twenty-eight men with +forty-nine dogs, including Sue’s and Sallie’s five grown-up pups. All +hands this morning were busy preparing gear, fitting boats on sledges, +and building up and strengthening the sledges to carry the boats.... +The main motor-sledge, with a little fitting from the carpenter, +carried our largest boat admirably. For the next boat four ordinary +sledges were lashed together, but we were dubious as to the strength of +this contrivance, and as a matter of fact it broke down quickly under +strain.... The ship is still afloat, with the spurs of the pack driven +through her and holding her up. The forecastle-head is under water, the +decks are burst up by the pressure, the wreckage lies around in dismal +confusion, but over all the blue ensign flies still. + +“This afternoon Sallie’s three youngest pups, Sue’s Sirius, and Mrs. +Chippy, the carpenter’s cat, have to be shot. We could not undertake +the maintenance of weaklings under the new conditions. Macklin, Crean, +and the carpenter seemed to feel the loss of their friends rather +badly. We propose making a short trial journey to-morrow, starting with +two of the boats and the ten sledges. The number of dog teams has been +increased to seven, Greenstreet taking charge of the new additional +team, consisting of Snapper and Sallie’s four oldest pups. We have ten +working sledges to relay with five teams. Wild’s and Hurley’s teams +will haul the cutter with the assistance of four men. The whaler and +the other boats will follow, and the men who are hauling them will be +able to help with the cutter at the rough places. We cannot hope to +make rapid progress, but each mile counts. Crean this afternoon has a +bad attack of snow-blindness.” + +The weather on the morning of October 30 was overcast and misty, with +occasional falls of snow. A moderate north-easterly breeze was blowing. +We were still living on extra food, brought from the ship when we +abandoned her, and the sledging and boating rations were intact. These +rations would provide for twenty-eight men for fifty-six days on full +rations, but we could count on getting enough seal and penguin meat to +at least double this time. We could even, if progress proved too +difficult and too injurious to the boats, which we must guard as our +ultimate means of salvation, camp on the nearest heavy floe, scour the +neighbouring pack for penguins and seals, and await the outward rift of +the pack, to open and navigable water. + +“This plan would avoid the grave dangers we are now incurring of +getting entangled in impassable pressure-ridges and possibly +irretrievably damaging the boats, which are bound to suffer in rough +ice; it would also minimize the peril of the ice splitting under us, as +it did twice during the night at our first camp. Yet I feel sure that +it is the right thing to attempt a march, since if we can make five or +seven miles a day to the north-west our chance of reaching safety in +the months to come will be increased greatly. There is a psychological +aspect to the question also. It will be much better for the men in +general to feel that, even though progress is slow, they are on their +way to land than it will be simply to sit down and wait for the tardy +north-westerly drift to take us out of this cruel waste of ice. We will +make an attempt to move. The issue is beyond my power either to predict +or to control.” + +That afternoon Wild and I went out in the mist and snow to find a road +to the north-east. After many devious turnings to avoid the heavier +pressure-ridges, we pioneered a way for at least a mile and a half. and +then returned by a rather better route to the camp. The pressure now +was rapid in movement and our floe was suffering from the shakes and +jerks of the ice. At 3 p.m., after lunch, we got under way, leaving +Dump Camp a mass of debris. The order was that personal gear must not +exceed two pounds per man, and this meant that nothing but bare +necessaries was to be taken on the march. We could not afford to cumber +ourselves with unnecessary weight. Holes had been dug in the snow for +the reception of private letters and little personal trifles, the Lares +and Penates of the members of the Expedition, and into the privacy of +these white graves were consigned much of sentimental value and not a +little of intrinsic worth. I rather grudged the two pounds allowance +per man, owing to my keen anxiety to keep weights at a minimum, but +some personal belongings could fairly be regarded as indispensable. The +journey might be a long one, and there was a possibility of a winter in +improvised quarters on an inhospitable coast at the other end. A man +under such conditions needs something to occupy his thoughts, some +tangible memento of his home and people beyond the seas. So sovereigns +were thrown away and photographs were kept. I tore the fly-leaf out of +the Bible that Queen Alexandra had given to the ship, with her own +writing in it, and also the wonderful page of Job containing the verse: + +Out of whose womb came the ice? +And the hoary frost of Heaven, who hath gendered it? +The waters are hid as with a stone, +And the face of the deep is frozen. +—[Job 38:29–30] + + +The other Bible, which Queen Alexandra had given for the use of the +shore party, was down below in the lower hold in one of the cases when +the ship received her death-blow. Suitcases were thrown away; these +were retrieved later as material for making boots, and some of them, +marked “solid leather,” proved, to our disappointment, to contain a +large percentage of cardboard. The manufacturer would have had +difficulty in convincing us at the time that the deception was anything +short of criminal. + +The pioneer sledge party, consisting of Wordie, Hussey, Hudson, and +myself, carrying picks and shovels, started to break a road through the +pressure-ridges for the sledges carrying the boats. The boats, with +their gear and the sledges beneath them, weighed each more than a ton. +The cutter was smaller than the whaler, but weighed more and was a much +more strongly built boat. The whaler was mounted on the sledge part of +the Girling tractor forward and two sledges amidships and aft. These +sledges were strengthened with cross-timbers and shortened oars fore +and aft. The cutter was mounted on the aero-sledge. The sledges were +the point of weakness. It appeared almost hopeless to prevent them +smashing under their heavy loads when travelling over rough +pressure-ice which stretched ahead of us for probably 300 miles. After +the pioneer sledge had started the seven dog teams got off. They took +their sledges forward for half a mile, then went back for the other +sledges. Worsley took charge of the two boats, with fifteen men +hauling, and these also had to be relayed. It was heavy work for dogs +and men, but there were intervals of comparative rest on the backward +journey, after the first portion of the load had been taken forward. We +passed over two opening cracks, through which killers were pushing +their ugly snouts, and by 5 p.m. had covered a mile in a +north-north-westerly direction. The condition of the ice ahead was +chaotic, for since the morning increased pressure had developed and the +pack was moving and crushing in all directions. So I gave the order to +pitch camp for the night on flat ice, which, unfortunately, proved to +be young and salty. The older pack was too rough and too deeply laden +with snow to offer a suitable camping-ground. Although we had gained +only one mile in a direct line, the necessary deviations made the +distance travelled at least two miles, and the relays brought the +distance marched up to six miles. Some of the dog teams had covered at +least ten miles. I set the watch from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m., one hour for +each man in each tent in rotation. + + +[Illustration: The First Attempt to reach the Land 346 Miles Away] + + +[Illustration: Ocean Camp] + + +During the night snow fell heavily, and the floor-cloths of the tents +got wet through, as the temperature had risen to +25° Fahr. One of the +things we hoped for in those days was a temperature in the +neighbourhood of zero, for then the snow surface would be hard, we +would not be troubled by damp, and our gear would not become covered in +soft snow. The killers were blowing all night, and a crack appeared +about 20 ft. from the camp at 2 a.m. The ice below us was quite thin +enough for the killers to break through if they took a fancy to do so, +but there was no other camping-ground within our reach and we had to +take the risk. When morning came the snow was falling so heavily that +we could not see more than a few score yards ahead, and I decided not +to strike camp. A path over the shattered floes would be hard to find, +and to get the boats into a position of peril might be disastrous. +Rickenson and Worsley started back for Dump Camp at 7 a.m. to get some +wood and blubber for the fire, and an hour later we had hoosh, with one +biscuit each. At 10 a.m. Hurley and Hudson left for the old camp in +order to bring some additional dog-pemmican, since there were no seals +to be found near us. Then, as the weather cleared, Worsley and I made a +prospect to the west and tried to find a practicable road. A large floe +offered a fairly good road for at least another mile to the north-west, +and we went back prepared for another move. The weather cleared a +little, and after lunch we struck camp. I took Rickenson, Kerr, Wordie, +and Hudson as a breakdown gang to pioneer a path among the +pressure-ridges. Five dog teams followed. Wild’s and Hurley’s teams +were hitched on to the cutter and they started off in splendid style. +They needed to be helped only once; indeed fourteen dogs did as well or +even better than eighteen men. The ice was moving beneath and around us +as we worked towards the big floe, and where this floe met the smaller +ones there was a mass of pressed-up ice, still in motion, with water +between the ridges. But it is wonderful what a dozen men can do with +picks and shovels. We could cut a road through a pressure-ridge about +14 ft. high in ten minutes and leave a smooth, or comparatively smooth, +path for the sledges and teams. + + + + +CHAPTER V +OCEAN CAMP + + +In spite of the wet, deep snow and the halts occasioned by thus having +to cut our road through the pressure-ridges, we managed to march the +best part of a mile towards our goal, though the relays and the +deviations again made the actual distance travelled nearer six miles. +As I could see that the men were all exhausted I gave the order to +pitch the tents under the lee of the two boats, which afforded some +slight protection from the wet snow now threatening to cover +everything. While so engaged one of the sailors discovered a small pool +of water, caused by the snow having thawed on a sail which was lying in +one of the boats. There was not much—just a sip each; but, as one man +wrote in his diary, “One has seen and tasted cleaner, but seldom more +opportunely found water.” + +Next day broke cold and still with the same wet snow, and in the +clearing light I could see that with the present loose surface, and +considering how little result we had to show for all our strenuous +efforts of the past four days, it would be impossible to proceed for +any great distance. Taking into account also the possibility of leads +opening close to us, and so of our being able to row north-west to +where we might find land, I decided to find a more solid floe and there +camp until conditions were more favourable for us to make a second +attempt to escape from our icy prison. To this end we moved our tents +and all our gear to a thick, heavy old floe about one and a half miles +from the wreck and there made our camp. We called this “Ocean Camp.” It +was with the utmost difficulty that we shifted our two boats. The +surface was terrible—like nothing that any of us had ever seen around +us before. We were sinking at times up to our hips, and everywhere the +snow was two feet deep. + +I decided to conserve our valuable sledging rations, which would be so +necessary for the inevitable boat journey, as much as possible, and to +subsist almost entirely on seals and penguins. + +A party was sent back to Dump Camp, near the ship, to collect as much +clothing, tobacco, etc., as they could find. The heavy snow which had +fallen in the last few days, combined with the thawing and consequent +sinking of the surface, resulted in the total disappearance of a good +many of the things left behind at this dump. The remainder of the men +made themselves as comfortable as possible under the circumstances at +Ocean Camp. This floating lump of ice, about a mile square at first but +later splitting into smaller and smaller fragments, was to be our home +for nearly two months. During these two months we made frequent visits +to the vicinity of the ship and retrieved much valuable clothing and +food and some few articles of personal value which in our light-hearted +optimism we had thought to leave miles behind us on our dash across the +moving ice to safety. + +The collection of food was now the all-important consideration. As we +were to subsist almost entirely on seals and penguins, which were to +provide fuel as well as food, some form of blubber-stove was a +necessity. This was eventually very ingeniously contrived from the +ship’s steel ash-shoot, as our first attempt with a large iron oil-drum +did not prove eminently successful. We could only cook seal or penguin +hooshes or stews on this stove, and so uncertain was its action that +the food was either burnt or only partially cooked; and, hungry though +we were, half-raw seal meat was not very appetizing. On one occasion a +wonderful stew made from seal meat, with two or three tins of Irish +stew that had been salved from the ship, fell into the fire through the +bottom of the oil-drum that we used as a saucepan becoming burnt out on +account of the sudden intense heat of the fire below. We lunched that +day on one biscuit and a quarter of a tin of bully-beef each, frozen +hard. + +This new stove, which was to last us during our stay at Ocean Camp, was +a great success. Two large holes were punched, with much labour and few +tools, opposite one another at the wider or top end of the shoot. Into +one of these an oil-drum was fixed, to be used as the fireplace, the +other hole serving to hold our saucepan. Alongside this another hole +was punched to enable two saucepans to be boiled at a time; and farther +along still a chimney made from biscuit-tins completed a very +efficient, if not a very elegant, stove. Later on the cook found that +he could bake a sort of flat bannock or scone on this stove, but he was +seriously hampered for want of yeast or baking-powder. + +An attempt was next made to erect some sort of a galley to protect the +cook against the inclemencies of the weather. The party which I had +sent back under Wild to the ship returned with, amongst other things, +the wheel-house practically complete. This, with the addition of some +sails and tarpaulins stretched on spars, made a very comfortable +storehouse and galley. Pieces of planking from the deck were lashed +across some spars stuck upright into the snow, and this, with the +ship’s binnacle, formed an excellent look-out from which to look for +seals and penguins. On this platform, too, a mast was erected from +which flew the King’s flag and the Royal Clyde Yacht Club burgee. + +I made a strict inventory of all the food in our possession, weights +being roughly determined with a simple balance made from a piece of +wood and some string, the counter-weight being a 60-lb. box of +provisions. + +The dog teams went off to the wreck early each morning under Wild, and +the men made every effort to rescue as much as possible from the ship. +This was an extremely difficult task as the whole of the deck forward +was under a foot of water on the port side, and nearly three feet on +the starboard side. However, they managed to collect large quantities +of wood and ropes and some few cases of provisions. Although the galley +was under water, Bakewell managed to secure three or four saucepans, +which later proved invaluable acquisitions. Quite a number of boxes of +flour, etc., had been stowed in a cabin in the hold, and these we had +been unable to get out before we left the ship. Having, therefore, +determined as nearly as possible that portion of the deck immediately +above these cases, we proceeded to cut a hole with large ice-chisels +through the 3-in. planking of which it was formed. As the ship at this +spot was under 5 ft. of water and ice, it was not an easy job. However, +we succeeded in making the hole sufficiently large to allow of some few +cases to come floating up. These were greeted with great satisfaction, +and later on, as we warmed to our work, other cases, whose upward +progress was assisted with a boat-hook, were greeted with either cheers +or groans according to whether they contained farinaceous food or +merely luxuries such as jellies. For each man by now had a good idea of +the calorific value and nutritive and sustaining qualities of the +various foods. It had a personal interest for us all. In this way we +added to our scanty stock between two and three tons of provisions, +about half of which was farinaceous food, such as flour and peas, of +which we were so short. This sounds a great deal, but at one pound per +day it would only last twenty-eight men for three months. Previous to +this I had reduced the food allowance to nine and a half ounces per man +per day. Now, however, it could be increased, and “this afternoon, for +the first time for ten days, we knew what it was to be really +satisfied.” + + +[Illustration: The Look-out at Ocean Camp] + + +[Illustration: The Emergency Sledges being packed in case of a sudden +break up of the Ice] + + +I had the sledges packed in readiness with the special sledging rations +in case of a sudden move, and with the other food, allowing also for +prospective seals and penguins, I calculated a dietary to give the +utmost possible variety and yet to use our precious stock of flour in +the most economical manner. All seals and penguins that appeared +anywhere within the vicinity of the camp were killed to provide food +and fuel. The dog-pemmican we also added to our own larder, feeding the +dogs on the seals which we caught, after removing such portions as were +necessary for our own needs. We were rather short of crockery, but +small pieces of venesta-wood served admirably as plates for seal +steaks; stews and liquids of all sorts were served in the aluminium +sledging-mugs, of which each man had one. Later on, jelly-tins and +biscuit-tin lids were pressed into service. + +Monotony in the meals, even considering the circumstances in which we +found ourselves, was what I was striving to avoid, so our little stock +of luxuries, such as fish-paste, tinned herrings, etc., was carefully +husbanded and so distributed as to last as long as possible. My efforts +were not in vain, as one man states in his diary: “It must be admitted +that we are feeding very well indeed, considering our position. Each +meal consists of one course and a beverage. The dried vegetables, if +any, all go into the same pot as the meat, and every dish is a sort of +hash or stew, be it ham or seal meat or half and half. The fact that we +only have two pots available places restrictions upon the number of +things that can be cooked at one time, but in spite of the limitation +of facilities, we always seem to manage to get just enough. The +milk-powder and sugar are necessarily boiled with the tea or cocoa. + +“We are, of course, very short of the farinaceous element in our diet, +and consequently have a mild craving for more of it. Bread is out of +the question, and as we are husbanding the remaining cases of our +biscuits for our prospective boat journey, we are eking out the supply +of flour by making bannocks, of which we have from three to four each +day. These bannocks are made from flour, fat, water, salt, and a little +baking-powder, the dough being rolled out into flat rounds and baked in +about ten minutes on a hot sheet of iron over the fire. Each bannock +weighs about one and a half to two ounces, and we are indeed lucky to +be able to produce them.” + +A few boxes of army biscuits soaked with sea-water were distributed at +one meal. They were in such a state that they would not have been +looked at a second time under ordinary circumstances, but to us on a +floating lump of ice, over three hundred miles from land, and that +quite hypothetical, and with the unplumbed sea beneath us, they were +luxuries indeed. Wild’s tent made a pudding of theirs with some +dripping. + +Although keeping in mind the necessity for strict economy with our +scanty store of food, I knew how important it was to keep the men +cheerful, and that the depression occasioned by our surroundings and +our precarious position could to some extent be alleviated by +increasing the rations, at least until we were more accustomed to our +new mode of life. That this was successful is shown in their diaries. + +“Day by day goes by much the same as one another. We work; we talk; we +eat. Ah, how we eat! No longer on short rations, we are a trifle more +exacting than we were when we first commenced our ‘simple life,’ but by +comparison with home standards we are positive barbarians, and our +gastronomic rapacity knows no bounds. + +“All is eaten that comes to each tent, and everything is most carefully +and accurately divided into as many equal portions as there are men in +the tent. One member then closes his eyes or turns his head away and +calls out the names at random, as the cook for the day points to each +portion, saying at the same time, ‘Whose?’ + +“Partiality, however unintentional it may be, is thus entirely obviated +and every one feels satisfied that all is fair, even though one may +look a little enviously at the next man’s helping, which differs in +some especially appreciated detail from one’s own. We break the Tenth +Commandment energetically, but as we are all in the same boat in this +respect, no one says a word. We understand each other’s feelings quite +sympathetically. + +“It is just like school-days over again, and very jolly it is too, for +the time being!” + +Later on, as the prospect of wintering in the pack became more +apparent, the rations had to be considerably reduced. By that time, +however, everybody had become more accustomed to the idea and took it +quite as a matter of course. + +Our meals now consisted in the main of a fairly generous helping of +seal or penguin, either boiled or fried. As one man wrote: + +“We are now having enough to eat, but not by any means too much; and +every one is always hungry enough to eat every scrap he can get. Meals +are invariably taken very seriously, and little talking is done till +the hoosh is finished.” + +Our tents made somewhat cramped quarters, especially during meal-times. + +“Living in a tent without any furniture requires a little getting used +to. For our meals we have to sit on the floor, and it is surprising how +awkward it is to eat in such a position; it is better by far to kneel +and sit back on one’s heels, as do the Japanese.” + +Each man took it in turn to be the tent “cook” for one day, and one +writes: + +“The word ‘cook’ is at present rather a misnomer, for whilst we have a +permanent galley no cooking need be done in the tent. + +“Really, all that the tent cook has to do is to take his two hoosh-pots +over to the galley and convey the hoosh and the beverage to the tent, +clearing up after each meal and washing up the two pots and the mugs. +There are no spoons, etc., to wash, for we each keep our own spoon and +pocket-knife in our pockets. We just lick them as clean as possible and +replace them in our pockets after each meal. + +“Our spoons are one of our indispensable possessions here. To lose +one’s spoon would be almost as serious as it is for an edentate person +to lose his set of false teeth.” + +During all this time the supply of seals and penguins, if not +inexhaustible, was always sufficient for our needs. + +Seal- and penguin-hunting was our daily occupation, and parties were +sent out in different directions to search among the hummocks and the +pressure-ridges for them. When one was found a signal was hoisted, +usually in the form of a scarf or a sock on a pole, and an answering +signal was hoisted at the camp. + +Then Wild went out with a dog team to shoot and bring in the game. To +feed ourselves and the dogs, at least one seal a day was required. The +seals were mostly crab-eaters, and emperor penguins were the general +rule. On November 5, however, an adelie was caught, and this was the +cause of much discussion, as the following extract shows: “The man on +watch from 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. caught an adelie penguin. This is the first +of its kind that we have seen since January last, and it may mean a +lot. It may signify that there is land somewhere near us, or else that +great leads are opening up, but it is impossible to form more than a +mere conjecture at present.” + +No skuas, Antarctic petrels, or sea-leopards were seen during our two +months’ stay at Ocean Camp. + +In addition to the daily hunt for food, our time was passed in reading +the few books that we had managed to save from the ship. The greatest +treasure in the library was a portion of the “Encyclopædia +Britannica.” This was being continually used to settle the inevitable +arguments that would arise. The sailors were discovered one day engaged +in a very heated discussion on the subject of _Money and Exchange_. +They finally came to the conclusion that the Encyclopædia, since it +did not coincide with their views, must be wrong. + +“For descriptions of every American town that ever has been, is, or +ever will be, and for full and complete biographies of every American +statesman since the time of George Washington and long before, the +Encyclopædia would be hard to beat. Owing to our shortage of matches +we have been driven to use it for purposes other than the purely +literary ones though; and one genius having discovered that the paper, +used for its pages had been impregnated with saltpetre, we can now +thoroughly recommend it as a very efficient pipe-lighter.” + +We also possessed a few books on Antarctic exploration, a copy of +Browning and one of “The Ancient Mariner.” On reading the latter, we +sympathized with him and wondered what he had done with the albatross; +it would have made a very welcome addition to our larder. + +The two subjects of most interest to us were our rate of drift and the +weather. Worsley took observations of the sun whenever possible, and +his results showed conclusively that the drift of our floe was almost +entirely dependent upon the winds and not much affected by currents. +Our hope, of course, was to drift northwards to the edge of the pack +and then, when the ice was loose enough, to take to the boats and row +to the nearest land. We started off in fine style, drifting north about +twenty miles in two or three days in a howling south-westerly blizzard. +Gradually, however, we slowed up, as successive observations showed, +until we began to drift back to the south. An increasing north-easterly +wind, which commenced on November 7 and lasted for twelve days, damped +our spirits for a time, until we found that we had only drifted back to +the south three miles, so that we were now seventeen miles to the good. +This tended to reassure us in our theories that the ice of the Weddell +Sea was drifting round in a clockwise direction, and that if we could +stay on our piece long enough we must eventually be taken up to the +north, where lay the open sea and the path to comparative safety. + +The ice was not moving fast enough to be noticeable. In fact, the only +way in which we could prove that we were moving at all was by noting +the change of relative positions of the bergs around us, and, more +definitely, by fixing our absolute latitude and longitude by +observations of the sun. Otherwise, as far as actual visible drift was +concerned, we might have been on dry land. + +For the next few days we made good progress, drifting seven miles to +the north on November 24 and another seven miles in the next +forty-eight hours. We were all very pleased to know that although the +wind was mainly south-west all this time, yet we had made very little +easting. The land lay to the west, so had we drifted to the east we +should have been taken right away to the centre of the entrance to the +Weddell Sea, and our chances of finally reaching land would have been +considerably lessened. + +Our average rate of drift was slow, and many and varied were the +calculations as to when we should reach the pack-edge. On December 12, +1915, one man wrote: “Once across the Antarctic Circle, it will seem as +if we are practically halfway home again; and it is just possible that +with favourable winds we may cross the circle before the New Year. A +drift of only three miles a day would do it, and we have often done +that and more for periods of three or four weeks. + +“We are now only 250 miles from Paulet Island, but too much to the east +of it. We are approaching the latitudes in which we were at this time +last year, on our way down. The ship left South Georgia just a year and +a week ago, and reached this latitude four or five miles to the +eastward of our present position on January 3, 1915, crossing the +circle on New Year’s Eve.” + +Thus, after a year’s incessant battle with the ice, we had returned, by +many strange turns of fortune’s wheel, to almost identically the same +latitude that we had left with such high hopes and aspirations twelve +months previously; but under what different conditions now! Our ship +crushed and lost, and we ourselves drifting on a piece of ice at the +mercy of the winds. However, in spite of occasional setbacks due to +unfavourable winds, our drift was in the main very satisfactory, and +this went a long way towards keeping the men cheerful. + +As the drift was mostly affected by the winds, the weather was closely +watched by all, and Hussey, the meteorologist, was called upon to make +forecasts every four hours, and some times more frequently than that. A +meteorological screen, containing thermometers and a barograph, had +been erected on a post frozen into the ice, and observations were taken +every four hours. When we first left the ship the weather was cold and +miserable, and altogether as unpropitious as it could possibly have +been for our attempted march. Our first few days at Ocean Camp were +passed under much the same conditions. At nights the temperature +dropped to zero, with blinding snow and drift. One-hour watches were +instituted, all hands taking their turn, and in such weather this job +was no sinecure. The watchman had to be continually on the alert for +cracks in the ice, or any sudden changes in the ice conditions, and +also had to keep his eye on the dogs, who often became restless, +fretful, and quarrelsome in the early hours of the morning. At the end +of his hour he was very glad to crawl back into the comparative warmth +of his frozen sleeping-bag. + +On November 6 a dull, overcast day developed into a howling blizzard +from the south-west, with snow and low drift. Only those who were +compelled left the shelter of their tent. Deep drifts formed +everywhere, burying sledges and provisions to a depth of two feet, and +the snow piling up round the tents threatened to burst the thin fabric. +The fine drift found its way in through the ventilator of the tent, +which was accordingly plugged up with a spare sock. + +This lasted for two days, when one man wrote: “The blizzard continued +through the morning, but cleared towards noon, and it was a beautiful +evening; but we would far rather have the screeching blizzard with its +searching drift and cold damp wind, for we drifted about eleven miles +to the north during the night.” + +For four days the fine weather continued, with gloriously warm, bright +sun, but cold when standing still or in the shade. The temperature +usually dropped below zero, but every opportunity was taken during +these fine, sunny days to partially dry our sleeping-bags and other +gear, which had become sodden through our body-heat having thawed the +snow which had drifted in on to them during the blizzard. The bright +sun seemed to put new heart into all. + +The next day brought a north-easterly wind with the very high +temperature of 27° Fahr.—only 5° below freezing. “These high +temperatures do not always represent the warmth which might be assumed +from the thermometrical readings. They usually bring dull, overcast +skies, with a raw, muggy, moisture-laden wind. The winds from the +south, though colder, are nearly always coincident with sunny days and +clear blue skies.” + +The temperature still continued to rise, reaching 33° Fahr. on November +14. The thaw consequent upon these high temperatures was having a +disastrous effect upon the surface of our camp. “The surface is +awful!—not slushy, but elusive. You step out gingerly. All is well for +a few paces, then your foot suddenly sinks a couple of feet until it +comes to a hard layer. You wade along in this way step by step, like a +mudlark at Portsmouth Hard, hoping gradually to regain the surface. +Soon you do, only to repeat the exasperating performance _ad lib_., to +the accompaniment of all the expletives that you can bring to bear on +the subject. What actually happens is that the warm air melts the +surface sufficiently to cause drops of water to trickle down slightly, +where, on meeting colder layers of snow, they freeze again, forming a +honeycomb of icy nodules instead of the soft, powdery, granular snow +that we are accustomed to.” + +These high temperatures persisted for some days, and when, as +occasionally happened, the sky was clear and the sun was shining it was +unbearably hot. Five men who were sent to fetch some gear from the +vicinity of the ship with a sledge marched in nothing but trousers and +singlet, and even then were very hot; in fact they were afraid of +getting sunstroke, so let down flaps from their caps to cover their +necks. Their sleeves were rolled up over their elbows, and their arms +were red and sunburnt in consequence. The temperature on this occasion +was 26° Fahr., or 6° below freezing. For five or six days more the sun +continued, and most of our clothes and sleeping-bags were now +comparatively dry. A wretched day with rainy sleet set in on November +21, but one could put up with this discomfort as the wind was now from +the south. + +The wind veered later to the west, and the sun came out at 9 p.m. For +at this time, near the end of November, we had the midnight sun. “A +thrice-blessed southerly wind” soon arrived to cheer us all, +occasioning the following remarks in one of the diaries: + +“To-day is the most beautiful day we have had in the Antarctic—a clear +sky, a gentle, warm breeze from the south, and the most brilliant +sunshine. We all took advantage of it to strike tents, clean out, and +generally dry and air ground-sheets and sleeping-bags.” + +I was up early—4 a.m.—to keep watch, and the sight was indeed +magnificent. Spread out before one was an extensive panorama of +ice-fields, intersected here and there by small broken leads, and +dotted with numerous noble bergs, partly bathed in sunshine and partly +tinged with the grey shadows of an overcast sky. + +As one watched one observed a distinct line of demarcation between the +sunshine and the shade, and this line gradually approached nearer and +nearer, lighting up the hummocky relief of the ice-field bit by bit, +until at last it reached us, and threw the whole camp into a blaze of +glorious sunshine which lasted nearly all day. + +“This afternoon we were treated to one or two showers of hail-like +snow. Yesterday we also had a rare form of snow, or, rather, +precipitation of ice-spicules, exactly like little hairs, about a third +of an inch long. + +“The warmth in the tents at lunch-time was so great that we had all the +side-flaps up for ventilation, but it is a treat to get warm +occasionally, and one can put up with a little stuffy atmosphere now +and again for the sake of it. The wind has gone to the best quarter +this evening, the south-east, and is freshening.” + +On these fine, clear, sunny days wonderful mirage effects could be +observed, just as occur over the desert. Huge bergs were apparently +resting on nothing, with a distinct gap between their bases and the +horizon; others were curiously distorted into all sorts of weird and +fantastic shapes, appearing to be many times their proper height. Added +to this, the pure glistening white of the snow and ice made a picture +which it is impossible adequately to describe. + +Later on, the freshening south-westerly wind brought mild, overcast +weather, probably due to the opening up of the pack in that direction. + +I had already made arrangements for a quick move in case of a sudden +break-up of the ice. Emergency orders were issued; each man had his +post allotted and his duty detailed; and the whole was so organized +that in less than five minutes from the sounding of the alarm on my +whistle, tents were struck, gear and provisions packed, and the whole +party was ready to move off. I now took a final survey of the men to +note their condition, both mental and physical. For our time at Ocean +Camp had not been one of unalloyed bliss. The loss of the ship meant +more to us than we could ever put into words. After we had settled at +Ocean Camp she still remained nipped by the ice, only her stern showing +and her bows overridden and buried by the relentless pack. The tangled +mass of ropes, rigging, and spars made the scene even more desolate and +depressing. + +It was with a feeling almost of relief that the end came. + +“_November_ 21, 1915.—This evening, as we were lying in our tents we +heard the Boss call out, ‘She’s going, boys!’ We were out in a second +and up on the look-out station and other points of vantage, and, sure +enough, there was our poor ship a mile and a half away struggling in +her death-agony. She went down bows first, her stern raised in the air. +She then gave one quick dive and the ice closed over her for ever. It +gave one a sickening sensation to see it, for, mastless and useless as +she was, she seemed to be a link with the outer world. Without her our +destitution seems more emphasized, our desolation more complete. The +loss of the ship sent a slight wave of depression over the camp. No one +said much, but we cannot be blamed for feeling it in a sentimental way. +It seemed as if the moment of severance from many cherished +associations, many happy moments, even stirring incidents, had come as +she silently up-ended to find a last resting-place beneath the ice on +which we now stand. When one knows every little nook and corner of +one’s ship as we did, and has helped her time and again in the fight +that she made so well, the actual parting was not without its pathos, +quite apart from one’s own desolation, and I doubt if there was one +amongst us who did not feel some personal emotion when Sir Ernest, +standing on the top of the look-out, said somewhat sadly and quietly, +‘She’s gone, boys.’ + +“It must, however, be said that we did not give way to depression for +long, for soon every one was as cheery as usual. Laughter rang out from +the tents, and even the Boss had a passage-at-arms with the storekeeper +over the inadequacy of the sausage ration, insisting that there should +be two each ‘because they were such little ones,’ instead of the one +and a half that the latter proposed.” + +The psychological effect of a slight increase in the rations soon +neutralized any tendency to downheartedness, but with the high +temperatures surface-thaw set in, and our bags and clothes were soaked +and sodden. Our boots squelched as we walked, and we lived in a state +of perpetual wet feet. At nights, before the temperature had fallen, +clouds of steam could be seen rising from our soaking bags and boots. +During the night, as it grew colder, this all condensed as rime on the +inside of the tent, and showered down upon us if one happened to touch +the side inadvertently. One had to be careful how one walked, too, as +often only a thin crust of ice and snow covered a hole in the floe, +through which many an unwary member went in up to his waist. These +perpetual soakings, however, seemed to have had little lasting effect, +or perhaps it was not apparent owing to the excitement of the prospect +of an early release. + +A north-westerly wind on December 7 and 8 retarded our progress +somewhat, but I had reason to believe that it would help to open the +ice and form leads through which we might escape to open water. So I +ordered a practice launching of the boats and stowage of food and +stores in them. This was very satisfactory. We cut a slipway from our +floe into a lead which ran alongside, and the boats took the water +“like a bird,” as one sailor remarked. Our hopes were high in +anticipation of an early release. A blizzard sprang up, increasing the +next day and burying tents and packing-cases in the drift. On December +12 it had moderated somewhat and veered to the south-east, and the next +day the blizzard had ceased, but a good steady wind from south and +south-west continued to blow us north. + +“_December_ 15, 1915.—The continuance of southerly winds is exceeding +our best hopes, and raising our spirits in proportion. Prospects could +not be brighter than they are just now. The environs of our floe are +continually changing. Some days we are almost surrounded by small open +leads, preventing us from crossing over to the adjacent floes.” + +After two more days our fortune changed, and a strong north-easterly +wind brought “a beastly cold, windy day” and drove us back three and a +quarter miles. Soon, however, the wind once more veered to the south +and south-west. These high temperatures, combined with the strong +changeable winds that we had had of late, led me to conclude that the +ice all around us was rotting and breaking up and that the moment of +our deliverance from the icy maw of the Antarctic was at hand. + +On December 20, after discussing the question with Wild, I informed all +hands that I intended to try and make a march to the west to reduce the +distance between us and Paulet Island. A buzz of pleasurable +anticipation went round the camp, and every one was anxious to get on +the move. So the next day I set off with Wild, Crean, and Hurley, with +dog teams, to the westward to survey the route. After travelling about +seven miles we mounted a small berg, and there as far as we could see +stretched a series of immense flat floes from half a mile to a mile +across, separated from each other by pressure-ridges which seemed +easily negotiable with pick and shovel. The only place that appeared +likely to be formidable was a very much cracked-up area between the old +floe that we were on and the first of the series of young flat floes +about half a mile away. + + +[Illustration: The Sledges packed and ready] + + +[Illustration: Relaying the _James Caird_] + + +December 22 was therefore kept as Christmas Day, and most of our small +remaining stock of luxuries was consumed at the Christmas feast. We +could not carry it all with us, so for the last time for eight months +we had a really good meal—as much as we could eat. Anchovies in oil, +baked beans, and jugged hare made a glorious mixture such as we have +not dreamed of since our school-days. Everybody was working at high +pressure, packing and repacking sledges and stowing what provisions we +were going to take with us in the various sacks and boxes. As I looked +round at the eager faces of the men I could not but hope that this time +the fates would be kinder to us than in our last attempt to march +across the ice to safety. + + + + +CHAPTER VI +THE MARCH BETWEEN + + +With the exception of the night-watchman we turned in at 11 p.m., and +at 3 a.m. on December 23 all hands were roused for the purpose of +sledging the two boats, the _James Caird_ and the _Dudley Docker_, over +the dangerously cracked portion to the first of the young floes, whilst +the surface still held its night crust. A thick sea-fog came up from +the west, so we started off finally at 4.30 a.m., after a drink of hot +coffee. + +Practically all hands had to be harnessed to each boat in succession, +and by dint of much careful manipulation and tortuous courses amongst +the broken ice we got both safely over the danger-zone. + +We then returned to Ocean Camp for the tents and the rest of the +sledges, and pitched camp by the boats about one and a quarter miles +off. On the way back a big seal was caught which provided fresh food +for ourselves and for the dogs. On arrival at the camp a supper of cold +tinned mutton and tea was served, and everybody turned in at 2 p.m. It +was my intention to sleep by day and march by night, so as to take +advantage of the slightly lower temperatures and consequent harder +surfaces. + +At 8 p.m. the men were roused, and after a meal of cold mutton and tea, +the march was resumed. A large open lead brought us to a halt at 11 +p.m., whereupon we camped and turned in without a meal. Fortunately +just at this time the weather was fine and warm. Several men slept out +in the open at the beginning of the march. One night, however, a slight +snow-shower came on, succeeded immediately by a lowering of the +temperature. Worsley, who had hung up his trousers and socks on a boat, +found them iced-up and stiff; and it was quite a painful process for +him to dress quickly that morning. I was anxious, now that we had +started, that we should make every effort to extricate ourselves, and +this temporary check so early was rather annoying. So that afternoon +Wild and I ski-ed out to the crack and found that it had closed up +again. We marked out the track with small flags as we returned. Each +day, after all hands had turned in, Wild and I would go ahead for two +miles or so to reconnoitre the next day’s route, marking it with pieces +of wood, tins, and small flags. We had to pick the road which though it +might be somewhat devious, was flattest and had least hummocks. +Pressure-ridges had to be skirted, and where this was not possible the +best place to make a bridge of ice-blocks across the lead or over the +ridge had to be found and marked. It was the duty of the dog-drivers to +thus prepare the track for those who were toiling behind with the heavy +boats. These boats were hauled in relays, about sixty yards at a time. +I did not wish them to be separated by too great a distance in case the +ice should crack between them, and we should be unable to reach the one +that was in rear. Every twenty yards or so they had to stop for a rest +and to take breath, and it was a welcome sight to them to see the +canvas screen go up on some oars, which denoted the fact that the cook +had started preparing a meal, and that a temporary halt, at any rate, +was going to be made. Thus the ground had to be traversed three times +by the boat-hauling party. The dog-sledges all made two, and some of +them three, relays. The dogs were wonderful. Without them we could +never have transported half the food and gear that we did. + +We turned in at 7 p.m. that night, and at 1 a.m. next day, the 25th, +and the third day of our march, a breakfast of sledging ration was +served. By 2 a.m. we were on the march again. We wished one another a +merry Christmas, and our thoughts went back to those at home. We +wondered, too, that day, as we sat down to our “lunch” of stale, thin +bannock and a mug of thin cocoa, what they were having at home. + +All hands were very cheerful. The prospect of a relief from the +monotony of life on the floe raised all our spirits. One man wrote in +his diary: “It’s a hard, rough, jolly life, this marching and camping; +no washing of self or dishes, no undressing, no changing of clothes. We +have our food anyhow, and always impregnated with blubber-smoke; +sleeping almost on the bare snow and working as hard as the human +physique is capable of doing on a minimum of food.” + +We marched on, with one halt at 6 a.m., till half-past eleven. After a +supper of seal steaks and tea we turned in. The surface now was pretty +bad. High temperatures during the day made the upper layers of snow +very soft, and the thin crust which formed at night was not sufficient +to support a man. Consequently, at each step we went in over our knees +in the soft wet snow. Sometimes a man would step into a hole in the ice +which was hidden by the covering of snow, and be pulled up with a jerk +by his harness. The sun was very hot and many were suffering from +cracked lips. + +Two seals were killed to-day. Wild and McIlroy, who went out to secure +them, had rather an exciting time on some very loose, rotten ice, three +killer-whales in a lead a few yards away poking up their ugly heads as +if in anticipation of a feast. + +Next day, December 26, we started off again at 1 a.m. “The surface was +much better than it has been for the last few days, and this is the +principal thing that matters. The route, however, lay over very +hummocky floes, and required much work with pick and shovel to make it +passable for the boat-sledges. These are handled in relays by eighteen +men under Worsley. It is killing work on soft surfaces.” + +At 5 a.m. we were brought up by a wide open lead after an +unsatisfactorily short march. While we waited, a meal of tea and two +small bannocks was served, but as 10 a.m. came and there were no signs +of the lead closing we all turned in. + +It snowed a little during the day and those who were sleeping outside +got their sleeping-bags pretty wet. + +At 9.30 p.m. that night we were off again. I was, as usual, pioneering +in front, followed by the cook and his mate pulling a small sledge with +the stove and all the cooking gear on. These two, black as two Mohawk +Minstrels with the blubber-soot, were dubbed “Potash and Perlmutter.” +Next come the dog teams, who soon overtake the cook, and the two boats +bring up the rear. Were it not for these cumbrous boats we should get +along at a great rate, but we dare not abandon them on any account. As +it is we left one boat, the _Stancomb Wills_, behind at Ocean Camp, and +the remaining two will barely accommodate the whole party when we leave +the floe. + + +[Illustration: Potash and Perlmutter] + + +[Illustration: “Loneliness”: Patience Camp] + + +We did a good march of one and a half miles that night before we halted +for “lunch” at 1 a.m., and then on for another mile, when at 5 a.m. we +camped by a little sloping berg. + +Blackie, one of Wild’s dogs, fell lame and could neither pull nor keep +up with the party even when relieved of his harness, so had to be shot. + +Nine p.m. that night, the 27th, saw us on the march again. The first +200 yds. took us about five hours to cross, owing to the amount of +breaking down of pressure-ridges and filling in of leads that was +required. The surface, too, was now very soft, so our progress was slow +and tiring. We managed to get another three-quarters of a mile before +lunch, and a further mile due west over a very hummocky floe before we +camped at 5.30 a.m. Greenstreet and Macklin killed and brought in a +huge Weddell seal weighing about 800 lbs., and two emperor penguins +made a welcome addition to our larder. + +I climbed a small tilted berg nearby. The country immediately ahead was +much broken up. Great open leads intersected the floes at all angles, +and it all looked very unpromising. Wild and I went out prospecting as +usual, but it seemed too broken to travel over. + +“_December_ 29.—After a further reconnaissance the ice ahead proved +quite un-negotiable, so at 8.30 p.m. last night, to the intense +disappointment of all, instead of forging ahead, we had to retire half +a mile so as to get on a stronger floe, and by 10 p.m. we had camped +and all hands turned in again. The extra sleep was much needed, however +disheartening the check may be.” + +During the night a crack formed right across the floe, so we hurriedly +shifted to a strong old floe about a mile and a half to the east of our +present position. The ice all around was now too broken and soft to +sledge over, and yet there was not sufficient open water to allow us to +launch the boats with any degree of safety. We had been on the march +for seven days; rations were short and the men were weak. They were +worn out with the hard pulling over soft surfaces, and our stock of +sledging food was very small. We had marched seven and a half miles in +a direct line and at this rate it would take us over three hundred days +to reach the land away to the west. As we only had food for forty-two +days there was no alternative, therefore, but to camp once more on the +floe and to possess our souls with what patience we could till +conditions should appear more favourable for a renewal of the attempt +to escape. To this end, we stacked our surplus provisions, the reserve +sledging rations being kept lashed on the sledges, and brought what +gear we could from our but lately deserted Ocean Camp. + +Our new home, which we were to occupy for nearly three and a half +months, we called “Patience Camp.” + + + + +CHAPTER VII +PATIENCE CAMP + + +The apathy which seemed to take possession of some of the men at the +frustration of their hopes was soon dispelled. Parties were sent out +daily in different directions to look for seals and penguins. We had +left, other than reserve sledging rations, about 110 lbs. of pemmican, +including the dog-pemmican, and 300 lbs. of flour. In addition there +was a little tea, sugar, dried vegetables, and suet. I sent Hurley and +Macklin to Ocean Camp to bring back the food that we had had to leave +there. They returned with quite a good load, including 130 lbs. of dry +milk, about 50 lbs. each of dog-pemmican and jam, and a few tins of +potted meats. When they were about a mile and a half away their voices +were quite audible to us at Ocean Camp, so still was the air. + +We were, of course, very short of the farinaceous element in our diet. +The flour would last ten weeks. After that our sledging rations would +last us less than three months. Our meals had to consist mainly of seal +and penguin; and though this was valuable as an anti-scorbutic, so much +so that not a single case of scurvy occurred amongst the party, yet it +was a badly adjusted diet, and we felt rather weak and enervated in +consequence. + +“The cook deserves much praise for the way he has stuck to his job +through all this severe blizzard. His galley consists of nothing but a +few boxes arranged as a table, with a canvas screen erected around them +on four oars and the two blubber-stoves within. The protection afforded +by the screen is only partial, and the eddies drive the pungent +blubber-smoke in all directions.” + +After a few days we were able to build him an igloo of ice-blocks, with +a tarpaulin over the top as a roof. + +“Our rations are just sufficient to keep us alive, but we all feel that +we could eat twice as much as we get. An average day’s food at present +consists of ½ lb. of seal with ¾ pint of tea for breakfast, a 4-oz. +bannock with milk for lunch, and ¾ pint of seal stew for supper. That +is barely enough, even doing very little work as we are, for of course +we are completely destitute of bread or potatoes or anything of that +sort. Some seem to feel it more than others and are continually talking +of food; but most of us find that the continual conversation about food +only whets an appetite that cannot be satisfied. Our craving for bread +and butter is very real, not because we cannot get it, but because the +system feels the need of it.” + +Owing to this shortage of food and the fact that we needed all that we +could get for ourselves, I had to order all the dogs except two teams +to be shot. It was the worst job that we had had throughout the +Expedition, and we felt their loss keenly. + +I had to be continually rearranging the weekly menu. The possible +number of permutations of seal meat were decidedly limited. The fact +that the men did not know what was coming gave them a sort of mental +speculation, and the slightest variation was of great value. + +“We caught an adelie to-day (January 26) and another whale was seen at +close quarters, but no seals. + +“We are now very short of blubber, and in consequence one stove has to +be shut down. We only get one hot beverage a day, the tea at breakfast. +For the rest we have iced water. Sometimes we are short even of this, +so we take a few chips of ice in a tobacco-tin to bed with us. In the +morning there is about a spoonful of water in the tin, and one has to +lie very still all night so as not to spill it.” + +To provide some variety in the food, I commenced to use the sledging +ration at half strength twice a week. + +The ice between us and Ocean Camp, now only about five miles away and +actually to the south-west of us, was very broken, but I decided to +send Macklin and Hurley back with their dogs to see if there was any +more food that could be added to our scanty stock. I gave them written +instructions to take no undue risk or cross any wide-open leads, and +said that they were to return by midday the next day. Although they +both fell through the thin ice up to their waists more than once, they +managed to reach the camp. They found the surface soft and sunk about +two feet. Ocean Camp, they said, “looked like a village that had been +razed to the ground and deserted by its inhabitants.” The floor-boards +forming the old tent-bottoms had prevented the sun from thawing the +snow directly underneath them, and were in consequence raised about two +feet above the level of the surrounding floe. + + +[Illustration: The Kitchen at Patience Camp] + + +[Illustration: The Stove at Patience Camp constructed out of old +Oil-drums] + + +The storehouse next the galley had taken on a list of several degrees +to starboard, and pools of water had formed everywhere. They collected +what food they could find and packed a few books in a venesta +sledging-case, returning to Patience Camp by about 8 p.m. I was pleased +at their quick return, and as their report seemed to show that the road +was favourable, on February 2 I sent back eighteen men under Wild to +bring all the remainder of the food and the third boat, the _Stancomb +Wills_. They started off at 1 a.m., towing the empty boat-sledge on +which the _James Caird_ had rested, and reached Ocean Camp about 3.30 +a.m. + +“We stayed about three hours at the Camp, mounting the boat on the +sledge, collecting eatables, clothing, and books. We left at 6 a.m., +arriving back at Patience Camp with the boat at 12.30 p.m., taking +exactly three times as long to return with the boat as it did to pull +in the empty sledge to fetch it. On the return journey we had numerous +halts while the pioneer party of four were busy breaking down +pressure-ridges and filling in open cracks with ice-blocks, as the +leads were opening up. The sun had softened the surface a good deal, +and in places it was terribly hard pulling. Every one was a bit +exhausted by the time we got back, as we are not now in good training +and are on short rations. Every now and then the heavy sledge broke +through the ice altogether and was practically afloat. We had an awful +job to extricate it, exhausted as we were. The longest distance which +we managed to make without stopping for leads or pressure-ridges was +about three quarters of a mile. + +“About a mile from Patience Camp we had a welcome surprise. Sir Ernest +and Hussey sledged out to meet us with dixies of hot tea, well wrapped +up to keep them warm. + +“One or two of the men left behind had cut a moderately good track for +us into the camp, and they harnessed themselves up with us, and we got +in in fine style. + +“One excellent result of our trip was the recovery of two cases of +lentils weighing 42 lbs. each.” + +The next day I sent Macklin and Crean back to make a further selection +of the gear, but they found that several leads had opened up during the +night, and they had to return when within a mile and a half of their +destination. We were never able to reach Ocean Camp again. Still, there +was very little left there that would have been of use to us. + +By the middle of February the blubber question was a serious one. I had +all the discarded seals’ heads and flippers dug up and stripped of +every vestige of blubber. Meat was very short too. We still had our +three months’ supply of sledging food practically untouched; we were +only to use this as a last resort. We had a small supply of +dog-pemmican, the dogs that were left being fed on those parts of the +seals that we could not use. This dog-pemmican we fried in suet with a +little flour and made excellent bannocks. + +Our meat supply was now very low indeed; we were reduced to just a few +scraps. Fortunately, however, we caught two seals and four emperor +penguins, and next day forty adelies. We had now only forty days’ food +left, and the lack of blubber was being keenly felt. All our suet was +used up, so we used seal-blubber to fry the meat in. Once we were used +to its fishy taste we enjoyed it; in fact, like Oliver Twist, we wanted +more. + +On Leap Year day, February 29, we held a special celebration, more to +cheer the men up than for anything else. Some of the cynics of the +party held that it was to celebrate their escape from woman’s wiles for +another four years. The last of our cocoa was used to-day. Henceforth +water, with an occasional drink of weak milk, is to be our only +beverage. Three lumps of sugar were now issued to each man daily. + +One night one of the dogs broke loose and played havoc with our +precious stock of bannocks. He ate four and half of a fifth before he +could be stopped. The remaining half, with the marks of the dog’s teeth +on it, I gave to Worsley, who divided it up amongst his seven +tent-mates; they each received about half a square inch. + +Lees, who was in charge of the food and responsible for its safe +keeping, wrote in his diary: “The shorter the provisions the more there +is to do in the commissariat department, contriving to eke out our +slender stores as the weeks pass by. No housewife ever had more to do +than we have in making a little go a long way. + +“Writing about the bannock that Peter bit makes one wish now that one +could have many a meal that one has given to the dog at home. When one +is hungry, fastidiousness goes to the winds and one is only too glad to +eat up any scraps regardless of their antecedents. One is almost +ashamed to write of all the titbits one has picked up here, but it is +enough to say that when the cook upset some pemmican on to an old sooty +cloth and threw it outside his galley, one man subsequently made a +point of acquiring it and scraping off the palatable but dirty +compound.” + +Another man searched for over an hour in the snow where he had dropped +a piece of cheese some days before, in the hopes of finding a few +crumbs. He was rewarded by coming across a piece as big as his +thumb-nail, and considered it well worth the trouble. + +By this time blubber was a regular article of our diet—either raw, +boiled, or fried. “It is remarkable how our appetites have changed in +this respect. Until quite recently almost the thought of it was +nauseating. Now, however, we positively demand it. The thick black oil +which is rendered down from it, rather like train-oil in appearance and +cod-liver oil in taste, we drink with avidity.” + +We had now about enough farinaceous food for two meals all round, and +sufficient seal to last for a month. Our forty days’ reserve sledging +rations, packed on the sledges, we wished to keep till the last. + +But, as one man philosophically remarked in his diary: + +“It will do us all good to be hungry like this, for we will appreciate +so much more the good things when we get home.” + +Seals and penguins now seemed to studiously avoid us, and on taking +stock of our provisions on March 21 I found that we had only sufficient +meat to last us for ten days, and the blubber would not last that time +even, so one biscuit had to be our midday meal. + +Our meals were now practically all seal meat, with one biscuit at +midday; and I calculated that at this rate, allowing for a certain +number of seals and penguins being caught, we could last for nearly six +months. We were all very weak though, and as soon as it appeared likely +that we should leave our floe and take to the boats I should have to +considerably increase the ration. One day a huge sea-leopard climbed on +to the floe and attacked one of the men. Wild, hearing the shouting, +ran out and shot it. When it was cut up, we found in its stomach +several undigested fish. These we fried in some of its blubber, and so +had our only “fresh” fish meal during the whole of our drift on the +ice. + +“As fuel is so scarce we have had to resort to melting ice for +drinking-water in tins against our bodies, and we treat the tins of +dog-pemmican for breakfast similarly by keeping them in our +sleeping-bags all night. + +“The last two teams of dogs were shot to-day (April 2) the carcasses +being dressed for food. We had some of the dog-meat cooked, and it was +not at all bad—just like beef, but, of course, very tough.” + +On April 5 we killed two seals, and this, with the sea-leopard of a few +days before, enabled us to slightly increase our ration. Everybody now +felt much happier; such is the psychological effect of hunger appeased. + +On cold days a few strips of raw blubber were served out to all hands, +and it is wonderful how it fortified us against the cold. + +Our stock of forty days’ sledging rations remained practically +untouched, but once in the boats they were used at full strength. + +When we first settled down at Patience Camp the weather was very mild. +New Year’s Eve, however, was foggy and overcast, with some snow, and +next day, though the temperature rose to 38° Fahr., it was “abominably +cold and wet underfoot.” As a rule, during the first half of January +the weather was comparatively warm, so much so that we could dispense +with our mitts and work outside for quite long periods with bare hands. +Up till the 13th it was exasperatingly warm and calm. This meant that +our drift northwards, which was almost entirely dependent on the wind, +was checked. A light southerly breeze on the 16th raised all our hopes, +and as the temperature was dropping we were looking forward to a period +of favourable winds and a long drift north. + +On the 18th it had developed into a howling south-westerly gale, rising +next day to a regular blizzard with much drift. No one left the shelter +of his tent except to feed the dogs, fetch the meals from the galley +for his tent, or when his turn as watchman came round. For six days +this lasted, when the drift subsided somewhat, though the southerly +wind continued, and we were able to get a glimpse of the sun. This +showed us to have drifted 84 miles north in six days, the longest drift +we had made. For weeks we had remained on the 67th parallel, and it +seemed as though some obstruction was preventing us from passing it. By +this amazing leap, however, we had crossed the Antarctic Circle, and +were now 146 miles from the nearest land to the west of us—Snow +Hill—and 357 miles from the South Orkneys, the first land directly to +the north of us. + +As if to make up for this, an equally strong north-easterly wind sprang +up next day, and not only stopped our northward drift but set us back +three miles to the south. As usual, high temperatures and wet fog +accompanied these northerly winds, though the fog disappeared on the +afternoon of January 25, and we had the unusual spectacle of bright hot +sun with a north-easterly wind. It was as hot a day as we had ever had. +The temperature was 36° Fahr. in the shade and nearly 80° Fahr. inside +the tents. This had an awful effect on the surface, covering it with +pools and making it very treacherous to walk upon. Ten days of +northerly winds rather damped our spirits, but a strong southerly wind +on February 4, backing later, to south-east, carried us north again. +High temperatures and northerly winds soon succeeded this, so that our +average rate of northerly drift was about a mile a day in February. +Throughout the month the diaries record alternately “a wet day, +overcast and mild,” and “bright and cold with light southerly winds.” +The wind was now the vital factor with us and the one topic of any real +interest. + +The beginning of March brought cold, damp, calm weather, with much wet +snow and overcast skies. The effect of the weather on our mental state +was very marked. All hands felt much more cheerful on a bright sunny +day, and looked forward with much more hope to the future, than when it +was dull and overcast. This had a much greater effect than an increase +in rations. + +A south-easterly gale on the 13th lasting for five days sent us twenty +miles north, and from now our good fortune, as far as the wind was +concerned, never left us for any length of time. On the 20th we +experienced the worst blizzard we had had up to that time, though worse +were to come after landing on Elephant Island. Thick snow fell, making +it impossible to see the camp from thirty yards off. To go outside for +a moment entailed getting covered all over with fine powdery snow, +which required a great deal of brushing off before one could enter +again. + +As the blizzard eased up, the temperature dropped and it became +bitterly cold. In our weak condition, with torn, greasy clothes, we +felt these sudden variations in temperature much more than we otherwise +would have done. A calm, clear, magnificently warm day followed, and +next day came a strong southerly blizzard. Drifts four feet deep +covered everything, and we had to be continually digging up our scanty +stock of meat to prevent its being lost altogether. We had taken +advantage of the previous fine day to attempt to thaw out our blankets, +which were frozen stiff and could be held out like pieces of +sheet-iron; but on this day, and for the next two or three also, it was +impossible to do anything but get right inside one’s frozen +sleeping-bag to try and get warm. Too cold to read or sew, we had to +keep our hands well inside, and pass the time in conversation with each +other. + + +[Illustration: Worsley taking Observations of the Sun to determine +our Position] + + +[Illustration: “We cut Steps in this Twenty-five Foot Slab and it +makes a fine Look-out”] + + +“The temperature was not strikingly low as temperatures go down here, +but the terrific winds penetrate the flimsy fabric of our fragile tents +and create so much draught that it is impossible to keep warm within. +At supper last night our drinking-water froze over in the tin in the +tent before we could drink it. It is curious how thirsty we all are.” + +Two days of brilliant warm sunshine succeeded these cold times, and on +March 29 we experienced, to us, the most amazing weather. It began to +rain hard, and it was the first rain that we had seen since we left +South Georgia sixteen months ago. We regarded, it as our first touch +with civilization, and many of the men longed for the rain and fogs of +London. + +Strong south winds with dull, overcast skies and occasional high +temperatures were now our lot till April 7, when the mist lifted and we +could make out what appeared to be land to the north. + +Although the general drift of our ice-floe had indicated to us that we +must eventually drift north, our progress in that direction was not by +any means uninterrupted. We were at the mercy of the wind, and could no +more control our drift than we could control the weather. + +A long spell of calm, still weather at the beginning of January caused +us some anxiety by keeping us at about the latitude that we were in at +the beginning of December. Towards the end of January, however, a long +drift of eighty-four miles in a blizzard cheered us all up. This soon +stopped and we began a slight drift to the east. Our general drift now +slowed up considerably, and by February 22 we were still eighty miles +from Paulet Island, which now was our objective. There was a hut there +and some stores which had been taken down by the ship which went to the +rescue of Nordenskjold’s Expedition in 1904, and whose fitting out and +equipment I had charge of. We remarked amongst ourselves what a strange +turn of fate it would be if the very cases of provisions which I had +ordered and sent out so many years before were now to support us during +the coming winter. But this was not to be. March 5 found us about forty +miles south of the longitude of Paulet Island, but well to the east of +it; and as the ice was still too much broken up to sledge over, it +appeared as if we should be carried past it. By March 17 we were +exactly on a level with Paulet Island but sixty miles to the east. It +might have been six hundred for all the chance that we had of reaching +it by sledging across the broken sea-ice in its present condition. + +Our thoughts now turned to the Danger Islands, thirty-five miles away. +“It seems that we are likely to drift up and down this coast from +south-west to north-east and back again for some time yet before we +finally clear the point of Joinville Island; until we do we cannot hope +for much opening up, as the ice must be very congested against the +south-east coast of the island, otherwise our failure to respond to the +recent south-easterly gale cannot be well accounted for. In support of +this there has been some very heavy pressure on the north-east side, of +our floe, one immense block being up-ended to a height of 25 ft. We saw +a Dominican gull fly over to-day, the first we have seen since leaving +South Georgia; it is another sign of our proximity to land. We cut +steps in this 25-ft. slab, and it makes a fine look-out. When the +weather clears we confidently expect to see land.” + +A heavy blizzard obscured our view till March 23. “‘Land in sight’ was +reported this morning. We were sceptical, but this afternoon it showed +up unmistakably to the west, and there can be no further doubt about +it. It is Joinville Island, and its serrated mountain ranges, all +snow-clad, are just visible on the horizon. This barren, +inhospitable-looking land would be a haven of refuge to us if we could +but reach it. It would be ridiculous to make the attempt though, with +the ice all broken up as it is. It is too loose and broken to march +over, yet not open enough to be able to launch the boats.” For the next +two or three days we saw ourselves slowly drifting past the land, +longing to reach it yet prevented from doing so by the ice between, and +towards the end of March we saw Mount Haddington fade away into the +distance. + +Our hopes were now centred on Elephant Island or Clarence Island, which +lay 100 miles almost due north of us. + +If we failed to reach either of them we might try for South Georgia, +but our chances of reaching it would be very small. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII +ESCAPE FROM THE ICE + + +On April 7 at daylight the long-desired peak of Clarence Island came +into view, bearing nearly north from our camp. At first it had the +appearance of a huge berg, but with the growing light we could see +plainly the black lines of scree and the high, precipitous cliffs of +the island, which were miraged up to some extent. The dark rocks in the +white snow were a pleasant sight. So long had our eyes looked on +icebergs that apparently grew or dwindled according to the angles at +which the shadows were cast by the sun; so often had we discovered +rocky islands and brought in sight the peaks of Joinville Land, only to +find them, after some change of wind or temperature, floating away as +nebulous cloud or ordinary berg; that not until Worsley, Wild, and +Hurley had unanimously confirmed my observation was I satisfied that I +was really looking at Clarence Island. The land was still more than +sixty miles away, but it had to our eyes something of the appearance of +home, since we expected to find there our first solid footing after all +the long months of drifting on the unstable ice. We had adjusted +ourselves to the life on the floe, but our hopes had been fixed all the +time on some possible landing-place. As one hope failed to materialize, +our anticipations fed themselves on another. Our drifting home had no +rudder to guide it, no sail to give it speed. We were dependent upon +the caprice of wind and current; we went whither those irresponsible +forces listed. The longing to feel solid earth under our feet filled +our hearts. + +In the full daylight Clarence Island ceased to look like land and had +the appearance of a berg of more than eight or ten miles away, so +deceptive are distances in the clear air of the Antarctic. The sharp +white peaks of Elephant Island showed to the west of north a little +later in the day. + +“I have stopped issuing sugar now, and our meals consist of seal meat +and blubber only, with 7 ozs. of dried milk per day for the party,” I +wrote. “Each man receives a pinch of salt, and the milk is boiled up to +make hot drinks for all hands. The diet suits us, since we cannot get +much exercise on the floe and the blubber supplies heat. Fried slices +of blubber seem to our taste to resemble crisp bacon. It certainly is +no hardship to eat it, though persons living under civilized conditions +probably would shudder at it. The hardship would come if we were unable +to get it.” + +I think that the palate of the human animal can adjust itself to +anything. Some creatures will die before accepting a strange diet if +deprived of their natural food. The Yaks of the Himalayan uplands must +feed from the growing grass, scanty and dry though it may be, and would +starve even if allowed the best oats and corn. + +“We still have the dark water-sky of the last week with us to the +south-west and west, round to the north-east. We are leaving all the +bergs to the west and there are few within our range of vision now. The +swell is more marked to-day, and I feel sure we are at the verge of the +floe-ice. One strong gale, followed by a calm would scatter the pack, I +think, and then we could push through. I have been thinking much of our +prospects. The appearance of Clarence Island after our long drift +seems, somehow, to convey an ultimatum. The island is the last outpost +of the south and our final chance of a landing-place. Beyond it lies +the broad Atlantic. Our little boats may be compelled any day now to +sail unsheltered over the open sea with a thousand leagues of ocean +separating them from the land to the north and east. It seems vital +that we shall land on Clarence Island or its neighbour, Elephant +Island. The latter island has attraction for us, although as far as I +know nobody has ever landed there. Its name suggests the presence of +the plump and succulent sea-elephant. We have an increasing desire in +any case to get firm ground under our feet. The floe has been a good +friend to us, but it is reaching the end of its journey, and it is +liable at any time now to break up and fling us into the unplumbed +sea.” + +A little later, after reviewing the whole situation in the light of our +circumstances, I made up my mind that we should try to reach Deception +Island. The relative positions of Clarence, Elephant, and Deception +Islands can be seen on the chart. The two islands first named lay +comparatively near to us and were separated by some eighty miles of +water from Prince George Island, which was about 150 miles away from +our camp on the berg. From this island a chain of similar islands +extends westward, terminating in Deception Island. The channels +separating these desolate patches of rock and ice are from ten to +fifteen miles wide. But we knew from the Admiralty sailing directions +that there were stores for the use of shipwrecked mariners on Deception +Island, and it was possible that the summer whalers had not yet +deserted its harbour. Also we had learned from our scanty records that +a small church had been erected there for the benefit of the transient +whalers. The existence of this building would mean to us a supply of +timber, from which, if dire necessity urged us, we could construct a +reasonably seaworthy boat. We had discussed this point during our drift +on the floe. Two of our boats were fairly strong, but the third, the +_James Caird_, was light, although a little longer than the others. All +of them were small for the navigation of these notoriously stormy seas, +and they would be heavily loaded, so a voyage in open water would be a +serious undertaking. I fear that the carpenter’s fingers were already +itching to convert pews into topsides and decks. In any case, the worst +that could befall us when we had reached Deception Island would be a +wait until the whalers returned about the middle of November. + +Another bit of information gathered from the records of the west side +of the Weddell Sea related to Prince George Island. The Admiralty +“Sailing Directions,” referring to the South Shetlands, mentioned a +cave on this island. None of us had seen that cave or could say if it +was large or small, wet or dry; but as we drifted on our floe and +later, when navigating the treacherous leads and making our uneasy +night camps, that cave seemed to my fancy to be a palace which in +contrast would dim the splendours of Versailles. + +The swell increased that night and the movement of the ice became more +pronounced. Occasionally a neighbouring floe would hammer against the +ice on which we were camped, and the lesson of these blows was plain to +read. We must get solid ground under our feet quickly. When the +vibration ceased after a heavy surge, my thoughts flew round to the +problem ahead. If the party had not numbered more than six men a +solution would not have been so hard to find; but obviously the +transportation of the whole party to a place of safety, with the +limited means at our disposal, was going to be a matter of extreme +difficulty. There were twenty-eight men on our floating cake of ice, +which was steadily dwindling under the influence of wind, weather, +charging floes, and heavy swell. I confess that I felt the burden of +responsibility sit heavily on my shoulders; but, on the other hand, I +was stimulated and cheered by the attitude of the men. Loneliness is +the penalty of leadership, but the man who has to make the decisions is +assisted greatly if he feels that there is no uncertainty in the minds +of those who follow him, and that his orders will be carried out +confidently and in expectation of success. + +The sun was shining in the blue sky on the following morning (April 8). +Clarence Island showed clearly on the horizon, and Elephant Island +could also be distinguished. The single snow-clad peak of Clarence +Island stood up as a beacon of safety, though the most optimistic +imagination could not make an easy path of the ice and ocean that +separated us from that giant, white and austere. + +“The pack was much looser this morning, and the long rolling swell from +the north-east is more pronounced than it was yesterday. The floes rise +and fall with the surge of the sea. We evidently are drifting with the +surface current, for all the heavier masses of floe, bergs, and +hummocks are being left behind. There has been some discussion in the +camp as to the advisability of making one of the bergs our home for the +time being and drifting with it to the west. The idea is not sound. I +cannot be sure that the berg would drift in the right direction. If it +did move west and carried us into the open water, what would be our +fate when we tried to launch the boats down the steep sides of the berg +in the sea-swell after the surrounding floes had left us? One must +reckon, too, the chance of the berg splitting or even overturning +during our stay. It is not possible to gauge the condition of a big +mass of ice by surface appearance. The ice may have a fault, and when +the wind, current, and swell set up strains and tensions, the line of +weakness may reveal itself suddenly and disastrously. No, I do not like +the idea of drifting on a berg. We must stay on our floe till +conditions improve and then make another attempt to advance towards the +land.” + + +[Illustration: “There was no Sleep for us that Night, so we lit the +Blubber Stove”] + + +[Illustration: Hauling up the Boats for the Night] + + +At 6.30 p.m. a particularly heavy shock went through our floe. The +watchman and other members of the party made an immediate inspection +and found a crack right under the _James Caird_ and between the other +two boats and the main camp. Within five minutes the boats were over +the crack and close to the tents. The trouble was not caused by a blow +from another floe. We could see that the piece of ice we occupied had +slewed and now presented its long axis towards the oncoming swell. The +floe, therefore, was pitching in the manner of a ship, and it had +cracked across when the swell lifted the centre, leaving the two ends +comparatively unsupported. We were now on a triangular raft of ice, the +three sides measuring, roughly, 90, 100, and 120 yds. Night came down +dull and overcast, and before midnight the wind had freshened from the +west. We could see that the pack was opening under the influence of +wind, wave, and current, and I felt that the time for launching the +boats was near at hand. Indeed, it was obvious that even if the +conditions were unfavourable for a start during the coming day, we +could not safely stay on the floe many hours longer. The movement of +the ice in the swell was increasing, and the floe might split right +under our camp. We had made preparations for quick action if anything +of the kind occurred. Our case would be desperate if the ice broke into +small pieces not large enough to support our party and not loose enough +to permit the use of the boats. + +The following day was Sunday (April 9), but it proved no day of rest +for us. Many of the important events of our Expedition occurred on +Sundays, and this particular day was to see our forced departure from +the floe on which we had lived for nearly six months, and the start of +our journeyings in the boats. + +“This has been an eventful day. The morning was fine, though somewhat +overcast by stratus and cumulus clouds; moderate south-south-westerly +and south-easterly breezes. We hoped that with this wind the ice would +drift nearer to Clarence Island. At 7 a.m. lanes of water and leads +could be seen on the horizon to the west. The ice separating us from +the lanes was loose, but did not appear to be workable for the boats. +The long swell from the north-west was coming in more freely than on +the previous day and was driving the floes together in the utmost +confusion. The loose brash between the masses of ice was being churned +to mudlike consistency, and no boat could have lived in the channels +that opened and closed around us. Our own floe was suffering in the +general disturbance, and after breakfast I ordered the tents to be +struck and everything prepared for an immediate start when the boats +could be launched.” + +I had decided to take the _James Caird_ myself, with Wild and eleven +men. This was the largest of our boats, and in addition to her human +complement she carried the major portion of the stores. Worsley had +charge of the _Dudley Docker_ with nine men, and Hudson and Crean were +the senior men on the _Stancomb Wills_. + +Soon after breakfast the ice closed again. We were standing by, with +our preparations as complete as they could be made, when at 11 a.m. our +floe suddenly split right across under the boats. We rushed our gear on +to the larger of the two pieces and watched with strained attention for +the next development. The crack had cut through the site of my tent. I +stood on the edge of the new fracture, and, looking across the widening +channel of water, could see the spot where for many months my head and +shoulders had rested when I was in my sleeping-bag. The depression +formed by my body and legs was on our side of the crack. The ice had +sunk under my weight during the months of waiting in the tent, and I +had many times put snow under the bag to fill the hollow. The lines of +stratification showed clearly the different layers of snow. How fragile +and precarious had been our resting-place! Yet usage had dulled our +sense of danger. The floe had become our home, and during the early +months of the drift we had almost ceased to realize that it was but a +sheet of ice floating on unfathomed seas. Now our home was being +shattered under our feet, and we had a sense of loss and incompleteness +hard to describe. + +The fragments of our floe came together again a little later, and we +had our lunch of seal meat, all hands eating their fill. I thought that +a good meal would be the best possible preparation for the journey that +now seemed imminent, and as we would not be able to take all our meat +with us when we finally moved, we could regard every pound eaten as a +pound rescued. The call to action came at 1 p.m. The pack opened well +and the channels became navigable. The conditions were not all one +could have desired, but it was best not to wait any longer. The _Dudley +Docker_ and the _Stancomb Wills_ were launched quickly. Stores were +thrown in, and the two boats were pulled clear of the immediate floes +towards a pool of open water three miles broad, in which floated a lone +and mighty berg. The _James Caird_ was the last boat to leave, heavily +loaded with stores and odds and ends of camp equipment. Many things +regarded by us as essentials at that time were to be discarded a little +later as the pressure of the primitive became more severe. Man can +sustain life with very scanty means. The trappings of civilization are +soon cast aside in the face of stern realities, and given the barest +opportunity of winning food and shelter, man can live and even find his +laughter ringing true. + +The three boats were a mile away from our floe home at 2 p.m. We had +made our way through the channels and had entered the big pool when we +saw a rush of foam-clad water and tossing ice approaching us, like the +tidal bore of a river. The pack was being impelled to the east by a +tide-rip, and two huge masses of ice were driving down upon us on +converging courses. The _James Caird_ was leading. Starboarding the +helm and bending strongly to the oars, we managed to get clear. The two +other boats followed us, though from their position astern at first +they had not realized the immediate danger. The _Stancomb Wills_ was +the last boat and she was very nearly caught, but by great exertion she +was kept just ahead of the driving ice. It was an unusual and startling +experience. The effect of tidal action on ice is not often as marked as +it was that day. The advancing ice, accompanied by a large wave, +appeared to be travelling at about three knots; and if we had not +succeeded in pulling clear we would certainly have been swamped. + +We pulled hard for an hour to windward of the berg that lay in the open +water. The swell was crashing on its perpendicular sides and throwing +spray to a height of sixty feet. Evidently there was an ice-foot at the +east end, for the swell broke before it reached the berg-face and flung +its white spray on to the blue ice-wall. We might have paused to have +admired the spectacle under other conditions; but night was coming on +apace, and we needed a camping-place. As we steered north-west, still +amid the ice-floes, the _Dudley Docker_ got jammed between two masses +while attempting to make a short cut. The old adage about a short cut +being the longest way round is often as true in the Antarctic as it is +in the peaceful countryside. The _James Caird_ got a line aboard the +_Dudley Docker_, and after some hauling the boat was brought clear of +the ice again. We hastened forward in the twilight in search of a flat, +old floe, and presently found a fairly large piece rocking in the +swell. It was not an ideal camping-place by any means, but darkness had +overtaken us. We hauled the boats up, and by 8 p.m. had the tents +pitched and the blubber-stove burning cheerily. Soon all hands were +well fed and happy in their tents, and snatches of song came to me as I +wrote up my log. + +Some intangible feeling of uneasiness made me leave my tent about 11 +p.m. that night and glance around the quiet camp. The stars between the +snow-flurries showed that the floe had swung round and was end on to +the swell, a position exposing it to sudden strains. I started to walk +across the floe in order to warn the watchman to look carefully for +cracks, and as I was passing the men’s tent the floe lifted on the +crest of a swell and cracked right under my feet. The men were in one +of the dome-shaped tents, and it began to stretch apart as the ice +opened. A muffled sound, suggestive of suffocation, came from beneath +the stretching tent. I rushed forward, helped some emerging men from +under the canvas, and called out, “Are you all right?” + +“There are two in the water,” somebody answered. The crack had widened +to about four feet, and as I threw myself down at the edge, I saw a +whitish object floating in the water. It was a sleeping-bag with a man +inside. I was able to grasp it, and with a heave lifted man and bag on +to the floe. A few seconds later the ice-edges came together again with +tremendous force. Fortunately, there had been but one man in the water, +or the incident might have been a tragedy. The rescued bag contained +Holness, who was wet down to the waist but otherwise unscathed. The +crack was now opening again. The _James Caird_ and my tent were on one +side of the opening and the remaining two boats and the rest of the +camp on the other side. With two or three men to help me I struck my +tent; then all hands manned the painter and rushed the _James Caird_ +across the opening crack. We held to the rope while, one by one, the +men left on our side of the floe jumped the channel or scrambled over +by means of the boat. Finally I was left alone. The night had swallowed +all the others and the rapid movement of the ice forced me to let go +the painter. For a moment I felt that my piece of rocking floe was the +loneliest place in the world. Peering into the darkness; I could just +see the dark figures on the other floe. I hailed Wild, ordering him to +launch the _Stancomb Wills_, but I need not have troubled. His quick +brain had anticipated the order and already the boat was being manned +and hauled to the ice-edge. Two or three minutes later she reached me, +and I was ferried across to the Camp. + +We were now on a piece of flat ice about 200 ft. long and 100 ft. wide. +There was no more sleep for any of us that night. The killers were +blowing in the lanes around, and we waited for daylight and watched for +signs of another crack in the ice. The hours passed with laggard feet +as we stood huddled together or walked to and fro in the effort to keep +some warmth in our bodies. We lit the blubber-stove at 3 a.m., and with +pipes going and a cup of hot milk for each man, we were able to +discover some bright spots in our outlook. At any rate, we were on the +move at last, and if dangers and difficulties lay ahead we could meet +and overcome them. No longer were we drifting helplessly at the mercy +of wind and current. + +The first glimmerings of dawn came at 6 a.m., and I waited anxiously +for the full daylight. The swell was growing, and at times our ice was +surrounded closely by similar pieces. At 6.30 a.m. we had hot hoosh, +and then stood by waiting for the pack to open. Our chance came at 8, +when we launched the boats, loaded them, and started to make our way +through the lanes in a northerly direction. The _James Caird_ was in +the lead, with the _Stancomb Wills_ next and the _Dudley Docker_ +bringing up the rear. In order to make the boats more seaworthy we had +left some of our shovels, picks, and dried vegetables on the floe, and +for a long time we could see the abandoned stores forming a dark spot +on the ice. The boats were still heavily loaded. We got out of the +lanes, and entered a stretch of open water at 11 a.m. A strong easterly +breeze was blowing, but the fringe of pack lying outside protected us +from the full force of the swell, just as the coral-reef of a tropical +island checks the rollers of the Pacific. Our way was across the open +sea, and soon after noon we swung round the north end of the pack and +laid a course to the westward, the _James Caird_ still in the lead. +Immediately our deeply laden boats began to make heavy weather. They +shipped sprays, which, freezing as they fell, covered men and gear with +ice, and soon it was clear that we could not safely proceed. I put the +_James Caird_ round and ran for the shelter of the pack again, the +other boats following. Back inside the outer line of ice the sea was +not breaking. This was at 3 p.m., and all hands were tired and cold. A +big floeberg resting peacefully ahead caught my eye, and half an hour +later we had hauled up the boats and pitched camp for the night. It was +a fine, big, blue berg with an attractively solid appearance, and from +our camp we could get a good view of the surrounding sea and ice. The +highest point was about 15 ft. above sea-level. After a hot meal all +hands, except the watchman, turned in. Every one was in need of rest +after the troubles of the previous night and the unaccustomed strain of +the last thirty-six hours at the oars. The berg appeared well able to +withstand the battering of the sea, and too deep and massive to be +seriously affected by the swell; but it was not as safe as it looked. +About midnight the watchman called me and showed me that the heavy +north-westerly swell was undermining the ice. A great piece had broken +off within eight feet of my tent. We made what inspection was possible +in the darkness, and found that on the westward side of the berg the +thick snow covering was yielding rapidly to the attacks of the sea. An +ice-foot had formed just under the surface of the water. I decided that +there was no immediate danger and did not call the men. The +north-westerly wind strengthened during the night. + +The morning of April 11 was overcast and misty. There was a haze on the +horizon, and daylight showed that the pack had closed round our berg, +making it impossible in the heavy swell to launch the boats. We could +see no sign of the water. Numerous whales and killers were blowing +between the floes, and Cape pigeons, petrels, and fulmars were circling +round our berg. The scene from our camp as the daylight brightened was +magnificent beyond description, though I must admit that we viewed it +with anxiety. Heaving hills of pack and floe were sweeping towards us +in long undulations, later to be broken here and there by the dark +lines that indicated open water. As each swell lifted around our +rapidly dissolving berg it drove floe-ice on to the ice-foot, shearing +off more of the top snow-covering and reducing the size of our camp. +When the floes retreated to attack again the water swirled over the +ice-foot, which was rapidly increasing in width. The launching of the +boats under such conditions would be difficult. Time after time, so +often that a track was formed, Worsley, Wild, and I, climbed to the +highest point of the berg and stared out to the horizon in search of a +break in the pack. After long hours had dragged past, far away on the +lift of the swell there appeared a dark break in the tossing field of +ice. Æons seemed to pass, so slowly it approached. I noticed enviously +the calm peaceful attitudes of two seals which lolled lazily on a +rocking floe. They were at home and had no reason for worry or cause +for fear. If they thought at all, I suppose they counted it an ideal +day for a joyous journey on the tumbling ice. To us it was a day that +seemed likely to lead to no more days. I do not think I had ever before +felt the anxiety that belongs to leadership quite so keenly. When I +looked down at the camp to rest my eyes from the strain of watching the +wide white expanse broken by that one black ribbon of open water, I +could see that my companions were waiting with more than ordinary +interest to learn what I thought about it all. After one particularly +heavy collision somebody shouted sharply, “She has cracked in the +middle.” I jumped off the look-out station and ran to the place the men +were examining. There was a crack, but investigation showed it to be a +mere surface break in the snow with no indication of a split in the +berg itself. The carpenter mentioned calmly that earlier in the day he +had actually gone adrift on a fragment of ice. He was standing near the +edge of our camping-ground when the ice under his feet parted from the +parent mass. A quick jump over the widening gap saved him. + +The hours dragged on. One of the anxieties in my mind was the +possibility that we would be driven by the current through the +eighty-mile gap between Clarence Island and Prince George Island into +the open Atlantic; but slowly the open water came nearer, and at noon +it had almost reached us. A long lane, narrow but navigable, stretched +out to the south-west horizon. Our chance came a little later. We +rushed our boats over the edge of the reeling berg and swung them clear +of the ice-foot as it rose beneath them. The _James Caird_ was nearly +capsized by a blow from below as the berg rolled away, but she got into +deep water. We flung stores and gear aboard and within a few minutes +were away. The _James Caird_ and _Dudley Docker_ had good sails and +with a favourable breeze could make progress along the lane, with the +rolling fields of ice on either side. The swell was heavy and spray was +breaking over the ice-floes. An attempt to set a little rag of sail on +the _Stancomb Wills_ resulted in serious delay. The area of sail was +too small to be of much assistance, and while the men were engaged in +this work the boat drifted down towards the ice-floe, where her +position was likely to be perilous. Seeing her plight, I sent the +_Dudley Docker_ back for her and tied the _James Caird_ up to a piece +of ice. The _Dudley Docker_ had to tow the _Stancomb Wills_, and the +delay cost us two hours of valuable daylight. When I had the three +boats together again we continued down the lane, and soon saw a wider +stretch of water to the west; it appeared to offer us release from the +grip of the pack. At the head of an ice-tongue that nearly closed the +gap through which we might enter the open space was a wave-worn berg +shaped like some curious antediluvian monster, an icy Cerberus guarding +the way. It had head and eyes and rolled so heavily that it almost +overturned. Its sides dipped deep in the sea, and as it rose again the +water seemed to be streaming from its eyes, as though it were weeping +at our escape from the clutch of the floes. This may seem fanciful to +the reader, but the impression was real to us at the time. People +living under civilized conditions, surrounded by Nature’s varied forms +of life and by all the familiar work of their own hands, may scarcely +realize how quickly the mind, influenced by the eyes, responds to the +unusual and weaves about it curious imaginings like the firelight +fancies of our childhood days. We had lived long amid the ice, and we +half-unconsciously strove to see resemblances to human faces and living +forms in the fantastic contours and massively uncouth shapes of berg +and floe. + + +[Illustration: The Reeling Berg] + + +[Illustration: Sailing South Again] + + +At dusk we made fast to a heavy floe, each boat having its painter +fastened to a separate hummock in order to avoid collisions in the +swell. We landed the blubber-stove, boiled some water in order to +provide hot milk, and served cold rations. I also landed the dome tents +and stripped the coverings from the hoops. Our experience of the +previous day in the open sea had shown us that the tents must be packed +tightly. The spray had dashed over the bows and turned to ice on the +cloth, which had soon grown dangerously heavy. Other articles off our +scanty equipment had to go that night. We were carrying only the things +that had seemed essential, but we stripped now to the barest limit of +safety. We had hoped for a quiet night, but presently we were forced to +cast off, since pieces of loose ice began to work round the floe. +Drift-ice is always attracted to the lee side of a heavy floe, where it +bumps and presses under the influence of the current. I had determined +not to risk a repetition of the last night’s experience and so had not +pulled the boats up. We spent the hours of darkness keeping an offing +from the main line of pack under the lee of the smaller pieces. +Constant rain and snow squalls blotted out the stars and soaked us +through, and at times it was only by shouting to each other that we +managed to keep the boats together. There was no sleep for anybody +owing to the severe cold, and we dare not pull fast enough to keep +ourselves warm since we were unable to see more than a few yards ahead. +Occasionally the ghostly shadows of silver, snow, and fulmar petrels +flashed close to us, and all around we could hear the killers blowing, +their short, sharp hisses sounding like sudden escapes of steam. The +killers were a source of anxiety, for a boat could easily have been +capsized by one of them coming up to blow. They would throw aside in a +nonchalant fashion pieces of ice much bigger than our boats when they +rose to the surface, and we had an uneasy feeling that the white +bottoms of the boats would look like ice from below. Shipwrecked +mariners drifting in the Antarctic seas would be things not dreamed of +in the killers’ philosophy, and might appear on closer examination to +be tasty substitutes for seal and penguin. We certainly regarded the +killers with misgivings. + +Early in the morning of April 12 the weather improved and the wind +dropped. Dawn came with a clear sky, cold and fearless. I looked around +at the faces of my companions in the _James Caird_ and saw pinched and +drawn features. The strain was beginning to tell. Wild sat at the +rudder with the same calm, confident expression that he would have worn +under happier conditions; his steel-blue eyes looked out to the day +ahead. All the people, though evidently suffering, were doing their +best to be cheerful, and the prospect of a hot breakfast was +inspiriting. I told all the boats that immediately we could find a +suitable floe the cooker would be started and hot milk and Bovril would +soon fix everybody up. Away we rowed to the westward through open pack, +floes of all shapes and sizes on every side of us, and every man not +engaged in pulling looking eagerly for a suitable camping-place. I +could gauge the desire for food of the different members by the +eagerness they displayed in pointing out to me the floes they +considered exactly suited to our purpose. The temperature was about 10° +Fahr., and the Burberry suits of the rowers crackled as the men bent to +the oars. I noticed little fragments of ice and frost falling from arms +and bodies. At eight o’clock a decent floe appeared ahead and we pulled +up to it. The galley was landed, and soon the welcome steam rose from +the cooking food as the blubber-stove flared and smoked. Never did a +cook work under more anxious scrutiny. Worsley, Crean, and I stayed in +our respective boats to keep them steady and prevent collisions with +the floe, since the swell was still running strong, but the other men +were able to stretch their cramped limbs and run to and fro “in the +kitchen,” as somebody put it. The sun was now rising gloriously. The +Burberry suits were drying and the ice was melting off our beards. The +steaming food gave us new vigour, and within three-quarters of an hour +we were off again to the west with all sails set. We had given an +additional sail to the _Stancomb Wills_ and she was able to keep up +pretty well. We could see that we were on the true pack-edge, with the +blue, rolling sea just outside the fringe of ice to the north. +White-capped waves vied with the glittering floes in the setting of +blue water, and countless seals basked and rolled on every piece of ice +big enough to form a raft. + +We had been making westward with oars and sails since April 9, and fair +easterly winds had prevailed. Hopes were running high as to the noon +observation for position. The optimists thought that we had done sixty +miles towards our goal, and the most cautious guess gave us at least +thirty miles. The bright sunshine and the brilliant scene around us may +have influenced our anticipations. As noon approached I saw Worsley, as +navigating officer, balancing himself on the gunwale of the _Dudley +Docker_ with his arm around the mast, ready to snap the sun. He got his +observation and we waited eagerly while he worked out the sight. Then +the _Dudley Docker_ ranged up alongside the _James Caird_ and I jumped +into Worsley’s boat in order to see the result. It was a grievous +disappointment. Instead of making a good run to the westward we had +made a big drift to the south-east. We were actually thirty miles to +the east of the position we had occupied when we left the floe on the +9th. It has been noted by sealers operating in this area that there are +often heavy sets to the east in the Belgica Straits, and no doubt it +was one of these sets that we had experienced. The originating cause +would be a north-westerly gale off Cape Horn, producing the swell that +had already caused us so much trouble. After a whispered consultation +with Worsley and Wild, I announced that we had not made as much +progress as we expected, but I did not inform the hands of our +retrograde movement. + +The question of our course now demanded further consideration. +Deception Island seemed to be beyond our reach. The wind was foul for +Elephant Island, and as the sea was clear to the south-west; I +discussed with Worsley and Wild the advisability of proceeding to Hope +Bay on the mainland of the Antarctic Continent, now only eighty miles +distant. Elephant Island was the nearest land, but it lay outside the +main body of pack, and even if the wind had been fair we would have +hesitated at that particular time to face the high sea that was running +in the open. We laid a course roughly for Hope Bay, and the boats moved +on again. I gave Worsley a line for a berg ahead and told him, if +possible, to make fast before darkness set in. This was about three +o’clock in the afternoon. We had set sail, and as the _Stancomb Wills_ +could not keep up with the other two boats I took her in tow, not being +anxious to repeat the experience of the day we left the reeling berg. +The _Dudley Docker_ went ahead, but came beating down towards us at +dusk. Worsley had been close to the berg, and he reported that it was +unapproachable. It was rolling in the swell and displaying an ugly +ice-foot. The news was bad. In the failing light we turned towards a +line of pack, and found it so tossed and churned by the sea that no +fragment remained big enough to give us an anchorage and shelter. Two +miles away we could see a larger piece of ice, and to it we managed, +after some trouble, to secure the boats. I brought my boat bow on to +the floe, whilst Howe, with the painter in his hand, stood ready to +jump. Standing up to watch our chance, while the oars were held ready +to back the moment Howe had made his leap, I could see that there would +be no possibility of getting the galley ashore that night. Howe just +managed to get a footing on the edge of the floe, and then made the +painter fast to a hummock. The other two boats were fastened alongside +the _James Caird_. They could not lie astern of us in a line, since +cakes of ice came drifting round the floe and gathering under its lee. +As it was we spent the next two hours poling off the drifting ice that +surged towards us. The blubber-stove could not be used, so we started +the Primus lamps. There was a rough, choppy sea, and the _Dudley +Docker_ could not get her Primus under way, something being adrift. The +men in that boat had to wait until the cook on the _James Caird_ had +boiled up the first pot of milk. + +The boats were bumping so heavily that I had to slack away the painter +of the _Stancomb Wills_ and put her astern. Much ice was coming round +the floe and had to be poled off. Then the _Dudley Docker_, being the +heavier boat, began to damage the _James Caird_, and I slacked the +_Dudley Docker_ away. The _James Caird_ remained moored to the ice, +with the _Dudley Docker_ and the _Stancomb Wills_ in line behind her. +The darkness had become complete, and we strained our eye to see the +fragments of ice that threatened us. Presently we thought we saw a +great berg bearing down upon us, its form outlined against the sky, but +this startling spectacle resolved itself into a low-lying cloud in +front of the rising moon. The moon appeared in a clear sky. The wind +shifted to the south-east as the light improved and drove the boats +broadside on towards the jagged edge of the floe. We had to cut the +painter of the _James Caird_ and pole her off, thus losing much +valuable rope. There was no time to cast off. Then we pushed away from +the floe, and all night long we lay in the open, freezing sea, the +_Dudley Docker_ now ahead, the _James Caird_ astern of her, and the +_Stancomb Wills_ third in the line. The boats were attached to one +another by their painters. Most of the time the _Dudley Docker_ kept +the _James Caird_ and the _Stancomb Wills_ up to the swell, and the men +who were rowing were in better pass than those in the other boats, +waiting inactive for the dawn. The temperature was down to 4° below +zero, and a film of ice formed on the surface of the sea. When we were +not on watch we lay in each other’s arms for warmth. Our frozen suits +thawed where our bodies met, and as the slightest movement exposed +these comparatively warm spots to the biting air, we clung motionless, +whispering each to his companion our hopes and thoughts. Occasionally +from an almost clear sky came snow-showers, falling silently on the sea +and laying a thin shroud of white over our bodies and our boats. + +The dawn of April 13 came clear and bright, with occasional passing +clouds. Most of the men were now looking seriously worn and strained. +Their lips were cracked and their eyes and eyelids showed red in their +salt-encrusted faces. The beards even of the younger men might have +been those of patriarchs, for the frost and the salt spray had made +them white. I called the _Dudley Docker_ alongside and found the +condition of the people there was no better than in the _James Caird_. +Obviously we must make land quickly, and I decided to run for Elephant +Island. The wind had shifted fair for that rocky isle, then about one +hundred miles away, and the pack that separated us from Hope Bay had +closed up during the night from the south. At 6 p.m. we made a +distribution of stores among the three boats, in view of the +possibility of their being separated. The preparation of a hot +breakfast was out of the question. The breeze was strong and the sea +was running high in the loose pack around us. We had a cold meal, and I +gave orders that all hands might eat as much as they pleased, this +concession being due partly to a realization that we would have to +jettison some of our stores when we reached open sea in order to +lighten the boats. I hoped, moreover, that a full meal of cold rations +would compensate to some extent for the lack of warm food and shelter. +Unfortunately, some of the men were unable to take advantage of the +extra food owing to seasickness. Poor fellows, it was bad enough to be +huddled in the deeply laden, spray-swept boats, frost-bitten and +half-frozen, without having the pangs of seasickness added to the list +of their woes. But some smiles were caused even then by the plight of +one man, who had a habit of accumulating bits of food against the day +of starvation that he seemed always to think was at hand, and who was +condemned now to watch impotently while hungry comrades with +undisturbed stomachs made biscuits, rations, and sugar disappear with +extraordinary rapidity. + +We ran before the wind through the loose pack, a man in the bow of each +boat trying to pole off with a broken oar the lumps of ice that could +not be avoided. I regarded speed as essential. Sometimes collisions +were not averted. The _James Caird_ was in the lead, where she bore the +brunt of the encounter with lurking fragments, and she was holed above +the water-line by a sharp spur of ice, but this mishap did not stay us. +Later the wind became stronger and we had to reef sails, so as not to +strike the ice too heavily. The _Dudley Docker_ came next to the _James +Caird_ and the _Stancomb Wills_ followed. I had given order that the +boats should keep 30 or 40 yds. apart, so as to reduce the danger of a +collision if one boat was checked by the ice. The pack was thinning, +and we came to occasional open areas where thin ice had formed during +the night. When we encountered this new ice we had to shake the reef +out of the sails in order to force a way through. Outside of the pack +the wind must have been of hurricane force. Thousands of small dead +fish were to be seen, killed probably by a cold current and the heavy +weather. They floated in the water and lay on the ice, where they had +been cast by the waves. The petrels and skua-gulls were swooping down +and picking them up like sardines off toast. + +We made our way through the lanes till at noon we were suddenly spewed +out of the pack into the open ocean. Dark blue and sapphire green ran +the seas. Our sails were soon up, and with a fair wind we moved over +the waves like three Viking ships on the quest of a lost Atlantis. With +the sheet well out and the sun shining bright above, we enjoyed for a +few hours a sense of the freedom and magic of the sea, compensating us +for pain and trouble in the days that had passed. At last we were free +from the ice, in water that our boats could navigate. Thoughts of home, +stifled by the deadening weight of anxious days and nights, came to +birth once more, and the difficulties that had still to be overcome +dwindled in fancy almost to nothing. + +During the afternoon we had to take a second reef in the sails, for the +wind freshened and the deeply laden boats were shipping much water and +steering badly in the rising sea. I had laid the course for Elephant +Island and we were making good progress. The _Dudley Docker_ ran down +to me at dusk and Worsley suggested that we should stand on all night; +but already the _Stancomb Wills_ was barely discernible among the +rollers in the gathering dusk, and I decided that it would be safer to +heave to and wait for the daylight. It would never have done for the +boats to have become separated from one another during the night. The +party must be kept together, and, moreover, I thought it possible that +we might overrun our goal in the darkness and not be able to return. So +we made a sea-anchor of oars and hove to, the _Dudley Docker_ in the +lead, since she had the longest painter. The _James Caird_ swung astern +of the _Dudley Docker_ and the _Stancomb Wills_ again had the third +place. We ate a cold meal and did what little we could to make things +comfortable for the hours of darkness. Rest was not for us. During the +greater part of the night the sprays broke over the boats and froze in +masses of ice, especially at the stern and bows. This ice had to be +broken away in order to prevent the boats growing too heavy. The +temperature was below zero and the wind penetrated our clothes and +chilled us almost unbearably. I doubted if all the men would survive +that night. One of our troubles was lack of water. We had emerged so +suddenly from the pack into the open sea that we had not had time to +take aboard ice for melting in the cookers, and without ice we could +not have hot food. The _Dudley Docker_ had one lump of ice weighing +about ten pounds, and this was shared out among all hands. We sucked +small pieces and got a little relief from thirst engendered by the salt +spray, but at the same time we reduced our bodily heat. The condition +of most of the men was pitiable. All of us had swollen mouths and we +could hardly touch the food. I longed intensely for the dawn. I called +out to the other boats at intervals during the night, asking how things +were with them. The men always managed to reply cheerfully. One of the +people on the _Stancomb Wills_ shouted, “We are doing all right, but I +would like some dry mitts.” The jest brought a smile to cracked lips. +He might as well have asked for the moon. The only dry things aboard +the boats were swollen mouths and burning tongues. Thirst is one of the +troubles that confront the traveller in polar regions. Ice may be +plentiful on every hand, but it does not become drinkable until it is +melted, and the amount that may be dissolved in the mouth is limited. +We had been thirsty during the days of heavy pulling in the pack, and +our condition was aggravated quickly by the salt spray. Our +sleeping-bags would have given us some warmth, but they were not within +our reach. They were packed under the tents in the bows, where a +mail-like coating of ice enclosed them, and we were so cramped that we +could not pull them out. + +At last daylight came, and with the dawn the weather cleared and the +wind fell to a gentle south-westerly breeze. A magnificent sunrise +heralded in what we hoped would be our last day in the boats. Rose-pink +in the growing light, the lofty peak of Clarence Island told of the +coming glory of the sun. The sky grew blue above us and the crests of +the waves sparkled cheerfully. As soon as it was light enough we +chipped and scraped the ice off the bows and sterns. The rudders had +been unshipped during the night in order to avoid the painters catching +them. We cast off our ice-anchor and pulled the oars aboard. They had +grown during the night to the thickness of telegraph-poles while rising +and falling in the freezing seas, and had to be chipped clear before +they could be brought inboard. + +We were dreadfully thirsty now. We found that we could get momentary +relief by chewing pieces of raw seal meat and swallowing the blood, but +thirst came back with redoubled force owing to the saltness of the +flesh. I gave orders, therefore, that meat was to be served out only at +stated intervals during the day or when thirst seemed to threaten the +reason of any particular individual. In the full daylight Elephant +Island showed cold and severe to the north-north-west. The island was +on the bearings that Worsley had laid down, and I congratulated him on +the accuracy of his navigation under difficult circumstances, with two +days dead reckoning while following a devious course through the +pack-ice and after drifting during two nights at the mercy of wind and +waves. The _Stancomb Wills_ came up and McIlroy reported that +Blackborrow’s feet were very badly frost-bitten. This was unfortunate, +but nothing could be done. Most of the people were frost-bitten to some +extent, and it was interesting to notice that the “oldtimers,” Wild, +Crean, Hurley, and I, were all right. Apparently we were acclimatized +to ordinary Antarctic temperature, though we learned later that we were +not immune. + +All day, with a gentle breeze on our port bow, we sailed and pulled +through a clear sea. We would have given all the tea in China for a +lump of ice to melt into water, but no ice was within our reach. Three +bergs were in sight and we pulled towards them, hoping that a trail of +brash would be floating on the sea to leeward; but they were hard and +blue, devoid of any sign of cleavage, and the swell that surged around +them as they rose and fell made it impossible for us to approach +closely. The wind was gradually hauling ahead, and as the day wore on +the rays of the sun beat fiercely down from a cloudless sky on +pain-racked men. Progress was slow, but gradually Elephant Island came +nearer. Always while I attended to the other boats, signalling and +ordering, Wild sat at the tiller of the _James Caird_. He seemed +unmoved by fatigue and unshaken by privation. About four o’clock in the +afternoon a stiff breeze came up ahead and, blowing against the +current, soon produced a choppy sea. During the next hour of hard +pulling we seemed to make no progress at all. The _James Caird_ and the +_Dudley Docker_ had been towing the _Stancomb Wills_ in turn, but my +boat now took the _Stancomb Wills_ in tow permanently, as the _James +Caird_ could carry more sail than the _Dudley Docker_ in the freshening +wind. + +We were making up for the south-east side of Elephant Island, the wind +being between north-west and west. The boats, held as close to the wind +as possible, moved slowly, and when darkness set in our goal was still +some miles away. A heavy sea was running. We soon lost sight of the +_Stancomb Wills_, astern of the _James Caird_ at the length of the +painter, but occasionally the white gleam of broken water revealed her +presence. When the darkness was complete I sat in the stern with my +hand on the painter, so that I might know if the other boat broke away, +and I kept that position during the night. The rope grew heavy with the +ice as the unseen seas surged past us and our little craft tossed to +the motion of the waters. Just at dusk I had told the men on the +_Stancomb Wills_ that if their boat broke away during the night and +they were unable to pull against the wind, they could run for the east +side of Clarence Island and await our coming there. Even though we +could not land on Elephant Island, it would not do to have the third +boat adrift. + +It was a stern night. The men, except the watch, crouched and huddled +in the bottom of the boat, getting what little warmth they could from +the soaking sleeping-bags and each other’s bodies. Harder and harder +blew the wind and fiercer and fiercer grew the sea. The boat plunged +heavily through the squalls and came up to the wind, the sail shaking +in the stiffest gusts. Every now and then, as the night wore on, the +moon would shine down through a rift in the driving clouds, and in the +momentary light I could see the ghostly faces of men, sitting up to +trim the boat as she heeled over to the wind. When the moon was hidden +its presence was revealed still by the light reflected on the streaming +glaciers of the island. The temperature had fallen very low, and it +seemed that the general discomfort of our situation could scarcely have +been increased; but the land looming ahead was a beacon of safety, and +I think we were all buoyed up by the hope that the coming day would see +the end of our immediate troubles. At least we would get firm land +under our feet. While the painter of the _Stancomb Wills_ tightened and +drooped under my hand, my thoughts were busy with plans for the future. + +Towards midnight the wind shifted to the south-west, and this change +enabled us to bear up closer to the island. A little later the _Dudley +Docker_ ran down to the _James Caird_, and Worsley shouted a suggestion +that he should go ahead and search for a landing-place. His boat had +the heels of the _James Caird_, with the _Stancomb Wills_ in tow. I +told him he could try, but he must not lose sight of the _James Caird_. +Just as he left me a heavy snow-squall came down, and in the darkness +the boats parted. I saw the _Dudley Docker_ no more. This separation +caused me some anxiety during the remaining hours of the night. A +cross-sea was running and I could not feel sure that all was well with +the missing boat. The waves could not be seen in the darkness, though +the direction and force of the wind could be felt, and under such +conditions, in an open boat, disaster might overtake the most +experienced navigator. I flashed our compass-lamp on the sail in the +hope that the signal would be visible on board the _Dudley Docker_, but +could see no reply. We strained our eyes to windward in the darkness in +the hope of catching a return signal and repeated our flashes at +intervals. + +My anxiety, as a matter of fact, was groundless. I will quote Worsley’s +own account of what happened to the _Dudley Docker:_ + +“About midnight we lost sight of the _James Caird_ with the _Stancomb +Wills_ in tow, but not long after saw the light of the _James Caird’s_ +compass-lamp, which Sir Ernest was flashing on their sail as a guide to +us. We answered by lighting our candle under the tent and letting the +light shine through. At the same time we got the direction of the wind +and how we were hauling from my little pocket-compass, the boat’s +compass being smashed. With this candle our poor fellows lit their +pipes, their only solace, as our raging thirst prevented us from eating +anything. By this time we had got into a bad tide-rip, which, combined +with the heavy, lumpy sea, made it almost impossible to keep the +_Dudley Docker_ from swamping. As it was we shipped several bad seas +over the stern as well as abeam and over the bows, although we were ‘on +a wind.’ Lees, who owned himself to be a rotten oarsman, made good here +by strenuous baling, in which he was well seconded by Cheetham. +Greenstreet, a splendid fellow, relieved me at the tiller and helped +generally. He and Macklin were my right and left bowers as stroke-oars +throughout. McLeod and Cheetham were two good sailors and oars, the +former a typical old deep-sea salt and growler, the latter a pirate to +his finger-tips. In the height of the gale that night Cheetham was +buying matches from me for bottles of champagne, one bottle per match +(too cheap; I should have charged him two bottles). The champagne is to +be paid when he opens his pub in Hull and I am able to call that +way.... We had now had one hundred and eight hours of toil, tumbling, +freezing, and soaking, with little or no sleep. I think Sir Ernest, +Wild, Greenstreet, and I could say that we had no sleep at all. +Although it was sixteen months since we had been in a rough sea, only +four men were actually seasick, but several others were off colour. + +“The temperature was 20° below freezing-point; fortunately, we were +spared the bitterly low temperature of the previous night. +Greenstreet’s right foot got badly frost-bitten, but Lees restored it +by holding it in his sweater against his stomach. Other men had minor +frost-bites, due principally to the fact that their clothes were soaked +through with salt water.... We were close to the land as the morning +approached, but could see nothing of it through the snow and spindrift. +My eyes began to fail me. Constant peering to windward, watching for +seas to strike us, appeared to have given me a cold in the eyes. I +could not see or judge distance properly, and found myself falling +asleep momentarily at the tiller. At 3 a.m. Greenstreet relieved me +there. I was so cramped from long hours, cold, and wet, in the +constrained position one was forced to assume on top of the gear and +stores at the tiller, that the other men had to pull me amidships and +straighten me out like a jack-knife, first rubbing my thighs, groin, +and stomach. + +“At daylight we found ourselves close alongside the land, but the +weather was so thick that we could not see where to make for a landing. +Having taken the tiller again after an hour’s rest under the shelter +(save the mark!) of the dripping tent, I ran the _Dudley Docker_ off +before the gale, following the coast around to the north. This course +for the first hour was fairly risky, the heavy sea before which we were +running threatening to swamp the boat, but by 8 a.m. we had obtained a +slight lee from the land. Then I was able to keep her very close in, +along a glacier front, with the object of picking up lumps of +fresh-water ice as we sailed through them. Our thirst was intense. We +soon had some ice aboard, and for the next hour and a half we sucked +and chewed fragments of ice with greedy relish. + +“All this time we were coasting along beneath towering rocky cliffs and +sheer glacier-faces, which offered not the slightest possibility of +landing anywhere. At 9.30 a.m. we spied a narrow, rocky beach at the +base of some very high crags and cliff, and made for it. To our joy, we +sighted the _James Caird_ and the _Stancomb Wills_ sailing into the +same haven just ahead of us. We were so delighted that we gave three +cheers, which were not heard aboard the other boats owing to the roar +of the surf. However, we soon joined them and were able to exchange +experiences on the beach.” + +Our experiences on the _James Caird_ had been similar, although we had +not been able to keep up to windward as well as the _Dudley Docker_ had +done. This was fortunate as events proved, for the _James Caird_ and +_Stancomb Wills_ went to leeward of the big bight the _Dudley Docker_ +entered and from which she had to turn out with the sea astern. We thus +avoided the risk of having the _Stancomb Wills_ swamped in the +following sea. The weather was very thick in the morning. Indeed at 7 +a.m. we were right under the cliffs, which plunged sheer into the sea, +before we saw them. We followed the coast towards the north, and ever +the precipitous cliffs and glacier-faces presented themselves to our +searching eyes. The sea broke heavily against these walls and a landing +would have been impossible under any conditions. We picked up pieces of +ice and sucked them eagerly. At 9 a.m. at the north-west end of the +island we saw a narrow beach at the foot of the cliffs. Outside lay a +fringe of rocks heavily beaten by the surf but with a narrow channel +showing as a break in the foaming water. I decided that we must face +the hazards of this unattractive landing-place. Two days and nights +without drink or hot food had played havoc with most of the men, and we +could not assume that any safer haven lay within our reach. The +_Stancomb Wills_ was the lighter and handier boat—and I called her +alongside with the intention of taking her through the gap first and +ascertaining the possibilities of a landing before the _James Caird_ +made the venture. I was just climbing into the _Stancomb Wills_ when I +saw the _Dudley Docker_ coming up astern under sail. The sight took a +great load off my mind. + + +[Illustration: The First Landing ever made on Elephant Island, April +15, 1916] + + +[Illustration: “We Pulled the Three Boats a little Higher on the +Beach”] + + +Rowing carefully and avoiding the blind rollers which showed where +sunken rocks lay, we brought the _Stancomb Wills_ towards the opening +in the reef. Then, with a few strong strokes we shot through on the top +of a swell and ran the boat on to a stony beach. The next swell lifted +her a little farther. This was the first landing ever made on Elephant +Island, and a thought came to me that the honour should belong to the +youngest member of the Expedition, so I told Blackborrow to jump over. +He seemed to be in a state almost of coma, and in order to avoid delay +I helped him, perhaps a little roughly, over the side of the boat. He +promptly sat down in the surf and did not move. Then I suddenly +realized what I had forgotten, that both his feet were frost-bitten +badly. Some of us jumped over and pulled him into a dry place. It was a +rather rough experience for Blackborrow, but, anyhow, he is now able to +say that he was the first man to sit on Elephant Island. Possibly at +the time he would have been willing to forgo any distinction of the +kind. We landed the cook with his blubber-stove, a supply of fuel and +some packets of dried milk, and also several of the men. Then the rest +of us pulled out again to pilot the other boats through the channel. +The _James Caird_ was too heavy to be beached directly, so after +landing most of the men from the _Dudley Docker_ and the _Stancomb +Wills_ I superintended the transhipment of the _James Caird’s_ gear +outside the reef. Then we all made the passage, and within a few +minutes the three boats were aground. A curious spectacle met my eyes +when I landed the second time. Some of the men were reeling about the +beach as if they had found an unlimited supply of alcoholic liquor on +the desolate shore. They were laughing uproariously, picking up stones +and letting handfuls of pebbles trickle between their fingers like +misers gloating over hoarded gold. The smiles and laughter, which +caused cracked lips to bleed afresh, and the gleeful exclamations at +the sight of two live seals on the beach made me think for a moment of +that glittering hour of childhood when the door is open at last and the +Christmas-tree in all its wonder bursts upon the vision. I remember +that Wild, who always rose superior to fortune, bad and good, came +ashore as I was looking at the men and stood beside me as easy and +unconcerned as if he had stepped out of his car for a stroll in the +park. + +Soon half a dozen of us had the stores ashore. Our strength was nearly +exhausted and it was heavy work carrying our goods over the rough +pebbles and rocks to the foot of the cliff, but we dare not leave +anything within reach of the tide. We had to wade knee-deep in the icy +water in order to lift the gear from the boats. When the work was done +we pulled the three boats a little higher on the beach and turned +gratefully to enjoy the hot drink the cook had prepared. Those of us +who were comparatively fit had to wait until the weaker members of the +party had been supplied; but every man had his pannikin of hot milk in +the end, and never did anything taste better. Seal steak and blubber +followed, for the seals that had been careless enough to await our +arrival on the beach had already given up their lives. There was no +rest for the cook. The blubber-stove flared and spluttered fiercely as +he cooked, not one meal, but many meals, which merged into a day-long +bout of eating. We drank water and ate seal meat until every man had +reached the limit of his capacity. + +The tents were pitched with oars for supports, and by 3 p.m. our camp +was in order. The original framework of the tents had been cast adrift +on one of the floes in order to save weight. Most of the men turned in +early for a safe and glorious sleep, to be broken only by the call to +take a turn on watch. The chief duty of the watchman was to keep the +blubber-stove alight, and each man on duty appeared to find it +necessary to cook himself a meal during his watch, and a supper before +he turned in again. + +Wild, Worsley, and Hurley accompanied me on an inspection of our beach +before getting into the tents. I almost wished then that I had +postponed the examination until after sleep, but the sense of caution +that the uncertainties of polar travel implant in one’s mind had made +me uneasy. The outlook we found to be anything but cheering. Obvious +signs showed that at spring tides the little beach would be covered by +the water right up to the foot of the cliffs. In a strong +north-easterly gale, such as we might expect to experience at any time, +the waves would pound over the scant barrier of the reef and break +against the sheer sides of the rocky wall behind us. Well-marked +terraces showed the effect of other gales, and right at the back of the +beach was a small bit of wreckage not more than three feet long, +rounded by the constant chafing it had endured. Obviously we must find +some better resting-place. I decided not to share with the men the +knowledge of the uncertainties of our situation until they had enjoyed +the full sweetness of rest untroubled by the thought that at any minute +they might be called to face peril again. The threat of the sea had +been our portion during many, many days, and a respite meant much to +weary bodies and jaded minds. + + +[Illustration] + +The accompanying plan will indicate our exact position more clearly +than I can describe it. The cliffs at the back of the beach were +inaccessible except at two points where there were steep snow-slopes. +We were not worried now about food, for, apart from our own rations, +there were seals on the beach and we could see others in the water +outside the reef. Every now and then one of the animals would rise in +the shallows and crawl up on the beach, which evidently was a +recognized place of resort for its kind. A small rocky island which +protected us to some extent from the north-westerly wind carried a +ringed-penguin rookery. These birds were of migratory habit and might +be expected to leave us before the winter set in fully, but in the +meantime they were within our reach. These attractions, however, were +overridden by the fact that the beach was open to the attack of wind +and sea from the north-east and east. Easterly gales are more prevalent +than western in that area of the Antarctic during the winter. Before +turning in that night I studied the whole position and weighed every +chance of getting the boats and our stores into a place of safety out +of reach of the water. We ourselves might have clambered a little way +up the snow-slopes, but we could not have taken the boats with us. The +interior of the island was quite inaccessible. We climbed up one of the +slopes and found ourselves stopped soon by overhanging cliffs. The +rocks behind the camp were much weathered, and we noticed the sharp, +unworn boulders that had fallen from above. Clearly there was a danger +from overhead if we camped at the back of the beach. We must move on. +With that thought in mind I reached my tent and fell asleep on the +rubbly ground, which gave a comforting sense of stability. The fairy +princess who would not rest on her seven downy mattresses because a pea +lay underneath the pile might not have understood the pleasure we all +derived from the irregularities of the stones, which could not possibly +break beneath us or drift away; the very searching lumps were sweet +reminders of our safety. + +Early next morning (April 15) all hands were astir. The sun soon shone +brightly and we spread out our wet gear to dry, till the beach looked +like a particularly disreputable gipsy camp. The boots and clothing had +suffered considerably during our travels. I had decided to send Wild +along the coast in the _Stancomb Wills_ to look for a new +camping-ground, and he and I discussed the details of the journey while +eating our breakfast of hot seal steak and blubber. The camp I wished +to find was one where the party could live for weeks or even months in +safety, without danger from sea or wind in the heaviest winter gale. +Wild was to proceed westwards along the coast and was to take with him +four of the fittest men, Marston, Crean, Vincent, and McCarthy. If he +did not return before dark we were to light a flare, which would serve +him as a guide to the entrance of the channel. The _Stancomb Wills_ +pushed off at 11 a.m. and quickly passed out of sight around the +island. Then Hurley and I walked along the beach towards the west, +climbing through a gap between the cliff and a great detached pillar of +basalt. The narrow strip of beach was cumbered with masses of rock that +had fallen from the cliffs. We struggled along for two miles or more in +the search for a place where we could get the boats ashore and make a +permanent camp in the event of Wild’s search proving fruitless, but +after three hours’ vain toil we had to turn back. We had found on the +far side of the pillar of basalt a crevice in the rocks beyond the +reach of all but the heaviest gales. Rounded pebbles showed that the +seas reached the spot on occasions. Here I decided to depot ten cases +of Bovril sledging ration in case of our having to move away quickly. +We could come back for the food at a later date if opportunity offered. + + +[Illustration: The First Drink and Hot Food for Three-and-a-Half Days] + + +[Illustration: Mount Frank Houlder, Elephant Island] + + +Returning to the camp, we found the men resting or attending to their +gear. Clark had tried angling in the shallows off the rocks and had +secured one or two small fish. The day passed quietly. Rusty needles +were rubbed bright on the rocks and clothes were mended and darned. A +feeling of tiredness—due, I suppose, to reaction after the strain of +the preceding days—overtook us, but the rising tide, coming farther up +the beach than it had done on the day before, forced us to labour at +the boats, which we hauled slowly to a higher ledge. We found it +necessary to move our makeshift camp nearer the cliff. I portioned out +the available ground for the tents, the galley, and other purposes, as +every foot was of value. When night arrived the _Stancomb Wills_ was +still away, so I had a blubber-flare lit at the head of the channel. + +About 8 p.m. we heard a hail in the distance. We could see nothing, but +soon like a pale ghost out of the darkness came the boat, the faces of +the men showing white in the glare of the fire. Wild ran her on the +beach with the swell, and within a couple of minutes we had dragged her +to a place of safety. I was waiting Wild’s report with keen anxiety, +and my relief was great when he told me that he had discovered a sandy +spit seven miles to the west, about 200 yds. long, running out at right +angles to the coast and terminating at the seaward end in a mass of +rock. A long snow-slope joined the spit at the shore end, and it seemed +possible that a “dugout” could be made in the snow. The spit, in any +case, would be a great improvement on our narrow beach. Wild added that +the place he described was the only possible camping-ground he had +seen. Beyond, to the west and south-west, lay a frowning line of cliffs +and glaciers, sheer to the water’s edge. He thought that in very heavy +gales either from the south-west or east the spit would be spray-blown, +but that the seas would not actually break over it. The boats could be +run up on a shelving beach. + +After hearing this good news I was eager to get away from the beach +camp. The wind when blowing was favourable for the run along the coast. +The weather had been fine for two days and a change might come at any +hour. I told all hands that we would make a start early on the +following morning. A newly killed seal provided a luxurious supper of +steak and blubber, and then we slept comfortably till the dawn. + +The morning of April 17 came fine and clear. The sea was smooth, but in +the offing we could see a line of pack, which seemed to be approaching. +We had noticed already pack and bergs being driven by the current to +the east and then sometimes coming back with a rush to the west. The +current ran as fast as five miles an hour, and it was a set of this +kind that had delayed Wild on his return from the spit. The rise and +fall of the tide was only about five feet at this time, but the moon +was making for full and the tides were increasing. The appearance of +ice emphasized the importance of getting away promptly. It would be a +serious matter to be prisoned on the beach by the pack. The boats were +soon afloat in the shallows, and after a hurried breakfast all hands +worked hard getting our gear and stores aboard. A mishap befell us when +we were launching the boats. We were using oars as rollers, and three +of these were broken, leaving us short for the journey that had still +to be undertaken. The preparations took longer than I had expected; +indeed, there seemed to be some reluctance on the part of several men +to leave the barren safety of the little beach and venture once more on +the ocean. But the move was imperative, and by 11 a.m. we were away, +the _James Caird_ leading. Just as we rounded the small island occupied +by the ringed penguins the “willywaw” swooped down from the 2000-ft. +cliffs behind us, a herald of the southerly gale that was to spring up +within half an hour. + +Soon we were straining at the oars with the gale on our bows. Never had +we found a more severe task. The wind shifted from the south to the +south-west, and the shortage of oars became a serious matter. The +_James Caird_, being the heaviest boat, had to keep a full complement +of rowers, while the _Dudley Docker_ and the _Stancomb Wills_ went +short and took turns using the odd oar. A big swell was thundering +against the cliffs and at times we were almost driven on to the rocks +by swirling green waters. We had to keep close inshore in order to +avoid being embroiled in the raging sea, which was lashed snow-white +and quickened by the furious squalls into a living mass of sprays. +After two hours of strenuous labour we were almost exhausted, but we +were fortunate enough to find comparative shelter behind a point of +rock. Overhead towered the sheer cliffs for hundreds of feet, the +sea-birds that fluttered from the crannies of the rock dwarfed by the +height. The boats rose and fell in the big swell, but the sea was not +breaking in our little haven, and we rested there while we ate our cold +ration. Some of the men had to stand by the oars in order to pole the +boats off the cliff-face. + +After half an hour’s pause I gave the order to start again. The _Dudley +Docker_ was pulling with three oars, as the _Stancomb Wills_ had the +odd one, and she fell away to leeward in a particularly heavy squall. I +anxiously watched her battling up against wind and sea. It would have +been useless to take the _James Caird_ back to the assistance of the +_Dudley Docker_ since we were hard pressed to make any progress +ourselves in the heavier boat. The only thing was to go ahead and hope +for the best. All hands were wet to the skin again and many men were +feeling the cold severely. We forged on slowly and passed inside a +great pillar of rock standing out to sea and towering to a height of +about 2400 ft. A line of reef stretched between the shore and this +pillar, and I thought as we approached that we would have to face the +raging sea outside; but a break in the white surf revealed a gap in the +reef and we laboured through, with the wind driving clouds of spray on +our port beam. The _Stancomb Wills_ followed safely. In the stinging +spray I lost sight of the _Dudley Docker_ altogether. It was obvious +she would have to go outside the pillar as she was making so much +leeway, but I could not see what happened to her and I dared not pause. +It was a bad time. At last, about 5 p.m., the _James Caird_ and the +_Stancomb Wills_ reached comparatively calm water and we saw Wild’s +beach just ahead of us. I looked back vainly for the _Dudley Docker_. + +Rocks studded the shallow water round the spit and the sea surged +amongst them. I ordered the _Stancomb Wills_ to run on to the beach at +the place that looked smoothest, and in a few moments the first boat +was ashore, the men jumping out and holding her against the receding +wave. Immediately I saw she was safe I ran the _James Caird_ in. Some +of us scrambled up the beach through the fringe of the surf and slipped +the painter round a rock, so as to hold the boat against the backwash. +Then we began to get the stores and gear out, working like men +possessed, for the boats could not be pulled up till they had been +emptied. The blubber-stove was quickly alight and the cook began to +prepare a hot drink. We were labouring at the boats when I noticed +Rickenson turn white and stagger in the surf. I pulled him out of reach +of the water and sent him up to the stove, which had been placed in the +shelter of some rocks. McIlroy went to him and found that his heart had +been temporarily unequal to the strain placed upon it. He was in a bad +way and needed prompt medical attention. There are some men who will do +more than their share of work and who will attempt more than they are +physically able to accomplish. Rickenson was one of these eager souls. +He was suffering, like many other members of the Expedition, from bad +salt-water boils. Our wrists, arms, and legs were attacked. Apparently +this infliction was due to constant soaking with sea-water, the chafing +of wet clothes, and exposure. + +I was very anxious about the _Dudley Docker_, and my eyes as well as my +thoughts were turned eastward as we carried the stores ashore; but +within half an hour the missing boat appeared, labouring through the +spume-white sea, and presently she reached the comparative calm of the +bay. We watched her coming with that sense of relief that the mariner +feels when he crosses the harbour-bar. The tide was going out rapidly, +and Worsley lightened the _Dudley Docker_ by placing some cases on an +outer rock, where they were retrieved subsequently. Then he beached his +boat, and with many hands at work we soon had our belongings ashore and +our three craft above high-water mark. The spit was by no means an +ideal camping-ground; it was rough, bleak, and inhospitable—just an +acre or two of rock and shingle, with the sea foaming around it except +where the snow-slope, running up to a glacier, formed the landward +boundary. But some of the larger rocks provided a measure of shelter +from the wind, and as we clustered round the blubber-stove, with the +acrid smoke blowing into our faces, we were quite a cheerful company. +After all, another stage of the homeward journey had been accomplished +and we could afford to forget for an hour the problems of the future. +Life was not so bad. We ate our evening meal while the snow drifted +down from the surface of the glacier, and our chilled bodies grew warm. +Then we dried a little tobacco at the stove and enjoyed our pipes +before we crawled into our tents. The snow had made it impossible for +us to find the tide-line and we were uncertain how far the sea was +going to encroach upon our beach. I pitched my tent on the seaward side +of the camp so that I might have early warning of danger, and, sure +enough, about 2 a.m. a little wave forced its way under the tent-cloth. +This was a practical demonstration that we had not gone far enough back +from the sea, but in the semi-darkness it was difficult to see where we +could find safety. Perhaps it was fortunate that experience had inured +us to the unpleasantness of sudden forced changes of camp. We took down +the tents and re-pitched them close against the high rocks at the +seaward end of the spit, where large boulders made an uncomfortable +resting-place. Snow was falling heavily. Then all hands had to assist +in pulling the boats farther up the beach, and at this task we suffered +a serious misfortune. Two of our four bags of clothing had been placed +under the bilge of the _James Caird_, and before we realized the danger +a wave had lifted the boat and carried the two bags back into the surf. +We had no chance of recovering them. This accident did not complete the +tale of the night’s misfortunes. The big eight-man tent was blown to +pieces in the early morning. Some of the men who had occupied it took +refuge in other tents, but several remained in their sleeping-bags +under the fragments of cloth until it was time to turn out. + +A southerly gale was blowing on the morning of April 18 and the +drifting snow was covering everything. The outlook was cheerless +indeed, but much work had to be done and we could not yield to the +desire to remain in the sleeping-bags. Some sea-elephants were lying +about the beach above high-water mark, and we killed several of the +younger ones for their meat and blubber. The big tent could not be +replaced, and in order to provide shelter for the men we turned the +_Dudley Docker_ upside down and wedged up the weather side with +boulders. We also lashed the painter and stern-rope round the heaviest +rocks we could find, so as to guard against the danger of the boat +being moved by the wind. The two bags of clothing were bobbing about +amid the brash and glacier-ice to the windward side of the spit, and it +did not seem possible to reach them. The gale continued all day, and +the fine drift from the surface of the glacier was added to the big +flakes of snow falling from the sky. I made a careful examination of +the spit with the object of ascertaining its possibilities as a +camping-ground. Apparently, some of the beach lay above high-water mark +and the rocks that stood above the shingle gave a measure of shelter. +It would be possible to mount the snow-slope towards the glacier in +fine weather, but I did not push my exploration in that direction +during the gale. At the seaward end of the spit was the mass of rock +already mentioned. A few thousand ringed penguins, with some gentoos, +were on these rocks, and we had noted this fact with a great deal of +satisfaction at the time of our landing. The ringed penguin is by no +means the best of the penguins from the point of view of the hungry +traveller, but it represents food. At 8 a.m. that morning I noticed the +ringed penguins mustering in orderly fashion close to the water’s edge, +and thought that they were preparing for the daily fishing excursion; +but presently it became apparent that some important move was on foot. +They were going to migrate, and with their departure much valuable food +would pass beyond our reach. Hurriedly we armed ourselves with pieces +of sledge-runner and other improvised clubs, and started towards the +rookery. We were too late. The leaders gave their squawk of command and +the columns took to the sea in unbroken ranks. Following their leaders, +the penguins dived through the surf and reappeared in the heaving water +beyond. A very few of the weaker birds took fright and made their way +back to the beach, where they fell victims later to our needs; but the +main army went northwards and we saw them no more. We feared that the +gentoo penguins might follow the example of their ringed cousins, but +they stayed with us; apparently they had not the migratory habit. They +were comparatively few in number, but from time to time they would come +in from the sea and walk up our beach. The gentoo is the most strongly +marked of all the smaller varieties of penguins as far as colouring is +concerned, and it far surpasses the adelie in weight of legs and +breast, the points that particularly appealed to us. + +The deserted rookery was sure to be above high-water mark at all times; +and we mounted the rocky ledge in search of a place to pitch our tents. +The penguins knew better than to rest where the sea could reach them +even when the highest tide was supported by the strongest gale. The +disadvantages of a camp on the rookery were obvious. The smell was +strong, to put it mildly, and was not likely to grow less pronounced +when the warmth of our bodies thawed the surface. But our choice of +places was not wide, and that afternoon we dug out a site for two tents +in the debris of the rookery, levelling it off with snow and rocks. My +tent, No. 1, was pitched close under the cliff, and there during my +stay on Elephant Island I lived. Crean’s tent was close by, and the +other three tents, which had fairly clean snow under them, were some +yards away. The fifth tent was a ramshackle affair. The material of the +torn eight-man tent had been drawn over a rough framework of oars, and +shelter of a kind provided for the men who occupied it. + +The arrangement of our camp, the checking of our gear, the killing and +skinning of seals and sea-elephants occupied us during the day, and we +took to our sleeping-bags early. I and my companions in No. 1 tent were +not destined to spend a pleasant night. The heat of our bodies soon +melted the snow and refuse beneath us and the floor of the tent became +an evil smelling yellow mud. The snow drifting from the cliff above us +weighted the sides of the tent, and during the night a particularly +stormy gust brought our little home down on top of us. We stayed +underneath the snow-laden cloth till the morning, for it seemed a +hopeless business to set about re-pitching the tent amid the storm that +was raging in the darkness of the night. + +The weather was still bad on the morning of April 19. Some of the men +were showing signs of demoralization. They were disinclined to leave +the tents when the hour came for turning out, and it was apparent they +were thinking more of the discomforts of the moment than of the good +fortune that had brought us to sound ground and comparative safety. The +condition of the gloves and headgear shown me by some discouraged men +illustrated the proverbial carelessness of the sailor. The articles had +frozen stiff during the night, and the owners considered, it appeared, +that this state of affairs provided them with a grievance, or at any +rate gave them the right to grumble. They said they wanted dry clothes +and that their health would not admit of their doing any work. Only by +rather drastic methods were they induced to turn to. Frozen gloves and +helmets undoubtedly are very uncomfortable, and the proper thing is to +keep these articles thawed by placing them inside one’s shirt during +the night. + +The southerly gale, bringing with it much snow, was so severe that as I +went along the beach to kill a seal I was blown down by a gust. The +cooking-pots from No. 2 tent took a flying run into the sea at the same +moment. A case of provisions which had been placed on them to keep them +safe had been capsized by a squall. These pots, fortunately, were not +essential, since nearly all our cooking was done over the +blubber-stove. The galley was set up by the rocks close to my tent, in +a hole we had dug through the debris of the penguin rookery. Cases of +stores gave some shelter from the wind and a spread sail kept some of +the snow off the cook when he was at work. He had not much idle time. +The amount of seal and sea-elephant steak and blubber consumed by our +hungry party was almost incredible. He did not lack assistance—the +neighbourhood of the blubber-stove had attractions for every member of +the party; but he earned everybody’s gratitude by his unflagging energy +in preparing meals that to us at least were savoury and satisfying. +Frankly, we needed all the comfort that the hot food could give us. The +icy fingers of the gale searched every cranny of our beach and pushed +relentlessly through our worn garments and tattered tents. The snow, +drifting from the glacier and falling from the skies, swathed us and +our gear and set traps for our stumbling feet. The rising sea beat +against the rocks and shingle and tossed fragments of floe-ice within a +few feet of our boats. Once during the morning the sun shone through +the racing clouds and we had a glimpse of blue sky; but the promise of +fair weather was not redeemed. The consoling feature of the situation +was that our camp was safe. We could endure the discomforts, and I felt +that all hands would be benefited by the opportunity for rest and +recuperation. + + + + +CHAPTER IX +THE BOAT JOURNEY + + +The increasing sea made it necessary for us to drag the boats farther +up the beach. This was a task for all hands, and after much labour we +got the boats into safe positions among the rocks and made fast the +painters to big boulders. Then I discussed with Wild and Worsley the +chances of reaching South Georgia before the winter locked the seas +against us. Some effort had to be made to secure relief. Privation and +exposure had left their mark on the party, and the health and mental +condition of several men were causing me serious anxiety. Blackborrow’s +feet, which had been frost-bitten during the boat journey, were in a +bad way, and the two doctors feared that an operation would be +necessary. They told me that the toes would have to be amputated unless +animation could be restored within a short period. Then the food-supply +was a vital consideration. We had left ten cases of provisions in the +crevice of the rocks at our first camping-place on the island. An +examination of our stores showed that we had full rations for the whole +party for a period of five weeks. The rations could be spread over +three months on a reduced allowance and probably would be supplemented +by seals and sea-elephants to some extent. I did not dare to count with +full confidence on supplies of meat and blubber, for the animals seemed +to have deserted the beach and the winter was near. Our stocks included +three seals and two and a half skins (with blubber attached). We were +mainly dependent on the blubber for fuel, and, after making a +preliminary survey of the situation, I decided that the party must be +limited to one hot meal a day. + +A boat journey in search of relief was necessary and must not be +delayed. That conclusion was forced upon me. The nearest port where +assistance could certainly be secured was Port Stanley, in the Falkland +Islands, 540 miles away, but we could scarcely hope to beat up against +the prevailing north-westerly wind in a frail and weakened boat with a +small sail area. South Georgia was over 800 miles away, but lay in the +area of the west winds, and I could count upon finding whalers at any +of the whaling-stations on the east coast. A boat party might make the +voyage and be back with relief within a month, provided that the sea +was clear of ice and the boat survive the great seas. It was not +difficult to decide that South Georgia must be the objective, and I +proceeded to plan ways and means. The hazards of a boat journey across +800 miles of stormy sub-Antarctic ocean were obvious, but I calculated +that at worst the venture would add nothing to the risks of the men +left on the island. There would be fewer mouths to feed during the +winter and the boat would not require to take more than one month’s +provisions for six men, for if we did not make South Georgia in that +time we were sure to go under. A consideration that had weight with me +was that there was no chance at all of any search being made for us on +Elephant Island. + +The case required to be argued in some detail, since all hands knew +that the perils of the proposed journey were extreme. The risk was +justified solely by our urgent need of assistance. The ocean south of +Cape Horn in the middle of May is known to be the most tempestuous +storm-swept area of water in the world. The weather then is unsettled, +the skies are dull and overcast, and the gales are almost unceasing. We +had to face these conditions in a small and weather-beaten boat, +already strained by the work of the months that had passed. Worsley and +Wild realized that the attempt must be made, and they both asked to be +allowed to accompany me on the voyage. I told Wild at once that he +would have to stay behind. I relied upon him to hold the party together +while I was away and to make the best of his way to Deception Island +with the men in the spring in the event of our failure to bring help. +Worsley I would take with me, for I had a very high opinion of his +accuracy and quickness as a navigator, and especially in the snapping +and working out of positions in difficult circumstances—an opinion that +was only enhanced during the actual journey. Four other men would be +required, and I decided to call for volunteers, although, as a matter +of fact, I pretty well knew which of the people I would select. Crean I +proposed to leave on the island as a right-hand man for Wild, but he +begged so hard to be allowed to come in the boat that, after +consultation with Wild, I promised to take him. I called the men +together, explained my plan, and asked for volunteers. Many came +forward at once. Some were not fit enough for the work that would have +to be done, and others would not have been much use in the boat since +they were not seasoned sailors, though the experiences of recent months +entitled them to some consideration as seafaring men. McIlroy and +Macklin were both anxious to go but realized that their duty lay on the +island with the sick men. They suggested that I should take Blackborrow +in order that he might have shelter and warmth as quickly as possible, +but I had to veto this idea. It would be hard enough for fit men to +live in the boat. Indeed, I did not see how a sick man, lying helpless +in the bottom of the boat, could possibly survive in the heavy weather +we were sure to encounter. I finally selected McNeish, McCarthy, and +Vincent in addition to Worsley and Crean. The crew seemed a strong one, +and as I looked at the men I felt confidence increasing. + +The decision made, I walked through the blizzard with Worsley and Wild +to examine the _James Caird_. The 20-ft. boat had never looked big; she +appeared to have shrunk in some mysterious way when I viewed her in the +light of our new undertaking. She was an ordinary ship’s whaler, fairly +strong, but showing signs of the strains she had endured since the +crushing of the _Endurance_. Where she was holed in leaving the pack +was, fortunately, about the water-line and easily patched. Standing +beside her, we glanced at the fringe of the storm-swept, tumultuous sea +that formed our path. Clearly, our voyage would be a big adventure. I +called the carpenter and asked him if he could do anything to make the +boat more seaworthy. He first inquired if he was to go with me, and +seemed quite pleased when I said “Yes.” He was over fifty years of age +and not altogether fit, but he had a good knowledge of sailing-boats +and was very quick. McCarthy said that he could contrive some sort of +covering for the _James Caird_ if he might use the lids of the cases +and the four sledge-runners that we had lashed inside the boat for use +in the event of a landing on Graham Land at Wilhelmina Bay. This bay, +at one time the goal of our desire, had been left behind in the course +of our drift, but we had retained the runners. The carpenter proposed +to complete the covering with some of our canvas; and he set about +making his plans at once. + +Noon had passed and the gale was more severe than ever. We could not +proceed with our preparations that day. The tents were suffering in the +wind and the sea was rising. We made our way to the snow-slope at the +shoreward end of the spit, with the intention of digging a hole in the +snow large enough to provide shelter for the party. I had an idea that +Wild and his men might camp there during my absence, since it seemed +impossible that the tents could hold together for many more days +against the attacks of the wind; but an examination of the spot +indicated that any hole we could dig probably would be filled quickly +by the drift. At dark, about 5 p.m., we all turned in, after a supper +consisting of a pannikin of hot milk, one of our precious biscuits, and +a cold penguin leg each. + +The gale was stronger than ever on the following morning (April 20). No +work could be done. Blizzard and snow, snow and blizzard, sudden lulls +and fierce returns. During the lulls we could see on the far horizon to +the north-east bergs of all shapes and sizes driving along before the +gale, and the sinister appearance of the swift-moving masses made us +thankful indeed that, instead of battling with the storm amid the ice, +we were required only to face the drift from the glaciers and the +inland heights. The gusts might throw us off our feet, but at least we +fell on solid ground and not on the rocking floes. Two seals came up on +the beach that day, one of them within ten yards of my tent. So urgent +was our need of food and blubber that I called all hands and organized +a line of beaters instead of simply walking up to the seal and hitting +it on the nose. We were prepared to fall upon this seal _en masse_ if +it attempted to escape. The kill was made with a pick-handle, and in a +few minutes five days’ food and six days’ fuel were stowed in a place +of safety among the boulders above high-water mark. During this day the +cook, who had worked well on the floe and throughout the boat journey, +suddenly collapsed. I happened to be at the galley at the moment and +saw him fall. I pulled him down the slope to his tent and pushed him +into its shelter with orders to his tent-mates to keep him in his +sleeping-bag until I allowed him to come out or the doctors said he was +fit enough. Then I took out to replace the cook one of the men who had +expressed a desire to lie down and die. The task of keeping the galley +fire alight was both difficult and strenuous, and it took his thoughts +away from the chances of immediate dissolution. In fact, I found him a +little later gravely concerned over the drying of a naturally not +over-clean pair of socks which were hung up in close proximity to our +evening milk. Occupation had brought his thoughts back to the ordinary +cares of life. + +There was a lull in the bad weather on April 21, and the carpenter +started to collect material for the decking of the _James Caird_. He +fitted the mast of the _Stancomb Wills_ fore and aft inside the _James +Caird_ as a hog-back and thus strengthened the keel with the object of +preventing our boat “hogging”—that is, buckling in heavy seas. He had +not sufficient wood to provide a deck, but by using the sledge-runners +and box-lids he made a framework extending from the forecastle aft to a +well. It was a patched-up affair, but it provided a base for a canvas +covering. We had a bolt of canvas frozen stiff, and this material had +to be cut and then thawed out over the blubber-stove, foot by foot, in +order that it might be sewn into the form of a cover. When it had been +nailed and screwed into position it certainly gave an appearance of +safety to the boat, though I had an uneasy feeling that it bore a +strong likeness to stage scenery, which may look like a granite wall +and is in fact nothing better than canvas and lath. As events proved, +the covering served its purpose well. We certainly could not have lived +through the voyage without it. + +Another fierce gale was blowing on April 22, interfering with our +preparations for the voyage. The cooker from No. 5 tent came adrift in +a gust, and, although it was chased to the water’s edge, it disappeared +for good. Blackborrow’s feet were giving him much pain, and McIlroy and +Macklin thought it would be necessary for them to operate soon. They +were under the impression then that they had no chloroform, but they +found some subsequently in the medicine-chest after we had left. Some +cases of stores left on a rock off the spit on the day of our arrival +were retrieved during this day. We were setting aside stores for the +boat journey and choosing the essential equipment from the scanty stock +at our disposal. Two ten-gallon casks had to be filled with water +melted down from ice collected at the foot of the glacier. This was a +rather slow business. The blubber-stove was kept going all night, and +the watchmen emptied the water into the casks from the pot in which the +ice was melted. A working party started to dig a hole in the snow-slope +about forty feet above sea-level with the object of providing a site +for a camp. They made fairly good progress at first, but the snow +drifted down unceasingly from the inland ice, and in the end the party +had to give up the project. + + +[Illustration: Launching the _James Caird_] + + +[Illustration: The _Stancomb Wills_] + + +The weather was fine on April 23, and we hurried forward our +preparations. It was on this day I decided finally that the crew for +the _James Caird_ should consist of Worsley, Crean, McNeish, McCarthy, +Vincent, and myself. A storm came on about noon, with driving snow and +heavy squalls. Occasionally the air would clear for a few minutes, and +we could see a line of pack-ice, five miles out, driving across from +west to east. This sight increased my anxiety to get away quickly. +Winter was advancing, and soon the pack might close completely round +the island and stay our departure for days or even for weeks, I did not +think that ice would remain around Elephant Island continuously during +the winter, since the strong winds and fast currents would keep it in +motion. We had noticed ice and bergs, going past at the rate of four or +five knots. A certain amount of ice was held up about the end of our +spit, but the sea was clear where the boat would have to be launched. + +Worsley, Wild, and I climbed to the summit of the seaward rocks and +examined the ice from a better vantage-point than the beach offered. +The belt of pack outside appeared to be sufficiently broken for our +purposes, and I decided that, unless the conditions forbade it, we +would make a start in the _James Caird_ on the following morning. +Obviously the pack might close at any time. This decision made, I spent +the rest of the day looking over the boat, gear, and stores, and +discussing plans with Worsley and Wild. + +Our last night on the solid ground of Elephant Island was cold and +uncomfortable. We turned out at dawn and had breakfast. Then we +launched the _Stancomb Wills_ and loaded her with stores, gear, and +ballast, which would be transferred to the _James Caird_ when the +heavier boat had been launched. The ballast consisted of bags made from +blankets and filled with sand, making a total weight of about 1000 lbs. +In addition we had gathered a number of round boulders and about 250 +lbs. of ice, which would supplement our two casks of water. + +The stores taken in the _James Caird_, which would last six men for one +month, were as follows: + +30 boxes of matches. +6½ gallons paraffin. +1 tin methylated spirit. +10 boxes of flamers. +1 box of blue lights. +2 Primus stoves with spare parts and prickers. +1 Nansen aluminium cooker. +6 sleeping-bags. +A few spare socks. +A few candles and some blubber-oil in an oil-bag. + + +_Food_: +3 cases sledging rations = 300 rations. +2 cases nut food = 200 ” +2 cases biscuits = 600 biscuits. +1 case lump sugar. +30 packets of Trumilk. +1 tin. of Bovril cubes. +1 tin of Cerebos salt. +36 gallons of water. +250 lbs. of ice. + + +_Instruments_: +Sextant. +Sea-anchor. +Binoculars. +Charts. +Prismatic compass. +Aneroid. + + +The swell was slight when the _Stancomb Wills_ was launched and the +boat got under way without any difficulty; but half an hour later, when +we were pulling down the _James Caird_, the swell increased suddenly. +Apparently the movement of the ice outside had made an opening and +allowed the sea to run in without being blanketed by the line of pack. +The swell made things difficult. Many of us got wet to the waist while +dragging the boat out—a serious matter in that climate. When the _James +Caird_ was afloat in the surf she nearly capsized among the rocks +before we could get her clear, and Vincent and the carpenter, who were +on the deck, were thrown into the water. This was really bad luck, for +the two men would have small chance of drying their clothes after we +had got under way. Hurley, who had the eye of the professional +photographer for “incidents,” secured a picture of the upset, and I +firmly believe that he would have liked the two unfortunate men to +remain in the water until he could get a “snap” at close quarters; but +we hauled them out immediately, regardless of his feelings. + +The _James Caird_ was soon clear of the breakers. We used all the +available ropes as a long painter to prevent her drifting away to the +north-east, and then the _Stancomb Wills_ came alongside, transferred +her load, and went back to the shore for more. As she was being beached +this time the sea took her stern and half filled her with water. She +had to be turned over and emptied before the return journey could be +made. Every member of the crew of the _Stancomb Wills_ was wet to the +skin. The water-casks were towed behind the _Stancomb Wills_ on this +second journey, and the swell, which was increasing rapidly, drove the +boat on to the rocks, where one of the casks was slightly stove in. +This accident proved later to be a serious one, since some sea-water +had entered the cask and the contents were now brackish. + +By midday the _James Caird_ was ready for the voyage. Vincent and the +carpenter had secured some dry clothes by exchange with members of the +shore party (I heard afterwards that it was a full fortnight before the +soaked garments were finally dried), and the boat’s crew was standing +by waiting for the order to cast off. A moderate westerly breeze was +blowing. I went ashore in the _Stancomb Wills_ and had a last word with +Wild, who was remaining in full command, with directions as to his +course of action in the event of our failure to bring relief, but I +practically left the whole situation and scope of action and decision +to his own judgment, secure in the knowledge that he would act wisely. +I told him that I trusted the party to him and said good-bye to the +men. Then we pushed off for the last time, and within a few minutes I +was aboard the _James Caird_. The crew of the _Stancomb Wills_ shook +hands with us as the boats bumped together and offered us the last good +wishes. Then, setting our jib, we cut the painter and moved away to the +north-east. The men who were staying behind made a pathetic little +group on the beach, with the grim heights of the island behind them and +the sea seething at their feet, but they waved to us and gave three +hearty cheers. There was hope in their hearts and they trusted us to +bring the help that they needed. + +I had all sails set, and the _James Caird_ quickly dipped the beach and +its line of dark figures. The westerly wind took us rapidly to the line +of pack, and as we entered it I stood up with my arm around the mast, +directing the steering, so as to avoid the great lumps of ice that were +flung about in the heave of the sea. The pack thickened and we were +forced to turn almost due east, running before the wind towards a gap I +had seen in the morning from the high ground. I could not see the gap +now, but we had come out on its bearing and I was prepared to find that +it had been influenced by the easterly drift. At four o’clock in the +afternoon we found the channel, much narrower than it had seemed in the +morning but still navigable. Dropping sail, we rowed through without +touching the ice anywhere, and by 5.30 p.m. we were clear of the pack +with open water before us. We passed one more piece of ice in the +darkness an hour later, but the pack lay behind, and with a fair wind +swelling the sails we steered our little craft through the night, our +hopes centred on our distant goal. The swell was very heavy now, and +when the time came for our first evening meal we found great difficulty +in keeping the Primus lamp alight and preventing the hoosh splashing +out of the pot. Three men were needed to attend to the cooking, one man +holding the lamp and two men guarding the aluminium cooking-pot, which +had to be lifted clear of the Primus whenever the movement of the boat +threatened to cause a disaster. Then the lamp had to be protected from +water, for sprays were coming over the bows and our flimsy decking was +by no means water-tight. All these operations were conducted in the +confined space under the decking, where the men lay or knelt and +adjusted themselves as best they could to the angles of our cases and +ballast. It was uncomfortable, but we found consolation in the +reflection that without the decking we could not have used the cooker +at all. + +The tale of the next sixteen days is one of supreme strife amid heaving +waters. The sub-Antarctic Ocean lived up to its evil winter reputation. +I decided to run north for at least two days while the wind held and so +get into warmer weather before turning to the east and laying a course +for South Georgia. We took two-hourly spells at the tiller. The men who +were not on watch crawled into the sodden sleeping-bags and tried to +forget their troubles for a period; but there was no comfort in the +boat. The bags and cases seemed to be alive in the unfailing knack of +presenting their most uncomfortable angles to our rest-seeking bodies. +A man might imagine for a moment that he had found a position of ease, +but always discovered quickly that some unyielding point was impinging +on muscle or bone. The first night aboard the boat was one of acute +discomfort for us all, and we were heartily glad when the dawn came and +we could set about the preparation of a hot breakfast. + +This record of the voyage to South Georgia is based upon scanty notes +made day by day. The notes dealt usually with the bare facts of +distances, positions, and weather, but our memories retained the +incidents of the passing days in a period never to be forgotten. By +running north for the first two days I hoped to get warmer weather and +also to avoid lines of pack that might be extending beyond the main +body. We needed all the advantage that we could obtain from the higher +latitude for sailing on the great circle, but we had to be cautious +regarding possible ice-streams. Cramped in our narrow quarters and +continually wet by the spray, we suffered severely from cold throughout +the journey. We fought the seas and the winds and at the same time had +a daily struggle to keep ourselves alive. At times we were in dire +peril. Generally we were upheld by the knowledge that we were making +progress towards the land where we would be, but there were days and +nights when we lay hove to, drifting across the storm-whitened seas and +watching with eyes interested rather than apprehensive the uprearing +masses of water, flung to and fro by Nature in the pride of her +strength. Deep seemed the valleys when we lay between the reeling seas. +High were the hills when we perched momentarily on the tops of giant +combers. Nearly always there were gales. So small was our boat and so +great were the seas that often our sail flapped idly in the calm +between the crests of two waves. Then we would climb the next slope and +catch the full fury of the gale where the wool-like whiteness of the +breaking water surged around us. We had our moments of laughter—rare, +it is true, but hearty enough. Even when cracked lips and swollen +mouths checked the outward and visible signs of amusement we could see +a joke of the primitive kind. Man’s sense of humour is always most +easily stirred by the petty misfortunes of his neighbours, and I shall +never forget Worsley’s efforts on one occasion to place the hot +aluminium stand on top of the Primus stove after it had fallen off in +an extra heavy roll. With his frost-bitten fingers he picked it up, +dropped it, picked it up again, and toyed with it gingerly as though it +were some fragile article of lady’s wear. We laughed, or rather gurgled +with laughter. + +The wind came up strong and worked into a gale from the north-west on +the third day out. We stood away to the east. The increasing seas +discovered the weaknesses of our decking. The continuous blows shifted +the box-lids and sledge-runners so that the canvas sagged down and +accumulated water. Then icy trickles, distinct from the driving sprays, +poured fore and aft into the boat. The nails that the carpenter had +extracted from cases at Elephant Island and used to fasten down the +battens were too short to make firm the decking. We did what we could +to secure it, but our means were very limited, and the water continued +to enter the boat at a dozen points. Much baling was necessary, and +nothing that we could do prevented our gear from becoming sodden. The +searching runnels from the canvas were really more unpleasant than the +sudden definite douches of the sprays. Lying under the thwarts during +watches below, we tried vainly to avoid them. There were no dry places +in the boat, and at last we simply covered our heads with our Burberrys +and endured the all-pervading water. The baling was work for the watch. +Real rest we had none. The perpetual motion of the boat made repose +impossible; we were cold, sore, and anxious. We moved on hands and +knees in the semi-darkness of the day under the decking. The darkness +was complete by 6 p.m., and not until 7 a.m. of the following day could +we see one another under the thwarts. We had a few scraps of candle, +and they were preserved carefully in order that we might have light at +meal-times. There was one fairly dry spot in the boat, under the solid +original decking at the bows, and we managed to protect some of our +biscuit from the salt water; but I do not think any of us got the taste +of salt out of our mouths during the voyage. + +The difficulty of movement in the boat would have had its humorous side +if it had not involved us in so many aches and pains. We had to crawl +under the thwarts in order to move along the boat, and our knees +suffered considerably. When watch turned out it was necessary for me to +direct each man by name when and where to move, since if all hands had +crawled about at the same time the result would have been dire +confusion and many bruises. Then there was the trim of the boat to be +considered. The order of the watch was four hours on and four hours +off, three men to the watch. One man had the tiller-ropes, the second +man attended to the sail, and the third baled for all he was worth. +Sometimes when the water in the boat had been reduced to reasonable +proportions, our pump could be used. This pump, which Hurley had made +from the Flinder’s bar case of our ship’s standard compass, was quite +effective, though its capacity was not large. The man who was attending +the sail could pump into the big outer cooker, which was lifted and +emptied overboard when filled. We had a device by which the water could +go direct from the pump into the sea through a hole in the gunwale, but +this hole had to be blocked at an early stage of the voyage, since we +found that it admitted water when the boat rolled. + +While a new watch was shivering in the wind and spray, the men who had +been relieved groped hurriedly among the soaked sleeping-bags and tried +to steal a little of the warmth created by the last occupants; but it +was not always possible for us to find even this comfort when we went +off watch. The boulders that we had taken aboard for ballast had to be +shifted continually in order to trim the boat and give access to the +pump, which became choked with hairs from the moulting sleeping-bags +and finneskoe. The four reindeer-skin sleeping-bags shed their hair +freely owing to the continuous wetting, and soon became quite bald in +appearance. The moving of the boulders was weary and painful work. We +came to know every one of the stones by sight and touch, and I have +vivid memories of their angular peculiarities even to-day. They might +have been of considerable interest as geological specimens to a +scientific man under happier conditions. As ballast they were useful. +As weights to be moved about in cramped quarters they were simply +appalling. They spared no portion of our poor bodies. Another of our +troubles, worth mention here, was the chafing of our legs by our wet +clothes, which had not been changed now for seven months. The insides +of our thighs were rubbed raw, and the one tube of Hazeline cream in +our medicine-chest did not go far in alleviating our pain, which was +increased by the bite of the salt water. We thought at the time that we +never slept. The fact was that we would doze off uncomfortably, to be +aroused quickly by some new ache or another call to effort. My own +share of the general unpleasantness was accentuated by a finely +developed bout of sciatica. I had become possessor of this originally +on the floe several months earlier. + +Our meals were regular in spite of the gales. Attention to this point +was essential, since the conditions of the voyage made increasing calls +upon our vitality. Breakfast, at 8 a.m., consisted of a pannikin of hot +hoosh made from Bovril sledging ration, two biscuits, and some lumps of +sugar. Lunch came at 1 p.m., and comprised Bovril sledging ration, +eaten raw, and a pannikin of hot milk for each man. Tea, at 5 p.m., had +the same menu. Then during the night we had a hot drink, generally of +milk. The meals were the bright beacons in those cold and stormy days. +The glow of warmth and comfort produced by the food and drink made +optimists of us all. We had two tins of Virol, which we were keeping +for an emergency; but, finding ourselves in need of an oil-lamp to eke +out our supply of candles, we emptied one of the tins in the manner +that most appealed to us, and fitted it with a wick made by shredding a +bit of canvas. When this lamp was filled with oil it gave a certain +amount of light, though it was easily blown out, and was of great +assistance to us at night. We were fairly well off as regarded fuel, +since we had 6½ gallons of petroleum. + +A severe south-westerly gale on the fourth day out forced us to heave +to. I would have liked to have run before the wind, but the sea was +very high and the _James Caird_ was in danger of broaching to and +swamping. The delay was vexatious, since up to that time we had been +making sixty or seventy miles a day, good going with our limited sail +area. We hove to under double-reefed mainsail and our little jigger, +and waited for the gale to blow itself out. During that afternoon we +saw bits of wreckage, the remains probably of some unfortunate vessel +that had failed to weather the strong gales south of Cape Horn. The +weather conditions did not improve, and on the fifth day out the gale +was so fierce that we were compelled to take in the double-reefed +mainsail and hoist our small jib instead. We put out a sea-anchor to +keep the _James Caird’s_ head up to the sea. This anchor consisted of a +triangular canvas bag fastened to the end of the painter and allowed to +stream out from the bows. The boat was high enough to catch the wind, +and, as she drifted to leeward, the drag of the anchor kept her head to +windward. Thus our boat took most of the seas more or less end on. Even +then the crests of the waves often would curl right over us and we +shipped a great deal of water, which necessitated unceasing baling and +pumping. Looking out abeam, we would see a hollow like a tunnel formed +as the crest of a big wave toppled over on to the swelling body of +water. A thousand times it appeared as though the _James Caird_ must be +engulfed; but the boat lived. The south-westerly gale had its +birthplace above the Antarctic Continent, and its freezing breath +lowered the temperature far towards zero. The sprays froze upon the +boat and gave bows, sides, and decking a heavy coat of mail. This +accumulation of ice reduced the buoyancy of the boat, and to that +extent was an added peril; but it possessed a notable advantage from +one point of view. The water ceased to drop and trickle from the +canvas, and the spray came in solely at the well in the after part of +the boat. We could not allow the load of ice to grow beyond a certain +point, and in turns we crawled about the decking forward, chipping and +picking at it with the available tools. + +When daylight came on the morning of the sixth day out we saw and felt +that the _James Caird_ had lost her resiliency. She was not rising to +the oncoming seas. The weight of the ice that had formed in her and +upon her during the night was having its effect, and she was becoming +more like a log than a boat. The situation called for immediate action. +We first broke away the spare oars, which were encased in ice and +frozen to the sides of the boat, and threw them overboard. We retained +two oars for use when we got inshore. Two of the fur sleeping-bags went +over the side; they were thoroughly wet, weighing probably 40 lbs. +each, and they had frozen stiff during the night. Three men constituted +the watch below, and when a man went down it was better to turn into +the wet bag just vacated by another man than to thaw out a frozen bag +with the heat of his unfortunate body. We now had four bags, three in +use and one for emergency use in case a member of the party should +break down permanently. The reduction of weight relieved the boat to +some extent, and vigorous chipping and scraping did more. We had to be +very careful not to put axe or knife through the frozen canvas of the +decking as we crawled over it, but gradually we got rid of a lot of +ice. The _James Caird_ lifted to the endless waves as though she lived +again. + +About 11 a.m. the boat suddenly fell off into the trough of the sea. +The painter had parted and the sea-anchor had gone. This was serious. +The _James Caird_ went away to leeward, and we had no chance at all of +recovering the anchor and our valuable rope, which had been our only +means of keeping the boat’s head up to the seas without the risk of +hoisting sail in a gale. Now we had to set the sail and trust to its +holding. While the _James Caird_ rolled heavily in the trough, we beat +the frozen canvas until the bulk of the ice had cracked off it and then +hoisted it. The frozen gear worked protestingly, but after a struggle +our little craft came up to the wind again, and we breathed more +freely. Skin frost-bites were troubling us, and we had developed large +blisters on our fingers and hands. I shall always carry the scar of one +of these frost-bites on my left hand, which became badly inflamed after +the skin had burst and the cold had bitten deeply. + +We held the boat up to the gale during that day, enduring as best we +could discomforts that amounted to pain. The boat tossed interminably +on the big waves under grey, threatening skies. Our thoughts did not +embrace much more than the necessities of the hour. Every surge of the +sea was an enemy to be watched and circumvented. We ate our scanty +meals, treated our frost-bites, and hoped for the improved conditions +that the morrow might bring. Night fell early, and in the lagging hours +of darkness we were cheered by a change for the better in the weather. +The wind dropped, the snow-squalls became less frequent, and the sea +moderated. When the morning of the seventh day dawned there was not +much wind. We shook the reef out of the sail and laid our course once +more for South Georgia. The sun came out bright and clear, and +presently Worsley got a snap for longitude. We hoped that the sky would +remain clear until noon, so that we could get the latitude. We had been +six days out without an observation, and our dead reckoning naturally +was uncertain. The boat must have presented a strange appearance that +morning. All hands basked in the sun. We hung our sleeping-bags to the +mast and spread our socks and other gear all over the deck. Some of the +ice had melted off the _James Caird_ in the early morning after the +gale began to slacken; and dry patches were appearing in the decking. +Porpoises came blowing round the boat, and Cape pigeons wheeled and +swooped within a few feet of us. These little black-and-white birds +have an air of friendliness that is not possessed by the great circling +albatross. They had looked grey against the swaying sea during the +storm as they darted about over our heads and uttered their plaintive +cries. The albatrosses, of the black or sooty variety, had watched with +hard, bright eyes, and seemed to have a quite impersonal interest in +our struggle to keep afloat amid the battering seas. In addition to the +Cape pigeons an occasional stormy petrel flashed overhead. Then there +was a small bird, unknown to me, that appeared always to be in a fussy, +bustling state, quite out of keeping with the surroundings. It +irritated me. It had practically no tail, and it flitted about vaguely +as though in search of the lost member. I used to find myself wishing +it would find its tail and have done with the silly fluttering. + +We revelled in the warmth of the sun that day. Life was not so bad, +after all. We felt we were well on our way. Our gear was drying, and we +could have a hot meal in comparative comfort. The swell was still +heavy, but it was not breaking and the boat rode easily. At noon +Worsley balanced himself on the gunwale and clung with one hand to the +stay of the mainmast while he got a snap of the sun. The result was +more than encouraging. We had done over 380 miles and were getting on +for half-way to South Georgia. It looked as though we were going to get +through. + +The wind freshened to a good stiff breeze during the afternoon, and the +_James Caird_ made satisfactory progress. I had not realized until the +sunlight came how small our boat really was. There was some influence +in the light and warmth, some hint of happier days, that made us revive +memories of other voyages, when we had stout decks beneath our feet, +unlimited food at our command, and pleasant cabins for our ease. Now we +clung to a battered little boat, “alone, alone—all, all alone; alone on +a wide, wide sea.” So low in the water were we that each succeeding +swell cut off our view of the sky-line. We were a tiny speck in the +vast vista of the sea—the ocean that is open to all and merciful to +none, that threatens even when it seems to yield, and that is pitiless +always to weakness. For a moment the consciousness of the forces +arrayed against us would be almost overwhelming. Then hope and +confidence would rise again as our boat rose to a wave and tossed aside +the crest in a sparkling shower like the play of prismatic colours at +the foot of a waterfall. My double-barrelled gun and some cartridges +had been stowed aboard the boat as an emergency precaution against a +shortage of food, but we were not disposed to destroy our little +neighbours, the Cape pigeons, even for the sake of fresh meat. We might +have shot an albatross, but the wandering king of the ocean aroused in +us something of the feeling that inspired, too late, the Ancient +Mariner. So the gun remained among the stores and sleeping-bags in the +narrow quarters beneath our leaking deck, and the birds followed us +unmolested. + +The eighth, ninth, and tenth days of the voyage had few features worthy +of special note. The wind blew hard during those days, and the strain +of navigating the boat was unceasing, but always we made some advance +towards our goal. No bergs showed on our horizon, and we knew that we +were clear of the ice-fields. Each day brought its little round of +troubles, but also compensation in the form of food and growing hope. +We felt that we were going to succeed. The odds against us had been +great, but we were winning through. We still suffered severely from the +cold, for, though the temperature was rising, our vitality was +declining owing to shortage of food, exposure, and the necessity of +maintaining our cramped positions day and night. I found that it was +now absolutely necessary to prepare hot milk for all hands during the +night, in order to sustain life till dawn. This meant lighting the +Primus lamp in the darkness and involved an increased drain on our +small store of matches. It was the rule that one match must serve when +the Primus was being lit. We had no lamp for the compass and during the +early days of the voyage we would strike a match when the steersman +wanted to see the course at night; but later the necessity for strict +economy impressed itself upon us, and the practice of striking matches +at night was stopped. We had one water-tight tin of matches. I had +stowed away in a pocket, in readiness for a sunny day, a lens from one +of the telescopes, but this was of no use during the voyage. The sun +seldom shone upon us. The glass of the compass got broken one night, +and we contrived to mend it with adhesive tape from the medicine-chest. +One of the memories that comes to me from those days is of Crean +singing at the tiller. He always sang while he was steering, and nobody +ever discovered what the song was. It was devoid of tune and as +monotonous as the chanting of a Buddhist monk at his prayers; yet +somehow it was cheerful. In moments of inspiration Crean would attempt +“The Wearing of the Green.” + +On the tenth night Worsley could not straighten his body after his +spell at the tiller. He was thoroughly cramped, and we had to drag him +beneath the decking and massage him before he could unbend himself and +get into a sleeping-bag. A hard north-westerly gale came up on the +eleventh day (May 5) and shifted to the south-west in the late +afternoon. The sky was overcast and occasional snow-squalls added to +the discomfort produced by a tremendous cross-sea—the worst, I thought, +that we had experienced. At midnight I was at the tiller and suddenly +noticed a line of clear sky between the south and south-west. I called +to the other men that the sky was clearing, and then a moment later I +realized that what I had seen was not a rift in the clouds but the +white crest of an enormous wave. During twenty-six years’ experience of +the ocean in all its moods I had not encountered a wave so gigantic. It +was a mighty upheaval of the ocean, a thing quite apart from the big +white-capped seas that had been our tireless enemies for many days. I +shouted, “For God’s sake, hold on! It’s got us!” Then came a moment of +suspense that seemed drawn out into hours. White surged the foam of the +breaking sea around us. We felt our boat lifted and flung forward like +a cork in breaking surf. We were in a seething chaos of tortured water; +but somehow the boat lived through it, half-full of water, sagging to +the dead weight and shuddering under the blow. We baled with the energy +of men fighting for life, flinging the water over the sides with every +receptacle that came to our hands, and after ten minutes of uncertainty +we felt the boat renew her life beneath us. She floated again and +ceased to lurch drunkenly as though dazed by the attack of the sea. +Earnestly we hoped that never again would we encounter such a wave. + +The conditions in the boat, uncomfortable before, had been made worse +by the deluge of water. All our gear was thoroughly wet again. Our +cooking-stove had been floating about in the bottom of the boat, and +portions of our last hoosh seemed to have permeated everything. Not +until 3 a.m., when we were all chilled almost to the limit of +endurance, did we manage to get the stove alight and make ourselves hot +drinks. The carpenter was suffering particularly, but he showed grit +and spirit. Vincent had for the past week ceased to be an active member +of the crew, and I could not easily account for his collapse. +Physically he was one of the strongest men in the boat. He was a young +man, he had served on North Sea trawlers, and he should have been able +to bear hardships better than McCarthy, who, not so strong, was always +happy. + +The weather was better on the following day (May 6), and we got a +glimpse of the sun. Worsley’s observation showed that we were not more +than a hundred miles from the north-west corner of South Georgia. Two +more days with a favourable wind and we would sight the promised land. +I hoped that there would be no delay, for our supply of water was +running very low. The hot drink at night was essential, but I decided +that the daily allowance of water must be cut down to half a pint per +man. The lumps of ice we had taken aboard had gone long ago. We were +dependent upon the water we had brought from Elephant Island, and our +thirst was increased by the fact that we were now using the brackish +water in the breaker that had been slightly stove in in the surf when +the boat was being loaded. Some sea-water had entered at that time. +Thirst took possession of us. I dared not permit the allowance of water +to be increased since an unfavourable wind might drive us away from the +island and lengthen our voyage by many days. Lack of water is always +the most severe privation that men can be condemned to endure, and we +found, as during our earlier boat voyage, that the salt water in our +clothing and the salt spray that lashed our faces made our thirst grow +quickly to a burning pain. I had to be very firm in refusing to allow +any one to anticipate the morrow’s allowance, which I was sometimes +begged to do. We did the necessary work dully and hoped for the land. I +had altered the course to the east so as to make sure of our striking +the island, which would have been impossible to regain if we had run +past the northern end. The course was laid on our scrap of chart for a +point some thirty miles down the coast. That day and the following day +passed for us in a sort of nightmare. Our mouths were dry and our +tongues were swollen. The wind was still strong and the heavy sea +forced us to navigate carefully, but any thought of our peril from the +waves was buried beneath the consciousness of our raging thirst. The +bright moments were those when we each received our one mug of hot milk +during the long, bitter watches of the night. Things were bad for us in +those days, but the end was coming. The morning of May 8 broke thick +and stormy, with squalls from the north-west. We searched the waters +ahead for a sign of land, and though we could see nothing more than had +met our eyes for many days, we were cheered by a sense that the goal +was near at hand. About ten o’clock that morning we passed a little bit +of kelp, a glad signal of the proximity of land. An hour later we saw +two shags sitting on a big mass of kelp, and knew then that we must be +within ten or fifteen miles of the shore. These birds are as sure an +indication of the proximity of land as a lighthouse is, for they never +venture far to sea. We gazed ahead with increasing eagerness, and at +12.30 p.m., through a rift in the clouds, McCarthy caught a glimpse of +the black cliffs of South Georgia, just fourteen days after our +departure from Elephant Island. It was a glad moment. Thirst-ridden, +chilled, and weak as we were, happiness irradiated us. The job was +nearly done. + + +[Illustration: In Sight of our Goal: Nearing South Georgia] + + +[Illustration: Landing on South Georgia] + + +We stood in towards the shore to look for a landing-place, and +presently we could see the green tussock-grass on the ledges above the +surf-beaten rocks. Ahead of us and to the south, blind rollers showed +the presence of uncharted reefs along the coast. Here and there the +hungry rocks were close to the surface, and over them the great waves +broke, swirling viciously and spouting thirty and forty feet into the +air. The rocky coast appeared to descend sheer to the sea. Our need of +water and rest was well-nigh desperate, but to have attempted a landing +at that time would have been suicidal. Night was drawing near, and the +weather indications were not favourable. There was nothing for it but +to haul off till the following morning, so we stood away on the +starboard tack until we had made what appeared to be a safe offing. +Then we hove to in the high westerly swell. The hours passed slowly as +we waited the dawn, which would herald, we fondly hoped, the last stage +of our journey. Our thirst was a torment and we could scarcely touch +our food; the cold seemed to strike right through our weakened bodies. +At 5 a.m. the wind shifted to the north-west and quickly increased to +one of the worst hurricanes any of us had ever experienced. A great +cross-sea was running and the wind simply shrieked as it tore the tops +off the waves and converted the whole seascape into a haze of driving +spray. Down into valleys, up to tossing heights, straining until her +seams opened, swung our little boat, brave still but labouring heavily. +We knew that the wind and set of the sea was driving us ashore, but we +could do nothing. The dawn showed us a storm-torn ocean, and the +morning passed without bringing us a sight of the land; but at 1 p.m., +through a rift in the flying mists, we got a glimpse of the huge crags +of the island and realized that our position had become desperate. We +were on a dead lee shore, and we could gauge our approach to the unseen +cliffs by the roar of the breakers against the sheer walls of rock. I +ordered the double-reefed mainsail to be set in the hope that we might +claw off, and this attempt increased the strain upon the boat. The +_James Caird_ was bumping heavily, and the water was pouring in +everywhere. Our thirst was forgotten in the realization of our imminent +danger, as we baled unceasingly, and adjusted our weights from time to +time; occasional glimpses showed that the shore was nearer. I knew that +Annewkow Island lay to the south of us, but our small and badly marked +chart showed uncertain reefs in the passage between the island and the +mainland, and I dared not trust it, though as a last resort we could +try to lie under the lee of the island. The afternoon wore away as we +edged down the coast, with the thunder of the breakers in our ears. The +approach of evening found us still some distance from Annewkow Island, +and, dimly in the twilight, we could see a snow-capped mountain looming +above us. The chance of surviving the night, with the driving gale and +the implacable sea forcing us on to the lee shore, seemed small. I +think most of us had a feeling that the end was very near. Just after 6 +p.m., in the dark, as the boat was in the yeasty backwash from the seas +flung from this iron-bound coast, then, just when things looked their +worst, they changed for the best. I have marvelled often at the thin +line that divides success from failure and the sudden turn that leads +from apparently certain disaster to comparative safety. The wind +suddenly shifted, and we were free once more to make an offing. Almost +as soon as the gale eased, the pin that locked the mast to the thwart +fell out. It must have been on the point of doing this throughout the +hurricane, and if it had gone nothing could have saved us; the mast +would have snapped like a carrot. Our backstays had carried away once +before when iced up and were not too strongly fastened now. We were +thankful indeed for the mercy that had held that pin in its place +throughout the hurricane. + +We stood off shore again, tired almost to the point of apathy. Our +water had long been finished. The last was about a pint of hairy +liquid, which we strained through a bit of gauze from the +medicine-chest. The pangs of thirst attacked us with redoubled +intensity, and I felt that we must make a landing on the following day +at almost any hazard. The night wore on. We were very tired. We longed +for day. When at last the dawn came on the morning of May 10 there was +practically no wind, but a high cross-sea was running. We made slow +progress towards the shore. About 8 a.m. the wind backed to the +north-west and threatened another blow. We had sighted in the meantime +a big indentation which I thought must be King Haakon Bay, and I +decided that we must land there. We set the bows of the boat towards +the bay and ran before the freshening gale. Soon we had angry reefs on +either side. Great glaciers came down to the sea and offered no +landing-place. The sea spouted on the reefs and thundered against the +shore. About noon we sighted a line of jagged reef, like blackened +teeth, that seemed to bar the entrance to the bay. Inside, +comparatively smooth water stretched eight or nine miles to the head of +the bay. A gap in the reef appeared, and we made for it. But the fates +had another rebuff for us. The wind shifted and blew from the east +right out of the bay. We could see the way through the reef, but we +could not approach it directly. That afternoon we bore up, tacking five +times in the strong wind. The last tack enabled us to get through, and +at last we were in the wide mouth of the bay. Dusk was approaching. A +small cove, with a boulder-strewn beach guarded by a reef, made a break +in the cliffs on the south side of the bay, and we turned in that +direction. I stood in the bows directing the steering as we ran through +the kelp and made the passage of the reef. The entrance was so narrow +that we had to take in the oars, and the swell was piling itself right +over the reef into the cove; but in a minute or two we were inside, and +in the gathering darkness the _James Caird_ ran in on a swell and +touched the beach. I sprang ashore with the short painter and held on +when the boat went out with the backward surge. When the _James Caird_ +came in again three of the men got ashore, and they held the painter +while I climbed some rocks with another line. A slip on the wet rocks +twenty feet up nearly closed my part of the story just at the moment +when we were achieving safety. A jagged piece of rock held me and at +the same time bruised me sorely. However, I made fast the line, and in +a few minutes we were all safe on the beach, with the boat floating in +the surging water just off the shore. We heard a gurgling sound that +was sweet music in our ears, and, peering around, found a stream of +fresh water almost at our feet. A moment later we were down on our +knees drinking the pure, ice-cold water in long draughts that put new +life into us. It was a splendid moment. + +The next thing was to get the stores and ballast out of the boat, in +order that we might secure her for the night. We carried the stores and +gear above high-water mark and threw out the bags of sand and the +boulders that we knew so well. Then we attempted to pull the empty boat +up the beach, and discovered by this effort how weak we had become. Our +united strength was not sufficient to get the _James Caird_ clear of +the water. Time after time we pulled together, but without avail. I saw +that it would be necessary to have food and rest before we beached the +boat. We made fast a line to a heavy boulder and set a watch to fend +the _James Caird_ off the rocks of the beach. Then I sent Crean round +to the left side of the cove, about thirty yards away, where I had +noticed a little cave as we were running in. He could not see much in +the darkness, but reported that the place certainly promised some +shelter. We carried the sleeping-bags round and found a mere hollow in +the rock-face, with a shingle floor sloping at a steep angle to the +sea. There we prepared a hot meal, and when the food was finished I +ordered the men to turn in. The time was now about 8 p.m., and I took +the first watch beside the _James Caird_, which was still afloat in the +tossing water just off the beach. + +Fending the _James Caird_ off the rocks in the darkness was awkward +work. The boat would have bumped dangerously if allowed to ride in with +the waves that drove into the cove. I found a flat rock for my feet, +which were in a bad way owing to cold, wetness, and lack of exercise in +the boat, and during the next few hours I laboured to keep the _James +Caird_ clear of the beach. Occasionally I had to rush into the seething +water. Then, as a wave receded, I let the boat out on the alpine rope +so as to avoid a sudden jerk. The heavy painter had been lost when the +sea-anchor went adrift. The _James Caird_ could be seen but dimly in +the cove, where the high black cliffs made the darkness almost +complete, and the strain upon one’s attention was great. After several +hours had passed I found that my desire for sleep was becoming +irresistible, and at 1 a.m. I called Crean. I could hear him groaning +as he stumbled over the sharp rocks on his way down the beach. While he +was taking charge of the _James Caird_ she got adrift, and we had some +anxious moments. Fortunately, she went across towards the cave and we +secured her, unharmed. The loss or destruction of the boat at this +stage would have been a very serious matter, since we probably would +have found it impossible to leave the cove except by sea. The cliffs +and glaciers around offered no practicable path towards the head of the +bay. I arranged for one-hour watches during the remainder of the night +and then took Crean’s place among the sleeping men and got some sleep +before the dawn came. + + +[Illustration: [Cave Cove on South Georgia]] + + +[Illustration: [Surroundings of King Haakon Bay]] + + +The sea went down in the early hours of the morning (May 11), and after +sunrise we were able to set about getting the boat ashore, first +bracing ourselves for the task with another meal. We were all weak +still. We cut off the topsides and took out all the movable gear. Then +we waited for Byron’s “great ninth wave,” and when it lifted the _James +Caird_ in we held her and, by dint of great exertion, worked her round +broadside to the sea. Inch by inch we dragged her up until we reached +the fringe of the tussock-grass and knew that the boat was above +high-water mark. The rise of the tide was about five feet, and at +spring tide the water must have reached almost to the edge of the +tussock-grass. The completion of this job removed our immediate +anxieties, and we were free to examine our surroundings and plan the +next move. The day was bright and clear. + +King Haakon Bay is an eight-mile sound penetrating the coast of South +Georgia in an easterly direction. We had noticed that the northern and +southern sides of the sound were formed by steep mountain-ranges, their +flanks furrowed by mighty glaciers, the outlets of the great ice-sheet +of the interior. It was obvious that these glaciers and the precipitous +slopes of the mountains barred our way inland from the cove. We must +sail to the head of the sound. Swirling clouds and mist-wreaths had +obscured our view of the sound when we were entering, but glimpses of +snow-slopes had given us hope that an overland journey could be begun +from that point. A few patches of very rough, tussocky land, dotted +with little tarns, lay between the glaciers along the foot of the +mountains, which were heavily scarred with scree-slopes. Several +magnificent peaks and crags gazed out across their snowy domains to the +sparkling waters of the sound. + +Our cove lay a little inside the southern headland of King Haakon Bay. +A narrow break in the cliffs, which were about a hundred feet high at +this point, formed the entrance to the cove. The cliffs continued +inside the cove on each side and merged into a hill which descended at +a steep slope to the boulder beach. The slope, which carried +tussock-grass, was not continuous. It eased at two points into little +peaty swamp terraces dotted with frozen pools and drained by two small +streams. Our cave was a recess in the cliff on the left-hand end of the +beach. The rocky face of the cliff was undercut at this point, and the +shingle thrown up by the waves formed a steep slope, which we reduced +to about one in six by scraping the stones away from the inside. Later +we strewed the rough floor with the dead, nearly dry underleaves of the +tussock-grass, so as to form a slightly soft bed for our sleeping-bags. +Water had trickled down the face of the cliff and formed long icicles, +which hung down in front of the cave to the length of about fifteen +feet. These icicles provided shelter, and when we had spread our sails +below them, with the assistance of oars, we had quarters that, in the +circumstances, had to be regarded as reasonably comfortable. The camp +at least was dry, and we moved our gear there with confidence. We built +a fireplace and arranged our sleeping-bags and blankets around it. The +cave was about 8 ft. deep and 12 ft. wide at the entrance. + +While the camp was being arranged Crean and I climbed the tussock slope +behind the beach and reached the top of a headland overlooking the +sound. There we found the nests of albatrosses, and, much to our +delight, the nests contained young birds. The fledgelings were fat and +lusty, and we had no hesitation about deciding that they were destined +to die at an early age. Our most pressing anxiety at this stage was a +shortage of fuel for the cooker. We had rations for ten more days, and +we knew now that we could get birds for food; but if we were to have +hot meals we must secure fuel. The store of petroleum carried in the +boat was running very low, and it seemed necessary to keep some +quantity for use on the overland journey that lay ahead of us. A +sea-elephant or a seal would have provided fuel as well as food, but we +could see none in the neighbourhood. During the morning we started a +fire in the cave with wood from the top-sides of the boat, and though +the dense smoke from the damp sticks inflamed our tired eyes, the +warmth and the prospect of hot food were ample compensation. Crean was +cook that day, and I suggested to him that he should wear his goggles, +which he happened to have brought with him. The goggles helped him a +great deal as he bent over the fire and tended the stew. And what a +stew it was! The young albatrosses weighed about fourteen pounds each +fresh killed, and we estimated that they weighed at least six pounds +each when cleaned and dressed for the pot. Four birds went into the pot +for six men, with a Bovril ration for thickening. The flesh was white +and succulent, and the bones, not fully formed, almost melted in our +mouths. That was a memorable meal. When we had eaten our fill, we dried +our tobacco in the embers of the fire and smoked contentedly. We made +an attempt to dry our clothes, which were soaked with salt water, but +did not meet with much success. We could not afford to have a fire +except for cooking purposes until blubber or driftwood had come our +way. + + +[Illustration: [Plan of Sleeping Berths in Cave]] + + +The final stage of the journey had still to be attempted. I realized +that the condition of the party generally, and particularly of McNeish +and Vincent, would prevent us putting to sea again except under +pressure of dire necessity. Our boat, moreover, had been weakened by +the cutting away of the topsides, and I doubted if we could weather the +island. We were still 150 miles away from Stromness whaling-station by +sea. The alternative was to attempt the crossing of the island. If we +could not get over, then we must try to secure enough food and fuel to +keep us alive through the winter, but this possibility was scarcely +thinkable. Over on Elephant Island twenty-two men were waiting for the +relief that we alone could secure for them. Their plight was worse than +ours. We must push on somehow. Several days must elapse before our +strength would be sufficiently recovered to allow us to row or sail the +last nine miles up to the head of the bay. In the meantime we could +make what preparations were possible and dry our clothes by taking +advantage of every scrap of heat from the fires we lit for the cooking +of our meals. We turned in early that night, and I remember that I +dreamed of the great wave and aroused my companions with a shout of +warning as I saw with half-awakened eyes the towering cliff on the +opposite side of the cove. Shortly before midnight a gale sprang up +suddenly from the north-east with rain and sleet showers. It brought +quantities of glacier-ice into the cove, and by 2 a.m. (May 12) our +little harbour was filled with ice, which surged to and fro in the +swell and pushed its way on to the beach. We had solid rock beneath our +feet and could watch without anxiety. When daylight came rain was +falling heavily, and the temperature was the highest we had experienced +for many months. The icicles overhanging our cave were melting down in +streams and we had to move smartly when passing in and out lest we +should be struck by falling lumps. A fragment weighing fifteen or +twenty pounds crashed down while we were having breakfast. We found +that a big hole had been burned in the bottom of Worsley’s reindeer +sleeping-bag during the night. Worsley had been awakened by a burning +sensation in his feet, and had asked the men near him if his bag was +all right; they looked and could see nothing wrong. We were all +superficially frostbitten about the feet, and this condition caused the +extremities to burn painfully, while at the same time sensation was +lost in the skin. Worsley thought that the uncomfortable heat of his +feet was due to the frost-bites, and he stayed in his bag and presently +went to sleep again. He discovered when he turned out in the morning +that the tussock-grass which we had laid on the floor of the cave had +smouldered outwards from the fire and had actually burned a large hole +in the bag beneath his feet. Fortunately, his feet were not harmed. + +Our party spent a quiet day, attending to clothing and gear, checking +stores, eating and resting. Some more of the young albatrosses made a +noble end in our pot. The birds were nesting on a small plateau above +the right-hand end of our beach. We had previously discovered that when +we were landing from the boat on the night of May 10 we had lost the +rudder. The _James Caird_ had been bumping heavily astern as we were +scrambling ashore, and evidently the rudder was then knocked off. A +careful search of the beach and the rocks within our reach failed to +reveal the missing article. This was a serious loss, even if the voyage +to the head of the sound could be made in good weather. At dusk the ice +in the cove was rearing and crashing on the beach. It had forced up a +ridge of stones close to where the _James Caird_ lay at the edge of the +tussock-grass. Some pieces of ice were driven right up to the canvas +wall at the front of our cave. Fragments lodged within two feet of +Vincent, who had the lowest sleeping-place, and within four feet of our +fire. Crean and McCarthy had brought down six more of the young +albatrosses in the afternoon, so we were well supplied with fresh food. +The air temperature that night probably was not lower than 38° or 40° +Fahr., and we were rendered uncomfortable in our cramped sleeping +quarters by the unaccustomed warmth. Our feelings towards our +neighbours underwent a change. When the temperature was below 20° Fahr, +we could not get too close to one another—every man wanted to cuddle +against his neighbour; but let the temperature rise a few degrees and +the warmth of another man’s body ceased to be a blessing. The ice and +the waves had a voice of menace that night, but I heard it only in my +dreams. + +The bay was still filled with ice on the morning of Saturday, May 13, +but the tide took it all away in the afternoon. Then a strange thing +happened. The rudder, with all the broad Atlantic to sail in and the +coasts of two continents to search for a resting-place, came bobbing +back into our cove. With anxious eyes we watched it as it advanced, +receded again, and then advanced once more under the capricious +influence of wind and wave. Nearer and nearer it came as we waited on +the shore, oars in hand, and at last we were able to seize it. Surely a +remarkable salvage! The day was bright and clear; our clothes were +drying and our strength was returning. Running water made a musical +sound down the tussock slope and among the boulders. We carried our +blankets up the hill and tried to dry them in the breeze 300 ft. above +sea-level. In the afternoon we began to prepare the _James Caird_ for +the journey to the head of King Haakon Bay. A noon observation on this +day gave our latitude as 54° 10´ 47´´ S., but according to the German +chart the position should have been 54° 12´ S. Probably Worsley’s +observation was the more accurate. We were able to keep the fire alight +until we went to sleep that night, for while climbing the rocks above +the cove I had seen at the foot of a cliff a broken spar, which had +been thrown up by the waves. We could reach this spar by climbing down +the cliff, and with a reserve supply of fuel thus in sight we could +afford to burn the fragments of the _James Caird’s_ topsides more +freely. + +During the morning of this day (May 13) Worsley and I tramped across +the hills in a north-easterly direction with the object of getting a +view of the sound and possibly gathering some information that would be +useful to us in the next stage of our journey. It was exhausting work, +but after covering about 2½ miles in two hours, we were able to look +east, up the bay. We could not see very much of the country that we +would have to cross in order to reach the whaling-station on the other +side of the island. We had passed several brooks and frozen tarns, and +at a point where we had to take to the beach on the shore of the sound +we found some wreckage—an 18-ft. pine-spar (probably part of a ship’s +topmast), several pieces of timber, and a little model of a ship’s +hull, evidently a child’s toy. We wondered what tragedy that pitiful +little plaything indicated. We encountered also some gentoo penguins +and a young sea-elephant, which Worsley killed. + +When we got back to the cave at 3 p.m., tired, hungry, but rather +pleased with ourselves, we found a splendid meal of stewed albatross +chicken waiting for us. We had carried a quantity of blubber and the +sea-elephant’s liver in our blouses, and we produced our treasures as a +surprise for the men. Rough climbing on the way back to camp had nearly +persuaded us to throw the stuff away, but we had held on (regardless of +the condition of our already sorely tried clothing), and had our reward +at the camp. The long bay had been a magnificent sight, even to eyes +that had dwelt on grandeur long enough and were hungry for the simple, +familiar things of everyday life. Its green-blue waters were being +beaten to fury by the north-westerly gale. The mountains, “stern peaks +that dared the stars,” peered through the mists, and between them huge +glaciers poured down from the great ice-slopes and fields that lay +behind. We counted twelve glaciers and heard every few minutes the +reverberating roar caused by masses of ice calving from the parent +streams. + +On May 14 we made our preparations for an early start on the following +day if the weather held fair. We expected to be able to pick up the +remains of the sea-elephant on our way up the sound. All hands were +recovering from the chafing caused by our wet clothes during the boat +journey. The insides of our legs had suffered severely, and for some +time after landing in the cove we found movement extremely +uncomfortable. We paid our last visit to the nests of the albatrosses, +which were situated on a little undulating plateau above the cave amid +tussocks, snow-patches, and little frozen tarns. Each nest consisted of +a mound over a foot high of tussock-grass, roots, and a little earth. +The albatross lays one egg and very rarely two. The chicks, which are +hatched in January, are fed on the nest by the parent birds for almost +seven months before they take to the sea and fend for themselves. Up to +four months of age the chicks are beautiful white masses of downy +fluff, but when we arrived on the scene their plumage was almost +complete. Very often one of the parent birds was on guard near the +nest. We did not enjoy attacking these birds, but our hunger knew no +law. They tasted so very good and assisted our recuperation to such an +extent that each time we killed one of them we felt a little less +remorseful. + +May 15 was a great day. We made our hoosh at 7.30 a.m. Then we loaded +up the boat and gave her a flying launch down the steep beach into the +surf. Heavy rain had fallen in the night and a gusty north-westerly +wind was now blowing, with misty showers. The _James Caird_ headed to +the sea as if anxious to face the battle of the waves once more. We +passed through the narrow mouth of the cove with the ugly rocks and +waving kelp close on either side, turned to the east, and sailed +merrily up the bay as the sun broke through the mists and made the +tossing waters sparkle around us. We were a curious-looking party on +that bright morning, but we were feeling happy. We even broke into +song, and, but for our Robinson Crusoe appearance, a casual observer +might have taken us for a picnic party sailing in a Norwegian fiord or +one of the beautiful sounds of the west coast of New Zealand. The wind +blew fresh and strong, and a small sea broke on the coast as we +advanced. The surf was sufficient to have endangered the boat if we had +attempted to land where the carcass of the sea-elephant was lying, so +we decided to go on to the head of the bay without risking anything, +particularly as we were likely to find sea-elephants on the upper +beaches. The big creatures have a habit of seeking peaceful quarters +protected from the waves. We had hopes, too, of finding penguins. Our +expectation as far as the sea-elephants were concerned was not at +fault. We heard the roar of the bulls as we neared the head of the bay, +and soon afterwards saw the great unwieldy forms of the beasts lying on +a shelving beach towards the bay-head. We rounded a high, glacier-worn +bluff on the north side, and at 12.30 p.m. we ran the boat ashore on a +low beach of sand and pebbles, with tussock growing above high-water +mark. There were hundreds of sea-elephants lying about, and our +anxieties with regard to food disappeared. Meat and blubber enough to +feed our party for years was in sight. Our landing-place was about a +mile and a half west of the north-east corner of the bay. Just east of +us was a glacier-snout ending on the beach but giving a passage towards +the head of the bay, except at high water or when a very heavy surf was +running. A cold, drizzling rain had begun to fall, and we provided +ourselves with shelter as quickly as possible. We hauled the _James +Caird_ up above highwater mark and turned her over just to the lee or +east side of the bluff. The spot was separated from the mountain-side +by a low morainic bank, rising twenty or thirty feet above sea-level. +Soon we had converted the boat into a very comfortable cabin _à la_ +Peggotty, turfing it round with tussocks, which we dug up with knives. +One side of the _James Caird_ rested on stones so as to afford a low +entrance, and when we had finished she looked as though she had grown +there. McCarthy entered into this work with great spirit. A +sea-elephant provided us with fuel and meat, and that evening found a +well-fed and fairly contented party at rest in Peggotty Camp. + + +[Illustration: Sea Elephants on South Georgia] + + +[Illustration: The Cliffs we descended whilst crossing the Island] + + +Our camp, as I have said, lay on the north side of King Haakon Bay near +the head. Our path towards the whaling-stations led round the seaward +end of the snouted glacier on the east side of the camp and up a +snow-slope that appeared to lead to a pass in the great Allardyce +Range, which runs north-west and south-east and forms the main backbone +of South Georgia. The range dipped opposite the bay into a well-defined +pass from east to west. An ice-sheet covered most of the interior, +filling the valleys and disguising the configurations of the land, +which, indeed, showed only in big rocky ridges, peaks, and nunataks. +When we looked up the pass from Peggotty Camp the country to the left +appeared to offer two easy paths through to the opposite coast, but we +knew that the island was uninhabited at that point (Possession Bay). We +had to turn our attention farther east, and it was impossible from the +camp to learn much of the conditions that would confront us on the +overland journey. I planned to climb to the pass and then be guided by +the configuration of the country in the selection of a route eastward +to Stromness Bay, where the whaling-stations were established in the +minor bays, Leith, Husvik, and Stromness. A range of mountains with +precipitous slopes, forbidding peaks, and large glaciers lay +immediately to the south of King Haakon Bay and seemed to form a +continuation of the main range. Between this secondary range and the +pass above our camp a great snow-upland sloped up to the inland +ice-sheet and reached a rocky ridge that stretched athwart our path and +seemed to bar the way. This ridge was a right-angled offshoot from the +main ridge. Its chief features were four rocky peaks with spaces +between that looked from a distance as though they might prove to be +passes. + +The weather was bad on Tuesday, May 16, and we stayed under the boat +nearly all day. The quarters were cramped but gave full protection from +the weather, and we regarded our little cabin with a great deal of +satisfaction. Abundant meals of sea-elephant steak and liver increased +our contentment. McNeish reported during the day that he had seen rats +feeding on the scraps, but this interesting statement was not verified. +One would not expect to find rats at such a spot, but there was a bare +possibility that they had landed from a wreck and managed to survive +the very rigorous conditions. + +A fresh west-south-westerly breeze was blowing on the following morning +(Wednesday, May 17), with misty squalls, sleet, and rain. I took +Worsley with me on a pioneer journey to the west with the object of +examining the country to be traversed at the beginning of the overland +journey. We went round the seaward end of the snouted glacier, and +after tramping about a mile over stony ground and snow-coated debris, +we crossed some big ridges of scree and moraines. We found that there +was good going for a sledge as far as the north-east corner of the bay, +but did not get much information regarding the conditions farther on +owing to the view becoming obscured by a snow-squall. We waited a +quarter of an hour for the weather to clear but were forced to turn +back without having seen more of the country. I had satisfied myself, +however, that we could reach a good snow-slope leading apparently to +the inland ice. Worsley reckoned from the chart that the distance from +our camp to Husvik, on an east magnetic course, was seventeen +geographical miles, but we could not expect to follow a direct line. +The carpenter started making a sledge for use on the overland journey. +The materials at his disposal were limited in quantity and scarcely +suitable in quality. + +We overhauled our gear on Thursday, May 18; and hauled our sledge to +the lower edge of the snouted glacier. The vehicle proved heavy and +cumbrous. We had to lift it empty over bare patches of rock along the +shore, and I realized that it would be too heavy for three men to +manage amid the snow-plains, glaciers, and peaks of the interior. +Worsley and Crean were coming with me, and after consultation we +decided to leave the sleeping-bags behind us and make the journey in +very light marching order. We would take three days’ provisions for +each man in the form of sledging ration and biscuit. The food was to be +packed in three sacks, so that each member of the party could carry his +own supply. Then we were to take the Primus lamp filled with oil, the +small cooker, the carpenter’s adze (for use as an ice-axe), and the +alpine rope, which made a total length of fifty feet when knotted. We +might have to lower ourselves down steep slopes or cross crevassed +glaciers. The filled lamp would provide six hot meals, which would +consist of sledging ration boiled up with biscuit. There were two boxes +of matches left, one full and the other partially used. We left the +full box with the men at the camp and took the second box, which +contained forty-eight matches. I was unfortunate as regarded footgear, +since I had given away my heavy Burberry boots on the floe, and had now +a comparatively light pair in poor condition. The carpenter assisted me +by putting several screws in the sole of each boot with the object of +providing a grip on the ice. The screws came out of the _James Caird_. + +We turned in early that night, but sleep did not come to me. My mind +was busy with the task of the following day. The weather was clear and +the outlook for an early start in the morning was good. We were going +to leave a weak party behind us in the camp. Vincent was still in the +same condition, and he could not march. McNeish was pretty well broken +up. The two men were not capable of managing for themselves and +McCarthy must stay to look after them. He might have a difficult task +if we failed to reach the whaling station. The distance to Husvik, +according to the chart, was no more than seventeen geographical miles +in a direct line, but we had very scanty knowledge of the conditions of +the interior. No man had ever penetrated a mile from the coast of South +Georgia at any point, and the whalers I knew regarded the country as +inaccessible. During that day, while we were walking to the snouted +glacier, we had seen three wild duck flying towards the head of the bay +from the eastward. I hoped that the presence of these birds indicated +tussock-land and not snow-fields and glaciers in the interior, but the +hope was not a very bright one. + +We turned out at 2 a.m. on the Friday morning and had our hoosh ready +an hour later. The full moon was shining in a practically cloudless +sky, its rays reflected gloriously from the pinnacles and crevassed ice +of the adjacent glaciers. The huge peaks of the mountains stood in bold +relief against the sky and threw dark shadows on the waters of the +sound. There was no need for delay, and we made a start as soon as we +had eaten our meal. McNeish walked about 200 yds with us; he could do +no more. Then we said good-bye and he turned back to the camp. The +first task was to get round the edge of the snouted glacier, which had +points like fingers projecting towards the sea. The waves were reaching +the points of these fingers, and we had to rush from one recess to +another when the waters receded. We soon reached the east side of the +glacier and noticed its great activity at this point. Changes had +occurred within the preceding twenty-four hours. Some huge pieces had +broken off, and the masses of mud and stone that were being driven +before the advancing ice showed movement. The glacier was like a +gigantic plough driving irresistibly towards the sea. + +Lying on the beach beyond the glacier was wreckage that told of many +ill-fated ships. We noticed stanchions of teakwood, liberally carved, +that must have came from ships of the older type; iron-bound timbers +with the iron almost rusted through; battered barrels and all the usual +debris of the ocean. We had difficulties and anxieties of our own, but +as we passed that graveyard of the sea we thought of the many tragedies +written in the wave-worn fragments of lost vessels. We did not pause, +and soon we were ascending a snow-slope heading due east on the last +lap of our long trail. + +The snow-surface was disappointing. Two days before we had been able to +move rapidly on hard, packed snow; now we sank over our ankles at each +step and progress was slow. After two hours’ steady climbing we were +2500 ft. above sea-level. The weather continued fine and calm, and as +the ridges drew nearer and the western coast of the island spread out +below, the bright moonlight showed us that the interior was broken +tremendously. High peaks, impassable cliffs, steep snow-slopes, and +sharply descending glaciers were prominent features in all directions, +with stretches of snow-plain over laying the ice-sheet of the interior. +The slope we were ascending mounted to a ridge and our course lay +direct to the top. The moon, which proved a good friend during this +journey, threw a long shadow at one point and told us that the surface +was broken in our path. Warned in time, we avoided a huge hole capable +of swallowing an army. The bay was now about three miles away, and the +continued roaring of a big glacier at the head of the bay came to our +ears. This glacier, which we had noticed during the stay at Peggotty +Camp, seemed to be calving almost continuously. + +I had hoped to get a view of the country ahead of us from the top of +the slope, but as the surface became more level beneath our feet, a +thick fog drifted down. The moon became obscured and produced a +diffused light that was more trying than darkness, since it illuminated +the fog without guiding our steps. We roped ourselves together as a +precaution against holes, crevasses, and precipices, and I broke trail +through the soft snow. With almost the full length of the rope between +myself and the last man we were able to steer an approximately straight +course, since, if I veered to the right or the left when marching into +the blank wall of the fog, the last man on the rope could shout a +direction. So, like a ship with its “port,” “starboard,” “steady,” we +tramped through the fog for the next two hours. + +Then, as daylight came, the fog thinned and lifted, and from an +elevation of about 3000 ft. we looked down on what seemed to be a huge +frozen lake with its farther shores still obscured by the fog. We +halted there to eat a bit of biscuit while we discussed whether we +would go down and cross the flat surface of the lake, or keep on the +ridge we had already reached. I decided to go down, since the lake lay +on our course. After an hour of comparatively easy travel through the +snow we noticed the thin beginnings of crevasses. Soon they were +increasing in size and showing fractures, indicating that we were +travelling on a glacier. As the daylight brightened the fog dissipated; +the lake could be seen more clearly, but still we could not discover +its east shore. A little later the fog lifted completely, and then we +saw that our lake stretched to the horizon, and realized suddenly that +we were looking down upon the open sea on the east coast of the island. +The slight pulsation at the shore showed that the sea was not even +frozen; it was the bad light that had deceived us. Evidently we were at +the top of Possession Bay, and the island at that point could not be +more than five miles across from the head of King Haakon Bay. Our rough +chart was inaccurate. There was nothing for it but to start up the +glacier again. That was about seven o’clock in the morning, and by nine +o’clock we had more than recovered our lost ground. We regained the +ridge and then struck south-east, for the chart showed that two more +bays indented the coast before Stromness. It was comforting to realize +that we would have the eastern water in sight during our journey, +although we could see there was no way around the shore line owing to +steep cliffs and glaciers. Men lived in houses lit by electric light on +the east coast. News of the outside world waited us there, and, above +all, the east coast meant for us the means of rescuing the twenty-two +men we had left on Elephant Island. + + + + +CHAPTER X +ACROSS SOUTH GEORGIA + + +The sun rose in the sky with every appearance of a fine day, and we +grew warmer as we toiled through the soft snow. Ahead of us lay the +ridges and spurs of a range of mountains, the transverse range that we +had noticed from the bay. We were travelling over a gently rising +plateau, and at the end of an hour we found ourselves growing +uncomfortably hot. Years before, on an earlier expedition, I had +declared that I would never again growl at the heat of the sun, and my +resolution had been strengthened during the boat journey. I called it +to mind as the sun beat fiercely on the blinding white snow-slope. +After passing an area of crevasses we paused for our first meal. We dug +a hole in the snow about three feet deep with the adze and put the +Primus into it. There was no wind at the moment, but a gust might come +suddenly. A hot hoosh was soon eaten and we plodded on towards a sharp +ridge between two of the peaks already mentioned. By 11 a.m. we were +almost at the crest. The slope had become precipitous and it was +necessary to cut steps as we advanced. The adze proved an excellent +instrument for this purpose, a blow sufficing to provide a foothold. +Anxiously but hopefully I cut the last few steps and stood upon the +razor-back, while the other men held the rope and waited for my news. +The outlook was disappointing. I looked down a sheer precipice to a +chaos of crumpled ice 1500 ft. below. There was no way down for us. The +country to the east was a great snow upland, sloping upwards for a +distance of seven or eight miles to a height of over 4000 ft. To the +north it fell away steeply in glaciers into the bays, and to the south +it was broken by huge outfalls from the inland ice-sheet. Our path lay +between the glaciers and the outfalls, but first we had to descend from +the ridge on which we stood. Cutting steps with the adze, we moved in a +lateral direction round the base of a dolomite, which blocked our view +to the north. The same precipice confronted us. Away to the north-east +there appeared to be a snow-slope that might give a path to the lower +country, and so we retraced our steps down the long slope that had +taken us three hours to climb. We were at the bottom in an hour. We +were now feeling the strain of the unaccustomed marching. We had done +little walking since January and our muscles were out of tune. Skirting +the base of the mountain above us, we came to a gigantic bergschrund, a +mile and a half long and 1000 ft. deep. This tremendous gully, cut in +the snow and ice by the fierce winds blowing round the mountain, was +semicircular in form, and it ended in a gentle incline. We passed +through it, under the towering precipice of ice, and at the far end we +had another meal and a short rest. This was at 12:30 p.m. Half a pot of +steaming Bovril ration warmed us up, and when we marched again +ice-inclines at angles of 45 degrees did not look quite as formidable +as before. + +Once more we started for the crest. After another weary climb we +reached the top. The snow lay thinly on blue ice at the ridge, and we +had to cut steps over the last fifty yards. The same precipice lay +below, and my eyes searched vainly for a way down. The hot sun had +loosened the snow, which was now in a treacherous condition, and we had +to pick our way carefully. Looking back, we could see that a fog was +rolling up behind us and meeting in the valleys a fog that was coming +up from the east. The creeping grey clouds were a plain warning that we +must get down to lower levels before becoming enveloped. + +The ridge was studded with peaks, which prevented us getting a clear +view either to the right or to the left. The situation in this respect +seemed no better at other points within our reach, and I had to decide +that our course lay back the way we had come. The afternoon was wearing +on and the fog was rolling up ominously from the west. It was of the +utmost importance for us to get down into the next valley before dark. +We were now up 4500 ft. and the night temperature at that elevation +would be very low. We had no tent and no sleeping-bags, and our clothes +had endured much rough usage and had weathered many storms during the +last ten months. In the distance, down the valley below us, we could +see tussock-grass close to the shore, and if we could get down it might +be possible to dig out a hole in one of the lower snow-banks, line it +with dry grass, and make ourselves fairly comfortable for the night. +Back we went, and after a detour we reached the top of another ridge in +the fading light. After a glance over the top I turned to the anxious +faces of the two men behind me and said, “Come on, boys.” Within a +minute they stood beside me on the ice-ridge. The surface fell away at +a sharp incline in front of us, but it merged into a snow-slope. We +could not see the bottom clearly owing to mist and bad light, and the +possibility of the slope ending in a sheer fall occurred to us; but the +fog that was creeping up behind allowed no time for hesitation. We +descended slowly at first, cutting steps in the snow; then the surface +became softer, indicating that the gradient was less severe. There +could be no turning back now, so we unroped and slid in the fashion of +youthful days. When we stopped on a snow-bank at the foot of the slope +we found that we had descended at least 900 ft. in two or three +minutes. We looked back and saw the grey fingers of the fog appearing +on the ridge, as though reaching after the intruders into untrodden +wilds. But we had escaped. + +The country to the east was an ascending snow upland dividing the +glaciers of the north coast from the outfalls of the south. We had seen +from the top that our course lay between two huge masses of crevasses, +and we thought that the road ahead lay clear. This belief and the +increasing cold made us abandon the idea of camping. We had another +meal at 6 p.m. A little breeze made cooking difficult in spite of the +shelter provided for the cooker by a hole. Crean was the cook, and +Worsley and I lay on the snow to windward of the lamp so as to break +the wind with our bodies. The meal over, we started up the long, gentle +ascent. Night was upon us, and for an hour we plodded along in almost +complete darkness, watching warily for signs of crevasses. Then about 8 +p.m. a glow which we had seen behind the jagged peaks resolved itself +into the full moon, which rose ahead of us and made a silver pathway +for our feet. Along that pathway in the wake of the moon we advanced in +safety, with the shadows cast by the edges of crevasses showing black +on either side of us. Onwards and upwards through soft snow we marched, +resting now and then on hard patches which had revealed themselves by +glittering ahead of us in the white light. By midnight we were again at +an elevation of about 4000 ft. Still we were following the light, for +as the moon swung round towards the north-east, our path curved in that +direction. The friendly moon seemed to pilot our weary feet. We could +have had no better guide. If in bright daylight we had made that march +we would have followed the course that was traced for us that night. + +Midnight found us approaching the edge of a great snowfield, pierced by +isolated nunataks which cast long shadows like black rivers across the +white expanse. A gentle slope to the north-east lured our +all-too-willing feet in that direction. We thought that at the base of +the slope lay Stromness Bay. After we had descended about 300 ft. a +thin wind began to attack us. We had now been on the march for over +twenty hours, only halting for our occasional meals. Wisps of cloud +drove over the high peaks to the southward, warning us that wind and +snow were likely to come. After 1 a.m. we cut a pit in the snow, piled +up loose snow around it, and started the Primus again. The hot food +gave us another renewal of energy. Worsley and Crean sang their old +songs when the Primus was going merrily. Laughter was in our hearts, +though not on our parched and cracked lips. + +We were up and away again within half an hour, still downward to the +coast. We felt almost sure now that we were above Stromness Bay. A dark +object down at the foot of the slope looked like Mutton Island, which +lies off Husvik. I suppose our desires were giving wings to our +fancies, for we pointed out joyfully various landmarks revealed by the +now vagrant light of the moon, whose friendly face was cloud-swept. Our +high hopes were soon shattered. Crevasses warned us that we were on +another glacier, and soon we looked down almost to the seaward edge of +the great riven ice-mass. I knew there was no glacier in Stromness and +realized that this must be Fortuna Glacier. The disappointment was +severe. Back we turned and tramped up the glacier again, not directly +tracing our steps but working at a tangent to the south-east. We were +very tired. + + +[Illustration: One of the Glaciers we Crossed] + + +[Illustration: A Typical View in South Georgia] + + +At 5 a.m. we were at the foot of the rocky spurs of the range. We were +tired, and the wind that blew down from the heights was chilling us. We +decided to get down under the lee of a rock for a rest. We put our +sticks and the adze on the snow, sat down on them as close to one +another as possible, and put our arms round each other. The wind was +bringing a little drift with it and the white dust lay on our clothes. +I thought that we might be able to keep warm and have half an hour’s +rest this way. Within a minute my two companions were fast asleep. I +realized that it would be disastrous if we all slumbered together, for +sleep under such conditions merges into death. After five minutes I +shook them into consciousness again, told them that they had slept for +half an hour, and gave the word for a fresh start. We were so stiff +that for the first two or three hundred yards we marched with our knees +bent. A jagged line of peaks with a gap like a broken tooth confronted +us. This was the ridge that runs in a southerly direction from Fortuna +Bay, and our course eastward to Stromness lay across it. A very steep +slope led up to the ridge and an icy wind burst through the gap. + +We went through the gap at 6 a.m. with anxious hearts as well as weary +bodies. If the farther slope had proved impassable our situation would +have been almost desperate; but the worst was turning to the best for +us. The twisted, wave-like rock formations of Husvik Harbour appeared +right ahead in the opening of dawn. Without a word we shook hands with +one another. To our minds the journey was over, though as a matter of +fact twelve miles of difficult country had still to be traversed. A +gentle snow-slope descended at our feet towards a valley that separated +our ridge from the hills immediately behind Husvik, and as we stood +gazing Worsley said solemnly, “Boss, it looks too good to be true!” +Down we went, to be checked presently by the sight of water 2500 ft. +below. We could see the little wave-ripples on the black beach, +penguins strutting to and fro, and dark objects that looked like seals +lolling lazily on the sand. This was an eastern arm of Fortuna Bay, +separated by the ridge from the arm we had seen below us during the +night. The slope we were traversing appeared to end in a precipice +above this beach. But our revived spirits were not to be damped by +difficulties on the last stage of the journey, and we camped cheerfully +for breakfast. Whilst Worsley and Crean were digging a hole for the +lamp and starting the cooker I climbed a ridge above us, cutting steps +with the adze, in order to secure an extended view of the country +below. At 6.30 a.m. I thought I heard the sound of a steam-whistle. I +dared not be certain, but I knew that the men at the whaling-station +would be called from their beds about that time. Descending to the camp +I told the others, and in intense excitement we watched the chronometer +for seven o’clock, when the whalers would be summoned to work. Right to +the minute the steam-whistle came to us, borne clearly on the wind +across the intervening miles of rock and snow. Never had any one of us +heard sweeter music. It was the first sound created by outside human +agency that had come to our ears since we left Stromness Bay in +December 1914. That whistle told us that men were living near, that +ships were ready, and that within a few hours we should be on our way +back to Elephant Island to the rescue of the men waiting there under +the watch and ward of Wild. It was a moment hard to describe. Pain and +ache, boat journeys, marches, hunger and fatigue seemed to belong to +the limbo of forgotten things, and there remained only the perfect +contentment that comes of work accomplished. + +My examination of the country from a higher point had not provided +definite information, and after descending I put the situation before +Worsley and Crean. Our obvious course lay down a snow-slope in the +direction of Husvik. “Boys,” I said, “this snow-slope seems to end in a +precipice, but perhaps there is no precipice. If we don’t go down we +shall have to make a detour of at least five miles before we reach +level going. What shall it be?” They both replied at once, “Try the +slope.” So we started away again downwards. We abandoned the Primus +lamp, now empty, at the breakfast camp and carried with us one ration +and a biscuit each. The deepest snow we had yet encountered clogged our +feet, but we plodded downward, and after descending about 500 ft., +reducing our altitude to 2000 ft. above sea-level, we thought we saw +the way clear ahead. A steep gradient of blue ice was the next +obstacle. Worsley and Crean got a firm footing in a hole excavated with +the adze and then lowered me as I cut steps until the full 50 ft. of +our alpine rope was out. Then I made a hole big enough for the three of +us, and the other two men came down the steps. My end of the rope was +anchored to the adze and I had settled myself in the hole braced for a +strain in case they slipped. When we all stood in the second hole I +went down again to make more steps, and in this laborious fashion we +spent two hours descending about 500 ft. Halfway down we had to strike +away diagonally to the left, for we noticed that the fragments of ice +loosened by the adze were taking a leap into space at the bottom of the +slope. Eventually we got off the steep ice, very gratefully, at a point +where some rocks protruded, and we could see then that there was a +perilous precipice directly below the point where we had started to cut +steps. A slide down a slippery slope, with the adze and our cooker +going ahead, completed this descent, and incidentally did considerable +damage to our much-tried trousers. + +When we picked ourselves up at the bottom we were not more than 1500 +ft. above the sea. The slope was comparatively easy. Water was running +beneath the snow, making “pockets” between the rocks that protruded +above the white surface. The shells of snow over these pockets were +traps for our feet; but we scrambled down, and presently came to +patches of tussock. A few minutes later we reached the sandy beach. The +tracks of some animals were to be seen, and we were puzzled until I +remembered that reindeer, brought from Norway, had been placed on the +island and now ranged along the lower land of the eastern coast. We did +not pause to investigate. Our minds were set upon reaching the haunts +of man, and at our best speed we went along the beach to another rising +ridge of tussock. Here we saw the first evidence of the proximity of +man, whose work, as is so often the ease, was one of destruction. A +recently killed seal was lying there, and presently we saw several +other bodies bearing the marks of bullet-wounds. I learned later that +men from the whaling-station at Stromness sometimes go round to Fortuna +Bay by boat to shoot seals. + +Noon found us well up the slope on the other side of the bay working +east-south-east, and half an hour later we were on a flat plateau, with +one more ridge to cross before we descended into Husvik. I was leading +the way over this plateau when I suddenly found myself up to my knees +in water and quickly sinking deeper through the snow-crust. I flung +myself down and called to the others to do the same, so as to +distribute our weight on the treacherous surface. We were on top of a +small lake, snow-covered. After lying still for a few moments we got to +our feet and walked delicately, like Agag, for 200 yds., until a rise +in the surface showed us that we were clear of the lake. + +At 1.30 p.m. we climbed round a final ridge and saw a little steamer, a +whaling-boat, entering the bay 2500 ft, below. A few moments later, as +we hurried forward, the masts of a sailing-ship lying at a wharf came +in sight. Minute figures moving to and fro about the boats caught our +gaze, and then we saw the sheds and factory of Stromness +whaling-station. We paused and shook hands, a form of mutual +congratulation that had seemed necessary on four other occasions in the +course of the expedition. The first time was when we landed on Elephant +Island, the second when we reached South Georgia, and the third when we +reached the ridge and saw the snow-slope stretching below on the first +day of the overland journey, then when we saw Husvik rocks. + +Cautiously we started down the slope that led to warmth and comfort. +The last lap of the journey proved extraordinarily difficult. Vainly we +searched for a safe, or a reasonably safe, way down the steep ice-clad +mountain-side. The sole possible pathway seemed to be a channel cut by +water running from the upland. Down through icy water we followed the +course of this stream. We were wet to the waist, shivering, cold, and +tired. Presently our ears detected an unwelcome sound that might have +been musical under other conditions. It was the splashing of a +waterfall, and we were at the wrong end. When we reached the top of +this fall we peered over cautiously and discovered that there was a +drop of 25 or 30 ft., with impassable ice-cliffs on both sides. To go +up again was scarcely thinkable in our utterly wearied condition. The +way down was through the waterfall itself. We made fast one end of our +rope to a boulder with some difficulty, due to the fact that the rocks +had been worn smooth by the running water. Then Worsley and I lowered +Crean, who was the heaviest man. He disappeared altogether in the +falling water and came out gasping at the bottom. I went next, sliding +down the rope, and Worsley, who was the lightest and most nimble member +of the party, came last. At the bottom of the fall we were able to +stand again on dry land. The rope could not be recovered. We had flung +down the adze from the top of the fall and also the logbook and the +cooker wrapped in one of our blouses. That was all, except our wet +clothes, that we brought out of the Antarctic, which we had entered a +year and a half before with well-found ship, full equipment, and high +hopes. That was all of tangible things; but in memories we were rich. +We had pierced the veneer of outside things. We had “suffered, starved, +and triumphed, grovelled down yet grasped at glory, grown bigger in the +bigness of the whole.” We had seen God in His splendours, heard the +text that Nature renders. We had reached the naked soul of man. + +Shivering with cold, yet with hearts light and happy, we set off +towards the whaling-station, now not more than a mile and a half +distant. The difficulties of the journey lay behind us. We tried to +straighten ourselves up a bit, for the thought that there might be +women at the station made us painfully conscious of our uncivilized +appearance. Our beards were long and our hair was matted. We were +unwashed and the garments that we had worn for nearly a year without a +change were tattered and stained. Three more unpleasant-looking +ruffians could hardly have been imagined. Worsley produced several +safety-pins from some corner of his garments and effected some +temporary repairs that really emphasized his general disrepair. Down we +hurried, and when quite close to the station we met two small boys ten +or twelve years of age. I asked these lads where the manager’s house +was situated. They did not answer. They gave us one look—a +comprehensive look that did not need to be repeated. Then they ran from +us as fast as their legs would carry them. We reached the outskirts of +the station and passed through the “digesting-house,” which was dark +inside. Emerging at the other end, we met an old man, who started as if +he had seen the Devil himself and gave us no time to ask any question. +He hurried away. This greeting was not friendly. Then we came to the +wharf, where the man in charge stuck to his station. I asked him if Mr. +Sorlle (the manager) was in the house. + +“Yes,” he said as he stared at us. + +“We would like to see him,” said I. + +“Who are you?” he asked. + +“We have lost our ship and come over the island,” I replied. + +“You have come over the island?” he said in a tone of entire disbelief. + +The man went towards the manager’s house and we followed him. I learned +afterwards that he said to Mr. Sorlle: “There are three funny-looking +men outside, who say they have come over the island and they know you. +I have left them outside.” A very necessary precaution from his point +of view. + +Mr. Sorlle came out to the door and said, “Well?” + +“Don’t you know me?” I said. + +“I know your voice,” he replied doubtfully. “You’re the mate of the +_Daisy_.” + +“My name is Shackleton,” I said. + +Immediately he put out his hand and said, “Come in. Come in.” + +“Tell me, when was the war over?” I asked. + +“The war is not over,” he answered. “Millions are being killed. Europe +is mad. The world is mad.” + + +[Illustration: [Rough Memory Map of Route Across South Georgia]] + + +Mr. Sorlle’s hospitality had no bounds. He would scarcely let us wait +to remove our freezing boots before he took us into his house and gave +us seats in a warm and comfortable room. We were in no condition to sit +in anybody’s house until we had washed and got into clean clothes, but +the kindness of the station-manager was proof even against the +unpleasantness of being in a room with us. He gave us coffee and cakes +in the Norwegian fashion, and then showed us upstairs to the bathroom, +where we shed our rags and scrubbed ourselves luxuriously. + +Mr. Sorlle’s kindness did not end with his personal care for the three +wayfarers who had come to his door. While we were washing he gave +orders for one of the whaling-vessels to be prepared at once in order +that it might leave that night for the other side of the island and +pick up the three men there. The whalers knew King Haakon Bay, though +they never worked on that side of the island. Soon we were clean again. +Then we put on delightful new clothes supplied from the station stores +and got rid of our superfluous hair. Within an hour or two we had +ceased to be savages and had become civilized men again. Then came a +splendid meal, while Mr. Sorlle told us of the arrangements he had made +and we discussed plans for the rescue of the main party on Elephant +Island. + +I arranged that Worsley should go with the relief ship to show the +exact spot where the carpenter and his two companions were camped, +while I started to prepare for the relief of the party on Elephant +Island. The whaling-vessel that was going round to King Haakon Bay was +expected back on the Monday morning, and was to call at Grytviken +Harbour, the port from which we had sailed in December 1914, in order +that the magistrate resident there might be informed of the fate of the +_Endurance_. It was possible that letters were awaiting us there. +Worsley went aboard the whaler at ten o’clock that night and turned in. +The next day the relief ship entered King Haakon Bay and he reached +Peggotty Camp in a boat. The three men were delighted beyond measure to +know that we had made the crossing in safety and that their wait under +the upturned _James Caird_ was ended. Curiously enough, they did not +recognize Worsley, who had left them a hairy, dirty ruffian and had +returned his spruce and shaven self. They thought he was one of the +whalers. When one of them asked why no member of the party had come +round with the relief, Worsley said, “What do you mean?” “We thought +the Boss or one of the others would come round,” they explained. +“What’s the matter with you?” said Worsley. Then it suddenly dawned +upon them that they were talking to the man who had been their close +companion for a year and a half. Within a few minutes the whalers had +moved our bits of gear into their boat. They towed off the _James +Caird_ and hoisted her to the deck of their ship. Then they started on +the return voyage. Just at dusk on Monday afternoon they entered +Stromness Bay, where the men of the whaling-station mustered on the +beach to receive the rescued party and to examine with professional +interest the boat we had navigated across 800 miles of the stormy ocean +they knew so well. + + +[Illustration: Panorama of South Georgia] + + +When I look back at those days I have no doubt that Providence guided +us, not only across those snowfields, but across the storm-white sea +that separated Elephant Island from our landing-place on South Georgia. +I know that during that long and racking march of thirty-six hours over +the unnamed mountains and glaciers of South Georgia it seemed to me +often that we were four, not three. I said nothing to my companions on +the point, but afterwards Worsley said to me, “Boss, I had a curious +feeling on the march that there was another person with us.” Crean +confessed to the same idea. One feels “the dearth of human words, the +roughness of mortal speech” in trying to describe things intangible, +but a record of our journeys would be incomplete without a reference to +a subject very near to our hearts. + + + + +CHAPTER XI +THE RESCUE + + +Our first night at the whaling-station was blissful. Crean and I shared +a beautiful room in Mr. Sorlle’s house, with electric light and two +beds, warm and soft. We were so comfortable that we were unable to +sleep. Late at night a steward brought us tea, bread and butter and +cakes, and we lay in bed, revelling in the luxury of it all. Outside a +dense snow-storm, which started two hours after our arrival and lasted +until the following day, was swirling and driving about the +mountain-slopes. We were thankful indeed that we had made a place of +safety, for it would have gone hard with us if we had been out on the +mountains that night. Deep snow lay everywhere when we got up the +following morning. + +After breakfast Mr. Sorlle took us round to Husvik in a motor-launch. +We were listening avidly to his account of the war and of all that had +happened while we were out of the world of men. We were like men arisen +from the dead to a world gone mad. Our minds accustomed themselves +gradually to the tales of nations in arms, of deathless courage and +unimagined slaughter, of a world-conflict that had grown beyond all +conceptions, of vast red battlefields in grimmest contrast with the +frigid whiteness we had left behind us. The reader may not realize +quite how difficult it was for us to envisage nearly two years of the +most stupendous war of history. The locking of the armies in the +trenches, the sinking of the _Lusitania_, the murder of Nurse Cavell, +the use of poison-gas and liquid fire, the submarine warfare, the +Gallipoli campaign, the hundred other incidents of the war, almost +stunned us at first, and then our minds began to compass the train of +events and develop a perspective. I suppose our experience was unique. +No other civilized men could have been as blankly ignorant of +world-shaking happenings as we were when we reached Stromness Whaling +Station. + + +[Illustration: The _Yelcho_] + + +I heard the first rumour of the _Aurora’s_ misadventures in the Ross +Sea from Mr. Sorlle. Our host could tell me very little. He had been +informed that the _Aurora_ had broken away from winter quarters in +McMurdo Sound and reached New Zealand after a long drift, and that +there was no news of the shore party. His information was indefinite as +to details, and I had to wait until I reached the Falkland Islands some +time later before getting a definite report concerning the _Aurora_. +The rumour that had reached South Georgia, however, made it more than +ever important that I should bring out the rest of the Weddell Sea +party quickly, so as to free myself for whatever effort was required on +the Ross Sea side. + +When we reached Husvik that Sunday morning we were warmly greeted by +the magistrate (Mr. Bernsten), whom I knew of old, and the other +members of the little community. Moored in the harbour was one of the +largest of the whalers, the _Southern Sky_, owned by an English company +but now laid up for the winter. I had no means of getting into +communication with the owners without dangerous delay, and on my +accepting all responsibility Mr. Bernsten made arrangements for me to +take this ship down to Elephant Island. I wrote out an agreement with +Lloyd’s for the insurance of the ship. Captain Thom, an old friend of +the Expedition, happened to be in Husvik with his ship, the _Orwell_, +loading oil for use in Britain’s munition works, and he at once +volunteered to come with us in any capacity. I asked him to come as +captain of the _Southern Sky_. There was no difficulty about getting a +crew. The whalers were eager to assist in the rescue of men in +distress. They started work that Sunday to prepare and stow the ship. +Parts of the engines were ashore, but willing hands made light labour. +I purchased from the station stores all the stores and equipment +required, including special comforts for the men we hoped to rescue, +and by Tuesday morning the _Southern Sky_ was ready to sail. I feel it +is my duty as well as my pleasure to thank here the Norwegian whalers +of South Georgia for the sympathetic hands they stretched out to us in +our need. Among memories of kindness received in many lands sundered by +the seas, the recollection of the hospitality and help given to me in +South Georgia ranks high. There is a brotherhood of the sea. The men +who go down to the sea in ships, serving and suffering, fighting their +endless battle against the caprice of wind and ocean, bring into their +own horizons the perils and troubles of their brother sailormen. + +The _Southern Sky_ was ready on Tuesday morning, and at nine o’clock we +steamed out of the bay, while the whistles of the whaling-station +sounded a friendly farewell. We had forgathered aboard Captain Thom’s +ship on the Monday night with several whaling captains who were +bringing up their sons to their own profession. They were “old stagers” +with faces lined and seamed by the storms of half a century, and they +were even more interested in the story of our voyage from Elephant +Island than the younger generation was. They congratulated us on having +accomplished a remarkable boat journey. I do not wish to belittle our +success with the pride that apes humility. Under Providence we had +overcome great difficulties and dangers, and it was pleasant to tell +the tale to men who knew those sullen and treacherous southern seas. + +McCarthy, McNeish, and Vincent had been landed on the Monday afternoon. +They were already showing some signs of increasing strength under a +regime of warm quarters and abundant food. The carpenter looked +woefully thin after he had emerged from a bath. He must have worn a lot +of clothes when he landed from the boat, and I did not realize how he +had wasted till I saw him washed and changed. He was a man over fifty +years of age, and the strain had told upon him more than upon the rest +of us. The rescue came just in time for him. + +The early part of the voyage down to Elephant Island in the _Southern +Sky_ was uneventful. At noon on Tuesday, May 23, we were at sea and +steaming at ten knots on a south-westerly course. We made good +progress, but the temperature fell very low, and the signs gave me some +cause for anxiety as to the probability of encountering ice. On the +third night out the sea seemed to grow silent. I looked over the side +and saw a thin film of ice. The sea was freezing around us and the ice +gradually grew thicker, reducing our speed to about five knots. Then +lumps of old pack began to appear among the new ice. I realized that an +advance through pack-ice was out of the question. The _Southern Sky_ +was a steel-built steamer, and her structure, while strong to resist +the waves, would not endure the blows of masses of ice. So I took the +ship north, and at daylight on Friday we got clear of the pancake-ice. +We skirted westward, awaiting favourable conditions. The morning of the +28th was dull and overcast, with little wind. Again the ship’s head was +turned to the south-west, but at 3 p.m. a definite line of pack showed +up on the horizon. We were about 70 miles from Elephant Island, but +there was no possibility of taking the steamer through the ice that +barred the way. North-west again we turned. We were directly north of +the island on the following day, and I made another move south. Heavy +pack formed an impenetrable barrier. + +To admit failure at this stage was hard, but the facts had to be faced. +The _Southern Sky_ could not enter ice of even moderate thickness. The +season was late, and we could not be sure that the ice would open for +many months, though my opinion was that the pack would not become fast +in that quarter even in the winter, owing to the strong winds and +currents. The _Southern Sky_ could carry coal for ten days only, and we +had been out six days. We were 500 miles from the Falkland Islands and +about 600 miles from South Georgia. So I determined that, since we +could not wait about for an opening, I would proceed to the Falklands, +get a more suitable vessel either locally or from England, and make a +second attempt to reach Elephant Island from that point. + +We encountered very bad weather on the way up, but in the early +afternoon of May 31 we arrived at Port Stanley, where the cable +provided a link with the outer world. The harbour-master came out to +meet us, and after we had dropped anchor I went ashore and met the +Governor, Mr. Douglas Young. He offered me his assistance at once. He +telephoned to Mr. Harding, the manager of the Falkland Islands station, +and I learned, to my keen regret, that no ship of the type required was +available at the islands. That evening I cabled to London a message to +His Majesty the King, the first account of the loss of the _Endurance_ +and the subsequent adventures of the Expedition. The next day I +received the following message from the King: + +“Rejoice to hear of your safe arrival in the Falkland Islands and trust +your comrades on Elephant Island may soon be rescued. + + +“GEORGE R.I.” + + +The events of the days that followed our arrival at the Falkland +Islands I will not attempt to describe in detail. My mind was bent upon +the rescue of the party on Elephant Island at the earliest possible +moment. Winter was advancing, and I was fully conscious that the lives +of some of my comrades might be the price of unnecessary delay. A +proposal had been made to send a relief ship from England, but she +could not reach the southern seas for many weeks. In the meantime I got +into communication with the Governments of the South American Republics +by wireless and cable and asked if they had any suitable ship I could +use for a rescue. I wanted a wooden ship capable of pushing into loose +ice, with fair speed and a reasonable coal capacity. Messages of +congratulation and goodwill were reaching me from all parts of the +world, and the kindness of hundreds of friends in many lands was a very +real comfort in a time of anxiety and stress. + +The British Admiralty informed me that no suitable vessel was available +in England and that no relief could be expected before October. I +replied that October would be too late. Then the British Minister in +Montevideo telegraphed me regarding a trawler named _Instituto de Pesca +No. 1_, belonging to the Uruguayan Government. She was a stout little +vessel, and the Government had generously offered to equip her with +coal, provisions, clothing, etc., and send her across to the Falkland +Islands for me to take down to Elephant Island. I accepted this offer +gladly, and the trawler was in Port Stanley on June 10. We started +south at once. + +The weather was bad but the trawler made good progress, steaming +steadily at about six knots, and in the bright, clear dawn of the third +day we sighted the peaks of Elephant Island. Hope ran high; but our +ancient enemy the pack was lying in wait, and within twenty miles of +the island the trawler was stopped by an impenetrable barrier of ice. +The pack lay in the form of a crescent, with a horn to the west of the +ship stretching north. Steaming north-east, we reached another horn and +saw that the pack, heavy and dense, then trended away to the east. We +made an attempt to push into the ice, but it was so heavy that the +trawler was held up at once and began to grind in the small thick +floes, so we cautiously backed out. The propeller, going slowly, was +not damaged, though any moment I feared we might strip the blades. The +island lay on our starboard quarter, but there was no possibility of +approaching it. The Uruguayan engineer reported to me that he had three +days’ coal left, and I had to give the order to turn back. A screen of +fog hid the lower slopes of the island, and the men watching from the +camp on the beach could not have seen the ship. Northward we steamed +again, with the engines knocking badly, and after encountering a new +gale, made Port Stanley with the bunkers nearly empty and the engines +almost broken down. H.M.S. _Glasgow_ was in the port, and the British +sailors gave us a hearty welcome as we steamed in. + +The Uruguayan Government offered to send the trawler to Punta Arenas +and have her dry-docked there and made ready for another effort. One of +the troubles on the voyage was that according to estimate the trawler +could do ten knots on six tons of coal a day, which would have given us +a good margin to allow for lying off the ice; but in reality, owing to +the fact that she had not been in dock for a year, she only developed a +speed of six knots on a consumption of ten tons a day. Time was +precious and these preparations would have taken too long. I thanked +the Government then for its very generous offer, and I want to say now +that the kindness of the Uruguayans at this time earned my warmest +gratitude. I ought to mention also the assistance given me by Lieut. +Ryan, a Naval Reserve officer who navigated the trawler to the +Falklands and came south on the attempt at relief. The _Instituto de +Pesca_ went off to Montevideo and I looked around for another ship. + +A British mail-boat, the _Orita_ called at Port Stanley opportunely, +and I boarded her with Worsley and Crean and crossed to Punta Arenas in +the Magellan Straits. The reception we received there was heartening. +The members of the British Association of Magellanes took us to their +hearts. Mr. Allan McDonald was especially prominent in his untiring +efforts to assist in the rescue of our twenty-two companions on +Elephant Island. He worked day and night, and it was mainly due to him +that within three days they had raised a sum of £1500 amongst +themselves, chartered the schooner _Emma_ and equipped her for our use. +She was a forty-year-old oak schooner, strong and seaworthy, with an +auxiliary oil-engine. + +Out of the complement of ten men all told who were manning the ship, +there were eight different nationalities; but they were all good +fellows and understood perfectly what was wanted. The Chilian +Government lent us a small steamer, the _Yelcho_, to tow us part of the +way. She could not touch ice, though, as she was built of steel. +However, on July 12 we passed her our tow-rope and proceeded on our +way. In bad weather we anchored next day, and although the wind +increased to a gale I could delay no longer, so we hove up anchor in +the early morning of the 14th. The strain on the tow-rope was too +great. With the crack of a gun the rope broke. Next day the gale +continued, and I will quote from the log of the _Emma_, which Worsley +kept as navigating officer. + +“9 a.m.—Fresh, increasing gale; very rough, lumpy sea. 10 a.m.—Tow-rope +parted. 12 noon. Similar weather. 1 p.m.—Tow-rope parted again. Set +foresail and forestay-sail and steered south-east by south. 3 +p.m.—_Yelcho_ hailed us and said that the ship’s bilges were full of +water (so were our decks) and they were short of coal. Sir Ernest told +them that they could return to harbour. After this the _Yelcho_ steamed +into San Sebastian Bay.” + +After three days of continuous bad weather we were left alone to +attempt once more to rescue the twenty-two men on Elephant Island, for +whom by this time I entertained very grave fears. + +At dawn of Friday, July 21, we were within a hundred miles of the +island, and we encountered the ice in the half-light. I waited for the +full day and then tried to push through. The little craft was tossing +in the heavy swell, and before she had been in the pack for ten minutes +she came down on a cake of ice and broke the bobstay. Then the +water-inlet of the motor choked with ice. The schooner was tossing like +a cork in the swell, and I saw after a few bumps that she was actually +lighter than the fragments of ice around her. Progress under such +conditions was out of the question. I worked the schooner out of the +pack and stood to the east. I ran her through a line of pack towards +the south that night, but was forced to turn to the north-east, for the +ice trended in that direction as far as I could see. We hove to for the +night, which was now sixteen hours long. The winter was well advanced +and the weather conditions were thoroughly bad. The ice to the +southward was moving north rapidly. The motor-engine had broken down +and we were entirely dependent on the sails. We managed to make a +little southing during the next day, but noon found us 108 miles from +the island. That night we lay off the ice in a gale, hove to, and +morning found the schooner iced up. The ropes, cased in frozen spray, +were as thick as a man’s arm, and if the wind had increased much we +would have had to cut away the sails, since there was no possibility of +lowering them. Some members of the scratch crew were played out by the +cold and the violent tossing. The schooner was about seventy feet long, +and she responded to the motions of the storm-racked sea in a manner +that might have disconcerted the most seasoned sailors. + +I took the schooner south at every chance, but always the line of ice +blocked the way. The engineer, who happened to be an American, did +things to the engines occasionally, but he could not keep them running, +and, the persistent south winds were dead ahead. It was hard to turn +back a third time, but I realized we could not reach the island under +those conditions, and we must turn north in order to clear the ship of +heavy masses of ice. So we set a northerly course, and after a +tempestuous passage reached Port Stanley once more. This was the third +reverse, but I did not abandon my belief that the ice would not remain +fast around Elephant Island during the winter, whatever the arm-chair +experts at home might say. We reached Port Stanley in the schooner on +August 8, and I learned there that the ship _Discovery_ was to leave +England at once and would be at the Falkland Islands about the middle +of September. My good friend the Governor said I could settle down at +Port Stanley and take things quietly for a few weeks. The street of +that port is about a mile and a half long. It has the slaughter-house +at one end and the graveyard at the other. The chief distraction is to +walk from the slaughter-house to the graveyard. For a change one may +walk from the graveyard to the slaughter-house. Ellaline Terriss was +born at Port Stanley—a fact not forgotten by the residents, but she has +not lived there much since. I could not content myself to wait for six +or seven weeks, knowing that six hundred miles away my comrades were in +dire need. I asked the Chilian Government to send the _Yelcho_, the +steamer that had towed us before, to take the schooner across to Punta +Arenas, and they consented promptly, as they had done to every other +request of mine. So in a north-west gale we went across, narrowly +escaping disaster on the way, and reached Punta Arenas on August 14. + +There was no suitable ship to be obtained. The weather was showing some +signs of improvement, and I begged the Chilian Government to let me +have the _Yelcho_ for a last attempt to reach the island. She was a +small steel-built steamer, quite unsuitable for work in the pack, but I +promised that I would not touch the ice. The Government was willing to +give me another chance, and on August 25 I started south on the fourth +attempt at relief. This time Providence favoured us. The little steamer +made a quick run down in comparatively fine weather, and I found as we +neared Elephant Island that the ice was open. A southerly gale had sent +it northward temporarily, and the _Yelcho_ had her chance to slip +through. We approached the island in a thick fog. I did not dare to +wait for this to clear, and at 10 a.m. on August 30 we passed some +stranded bergs. Then we saw the sea breaking on a reef, and I knew that +we were just outside the island. It was an anxious moment, for we had +still to locate the camp and the pack could not be trusted to allow +time for a prolonged search in thick weather; but presently the fog +lifted and revealed the cliffs and glaciers of Elephant Island. I +proceeded to the east, and at 11.40 a.m. Worsley’s keen eyes detected +the camp, almost invisible under its covering of snow. The men ashore +saw us at the same time, and we saw tiny black figures hurry to the +beach and wave signals to us. We were about a mile and a half away from +the camp. I turned the _Yelcho_ in, and within half an hour reached the +beach with Crean and some of the Chilian sailors. I saw a little figure +on a surf-beaten rock and recognized Wild. As I came nearer I called +out, “Are you all well?” and he answered, “We are all well, boss,” and +then I heard three cheers. As I drew close to the rock I flung packets +of cigarettes ashore; they fell on them like hungry tigers, for well I +knew that for months tobacco was dreamed of and talked of. Some of the +hands were in a rather bad way, but Wild had held the party together +and kept hope alive in their hearts. There was no time then to exchange +news or congratulations. I did not even go up the beach to see the +camp, which Wild assured me had been much improved. A heavy sea was +running and a change of wind might bring the ice back at any time. I +hurried the party aboard with all possible speed, taking also the +records of the Expedition and essential portions of equipment. +Everybody was aboard the _Yelcho_ within an hour, and we steamed north +at the little steamer’s best speed. The ice was open still, and nothing +worse than an expanse of stormy ocean separated us from the South +American coast. + +During the run up to Punta Arenas I heard Wild’s story, and blessed +again the cheerfulness and resource that had served the party so well +during four and a half months of privation. The twenty-two men on +Elephant Island were just at the end of their resources when the +_Yelcho_ reached them. Wild had husbanded the scanty stock of food as +far as possible and had fought off the devils of despondency and +despair on that little sand-spit, where the party had a precarious +foothold between the grim ice-fields and the treacherous, ice-strewn +sea. The pack had opened occasionally, but much of the time the way to +the north had been barred. The _Yelcho_ had arrived at the right +moment. Two days earlier she could not have reached the island, and a +few hours later the pack may have been impenetrable again. Wild had +reckoned that help would come in August, and every morning he had +packed his kit, in cheerful anticipation that proved infectious, as I +have no doubt it was meant to be. One of the party to whom I had said +“Well, you all were packed up ready,” replied, “You see, boss, Wild +never gave up hope, and whenever the sea was at all clear of ice he +rolled up his sleeping-bag and said to all hands, ‘Roll up your +sleeping-bags, boys; the boss may come to-day.’” And so it came to +pass that we suddenly came out of the fog, and, from a black outlook, +in an hour all were in safety homeward bound. The food was eked out +with seal and penguin meat, limpets, and seaweed. Seals had been +scarce, but the supply of penguins had held out fairly well during the +first three months. The men were down to the last Bovril ration, the +only form of hot drink they had, and had scarcely four days’ food in +hand at the time of the rescue. The camp was in constant danger of +being buried by the snow, which drifted heavily from the heights +behind, and the men moved the accumulations with what implements they +could provide. There was danger that the camp would become completely +invisible from the sea, so that a rescue party might look for it in +vain. + +“It had been arranged that a gun should be fired from the relief ship +when she got near the island,” said Wild. “Many times when the glaciers +were ‘calving,’ and chunks fell off with a report like a gun, we +thought that it was the real thing, and after a time we got to distrust +these signals. As a matter of fact, we saw the _Yelcho_ before we heard +any gun. It was an occasion one will not easily forget. We were just +assembling for lunch to the call of ‘Lunch O!’ and I was serving out +the soup, which was particularly good that day, consisting of boiled +seal’s backbone, limpets, and seaweed, when there was another hail from +Marston of ‘Ship O!’ Some of the men thought it was ‘Lunch O!’ over +again, but when there was another yell from Marston lunch had no +further attractions. The ship was about a mile and a half away and +steaming past us. A smoke-signal was the agreed sign from the shore, +and, catching up somebody’s coat that was lying about, I struck a pick +into a tin of kerosene kept for the purpose, poured it over the coat, +and set it alight. It flared instead of smoking; but that didn’t +matter, for you had already recognized the spot where you had left us +and the _Yelcho_ was turning in.” + +We encountered bad weather on the way back to Punta Arenas, and the +little _Yelcho_ laboured heavily; but she had light hearts aboard. We +entered the Straits of Magellan on September 3 and reached Rio Secco at +8 a.m. I went ashore, found a telephone, and told the Governor and my +friends at Punta Arenas that the men were safe. Two hours later we were +at Punta Arenas, where we were given a welcome none of us is likely to +forget. The Chilian people were no less enthusiastic than the British +residents. The police had been instructed to spread the news that the +_Yelcho_ was coming with the rescued men, and lest the message should +fail to reach some people, the fire-alarm had been rung. The whole +populace appeared to be in the streets. It was a great reception, and +with the strain of long, anxious months lifted at last, we were in a +mood to enjoy it. + + +[Illustration: Arrival at Punta Arenas with the Rescued Men] + + +[Illustration: Frank Wild, Second in Command of the Expedition] + + +The next few weeks were crowded ones, but I will not attempt here to +record their history in detail. I received congratulations and messages +of friendship and good cheer from all over the world, and my heart went +out to the good people who had remembered my men and myself in the +press of terrible events on the battlefields. The Chilian Government +placed the _Yelcho_ at my disposal to take the men up to Valparaiso and +Santiago. We reached Valparaiso on September 27. Everything that could +swim in the way of a boat was out to meet us, the crews of Chilian +warships were lined up, and at least thirty thousand thronged the +streets. I lectured in Santiago on the following evening for the +British Red Cross and a Chilian naval charity. The Chilian flag and the +Union Jack were draped together, the band played the Chilian national +anthem, “God Save the King,” and the “Marseillaise,” and the Chilian +Minister for Foreign Affairs spoke from the platform and pinned an +Order on my coat. I saw the President and thanked him for the help that +he had given a British expedition. His Government had spent £4000 on +coal alone. In reply he recalled the part that British sailors had +taken in the making of the Chilian Navy. + +The Chilian Railway Department provided a special train to take us +across the Andes, and I proceeded to Montevideo in order to thank +personally the President and Government of Uruguay for the help they +had given generously in the earlier relief voyages. We were entertained +royally at various spots _en route_. We went also to Buenos Ayres on a +brief call. Then we crossed the Andes again. I had made arrangements by +this time for the men and the staff to go to England. All hands were +keen to take their places in the Empire’s fighting forces. My own +immediate task was the relief of the marooned Ross Sea party, for news +had come to me of the _Aurora’s_ long drift in the Ross Sea and of her +return in a damaged condition to New Zealand. Worsley was to come with +me. We hurried northwards via Panama, steamship and train companies +giving us everywhere the most cordial and generous assistance, and +caught at San Francisco a steamer that would get us to New Zealand at +the end of November. I had been informed that the New Zealand +Government was making arrangements for the relief of the Ross Sea +party, but my information was incomplete, and I was very anxious to be +on the spot myself as quickly as possible. + + + + +CHAPTER XII +ELEPHANT ISLAND + + +The twenty-two men who had been left behind on Elephant Island were +under the command of Wild, in whom I had absolute confidence, and the +account of their experiences during the long four and a half months’ +wait while I was trying to get help to them, I have secured from their +various diaries, supplemented by details which I obtained in +conversation on the voyage back to civilization. + +The first consideration, which was even more important than that of +food, was to provide shelter. The semi-starvation during the drift on +the ice-floe, added to the exposure in the boats, and the inclemencies +of the weather encountered after our landing on Elephant Island, had +left its mark on a good many of them. Rickenson, who bore up gamely to +the last, collapsed from heart-failure. Blackborrow and Hudson could +not move. All were frost-bitten in varying degrees and their clothes, +which had been worn continuously for six months, were much the worse +for wear. The blizzard which sprang up the day that we landed at Cape +Wild lasted for a fortnight, often blowing at the rate of seventy to +ninety miles an hour, and occasionally reaching even higher figures. +The tents which had lasted so well and endured so much were torn to +ribbons, with the exception of the square tent occupied by Hurley, +James, and Hudson. Sleeping-bags and clothes were wringing wet, and the +physical discomforts were tending to produce acute mental depression. +The two remaining boats had been turned upside down with one gunwale +resting on the snow, and the other raised about two feet on rocks and +cases, and under these the sailors and some of the scientists, with the +two invalids, Rickenson and Blackborrow, found head-cover at least. +Shelter from the weather and warmth to dry their clothes was +imperative, so Wild hastened the excavation of the ice-cave in the +slope which had been started before I left. + +The high temperature, however, caused a continuous stream of water to +drip from the roof and sides of the ice-cave, and as with twenty-two +men living in it the temperature would be practically always above +freezing, there would have been no hope of dry quarters for them there. +Under the direction of Wild they, therefore, collected some big flat +stones, having in many cases to dig down under the snow which was +covering the beach, and with these they erected two substantial walls +four feet high and nineteen feet apart. + +“We are all ridiculously weak, and this part of the work was +exceedingly laborious and took us more than twice as long as it would +have done had we been in normal health. Stones that we could easily +have lifted at other times we found quite beyond our capacity, and it +needed two or three of us to carry some that would otherwise have been +one man’s load. Our difficulties were added to by the fact that most of +the more suitable stones lay at the farther end of the spit, some one +hundred and fifty yards away. Our weakness is best compared with that +which one experiences on getting up from a long illness; one ‘feels’ +well, but physically enervated. + +“The site chosen for the hut was the spot where the stove had been +originally erected on the night of our arrival. It lay between two +large boulders, which, if they would not actually form the walls of the +hut, would at least provide a valuable protection from the wind. +Further protection was provided to the north by a hill called Penguin +Hill at the end of the spit. As soon as the walls were completed and +squared off, the two boats were laid upside down on them side by side. +The exact adjustment of the boats took some time, but was of paramount +importance if our structure was to be the permanent affair that we +hoped it would be. Once in place they were securely chocked up and +lashed down to the rocks. The few pieces of wood that we had were laid +across from keel to keel, and over this the material of one of the torn +tents was spread and secured with guys to the rocks. The walls were +ingeniously contrived and fixed up by Marston. First he cut the now +useless tents into suitable lengths; then he cut the legs of a pair of +seaboots into narrow strips, and using these in much the same way that +the leather binding is put round the edge of upholstered chairs, he +nailed the tent-cloth all round the insides of the outer gunwales of +the two boats in such a way that it hung down like a valance to the +ground, where it was secured with spars and oars. A couple of +overlapping blankets made the door, superseded later by a sack-mouth +door cut from one of the tents. This consisted of a sort of tube of +canvas sewn on to the tent-cloth, through which the men crawled in or +out, tying it up as one would the mouth of a sack as soon as the man +had passed through. It is certainly the most convenient and efficient +door for these conditions that has ever been invented. + + +[Illustration: Our Dugout] + + +[Illustration: The Hut on Elephant Island] + + +“Whilst the side walls of the hut were being fixed, others proceeded to +fill the interstices between the stones of the end walls with snow. As +this was very powdery and would not bind well, we eventually had to +supplement it with the only spare blanket and an overcoat. All this +work was very hard on our frost-bitten fingers, and materials were very +limited. + +“At last all was completed and we were invited to bring in our sodden +bags, which had been lying out in the drizzling rain for several hours; +for the tents and boats that had previously sheltered them had all been +requisitioned to form our new residence. + +“We took our places under Wild’s direction. There was no squabbling for +best places, but it was noticeable that there was something in the +nature of a rush for the billets up on the thwarts of the boats. + +“Rickenson, who was still very weak and ill, but very cheery, obtained +a place in the boat directly above the stove, and the sailors having +lived under the _Stancomb Wills_ for a few days while she was upside +down on the beach, tacitly claimed it as their own, and flocked up on +to its thwarts as one man. There was one ‘upstair’ billet left in this +boat, which Wild offered to Hussey and Lees simultaneously, saying that +the first man that got his bag up could have the billet. Whilst Lees +was calculating the pros and cons Hussey got his bag, and had it up +just as Lees had determined that the pros had it. There were now four +men up on the thwarts of the _Dudley Docker_, and the five sailors and +Hussey on those of the _Stancomb Wills_, the remainder disposing +themselves on the floor.” + +The floor was at first covered with snow and ice, frozen in amongst the +pebbles. This was cleared out, and the remainder of the tents spread +out over the stones. Within the shelter of these cramped but +comparatively palatial quarters cheerfulness once more reigned amongst +the party. The blizzard, however, soon discovered the flaws in the +architecture of their hut, and the fine drift-snow forced its way +through the crevices between the stones forming the end walls. Jaeger +sleeping-bags and coats were spread over the outside of these walls, +packed over with snow and securely frozen up, effectively keeping out +this drift. + +At first all the cooking was done outside under the lee of some rocks, +further protection being provided by a wall of provision-cases. There +were two blubber-stoves made from old oil-drums, and one day, when the +blizzard was unusually severe, an attempt was made to cook the meals +inside the hut. There being no means of escape for the pungent +blubber-smoke, the inmates had rather a bad time, some being affected +with a form of smoke-blindness similar to snow-blindness, very painful +and requiring medical attention. + +A chimney was soon fitted, made by Kerr out of the tin lining of one of +the biscuit-cases, and passed through a close-fitting tin grummet sewn +into the canvas of the roof just between the keels of the two boats, +and the smoke nuisance was soon a thing of the past. Later on, another +old oil-drum was made to surround this chimney, so that two pots could +be cooked at once on the one stove. Those whose billets were near the +stove suffered from the effects of the local thaw caused by its heat, +but they were repaid by being able to warm up portions of steak and +hooshes left over from previous meals, and even to warm up those of the +less fortunate ones, for a consideration. This consisted generally of +part of the hoosh or one or two pieces of sugar. + +The cook and his assistant, which latter job was taken by each man in +turn, were called about 7 a.m., and breakfast was generally ready by +about 10 a.m. + +Provision-cases were then arranged in a wide circle round the stove, +and those who were fortunate enough to be next to it could dry their +gear. So that all should benefit equally by this, a sort of “General +Post” was carried out, each man occupying his place at meal-times for +one day only, moving up one the succeeding day. In this way eventually +every man managed to dry his clothes, and life began to assume a much +brighter aspect. + +The great trouble in the hut was the absence of light. The canvas walls +were covered with blubber-soot, and with the snowdrifts accumulating +round the hut its inhabitants were living in a state of perpetual +night. Lamps were fashioned out of sardine-tins, with bits of surgical +bandage for wicks; but as the oil consisted of seal-oil rendered down +from the blubber, the remaining fibrous tissue being issued very +sparingly at lunch, by the by, and being considered a great delicacy, +they were more a means of conserving the scanty store of matches than +of serving as illuminants. + +Wild was the first to overcome this difficulty by sewing into the +canvas wall the glass lid of a chronometer box. Later on three other +windows were added, the material in this case being some celluloid +panels from a photograph case of mine which I had left behind in a bag. +This enabled the occupants of the floor billets who were near enough to +read and sew, which relieved the monotony of the situation +considerably. + +“Our reading material consisted at this time of two books of poetry, +one book of ‘Nordenskjold’s Expedition,’ one or two torn volumes of the +‘Encyclopædia Britannica,’ and a penny cookery book, owned by Marston. +Our clothes, though never presentable, as they bore the scars of nearly +ten months of rough usage, had to be continually patched to keep them +together at all.” + +As the floor of the hut had been raised by the addition of loads of +clean pebbles, from which most of the snow had been removed, during the +cold weather it was kept comparatively dry. When, however, the +temperature rose to just above freezing-point, as occasionally +happened, the hut became the drainage-pool of all the surrounding +hills. Wild was the first to notice it by remarking one morning that +his sleeping-bag was practically afloat. Other men examined theirs with +a like result, so baling operations commenced forthwith. Stones were +removed from the floor and a large hole dug, and in its gloomy depths +the water could be seen rapidly rising. Using a saucepan for a baler, +they baled out over 100 gallons of dirty water. The next day 150 +gallons were removed, the men taking it in turns to bale at intervals +during the night; 160 more gallons were baled out during the next +twenty-four hours, till one man rather pathetically remarked in his +diary, “This is what nice, mild, high temperatures mean to us: no +wonder we prefer the cold.” Eventually, by removing a portion of one +wall a long channel was dug nearly down to the sea, completely solving +the problem. Additional precautions were taken by digging away the snow +which surrounded the hut after each blizzard, sometimes entirely +obscuring it. + +A huge glacier across the bay behind the hut nearly put an end to the +party. Enormous blocks of ice weighing many tons would break off and +fall into the sea, the disturbance thus caused giving rise to great +waves. One day Marston was outside the hut digging up the frozen seal +for lunch with a pick, when a noise “like an artillery barrage” +startled him. Looking up he saw that one of these tremendous waves, +over thirty feet high, was advancing rapidly across the bay, +threatening to sweep hut and inhabitants into the sea. A hastily +shouted warning brought the men tumbling out, but fortunately the loose +ice which filled the bay damped the wave down so much that, though it +flowed right under the hut, nothing was carried away. It was a narrow +escape, though, as had they been washed into the sea nothing could have +saved them. + +Although they themselves gradually became accustomed to the darkness +and the dirt, some entries in their diaries show that occasionally they +could realize the conditions under which they were living. + +“The hut grows more grimy every day. Everything is a sooty black. We +have arrived at the limit where further increments from the smoking +stove, blubber-lamps, and cooking-gear are unnoticed. It is at least +comforting to feel that we can become no filthier. Our shingle floor +will scarcely bear examination by strong light without causing even us +to shudder and express our disapprobation at its state. Oil mixed with +reindeer hair, bits of meat, sennegrass, and penguin feathers form a +conglomeration which cements the stones together. From time to time we +have a spring cleaning, but a fresh supply of flooring material is not +always available, as all the shingle is frozen up and buried by deep +rifts. Such is our Home Sweet Home.” + + +[Illustration: View of Interior of Hut on Elephant Island] + + +[Illustration: Marooned on Elephant Island] + + +“All joints are aching through being compelled to lie on the hard, +rubbly floor which forms our bedsteads.” + +Again, later on, one writes: “Now that Wild’s window allows a shaft of +light to enter our hut, one can begin to ‘see’ things inside. +Previously one relied upon one’s sense of touch, assisted by the +remarks from those whose faces were inadvertently trodden on, to guide +one to the door. Looking down in the semi-darkness to the far end, one +observes two very small smoky flares that dimly illuminate a row of +five, endeavouring to make time pass by reading or argument. These are +Macklin, Kerr, Wordie, Hudson, and Blackborrow—the last two being +invalids. + +“The centre of the hut is filled with the cases which do duty for the +cook’s bed, the meat and blubber boxes, and a mummified-looking object, +which is Lees in his sleeping-bag. The near end of the floor space is +taken up with the stove, with Wild and McIlroy on one side, and Hurley +and James on the other. Marston occupies a hammock most of the +night—and day—which is slung across the entrance. As he is large and +the entrance very small, he invariably gets bumped by those passing in +and out. His vocabulary at such times is interesting. + +“In the attic, formed by the two upturned boats, live ten unkempt and +careless lodgers, who drop boots, mitts, and other articles of apparel +on to the men below. Reindeer hairs rain down incessantly day and +night, with every movement that they make in their moulting bags. +These, with penguin feathers and a little grit from the floor, +occasionally savour the hooshes. Thank heaven man is an adaptable +brute! If we dwell sufficiently long in this hut, we are likely to +alter our method of walking, for our ceiling, which is but four feet +six inches high at its highest part, compels us to walk bent double or +on all fours. + +“Our doorway—Cheetham is just crawling in now, bringing a shower of +snow with him—was originally a tent entrance. When one wishes to go +out, one unties the cord securing the door, and crawls or wriggles out, +at the same time exclaiming ‘Thank goodness I’m in the open air!’ This +should suffice to describe the atmosphere inside the hut, only pleasant +when charged with the overpowering yet appetizing smell of burning +penguin steaks. + +“From all parts there dangles an odd collection of blubbery garments, +hung up to dry, through which one crawls, much as a chicken in an +incubator. Our walls of tent-canvas admit as much light as might be +expected from a closed Venetian blind. It is astonishing how we have +grown accustomed to inconveniences, and tolerate, at least, habits +which a little time back were regarded with repugnance. We have no +forks, but each man has a sheath-knife and a spoon, the latter in many +cases having been fashioned from a piece of box lid. The knife serves +many purposes. With it we kill, skin, and cut up seals and penguins, +cut blubber into strips for the fire, very carefully scrape the snow +off our hut walls, and then after a perfunctory rub with an oily +penguin-skin, use it at meals. We are as regardless of our grime and +dirt as is the Esquimaux. We have been unable to wash since we left the +ship, nearly ten months ago. For one thing we have no soap or towels, +only bare necessities being brought with us; and, again, had we +possessed these articles, our supply of fuel would only permit us to +melt enough ice for drinking purposes. Had one man washed, half a dozen +others would have had to go without a drink all day. One cannot suck +ice to relieve the thirst, as at these low temperatures it cracks the +lips and blisters the tongue. Still, we are all very cheerful.” + +During the whole of their stay on Elephant Island the weather was +described by Wild as “simply appalling.” Stranded as they were on a +narrow, sandy beach surrounded by high mountains, they saw little of +the scanty sunshine during the brief intervals of clear sky. On most +days the air was full of snowdrift blown from the adjacent heights. +Elephant Island being practically on the outside edge of the pack, the +winds which passed over the relatively warm ocean before reaching it +clothed it in a “constant pall of fog and snow.” + +On April 25, the day after I left for South Georgia, the island was +beset by heavy pack-ice, with snow and a wet mist. Next day was calmer, +but on the 27th, to quote one of the diaries, they experienced “the +most wretched weather conceivable. Raining all night and day, and +blowing hard. Wet to the skin.” The following day brought heavy fog and +sleet, and a continuance of the blizzard. April ended with a terrific +windstorm which nearly destroyed the hut. The one remaining tent had to +be dismantled, the pole taken down, and the inhabitants had to lie flat +all night under the icy canvas. This lasted well into May, and a +typical May day is described as follows: “A day of terrific winds, +threatening to dislodge our shelter. The wind is a succession of +hurricane gusts that sweep down the glacier immediately +south-south-west of us. Each gust heralds its approach by a low +rumbling which increases to a thunderous roar. Snow, stones, and gravel +are flying about, and any gear left unweighted by very heavy stones is +carried away to sea.” + +Heavy bales of sennegrass, and boxes of cooking-gear, were lifted +bodily in the air and carried away out of sight. Once the wind carried +off the floor-cloth of a tent which six men were holding on to and +shaking the snow off. These gusts often came with alarming suddenness; +and without any warning. Hussey was outside in the blizzard digging up +the day’s meat, which had frozen to the ground, when a gust caught him +and drove him down the spit towards the sea. Fortunately, when he +reached the softer sand and shingle below high-water mark, he managed +to stick his pick into the ground and hold on with both hands till the +squall had passed. + +On one or two rare occasions they had fine, calm, clear days. The glow +of the dying sun on the mountains and glaciers filled even the most +materialistic of them with wonder and admiration. These days were +sometimes succeeded by calm, clear nights, when, but for the cold, they +would have stayed out on the sandy beach all night. + +About the middle of May a terrific blizzard sprang up, blowing from +sixty to ninety miles an hour, and Wild entertained grave fears for +their hut. One curious feature noted in this blizzard was the fact that +huge ice-sheets as big as window-panes, and about a quarter of an inch +thick, were being hurled about by the wind, making it as dangerous to +walk about outside as if one were in an avalanche of splintered glass. +Still, these winds from the south and south-west, though invariably +accompanied by snow and low temperatures, were welcome in that they +drove the pack-ice away from the immediate vicinity of the island, and +so gave rise on each occasion to hopes of relief. North-east winds, on +the other hand, by filling the bays with ice and bringing thick misty +weather, made it impossible to hope for any ship to approach them. + +Towards the end of May a period of dead calm set in, with ice closely +packed all round the island. This gave place to north-east winds and +mist, and at the beginning of June came another south-west blizzard, +with cold driving snow. “The blizzard increased to terrific gusts +during the night, causing us much anxiety for the safety of our hut. +There was little sleep, all being apprehensive of the canvas roof +ripping off, and the boats being blown out to sea.” + +Thus it continued, alternating between south-west blizzards, when they +were all confined to the hut, and north-east winds bringing cold, damp, +misty weather. + +On June 25 a severe storm from north-west was recorded, accompanied by +strong winds and heavy seas, which encroached upon their little sandy +beach up to within four yards of their hut. + +Towards the end of July and the beginning of August they had a few +fine, calm, clear days. Occasional glimpses of the sun, with high +temperatures, were experienced, after south-west winds had blown all +the ice away, and the party, their spirits cheered by Wild’s unfailing +optimism, again began to look eagerly for the rescue ship. + +The first three attempts at their rescue unfortunately coincided with +the times when the island was beset with ice, and though on the second +occasion we approached close enough to fire a gun, in the hope that +they would hear the sound and know that we were safe and well, yet so +accustomed were they to the noise made by the calving of the adjacent +glacier that either they did not hear or the sound passed unnoticed. On +August 16 pack was observed on the horizon, and next day the bay was +filled with loose ice, which soon consolidated. Soon afterwards huge +old floes and many bergs drifted in. “The pack appears as dense as we +have ever seen it. No open water is visible, and ‘ice-blink’ girdles +the horizon. The weather is wretched—a stagnant calm of air and ocean +alike, the latter obscured by dense pack through which no swell can +penetrate, and a wet mist hangs like a pall over land and sea. The +silence is oppressive. There is nothing to do but to stay in one’s +sleeping-bag, or else wander in the soft snow and become thoroughly +wet.” Fifteen inches of snow fell in the next twenty-four hours, making +over two feet between August 18 and 21. A slight swell next day from +the north-east ground up the pack-ice, but this soon subsided, and the +pack became consolidated once more. On August 27 a strong +west-south-west wind sprang up and drove all this ice out of the bay, +and except for some stranded bergs left a clear ice-free sea through +which we finally made our way from Punta Arenas to Elephant Island. + +As soon as I had left the island to get help for the rest of the +Expedition, Wild set all hands to collect as many seals and penguins as +possible, in case their stay was longer than was at first anticipated. +A sudden rise in temperature caused a whole lot to go bad and become +unfit for food, so while a fair reserve was kept in hand too much was +not accumulated. + +At first the meals, consisting mostly of seal meat with one hot drink +per day, were cooked on a stove in the open. The snow and wind, besides +making it very unpleasant for the cook, filled all the cooking-pots +with sand and grit, so during the winter the cooking was done inside +the hut. + +A little Cerebos salt had been saved, and this was issued out at the +rate of three-quarters of an ounce per man per week. Some of the +packets containing the salt had broken, so that all did not get the +full ration. On the other hand, one man dropped his week’s ration on +the floor of the hut, amongst the stones and dirt. It was quickly +collected, and he found to his delight that he had enough now to last +him for three weeks. Of course it was not _all_ salt. The hot drink +consisted at first of milk made from milk-powder up to about +one-quarter of its proper strength. This was later on diluted still +more, and sometimes replaced by a drink made from a pea-soup-like +packing from the Bovril sledging rations. For midwinter’s day +celebrations, a mixture of one teaspoonful of methylated spirit in a +pint of hot water, flavoured with a little ginger and sugar, served to +remind some of cock-tails and _Veuve Cliquot_. + +At breakfast each had a piece of seal or half a penguin breast. +Luncheon consisted of one biscuit on three days a week, nut-food on +Thursdays, bits of blubber, from which most of the oil had been +extracted for the lamps, on two days a week, and nothing on the +remaining day. On this day breakfast consisted of a half-strength +sledging ration. Supper was almost invariably seal and penguin, cut up +very finely and fried with a little seal blubber. + +There were occasionally very welcome variations from this menu. Some +paddies—a little white bird not unlike a pigeon—were snared with a loop +of string, and fried, with one water-sodden biscuit, for lunch. Enough +barley and peas for one meal all round of each had been saved, and when +this was issued it was a day of great celebration. Sometimes, by +general consent, the luncheon biscuit would be saved, and, with the +next serving of biscuit, was crushed in a canvas bag into a powder and +boiled, with a little sugar, making a very satisfying pudding. When +blubber was fairly plentiful there was always a saucepan of cold water, +made from melting down the pieces of ice which had broken off from the +glacier, fallen into the sea, and been washed ashore, for them to +quench their thirst in. As the experience of Arctic explorers tended to +show that sea-water produced a form of dysentery, Wild was rather +diffident about using it. Penguin carcasses boiled in one part of +sea-water to four of fresh were a great success, though, and no +ill-effects were felt by anybody. + + +[Illustration: Elephant Island] + + +[Illustration: The Rescue Ship Sighted] + + +The ringed penguins migrated north the day after we landed at Cape +Wild, and though every effort was made to secure as large a stock of +meat and blubber as possible, by the end of the month the supply was so +low that only one hot meal a day could be served. Twice the usual +number of penguin steaks were cooked at breakfast, and the ones +intended for supper were kept hot in the pots by wrapping up in coats, +etc. “Clark put our saucepanful in his sleeping-bag to-day to keep it +hot, and it really was a great success in spite of the extra helping of +reindeer hairs that it contained. In this way we can make ten penguin +skins do for one day.” + +Some who were fortunate enough to catch penguins with fairly large +undigested fish in their gullets used to warm these up in tins hung on +bits of wire round the stove. + +“All the meat intended for hooshes is cut up inside the hut, as it is +too cold outside. As the boards which we use for the purpose are also +used for cutting up tobacco, when we still have it, a definite flavour +is sometimes imparted to the hoosh, which, if anything, improves it.” + +Their diet was now practically all meat, and not too much of that, and +all the diaries bear witness to their craving for carbohydrates, such +as flour, oatmeal, etc. One man longingly speaks of the cabbages which +grow on Kerguelen Island. By June 18 there were only nine hundred lumps +of sugar left, _i.e._, just over forty pieces each. Even my readers +know what shortage of sugar means at this very date, but from a +different cause. Under these circumstances it is not surprising that +all their thoughts and conversation should turn to food, past and +future banquets, and second helpings that had been once refused. + +A census was taken, each man being asked to state just what he would +like to eat at that moment if he were allowed to have anything that he +wanted. All, with but one exception, desired a suet pudding of some +sort—the “duff” beloved of sailors. Macklin asked for many returns of +scrambled eggs on hot buttered toast. Several voted for “a prodigious +Devonshire dumpling,” while Wild wished for “any old dumpling so long +as it was a large one.” The craving for carbohydrates, such as flour +and sugar, and for fats was very real. Marston had with him a small +penny cookery book. From this he would read out one recipe each night, +so as to make them last. This would be discussed very seriously, and +alterations and improvements suggested, and then they would turn into +their bags to dream of wonderful meals that they could never reach. The +following conversation was recorded in one diary: + +“WILD: ‘Do you like doughnuts?’ + +“McILROY: ‘Rather!’ + +“WILD: ‘Very easily made, too. I like them cold with a little jam.’ + +“McILROY: ‘Not bad; but how about a huge omelette?’ + +“WILD: ‘Fine!’ (with a deep sigh). + +“Overhead, two of the sailors are discussing, some extraordinary +mixture of hash, apple-sauce, beer, and cheese. Marston is in his +hammock reading from his penny cookery book. Farther down, some one +eulogizes Scotch shortbread. Several of the sailors are talking of +spotted dog, sea-pie, and Lockhart’s with great feeling. Some one +mentions nut-food, whereat the conversation becomes general, and we all +decide to buy one pound’s worth of it as soon as we get to +civilization, and retire to a country house to eat it undisturbed. At +present we really mean it, too!” + +Midwinter’s day, the great Polar festival, was duly observed. A +“magnificent breakfast” of sledging ration hoosh, full strength and +well boiled to thicken it, with hot milk was served. Luncheon consisted +of a wonderful pudding, invented by Wild, made of powdered biscuit +boiled with twelve pieces of mouldy nut-food. Supper was a very finely +cut seal hoosh flavoured with sugar. + +After supper they had a concert, accompanied by Hussey on his +“indispensable banjo.” This banjo was the last thing to be saved off +the ship before she sank, and I took it with us as a mental tonic. It +was carried all the way through with us, and landed on Elephant Island +practically unharmed, and did much to keep the men cheerful. Nearly +every Saturday night such a concert was held, when each one sang a song +about some other member of the party. If that other one objected to +some of the remarks, a worse one was written for the next week. + +The cook, who had carried on so well and for so long, was given a rest +on August 9, and each man took it in turns to be cook for one week. As +the cook and his “mate” had the privilege of scraping out the +saucepans, there was some anxiety to secure the job, especially amongst +those with the larger appetites. “The last of the methylated spirit was +drunk on August 12, and from then onwards the King’s health, +‘sweethearts and wives,’ and ‘the Boss and crew of the _Caird_,’ were +drunk in hot water and ginger every Saturday night.” + +The penguins and seals which had migrated north at the beginning of +winter had not yet returned, or else the ice-foot, which surrounded the +spit to a thickness of six feet, prevented them from coming ashore, so +that food was getting short. Old seal-bones, that had been used once +for a meal and then thrown away, were dug up and stewed down with +sea-water. Penguin carcasses were treated likewise. Limpets were +gathered from the pools disclosed between the rocks below high tide, +after the pack-ice had been driven away. It was a cold job gathering +these little shell-fish, as for each one the whole hand and arm had to +be plunged into the icy water, and many score of these small creatures +had to be collected to make anything of a meal. Seaweed boiled in +sea-water was used to eke out the rapidly diminishing stock of seal and +penguin meat. This did not agree with some of the party. Though it was +acknowledged to be very tasty it only served to increase their +appetite—a serious thing when there was nothing to satisfy it with! One +man remarked in his diary: “We had a sumptuous meal to-day—nearly five +ounces of solid food each.” + +It is largely due to Wild, and to his energy, initiative, and resource, +that the whole party kept cheerful all along, and, indeed, came out +alive and so well. Assisted by the two surgeons, Drs. McIlroy and +Macklin, he had ever a watchful eye for the health of each one. His +cheery optimism never failed, even when food was very short and the +prospect of relief seemed remote. Each one in his diary speaks with +admiration of him. I think without doubt that all the party who were +stranded on Elephant Island owe their lives to him. The demons of +depression could find no foothold when he was around; and, not content +with merely “telling,” he was “doing” as much as, and very often more +than, the rest. He showed wonderful capabilities of leadership and more +than justified the absolute confidence that I placed in him. Hussey, +with his cheeriness and his banjo, was another vital factor in chasing +away any tendency to downheartedness. + +Once they were settled in their hut, the health of the party was quite +good. Of course, they were all a bit weak, some were light-headed, all +were frost-bitten, and others, later, had attacks of heart failure. +Blackborrow, whose toes were so badly frost-bitten in the boats, had to +have all five amputated while on the island. With insufficient +instruments and no proper means of sterilizing them, the operation, +carried out as it was in a dark, grimy hut, with only a blubber-stove +to keep up the temperature and with an outside temperature well below +freezing, speaks volumes for the skill and initiative of the surgeons. +I am glad to be able to say that the operation was very successful, and +after a little treatment ashore, very kindly given by the Chilian +doctors at Punta Arenas, he has now completely recovered and walks with +only a slight limp. Hudson, who developed bronchitis and hip disease, +was practically well again when the party was rescued. All trace of the +severe frost-bites suffered in the boat journey had disappeared, though +traces of recent superficial ones remained on some. All were naturally +weak when rescued, owing to having been on such scanty rations for so +long, but all were alive and very cheerful, thanks to Frank Wild. + +August 30, 1916, is described in their diaries as a “day of wonders.” +Food was very short, only two days’ seal and penguin meat being left, +and no prospect of any more arriving. The whole party had been +collecting limpets and seaweed to eat with the stewed seal bones. Lunch +was being served by Wild, Hurley and Marston waiting outside to take a +last long look at the direction from which they expected the ship to +arrive. From a fortnight after I had left, Wild would roll up his +sleeping-bag each day with the remark, “Get your things ready, boys, +the Boss may come to-day.” And sure enough, one day the mist opened and +revealed the ship for which they had been waiting and longing and +hoping for over four months. “Marston was the first to notice it, and +immediately yelled out ‘Ship O!’ The inmates of the hut mistook it for +a call of ‘Lunch O!’ so took no notice at first. Soon, however, we +heard him pattering along the snow as fast as he could run, and in a +gasping, anxious voice, hoarse with excitement, he shouted, ‘Wild, +there’s a ship! Hadn’t we better light a flare?’ We all made one dive +for our narrow door. Those who could not get through tore down the +canvas walls in their hurry and excitement. The hoosh-pot with our +precious limpets and seaweed was kicked over in the rush. There, just +rounding the island which had previously hidden her from our sight, we +saw a little ship flying the Chilian flag. + +“We tried to cheer, but excitement had gripped our vocal chords. +Macklin had made a rush for the flagstaff, previously placed in the +most conspicuous position on the ice-slope. The running-gear would not +work, and the flag was frozen into a solid, compact mass so he tied his +jersey to the top of the pole for a signal. + +“Wild put a pick through our last remaining tin of petrol, and soaking +coats, mitts, and socks with it, carried them to the top of Penguin +Hill at the end of our spit, and soon, they were ablaze. + +“Meanwhile most of us had gathered on the foreshore watching with +anxious eyes for any signs that the ship had seen us, or for any +answering signals. As we stood and gazed she seemed to turn away as if +she had not seen us. Again and again we cheered, though our feeble +cries could certainly not have carried so far. Suddenly she stopped, a +boat was lowered, and we could recognize Sir Ernest’s figure as he +climbed down the ladder. Simultaneously we burst into a cheer, and then +one said to the other, ‘Thank God, the Boss is safe.’ For I think that +his safety was of more concern to us than was our own. + +“Soon the boat approached near enough for the Boss, who was standing up +in the bows, to shout to Wild, ‘Are you all well?’ To which he replied, +‘All safe, all well,’ and we could see a smile light up the Boss’s face +as he said, ‘Thank God!’ + +“Before he could land he threw ashore handsful of cigarettes and +tobacco; and these the smokers, who for two months had been trying to +find solace in such substitutes as seaweed, finely chopped pipe-bowls, +seal meat, and sennegrass, grasped greedily. + +“Blackborrow, who could not walk, had been carried to a high rock and +propped up in his sleeping-bag, so that he could view the wonderful +scene. + +“Soon we were tumbling into the boat, and the Chilian sailors, laughing +up at us, seemed as pleased at our rescue as we were. Twice more the +boat returned, and within an hour of our first having sighted the boat +we were heading northwards to the outer world from which we had had no +news since October 1914, over twenty-two months before. We are like men +awakened from a long sleep. We are trying to acquire suddenly the +perspective which the rest of the world has acquired gradually through +two years of war. There are many events which have happened of which we +shall never know. + +“Our first meal, owing to our weakness and the atrophied state of our +stomachs, proved disastrous to a good many. They soon recovered though. +Our beds were just shake-downs on cushions and settees, though the +officer on watch very generously gave up his bunk to two of us. I think +we got very little sleep that night. It was just heavenly to lie and +listen to the throb of the engines, instead of to the crack of the +breaking floe, the beat of the surf on the ice-strewn shore, or the +howling of the blizzard. + +“We intend to keep August 30 as a festival for the rest of our lives.” + +You readers can imagine my feelings as I stood in the little cabin +watching my rescued comrades feeding. + + +[Illustration: “All Safe! All Well!”] + + +[Illustration: View through a Cave on Elephant Island] + + + + +CHAPTER XIII +THE ROSS SEA PARTY + + +I now turn to the fortunes and misfortunes of the Ross Sea Party and +the _Aurora_. In spite of extraordinary difficulties occasioned by the +breaking out of the _Aurora_ from her winter quarters before sufficient +stores and equipment had been landed, Captain Æneas Mackintosh and the +party under his command achieved the object of this side of the +Expedition. For the depot that was the main object of the Expedition +was laid in the spot that I had indicated, and if the transcontinental +party had been fortunate enough to have crossed they would have found +the assistance, in the shape of stores, that would have been vital to +the success of their undertaking. Owing to the dearth of stores, +clothing, and sledging equipment, the depot party was forced to travel +more slowly and with greater difficulty than would have otherwise been +the case. The result was that in making this journey the greatest +qualities of endurance, self-sacrifice, and patience were called for, +and the call was not in vain, as you reading the following pages will +realize. It is more than regrettable that after having gone through +those many months of hardship and toil, Mackintosh and Hayward should +have been lost. Spencer-Smith during those long days, dragged by his +comrades on the sledge, suffering but never complaining, became an +example to all men. Mackintosh and Hayward owed their lives on that +journey to the unremitting care and strenuous endeavours of Joyce, +Wild, and Richards, who, also scurvy-stricken but fitter than their +comrades, dragged them through the deep snow and blizzards on the +sledges. I think that no more remarkable story of human endeavour has +been revealed than the tale of that long march which I have collated +from various diaries. Unfortunately, the diary of the leader of this +side of the Expedition was lost with him. The outstanding feature of +the Ross Sea side was the journey made by these six men. The earlier +journeys for the first year did not produce any sign of the qualities +of leadership amongst the others. Mackintosh was fortunate for the long +journey in that he had these three men with him: Ernest Wild, Richards, +and Joyce. + +Before proceeding with the adventures of this party I want to make +clear in these pages how much I appreciate the assistance I received +both in Australia and New Zealand, especially in the latter dominion. +And amongst the many friends there it is not invidious on my part to +lay special stress on the name of Leonard Tripp, who has been my +mentor, counsellor, and friend for many years, and who, when the +Expedition was in precarious and difficult circumstances, devoted his +energy, thought, and gave his whole time and advice to the best +interests of our cause. I also must thank Edward Saunders, who for the +second time has greatly helped me in preparing an Expedition record for +publication. + +To the Dominion Government I tender my warmest thanks. To the people of +New Zealand, and especially to those many friends—too numerous to +mention here—who helped us when our fortunes were at a low ebb, I wish +to say that their kindness is an ever-green memory to me. If ever a man +had cause to be grateful for assistance in dark days, I am he. + +The _Aurora_, under the command of Captain Æneas Mackintosh, sailed +from Hobart for the Ross Sea on December 24, 1914. The ship had +refitted in Sydney, where the State and Federal Governments had given +generous assistance, and would be able, if necessary, to spend two +years in the Antarctic. My instructions to Captain Mackintosh, in +brief, were to proceed to the Ross Sea, make a base at some convenient +point in or near McMurdo Sound, land stores and equipment, and lay +depots on the Great Ice Barrier in the direction of the Beardmore +Glacier for the use of the party that I expected to bring overland from +the Weddell Sea coast. This programme would involve some heavy +sledging, but the ground to be covered was familiar, and I had not +anticipated that the work would present any great difficulties. The +_Aurora_ carried materials for a hut, equipment for landing and +sledging parties, stores and clothing of all the kinds required, and an +ample supply of sledges. There were also dog teams and one of the +motor-tractors. I had told Captain Mackintosh that it was possible the +transcontinental journey would be attempted in the 1914–15 season in +the event of the landing on the Weddell Sea coast proving unexpectedly +easy, and it would be his duty, therefore, to lay out depots to the +south immediately after his arrival at his base. I had directed him to +place a depot of food and fuel-oil at lat. 80° S. in 1914–15, with +cairns and flags as guides to a sledging party approaching from the +direction of the Pole. He would place depots farther south in the +1915–16 season. + +The _Aurora_ had an uneventful voyage southwards. She anchored off the +sealing-huts at Macquarie Island on Christmas Day, December 25. The +wireless station erected by Sir Douglas Mawson’s Australian Antarctic +Expedition could be seen on a hill to the north-west with the +Expedition’s hut at the base of the hill. This hut was still occupied +by a meteorological staff, and later in the day the meteorologist, Mr. +Tulloch, came off to the ship and had dinner aboard. The _Aurora_ had +some stores for the Macquarie Island party, and these were sent ashore +during succeeding days in the boats. The landing-place was a rough, +kelp-guarded beach, where lay the remains of the New Zealand barque +_Clyde_. Macquarie Island anchorages are treacherous, and several ships +engaged in the sealing and whaling trade have left their bones on the +rocky shores, where bask great herds of seals and sea-elephants. The +_Aurora_ sailed from the island on December 31, and three days later +they sighted the first iceberg, a tabular berg rising 250 ft. above the +sea. This was in lat. 62° 44´ S., long. 169° 58´ E. The next day, in +lat. 64° 27´ 38´´ S., the _Aurora_ passed through the first belt of +pack-ice. At 9 a.m. on January 7, Mount Sabine, a mighty peak of the +Admiralty Range, South Victoria Land, was sighted seventy-five miles +distant. + +It had been proposed that a party of three men should travel to Cape +Crozier from winter quarters during the winter months in order to +secure emperor penguins’ eggs. The ship was to call at Cape Crozier, +land provisions, and erect a small hut of fibro-concrete sheets for the +use of this party. The ship was off the Cape on the afternoon of +January 9, and a boat put off with Stenhouse, Cope, Joyce, Ninnis, +Mauger, and Aitken to search for a landing-place. “We steered in +towards the Barrier,” wrote Stenhouse, “and found an opening leading +into a large bight which jutted back to eastward into the Barrier. We +endeavoured without success to scale the steep ice-foot under the +cliffs, and then proceeded up the bay. Pulling along the edge of +perpendicular ice, we turned into a bay in the ice-cliff and came to a +cul-de-sac, at the head of which was a grotto. At the head of the +grotto and on a ledge of snow were perched some adelie penguins. The +beautiful green and blue tints in the ice-colouring made a picture as +unreal as a stage setting. Coming back along the edge of the bight +towards the land, we caught and killed one penguin, much to the +surprise of another, which ducked into a niche in the ice and, after +much squawking, was extracted with a boat-hook and captured. We +returned to our original landing, and were fortunate in our time, for +no sooner had we cleared the ledge where Ninnis had been hanging in his +endeavour to catch the penguin than the barrier calved and a piece +weighing hundreds of tons toppled over into the sea. + +“Since we left the ship a mist had blown up from the south, and when we +arrived back at the entrance to the bay the ship could be but dimly +seen. We found a slope on the ice-foot, and Joyce and I managed, by +cutting steps, to climb up to a ledge of debris between the cliffs and +the ice, which we thought might lead to the vicinity of the emperor +penguin rookery. I sent the boat back to the ship to tell the captain +of our failure to find a spot where we could depot the hut and stores, +and then, with Joyce, set out to walk along the narrow land between the +cliffs and the ice to the southward in hopes of finding the rookery. We +walked for about a mile along the foot of the cliffs, over undulating +paths, sometimes crawling carefully down a gully and then over rocks +and debris which had fallen from the steep cliffs which towered above +us, but we saw no signs of a rookery or any place where a rookery could +be. Close to the cliffs and separated from them by the path on which we +travelled, the Barrier in its movement towards the sea had broken and +showed signs of pressure. Seeing a turn in the cliffs ahead, which we +thought might lead to better prospects, we trudged on, and were +rewarded by a sight which Joyce admitted as being the grandest he had +ever witnessed. The Barrier had come into contact with the cliffs and, +from where we viewed it, it looked as if icebergs had fallen into a +tremendous cavern and lay jumbled together in wild disorder. Looking +down into that wonderful picture one realized a little the +‘eternalness’ of things. + +“We had not long to wait, and, much as we wished to go ahead, had to +turn back. I went into a small crevasse; no damage. Arriving back at +the place where we left the boat we found it had not returned, so sat +down under an overhang and smoked and enjoyed the sense of loneliness. +Soon the boat appeared out of the mist, and the crew had much news for +us. After we left the ship the captain manœuvred her in order to get +close to the Barrier, but, unfortunately, the engines were loath to be +reversed when required to go astern and the ship hit the Barrier end +on. The Barrier here is about twenty feet high, and her jib-boom took +the weight and snapped at the cap. When I returned Thompson was busy +getting the broken boom and gear aboard. Luckily the cap was not broken +and no damage was done aloft, but it was rather a bad introduction to +the Antarctic. There is no place to land the Cape Crozier hut and +stores, so we must build a hut in the winter here, which will mean so +much extra sledging from winter quarters. Bad start, good finish! Joyce +and I went aloft to the crow’s-nest, but could see no opening in the +Barrier to eastward where a ship might enter and get farther south.” + +Mackintosh proceeded into McMurdo Sound. Heavy pack delayed the ship +for three days, and it was not until January 16 that she reached a +point off Cape Evans, where he landed ten tons of coal and ninety-eight +cases of oil. During succeeding days Captain Mackintosh worked the +_Aurora_ southward, and by January 24 he was within nine miles of Hut +Point. There he made the ship fast to sea-ice, then breaking up +rapidly, and proceeded to arrange sledging parties. It was his +intention to direct the laying of the depots himself and to leave his +first officer, Lieut. J. R. Stenhouse, in command of the _Aurora_, with +instructions to select a base and land a party. + +The first objective was Hut Point, where stands the hut erected by the +_Discovery_ expedition in 1902. An advance party, consisting of Joyce +(in charge), Jack, and Gaze, with dogs and fully loaded sledges, left +the ship on January 24; Mackintosh, with Wild and Smith, followed the +next day; and a supporting party, consisting of Cope (in charge), +Stevens, Ninnis, Haywood, Hooke, and Richards, left the ship on January +30. The first two parties had dog teams. The third party took with it +the motor-tractor, which does not appear to have given the good service +that I had hoped to get from it. These parties had a strenuous time +during the weeks that followed. The men, fresh from shipboard, were not +in the best of training, and the same was true of the dogs. It was +unfortunate that the dogs had to be worked so early after their arrival +in the Antarctic. They were in poor condition and they had not learned +to work together as teams. The result was the loss of many of the dogs, +and this proved a serious matter in the following season. Captain +Mackintosh’s record of the sledging in the early months of 1915 is +fairly full. It will not be necessary here to follow the fortunes of +the various parties in detail, for although the men were facing +difficulties and dangers, they were on well-travelled ground, which has +been made familiar to most readers by the histories of earlier +Expeditions. + +Captain Mackintosh and his party left the _Aurora_ on the evening of +January 25. They had nine dogs and one heavily loaded sledge, and +started off briskly to the accompaniment of a cheer from their +shipmates. The dogs were so eager for exercise after their prolonged +confinement aboard the ship that they dashed forward at their best +speed, and it was necessary for one man to sit upon the sledge in order +to moderate the pace. Mackintosh had hoped to get to Hut Point that +night, but luck was against him. The weather broke after he had +travelled about five miles, and snow, which completely obscured all +landmarks, sent him into camp on the sea-ice. The weather was still +thick on the following morning, and the party, making a start after +breakfast, missed its way. “We shaped a course where I imagined Hut +Point to be,” wrote Captain Mackintosh in his diary, “but when the +sledge-meter showed thirteen miles fifty yards, which is four miles in +excess of the distance from the slip to Hut Point, I decided to halt +again. The surface was changing considerably and the land was still +obscured. We have been travelling over a thick snow surface, in which +we sink deeply, and the dogs are not too cheerful about it.” They +started again at noon on January 27, when the weather had cleared +sufficiently to reveal the land, and reached Hut Point at 4 p.m. The +sledge-meter showed that the total distance travelled had been over +seventeen miles. Mackintosh found in the hut a note from Joyce, who had +been there on the 25th, and who reported that one of his dogs had been +killed in a fight with its companions. The hut contained some stores +left there by earlier Expeditions. The party stayed there for the +night. Mackintosh left a note for Stenhouse directing him to place +provisions in the hut in case the sledging parties did not return in +time to be taken off by the ship. Early next morning Joyce reached the +hut. He had encountered bad ice and had come back to consult with +Mackintosh regarding the route to be followed. Mackintosh directed him +to steer out towards Black Island in crossing the head of the Sound +beyond Hut Point. + +Mackintosh left Hut Point on January 28. He had taken some additional +stores, and he mentions that the sledge now weighed 1200 lbs. This was +a heavy load, but the dogs were pulling well and he thought it +practicable. He encountered difficulty almost at once after descending +the slope from the point to the sea-ice, for the sledge stuck in soft +snow and the party had to lighten the load and relay until they reached +a better surface. They were having trouble with the dogs, which did not +pull cheerfully, and the total distance covered in the day was under +four miles. The weather was warm and the snow consequently was soft. +Mackintosh had decided that it would be best to travel at night. A fall +of snow held up the party throughout the following day, and they did +not get away from their camp until shortly before midnight. “The +surface was abominably soft,” wrote Mackintosh. “We harnessed ourselves +on to the sledge and with the dogs made a start, but we had a struggle +to get off. We had not gone very far when in deeper snow we stopped +dead. Try as we would, no movement could be produced. Reluctantly we +unloaded and began the tedious task of relaying. The work, in spite of +the lighter load on the sledge, proved terrific for ourselves and for +the dogs. We struggled for four hours, and then set camp to await the +evening, when the sun would not be so fierce and the surface might be +better. I must say I feel somewhat despondent, as we are not getting on +as well as I expected, nor do we find it as easy as one would gather +from reading.” + +The two parties met again that day. Joyce also had been compelled to +relay his load, and all hands laboured strenuously and advanced slowly. +They reached the edge of the Barrier on the night of January 30 and +climbed an easy slope to the Barrier surface, about thirty feet above +the sea-ice. The dogs were showing signs of fatigue, and when +Mackintosh camped at 6.30 a.m. on January 31, he reckoned that the +distance covered in twelve and a half hours had been about two and a +half miles. The men had killed a seal at the edge of the sea-ice and +placed the meat on a cairn for future use. One dog, having refused to +pull, had been left behind with a good feed of meat, and Mackintosh +hoped the animal would follow. The experiences of the party during the +days that followed can be indicated by some extracts from Mackintosh’s +diary. + +“_Sunday, January_ 31.—Started off this afternoon at 3 p.m. Surface too +dreadful for words. We sink into snow at times up to our knees, the +dogs struggling out of it panting and making great efforts. I think the +soft snow must be accounted for by a phenomenally fine summer without +much wind. After proceeding about 1000 yds. I spotted some poles on our +starboard side. We shaped course for these and found Captain Scott’s +Safety Camp. We unloaded a relay here and went back with empty sledge +for the second relay. It took us four hours to do just this short +distance. It is exasperating. After we had got the second load up we +had lunch. Then we dug round the poles, while snow fell, and after +getting down about three feet we came across, first, a bag of oats, +lower down two cases of dog-biscuit—one with a complete week’s ration, +the other with seal meat. A good find. About forty paces away we found +a venesta-lid sticking out of the snow. Smith scraped round this with +his ice-axe and presently discovered one of the motor-sledges Captain +Scott used. Everything was just as it had been left, the petrol-tank +partly filled and apparently undeteriorated. We marked the spot with a +pole. The snow clearing, we proceeded with a relay. We got only half a +mile, still struggling in deep snow, and then went back for the second +load. We can still see the cairn erected at the Barrier edge and a +black spot which we take to be the dog. + +“_February_ 1.—We turned out at 7.30 p.m., and after a meal broke camp. +We made a relay of two and a half miles. The sledge-meter stopped +during this relay. Perhaps that is the cause of our mileage not +showing. We covered seven and a half miles in order to bring the load +two and a half miles. After lunch we decided, as the surface was +getting better, to make a shot at travelling with the whole load. It +was a back-breaking job. Wild led the team, while Smith and I pulled in +harness. The great trouble is to get the sledge started after the many +unavoidable stops. We managed to cover one mile. This even is better +than relaying. We then camped—the dogs being entirely done up, poor +brutes. + +“_February_ 2.—We were awakened this afternoon, while in our bags, by +hearing Joyce’s dogs barking. They have done well and have caught us +up. Joyce’s voice was heard presently, asking us the time. He is +managing the full load. We issued a challenge to race him to the Bluff, +which he accepted. When we turned out at 6.30 p.m. his camp was seen +about three miles ahead. About 8 p.m., after our hoosh, we made a +start, and reached Joyce’s camp at 1 a.m. The dogs had been pulling +well, seeing the camp ahead, but when we arrived off it they were not +inclined to go on. After a little persuasion and struggle we got off, +but not for long. This starting business is terrible work. We have to +shake the sledge and its big load while we shout to the dogs to start. +If they do not pull together it is useless. When we get the sledge +going we are on tenter-hooks lest it stop again on the next soft slope, +and this often occurs. Sledging is real hard work; but we are getting +along.” + +The surface was better on February 2, and the party covered six miles +without relaying. They camped in soft snow, and when they started the +next day they were two hours relaying over one hundred and fifty yards. +Then they got into Joyce’s track and found the going better. Mackintosh +overtook Joyce on the morning of February 4 and went ahead, his party +breaking trail during the next march. They covered ten miles on the +night of the 4th. One dog had “chucked his hand in” on the march, and +Mackintosh mentions that he intended to increase the dogs’ allowance of +food. The surface was harder, and during the night of February 5 +Mackintosh covered eleven miles twenty-five yards, but he finished with +two dogs on the sledge. Joyce was travelling by day, so that the +parties passed one another daily on the march. + +A blizzard came from the south on February 10 and the parties were +confined to their tents for over twenty-four hours. The weather +moderated on the morning of the next day, and at 11 a.m. Mackintosh +camped beside Joyce and proceeded to rearrange the parties. One of his +dogs had died on the 9th, and several others had ceased to be worth +much for pulling. He had decided to take the best dogs from the two +teams and continue the march with Joyce and Wild, while Smith, Jack, +and Gaze went back to Hut Point with the remaining dogs. This involved +the adjustment of sledge-loads in order that the proper supplies might +be available for the depots. He had eight dogs and Smith had five. A +depot of oil and fuel was laid at this point and marked by a cairn with +a bamboo pole rising ten feet above it. The change made for better +progress. Smith turned back at once, and the other party went ahead +fairly rapidly, the dogs being able to haul the sledge without much +assistance from the men. The party built a cairn of snow after each +hour’s travelling to serve as guides to the depot and as marks for the +return journey. Another blizzard held the men up on February 13, and +they had an uncomfortable time in their sleeping-bags owing to low +temperature. + +During succeeding days the party plodded forward. They were able to +cover from five to twelve miles a day, according to the surface and +weather. They built the cairns regularly and checked their route by +taking bearings of the mountains to the west. They were able to cover +from five to twelve miles a day, the dogs pulling fairly well. They +reached lat. 80° S. on the afternoon of February 20. Mackintosh had +hoped to find a depot laid in that neighbourhood by Captain Scott, but +no trace of it was seen. The surface had been very rough during the +afternoon, and for that reason the depot to be laid there was named +Rocky Mountain Depot. The stores were to be placed on a substantial +cairn, and smaller cairns were to be built at right angles to the depot +as a guide to the overland party. “As soon as breakfast was over,” +wrote Mackintosh the next day, “Joyce and Wild went off with a light +sledge and the dogs to lay out the cairns and place flags to the +eastward, building them at every mile. The outer cairn had a large flag +and a note indicating the position of the depot. I remained behind to +get angles and fix our position with the theodolite. The temperature +was very low this morning, and handling the theodolite was not too warm +a job for the fingers. My whiskers froze to the metal while I was +taking a sight. After five hours the others arrived back. They had +covered ten miles, five miles out and five miles back. During the +afternoon we finished the cairn, which we have built to a height of +eight feet. It is a solid square erection which ought to stand a good +deal of weathering, and on top we have placed a bamboo pole with a +flag, making the total height twenty-five feet. Building the cairn was +a fine warming job, but the ice on our whiskers often took some ten +minutes thawing out. To-morrow we hope to lay out the cairns to the +westward, and then to shape our course for the Bluff.” + +The weather, became bad again during the night. A blizzard kept the men +in their sleeping-bags on February 21, and it was not until the +afternoon of the 23rd that Mackintosh and Joyce made an attempt to lay +out the cairns to the west. They found that two of the dogs had died +during the storm, leaving seven dogs to haul the sledge. They marched a +mile and a half to the westward and built a cairn, but the weather was +very thick and they did not think it wise to proceed farther. They +could not see more than a hundred yards and the tent was soon out of +sight. They returned to the camp, and stayed there until the morning of +February 24, when they started the return march with snow still +falling. “We did get off from our camp,” says Mackintosh, “but had only +proceeded about four hundred yards when the fog came on so thick that +we could scarcely see a yard ahead, so we had to pitch the tent again, +and are now sitting inside hoping the weather will clear. We are going +back with only ten days’ provisions, so it means pushing on for all we +are worth. These stoppages are truly annoying. The poor dogs are +feeling hungry; they eat their harness or any straps that may be about. +We can give them nothing beyond their allowance of three biscuits each +as we are on bare rations ourselves; but I feel sure they require more +than one pound a day. That is what they are getting now.... After lunch +we found it a little clearer, but a very bad light. We decided to push +on. It is weird travelling in this light. There is no contrast or +outline; the sky and the surface are one, and we cannot discern +undulations, which we encounter with disastrous results. We picked up +the first of our outward cairns. This was most fortunate. After passing +a second cairn everything became blotted out, and so we were forced to +camp, after covering 4 miles 703 yds. The dogs are feeling the pangs of +hunger and devouring everything they see. They will eat anything except +rope. If we had not wasted those three days we might have been able to +give them a good feed at the Bluff depot, but now that is impossible. +It is snowing hard.” + +The experiences of the next few days were unhappy. Another blizzard +brought heavy snow and held the party up throughout the 25th and 26th. +“Outside is a scene of chaos. The snow, whirling along with the wind, +obliterates everything. The dogs are completely buried, and only a +mound with a ski sticking up indicates where the sledge is. We long to +be off, but the howl of the wind shows how impossible it is. The +sleeping-bags are damp and sticky, so are our clothes. Fortunately, the +temperature is fairly high and they do not freeze. One of the dogs gave +a bark and Joyce went out to investigate. He found that Major, feeling +hungry, had dragged his way to Joyce’s ski and eaten off the leather +binding. Another dog has eaten all his harness, canvas, rope, leather, +brass, and rivets. I am afraid the dogs will not pull through; they all +look thin and these blizzards do not improve matters.... We have a +week’s provisions and one hundred and sixty miles to travel. It appears +that we will have to get another week’s provisions from the depot, but +don’t wish it. Will see what luck to-morrow. Of course, at Bluff we can +replenish.” + + +[Illustration: The Aurora] + + +[Illustration: Ice Stalactites at the Entrance to a Cave on Elephant +Island] + + +“We are now reduced to one meal in the twenty-four hours,” wrote +Mackintosh a day later. “This going without food keeps us colder. It is +a rotten, miserable time. It is bad enough having this wait, but we +have also the wretched thought of having to use the provisions already +depot-ed, for which we have had all this hard struggle.” The weather +cleared on the 27th, and in the afternoon Mackintosh and Joyce went +back to the depot, while Wild remained behind to build a cairn and +attempt to dry the sleeping-bags in the sun. The stores left at the +depot had been two and a quarter tins of biscuit (42 lbs. to the tin), +rations for three men for three weeks in bags, each intended to last +one week, and three tins of oil. Mackintosh took one of the weekly bags +from the depot and returned to the camp. The party resumed the homeward +journey the next morning, and with a sail on the sledge to take +advantage of the southerly breeze, covered nine miles and a half during +the day. But the dogs had reached almost the limit of their endurance; +three of them fell out, unable to work longer, while on the march. That +evening, for the first time since leaving the _Aurora_, the men saw the +sun dip to the horizon in the south, a reminder that the Antarctic +summer was nearing its close. + +The remaining four dogs collapsed on March 2. “After lunch we went off +fairly well for half an hour. Then Nigger commenced to wobble about, +his legs eventually giving under him. We took him out of his harness +and let him travel along with us, but he has given us all he can, and +now can only lie down. After Nigger, my friend Pompey collapsed. The +drift, I think, accounts a good deal for this. Pompey has been splendid +of late, pulling steadily and well. Then Scotty, the last dog but one, +gave up. They are all lying down in our tracks. They have a painless +death, for they curl up in the snow and fall into a sleep from which +they will never wake. We are left with one dog, Pinkey. He has not been +one of the pullers, but he is not despised. We can afford to give him +plenty of biscuit. We must nurse him and see if we cannot return with +one dog at least. We are now pulling ourselves, with the sail (the +floor-cloth of the tent) set and Pinkey giving a hand. At one stage a +terrific gust came along and capsized the sledge. The sail was blown +off the sledge, out of its guys, and we prepared to camp, but the wind +fell again to a moderate breeze, so we repaired the sledge and +proceeded. + +“It is blowing hard this evening, cold too. Another wonderful sunset. +Golden colours illuminate the sky. The moon casts beautiful rays in +combination with the more vivid ones from the dipping sun. If all was +as beautiful as the scene we could consider ourselves in some paradise, +but it is dark and cold in the tent and I shiver in a frozen +sleeping-bag. The inside fur is a mass of ice, congealed from my +breath. One creeps into the bag, toggles up with half-frozen fingers, +and hears the crackling of the ice. Presently drops of thawing ice are +falling on one’s head. Then comes a fit of shivers. You rub yourself +and turn over to warm the side of the bag which has been uppermost. A +puddle of water forms under the body. After about two hours you may +doze off, but I always wake with the feeling that I have not slept a +wink.” + +The party made only three and a half miles on March 3. They were +finding the sledge exceedingly heavy to pull, and Mackintosh decided to +remove the outer runners and scrape the bottom. These runners should +have been taken off before the party started, and the lower runners +polished smooth. He also left behind all spare gear, including +dog-harness in order to reduce weight, and found the lighter sledge +easier to pull. The temperature that night was –28° Fahr., the lowest +recorded during the journey up to that time. “We are struggling along +at a mile an hour,” wrote Mackintosh on the 5th. “It is a very hard +pull, the surface being very sticky. Pinkey still accompanies us. We +hope we can get him in. He is getting all he wants to eat. So he +ought.” The conditions of travel changed the next day. A southerly wind +made possible the use of the sail, and the trouble was to prevent the +sledge bounding ahead over rough sastrugi and capsizing. The handling +of ropes and the sail caused many frost-bites, and occasionally the men +were dragged along the surface by the sledge. The remaining dog +collapsed during the afternoon and had to be left behind. Mackintosh +did not feel that he could afford to reduce the pace. The sledge-meter, +had got out of order, so the distance covered in the day was not +recorded. The wind increased during the night, and by the morning of +the 7th was blowing with blizzard force. The party did not move again +until the morning of the 8th. They were still finding the sledge very +heavy and were disappointed at their slow progress, their marches being +six to eight miles a day. On the 10th they got the Bluff Peak in line +with Mount Discovery. My instructions had been that the Bluff depot +should be laid on this line, and as the depot had been placed north of +the line on the outward journey, owing to thick weather making it +impossible to pick up the landmarks, Mackintosh intended now to move +the stores to the proper place. He sighted the depot flag about four +miles away, and after pitching camp at the new depot site, he went +across with Joyce and Wild and found the stores as he had left them. + +“We loaded the sledge with the stores, placed the large mark flag on +the sledge, and proceeded back to our tent, which was now out of sight. +Indeed it was not wise to come out as we did without tent or bag. We +had taken the chance, as the weather had promised fine. As we proceeded +it grew darker and darker, and eventually we were travelling by only +the light of stars, the sun having dipped. After four and a half hours +we sighted the little green tent. It was hard pulling the last two +hours and weird travelling in the dark. We have put in a good day, +having had fourteen hours’ solid marching. We are now sitting in here +enjoying a very excellent thick hoosh. A light has been improvised out +of an old tin with methylated spirit.” + +The party spent the next day in their sleeping-bags, while a blizzard +raged outside. The weather was fine again on March 12, and they built a +cairn for the depot. The stores placed on this cairn comprised a six +weeks’ supply of biscuit and three weeks’ full ration for three men, +and three tins of oil. Early in the afternoon the men resumed their +march northwards and made three miles before camping. “Our bags are +getting into a bad state,” wrote Mackintosh, “as it is some time now +since we have had an opportunity of drying them. We use our bodies for +drying socks and such-like clothing, which we place inside our jerseys +and produce when required. Wild carries a regular wardrobe in this +position, and it is amusing to see him searching round the back of his +clothes for a pair of socks. Getting away in the mornings is our +bitterest time. The putting on of the finneskoe is a nightmare, for +they are always frozen stiff, and we have a great struggle to force our +feet into them. The icy sennegrass round one’s fingers is another +punishment that causes much pain. We are miserable until we are +actually on the move, then warmth returns with the work. Our +conversation now is principally conjecture as to what can have happened +to the other parties. We have various ideas.” + +Saturday, March 13, was another day spent in the sleeping-bags. A +blizzard was raging and everything was obscured. The men saved food by +taking only one meal during the day, and they felt the effect of the +short rations in lowered vitality. Both Joyce and Wild had toes +frost-bitten while in their bags and found difficulty in getting the +circulation restored. Wild suffered particularly in this way and his +feet were very sore. The weather cleared a little the next morning, but +the drift began again before the party could break camp, and another +day had to be spent in the frozen bags. + +The march was resumed on March 15. “About 11 p.m. last night the +temperature commenced to get lower and the gale also diminished. The +lower temperature caused the bags, which were moist, to freeze hard. We +had no sleep and spent the night twisting and turning. The morning +brought sunshine and pleasure, for the hot hoosh warmed our bodies and +gave a glow that was most comforting. The sun was out, the weather fine +and clear but cold. At 8.30 a.m. we made a start. We take a long time +putting on our finneskoe, although we get up earlier to allow for this. +This morning we were over four hours’ getting away. We had a fine +surface this morning for marching, but we did not make much headway. We +did the usual four miles before lunch. The temperature was –23° Fahr. A +mirage made the sastrugi appear to be dancing like some ice-goblins. +Joyce calls them ‘dancing jimmies.’ After lunch we travelled well, but +the distance for the day was only 7 miles 400 yds. We are blaming our +sledge-meter for the slow rate of progress. It is extraordinary that on +the days when we consider we are making good speed we do no more than +on days when we have a tussle.” + +“_March_ 15.—The air temperature this morning was –35° Fahr. Last night +was one of the worst I have ever experienced. To cap everything, I +developed toothache, presumably as a result of frost-bitten cheek. I +was in positive agony. I groaned and moaned, got the medicine-chest, +but could find nothing there to stop the pain. Joyce, who had wakened +up, suggested methylated spirit, so I damped some cotton-wool, then +placed it in the tooth, with the result that I burnt the inside of my +mouth. All this time my fingers, being exposed (it must have been at +least 50° below zero), were continually having to be brought back. +After putting on the methylated spirit I went back to the bag, which, +of course, was frozen stiff. I wriggled and moaned till morning brought +relief by enabling me to turn out. Joyce and Wild both had a bad night, +their feet giving them trouble. My feet do not affect me so much as +theirs. The skin has peeled off the inside of my mouth, exposing a raw +sore, as the result of the methylated spirit. My tooth is better +though. We have had to reduce our daily ration. Frost-bites are +frequent in consequence. The surface became very rough in the +afternoon, and the light, too, was bad owing to cumulus clouds being +massed over the sun. We are continually falling, for we are unable to +distinguish the high and low parts of the sastrugi surface. We are +travelling on our ski. We camped at 6 p.m. after travelling 6 miles 100 +yds. I am writing this sitting up in the bag. This is the first +occasion I have been able to do thus for some time, for usually the +cold has penetrated through everything should one have the bag open. +The temperature is a little higher to-night, but still it is –21° Fahr. +(53° of frost). Our matches, among other things, are running short, and +we have given up using any except for lighting the Primus.” + +The party found the light bad again the next day. After stumbling on +ski among the sastrugi for two hours, the men discarded the ski and +made better progress; but they still had many falls, owing to the +impossibility of distinguishing slopes and irregularities in the grey, +shadowless surface of the snow. They made over nine and a half miles +that day, and managed to cover ten miles on the following day, March +18, one of the best marches of the journey. “I look forward to seeing +the ship. All of us bear marks of our tramp. Wild takes first place. +His nose is a picture for _Punch_ to be jealous of; his ears, too, are +sore, and one big toe is a black sore. Joyce has a good nose and many +minor sores. My jaw is swollen from the frost-bite I got on the cheek, +and I also have a bit of nose.... We have discarded the ski, which we +hitherto used, and travel in the finneskoe. This makes the sledge go +better but it is not so comfortable travelling as on ski. We +encountered a very high, rough sastrugi surface, most remarkably high, +and had a cold breeze in our faces during the march. Our beards and +moustaches are masses of ice. I will take care I am clean-shaven next +time I come out. The frozen moustache makes the lobes of the nose +freeze more easily than they would if there was no ice alongside +them.... I ask myself why on earth one comes to these parts of the +earth. Here we are, frostbitten in the day, frozen at night. What a +life!” The temperature at 1 p.m. that day was –23° Fahr., _i.e._ 55° of +frost. + +The men camped abreast of “Corner Camp,” where they had been on +February 1, on the evening of March 19. The next day, after being +delayed for some hours by bad weather, they turned towards Castle Rock +and proceeded across the disturbed area where the Barrier impinges upon +the land. Joyce put his foot through the snow-covering of a fairly +large crevasse, and the course had to be changed to avoid this danger. +The march for the day was only 2 miles 900 yds. Mackintosh felt that +the pace was too slow, but was unable to quicken it owing to the bad +surfaces. The food had been cut down to close upon half-rations, and at +this reduced rate the supply still in hand would be finished in two +days. The party covered 7 miles 570 yds. on the 21st, and the hoosh +that night was “no thicker than tea.” + +“The first thought this morning was that we must do a good march,” +wrote Mackintosh on March 22. “Once we can get to Safety Camp (at the +junction of the Barrier with the sea-ice) we are right. Of course, we +can as a last resort abandon the sledge and take a run into Hut Point, +about twenty-two miles away.... We have managed quite a respectable +forenoon march. The surface was hard, so we took full advantage of it. +With our low food the cold is penetrating. We had lunch at 1 p.m., and +then had left over one meal at full rations and a small quantity of +biscuits. The temperature at lunch-time was –6° Fahr. Erebus is +emitting large volumes of smoke, travelling in a south-easterly +direction, and a red glare is also discernible. After lunch we again +accomplished a good march, the wind favouring us for two hours. We are +anxiously looking out for Safety Camp.” The distance for the day was 8 +miles 1525 yds. + +“_March_ 23, 1915.—No sooner had we camped last night than a blizzard +with drift came on and has continued ever since. This morning finds us +prisoners. The drift is lashing into the sides of the tent and +everything outside is obscured. This weather is rather alarming, for if +it continues we are in a bad way. We have just made a meal of cocoa +mixed with biscuit-crumbs. This has warmed us up a little, but on empty +stomachs the cold is penetrating.” + +The weather cleared in the afternoon, but too late for the men to move +that day. They made a start at 7 a.m. on the 24th after a meal of cocoa +and biscuit-crumbs. + +“We have some biscuit-crumbs in the bag and that is all. Our start was +made under most bitter circumstances, all of us being attacked by +frost-bites. It was an effort to bare hands for an instant. After much +rubbing and ‘bringing back’ of extremities we started. Wild is a mass +of bites, and we are all in a bad way. We plugged on, but warmth would +not come into our bodies. We had been pulling about two hours when +Joyce’s smart eyes picked up a flag. We shoved on for all we were +worth, and as we got closer, sure enough, the cases of provisions +loomed up. Then what feeds we promised to give ourselves. It was not +long before we were putting our gastronomic capabilities to the test. +Pemmican was brought down from the depot, with oatmeal to thicken it, +as well as sugar. While Wild was getting the Primus lighted he called +out to us that he believed his ear had gone. This was the last piece of +his face left whole—nose, cheeks, and neck all having bites. I went +into the tent and had a look. The ear was a pale green. I quickly put +the palm of my hand to it and brought it round. Then his fingers went, +and to stop this and bring back the circulation he put them over the +lighted Primus, a terrible thing to do. As a result he was in agony. +His ear was brought round all right, and soon the hot hoosh sent warmth +tingling through us. We felt like new beings. We simply ate till we +were full, mug after mug. After we had been well satisfied, we replaced +the cases we had pulled down from the depot and proceeded towards the +Gap. Just before leaving Joyce discovered a note left by Spencer-Smith +and Richards. This told us that both the other parties had returned to +the Hut and apparently all was well. So that is good. When we got to +the Barrier-edge we found the ice-cliff on to the newly formed sea-ice +not safe enough to bear us, so we had to make a detour along the +Barrier-edge and, if the sea ice was not negotiable, find a way up by +Castle Rock. At 7 p.m., not having found any suitable place to descend +to the sea-ice we camped. To-night we have the Primus going and warming +our frozen selves. I hope to make Hut Point to-morrow.” + +Mackintosh and his companions broke camp on the morning of March 25, +with the thermometer recording 55° of frost, and, after another futile +search for a way down the ice-cliff to the sea-ice, they proceeded +towards Castle Rock. While in this course they picked up sledge-tracks, +and, following these, they found a route down to the sea-ice. +Mackintosh decided to depot the sledge on top of a well-marked +undulation and proceed without gear. A short time later the three men, +after a scramble over the cliffs of Hut Point, reached the door of the +hut. + +“We shouted. No sound. Shouted again, and presently a dark object +appeared. This turned out to be Cope, who was by himself. The other +members of the party had gone out to fetch the gear off their sledge, +which they also had left. Cope had been laid up, so did not go with +them. We soon were telling each other’s adventures, and we heard then +how the ship had called here on March 11 and picked up Spencer-Smith, +Richards, Ninnis, Hooke, and Gaze, the present members here being Cope, +Hayward, and Jack. A meal was soon prepared. We found here even a +blubber-fire, luxurious, but what a state of dirt and grease! However, +warmth and food are at present our principal objects. While we were +having our meal Jack and Hayward appeared.... Late in the evening we +turned into dry bags. As there are only three bags here, we take it in +turns to use them. Our party have the privilege.... I got a letter here +from Stenhouse giving a summary of his doings since we left him. The +ship’s party also have not had a rosy time.” + +Mackintosh learned here that Spencer-Smith, Jack, and Gaze, who had +turned back on February 10, had reached Hut Point without difficulty. +The third party, headed by Cope, had also been out on the Barrier but +had not done much. This party had attempted to use the motor-tractor, +but had failed to get effective service from the machine and had not +proceeded far afield. The motor was now lying at Hut Point. +Spencer-Smith’s party and Cope’s party had both returned to Hut Point +before the end of February. + +The six men now at Hut Point were cut off from the winter quarters of +the Expedition at Cape Evans by the open water of McMurdo Sound. +Mackintosh naturally was anxious to make the crossing and get in touch +with the ship and the other members of the shore party; but he could +not make a move until the sea-ice became firm, and, as events occurred, +he did not reach Cape Evans until the beginning of June. He went out +with Cope and Hayward on March 29 to get his sledge and brought it as +far as Pram Point, on the south side of Hut Point. He had to leave the +sledge there owing to the condition of the sea-ice. He and his +companions lived an uneventful life under primitive conditions at the +hut. The weather was bad, and though the temperatures recorded were +low, the young sea-ice continually broke away. The blubber-stove in use +at the hut seemed to have produced soot and grease in the usual large +quantities, and the men and their clothing suffered accordingly. The +whites of their eyes contrasted vividly with the dense blackness of +their skins. Wild and Joyce had a great deal of trouble with their +frost-bites. Joyce had both feet blistered, his knees were swollen, and +his hands also were blistered. Jack devised some blubber-lamps, which +produced an uncertain light and much additional smoke. Mackintosh +records that the members of the party were contented enough but +“unspeakably dirty,” and he writes longingly of baths and clean +clothing. The store of seal-blubber ran low early in April, and all +hands kept a sharp look-out for seals. On April 15 several seals were +seen and killed. The operations of killing and skinning made worse the +greasy and blackened clothes of the men. It is to be regretted that +though there was a good deal of literature available, especially on +this particular district, the leaders of the various parties had not +taken advantage of it and so supplemented their knowledge. Joyce and +Mackintosh of course had had previous Antarctic experience: but it was +open to all to have carefully studied the detailed instructions +published in the books of the three last Expeditions in this quarter. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV +WINTERING IN McMURDO SOUND + + +The _Aurora_, after picking up six men at Hut Point on March 11, had +gone back to Cape Evans. The position chosen for the winter quarters of +the _Aurora_ was at Cape Evans, immediately off the hut erected by +Captain Scott on his last Expedition. The ship on March 14 lay about +forty yards off shore, bows seaward. Two anchors had been taken ashore +and embedded in heavy stone rubble, and to these anchors were attached +six steel hawsers. The hawsers held the stern, while the bow was +secured by the ordinary ship’s anchors. Later, when the new ice had +formed round the _Aurora_, the cable was dragged ashore over the smooth +surface and made fast. The final moorings thus were six hawsers and one +cable astern, made fast to the shore anchors, and two anchors with +about seventy fathoms of cable out forward. On March 23 Mr. Stenhouse +landed a party consisting of Stevens, Spencer-Smith, Gaze, and Richards +in order that they might carry out routine observations ashore. These +four men took up their quarters in Captain Scott’s hut. They had been +instructed to kill seals for meat and blubber. The landing of stores, +gear, and coal did not proceed at all rapidly, it being assumed that +the ship would remain at her moorings throughout the winter. Some tons +of coal were taken ashore during April, but most of it stayed on the +beach, and much of it was lost later when the sea-ice went out. This +shore party was in the charge of Stevens, and his report, handed to me +much later, gives a succinct account of what occurred, from the point +of view of the men at the hut: + +“CAPE EVANS, ROSS ISLAND, _July_ 30, 1915. + + +“On the 23rd March, 1915, a party consisting of Spencer-Smith, +Richards, and Gaze was landed at Cape Evans Hut in my charge. +Spencer-Smith received independent instructions to devote his time +exclusively to photography. I was verbally instructed that the main +duty of the party was to obtain a supply of seals for food and fuel. +Scientific work was also to be carried on. + +“Meteorological instruments were at once installed, and experiments +were instituted on copper electrical thermometers in order to +supplement our meagre supply of instruments and enable observations of +earth, ice, and sea temperatures to be made. Other experimental work +was carried on, and the whole of the time of the scientific members of +the party was occupied. All seals seen were secured. On one or two +occasions the members of the shore party were summoned to work on board +ship. + +“In general the weather was unsettled, blizzards occurring frequently +and interrupting communication with the ship across the ice. Only +small, indispensable supplies of stores and no clothes were issued to +the party on shore. Only part of the scientific equipment was able to +be transferred to the shore, and the necessity to obtain that prevented +some members of the party landing all their personal gear. + +“The ship was moored stern on to the shore, at first well over one +hundred yards from it. There were two anchors out ahead and the vessel +was made fast to two others sunk in the ground ashore by seven wires. +The strain on the wires was kept constant by tightening up from time to +time such as became slack, and easing cables forward, and in this way +the ship was brought much closer inshore. A cable was now run out to +the south anchor ashore, passed onboard through a fair-lead under the +port end of the bridge, and made fast to bollards forward. Subsequent +strain due to ice and wind pressure on the ship broke three of the +wires. Though I believe it was considered on board that the ship was +secure, there was still considerable anxiety felt. The anchors had held +badly before, and the power of the ice-pressure on the ship was +uncomfortably obvious. + +“Since the ship had been moored the bay had frequently frozen over, and +the ice had as frequently gone out on account of blizzards. The ice +does not always go out before the wind has passed its maximum. It +depends on the state of tides and currents; for the sea-ice has been +seen more than once to go out bodily when a blizzard had almost +completely calmed down. + +“On the 6th May the ice was in and people passed freely between the +shore and the ship. At 11 p.m. the wind was south, backing to +south-east, and blew at forty miles per hour. The ship was still in her +place. At 3 a.m. on the 7th the wind had not increased to any extent, +but ice and ship had gone. As she was not seen to go we are unable to +say whether the vessel was damaged. The shore end of the cable was bent +twice sharply, and the wires were loose. On the afternoon of the 7th +the weather cleared somewhat, but nothing was seen of the ship. The +blizzard only lasted some twelve hours. Next day the wind became +northerly, but on the 10th there was blowing the fiercest blizzard we +have so far experienced from the south-east. Nothing has since been +seen or heard of the ship, though a look-out was kept. + +“Immediately the ship went as accurate an inventory as possible of all +stores ashore was made, and the rate of consumption of food-stuffs so +regulated that they would last ten men for not less than one hundred +weeks. Coal had already been used with the utmost economy. Little could +be done to cut down the consumption, but the transference to the +neighbourhood of the hut of such of the coal landed previously by the +ship as was not lost was pushed on. Meat also was found to be very +short; it was obvious that neither it nor coal could be made to last +two years, but an evidently necessary step in the ensuing summer would +be the ensuring of an adequate supply of meat and blubber, for +obtaining which the winter presented little opportunity. Meat and coal +were, therefore, used with this consideration in mind, as required but +as carefully as possible. + +“A. STEVENS.” + + +The men ashore did not at once abandon hope of the ship returning +before the Sound froze firmly. New ice formed on the sea whenever the +weather was calm, and it had been broken up and taken out many times by +the blizzards. During the next few days eager eyes looked seaward +through the dim twilight of noon, but the sea was covered with a dense +black mist and nothing was visible. A northerly wind sprang up on May 8 +and continued for a few hours, but it brought no sign of the ship, and +when on May 10 the most violent blizzard yet experienced by the party +commenced, hope grew slender. The gale continued for three days, the +wind attaining a velocity of seventy miles an hour. The snowdrift was +very thick and the temperature fell to –20° Fahr. The shore party took +a gloomy view of the ship’s chances of safety among the ice-floes of +the Ross Sea under such conditions. + +Stevens and his companions made a careful survey of their position and +realized that they had serious difficulties to face. No general +provisions and no clothing of the kind required for sledging had been +landed from the ship. Much of the sledging gear was also aboard. +Fortunately, the hut contained both food and clothing, left there by +Captain Scott’s Expedition. The men killed as many seals as possible +and stored the meat and blubber. June 2 brought a welcome addition to +the party in the form of the men who had been forced to remain at Hut +Point until the sea-ice became firm. Mackintosh and those with him had +incurred some risk in making the crossing, since open water had been +seen on their route by the Cape Evans party only a short time before. +There were now ten men at Cape Evans—namely, Mackintosh, Spencer-Smith, +Joyce, Wild, Cope, Stevens, Hayward, Gaze, Jack, and Richards. The +winter had closed down upon the Antarctic and the party would not be +able to make any move before the beginning of September. In the +meantime they overhauled the available stores and gear, made plans for +the work of the forthcoming spring and summer, and lived the severe but +not altogether unhappy life of the polar explorer in winter quarters. +Mackintosh, writing on June 5, surveyed his position: + +“The decision of Stenhouse to make this bay the wintering place of the +ship was not reached without much thought and consideration of all +eventualities. Stenhouse had already tried the Glacier Tongue and other +places, but at each of them the ship had been in an exposed and +dangerous position. When this bay was tried the ship withstood several +severe blizzards, in which the ice remained in on several occasions. +When the ice did go out the moorings held. The ship was moored bows +north. She had both anchors down forward and two anchors buried astern, +to which the stern moorings were attached with seven lengths of wire. +Taking all this into account, it was quite a fair judgment on his part +to assume that the ship would be secure here. The blizzard that took +the ship and the ice out of the bay was by no means as severe as others +she had weathered. The accident proves again the uncertainty of +conditions in these regions. I only pray and trust that the ship and +those aboard are safe. I am sure they will have a thrilling story to +tell when we see them.” + +The _Aurora_ could have found safe winter quarters farther up McMurdo +Sound, towards Hut Point, but would have run the risk of being frozen +in over the following summer, and I had given instructions to +Mackintosh before he went south that this danger must be avoided. + +“Meanwhile we are making all preparations here for a prolonged stay. +The shortage of clothing is our principal hardship. The members of the +party from Hut Point have the clothes we wore when we left the ship on +January 25. We have been without a wash all that time, and I cannot +imagine a dirtier set of people. We have been attempting to get a wash +ever since we came back, but owing to the blow during the last two days +no opportunity has offered. All is working smoothly here, and every one +is taking the situation very philosophically. Stevens is in charge of +the scientific staff and is now the senior officer ashore. Joyce is in +charge of the equipment and has undertaken to improvise clothes out of +what canvas can be found here. Wild is working with Joyce. He is a +cheerful, willing soul. Nothing ever worries or upsets him, and he is +ever singing or making some joke or performing some amusing prank. +Richards has taken over the keeping of the meteorological log. He is a +young Australian, a hard, conscientious worker, and I look forward to +good results from his endeavours. Jack, another young Australian, is +his assistant. Hayward is the handy man, being responsible for the +supply of blubber. Gaze, another Australian, is working in conjunction +with Hayward. Spencer-Smith, the _padre_, is in charge of photography, +and, of course, assists in the general routine work. Cope is the +medical officer. + +“The routine here is as follows: Four of us, myself, Stevens, Richards, +and Spencer-Smith, have breakfast at 7 a.m. The others are called at 9 +a.m., and their breakfast is served. Then the table is cleared, the +floor is swept, and the ordinary work of the day is commenced. At 1 +p.m. we have what we call ‘a counter lunch,’ that is, cold food and +cocoa. We work from 2 p.m. till 5 p.m. After 5 p.m. people can do what +they like. Dinner is at 7. The men play games, read, write up diaries. +We turn in early, since we have to economize fuel and light. +Night-watches are kept by the scientific men, who have the privilege of +turning in during the day. The day after my arrival here I gave an +outline of our situation and explained the necessity for economy in the +use of fuel, light, and stores, in view of the possibility that we may +have to stay here for two years.... We are not going to commence work +for the sledging operations until we know more definitely the fate of +the _Aurora_. I dare not think any disaster has occurred.” + +During the remaining days of June the men washed and mended clothes, +killed seals, made minor excursions in the neighbourhood of the hut, +and discussed plans for the future. They had six dogs, two being +bitches without experience of sledging. One of these bitches had given +birth to a litter of pups, but she proved a poor mother and the young +ones died. The animals had plenty of seal meat and were tended +carefully. + +Mackintosh called a meeting of all hands on June 26 for the discussion +of the plans he had made for the depot-laying expedition to be +undertaken during the following spring and summer. + +“I gave an outline of the position and invited discussion from the +members. Several points were brought up. I had suggested that one of +our party should remain behind for the purpose of keeping the +meteorological records and laying in a supply of meat and blubber. This +man would be able to hand my instructions to the ship and pilot a party +to the Bluff. It had been arranged that Richards should do this. +Several objected on the ground that the whole complement would be +necessary, and, after the matter had been put to the vote, it was +agreed that we should delay the decision until the parties had some +practical work and we had seen how they fared. The shortage of clothing +was discussed, and Joyce and Wild have agreed to do their best in this +matter. October sledging (on the Barrier) was mentioned as being too +early, but is to be given a trial. These were the most important points +brought up, and it was mutually and unanimously agreed that we could do +no more.... I know we are doing our best.” + + +[Illustration: A Newly-frozen Lead] + + +[Illustration: The Ross Sea Party] + + +The party was anxious to visit Cape Royds, north of Cape Evans, but at +the end of June open water remained right across the Sound and a +crossing was impossible. At Cape Royds is the hut used by the +Shackleton Expedition of 1907–1909, and the stores and supplies it +contains might have proved very useful. Joyce and Wild made finneskoe +(fur boots) from spare sleeping-bags. Mackintosh mentions that the +necessity of economizing clothing and footgear prevented the men taking +as much exercise as they would otherwise have done. A fair supply of +canvas and leather had been found in the hut, and some men tried their +hands at making shoes. Many seals had been killed and brought in, and +the supply of meat and blubber was ample for present needs. + +During July Mackintosh made several trips northwards on the sea-ice, +but found always that he could not get far. A crack stretched roughly +from Inaccessible Island to the Barne Glacier, and the ice beyond +looked weak and loose. The improving light told of the returning sun. +Richards and Jack were weighing out stores in readiness for the +sledging expeditions. Mackintosh, from the hill behind the hut, saw +open water stretching westward from Inaccessible Island on August 1, +and noted that probably McMurdo Sound was never completely frozen over. +A week later the extent of the open water appeared to have increased, +and the men began to despair of getting to Cape Royds. Blizzards were +frequent and persistent. A few useful articles were found in the +neighbourhood of the hut as the light improved, including some +discarded socks and underwear, left by members of the Scott Expedition, +and a case of candied peel, which was used for cakes. A small fire +broke out in the hut on August 12. The acetylene-gas lighting plant +installed in the hut by Captain Scott had been rigged, and one day it +developed a leak. A member of the party searched for the leak with a +lighted candle, and the explosion that resulted fired some woodwork. +Fortunately the outbreak was extinguished quickly. The loss of the hut +at this stage would have been a tragic incident. + +Mackintosh and Stevens paid a visit to Cape Royds on August 13. They +had decided to attempt the journey over the Barne Glacier, and after +crossing a crevassed area they got to the slopes of Cape Barne and +thence down to the sea-ice. They found this ice to be newly formed, but +sufficiently strong for their purpose, and soon reached the Cape Royds +hut. + +“The outer door of the hut we found to be off,” wrote Mackintosh. “A +little snow had drifted into the porch, but with a shovel, which we +found outside, this was soon cleared away. We then entered, and in the +centre of the hut found a pile of snow and ice, which had come through +the open ventilator in the roof of the hut. We soon closed this. +Stevens prepared a meal while I cleared the ice and snow away from the +middle of the hut. After our meal we commenced taking an inventory of +the stores inside. Tobacco was our first thought. Of this we found one +tin of Navy Cut and a box of cigars. Soap, too, which now ensures us a +wash and clean clothes when we get back. We then began to look round +for a sleeping-bag. No bags were here, however, but on the improvised +beds of cases we found two mattresses, an old canvas screen, and two +blankets. We took it in turns to turn in. Stevens started first, while +I kept the fire going. No coal or blubber was here, so we had to use +wood, which, while keeping the person alongside it warm, did not raise +the temperature of the hut over freezing-point. Over the stove in a +conspicuous place we found a notice by Scott’s party that parties using +the hut should leave the dishes clean.” + +Mackintosh and Stevens stayed at the Cape Royds hut over the next day +and made a thorough examination of the stores there. They found outside +the hut a pile of cases containing meats, flour, dried vegetables, and +sundries, at least a year’s supply for a party of six. They found no +new clothing, but made a collection of worn garments, which could be +mended and made serviceable. Carrying loads of their spoils, they set +out for Cape Evans on the morning of August 15 across the sea-ice. Very +weak ice barred the way and they had to travel round the coast. They +got back to Cape Evans in two hours. During their absence Wild and Gaze +had climbed Inaccessible Island, Gaze having an ear badly frost-bitten +on the journey. The tobacco was divided among the members of the party. +A blizzard was raging the next day, and Mackintosh congratulated +himself on having chosen the time for his trip fortunately. + +The record of the remaining part of August is not eventful. All hands +were making preparations for the sledging, and were rejoicing in the +increasing daylight. The party tried the special sledging ration +prepared under my own direction, and “all agreed it was excellent both +in bulk and taste.” Three emperor penguins, the first seen since the +landing, were caught on August 19. By that time the returning sun was +touching with gold the peaks of the Western Mountains and throwing into +bold relief the massive form of Erebus. The volcano was emitting a +great deal of smoke, and the glow of its internal fires showed +occasionally against the smoke-clouds above the crater. Stevens, +Spencer-Smith, and Cope went to Cape Royds on the 20th, and were still +there when the sun made its first appearance over Erebus on the 26th. +Preceding days had been cloudy, and the sun, although above the +horizon, had not been visible. + +“The morning broke clear and fine,” wrote Mackintosh. “Over Erebus the +sun’s rays peeped through the massed cumulus and produced the most +gorgeous cloud effects. The light made us all blink and at the same +time caused the greatest exuberance of spirits. We felt like men +released from prison. I stood outside the hut and looked at the truly +wonderful scenery all round. The West Mountains were superb in their +wild grandeur. The whole outline of peaks, some eighty or ninety +distant, showed up, stencilled in delicate contrast to the sky-line. +The immense ice-slopes shone white as alabaster against dark shadows. +The sky to the west over the mountains was clear, except for low-lying +banks at the foot of the slopes round about Mount Discovery. To the +south hard streaks of stratus lay heaped up to 30 degrees above the +horizon.... Then Erebus commenced to emit volumes of smoke, which rose +hundreds of feet and trailed away in a north-westerly direction. The +southern slopes of Erebus were enveloped in a mass of cloud.” The party +from Cape Royds returned that afternoon, and there was disappointment +at their report that no more tobacco had been found. + +The sledging of stores to Hut Point, in preparation for the +depot-laying journeys on the Barrier, was to begin on September 1. +Mackintosh, before that date, had discussed plans fully with the +members of his party. He considered that sufficient sledging provisions +were available at Cape Evans, the supply landed from the ship being +supplemented by the stores left by the Scott Expedition of 1912–13 and +the Shackleton Expedition of 1907–09. The supply of clothing and tents +was more difficult. Garments brought from the ship could be +supplemented by old clothing found at Hut Point and Cape Evans. The +Burberry wind-proof outer garments were old and in poor order for the +start of a season’s sledging. Old sleeping-bags had been cut up to make +finneskoe (fur boots) and mend other sleeping-bags. Three tents were +available, one sound one landed from the _Aurora_, and two old ones +left by Captain Scott. Mackintosh had enough sledges, but the +experience of the first journey with the dogs had been unfortunate, and +there were now only four useful dogs left. They did not make a full +team and would have to be used merely as an auxiliary to man-haulage. + +The scheme adopted by Mackintosh, after discussion with the members of +his party, was that nine men, divided into three parties of three each, +should undertake the sledging. One man would be left at Cape Evans to +continue the meteorological observations during the summer. The +motor-tractor, which had been left at Hut Point, was to be brought to +Cape Evans and, if possible, put into working order. Mackintosh +estimated that the provisions required for the consumption of the depot +parties, and for the depots to be placed southward to the foot of the +Beardmore Glacier, would amount to 4000 lbs. The first depot was to be +placed off Minna Bluff, and from there southward a depot was to be +placed on each degree of latitude. The final depot would be made at the +foot of the Beardmore Glacier. The initial task would be the haulage of +stores from Cape Evans to Hut Point, a distance of 13 miles. All the +sledging stores had to be taken across, and Mackintosh proposed to +place additional supplies there in case a party, returning late from +the Barrier, had to spend winter months at Hut Point. + +The first party, consisting of Mackintosh, Richards, and Spencer-Smith, +left Cape Evans on September 1 with 600 lbs. of stores on one sledge, +and had an uneventful journey to Hut Point. They pitched a tent +half-way across the bay, on the sea-ice, and left it there for the use +of the various parties during the month. At Hut Point they cleared the +snow from the motor-tractor and made some preliminary efforts to get it +into working order. They returned to Cape Evans on the 3rd. The second +trip to Hut Point was made by a party of nine, with three sledges. Two +sledges, man-hauled, were loaded with 1278 lbs. of stores, and a +smaller sledge, drawn by the dogs, carried the sleeping-bags. This +party encountered a stiff southerly breeze, with low temperature, and, +as the men were still in rather soft condition, they suffered much from +frost bites. Joyce and Gaze both had their heels badly blistered. +Mackintosh’s face suffered, and other men had fingers and ears +“bitten.” When they returned Gaze had to travel on a sledge, since he +could not set foot to the ground. They tried to haul the motor to Cape +Evans on this occasion, but left it for another time after covering a +mile or so. The motor was not working and was heavy to pull. + +Eight men made the third journey to Hut Point, Gaze and Jack remaining +behind. They took 660 lbs. of oil and 630 lbs. of stores. From Hut +Point the next day (September 14) the party proceeded with loaded +sledges to Safety Camp, on the edge of the Barrier. This camp would be +the starting-point for the march over the Barrier to the Minna Bluff +depot. They left the two sledges, with 660 lbs. of oil and 500 lbs. of +oatmeal, sugar, and sundries, at Safety Camp and returned to Hut Point. +The dogs shared the work on this journey. The next day Mackintosh and +his companions took the motor to Cape Evans, hauling it with its +grip-wheels mounted on a sledge. After a pause due to bad weather, a +party of eight men took another load to Hut Point on September 24, and +on to Safety Camp the next day. They got back to Cape Evans on the +26th. Richards meanwhile had overhauled the motor and given it some +trial runs on the sea-ice. But he reported that the machine was not +working satisfactorily, and Mackintosh decided not to persevere with +it. + +“Everybody is up to his eyes in work,” runs the last entry in the +journal left by Mackintosh at Cape Evans. “All gear is being +overhauled, and personal clothing is having the last stitches. We have +been improvising shoes to replace the finneskoe, of which we are badly +short. Wild has made an excellent shoe out of an old horse-rug he found +here, and this is being copied by other men. I have made myself a pair +of mitts out of an old sleeping-bag. Last night I had a bath, the +second since being here.... I close this journal to-day (September 30) +and am packing it with my papers here. To-morrow we start for Hut +Point. Nine of us are going on the sledge party for laying +depots—namely, Stevens, Spencer-Smith, Joyce, Wild, Cope, Hayward, +Jack, Richards, and myself. Gaze, who is still suffering from bad feet, +is remaining behind and will probably be relieved by Stevens after our +first trip. With us we take three months’ provisions to leave at Hut +Point. I continue this journal in another book, which I keep with me.” + +The nine men reached Hut Point on October 1. They took the last loads +with them. Three sledges and three tents were to be taken on to the +Barrier, and the parties were as follows: + +No. 1: Mackintosh, Spencer-Smith, and Wild; No. 2: Joyce, Cope, and +Richards; No. 3: Jack, Hayward, and Gaze. On October 3 and 4 some +stores left at Half-Way Camp were brought in, and other stores were +moved on to Safety Camp. Bad weather delayed the start of the +depot-laying expedition from Hut Point until October 9. + + + + +CHAPTER XV +LAYING THE DEPOTS + + +Mackintosh’s account of the depot-laying journeys undertaken by his +parties in the summer of 1915–16 unfortunately is not available. The +leader of the parties kept a diary, but he had the book with him when +he was lost on the sea-ice in the following winter. The narrative of +the journeys has been compiled from the notes kept by Joyce, Richards, +and other members of the parties, and I may say here that it is a +record of dogged endeavour in the face of great difficulties and +serious dangers. It is always easy to be wise after the event, and one +may realize now that the use of the dogs, untrained and soft from +shipboard inactivity, on the comparatively short journey undertaken +immediately after the landing in 1915 was a mistake. The result was the +loss of nearly all the dogs before the longer and more important +journeys of 1915–16 were undertaken. The men were sledging almost +continuously during a period of six months; they suffered from +frost-bite, scurvy, snow-blindness, and the utter weariness of +overtaxed bodies. But the they placed the depots in the required +positions, and if the Weddell Sea party had been able to make the +crossing of the Antarctic continent, the stores and fuel would have +been waiting for us where we expected to find them. + +The position on October 9 was that the nine men at Hut Point had with +them the stores required for the depots and for their own maintenance +throughout the summer. The remaining dogs were at Cape Evans with Gaze, +who had a sore heel and had been replaced temporarily by Stevens in the +sledging party. A small quantity of stores had been conveyed already to +Safety Camp on the edge of the Barrier beyond Hut Point. Mackintosh +intended to form a large depot off Minna Bluff, seventy miles out from +Hut Point. This would necessitate several trips with heavy loads. Then +he would use the Bluff depot as a base for the journey to Mount Hope, +at the foot of the Beardmore Glacier, where the final depot was to be +laid. + +The party left Hut Point on the morning of October 9, the nine men +hauling on one rope and trailing three loaded sledges. They reached +Safety Camp in the early afternoon, and, after repacking the sledges +with a load of about 2000 lbs., they began the journey over the +Barrier. The pulling proved exceedingly heavy, and they camped at the +end of half a mile. It was decided next day to separate the sledges, +three men to haul each sledge. Mackintosh hoped that better progress +could be made in this way. The distance for the day was only four +miles, and the next day’s journey was no better. Joyce mentions that he +had never done harder pulling, the surface being soft, and the load +amounting to 220 lbs. per man. The new arrangement was not a success, +owing to differences in hauling capacity and inequalities in the +loading of the sledges; and on the morning of the 12th, Mackintosh, +after consultation, decided to push forward with Wild and +Spencer-Smith, hauling one sledge and a relatively light load, and +leave Joyce and the remaining five men to bring two sledges and the +rest of the stores at their best pace. This arrangement was maintained +on the later journeys. The temperatures were falling below –30° Fahr. +at some hours, and, as the men perspired freely while hauling their +heavy loads in the sun, they suffered a great deal of discomfort in the +damp and freezing clothes at night. Joyce cut down his load on the 13th +by depot-ing some rations and spare clothing, and made better progress. +He was building snow-cairns as guide-posts for use on the return +journey. He mentions passing some large crevasses during succeeding +days. Persistent head winds with occasional drift made the conditions +unpleasant and caused many frost-bites. When the surface was hard, and +the pulling comparatively easy, the men slipped and fell continually, +“looking much like classical dancers.” + +On the 20th a northerly wind made possible the use of a sail, and +Joyce’s party made rapid progress. Jack sighted a bamboo pole during +the afternoon; and Joyce found that marked a depot he had laid for my +own “Farthest South” party in 1908. He dug down in the hope of finding +some stores, but the depot had been cleared. The party reached the +Bluff depot on the evening of the 21st and found that Mackintosh had +been there on the 19th. Mackintosh had left 178 lbs. of provisions, and +Joyce left one sledge and 273 lbs. of stores. The most interesting +incident of the return journey was the discovery of a note left by Mr. +Cherry Garrard for Captain Scott on March 19, 1912, only a few days +before the latter perished at his camp farther south. An upturned +sledge at this point was found to mark a depot of dog-biscuit and +motor-oil, laid by one of Captain Scott’s parties. Joyce reached Safety +Camp on the afternoon of the 27th, and, after dumping all spare gear, +pushed on to Hut Point in a blizzard. The sledges nearly went over a +big drop at the edge of the Barrier, and a few moments later Stevens +dropped down a crevasse to the length of his harness. + +“Had a tough job getting him up, as we had no alpine rope and had to +use harness,” wrote Joyce. “Got over all right and had a very hard pull +against wind and snow, my face getting frost-bitten as I had to keep +looking up to steer. We arrived at the hut about 7.30 p.m. after a very +hard struggle. We found the Captain and his party there. They had been +in for three days. Gaze was also there with the dogs. We soon had a +good feed and forgot our hard day’s work.” + +Mackintosh decided to make use of the dogs on the second journey to the +Bluff depot. He thought that with the aid of the dogs heavier loads +might be hauled. This plan involved the dispatch of a party to Cape +Evans to get dog-pemmican. Mackintosh himself, with Wild and +Spencer-Smith, started south again on October 29. Their sledge +overturned on the slope down to the sea-ice, and the rim of their +tent-spread was broken. The damage did not appear serious, and the +party soon disappeared round Cape Armitage. Joyce remained in charge at +Hut Point, with instructions to get dog food from Cape Evans and make a +start south as soon as possible. He sent Stevens, Hayward, and Cope to +Cape Evans the next day, and busied himself with the repair of +sledging-gear. Cope, Hayward, and Gaze arrived back from Cape Evans on +November 1, Stevens having stayed at the base. A blizzard delayed the +start southward, and the party did not get away until November 5. The +men pulled in harness with the four dogs, and, as the surface was soft +and the loads on the two sledges were heavy, the advance was slow. The +party covered 5 miles 700 yards on the 6th, 4 miles 300 yards on the +7th, and 8 miles 1800 yards on the 9th, with the aid of a light +northerly wind. They passed on the 9th a huge bergstrom, with a drop of +about 70 feet from the flat surface of the Barrier. Joyce thought that +a big crevasse had caved in. “We took some photographs,” wrote Joyce. +“It is a really extraordinary fill-in of ice, with cliffs of blue ice +about 70 feet high, and heavily crevassed, with overhanging +snow-curtains. One could easily walk over the edge coming from the +north in thick weather.” Another bergstrom, with crevassed ice around +it, was encountered on the 11th. Joyce reached the Bluff depot on the +evening of the 14th and found that he could leave 624 lbs. of +provisions. Mackintosh had been there several days earlier and had left +188 lbs. of stores. + +Joyce made Hut Point again on November 20 after an adventurous day. The +surface was good in the morning and he pushed forward rapidly. About +10.30 a.m. the party encountered heavy pressure-ice with crevasses, and +had many narrow escapes. “After lunch we came on four crevasses quite +suddenly. Jack fell through. We could not alter course, or else we +should have been steering among them, so galloped right across. We were +going so fast that the dogs that went through were jerked out. It came +on very thick at 2 p.m. Every bit of land was obscured, and it was hard +to steer. Decided to make for Hut Point, and arrived at 6.30 p.m., +after doing twenty-two miles, a very good performance. I had a bad +attack of snow-blindness and had to use cocaine. Hayward also had a bad +time. I was laid up and had to keep my eyes bandaged for three days. +Hayward, too.” The two men were about again on November 24, and the +party started south on its third journey to the Bluff on the 25th. +Mackintosh was some distance ahead, but the two parties met on the 28th +and had some discussion as to plans. Mackintosh was proceeding to the +Bluff depot with the intention of taking a load of stores to the depot +placed on lat. 80° S. in the first season’s sledging. Joyce, after +depositing his third load at the Bluff, would return to Hut Point for a +fourth and last load, and the parties would then join forces for the +journey southward to Mount Hope. + +Joyce left 729 lbs. at the Bluff depot on December 2, reached Hut Point +on December 7, and, after allowing dogs and men a good rest, he moved +southward again on December 13. This proved to be the worst journey the +party had made. The men had much trouble with crevasses, and they were +held up by blizzards on December 16, 18, 19, 22, 23, 26, and 27. They +spent Christmas Day struggling through soft snow against an icy wind +and drift. The party reached the Bluff depot on December 28, and found +that Mackintosh, who had been much delayed by the bad weather, had gone +south two days earlier on his way to the 80° S. depot. He had not made +much progress and his camp was in sight. He had left instructions for +Joyce to follow him. The Bluff depot was now well stocked. Between 2800 +and 2900 lbs. of provisions had been dragged to the depot for the use +of parties working to the south of this point. This quantity was in +addition to stores placed there earlier in the year. + +Joyce left the Bluff depot on December 29, and the parties were +together two days later. Mackintosh handed Joyce instructions to +proceed with his party to lat. 81° S and place a depot there. He was +then to send three men back to Hut Point and proceed to lat. 82° S., +where he would lay another depot. Then if provisions permitted he would +push south as far as lat. 83°. Mackintosh himself was reinforcing the +depot at lat. 80° S. and would then carry on southward. Apparently his +instructions to Joyce were intended to guard against the contingency of +the parties failing to meet. The dogs were hauling well, and though +their number was small they were of very great assistance. The parties +were now ninety days out from Cape Evans, and “all hands were feeling +fit.” + +The next incident of importance was the appearance of a defect in one +of the two Primus lamps used by Joyce’s party. The lamps had all seen +service with one or other of Captain Scott’s parties, and they had not +been in first-class condition when the sledging commenced. The +threatened failure of a lamp was a matter of grave moment, since a +party could not travel without the means of melting snow and preparing +hot food. If Joyce took a faulty lamp past the 80° S. depot, his whole +party might have to turn back at lat. 81° S., and this would imperil +the success of the season’s sledging. He decided, therefore, to send +three men back from the 80° S. depot, which he reached on January 6, +1916. Cope, Gaze, and Jack were the men to return. They took the +defective Primus and a light load, and by dint of hard travelling, +without the aid of dogs, they reached Cape Evans on January 16. + +Joyce, Richards, and Hayward went forward with a load of 1280 lbs., +comprising twelve weeks’ sledging rations, dog food and depot supplies, +in addition to the sledging-gear. They built cairns at short intervals +as guides to the depots. Joyce was feeding the dogs well and giving +them a hot hoosh every third night. “It is worth it for the wonderful +amount of work they are doing. If we can keep them to 82° S. I can +honestly say it is through their work we have got through.” On January +8 Mackintosh joined Joyce, and from that point the parties, six men +strong, went forward together. They marched in thick weather during +January 10, 11, and 12, keeping the course by means of cairns, with a +scrap of black cloth on top of each one. It was possible, by keeping +the cairns in line behind the sledges and building new ones as old ones +disappeared, to march on an approximately straight line. On the evening +of the 12th they reached lat. 81° S., and built a large cairn for the +depot. The stores left here were three weeks’ rations for the ordinary +sledging unit of three men. This quantity would provide five days’ +rations for twelve men, half for the use of the overland party, and +half for the depot party on its return journey. + +The party moved southwards again on January 13 in bad weather. + +“After a little consultation we decided to get under way,” wrote Joyce. +“Although the weather is thick, and snow is falling, it is worth while +to make the effort. A little patience with the direction and the +cairns, even if one has to put them up 200 yds. apart, enables us to +advance, and it seems that this weather will never break. We have cut +up an old pair of trousers belonging to Richards to place on the sides +of the cairns, so as to make them more prominent. It was really +surprising to find how we got on in spite of the snow and the pie-crust +surface. We did 5 miles 75 yds. before lunch. The dogs are doing +splendidly. I really don’t know how we should manage if it were not for +them.... The distance for the day was 10 miles 720 yds., a splendid +performance considering surface and weather.” + +The weather cleared on the 14th; and the men were able to get bearings +from the mountains to the westward. They advanced fairly rapidly during +succeeding days, the daily distances being from ten to twelve miles, +and reached lat. 82° S. on the morning of January 18. The depot here, +like the depot at 81° S., contained five days’ provisions for twelve +men. Mackintosh was having trouble with the Primus lamp in his tent, +and this made it inadvisable to divide the party again. It was decided, +therefore, that all should proceed, and that the next and last depot +should be placed on the base of Mount Hope, at the foot of the +Beardmore Glacier, in lat. 83° 30´ S. The party proceeded at once and +advanced five miles beyond the depot before camping on the evening of +the 18th. + +The sledge loads were now comparatively light, and on the 19th the +party covered 13 miles 700 yds. A new trouble was developing, for +Spencer-Smith was suffering from swollen and painful legs, and was +unable to do much pulling. Joyce wrote on the 21st that Smith was +worse, and that Mackintosh was showing signs of exhaustion. A mountain +that he believed to be Mount Hope could be seen right ahead, over +thirty miles away. Spencer-Smith, who had struggled forward gamely and +made no unnecessary complaints, started with the party the next morning +and kept going until shortly before noon. Then he reported his +inability to proceed, and Mackintosh called a halt. Spencer-Smith +suggested that he should be left with provisions and a tent while the +other members of the party pushed on to Mount Hope, and pluckily +assured Mackintosh that the rest would put him right and that he would +be ready to march when they returned. The party agreed, after a brief +consultation, to adopt this plan. Mackintosh felt that the depot must +be laid, and that delay would be dangerous. Spencer-Smith was left with +a tent, one sledge, and provisions, and told to expect the returning +party in about a week. The tent was made as comfortable as possible +inside, and food was placed within the sick man’s reach. Spencer-Smith +bade his companions a cheery good-bye after lunch, and the party was +six or seven miles away before evening. Five men had to squeeze into +one tent that night, but with a minus temperature they did not object +to being crowded. + +On January 23 a thick fog obscured all landmarks, and as bearings of +the mountains were now necessary the party had to camp at 11 a.m., +after travelling only four miles. The thick weather continued over the +24th, and the men did not move again until the morning of the 25th. +They did 17¾ miles that day, and camped at 6 p.m. on the edge of “the +biggest ice-pressure” Joyce had ever seen. They were steering in +towards the mountains and were encountering the tremendous congestion +created by the flow of the Beardmore Glacier into the barrier ice. + +“We decided to keep the camp up,” ran Joyce’s account of the work done +on January 26. “Skipper, Richards, and myself roped ourselves together, +I taking the lead, to try and find a course through this pressure. We +came across very wide crevasses, went down several, came on top of a +very high ridge, and such a scene! Imagine thousands of tons of ice +churned up to a depth of about 300 ft. We took a couple of photographs, +then carried on to the east. At last we found a passage through, and +carried on through smaller crevasses to Mount Hope, or we hoped it was +the mountain by that name. We can see a great glacier ahead which we +take for the Beardmore, which this mountain is on, but the position on +the chart seems wrong. [It was not.—E.H.S.] We nearly arrived at the +ice-foot when Richards saw something to the right, which turned out to +be two of Captain Scott’s sledges, upright, but three-quarters buried +in snow. Then we knew for certain this was the place we had struggled +to get to. So we climbed the glacier on the slope and went up about one +and a quarter miles, and saw the great Beardmore Glacier stretching to +the south. It is about twenty-five miles wide—a most wonderful sight. +Then we returned to our camp, which we found to be six miles away. We +left at 8 a.m. and arrived back at 3 p.m., a good morning’s work. We +then had lunch. About 4 p.m. we got under way and proceeded with the +two sledges and camped about 7 o’clock. Wild, Hayward and myself then +took the depot up the Glacier, a fortnight’s provisions. We left it +lashed to a broken sledge and put up a large flag. I took two +photographs of it. We did not arrive back until 10.30 p.m. It was +rather a heavy pull up. I was very pleased to see our work completed at +last.... Turned in 12 o’clock. The distance done during day 22 miles.” + +The party remained in camp until 3.30 p.m. on the 27th, owing to a +blizzard with heavy snow. Then they made a start in clearer weather and +got through the crevassed area before camping at 7 p.m. Joyce was +suffering from snow-blindness. They were now homeward bound, with 365 +miles to go. They covered 16½ miles on the 28th, with Joyce absolutely +blind and hanging to the harness for guidance, “but still pulling his +whack.” They reached Spencer-Smith’s camp the next afternoon and found +him in his sleeping-bag, quite unable to walk. Joyce’s diary of this +date contains a rather gloomy reference to the outlook, since he +guessed that Mackintosh also would be unable to make the homeward +march. “The dogs are still keeping fit,” he added. “If they will only +last to 80° S. we shall then have enough food to take them in, and then +if the ship is in I guarantee they will live in comfort the remainder +of their lives.” + +No march could be made on the 30th, since a blizzard was raging. The +party made 8 miles on the 31st, with Spencer-Smith on one of the +sledges in his sleeping-bag. The sufferer was quite helpless, and had +to be lifted and carried about, but his courage did not fail him. His +words were cheerful even when his physical suffering and weakness were +most pronounced. The distance for February 1 was 13 miles. The next +morning the party abandoned one sledge in order to lighten the load, +and proceeded with a single sledge, Spencer-Smith lying on top of the +stores and gear. The distance for the day was 15½ miles. They picked up +the 82° S. depot on February 3, and took one week’s provisions, leaving +two weeks’ rations for the overland party. Joyce, Wild, Richards, and +Hayward were feeling fit. Mackintosh was lame and weak; Spencer-Smith’s +condition was alarming. The party was being helped by strong southerly +winds, and the distances covered were decidedly good. The sledge-meter +recorded 15 miles 1700 yds. on February 4, 17 miles 1400 yds. on the +5th, 18 miles 1200 yds. on the 6th, and 13 miles 1000 yds. on the 7th, +when the 81° S. depot was picked up at 10.30 a.m., and one week’s +stores taken, two weeks’ rations being left. + +The march to the next depot, at 80° S., was uneventful. The party made +good marches in spite of bad surfaces and thick weather, and reached +the depot late in the afternoon of February 12. The supply of stores at +this depot was ample, and the men took a fortnight’s rations +(calculated on a three-man basis), leaving nearly four weeks’ rations. +Spencer-Smith seemed a little better, and all hands were cheered by the +rapid advance. February 14, 15, and 16 were bad days, the soft surface +allowing the men to sink to their knees at times. The dogs had a rough +time, and the daily distances fell to about eight miles. Mackintosh’s +weakness was increasing. Then on the 18th, when the party was within +twelve miles of the Bluff depot, a furious blizzard made travelling +impossible. This blizzard raged for five days. Rations were reduced on +the second day, and the party went on half-rations the third day. + +“Still blizzarding,” wrote Joyce on the 20th. “Things are serious, what +with our patient and provisions running short. Dog provisions are +nearly out, and we have to halve their rations. We are now on one cup +of hoosh among the three of us, with one biscuit and six lumps of +sugar. The most serious of calamities is that our oil is running out. +We have plenty of tea, but no fuel to cook it with.” The men in +Mackintosh’s tent were in no better plight. Mackintosh himself was in a +bad way. He was uncertain about his ability to resume the march, but +was determined to try. + +“Still blizzarding,” wrote Joyce again on the 21st. “We are lying in +pools of water made by our bodies through staying in the same place for +such a long time. I don’t know what we shall do if this does not ease. +It has been blowing continuously without a lull. The food for to-day +was one cup of pemmican amongst three of us, one biscuit each, and two +cups of tea among the three.” The kerosene was exhausted, but Richards +improvised a lamp by pouring some spirit (intended for priming the +oil-lamp) into a mug, lighting it, and holding another mug over it. It +took half an hour to heat a mug of melted snow in this way. “Same old +thing, no ceasing of this blizzard,” was Joyce’s note twenty-four hours +later. “Hardly any food left except tea and sugar. Richards, Hayward, +and I, after a long talk, decided to get under way to-morrow in any +case, or else we shall be sharing the fate of Captain Scott and his +party. The other tent seems to be very quiet, but now and again we hear +a burst of song from Wild, so they are in the land of the living. We +gave the dogs the last of their food to-night, so we shall have to +push, as a great deal depends on them.” Further quotations from Joyce’s +diary tell their own story. + +“_February_ 23, _Wednesday_.—About 11 o’clock saw a break in the clouds +and the sun showing. Decided to have the meal we kept for getting under +way. Sang out to the Skipper’s party that we should shift as soon as we +had a meal. I asked Wild, and found they had a bag of oatmeal, some +Bovril cubes, one bag of chocolate, and eighteen biscuits, so they are +much better off than we are. After we had our meal we started to dig +out our sledge, which we found right under. It took us two hours, and +one would hardly credit how weak we were. Two digs of the shovel and we +were out of breath. This was caused through our lying up on practically +no food. After getting sledge out we took it around to the Skipper’s +tent on account of the heavy sastrugi, which was very high. Got under +way about 2.20. Had to stop very often on account of sail, etc. About +3.20 the Skipper, who had tied himself to the rear of the sledge, found +it impossible to proceed. So after a consultation with Wild and party, +decided to pitch their tent, leaving Wild to look after the Skipper and +Spencer-Smith, and make the best of our way to the depot, which is +anything up to twelve miles away. So we made them comfortable and left +them about 3.40. I told Wild I should leave as much as possible and get +back 26th or 27th, weather permitting, but just as we left them it came +on to snow pretty hard, sun going in, and we found even with the four +dogs we could not make more than one-half to three-quarters of a mile +an hour. The surface is so bad that sometimes you go in up to your +waist; still in spite of all this we carried on until 6.35. Camped in a +howling blizzard. I found my left foot badly frost-bitten. Now after +this march we came into our banquet—one cup of tea and half a biscuit. +Turned in at 9 o’clock. Situation does not look very cheerful. This is +really the worst surface I have ever come across in all my journeys +here.” + +Mackintosh had stayed on his feet as long as was humanly possible. The +records of the outward journey show clearly that he was really unfit to +continue beyond the 82° S. depot, and other members of the party would +have liked him to have stayed with Spencer-Smith at lat. 83° S. But the +responsibility for the work to be done was primarily his, and he would +not give in. He had been suffering for several weeks from what he +cheerfully called “a sprained leg,” owing to scurvy. He marched for +half an hour on the 23rd before breaking down, but had to be supported +partly by Richards. Spencer-Smith was sinking. Wild, who stayed in +charge of the two invalids, was in fairly good condition. Joyce, +Richards, and Hayward, who had undertaken the relief journey, were all +showing symptoms of scurvy, though in varying degrees. Their legs were +weak, their gums swollen. The decision that the invalids, with Wild, +should stay in camp from February 24, while Joyce’s party pushed +forward to Bluff depot, was justified fully by the circumstances. +Joyce, Richards, and Hayward had difficulty in reaching the depot with +a nearly empty sledge. An attempt to make their journey with two +helpless men might have involved the loss of the whole party. + +“_February_ 24, _Thursday_.—Up at 4:30; had one cup of tea, half +biscuit; under way after 7. Weather, snowing and blowing like +yesterday. Richards, laying the cairns had great trouble in getting the +compass within 10° on account of wind. During the forenoon had to stop +every quarter of an hour on account of our breath. Every time the +sledge struck a drift she stuck in (although only 200 lbs.), and in +spite of three men and four dogs we could only shift her with the 1—2—3 +haul. I wonder if this weather will ever clear up. Camped in an +exhausted condition about 12.10. Lunch, half cup of weak tea and +quarter biscuit, which took over half an hour to make. Richards and +Hayward went out of tent to prepare for getting under way, but the +force of wind and snow drove them back. The force of wind is about +seventy to eighty miles per hour. We decided to get the sleeping-bags +in, which took some considerable time. The worst of camping is the poor +dogs and our weak condition, which means we have to get out of our wet +sleeping-bags and have another half cup of tea without working for it. +With scrapings from dog-tank it is a very scanty meal. This is the +second day the dogs have been without food, and if we cannot soon pick +up depot and save the dogs it will be almost impossible to drag our two +invalids back the one hundred miles which we have to go. The wind +carried on with unabating fury until 7 o’clock, and then came a lull. +We at once turned out, but found it snowing so thickly that it was +impossible to proceed on account of our weakness. No chance must we +miss. Turned in again. Wind sprang up again with heavy drift 8.30. In +spite of everything my tent-mates are very cheerful and look on the +bright side of everything. After a talk we decided to wait and turned +in. It is really wonderful what dreams we have, especially of food. +Trusting in Providence for fine weather to-morrow. + +“_February_ 25, _Friday_.—Turned out 4.45. Richards prepared our usual +banquet, half cup of tea, quarter biscuit, which we relished. Under way +at 7, carried on, halting every ten minutes or quarter of an hour. +Weather, snowing and blowing same as yesterday. We are in a very weak +state, but we cannot give in. We often talk about poor Captain Scott +and the blizzard that finished him and party. If we had stayed in our +tent another day I don’t think we should have got under way at all, and +we would have shared the same fate. But if the worst comes we have made +up our minds to carry on and die in harness. If any one were to see us +on trek they would be surprised, three men staggering on with four +dogs, very weak; practically empty sledge with fair wind and just +crawling along; our clothes are all worn out, finneskoe and sleeping +bags torn. Tent is our worst point, all torn in front, and we are +afraid to camp on account of it, as it is too cold to mend it. We +camped for our grand lunch at noon. After five hours’ struggling I +think we did about three miles. After lunch sat in our tent talking +over the situation. Decided to get under way again as soon as there is +any clearance. Snowing and blowing, force about fifty or sixty miles an +hour. + +“_February_ 26, _Saturday_.—Richards went out 1.10 a.m. and found it +clearing a bit, so we got under way as soon as possible, which was 2.10 +a.m. About 2.35 Richards sighted depot, which seemed to be right on top +of us. I suppose we camped no more than three-quarters of a mile from +it. The dogs sighted it, which seemed to electrify them. They had new +life and started to run, but we were so weak that we could not go more +than 200 yds. and then spell. I think another day would have seen us +off. Arrived at depot 3.25; found it in a dilapidated condition, cases +all about the place. I don’t suppose there has ever been a weaker party +arrive at any depot, either north or south. After a hard struggle got +our tent up and made camp. Then gave the dogs a good feed of pemmican. +If ever dogs saved the lives of any one they have saved ours. Let us +hope they will continue in good health, so that we can get out to our +comrades. I started on our cooking. Not one of us had any appetite, +although we were in the land of plenty, as we call this depot; plenty +of biscuit, etc., but we could not eat. I think it is the reaction, not +only in arriving here, but also finding no news of the ship, which was +arranged before we left. We all think there has been a calamity there. +Let us hope for the best. We decided to have rolled-oats and milk for a +start, which went down very well, and then a cup of tea. How cheery the +Primus sounds. It seems like coming out of a thick London fog into a +drawing-room. After a consultation we decided to have a meal of +pemmican in four hours, and so on, until our weakness was gone. +_Later_.—Still the same weather. We shall get under way and make a +forced march back as soon as possible. I think we shall get stronger +travelling and feeding well. _Later_.—Weather will not permit us to +travel yet. Mended our torn tent with food-bags. This took four hours. +Feeding the dogs every four hours, and Richards and Hayward built up +depot. It is really surprising to find it takes two men to lift a +50-lb. case; it only shows our weakness. Weather still the same; force +of wind at times about seventy to ninety miles an hour; really +surprising how this can keep on so long. + +“_February_ 27, _Sunday_.—Wind continued with fury the whole night. +Expecting every minute to have the tent blown off us. Up 5 o’clock; +found it so thick one could not get out of the tent. We are still very +weak, but think we can do the twelve miles to our comrades in one long +march. If only it would clear up for just one day we would not mind. +This is the longest continuous blizzard I have ever been in. We have +not had a travelling day for eleven days, and the amount of snow that +has fallen is astonishing. _Later_.—Had a meal 10.30 and decided to get +under way in spite of the wind and snow. Under way 12 o’clock. We have +three weeks’ food on sledge, about 160 lbs., and one week’s dog-food, +50 lbs. The whole weight, all told, about 600 lbs., and also taking an +extra sledge to bring back Captain Mackintosh. To our surprise we could +not shift the sledges. After half an hour we got about ten yards. We +turned the sledge up and scraped runners; it went a little better +after. I am afraid our weakness is much more than we think. Hayward is +in rather a bad way about his knees, which are giving him trouble and +are very painful; we will give him a good massage when we camp. The +dogs have lost all heart in pulling; they seem to think that going +south again is no good to them; they seem to just jog along, and one +cannot do more. I don’t suppose our pace is more than one-half or +three-quarters of a mile per hour. The surface is rotten, snow up to +one’s knees, and what with wind and drift a very bad outlook. Lunched +about 4.30. Carried on until 11.20, when we camped. It was very dark +making our dinner, but soon got through the process. Then Richards +spent an hour or so in rubbing Hayward with methylated spirits, which +did him a world of good. If he were to break up now I should not know +what to do. Turned in about 1.30. It is now calm, but overcast with +light falling snow. + +“_February_ 28, _Monday_.—Up at 6 o’clock; can just see a little +sky-line. Under way at 9 o’clock. The reason of delay, had to mend +finneskoe, which are in a very dilapidated condition. I got my feet +badly frost-bitten yesterday. About 11 o’clock came on to snow, +everything overcast. We ought to reach our poor boys in three or four +hours, but Fate wills otherwise, as it came on again to blizzard force +about 11.45. Camped at noon. I think the party must be within a very +short distance, but we cannot go on as we might pass them, and as we +have not got any position to go on except compass. _Later_.—Kept on +blizzarding all afternoon and night. + +“_February_ 29, _Tuesday_.—Up at 5 o’clock; still very thick. It +cleared up a little to the south about 8 o’clock, when Richards sighted +something black to the north of us, but could not see properly what it +was. After looking round sighted camp to the south, so we got under way +as soon as possible. Got up to the camp about 12.45, when Wild came out +to meet us. We gave him a cheer, as we fully expected to find all down. +He said he had taken a little exercise every day; they had not any food +left. The Skipper then came out of the tent, very weak and as much as +he could do to walk. He said, ‘I want to thank you for saving our +lives.’ I told Wild to go and give them a feed and not to eat too much +at first in case of reaction, as I am going to get under way as soon as +they have had a feed. So we had lunch, and the Skipper went ahead to +get some exercise, and after an hour’s digging out got everything ready +for leaving. When we lifted Smith we found he was in a great hole which +he had melted through. This party had been in one camp for twelve days. +We got under way and picked the Skipper up; he had fallen down, too +weak to walk. We put him on the sledge we had brought out, and we +camped about 8 o’clock. I think we did about three miles, rather good +with two men on the sledges and Hayward in a very bad way. I don’t +think there has been a party, either north or south, in such straits, +three men down and three of us very weak; but the dogs seem to have new +life since we turned north. I think they realize they are homeward +bound. I am glad we kept them, even when we were starving. I knew they +would have to come in at the finish. We have now to look forward to +southerly winds for help, which I think we shall get at this time of +year. Let us hope the temperature will keep up, as our sleeping-bags +are wet through and worn out, and all our clothes full of holes, and +finneskoe in a dilapidated condition; in fact, one would not be out on +a cold day in civilization with the rotten clothes we have on. Turned +in 11 o’clock, wet through, but in a better frame of mind. Hope to try +and reach the depot to-morrow, even if we have to march overtime. + + +[Illustration: Mackintosh and Spencer-Smith being dragged on the +sledge] + + +[Illustration: “The Rudder was bent over to Starboard and Smashed”] + + +“_March_ 1, _Wednesday_.—Turned out usual time; a good south wind, but, +worse luck, heavy drift. Set sail; put the Skipper on rear sledge. The +temperature has gone down and it is very cold. Bluff in sight. We are +making good progress, doing a good mileage before lunch. After lunch a +little stronger wind. Hayward still hanging on to sledge; Skipper fell +off twice. Reached depot 5.45. When camping found we had dropped our +tent-poles, so Richards went back a little way and spotted them through +the binoculars about half a mile off, and brought them back. Hayward +and I were very cold by that time, the drift very bad. Moral: See +everything properly secured. We soon had our tent up, cooked our dinner +in the dark, and turned in about 10 o’clock. + +“_March_ 2, _Thursday_.—Up as usual. Strong south-west wind with heavy +drift. Took two weeks’ provisions from the depot. I think that will +last us through, as there is another depot about fifty miles north from +here; I am taking the outside course on account of the crevasses, and +one cannot take too many chances with two men on sledges and one +crippled. Under way about 10 o’clock; lunched noon in a heavy drift; +took an hour to get the tents up, etc., the wind being so heavy. Found +sledges buried under snow after lunch, took some time to get under way. +Wind and drift very heavy; set half-sail on the first sledge and under +way about 3.30. The going is perfect; sometimes sledges overtaking us. +Carried on until 8 o’clock, doing an excellent journey for the day; +distance about eleven or twelve miles. Gives one a bit of heart to +carry on like this; only hope we can do this all the way. Had to cook +our meals in the dark, but still we did not mind. Turned in about 11 +o’clock, pleased with ourselves, although we were wet through with +snow, as it got through all the holes in our clothes, and the +sleeping-bags are worse than awful. + +“_March_ 3, _Friday_.—Up the usual time. It has been blowing a raging +blizzard all night. Found to our disgust utterly impossible to carry +on. Another few hours of agony in these rotten bags. _Later_.—Blizzard +much heavier. Amused myself mending finneskoe and Burberrys, mitts and +socks. Had the Primus while this operation was in force. Hoping for a +fine day to-morrow. + +“_March_ 4, _Saturday_.—Up 5.20. Still blizzarding, but have decided to +get under way as we will have to try and travel through everything, as +Hayward is getting worse, and one doesn’t know who is the next. No +mistake it is scurvy, and the only possible cure is fresh food. I +sincerely hope the ship is in; if not we shall get over the hills by +Castle Rock, which is rather difficult and will delay another couple of +days. Smith is still cheerful; he has hardly moved for weeks and he has +to have everything done for him. Got under way 9.35. It took some two +hours to dig out dogs and sledges, as they were completely buried. It +is the same every morning now. Set sail, going along pretty fair. +Hayward gets on sledge now and again. Lunched as usual; sledges got +buried again at lunch-time. It takes some time to camp now, and in this +drift it is awful. In the afternoon wind eased a bit and drift went +down. Found it very hard pulling with the third man on sledge, as +Hayward has been on all the afternoon. Wind veered two points to south, +so we had a fair wind. An hour before we camped Erebus and Terror +showing up, a welcome sight. Only hope wind will continue. Drift is +worst thing to contend with as it gets into our clothes, which are wet +through now. Camped 8 o’clock. Cooked in the dark, and turned in in our +wet sleeping-bags about 10 o’clock. Distance about eight or nine miles. + +“_March_ 5, _Sunday_.—Turned out 6.15. Overslept a little; very tired +after yesterday. Sun shining brightly and no wind. It seemed strange +last night, no flapping of tent in one’s ears. About 8.30 came on to +drift again. Under way 9.20, both sails set. Sledge going hard, +especially in soft places. If Hayward had not broken down we should not +feel the weight so much. Lunch 12.45. Under way at 3. Wind and drift +very heavy. A good job it is blowing some, or else we should have to +relay. All land obscured. Distance about ten or eleven miles, a very +good performance. Camped 7.10 in the dark. Patients not in the best of +trim. I hope to get in, bar accidents, in four days. + +“_March_ 6, _Monday_.—Under way 9.20. Picked up thirty-two mile depot +11 o’clock. Going with a fair wind in the forenoon, which eased +somewhat after lunch and so caused very heavy work in pulling. It seems +to me we shall have to depot someone if the wind eases at all. Distance +during day about eight miles. + +“_March_ 7, _Tuesday_.—Under way 9 o’clock. Although we turn out at 5 +it seems a long time to get under way. There is double as much work to +do now with our invalids. This is the calmest day we have had for +weeks. The sun is shining and all land in sight. It is very hard going. +Had a little breeze about 11 o’clock, set sail, but work still very, +very heavy. Hayward and Skipper going on ahead with sticks, very slow +pace, but it will buck them up and do them good. If one could only get +some fresh food! About 11 o’clock decided to camp and overhaul sledges +and depot all gear except what is actually required. Under way again at +2, but surface being so sticky did not make any difference. After a +consultation the Skipper decided to stay behind in a tent with three +weeks’ provisions whilst we pushed on with Smith and Hayward. It seems +hard, only about thirty miles away, and yet cannot get any assistance. +Our gear is absolutely rotten, no sleep last night, shivering all night +in wet bags. I wonder what will be the outcome of it all after our +struggle. Trust in Providence. Distance about three and a half miles. + +“_March_ 8, _Wednesday_.—Under way 9.20. Wished the Skipper good-bye; +took Smith and Hayward on. Had a fair wind, going pretty good. Hope to +arrive in Hut Point in four days. Lunched at No. 2 depot. Distance +about four and a half miles. Under way as usual after lunch; head wind, +going very heavy. Carried on until 6.30. Distance about eight or nine +miles. + +“_March_ 9, _Thursday_.—Had a very bad night, cold intense. Temperature +down to —29° all night. At 4 a.m. Spencer-Smith called out that he was +feeling queer. Wild spoke to him. Then at 5.45 Richards suddenly said, +‘I think he has gone.’ Poor Smith, for forty days in pain he had been +dragged on the sledge, but never grumbled or complained. He had a +strenuous time in his wet bag, and the jolting of the sledge on a very +weak heart was not too good for him. Sometimes when we lifted him on +the sledge he would nearly faint, but during the whole time he never +complained. Wild looked after him from the start. We buried him in his +bag at 9 o’clock at the following position: Ereb. 184°—Obs. Hill 149°. +We made a cross of bamboos, and built a mound and cairn, with +particulars. After that got under way with Hayward on sledge. Found +going very hard, as we had a northerly wind in our faces, with a +temperature below 20°. What with frost-bites, etc., we are all +suffering. Even the dogs seem like giving in; they do not seem to take +any interest in their work. We have been out much too long, and nothing +ahead to cheer us up but a cold, cheerless hut. We did about two and a +half miles in the forenoon; Hayward toddling ahead every time we had a +spell. During lunch the wind veered to the south with drift, just right +to set sail. We carried on with Hayward on sledge and camped in the +dark about 8 o’clock. Turned in at 10, weary, worn, and sad. Hoping to +reach depot to-morrow. + +“_March_ 10, _Friday_.—Turned out as usual. Beam wind, going pretty +fair, very cold. Came into very soft snow about 3; arrived at Safety +Camp 5 o’clock. Got to edge of Ice Barrier; found passage over in a bay +full of seals. Dogs got very excited; had a job to keep them away. By +the glass it looked clear right to Cape Armitage, which is four and a +half miles away. Arrived there 8 o’clock, very dark and bad light. +Found open water. Turned to climb slopes against a strong +north-easterly breeze with drift. Found a place about a mile away, but +we were so done up that it took until 11.30 to get gear up. This slope +was about 150 yds. up, and every three paces we had to stop and get +breath. Eventually camped and turned in about 2 o’clock. I think this +is the worst day I ever spent. What with the disappointment of not +getting round the Point, and the long day and the thought of getting +Hayward over the slopes, it is not very entertaining for sleep. + +“_March_ 11, _Saturday_.—Up at 7 o’clock; took binoculars and went over +the slope to look around the Cape. To my surprise found the open water +and pack at the Cape only extended for about a mile. Came down and gave +the boys the good news. I think it would take another two hard days to +get over the hills, and we are too weak to do much of that, as I am +afraid of another collapsing. Richards and Wild climbed up to look at +the back of the bay and found the ice secure. Got under way 10.30, went +round the Cape and found ice; very slushy, but continued on. No turning +now; got into hard ice shortly after, eventually arriving at Hut Point +about 3 o’clock. It seems strange after our adventures to arrive back +at the old hut. This place has been standing since we built it in 1901, +and has been the starting-point of a few expeditions since. When we +were coming down the bay I could fancy the _Discovery_ there when Scott +arrived from his Farthest South in 1902, the ship decorated rainbow +fashion, and Lieutenant Armitage giving out the news that Captain Scott +had got to 82° 17´ S. We went wild that day. But now our homecoming is +quite different. Hut half-full of snow through a window being left open +and drift getting in; but we soon got it shipshape and Hayward in. I +had the fire going and plenty of vegetables on, as there was a fair +supply of dried vegetables. Then after we had had a feed, Richards and +Wild went down the bay and killed a couple of seals. I gave a good menu +of seal meat at night, and we turned in about 11 o’clock, full—too +full, in fact. As there is no news here of the ship, and we cannot see +her, we surmise she has gone down with all hands. I cannot see there is +any chance of her being afloat or she would be here. I don’t know how +the Skipper will take it. + +“_March_ 12, _Sunday_.—Heard groans proceeding from the sleeping-bags +all night; all hands suffering from over-eating. Hayward not very well. +Turned out 8 o’clock. Good breakfast—porridge, seal, vegetables, and +coffee; more like a banquet to us. After breakfast Richards and Wild +killed a couple of seals whilst I made the hut a bit comfy. Hayward can +hardly move. All of us in a very bad state, but we must keep up +exercise. My ankles and knees badly swollen, gums prominent. Wild, very +black around joints, and gums very black. Richards about the best off. +After digging hut out I prepared food which I think will keep the +scurvy down. The dogs have lost their lassitude and are quite frisky, +except Oscar, who is suffering from over-feeding. After a strenuous +day’s work turned in 10 o’clock. + +“_March_ 13, _Monday_.—Turned out 7 o’clock. Carried on much the same +as yesterday, bringing in seal blubber and meat. Preparing for +departure to-morrow; hope every one will be all right. Made new dog +harness and prepared sledges. In afternoon cooked sufficient seal meat +for our journey out and back, and same for dogs. Turned in 10 o’clock, +feeling much better. + +“_March_ 14, _Tuesday_.—A beautiful day. Under way after lunch. One +would think, looking at our party, that we were the most ragged lot one +could meet in a day’s march; all our clothes past mending, our faces as +black as niggers’—a sort of crowd one would run away from. Going pretty +good. As soon as we rounded Cape Armitage a dead head wind with a +temperature of –18° Fahr., so we are not in for a pleasant time. +Arrived at Safety Camp 6 o’clock, turned in 8.30, after getting +everything ready. + +“_March_ 15, _Wednesday_.—Under way as usual. Nice calm day. Had a very +cold night, temperature going down to –30° Fahr. Going along at a +rattling good rate; in spite of our swollen limbs we did about fifteen +miles. Very cold when we camped; temperature –20° Fahr. Turned in 9 +o’clock. + +“_March_ 16, _Thursday_.—Up before the sun, 4.45 a.m. Had a very cold +night, not much sleep. Under way early. Going good. Passed Smith’s +grave 10.45 a.m. and had lunch at depot. Saw Skipper’s camp just after, +and looking through glass found him outside tent, much to the joy of +all hands, as we expected him to be down. Picked him up 4.15 p.m. Broke +the news of Smith’s death and no ship. I gave him the date of the 17th +to look out for our returning, so he had a surprise. We struck his camp +and went north for about a mile and camped. We gave the Skipper a +banquet of seal, vegetables, and black currant jam, the feed of his +life. He seems in a bad way. I hope to get him in in three days, and I +think fresh food will improve him. We turned in 8 o’clock. Distance +done during day sixteen miles. + +“_March_ 17, _Friday_.—Up at 5 o’clock. Under way 8 a.m. Skipper +feeling much better after feeding him up. Lunched a few yards past +Smith’s grave. Had a good afternoon, going fair. Distance about sixteen +miles. Very cold night, temperature –30° Fahr. What with wet bags and +clothes, rotten. + +“_March_ 18, _Saturday_.—Turned out 5 o’clock. Had rather a cold night. +Temperature –29° Fahr. Surface very good. The Skipper walked for a +little way, which did him good. Lunched as usual. Pace good. After +lunch going good. Arrived at Safety Camp 4.10 p.m. To our delight found +the sea-ice in the same condition and arrived at Hut Point at 7 +o’clock. Found Hayward still about same. Set to, made a good dinner, +and all hands seem in the best of spirits. Now we have arrived and got +the party in, it remains to themselves to get better. Plenty of +exercise and fresh food ought to do miracles. We have been out 160 +days, and done a distance of 1561 miles, a good record. I think the +irony of fate was poor Smith going under a day before we got in. I +think we shall all soon be well. Turned in 10.30 p.m. Before turning in +Skipper shook us by the hand with great emotion, thanking us for saving +his life.” + +Richards, summarizing the work of the parties, says that the journeys +made between September 1 and March 18, a period of 160 days, totalled +1561 miles. The main journey, from Hut Point to Mount Hope and return, +was 830 miles. + +“The equipment,” he adds, “was old at the commencement of the season, +and this told severely at the later stages of the journey. Three Primus +lamps gave out on the journeys, and the old tent brought back by one of +the last parties showed rents several feet in length. This hampered the +travelling in the long blizzards. Finneskoe were also in pieces at the +end, and time had frequently to be lost through repairs to clothing +becoming imperative. This account would not be complete without some +mention of the unselfish service rendered by Wild to his two ill +tent-mates. From the time he remained behind at the long blizzard till +the death of Spencer-Smith he had two helpless men to attend to, and +despite his own condition he was ever ready, night or day, to minister +to their wants. This, in a temperature of –30° Fahr. at times, was no +light task. + +“Without the aid of four faithful friends, Oscar, Con, Gunner, and +Towser, the party could never have arrived back. These dogs from +November 5 accompanied the sledging parties, and, although the pace was +often very slow, they adapted themselves well to it. Their endurance +was fine. For three whole days at one time they had not a scrap of +food, and this after a period on short rations. Though they were feeble +towards the end of the trip, their condition usually was good, and +those who returned with them will ever remember the remarkable service +they rendered. + +“The first indication of anything wrong with the general health of the +party occurred at about lat. 82° 30´ S., when Spencer-Smith complained +of stiffness in the legs and discolouration. He attributed this to +holes in his windproof clothing. At lat. 83° S., when he gave way, it +was thought that the rest would do him good. About the end of January +Captain Mackintosh showed very serious signs of lameness. At this time +his party had been absent from Hut Point, and consequently from fresh +food, about three months. + +“On the journey back Spencer-Smith gradually became weaker, and for +some time before the end was in a very weak condition indeed. Captain +Mackintosh, by great efforts, managed to keep his feet until the long +blizzard was encountered. Here it was that Hayward was first found to +be affected with the scurvy, his knees being stiff. In his case the +disease took him off his feet very suddenly, apparently causing the +muscles of his legs to contract till they could be straightened hardly +more than a right angle. He had slight touches in the joints of the +arms. In the cases of Joyce, Wild, and Richards, joints became stiff +and black in the rear, but general weakness was the worst symptom +experienced. Captain Mackintosh’s legs looked the worst in the party.” + +The five men who were now at Hut Point found quickly that some of the +winter months must be spent there. They had no news of the ship, and +were justified in assuming that she had not returned to the Sound, +since if she had some message would have been awaiting them at Hut +Point, if not farther south. The sea-ice had broken and gone north +within a mile of the point, and the party must wait until the new ice +became firm as far as Cape Evans. Plenty of seal meat was available, as +well as dried vegetables, and the fresh food improved the condition of +the patients very rapidly. Richards massaged the swollen joints and +found that this treatment helped a good deal. Before the end of March +Mackintosh and Hayward, the worst sufferers, were able to take +exercise. By the second week of April Mackintosh was free of pain, +though the backs of his legs were still discoloured. + +A tally of the stores at the hut showed that on a reasonable allowance +the supply would last till the middle of June. Richards and Wild killed +many seals, so that there was no scarcity of meat and blubber. A few +penguins were also secured. The sole means of cooking food and heating +the hut was an improvised stove of brick, covered with two sheets of +iron. This had been used by the former Expedition. The stove emitted +dense smoke and often made the hut very uncomfortable, while at the +same time it covered the men and all their gear with clinging and +penetrating soot. Cleanliness was out of the question, and this +increased the desire of the men to get across to Cape Evans. During +April the sea froze in calm weather, but winds took the ice out again. +On April 23 Joyce walked four miles to the north, partly on young ice +two inches thick, and he thought then that the party might be able to +reach Cape Evans within a few days. But a prolonged blizzard took the +ice out right up to the Point, so that the open water extended at the +end of April right up to the foot of Vinie’s Hill. Then came a spell of +calm weather, and during the first week of May the sea-ice formed +rapidly. The men made several short trips over it to the north. The sun +had disappeared below the horizon in the middle of April, and would not +appear again for over four months. + +The disaster that followed is described by both Richards and Joyce. +“And now a most regrettable incident occurred,” wrote Richards. “On the +morning of May 8, before breakfast, Captain Mackintosh asked Joyce what +he thought of his going to Cape Evans with Hayward. Captain Mackintosh +considered the ice quite safe, and the fine morning no doubt tempted +him to exchange the quarters at the hut for the greater comfort and +better food at Cape Evans.” (Mackintosh naturally would be anxious to +know if the men at Cape Evans were well and had any news of the ship.) +“He was strongly urged at the time not to take the risk, as it was +pointed out that the ice, although firm, was very young, and that a +blizzard was almost sure to take part of it out to sea.” + +However, at about 1 p.m., with the weather apparently changing for the +worse, Mackintosh and Hayward left, after promising to turn back if the +weather grew worse. The last sight the watching party on the hill +gained of them was when they were about a mile away, close to the +shore, but apparently making straight for Cape Evans. At 3 p.m. a +moderate blizzard was raging, which later increased in fury, and the +party in the hut had many misgivings for the safety of the absent men. + +On May 10, the first day possible, the three men left behind walked +over new ice to the north to try and discover some trace as to the fate +of the others. The footmarks were seen clearly enough raised up on the +ice, and the track was followed for about two miles in a direction +leading to Cape Evans. Here they ended abruptly, and in the dim light a +wide stretch of water, very lightly covered with ice, was seen as far +as the eye could reach. It was at once evident that part of the ice +over which they had travelled had gone out to sea. + +The whole party had intended, if the weather had held good, to have +attempted the passage across with the full moon about May 16. On the +date on which Mackintosh and Hayward left it was impossible that a +sledge should travel the distance over the sea-ice owing to the sticky +nature of the surface. Hence their decision to go alone and leave the +others to follow with the sledge and equipment when the surface should +improve. That they had actually been lost was learned only on July 15, +on which date the party from Hut Point arrived at Cape Evans. + +The entry in Joyce’s diary shows that he had very strong forebodings of +disaster when Mackintosh and Hayward left. He warned them not to go, as +the ice was still thin and the weather was uncertain. Mackintosh seems +to have believed that he and Hayward, travelling light, could get +across to Cape Evans quickly before the weather broke, and if the +blizzard had come two or three hours later they probably would have +been safe. The two men carried no sleeping-bags and only a small meal +of chocolate and seal meat. + +The weather during June was persistently bad. No move had been possible +on May 16, the sea-ice being out, and Joyce decided to wait until the +next full moon. When this came the weather was boisterous, and so it +was not until the full moon of July that the journey to Cape Evans was +made. During June and July seals got very scarce, and the supply of +blubber ran short. + +Meals consisted of little but seal meat and porridge. The small stock +of salt was exhausted, but the men procured two and a half pounds by +boiling down snow taken from the bottom layer next to the sea-ice. The +dogs recovered condition rapidly and did some hunting on their own +account among the seals. + +The party started for Cape Evans on July 15. They had expected to take +advantage of the full moon, but by a strange chance they had chosen the +period of an eclipse, and the moon was shadowed most of the time they +were crossing the sea-ice. The ice was firm, and the three men reached +Cape Evans without difficulty. They found Stevens, Cope, Gaze, and Jack +at the Cape Evans Hut, and learned that nothing had been seen of +Captain Mackintosh and Hayward. The conclusion that these men had +perished was accepted reluctantly. The party at the base consisted now +of Stevens, Cope, Joyce, Richards, Gaze, Wild, and Jack. + +The men settled down now to wait for relief. When opportunity offered +Joyce led search-parties to look for the bodies or any trace of the +missing men, and he subsequently handed me the following report: + +“I beg to report that the following steps were taken to try and +discover the bodies of Captain Mackintosh and Mr. Hayward. After our +party’s return to the hut at Cape Evans, July 15, 1916, it was learned +that Captain Mackintosh and Mr. Hayward had not arrived; and, being +aware of the conditions under which they were last seen, all the +members of the wintering party were absolutely convinced that these two +men were totally lost and dead—that they could not have lived for more +than a few hours at the outside in the blizzard that they had +encountered, they being entirely unprovided with equipment of any sort. + +“There was the barest chance that after the return of the sun some +trace of their bodies might be found, so during the spring—that is, +August and September 1916—and in the summer—December and January +1916–17—the following searches were carried out: + +“(1) Wild and I thoroughly searched Inaccessible Island at the end of +August 1916. + +“(2) Various parties in September searched along the shore to the +vicinity of Turk’s Head. + +“(3) In company with Messrs. Wild and Gaze I started from Hut Point, +December 31, 1916, at 8 a.m., and a course was steered inshore as close +as possible to the cliffs in order to search for any possible means of +ascent. At a distance of half a mile from Hut Point we passed a snow +slope which I had already ascended in June 1916; three and a half miles +farther on was another snow slope, which ended in Blue Ice Glacier +slope, which we found impossible to climb, snow slope being formed by +heavy winter snowfall. These were the only two places accessible. +Distance on this day, 10 miles 1710 yds covered. On January 1 search +was continued round the south side of Glacier Tongue from the base +towards the seaward end. There was much heavy pressure; it was +impossible to reach the summit owing to the wide crack. Distance +covered 4 miles 100 yds. On January 2 thick weather caused party to lay +up. On 3rd, glacier was further examined, and several slopes formed by +snow led to top of glacier, but crevasses between slope and the tongue +prevented crossing. The party then proceeded round the Tongue to Tent +Island, which was also searched, a complete tour of the island being +made. It was decided to make for Cape Evans, as thick weather was +approaching. We arrived at 8 p.m. Distance 8 miles 490 yds. + +“I remain, etc., +“ERNEST E. JOYCE. + + +“_To_ Sir ERNEST SHACKLETON, C.V.O., +“_Commander_, I.T.A.E.” + + +In September Richards was forced to lay up at the hut owing to a +strained heart, due presumably to stress of work on the sledging +journeys. Early in October a party consisting of Joyce, Gaze, and Wild +spent several days at Cape Royds, where they skinned specimens. They +sledged stores back to Cape Evans in case it should be found necessary +to remain there over another winter. In September, Joyce, Gaze, and +Wild went out to Spencer-Smith’s grave with a wooden cross, which they +erected firmly. Relief arrived on January 10, 1917, but it is necessary +now to turn back to the events of May 1915, when the _Aurora_ was +driven from her moorings off Cape Evans. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI +THE _AURORA’S_ DRIFT + + +After Mackintosh left the _Aurora_ on January 25, 1915, Stenhouse kept +the ship with difficulty off Tent Island. The ice-anchors would not +hold, owing to the continual breaking away of the pack, and he found it +necessary much of the time to steam slow ahead against the floes. The +third sledging party, under Cope, left the ship on the afternoon of the +31st, with the motor-tractor towing two sledges, and disappeared +towards Hut Point. Cope’s party returned to the ship on February 2 and +left again on February 5, after a delay caused by the loose condition +of the ice. Two days later, after more trouble with drifting floes, +Stenhouse proceeded to Cape Evans, where he took a line of soundings +for the winter quarters. During the next month the _Aurora_ occupied +various positions in the neighbourhood of Cape Evans. No secure +moorings were available. The ship had to keep clear of threatening +floes, dodge “growlers” and drifting bergs, and find shelter from the +blizzards. A sudden shift of wind on February 24, when the ship was +sheltering in the lee of Glacier Tongue, caused her to be jammed hard +against the low ice off the glacier, but no damage was done. Early in +March Stenhouse sent moorings ashore at Cape Evans, and on March 11 he +proceeded to Hut Point, where he dropped anchor in Discovery Bay. Here +he landed stores, amounting to about two months’ full rations for +twelve men, and embarked Spencer-Smith, Stevens, Hook, Richards, +Ninnis, and Gaze, with two dogs. He returned to Cape Evans that +evening. + +“We had a bad time when we were ‘sculling’ about the Sound, first +endeavouring to make Hut Point to land provisions, and then looking for +winter quarters in the neighbourhood of Glacier Tongue,” wrote +Stenhouse afterwards. “The ice kept breaking away in small floes, and +we were apparently no nearer to anywhere than when the sledges left; we +were frustrated in every move. The ship broke away from the fast ice in +blizzards, and then we went dodging about the Sound from the Ross +Island side to the western pack, avoiding and clearing floes and +growlers in heavy drift when we could see nothing, our compasses +unreliable and the ship short-handed. In that homeless time I kept +watch and watch with the second officer, and was hard pressed to know +what to do. Was ever ship in such predicament? To the northward of Cape +Royds was taboo, as also was the coast south of Glacier Tongue. In a +small stretch of ice-bound coast we had to find winter quarters. The +ice lingered on, and all this time we could find nowhere to drop +anchor, but had to keep steam handy for emergencies. Once I tried the +North Bay of Cape Evans, as it apparently was the only ice-free spot. I +called all hands, and making up a boat’s crew with one of the firemen +sent the whaler away with the second officer in charge to sound. No +sooner had the boat left ship than the wind freshened from the +northward, and large bergs and growlers, setting into the bay, made the +place untenable. The anchorage I eventually selected seemed the best +available—and here we are drifting, with all plans upset, when we ought +to be lying in winter quarters.” + +A heavy gale came up on March 12, and the _Aurora_, then moored off +Cape Evans, dragged her anchor and drifted out of the bay. She went +northward past Cape Barne and Cape Royds in a driving mist, with a +heavy storm-sea running. This gale was a particularly heavy one. The +ship and gear were covered with ice, owing to the freezing of spray, +and Stenhouse had anxious hours amid the heavy, ice-encumbered waters +before the gale moderated. The young ice, which was continually forming +in the very low temperature, helped to reduce the sea as soon as the +gale moderated, and the _Aurora_ got back to Cape Evans on the evening +of the 13th. Ice was forming in the bay, and on the morning of the 14th +Stenhouse took the ship into position for winter moorings. He got three +steel hawsers out and made fast to the shore anchors. These hawsers +were hove tight, and the _Aurora_ rested then, with her stern to the +shore, in seven fathoms. Two more wires were taken ashore the next day. +Young ice was forming around the ship, and under the influence of wind +and tide this ice began early to put severe strains upon the moorings. +Stenhouse had the fires drawn and the boiler blown down on the 20th, +and the engineer reported at that time that the bunkers contained still +118 tons of coal. + +The ice broke away between Cape Evans and Cape Barne on the 23rd, and +pressure around the ship shattered the bay ice and placed heavy strains +on the stern moorings. The young ice, about four inches thick, went out +eventually and left a lead along the shore. The ship had set in towards +the shore, owing to the pressure, and the stern was now in +four-and-a-half fathoms. Stenhouse tightened the moorings and ran out +an extra wire to the shore anchor. The nature of the ice movements is +illustrated by a few extracts from the log: + +“_March_ 27, 5 p.m.—Ice broke away from shore and started to go out. 8 +p.m.—Light southerly airs; fine; ice setting out to north-west; heavy +pressure of ice on starboard side and great strain on moorings. 10 +p.m.—Ice clear of ship. + +“_March_ 28.—New ice forming over bay. 3 a.m.—Ice which went out last +watch set in towards bay. 5 a.m.—Ice coming in and overriding newly +formed bay-ice; heavy pressure on port side of ship; wires frozen into +ice. 8 a.m.—Calm and fine; new ice setting out of bay. 5 p.m.—New ice +formed since morning cleared from bay except area on port side of ship +and stretching abeam and ahead for about 200 yds., which is held by +bights of wire; new ice forming. + +“_March_ 29, 1.30 p.m.—New ice going out. 2 p.m.—Hands on floe on port +quarter clearing wires; stern in three fathoms; hauled wires tight, +bringing stern more to eastward and in four fathoms; hove in about one +fathom of starboard cable, which had dragged during recent pressure. + +“_April_ 10, 1.30 p.m.—Ice breaking from shore under influence of +south-east wind. Two starboard quarter wires parted; all bights of +stern wires frozen in ice; chain taking weight. 2 p.m.—Ice opened, +leaving ice in bay in line from Cape to landward of glacier. 8 +p.m.—Fresh wind; ship holding ice in bay; ice in Sound wind-driven to +north-west. + +“_April_ 17, 1 am.—Pressure increased and wind shifted to north-west. +Ice continued to override and press into shore until 5 o’clock; during +this time pressure into bay was very heavy; movement of ice in straits +causing noise like heavy surf. Ship took ground gently at rudder-post +during pressure; bottom under stern shallows very quickly. 10 +p.m.—Ice-moving out of bay to westward; heavy strain on after moorings +and cables, which are cutting the floe.” + +Stenhouse continued to nurse his moorings against the onslaughts of the +ice during the rest of April and the early days of May. The break-away +from the shore came suddenly and unexpectedly on the evening of May 6: + +“_May_ 6, 1915.—Fine morning with light breezes from +east-south-east.... 3.30 p.m.—Ice nearly finished. Sent hands ashore +for sledge-load. 4 p.m.—Wind freshening with blizzardy appearance of +sky. 8 p.m.—. . . Heavy strain on after-moorings. 9.45 p.m.—The ice +parted from the shore; all moorings parted. Most fascinating to listen +to waves and chain breaking. In the thick haze I saw the ice astern +breaking up and the shore receding. I called all hands and clapped +relieving tackles (4-in. Manila luff tackles) on to the cables on the +forepart of the windlass. The bos’n had rushed along with his hurricane +lamp, and shouted, ‘She’s away wi’ it!’ He is a good fellow and very +conscientious. I ordered steam on main engines, and the engine-room +staff, with Hooke and Ninnis, turned to. Grady, fireman, was laid up +with a broken rib. As the ship, in the solid floe, set to the +north-west, the cables rattled and tore at the hawse-pipes; luckily the +anchors, lying as they were on a strip-sloping bottom, came away +easily, without damage to windlass or hawse-pipes. Slowly as we +disappeared into Sound, the light in the hut died away. At 11.30 p.m. +the ice around us started to break up, the floes playing tattoo on the +ship’s sides. We were out in the Sound and catching the full force of +the wind. The moon broke through the clouds after midnight and showed +us the pack, stretching continuously to northward, and about one mile +to the south. As the pack from the southward came up and closed in on +the ship, the swell lessened and the banging of floes alongside eased a +little. + +“_May_ 7, 8 a.m.—Wind east-south-east. Moderate gale with thick drift. +The ice around ship is packing up and forming ridges about two feet +high. The ship is lying with head to the eastward, Cape Bird showing to +north-east. When steam is raised I have hopes of getting back to the +fast ice near the Glacier Tongue. Since we have been in winter quarters +the ice has formed and, held by the islands and land at Cape Evans, has +remained north of the Tongue. If we can return we should be able now to +moor to the fast ice. The engineers are having great difficulty with +the sea connexions, which are frozen. The main bow-down cock, from +which the boiler is ‘run up,’ has been tapped and a screw plug put into +it to allow of a hot iron rod being inserted to thaw out the ice +between the cock and the ship’s side—about two feet of hard ice. 4.30 +p.m.—The hot iron has been successful. Donolly (second engineer) had +the pleasure of stopping the first spurt of water through the pipe; he +got it in the eye. Fires were lit in furnaces, and water commenced to +blow in the boiler—the first blow in our defence against the terrific +forces of Nature in the Antarctic. 8 p.m.—The gale has freshened, +accompanied by thick drift.” + +The _Aurora_ drifted helplessly throughout May 7. On the morning of May +8 the weather cleared a little and the Western Mountains became +indistinctly visible. Cape Bird could also be seen. The ship was moving +northwards with the ice. The daylight was no more than a short twilight +of about two hours’ duration. The boiler was being filled with ice, +which had to be lifted aboard, broken up, passed through a small +porthole to a man inside, and then carried to the manhole on top of the +boiler. Stenhouse had the wireless aerial rigged during the afternoon, +and at 5 p.m. was informed that the watering of the boiler was +complete. The wind freshened to a moderate southerly gale, with thick +drift, in the night, and this gale continued during the following day, +the 9th. The engineer reported at noon that he had 40-lb. pressure in +the boiler and was commencing the thawing of the auxiliary +sea-connexion pump by means of a steam-pipe. + +“Cape Bird is the only land visible, bearing north-east true about +eight miles distant,” wrote, Stenhouse on the afternoon of the 9th. “So +this is the end of our attempt to winter in McMurdo Sound. Hard luck +after four months’ buffeting, for the last seven weeks of which we +nursed our moorings. Our present situation calls for increasing +vigilance. It is five weeks to the middle of winter. There is no sun, +the light is little and uncertain, and we may expect many blizzards. We +have no immediate water-supply, as only a small quantity of fresh ice +was aboard when we broke drift. + +“The _Aurora_ is fast in the pack and drifting God knows where. Well, +there are prospects of a most interesting winter drift. We are all in +good health, except Grady, whose rib is mending rapidly; we have good +spirits and we will get through. But what of the poor beggars at Cape +Evans, and the Southern Party? It is a dismal prospect for them. There +are sufficient provisions at Cape Evans, Hut Point, and, I suppose, +Cape Royds, but we have the remaining Burberrys, clothing, etc., for +next year’s sledging still on board. I see little prospect of getting +back to Cape Evans or anywhere in the Sound. We are short of coal and +held firmly in the ice. I hope she drifts quickly to the north-east. +Then we can endeavour to push through the pack and make for New +Zealand, coal and return to the Barrier eastward of Cape Crozier. This +could be done, I think, in the early spring, September. We must get +back to aid the depot-laying next season.” + +A violent blizzard raged on May 10 and 11. “I never remember such +wind-force,” said Stenhouse. “It was difficult to get along the deck.” +The weather moderated on the 12th, and a survey of the ship’s position +was possible. “We are lying in a field of ice with our anchors and +seventy-five fathoms of cable on each hanging at the bows. The +after-moorings were frozen into the ice astern of us at Cape Evans. +Previous to the date of our leaving our winter berth four small wires +had parted. When we broke away the chain two of the heavy (4-in.) wires +parted close to shore; the other wire went at the butts. The chain and +two wires are still fast in the ice and will have to be dug out. This +morning we cleared the ice around the cables, but had to abandon the +heaving-in, as the steam-froze in the return pipes from the windlass +exhaust, and the joints had to be broken and the pipe thawed out. Hooke +was ‘listening in’ from 8.30 p.m. to 12.30 a.m. for the Macquarie +Island wireless station (1340 miles away) or the Bluff (New Zealand) +station (1860 miles away), but had no luck.” + +The anchors were hove in by dint of much effort on the 13th and 14th, +ice forming on the cable as it was hoisted through a hole cut in the +floe. Both anchors had broken, so the _Aurora_ had now one small +kedge-anchor left aboard. The ship’s position on May 14 was +approximately forty-five miles north, thirty-four west of Cape Evans. +“In one week we have drifted forty-five miles (geographical). Most of +this distance was covered during the first two days of the drift. We +appear to be nearly stationary. What movement there is in the ice seems +to be to the north-west towards the ice-bound coast. Hands who were +after penguins yesterday reported much noise in the ice about one mile +from the ship. I hope the floe around the ship is large enough to take +its own pressure. We cannot expect much pressure from the south, as +McMurdo Sound should soon be frozen over and the ice holding. +North-east winds would drive the pack in from the Ross Sea. I hope for +the best. Plans for future development are ready, but probably will be +checkmated again.... I took the anchors aboard. They are of no further +use as separate anchors, but they ornament the forecastle head, so we +put them in their places.... The supply of fresh water is a problem. +The engineer turned steam from the boiler into the main water-tank +(starboard) through a pipe leading from the main winch-pipe to the tank +top. The steam condenses before reaching the tank. I hope freezing does +not burst the tank. A large tabular iceberg, calved from the Barrier, +is silhouetted against the twilight glow in the sky about ten miles +away. The sight of millions of tons of fresh ice is most tantalizing. +It would be a week’s journey to the berg and back over pack and +pressure, and probably we could bring enough ice to last two days.” + +The record of the early months of the _Aurora’s_ long drift in the Ross +Sea is not eventful. The galley condenser was rigged, but the supply of +fresh water remained a problem. The men collected fresh-fallen snow +when possible and hoped to get within reach of fresh ice. Hooke and +Ninnis worked hard at the wireless plant with the object of getting +into touch with Macquarie Island, and possibly sending news of the +ship’s movements to Cape Evans. They got the wireless motor running and +made many adjustments of the instruments and aerials, but their efforts +were not successful. Emperor penguins approached the ship occasionally, +and the birds were captured whenever possible for the fresh meat they +afforded. The _Aurora_ was quite helpless in the grip of the ice, and +after the engine-room bilges had been thawed and pumped out the boilers +were blown down. The pressure had been raised to sixty pounds, but +there was no chance of moving the ship, and the supply of coal was +limited. The story of the _Aurora’s_ drift during long months can be +told briefly by means of extracts from Stenhouse’s log: + +“_May_ 21.—Early this morning there appeared to be movements in the +ice. The grating and grinding noise makes one feel the unimportance of +man in circumstances like ours. Twilight towards noon showed several +narrow, open leads about two cables from ship and in all directions. +Unable to get bearing, but imagine that there is little or no +alteration in ship’s position, as ship’s head is same, and Western +Mountains appear the same.... Hope all is well at Cape Evans and that +the other parties have returned safely. Wish we could relieve their +anxiety. + +“_May_ 22.—Obtained good bearings of Beaufort Island, Cape Ross, and +Dunlop Island, which put the ship in a position eighteen miles south +75° east (true) from Cape Ross. Since the 14th, when reliable bearings +were last obtained, we have drifted north-west by north seven miles. + +“_May_ 24.—Blizzard from south-south-east continued until 9 p.m., when +it moderated, and at 11.45 p.m. wind shifted to north-west, light, with +snow. Quite a lot of havoc has been caused during this blow, and the +ship has made much northing. In the morning the crack south of the ship +opened to about three feet. At 2 p.m. felt heavy shock and the ship +heeled to port about 70°. Found ice had cracked from port gangway to +north-west, and parted from ship from gangway along to stern. Crack +extended from stern to south-east. 7.35 p.m.—Ice cracked from port fore +chains, in line parallel to previous crack. The ice broke again between +the cracks and drifted to north-west for about ten yards. The ice to +southward then commenced to break up, causing heavy strain on ship, and +setting apparently north in large broken fields. Ship badly jammed in. +9.15 p.m.—Ice closed in again around ship. Two heavy windsqualls with a +short interval between followed by cessation of wind. We are in a +labyrinth of large rectangular floes (some with their points pressing +heavily against ship) and high pressure-ridges. + +“_May_ 25.—In middle watch felt pressure occasionally. Twilight showed +a scene of chaos all around; one floe about three feet in thickness had +upended, driven under ship on port quarter. As far as can be seen there +are heavy blocks of ice screwed up on end, and the scene is like a +graveyard. I think swell must have come up under ice from seaward +(north-east), McMurdo Sound, and broken the ice, which afterwards +started to move under the influence of the blizzard. Hardly think swell +came from the Sound, as the cracks were wending from north-west to +south-east, and also as the Sound should be getting icebound by now. If +swell came from north-east then there is open water not far away. I +should like to know. I believe the Ross Sea is rarely entirely +ice-covered. Have bright moonlight now, which accentuates +everything—the beauty and loneliness of our surroundings, and +uselessness of ourselves, while in this prison: so near to Cape Evans +and yet we might as well be anywhere as here. Have made our +sledging-ration scales, and crew are busy making harness and getting +sledging equipment ready for emergencies. Temperature –30° Fahr. + +“_May_ 26.—If the ship is nipped in the ice, the ship’s company +(eighteen hands) will take to four sledges with one month’s rations and +make for nearest land. Six men and one sledge will endeavour to make +Cape Evans via the western land, Butler Point, Hut Point, etc. The +remaining twelve will come along with all possible speed, but no forced +marches, killing and depot-ing penguins and seals for emergency +retreats. If the ship remains here and makes no further drift to the +north, towards latter end of July light will be making. The sun returns +August 23. The sea-ice should be fairly safe, and a party of three, +with one month’s rations, will proceed to Cape Evans. If the ice sets +north and takes the ship clear of land, we will proceed to New Zealand, +bunker, get extra officer and four volunteers, provisions, etc., push +south with all speed to the Barrier, put party on to the Barrier, about +two miles east of Cape Crozier, and land all necessary stores and +requirements. The ship will stand off until able to reach Cape Evans. +If necessary, party will depot all stores possible at Corner Camp and +go on to Cape Evans. If worst has happened my party will lay out the +depot at the Beardmore for Shackleton. If the ship is released from the +ice after September we must endeavour to reach Cape Evans before going +north to bunker. We have not enough coal to hang about the Sound for +many days. + +“_May_ 28.—By the position obtained by meridian altitude of stars and +bearing of Mount Melbourne, we have drifted thirty-six miles north-east +from last bearings taken on 23rd inst. The most of this must have been +during the blizzard of the 24th. Mount Melbourne is one hundred and +eleven miles due north of us, and there is some doubt in my mind as to +whether the peak which we can see is this mountain. There may be a +mirage.... In the evening had the football out on the ice by the light +of a beautiful moon. The exercise and break from routine are a splendid +tonic. Ice-noises sent all hands on board. + +“_June_ 1.—Thick, hazy weather. In the afternoon a black streak +appeared in the ice about a cable’s length to the westward and +stretching north and south. 8 p.m.—The black line widened and showed +long lane of open water. Apparently we are fast in a floe which has +broken from the main field. With thick weather we are uncertain of our +position and drift. It will be interesting to find out what this crack +in the ice signifies. I am convinced that there is open water, not far +distant, in the Ross Sea.... To-night Hooke is trying to call up Cape +Evans. If the people at the hut have rigged the set which was left +there, they will hear ‘All well’ from the _Aurora_. I hope they have. +[The messages were not received.] + +“_June_ 8.—Made our latitude 75° 59´ S. by altitude of Sirius. This is +a very monotonous life, but all hands appear to be happy and contented. +Find that we are not too well off for meals and will have to cut +rations a little. Grady is taking exercise now and should soon be well +again. He seems very anxious to get to work again, and is a good man. +No wireless calls to-night, as there is a temporary breakdown—condenser +jar broken. There is a very faint display of aurora in northern sky. It +comes and goes almost imperceptibly, a most fascinating sight. The +temperature is –20° Fahr.; 52° of frost is much too cold to allow one +to stand for long. + +“_June_ 11.—Walked over to a very high pressure-ridge about a quarter +of a mile north-north-west of the ship. In the dim light walking over +the ice is far from being monotonous, as it is almost impossible to see +obstacles, such as small, snowed-up ridges, which makes us wary and +cautious. A dip in the sea would be the grand finale, but there is +little risk of this as the water freezes as soon as a lane opens in the +ice. The pressure-ridge is about fifteen to twenty feet high for +several hundred feet, and the ice all about it is bent up in a most +extraordinary manner. At 9 p.m. Hooke called Cape Evans, ‘All +well—_Aurora_,’ etc.; 10 p.m., weather reports for 8 p.m. sent to +Wellington, New Zealand, and Melbourne, via Macquarie Island. [The +dispatch of messages from the _Aurora_ was continued, but it was +learned afterwards that none of them had been received by any station.] + +“_June_ 13.—The temperature in the chart-room ranges from zero to a +little above freezing-point. This is a very disturbing factor in rates +of the chronometers (five in number, 3 G.M.T. and 2 Sid.T.), which are +kept in cases in a padded box, each case covered by a piece of blanket, +and the box covered by a heavy coat. In any enclosed place where people +pass their time, the niches and places where no heat penetrates are +covered with frozen breath. There will be a big thaw-out when the +temperature rises. + +“_June_ 14.—Mount Melbourne is bearing north 14° W (true). Our +approximate position is forty miles east-north-east of Nordenskjold Ice +Tongue. At 9 p.m. Hooke called Cape Evans and sent weather reports to +Wellington and Melbourne via Macquarie Island. Hooke and Ninnis on +several evenings at about 11 o’clock have heard what happened to be +faint messages, but unreadable. He sent word to Macquarie Island of +this in hopes that they would hear and increase the power. + +“_June_ 20.—During this last blow with its accompanying drift-snow +there has been much leakage of current from the aerial during the +sending of reports. This is apparently due to induction caused by the +snow accumulating on the insulators aloft, and thus rendering them +useless, and probably to increased inductive force of the current in a +body of snowdrift. Hooke appears to be somewhat downhearted over it, +and, after discussing the matter, gave me a written report on the +non-success (up to the present time) of his endeavours to establish +communication. He thinks that the proximity of the Magnetic Pole and +Aurora Australis might affect things. The radiation is good and +sufficient for normal conditions. His suggestion to lead the down lead +wires out to the ahead and astern would increase scope, but I cannot +countenance it owing to unsettled state of ice and our too lofty poles. + +“_June_ 21.—Blowing gale from south-west throughout day, but for short +spell of westerly breeze about 5 p.m. Light drift at frequent +intervals, very hazy, and consequently no land in sight during short +twilight. Very hard up for mitts and clothing. What little we have on +board I have put to one side for the people at the hut. Have given +Thompson instructions to turn crew to making pair mitts and helmet out +of Jaeger fleece for all hands forward. With strict economy we should +make things spin out; cannot help worrying over our people at the hut. +Although worrying does no good, one cannot do otherwise in this present +impotent state. 11 p.m.—Wind howling and whistling through rigging. +Outside, in glare of moon, flying drift and expanse of ice-field. +Desolation! + +“_June_ 22.—To-day the sun has reached the limit of his northern +declination and now he will start to come south. Observed this day as +holiday, and in the evening had hands aft to drink to the health of the +King and the Expedition. All hands are happy, but miss the others at +Cape Evans. I pray to God we may soon be clear of this prison and in a +position to help them. We can live now for sunlight and activity. + +“_July_ 1.—The 1st of July! Thank God. The days pass quickly. Through +all my waking hours one long thought of the people at Cape Evans, but +one must appear to be happy and take interest in the small happenings +of shipboard. + +“_July_ 3.—Rather hazy with very little light. Moderate west-north-west +to south-west winds until noon, when wind veered to south and +freshened. No apparent change in ship’s position; the berg is on the +same bearing (1 point on the port quarter) and apparently the same +distance off. Mount Melbourne was hidden behind a bank of clouds. This +is our only landmark now, as Franklin Island is towered in perpetual +gloom. Although we have had the berg in sight during all the time of +our drift from the entrance to McMurdo Sound, we have not yet seen it +in a favourable light, and, were it not for its movement, we might +mistake it for a tabular island. It will be interesting to view our +companion in the returning light—unless we are too close to it! + +“_July_ 5.—Dull grey day (during twilight) with light, variable, +westerly breezes. All around hangs a heavy curtain of haze, and, +although very light snow is falling, overhead is black and clear with +stars shining. As soon as the faint noon light fades away the heavy low +haze intensifies the darkness and makes one thankful that one has a +good firm ‘berth’ in the ice. I don’t care to contemplate the scene if +the ice should break up at the present time. + +“_July_ 6.—Last night I thought I saw open water in the shape of a long +black lane to the southward of the ship and extending in an easterly +and westerly direction, but owing to the haze and light snow I could +not be sure; this morning the lane was distinctly visible and appeared +to be two or three hundred yards wide and two miles long.... At 6 p.m. +loud pressure-noises would be heard from the direction of the open lane +and continued throughout the night. Shortly after 8 o’clock the +grinding and hissing spread to our starboard bow (west-south-west), and +the vibration caused by the pressure could be felt intermittently on +board the ship.... The incessant grinding and grating of the ice to the +southward, with seething noises, as of water rushing under the ship’s +bottom, and ominous sounds, kept me on the _qui vive_ all night, and +the prospect of a break-up of the ice would have wracked my nerves had +I not had them numbed by previous experiences. + +“_July_ 9.—At noon the sky to the northward had cleared sufficiently to +allow of seeing Mount Melbourne, which appears now as a low peak to the +north-west. Ship’s position is twenty-eight miles north-north-east of +Franklin Island. On the port bow and ahead of the ship there are some +enormous pressure-ridges; they seem to be the results of the recent and +present ice-movements. Pressure heard from the southward all day. + +“_July_ 13.—At 5 p.m. very heavy pressure was heard on the port beam +and bow (south) and very close to the ship. This occurred again at +irregular intervals. Quite close to the ship the ice could be seen +bending upwards, and occasional jars were felt on board. I am inclined +to think that we have set into a cul-de-sac and that we will now +experience the full force of pressure from the south. We have prepared +for the worst and can only hope for the best—a release from the ice +with a seaworthy vessel under us. + +“_July_ 18.—This has been a day of events. About 8 a.m. the horizon to +the north became clear and, as the light grew, the more westerly land +showed up. This is the first clear day that we have had since the 9th +of the month, and we have set a considerable distance to the north-east +in the meantime. By meridian altitudes of stars and bearings of the +land, which proved to be Coulman Islands, Mount Murchison, and Mount +Melbourne, our position shows seventy-eight miles (geographical) +north-east by north of Franklin Island. During the last three days we +have drifted forty miles (geographical), so there has been ample reason +for all the grinding and growling of pressure lately. The ship endured +some severe squeezes this day. + +“_July_ 20.—Shortly before breakfast the raucous voice of the emperor +penguin was heard, and afterwards two were seen some distance from the +ship.... The nearest mainland (in vicinity of Cape Washington) is +ninety miles distant, as also is Coulman Island. Franklin Island is +eighty miles south-east by south, and the pack is in motion. This is +the emperor’s hatching season, and here we meet them out in the +cheerless desert of ice.... 10.45 p.m.—Heavy pressure around ship, +lanes opened and ship worked astern about twenty feet. The wires in the +ice took the strain (lashings at mizzen chains carried away) and +carried away fair-lead bollard on port side of forecastle head. + +“_July_ 21, 1 a.m.—Lanes opened to about 40 ft. wide. Ship in open pool +about 100 ft. wide. Heavy pressure in vicinity of ship. Called all +hands and cut wires at the forecastle head. [These wires had remained +frozen in the ice after the ship broke away from her moorings, and they +had served a useful purpose at some times by checking ice-movements +close to the ship.] 2 a.m.—Ship swung athwart lane as the ice opened, +and the floes on the port side pressed her stern round. 11.30 a.m.—Pack +of killer whales came up in the lane around the ship. Some broke soft +ice (about one inch thick) and pushed their heads through, rising to +five or six feet perpendicularly out of the water. They were apparently +having a look round. It is strange to see killers in this immense field +of ice; open water must be near, I think. 5.15 p.m.—New ice of lanes +cracked and opened. Floes on port side pushed stern on to ice (of +floe); floes then closed in and nipped the ship fore and aft. The +rudder was bent over to starboard and smashed. The solid oak and iron +went like matchwood. 8 p.m.—Moderate south-south-west gale with drift. +Much straining of timbers with pressure. 10 p.m.—Extra hard nip fore +and aft; ship visibly hogged. Heavy pressure. + +“_July_ 22.—Ship in bad position in newly frozen lane, with bow and +stern jammed against heavy floes; heavy strain with much creaking and +groaning. 8 a.m.—Called all hands to stations for sledges, and made +final preparations for abandoning ship. Allotted special duties to +several hands to facilitate quickness in getting clear should ship be +crushed. Am afraid the ship’s back will be broken if the pressure +continues, but cannot relieve her. 2 p.m.—Ship lying easier. Poured +Sulphuric acid on the ice astern in hopes of rotting crack and +relieving pressure on stern-post, but unsuccessfully. Very heavy +pressure on and around ship (taking strain fore and aft and on +starboard quarter). Ship, jumping and straining and listing badly. 10 +p.m.—Ship has crushed her way into new ice on starboard side and slewed +aslant lane with stern-post clear of land-ice. 12 p.m.—Ship is in safer +position; lanes opening in every direction. + +“_July_ 23.—Caught glimpse of Coulman Island through haze. Position of +ship south 14° east (true), eighty miles off Coulman Island. Pressure +continued intermittently throughout the day and night, with occasional +very heavy squeezes to the ship which made timbers crack and groan. The +ship’s stern is now in a more or less soft bed, formed of recently +frozen ice of about one foot in thickness. I thank God that we have +been spared through this fearful nightmare. I shall never forget the +concertina motions of the ship during yesterday’s and Wednesday’s fore +and aft nips. + +“_July_ 24.—Compared with previous days this is a quiet one. The lanes +have been opening and closing, and occasionally the ship gets a nasty +squeeze against the solid floe on our starboard quarter. The more lanes +that open the better, as they form ‘springs’ (when covered with thin +ice, which makes to a thickness of three or four inches in a few hours) +between the solid and heavier floes and fields. Surely we have been +guided by the hands of Providence to have come in heavy grinding pack +for over two hundred miles (geographical), skirting the ice-bound +western shore, around and to the north of Franklin Island, and now into +what appears a clear path to the open sea! In view of our precarious +position and the lives of men in jeopardy, I sent this evening an +aerogram to H. M. King George asking for a relief ship. I hope the +wireless gets through. I have sent this message after much +consideration, and know that in the event of our non-arrival in New +Zealand on the specified date (November 1) a relief ship will be sent +to aid the Southern Party. + +“_July_ 25.—Very heavy pressure about the ship. During the early hours +a large field on the port quarter came charging up, and on meeting our +floe tossed up a ridge from ten to fifteen feet high. The blocks of ice +as they broke off crumbled and piled over each other to the +accompaniment of a thunderous roar. Throughout the day the pressure +continued, the floes alternately opening and closing, and the ship +creaking and groaning during the nips between floes. + +“_August_ 4.—For nine days we have had southerly winds, and the last +four we have experienced howling blizzards. I am sick of the sound of +the infernal wind. Din! Din! Din! and darkness. We should have seen the +sun to-day, but a bank of cumulus effectually hid him, although the +daylight is a never-ending joy. + +“_August_ 6.—The wind moderated towards 6 a.m., and about breakfast +time, with a clear atmosphere, the land from near Cape Cotter to Cape +Adare was visible. What a day of delights! After four days of thick +weather we find ourselves in sight of Cape Adare in a position about +forty-five miles east of Possession Isles; in this time we have been +set one hundred miles. Good going. Mount Sabine, the first land seen by +us when coming south, lies away to the westward, forming the highest +peak (10,000 ft.) of a majestic range of mountains covered in eternal +snow. Due west we can see the Possession Islands, lying under the +stupendous bluff of Cape Downshire, which shows large patches of black +rock. The land slopes down to the north-west of Cape Downshire, and +rises again into the high peninsula about Cape Adore. We felt excited +this morning in anticipation of seeing the sun, which rose about +nine-thirty (local time). It was a glorious, joyful sight. We drank to +something, and with very light hearts gave cheers for the sun. + +“_August_ 9.—Donolly got to work on the rudder again. It is a long job +cutting through the iron sheathing-plates of the rudder, and not too +safe at present, as the ice is treacherous. Hooke says that the +conditions are normal now. I wish for his sake that he could get +through. He is a good sportsman and keeps on trying, although, I am +convinced, he has little hope with this inadequate aerial. + +“_August_ 10.—The ship’s position is lat. 70° 40´ S., forty miles north +29° east of Cape Adare. The distance drifted from August 2 to 6 was one +hundred miles, and from the 6th to the 10th eighty-eight miles. + +“_August_ 12.—By observation and bearings of land we are forty-five +miles north-east of Cape Adare, in lat. 70° 42´ S. This position is a +little to the eastward of the position on the 10th. The bearings as +laid off on a small scale chart of gnomonic projection are very +inaccurate, and here we are handicapped, as our chronometers have lost +all regularity. Donolly and Grade are having quite a job with the iron +platings on the rudder, but should finish the cutting to-morrow. A +jury-rudder is nearly completed. This afternoon we mixed some concrete +for the lower part, and had to use boiling water, as the water froze in +the mixing. The carpenter has made a good job of the rudder, although +he has had to construct it on the quarterdeck in low temperatures and +exposed to biting blasts. + +“_August_ 16.—We are ‘backing and filling’ about forty miles north-east +of Cape Adare. This is where we expected to have made much mileage. +However, we cannot grumble and must be patient. There was much mirage +to the northward, and from the crow’s-nest a distinct appearance of +open water could be seen stretching from north-north-west to +north-east. + +“_August_ 17.—A glorious day! Land is distinctly visible, and to the +northward the black fringe of water-sky over the horizon hangs +continuously. Hooke heard Macquarie Island ‘speaking’ Hobart. The +message heard was the finish of the weather reports. We have hopes now +of news in the near future. + +“_August_ 23.—Saw the land in the vicinity of Cape North. To the +south-south-west the white cliffs and peaks of the inland ranges were +very distinct, and away in the distance to the south-west could be seen +a low stretch of undulating land. At times Mount Sabine was visible +through the gloom. The latitude, is 69° 44½´ S. We are fifty-eight +miles north, forty miles east of Cape North. + +“_August_ 24.—We lifted the rudder out of the ice and placed it clear +of the stern, athwart the fore-and-aft line of the ship. We had quite a +job with it (weight, four and a half tons), using treble- and +double-sheaved-blocks purchase, but with the endless-chain tackle from +the engine-room, and plenty of ‘beef’ and leverage, we dragged it +clear. All the pintles are gone at the fore part of the rudder; it is a +clean break and bears witness to the terrific force exerted on the ship +during the nip. I am glad to see the rudder upon the ice and clear of +the propeller. The blade itself (which is solid oak and sheathed on two +sides and after part half-way down, with three-quarter-inch iron +plating) is undamaged, save for the broken pintles; the twisted portion +is in the rudder trunk. + +“_August_ 25, 11 p.m.—Hooke has just been in with the good tidings that +he has heard Macquarie and the Bluff (New Zealand) sending their +weather reports and exchanging signals. Can this mean that they have +heard our recent signals and are trying to get us now? Our motor has +been out of order. + +“_August_ 26.—The carpenter has finished the jury-rudder and is now at +work on the lower end of the rudder truck, where the rudder burst into +the stern timbers. We are lucky in having this opportunity to repair +these minor damages, which might prove serious in a seaway. + +“_August_ 31, 6.30 a.m.—Very loud pressure-noises to the south-east. I +went aloft after breakfast and had the pleasure of seeing many open +lanes in all directions. The lanes of yesterday are frozen over, +showing what little chance there is of a general and continued break-up +of the ice until the temperature rises. Land was visible, but far too +distant for even approximate bearings. The berg still hangs to the +north-west of the ship. We seem to have pivoted outwards from the land. +We cannot get out of this too quickly, and although every one has +plenty of work, and is cheerful, the uselessness of the ship in her +present position palls. + +“_September_ 5.—The mizzen wireless mast came down in a raging blizzard +to-day. In the forenoon I managed to crawl to windward on the top of +the bridge-house, and under the lee of the chart-house watched the mast +bending over with the wind and swaying like the branch of a tree, but +after the aerial had stood throughout the winter I hardly thought the +mast would carry away. Luckily, as it is dangerous to life to be on +deck in this weather (food is brought from the galley in relays through +blinding drift and over big heaps of snow), no one was about when the +mast carried away. + +“_September_ 8.—This is dull, miserable weather. Blow, snow, and calm +for an hour or two. Sometimes it blows in this neighbourhood without +snow and sometimes with—this seems to be the only difference. I have +two patients now, Larkman and Mugridge. Larkman was frost-bitten on the +great and second toes of the left foot some time ago, and has so far +taken little notice of them. Now they are causing him some alarm as +gangrene has set in. Mugridge is suffering from an intermittent rash, +with red, inflamed skin and large, short-lived blisters. I don’t know +what the deuce it is, but the nearest description to it in a ‘Materia +Medica,’ etc., is _pemphigus_, so pemphigus it is, and he has been +‘tonic-ed’ and massaged. + +“_September_ 9.—This is the first day for a long time that we have +registered a minimum temperature above zero for the twenty-four hours. +It is pleasant to think that from noon to noon throughout the night the +temperature never fell below +4° (28° frost), and with the increase of +daylight it makes one feel that summer really is approaching. + +“_September_ 13.—All around the northern horizon there is the +appearance of an open water-sky, but around the ship the prospect is +dreary. The sun rose at 6.20 a.m. and set at 5.25 p.m. Ship’s time +eleven hours five minutes of sunlight and seventeen hours light. Three +hours twilight morning and evening. The carpenter is dismantling the +taffrail (to facilitate the landing and, if necessary, the boarding of +the jury-rudder) and will construct a temporary, removable rail. + +“_September_ 16.—There has been much mirage all around the horizon, and +to the eastward through south to south-west heavy frost-smoke has been +rising. Over the northern horizon a low bank of white fog hangs as +though over the sea. I do not like these continued low temperatures. I +am beginning to have doubts as to our release until the sun starts to +rot the ice. + +“_September_ 17.—This is the anniversary of our departure from London. +There are only four of the original eleven on board—Larkman, Ninnis, +Mauger, and I. Much has happened since Friday, September 18, 1914, and +I can recall the scene as we passed down the Thames with submarines and +cruisers, in commission and bent on business, crossing our course. I +can also remember the regret at leaving it all and the consequent +‘fedupness.’ + +“_September_ 21.—The sun is making rapid progress south, and we have +had to-day over seventeen hours’ light and twelve hours’ sunlight. Oh +for a release! The monotony and worry of our helpless position is +deadly. I suppose Shackleton and his party will have started +depot-laying now and will be full of hopes for the future. I wonder +whether the _Endurance_ wintered in the ice or went north. I cannot +help thinking that if she wintered in the Weddell Sea she will be worse +off than the _Aurora_. What a lot we have to look for in the next six +months—news of Shackleton and the _Endurance_, the party at Cape Evans, +and the war. + +“_September_ 22.—Lat. 69° 12´ S.; long. 165° 00´ E. Sturge Island +(Balleny Group) is bearing north (true) ninety miles distant. Light +north-west airs with clear, fine weather. Sighted Sturge Island in the +morning, bearing due north of us and appearing like a faint low shadow +on the horizon. It is good to get a good landmark for fixing positions +again, and it is good to see that we are making northerly progress, +however small. Since breaking away from Cape Evans we have drifted +roughly seven hundred and five miles around islands and past formidable +obstacles, a wonderful drift! It is good to think that it has not been +in vain, and that the knowledge of the set and drill of the pack will +be a valuable addition to the sum of human knowledge. The distance from +Cape Evans to our present position is seven hundred and five miles +(geographical). + +“_September_ 27.—The temperature in my room last night was round about +zero, rather chilly, but warm enough under the blankets. Hooke has +dismantled his wireless gear. He feels rather sick about not getting +communication, although he does not show it. + +“_September_ 30.—Ninnis has been busy now for the week on the +construction of a new tractor. He is building the body and will +assemble the motor in the fore ’tween decks, where it can be lashed +securely when we are released from the ice. I can see leads of open +water from the masthead, but we are still held firmly. How long? + +“_October_ 7.—As time wears on the possibility of getting back to the +Barrier to land a party deserves consideration; if we do not get clear +until late in the season we will have to turn south first, although we +have no anchors and little moorings, no rudder and a short supply of +coal. To leave a party on the Barrier would make us very short-handed; +still, it can be done, and anything is preferable to the delay in +assisting the people at Cape Evans. At 5 a.m. a beautiful parhelion +formed around the sun. The sight so impressed the bos’n that he roused +me out to see it.” + +During the month of October the _Aurora_ drifted uneventfully. +Stenhouse mentions that there was often an appearance of open water on +the northern and eastern horizon. But anxious eyes were strained in +vain for indications that the day of the ship’s release was near at +hand. Hooke had the wireless plant running again and was trying daily +to get into touch with Macquarie Island, now about eight hundred and +fifty miles distant. The request for a relief ship was to be renewed if +communication could be established, for by this time, if all had gone +well with the _Endurance_, the overland party from the Weddell Sea +would have been starting. There was considerable movement of the ice +towards the end of the month, lanes opening and closing, but the floe, +some acres in area, into which the _Aurora_ was frozen, remained firm +until the early days of November. The cracks appeared close to the +ship, due apparently to heavy drift causing the floe to sink. The +temperatures were higher now, under the influence of the sun, and the +ice was softer. Thawing was causing discomfort in the quarters aboard. +The position on November 12 was reckoned to be lat. 66° 49´ S., long. +155° 17´ 45´´ E. Stenhouse made a sounding on November 17, in lat. 66° +40´ S., long. 154° 45´ E., and found bottom at 194 fathoms. The bottom +sample was mud and a few small stones. The sounding-line showed a +fairly strong undercurrent to the north-west. “We panned out some of +the mud,” says Stenhouse, “and in the remaining grit found several +specks of gold.” Two days later the trend of the current was +south-easterly. There was a pronounced thaw on the 22nd. The cabins +were in a dripping state, and recently fallen snow was running off the +ship in little streams. All hands were delighted, for the present +discomfort offered promise of an early break-up of the pack. + +“_November_ 23.—At 3 a.m. Young Island, Balleny Group, was seen bearing +north 54° east (true). The island, which showed up clearly on the +horizon, under a heavy stratus-covered sky, appeared to be very far +distant. By latitude at noon we are in 66° 26´ S. As this is the +charted latitude of Peak Foreman, Young Island, the bearing does not +agree. Land was seen at 8 a.m. bearing south 60° west (true). This, +which would appear to be Cape Hudson, loomed up through the mists in +the form of a high, bold headland, with low undulating land stretching +away to the south-south-east and to the westward of it. The appearance +of this headland has been foretold for the last two days, by masses of +black fog, but it seems strange that land so high should not have been +seen before, as there is little change in the atmospheric conditions. + +“_November_ 24.—Overcast and hazy during forenoon. Cloudy, clear, and +fine in afternoon and evening. Not a vestige of land can be seen, so +Cape Hudson is really ‘Cape Flyaway.’ This is most weird. All hands saw +the headland to the south-west, and some of us sketched it. Now +(afternoon), although the sky is beautifully clear to the south-west, +nothing can be seen. We cannot have drifted far from yesterday’s +position. No wonder Wilkes reported land. 9 p.m.—A low fringe of land +appears on the horizon bearing south-west, but in no way resembles our +Cape of yesterday. This afternoon we took a cast of the lead through +the crack 200 yds. west of the ship, but found no bottom at 700 +fathoms.” + +An interesting incident on November 26 was the discovery of an emperor +penguin rookery. Ninnis and Kavenagh took a long walk to the +north-west, and found the deserted rookery. The depressions in the ice, +made by the birds, were about eighteen inches long and contained a +greyish residue. The rookery was in a hollow surrounded by pressure +ridges six feet high. Apparently about twenty birds had been there. No +pieces of egg-shell were seen, but the petrels and skuas had been there +in force and probably would have taken all scraps of this kind. The +floes were becoming soft and “rotten,” and walking was increasingly +difficult. Deep pools of slush and water covered with thin snow made +traps for the men. Stenhouse thought that a stiff blizzard would break +up the pack. His anxiety was increasing with the advance of the season, +and his log is a record of deep yearning to be free and active again. +But the grip of the pack was inexorable. The hands had plenty of work +on the _Aurora_, which was being made shipshape after the buffeting of +the winter storms. Seals and penguins were seen frequently, and the +supply of fresh meat was maintained. The jury-rudder was ready to be +shipped when the ship was released, but in the meantime it was not +being exposed to the attacks of the ice. + +“No appreciable change in our surroundings,” was the note for December +17. “Every day past now reduces our chance of getting out in time to go +north for rudder, anchors, and coal. If we break out before January 15 +we might get north to New Zealand and down to Cape Evans again in time +to pick up the parties. After that date we can only attempt to go south +in our crippled state, and short of fuel. With only nine days’ coal on +board we would have little chance of working through any Ross Sea pack, +or of getting south at all if we encountered many blizzards. Still +there is a sporting chance and luck may be with us.... Shackleton may +be past the Pole now. I wish our wireless calls had got through.” + +Christmas Day, with its special dinner and mild festivities, came and +passed, and still the ice remained firm. The men were finding some +interest in watching the moulting of emperor penguins, who were +stationed at various points in the neighbourhood of the ship. They had +taken station to leeward of hummocks, and appeared to move only when +the wind changed or the snow around them had become foul. They covered +but a few yards on these journeys, and even then stumbled in their +weakness. One emperor was brought on board alive, and the crew were +greatly amused to see the bird balancing himself on heels and tail, +with upturned toes, the position adopted when the egg is resting on the +feet during the incubation period. The threat of a stiff “blow” aroused +hopes of release several times, but the blizzard—probably the first +Antarctic blizzard that was ever longed for—did not arrive. New Year’s +Day found Stenhouse and other men just recovering from an attack of +snow-blindness, contracted by making an excursion across the floes +without snow-goggles. + +At the end of the first week in January the ship was in lat. 65° 45´ S. +The pack was well broken a mile from the ship, and the ice was rolling +fast. Under the bows and stern the pools were growing and stretching +away in long lanes to the west. A seal came up to blow under the stern +on the 6th, proving that there was an opening in the sunken ice there. +Stenhouse was economizing in food. No breakfast was served on the ship, +and seal or penguin meat was used for at least one of the two meals +later in the day. All hands were short of clothing, but Stenhouse was +keeping intact the sledging gear intended for the use of the shore +party. Strong, variable winds on the 9th raised hopes again, and on the +morning of the 10th the ice appeared to be well broken from half a mile +to a mile distant from the ship in all directions. “It seems +extraordinary that the ship should be held in an almost unbroken floe +of about a mile square, the more so as this patch was completely +screwed and broken during the smash in July, and contains many faults. +In almost any direction at a distance of half a mile from the ship +there are pressure ridges of eight-inch ice piled twenty feet high. It +was provident that although so near these ridges were escaped.” + +The middle of January was passed and the _Aurora_ lay still in the ice. +The period of continuous day was drawing towards its close, and there +was an appreciable twilight at midnight. A dark water-sky could be seen +on the northern horizon. The latitude on January 24 was 65° 39½´ S. +Towards the end of the month Stenhouse ordered a thorough overhaul of +the stores and general preparations for a move. The supply of flour and +butter was ample. Other stores were running low, and the crew lost no +opportunity of capturing seals and penguins. Adelies were travelling to +the east-south-east in considerable numbers, but they could not be +taken unless they approached the ship closely, owing to the soft +condition of the ice. The wireless plant, which had been idle during +the months of daylight, had been rigged again, and Hooke resumed his +calls to Macquarie Island on February 2. He listened in vain for any +indication that he had been heard. The pack was showing much movement, +but the large floe containing the ship remained firm. + +The break-up of the floe came on February 12. Strong north-east to +south-east winds put the ice in motion and brought a perceptible swell. +The ship was making some water, a fore-taste of a trouble to come, and +all hands spent the day at the pumps, reducing the water from three +feet eight and a half inches in the well to twelve inches, in spite of +frozen pipes and other difficulties. Work had just finished for the +night when the ice broke astern and quickly split in all directions +under the influence of the swell. The men managed to save some seal +meat which had been cached in a drift near the gangway. They lost the +flagstaff, which had been rigged as a wireless mast out on the floe, +but drew in the aerial. The ship was floating now amid fragments of +floe, and bumping considerably in the swell. A fresh southerly wind +blew during the night, and the ship started to forge ahead gradually +without sail. At 8.30 a.m. on the 13th Stenhouse set the foresail and +foretopmast staysail, and the _Aurora_ moved northward slowly, being +brought up occasionally by large floes. Navigation under such +conditions, without steam and without a rudder, was exceedingly +difficult, but Stenhouse wished if possible to save his small remaining +stock of coal until he cleared the pack, so that a quick run might be +made to McMurdo Sound. The jury-rudder could not be rigged in the pack. +The ship was making about three and a half feet of water in the +twenty-four hours, a quantity easily kept in check by the pumps. + +During the 14th the _Aurora_ worked very slowly northward through heavy +pack. Occasionally the yards were backed or an ice-anchor put into a +floe to help her out of difficult places, but much of the time she +steered herself. The jury-rudder boom was topped into position in the +afternoon, but the rudder was not to be shipped until open pack or open +water was reached. The ship was held up all day on the 15th in lat. 64° +38´ S. Heavy floes barred progress in every direction. Attempts were +made to work the ship by trimming sails and warping with ice-anchors, +but she could not be manœuvred smartly enough to take advantage of +leads that opened and closed. This state of affairs continued +throughout the 16th. That night a heavy swell was rolling under the ice +and the ship had a rough time. One pointed floe ten or twelve feet +thick was steadily battering, with a three-feet send, against the +starboard side, and fenders only partially deadened the shock. “It is +no use butting against this pack with steam-power,” wrote Stenhouse. +“We would use all our meagre supply of coal in reaching the limit of +the ice in sight, and then we would be in a hole, with neither ballast +nor fuel.... But if this stagnation lasts another week we will have to +raise steam and consume our coal in an endeavour to get into navigable +waters. I am afraid our chances of getting south are very small now.” + +The pack remained close, and on the 21st a heavy swell made the +situation dangerous. The ship bumped heavily that night and fenders +were of little avail. With each “send” of the swell the ship would bang +her bows on the floe ahead, then bounce back and smash into another +floe across her stern-post. This floe, about six feet thick and 100 ft. +across, was eventually split and smashed by the impacts. The pack was +jammed close on the 23rd, when the noon latitude was 64° 36½´ S. The +next change was for the worse. The pack loosened on the night of the +25th, and a heavy north-west swell caused the ship to bump heavily. +This state of affairs recurred at intervals in succeeding days. “The +battering and ramming of the floes increased in the early hours [of +February 29] until it seemed as if some sharp floe or jagged underfoot +must go through the ship’s hull. At 6 a.m. we converted a large +coir-spring into a fender, and slipped it under the port quarter, where +a pressured floe with twenty to thirty feet underfoot was threatening +try knock the propeller and stern-post off altogether. At 9 a.m., after +pumping ship, the engineer reported a leak in the way of the +propeller-shaft aft near the stern-post on the port side. The carpenter +cut part of the lining and filled the space between the timbers with +Stockholm tar, cement, and oakum. He could not get at the actual leak, +but his makeshift made a little difference. I am anxious about the +propeller. This pack is a dangerous place for a ship now; it seems +miraculous that the old Barky still floats.” + +The ice opened out a little on March 1. It was imperative to get the +ship out of her dangerous situation quickly; as winter was approaching, +and Stenhouse therefore ordered steam to be raised. Next morning he had +the spanker gaff rigged over the stern for use as a temporary rudder +while in the heavy pack. Steam had been raised to working pressure at +5.15 p.m. on the 2nd, and the _Aurora_ began to work ahead to the +westward. Progress was very slow owing to heavy floes and deep +underfoots, which necessitated frequent stoppages of the engines. Open +water was in sight to the north and north-west the next morning, after +a restless night spent among the rocking floes. But progress was very +slow. The _Aurora_ went to leeward under the influence of a +west-south-west breeze, and steering by means of the yards and a +warp-anchor was a ticklish business. The ship came to a full stop among +heavy floes before noon on the 3rd, and three hours later, after vain +attempts to warp ahead by means of ice-anchors, Stenhouse had the fires +partially drawn (to save coal) and banked. + +No advance was made on March 4 and 5. A moderate gale from the +east-north-east closed the ice and set it in motion, and the _Aurora_, +with banked fires, rolled and bumped, heavily. Seventeen bergs were in +sight, and one of them was working southwards into the pack and +threatening to approach the ship. During the night the engines were +turned repeatedly by the action of ice on the propeller blades. “All +theories about the swell being non-existent in the pack are false,” +wrote the anxious master. “Here we are with a suggestion only of open +water-sky, and the ship rolling her scuppers under and sitting down +bodily on the floes.” The ice opened when the wind moderated, and on +the afternoon of the 6th the _Aurora_ moved northward again. “Without a +rudder (no jury-rudder can yet be used amongst these swirling, rolling +floes) the ship requires a lot of attention. Her head must be pointed +between floes by means of ice-anchors and warps, or by mooring to a +floe and steaming round it. We kept a fairly good course between two +bergs to our northward and made about five miles northing till, +darkness coming on, the men could no longer venture on the floes with +safety to fix the anchors.” + +The next three days were full of anxiety. The _Aurora_ was held by the +ice, and subjected to severe buffeting, while two bergs approached from +the north. On the morning of the 10th the nearest berg was within three +cables of the ship. But the pack had opened and by 9.30 a.m. the ship +was out of the danger zone and headed north-north-east. The pack +continued to open during the afternoon, and the _Aurora_ passed through +wide stretches of small loose floes and brash. Progress was good until +darkness made a stop necessary. The next morning the pack was denser. +Stenhouse shipped a preventer jury-rudder (the weighted spanker gaff), +but could not get steerage way. Broad leads were sighted to the +north-west in the afternoon, and the ship got within a quarter of a +mile of the nearest lead before being held up by heavy pack. She again +bumped severely during the night, and the watch stood by with fenders +to ease the more dangerous blows. + +Early next morning Stenhouse lowered a jury-rudder, with steering +pennants to drag through the water, and moved north to north-west +through heavy pack. He made sixteen miles that day on an erratic +course, and then spent an anxious night with the ship setting back into +the pack and being pounded heavily. Attempts to work forward to an open +lead on the morning of the 13th were unsuccessful. Early in the +afternoon a little progress was made, with all hands standing by to +fend off high ice, and at 4.50 p.m. the _Aurora_ cleared the main pack. +An hour was spent shipping the jury-rudder under the counter, and then +the ship moved slowly northward. There was pack still ahead, and the +bergs and growlers were a constant menace in the hours of darkness. +Some anxious work remained to be done, since bergs and scattered ice +extended in all directions, but at 2 p.m. on March 14 the _Aurora_ +cleared the last belt of pack in lat. 62° 27.5´ S., long. 157° 32´ E. +“We ‘spliced the main brace,’” says Stenhouse, “and blew three blasts +of farewell to the pack with the whistle.” + + +[Illustration: “Next Morning the Jury-Rudder was Shipped”] + + +The _Aurora_ was not at the end of her troubles, but the voyage up to +New Zealand need not be described in detail. Any attempt to reach +McMurdo Sound was now out of the question. Stenhouse had a battered, +rudderless ship, with only a few tons of coal left in the bunkers, and +he struggled northward in heavy weather against persistent adverse +winds and head seas. The jury-rudder needed constant nursing, and the +shortage of coal made it impossible to get the best service from the +engines. There were times when the ship could make no progress and fell +about helplessly in a confused swell or lay hove to amid mountainous +seas. She was short-handed, and one or two of the men were creating +additional difficulties. But Stenhouse displayed throughout fine +seamanship and dogged perseverance. He accomplished successfully one of +the most difficult voyages on record, in an ocean area notoriously +stormy and treacherous. On March 23 he established wireless +communication with Bluff Station, New Zealand, and the next day was in +touch with Wellington and Hobart. The naval officer in New Zealand +waters offered assistance, and eventually it was arranged that the +Otago Harbour Board’s tug _Plucky_ should meet the _Aurora_ outside +Port Chalmers. There were still bad days to be endured. The jury-rudder +partially carried away and had to be unshipped in a heavy sea. +Stenhouse carried on, and in the early morning of April 2 the _Aurora_ +picked up the tug and was taken in tow. She reached Port Chalmers the +following morning, and was welcomed with the warm hospitality that New +Zealand has always shown towards Antarctic explorers. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII +THE LAST RELIEF + + +When I reached New Zealand at the beginning of December 1916, I found +that the arrangements for the relief were complete. The New Zealand +Government had taken the task in hand earlier in the year, before I had +got into touch with the outside world. The British and Australian +Governments were giving financial assistance. The _Aurora_ had been +repaired and refitted at Port Chalmers during the year at considerable +cost, and had been provisioned and coaled for the voyage to McMurdo +Sound. My old friend Captain John K. Davis, who was a member of my +first Antarctic Expedition in 1907–1909, and who subsequently commanded +Dr. Mawson’s ship in the Australian Antarctic Expedition, had been +placed in command of the _Aurora_ by the Governments, and he had +engaged officers, engineers, and crew. Captain Davis came to Wellington +to see me on my arrival there, and I heard his account of the position. +I had interviews also with the Minister for Marine, the late Dr. Robert +McNab, a kindly and sympathetic Scotsman who took a deep personal +interest in the Expedition. Stenhouse also was in Wellington, and I may +say again here that his account of his voyage and drift in the _Aurora_ +filled me with admiration for his pluck, seamanship, and +resourcefulness. + +After discussing the situation fully with Dr. McNab, I agreed that the +arrangements already made for the relief expedition should stand. Time +was important and there were difficulties about making any change of +plans or control at the last moment. After Captain Davis had been at +work for some months the Government agreed to hand the _Aurora_ over to +me free of liability on her return to New Zealand. It was decided, +therefore, that Captain Davis should take the ship down to McMurdo +Sound, and that I should go with him to take charge of any shore +operations that might be necessary. I “signed on” at a salary of 1s. a +month, and we sailed from Port Chalmers on December 20, 1916. A week +later we sighted ice again. The _Aurora_ made a fairly quick passage +through the pack and entered the open water of the Ross Sea on January +7, 1917. + + +[Illustration: Ice Nomenclature: 1. Young Ice (Bay Ice of Scoresby) +in the Middle Distance] + + +[Illustration: 2. Light Pack] + + +Captain Davis brought the _Aurora_ alongside the ice edge off Cape +Royds on the morning of January 10, and I went ashore with a party to +look for some record in the hut erected there by my Expedition in 1907. +I found a letter stating that the Ross Sea party was housed at Cape +Evans, and was on my way back to the ship when six men, with dogs and +sledge, were sighted coming from the direction of Cape Evans. At 1 p.m. +this party arrived on board, and we learned that of the ten members of +the Expedition left behind when the _Aurora_ broke away on May 6, 1915, +seven had survived, namely, A. Stevens, E. Joyce, H. E. Wild, J. L. +Cope, R. W. Richards, A. K. Jack, I. O. Gaze. These seven men were all +well, though they showed traces of the ordeal through which they had +passed. They told us of the deaths of Mackintosh, Spencer-Smith, and +Hayward, and of their own anxious wait for relief. + +All that remained to be done was to make a final search for the bodies +of Mackintosh and Hayward. There was no possibility of either man being +alive. They had been without equipment when the blizzard broke the ice +they were crossing. It would have been impossible for them to have +survived more than a few days, and eight months had now elapsed without +news of them. Joyce had already searched south of Glacier Tongue. I +considered that further search should be made in two directions, the +area north of Glacier Tongue, and the old depot off Butler Point, and I +made a report to Captain Davis to this effect. + +On January 12 the ship reached a point five and a half miles east of +Butler Point. I took a party across rubbly and waterlogged ice to +within thirty yards of the piedmont ice, but owing to high cliffs and +loose slushy ice could not make a landing. The land-ice had broken away +at the point cut by the cross-bearings of the depot, but was visible in +the form of two large bergs grounded to the north of Cape Bernacchi. +There was no sign of the depot or of any person having visited the +vicinity. We returned to the ship and proceeded across the Sound to +Cape Bernacchi. + +The next day I took a party ashore with the object of searching the +area north of Glacier Tongue, including Razorback Island, for traces of +the two missing men. We reached the Cape Evans Hut at 1.30 p.m., and +Joyce and I left at 3 p.m. for the Razorbacks. We conducted a search +round both islands, returning to the hut at 7 p.m. The search had been +fruitless. On the 14th I started with Joyce to search the north side of +Glacier Tongue, but the surface drift, with wind from south-east, +decided me not to continue, as the ice was moving rapidly at the end of +Cape Evans, and the pool between the hut and Inaccessible Island was +growing larger. The wind increased in the afternoon. The next day a +south-east blizzard was blowing, with drift half up the islands. I +considered it unsafe to sledge that day, especially as the ice was +breaking away from the south side of Cape Evans into the pool. We spent +the day putting the hut in order. + +We got up at 3 a.m. on the 16th. The weather was fine and calm. I +started at 4.20 with Joyce to the south at the greatest possible speed. +We reached Glacier Tongue about one and a half miles from the seaward +end. Wherever there were not precipitous cliffs there was an even +snow-slope to the top. From the top we searched with glasses; there was +nothing to be seen but blue ice, crevassed, showing no protuberances. +We came down and, half running, half walking, worked about three miles +towards the root of the glacier; but I could see there was not the +slightest chance of finding any remains owing to the enormous +snowdrifts wherever the cliffs were accessible. The base of the steep +cliffs had drifts ten to fifteen feet high. We arrived back at the hut +at 9.40, and left almost immediately for the ship. I considered that +all places likely to hold the bodies of Mackintosh and Hayward had now +been searched. There was no doubt to my mind that they met their deaths +on the breaking of the thin ice when the blizzard arose on May 8, 1916. +During my absence from the hut Wild and Jack had erected a cross to the +memory of the three men who had lost their lives in the service of the +Expedition. + + +[Illustration: 3. Heavy Hummocked Pack] + + +[Illustration: 4. Hummocky Pack and Frozen Lead of Young-Ice] + + +Captain Davis took the ship northward on January 17. The ice conditions +were unfavourable and pack barred the way. We stood over to the western +coast towards Dunlop Island and followed it to Granite Harbour. No mark +or depot of any kind was seen. The _Aurora_ reached the main pack, +about sixty miles from Cape Adare, on January 22. The ice was closed +ahead, and Davis went south in open water to wait for better +conditions. A north-west gale on January 28 enabled the ship to pass +between the pack and the land off Cape Adare, and we crossed the +Antarctic Circle on the last day of the month. On February 4 Davis sent +a formal report to the New Zealand Government by wireless, and on +February 9 the _Aurora_ was berthed at Wellington. We were welcomed +like returned brothers by the New Zealand people. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII +THE FINAL PHASE + + +The foregoing chapters of this book represent the general narrative of +our Expedition. That we failed in accomplishing the object we set out +for was due, I venture to assert, not to any neglect or lack of +organization, but to the overwhelming natural obstacles, especially the +unprecedentedly severe summer conditions on the Weddell Sea side. But +though the Expedition was a failure in one respect, I think it was +successful in many others. A large amount of important scientific work +was carried out. The meteorological observations in particular have an +economic bearing. The hydrographical work in the Weddell Sea has done +much to clear up the mystery of this, the least known of all the seas. +I have appended a short scientific memorandum to this volume, but the +more detailed scientific results must wait until a more suitable time +arrives, when more stable conditions prevail. Then results will be +worked out. + +To the credit side of the Expedition one can safely say that the +comradeship and resource of the members of the Expedition was worthy of +the highest traditions of Polar service; and it was a privilege to me +to have had under my command men who, through dark days and the stress +and strain of continuous danger, kept up their spirits and carried out +their work regardless of themselves and heedless of the limelight. The +same energy and endurance that they showed in the Antarctic they +brought to the greater war in the Old World. And having followed our +fortunes in the South you may be interested to know that practically +every member of the Expedition was employed in one or other branches of +the active fighting forces during the war. Several are still abroad, +and for this very reason it has been impossible for me to obtain +certain details for this book. + + +[Illustration: 5. Close Pack] + + +[Illustration: 6. Open Pack] + + +Of the fifty-three men who returned out of the fifty-six who left for +the South, three have since been killed and five wounded. Four +decorations have been won, and several members of the Expedition have +been mentioned in dispatches. McCarthy, the best and most efficient of +the sailors, always cheerful under the most trying circumstances, and +who for these very reasons I chose to accompany me on the boat journey +to South Georgia, was killed at his gun in the Channel. Cheetham, the +veteran of the Antarctic, who had been more often south of the +Antarctic circle than any man, was drowned when the vessel he was +serving in was torpedoed, a few weeks before the Armistice. Ernest +Wild, Frank Wild’s brother, was killed while minesweeping in the +Mediterranean. Mauger, the carpenter on the _Aurora_, was badly wounded +while serving with the New Zealand Infantry, so that he is unable to +follow his trade again. He is now employed by the New Zealand +Government. The two surgeons, Macklin and McIlroy, served in France and +Italy, McIlroy being badly wounded at Ypres. Frank Wild, in view of his +unique experience of ice and ice conditions, was at once sent to the +North Russian front, where his zeal and ability won him the highest +praise. + +Macklin served first with the Yorks and later transferred as medical +officer to the Tanks, where he did much good work. Going to the Italian +front with his battalion, he won the Military Cross for bravery in +tending wounded under fire. + +James joined the Royal Engineers, Sound Ranging Section, and after much +front-line work was given charge of a Sound Ranging School to teach +other officers this latest and most scientific addition to the art of +war. + +Wordie went to France with the Royal Field Artillery and was badly +wounded at Armentières. + +Hussey was in France for eighteen months with the Royal Garrison +Artillery, serving in every big battle from Dixmude to Saint-Quentin. + +Worsley, known to his intimates as Depth-Charge Bill, owing to his +success with that particular method of destroying German submarines, +has the Distinguished Service Order and three submarines to his credit. + +Stenhouse, who commanded the _Aurora_ after Mackintosh landed, was with +Worsley as his second in command when one of the German submarines was +rammed and sunk, and received the D.S.C. for his share in the fight. He +was afterwards given command of a Mystery Ship, and fought several +actions with enemy submarines. + +Clark served on a mine-sweeper. Greenstreet was employed with the +barges on the Tigris. Rickenson was commissioned as +Engineer-Lieutenant, R.N. Kerr returned to the Merchant Service as an +engineer. + +Most of the crew of the _Endurance_ served on minesweepers. + +Of the Ross Sea Party, Mackintosh, Hayward, and Spencer-Smith died for +their country as surely as any who gave up their lives on the fields of +France and Flanders. Hooke, the wireless operator, now navigates an +airship. + +Nearly all of the crew of the _Aurora_ joined the New Zealand Field +Forces and saw active service in one or other of the many theatres of +war. Several have been wounded, but it has been impossible to obtain +details. + +On my return, after the rescue of the survivors of the Ross Sea Party, +I offered my services to the Government, and was sent on a mission to +South America. When this was concluded I was commissioned as Major and +went to North Russia in charge of Arctic Equipment and Transport, +having with me Worsley, Stenhouse, Hussey, Macklin, and Brocklehurst, +who was to have come South with us, but who, as a regular officer, +rejoined his unit on the outbreak of war. He has been wounded three +times and was in the retreat from Mons. Worsley was sent across to the +Archangel front, where he did excellent work, and the others served +with me on the Murmansk front. The mobile columns there had exactly the +same clothing, equipment, and sledging food as we had on the +Expedition. No expense was spared to obtain the best of everything for +them, and as a result not a single case of avoidable frost-bite was +reported. + + +[Illustration: 7. Very Open Pack, approximating to Drift-ice] + + +[Illustration: 8. Drift-Ice] + + +Taking the Expedition as a unit, out of fifty-six men three died in the +Antarctic, three were killed in action, and five have been wounded, so +that our casualties have been fairly high. + +Though some have gone there are enough left to rally round and form a +nucleus for the next Expedition, when troublous times are over and +scientific exploration can once more be legitimately undertaken. + + + + +APPENDIX I + + + + +SCIENTIFIC WORK + + +By J. M. WORDIE, M.A. (Cantab.), Lieut. R.F.A. + +The research undertaken by the Expedition was originally planned for a +shore party working from a fixed base on land, but it was only in South +Georgia that this condition of affairs was fully realized. On this +island, where a full month was spent, the geologist made very extensive +collections, and began the mapping of the country; the magnetician had +some of his instruments in working order for a short while; and the +meteorologist was able to co-operate with the Argentine observer +stationed at Grytviken. It had been realized how important the +meteorological observations were going to be to the Argentine +Government, and they accordingly did all in their power to help, both +before and at the end of the Expedition. The biologist devoted most of +his time, meanwhile, to the whaling industry, there being no less than +seven stations on the island; he also made collections of the neritic +fauna, and, accompanied by the photographer, studied the bird life and +the habits of the sea-elephants along the east coast. + +By the time the actual southern voyage commenced, each individual had +his own particular line of work which he was prepared to follow out. +The biologist at first confined himself to collecting the _plankton_, +and a start was made in securing water samples for temperature and +salinity. In this, from the beginning, he had the help of the +geologist, who also gave instructions for the taking of a line of +soundings under the charge of the ship’s officers. This period of the +southward voyage was a very busy time so far as the scientists were +concerned, for, besides their own particular work, they took the full +share of looking after the dogs and working the ship watch by watch. At +the same time, moreover, the biologist had to try and avoid being too +lavish with his preserving material at the expense of the shore station +collections which were yet to make. + +When it was finally known that the ship had no longer any chance of +getting free of the ice in the 1914–1915 season, a radical change was +made in the arrangements. The scientists were freed, as far as +possible, from ship’s duties, and were thus able to devote themselves +almost entirely to their own particular spheres. The meteorological +investigations took on a more definite shape; the instruments intended +for the land base were set up on board ship, including self-recording +barographs, thermometers, and a Dines anemometer, with which very +satisfactory results were got. The physicist set up his quadrant +electrometer after a good deal of trouble, but throughout the winter +had to struggle constantly with rime forming on the parts of his +apparatus exposed to the outer air. Good runs were being thus +continually spoilt. The determination of the magnetic constants also +took up a good part of his time. + +Besides collecting _plankton_ the biologist was now able to put down +one or other of his dredges at more frequent intervals, always taking +care, however, not to exhaust his store of preserving material, which +was limited. The taking of water samples was established on a better +system, so that the series should be about equally spaced out over the +ship’s course. The geologist suppressed all thought of rocks, though +occasionally they were met with in bottom samples; his work became +almost entirely oceanographical, and included a study of the sea-ice, +of the physiography of the sea floor as shown by daily soundings, and +of the bottom deposits; besides this he helped the biologist in the +temperature and salinity observations. + +The work undertaken and accomplished by each member was as wide as +possible; but it was only in keeping with the spirit of the times that +more attention should be paid to work from which practical and economic +results were likely to accrue. The meteorologist had always in view the +effect of Antarctic climate on the other southern continents, the +geologist looked on ice from a seaman’s point of view, and the +biologist not unwillingly put whales in the forefront of his programme. +The accounts which follow on these very practical points show how +closely scientific work in the Antarctica is in touch with, and helps +on the economic development of, the inhabited lands to the north. + + + + +SEA-ICE NOMENCLATURE + + +By J. M. WORDIE, M.A. (Cantab.), Lieut. R.F.A. + +During the voyage of the _Endurance_ it was soon noticed that the terms +being used to describe different forms of ice were not always in +agreement with those given in Markham’s and Mill’s glossary in “The +Antarctic Manual,” 1901. It was the custom, of course, to follow +implicitly the terminology used by those of the party whose experience +of ice dated back to Captain Scott’s first voyage, so that the terms +used may be said to be common to all Antarctic voyages of the present +century. The principal changes, therefore, in nomenclature must date +from the last quarter of the nineteenth century, when there was no one +to pass on the traditional usage from the last naval Arctic Expedition +in 1875 to the _Discovery_ Expedition of 1901. On the latter ship +Markham’s and Mill’s glossary was, of course, used, but apparently not +slavishly; founded, as far as sea-ice went, on Scoresby’s, made in +1820, it might well have been adopted in its entirety, for no writer +could have carried more weight than Scoresby the younger, combining as +he did more than ten years’ whaling experience with high scientific +attainments. Above all others he could be accepted both by practical +seamen and also by students of ice forms. + +That the old terms of Scoresby did not all survive the period of +indifference to Polar work, in spite of Markham and Mill, is an +indication either that their usefulness has ceased or that the original +usage has changed once and for all. A restatement of terms is therefore +now necessary. Where possible the actual phrases of Scoresby and of his +successors, Markham and Mill, are still used. The principle adopted, +however, is to give preference to the words actually used by the Polar +seamen themselves. + +The following authorities have been followed as closely as possible: + +W. Scoresby, Jun., “An Account of the Arctic Regions,” 1820, vol. i, +pp. 225–233, 238–241. + +C. R. Markham and H. R. Mill in “The Antarctic Manual,” 1901, pp, +xiv–xvi. + +J. Payer, “New Lands within the Arctic Circle,” 1876, vol. i, pp. 3–14. + +W. S. Bruce, “Polar Exploration” in Home University Library, c. 1911, +pp. 54–71. + +Reference should also be made to the annual publication of the Danish +Meteorological Institute showing the Arctic ice conditions of the +previous summer. This is published in both Danish and English, so that +the terms used there are bound to have a very wide acceptance; it is +hoped, therefore, that they may be the means of preventing the +Antarctic terminology following a different line of evolution; for but +seldom is a seaman found nowadays who knows both Polar regions. On the +Danish charts six different kinds of sea-ice are marked—namely, +unbroken polar ice; land-floe; great ice-fields; tight pack-ice; open +ice; bay-ice and brash. With the exception of bay-ice, which is more +generally known as young ice, all these terms pass current in the +Antarctic. + +_Slush_ or _Sludge_. The initial stages in the freezing of sea-water, +when its consistency becomes gluey or soupy. The term is also used (but +not commonly) for brash-ice still further broken down. + +_Pancake-ice_. Small circular floes with raised rims; due to the +break-up in a gently ruffled sea of the newly formed ice into pieces +which strike against each other, and so form turned-up edges. + +_Young Ice_. Applied to all unhummocked ice up to about a foot in +thickness. Owing to the fibrous or platy structure, the floes crack +easily, and where the ice is not over thick a ship under steam cuts a +passage without much difficulty. Young ice may originate from the +coalescence of “pancakes,” where the water is slightly ruffled or else +be a sheet of “black ice,” covered maybe with “ice-flowers,” formed by +the freezing of a smooth sheet of sea-water. + +In the Arctic it has been the custom to call this form of ice +“bay-ice”; in the Antarctic, however, the latter term is wrongly used +for land-floes (fast-ice, etc.), and has been so misapplied +consistently for fifteen years. The term bay-ice should possibly, +therefore, be dropped altogether, especially since, even in the Arctic, +its meaning is not altogether a rigid one, as it may denote firstly the +gluey “slush,” which forms when sea-water freezes, and secondly the +firm level sheet ultimately produced. + +_Land floes_. Heavy but not necessarily hummocked ice, with generally a +deep snow covering, which has remained held up in the position of +growth by the enclosing nature of some feature of the coast, or by +grounded bergs throughout the summer season when most of the ice breaks +out. Its thickness is, therefore, above the average. Has been called at +various times “fast-ice,” “coast-ice,” “land-ice,” “bay-ice” by +Shackleton and David and the Charcot Expedition; and possibly what +Drygalski calls _Schelfeis_ is not very different. + +_Floe_. An area of ice, level or hummocked, whose limits are within +sight. Includes all sizes between brash on the one hand and fields on +the other. “Light-floes” are between one and two feet in thickness +(anything thinner being “young-ice”). Those exceeding two feet in +thickness are termed “heavy floes,” being generally hummocked, and in +the Antarctic, at any rate, covered by fairly deep snow. + +_Field_. A sheet of ice of such extent that its limits cannot be seen +from the masthead. + +_Hummocking_. Includes all the processes of pressure formation whereby +level young ice becomes broken up and built up into + +_Hummocky Floes_. The most suitable term for what has also been called +“old pack” and “screwed pack” by David and _Scholleneis_ by German +writers. In contrast to young ice, the structure is no longer fibrous, +but becomes spotted or bubbly, a certain percentage of salt drains +away, and the ice becomes almost translucent. + +_The Pack_ is a term very often used in a wide sense to include any +area of sea-ice, no matter what form it takes or how disposed. The +French term is _banquise de derive_. + +_Pack-ice_. A more restricted use than the above, to include hummocky +floes or close areas of young ice and light floes. Pack-ice is “close” +or “tight” if the floes constituting it are in contact; “open” if, for +the most part, they do not touch. In both cases it hinders, but does +not necessarily check, navigation; the contrary holds for + +_Drift-ice_. Loose open ice, where the area of water exceeds that of +ice. Generally drift-ice is within reach of the swell, and is a stage +in the breaking down of pack-ice, the size of the floes being much +smaller than in the latter. (Scoresby’s use of the term drift-ice for +pieces of ice intermediate in size between floes and brash has, +however, quite died out). The Antarctic or Arctic pack usually has a +girdle or fringe of drift-ice. + +_Brash_. Small fragments and roundish nodules; the wreck of other kinds +of ice. + +_Bergy Bits_. Pieces, about the size of a cottage, of glacier-ice or of +hummocky pack washed clear of snow. + +_Growlers_. Still smaller pieces of sea-ice than the above, greenish in +colour, and barely showing above water-level. + +_Crack_. Any sort of fracture or rift in the sea-ice covering. + +_Lead_ or _Lane_. Where a crack opens out to such a width as to be +navigable. In the Antarctic it is customary to speak of these as leads, +even when frozen over to constitute areas of young ice. + +_Pools_. Any enclosed water areas in the pack, where length and breadth +are about equal. + + + + +METEOROLOGY + + +By L. D. A. HUSSEY, B.Sc., (Lond.), Capt. R.G.A. + +The meteorological results of the Expedition, when properly worked out +and correlated with those from other stations in the southern +hemisphere, will be extremely valuable, both for their bearing on the +science of meteorology in general, and for their practical and economic +applications. + +South America is, perhaps, more intimately concerned than any other +country, but Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa are all affected +by the weather conditions of the Antarctic. Researches are now being +carried on which tend to show that the meteorology of the two +hemispheres is more interdependent than was hitherto believed, so that +a meteorological disturbance in one part of the world makes its +presence felt, more or less remotely perhaps, all over the world. + +It is evident, therefore, that a complete knowledge of the weather +conditions in any part of the world, which it is understood carries +with it the ability to make correct forecasts, can never be obtained +unless the weather conditions in every other part are known. This makes +the need for purely scientific Polar Expeditions so imperative, since +our present knowledge of Arctic and Antarctic meteorology is very +meagre, and to a certain extent unsystematic. What is wanted is a chain +of observing stations well equipped with instruments and trained +observers stretching across the Antarctic Continent. A series of +exploring ships could supplement these observations with others made by +them while cruising in the Antarctic Seas. It would pay to do this, +even for the benefit accruing to farmers, sailors, and others who are +so dependent on the weather. + +As an instance of the value of a knowledge of Antarctic weather +conditions, it may be mentioned that, as the result of observations and +researches carried out at the South Orkneys—a group of sub-Antarctic +islands at the entrance to the Weddell Sea—it has been found that a +cold winter in that sea is a sure precursor of a drought over the maize +and cereal bearing area of Argentina three and a half years later. To +the farmers, the value of this knowledge so far in advance is enormous, +and since England has some three hundred million pounds sterling +invested in Argentine interests, Antarctic Expeditions have proved, and +will prove, their worth even from a purely commercial point of view. + +I have given just this one instance to satisfy those who question the +utility of Polar Expeditions, but many more could be cited. + +As soon as it was apparent that no landing could be made, and that we +should have to spend a winter in the ship drifting round with the pack, +instruments were set up and observations taken just as if we had been +ashore. + +A meteorological screen or box was erected on a platform over the +stern, right away from the living quarters, and in it were placed the +maximum and minimum thermometers, the recording barograph, and +thermograph—an instrument which writes every variation of the +temperature and pressure on a sheet of paper on a revolving drum—and +the standard thermometer, a very carefully manufactured thermometer, +with all its errors determined and tabulated. The other thermometers +were all checked from this one. On top of the screen a Robinson’s +anemometer was screwed. This consisted of an upright rod, to the top of +which were pivoted four arms free to revolve in a plane at right angles +to it. At the end of these arms hemispherical cups were screwed. These +were caught by the wind and the arms revolved at a speed varying with +the force of the wind. The speed of the wind could be read off on a +dial below the arms. + +In addition there was an instrument called a Dines anemometer which +supplied interesting tracings of the force, duration, and direction of +the wind. There was an added advantage in the fact that the drum on +which these results were recorded was comfortably housed down below, so +that one could sit in a comparatively warm room and follow all the +varying phases of the blizzard which was raging without. The barometer +used was of the Kew Standard pattern. When the ship was crushed, all +the monthly records were saved, but the detailed tracings, which had +been packed up in the hold, were lost. Though interesting they were not +really essential. Continuous observations were made during the long +drift on the floe and while on Elephant Island the temperature was +taken at midday each day as long as the thermometers lasted. The +mortality amongst these instruments, especially those which were tied +to string and swung round, was very high. + +A few extracts from the observations taken during 1915—the series for +that year being practically complete—may be of interest. January was +dull and overcast, only 7 per cent. of the observations recording a +clear blue sky, 71 per cent. being completely overcast. + +The percentage of clear sky increased steadily up till June and July, +these months showing respectively 42 per cent. and 45.7 per cent. In +August 40 per cent. of the observations were clear sky, while September +showed a sudden drop to 27 per cent. October weather was much the same, +and November was practically overcast the whole time, clear sky showing +at only 8 per cent. of the observations. In December the sky was +completely overcast for nearly 90 per cent. of the time. + +Temperatures on the whole were fairly high, though a sudden unexpected +drop in February, after a series of heavy north-easterly gales, caused +the ship to be frozen in, and effectually put an end to any hopes of +landing that year. The lowest temperature experienced was in July, when +–35° Fahr., _i.e._ 67° below freezing, was reached. Fortunately, as the +sea was one mass of consolidated pack, the air was dry, and many days +of fine bright sunshine occurred. Later on, as the pack drifted +northwards and broke up, wide lanes of water were formed, causing fogs +and mist and dull overcast weather generally. In short, it may be said +that in the Weddell Sea the best weather comes in winter. Unfortunately +during that season the sun also disappears, so that one cannot enjoy it +as much as one would like. + +As a rule, too, southerly winds brought fine clear weather, with marked +fall in the temperature, and those from the north were accompanied by +mist, fog, and overcast skies, with comparatively high temperatures. In +the Antarctic a temperature of 30°, _i.e._ 2° _below_ freezing, is +considered unbearably hot. + +The greatest difficulty that was experienced was due to the +accumulation of rime on the instruments. In low temperatures everything +became covered with ice-crystals, deposited from the air, which +eventually grew into huge blocks. Sometimes these blocks became +dislodged and fell, making it dangerous to walk along the decks. The +rime collected on the thermometers, the glass bowl of the sunshine +recorder, and the bearings of the anemometer, necessitating the +frequent use of a brush to remove it, and sometimes effectively +preventing the instruments from recording at all. + +One of our worst blizzards occurred on August 1, 1915, which was, for +the ship, the beginning of the end. It lasted for four days, with +cloudy and overcast weather for the three following days, and from that +time onwards we enjoyed very little sun. + +The weather that we experienced on Elephant Island can only be +described as appalling. Situated as we were at the mouth of a gully, +down which a huge glacier was slowly moving, with the open sea in front +and to the left, and towering, snow-covered mountains on our right, the +air was hardly ever free from snowdrift, and the winds increased to +terrific violence through being forced over the glacier and through the +narrow gully. Huge blocks of ice were hurled about like pebbles, and +cases of clothing and cooking utensils were whisked out of our hands +and carried away to sea. For the first fortnight after our landing +there, the gale blew, at times, at over one hundred miles an hour. +Fortunately it never again quite reached that intensity, but on several +occasions violent squalls made us very fearful for the safety of our +hut. The island was almost continuously covered with a pall of fog and +snow, clear weather obtaining occasionally when pack-ice surrounded us. +Fortunately a series of south-westerly gales had blown all the ice away +to the north-east two days before the rescue ship arrived, leaving a +comparatively clear sea for her to approach the island. + +Being one solitary moving station in the vast expanse of the Weddell +Sea, with no knowledge of what was happening anywhere around us, +forecasting was very difficult and at times impossible. + +Great assistance in this direction was afforded by copies of Mr. R. C. +Mossmann’s researches and papers on Antarctic meteorology, which he +kindly supplied to us. + + +[Illustration: “The Rookery”] + + +[Illustration: The Anemometer covered with Rime] + + +I have tried to make this very brief account of the meteorological side +of the Expedition rather more “popular” than scientific, since the +publication and scientific discussion of the observations will be +carried out elsewhere; but if, while showing the difficulties under +which we had to work, it emphasizes the value of Antarctic Expeditions +from a purely utilitarian point of view, and the need for further +continuous research into the conditions obtaining in the immediate +neighbourhood of the Pole, it will have achieved its object. + + + + +PHYSICS + + +By R. W. JAMES, M.A. (Cantab.), B.Sc. (Lond.), Capt. R.E. + +Owing to the continued drift of the ship with the ice, the programme of +physical observations originally made out had to be considerably +modified. It had been intended to set up recording magnetic instruments +at the base, and to take a continuous series of records throughout the +whole period of residence there, absolute measurements of the earth’s +horizontal magnetic force, of the dip and declination being taken at +frequent intervals for purposes of calibration. With the ice +continually drifting, and the possibility of the floe cracking at any +time, it proved impracticable to set up the recording instruments, and +the magnetic observations were confined to a series of absolute +measurements taken whenever opportunity occurred. These measurements, +owing to the drift of the ship, extend over a considerable distance, +and give a chain of values along a line stretching, roughly from 77° S. +lat. to 69° S. lat. This is not the place to give the actual results; +it is quite enough to state that, as might have been expected from the +position of the magnetic pole, the values obtained correspond to a +comparatively low magnetic latitude, the value of the dip ranging from +63° to 68°. + +So far as possible, continuous records of the electric potential +gradient in the atmosphere were taken, a form of quadrant electrometer +with a boom and ink recorder, made by the Cambridge Scientific +Instrument Company, being employed. Here again, the somewhat peculiar +conditions made work difficult, as the instrument was very susceptible +to small changes of level, such as occurred from time to time owing to +the pressure of the ice on the ship. An ionium collector, for which the +radioactive material was kindly supplied by Mr. F. H. Glew, was used. +The chief difficulty to contend with was the constant formation of +thick deposits of rime, which either grew over the insulation and +spoiled it, or covered up the collector so that it could no longer act. +Nevertheless, a considerable number of good records were obtained, +which have not yet been properly worked out. Conditions during the +Expedition were very favourable for observations on the physical +properties and natural history of sea-ice, and a considerable number of +results were obtained, which are, however, discussed elsewhere, mention +of them being made here since they really come under the heading of +physics. + +In addition to these main lines of work, many observations of a +miscellaneous character were made, including those on the occurrence +and nature of parhelia or “mock suns,” which were very common, and +generally finely developed, and observations of the auroral displays, +which were few and rather poor owing to the comparatively low magnetic +latitude. Since most of the observations made are of little value +without a knowledge of the place where they were made, and since a very +complete set of soundings were also taken, the daily determination of +the ship’s position was a matter of some importance. The drift of the +ship throws considerable light on at least one geographical problem, +that of the existence of Morrell Land. The remainder of this appendix +will therefore be devoted to a discussion of the methods used to +determine the positions of the ship from day to day. + +The latitude and longitude were determined astronomically every day +when the sun or stars were visible, the position thus determined +serving as the fixed points between which the position on days when the +sky was overcast could be interpolated by the process known as “dead +reckoning,” that is to say, by estimating the speed and course of the +ship, taking into account the various causes affecting it. The sky was +often overcast for several days at a stretch, and it was worth while to +take a certain amount of care in the matter. Captain Worsley +constructed an apparatus which gave a good idea of the direction of +drift at any time. This consisted of an iron rod, which passed through +an iron tube, frozen vertically into the ice, into the water below. At +the lower end of the rod, in the water, was a vane. The rod being free +to turn, the vane took up the direction of the current, the direction +being shown by an indicator attached to the top of the rod. The +direction shown depended, of course, on the drift of the ice relative +to the water, and did not take into account any actual current which +may have been carrying the ice with it, but the true current seems +never to have been large, and the direction of the vane probably gave +fairly accurately the direction of the drift of the ice. No exact idea +of the rate of drift could be obtained from the apparatus, although one +could get an estimate of it by displacing the vane from its position of +rest and noticing how quickly it returned to it, the speed of return +being greater the more rapid the drift. Another means of estimating the +speed and direction of the drift was from the trend of the wire when a +sounding was being taken. The rate and direction of drift appeared to +depend almost entirely on the wind-velocity and direction at the time. +If any true current-effect existed, it is not obvious from a rough +comparison of the drift with the prevailing wind, but a closer +investigation of the figures may show some outstanding effect due to +current.[1] The drift was always to the left of the actual +wind-direction. This effect is due to the rotation of the earth, a +corresponding deviation to the right of the wind direction being noted +by Nansen during the drift of the _Fram_. A change in the direction of +the wind was often preceded by some hours by a change in the reading of +the drift vane. This is no doubt due to the ice to windward being set +in motion, the resulting disturbance travelling through the ice more +rapidly than the approaching wind. + + [1] Cf. “Scientific results of Norwegian North Polar Expedition, + 1893–96,” vol. iii, p. 357. + + +For the astronomical observations either the sextant or a theodolite +was used. The theodolite employed was a light 3´´ Vernier instrument by +Carey Porter, intended for sledging work. This instrument was fairly +satisfactory, although possibly rigidity had been sacrificed to +lightness to rather too great an extent. Another point which appears +worth mentioning is the following: The foot-screws were of brass, the +tribrach, into which they fitted, was made of aluminium for the sake of +lightness. The two metals have a different coefficient of expansion, +and while the feet fitted the tribrach at ordinary temperatures, they +were quite loose at temperatures in the region of 20° Fahr. below zero. +In any instrument designed for use at low temperatures, care should be +taken that parts which have to fit together are made of the same +material. + +For determining the position in drifting pack-ice, the theodolite +proved to be a more generally useful instrument than the sextant. The +ice-floes are quite steady in really thick pack-ice, and the theodolite +can be set up and levelled as well as on dry land. The observations, +both for latitude and longitude, consist in measuring altitude of the +sun or of a star. The chief uncertainty in this measurement is that +introduced by the refraction of light by the air. At very low +temperatures, the correction to be applied on this account is +uncertain, and, if possible, observations should always be made in +pairs with a north star and a south star for a latitude, and an east +star and a west star for a longitude. The refraction error will then +usually mean out. This error affects observations both with the +theodolite and the sextant, but in the case of the sextant another +cause of error occurs. In using the sextant, the angle between the +heavenly body and the visible horizon is measured directly. Even in +dense pack-ice, if the observations are taken from the deck of the ship +or from a hummock or a low berg, the apparent horizon is usually sharp +enough for the purpose. In very cold weather, however, and particularly +if there are open leads and pools between the observer and the horizon, +there is frequently a great deal of mirage, and the visible horizon may +be miraged up several minutes. This will reduce the altitude observed, +and corrections on this account are practically impossible to apply. +This error may be counterbalanced to some extent by pairing +observations as described above, but it by no means follows that the +mirage effect will be the same in the two directions. Then again, +during the summer months, no stars will be visible, and observations +for latitude will have to depend on a single noon sight of the sun. If +the sun is visible at midnight its altitude will be too low for +accurate observations, and in any case atmospheric conditions will be +quite different from those prevailing at noon. In the Antarctic, +therefore, conditions are peculiarly difficult for getting really +accurate observations, and it is necessary to reduce the probability of +error in a single observation as much as possible. When possible, +observations of the altitude of a star or of the sun should be taken +with the theodolite, since the altitude is referred to the spirit-level +of the instrument, and is independent of any apparent horizon. During +the drift of the _Endurance_ both means of observation were generally +employed. A comparison of the results showed an agreement between +sextant and theodolite, within the errors of the instrument if the +temperature was above about 20° Fahr. At lower temperatures there were +frequently discrepancies which could generally be attributed to the +mirage effects described above. + +As the _Endurance_ was carried by the ice-drift well to the west of the +Weddell Sea, towards the position of the supposed Morrell Land, the +accurate determination of longitude became a matter of moment in view +of the controversy as to the existence of this land. During a long +voyage latitude can always be determined with about the same accuracy, +the accuracy merely depending on the closeness with which altitudes can +be measured. In the case of longitude matters are rather different. The +usual method employed consists in the determination of the local time +by astronomical observations, and the comparison of this time with +Greenwich time, as shown by the ship’s chronometer, an accurate +knowledge of the errors and rate of the chronometer being required. +During the voyage of the _Endurance_ about fifteen months elapsed +during which no check on the chronometers could be obtained by the +observation of known land, and had no other check been applied there +would have been the probability of large errors in the longitudes. For +the purpose of checking the chronometers a number of observations of +occultations were observed during the winter of 1915. An occultation is +really the eclipse of a star by the moon. A number of such eclipses +occur monthly, and are tabulated in the “Nautical Almanac.” From the +data given there it is possible to compute the Greenwich time at which +the phenomenon ought to occur for an observer situated at any place on +the earth, provided his position is known within a few miles, which +will always be the case. The time of disappearance of the star by the +chronometer to be corrected is noted. The actual Greenwich time of the +occurrence is calculated, and the error of the chronometer is thus +determined. With ordinary care the chronometer error can be determined +in this way to within a few seconds, which is accurate enough for +purposes of navigation. The principal difficulties of this method lie +in the fact that comparatively few occultations occur, and those which +do occur are usually of stars of the fifth magnitude or lower. In the +Antarctic, conditions for observing occultation are rather favourable +during the winter, since, fifth-magnitude stars can be seen with a +small telescope at any time during the twenty-four hours if the sky is +clear, and the moon is also often above the horizon for a large +fraction of the time. In the summer, however, the method is quite +impossible, since, for some months, stars are not to be seen. + +No chronometer check could be applied until June 1915. On June 24 a +series of four occultations were observed; and the results of the +observations showed an error in longitude of a whole degree. In July, +August, and September further occultations were observed, and a fairly +reliable rate was worked out for the chronometers and watches. After +the crushing of the ship on October 27, 1915, no further occultations +were observed, but the calculated rates for the watches were employed, +and the longitude deduced, using these rates on March 23, 1916, was +only about 10´ of arc in error, judging by the observations of +Joinville Land made on that day. It is thus fairly certain that no +large error can have been made in the determination of the position of +the _Endurance_ at any time during the drift, and her course can be +taken as known with greater certainty than is usually the case in a +voyage of such length. + + + + +SOUTH ATLANTIC WHALES AND WHALING + + +By ROBERT S. CLARK, M.A., B.Sc., Lieut. R.N.V.R. + +Modern whaling methods were introduced into sub-Antarctic seas in 1904, +and operations commenced in the following year at South Georgia. So +successful was the initial venture that several companies were floated, +and the fishing area was extended to the South Shetlands, the South +Orkneys, and as far as 67° S along the western coast of Graham Land. +This area lies within the Dependencies of the Falkland Islands, and is +under the control of the British Government, and its geographical +position offers exceptional opportunities for the successful +prosecution of the industry by providing a sufficient number of safe +anchorages and widely separated islands, where shore stations have been +established. The Dependencies of the Falkland Islands lie roughly +within latitude 50° and 65° S. and longitude 25° and 70° W., and +include the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, South Sandwich, South +Orkney, and South Shetland Islands, and part of Graham Land. + +The industry is prosperous, and the products always find a ready +market. In this sub-Antarctic area alone, the resulting products more +than doubled the world’s supply. The total value of the Falkland Island +Dependencies in 1913 amounted to £1,252,432, in 1914 to £1,300,978, in +1915 to £1,333,401, and in 1916 to £1,774,570. This has resulted +chiefly from the marketing of whale oil and the by-product, guano, and +represents for each total a season’s capture of several thousand +whales. In 1916, the number of whales captured in this area was 11,860, +which included 6000 for South Georgia alone. Whale oil, which is now +the product of most economic value in the whaling industry, is produced +in four grades (some companies adding a fifth). These are Nos. 0, I, +II, III, IV, which in 1913 sold at £24, £22, £20, and £18 respectively +per ton, net weight, barrels included (there are six barrels to a ton). +The 1919 prices have increased to + +£72 10s. per ton (barrels included) less 2½ per cent. +£68 per ton (barrels included) less 2½ per cent. +£65 ” ” ” ” ” ” ” +£63 ” ” ” ” ” ” ” + + +Whale oil can be readily transformed into glycerine: it is used in the +manufacture of soap, and quite recently, both in this country and in +Norway, it has been refined by means of a simple hardening process into +a highly palatable and nutritious margarine. Wartime conditions +emphasized the importance of the whale oil, and fortunately the supply +was fairly constant for the production of the enormous quantities of +glycerine required by the country in the manufacture of explosives. In +relation to the food supply, it was no less important in saving the +country from a “fat” famine, when the country was confronted with the +shortage of vegetable and other animal oils. The production of guano, +bone-meal, and flesh-meal may pay off the running expenses of a +whaling-station, but their value lies, perhaps, more in their +individual properties. Flesh-meal makes up into cattle-cake, which +forms an excellent fattening food for cattle, while bone-meal and guano +are very effective fertilizers. Guano is the meat—generally the residue +of distillation—which goes through a process of drying and +disintegration, and is mixed with the crushed bone in the proportion of +two parts flesh to one part bone. This is done chiefly at the shore +stations, and, to a less extent on floating factories, though so far on +the latter it has not proved very profitable. Whale flesh, though +slightly greasy perhaps and of strong flavour, is quite palatable, and +at South Georgia, it made a welcome addition to our bill of fare—the +flesh of the hump back being used. A large supply of whale flesh was +“shipped” as food for the dogs on the journey South, and this was eaten +ravenously. It is interesting to note also the successful rearing of +pigs at South Georgia—chiefly, if not entirely, on the whale products. +The whalebone or baleen plates, which at one time formed the most +valuable article of the Arctic fishery, may here be regarded as of +secondary importance. The baleen plates of the southern right whale +reach only a length of about 7 ft., and have been valued at £750 per +ton, but the number of these whales captured is very small indeed. In +the case of the other whalebone whales, the baleen plates are much +smaller and of inferior quality—the baleen of the sei whale probably +excepted, and this only makes about £85 per ton, Sperm whales have been +taken at South Georgia and the South Shetlands, but never in any +quantity, being more numerous in warmer areas. The products and their +value are too well known to be repeated. + +The _Endurance_ reached South Georgia on November 5, 1914, and anchored +in King Edward Cove, Cumberland Bay, off Grytviken, the shore station +of the Argentina Pesca Company. During the month’s stay at the island a +considerable amount of time was devoted to a study of the whales and +the whaling industry, in the intervals of the general routine of +expedition work, and simultaneously with other studies on the general +life of this interesting sub-Antarctic island. Visits were made to six +of the seven existing stations, observations were made on the whales +landed, and useful insight was gathered as to the general working of +the industry. + +From South Georgia the track of the _Endurance_ lay in a direct line to +the South Sandwich Group, between Saunders and Candlemas Islands. Then +south-easterly and southerly courses were steered to the Coats’ Land +barrier, along which we steamed for a few hundred miles until forced +westward, when we were unfortunately held up in about lat. 76° 34´ S. +and long. 37° 30´ W. on January 19, 1915, by enormous masses of heavy +pack-ice. The ship drifted to lat. 76° 59´ S., long. 37° 47´ W. on +March 19, 1915, and then west and north until crushed in lat. 69° 5´ S. +and long. 51° 30´ W. on October 26, 1915. We continued drifting +gradually north, afloat on ice-floes, past Graham Land and Joinville +Island, and finally took to the boats on April 9, 1916, and reached +Elephant Island on April 15. The Falkland Island Dependencies were thus +practically circumnavigated, and it may be interesting to compare the +records of whales seen in the region outside and to the south of this +area with the records and the percentage of each species captured in +the intensive fishing area. + +The most productive part of the South Atlantic lies south of latitude +50° S., where active operations extend to and even beyond the Antarctic +circle. It appears to be the general rule in Antarctic waters that +whales are more numerous the closer the association with ice +conditions, and there seems to be reasonable grounds for supposing that +this may explain the comparatively few whales sighted by Expeditions +which have explored the more northerly and more open seas, while the +whalers themselves have even asserted that their poor seasons have +nearly always coincided with the absence of ice, or with poor ice +conditions. At all events, those Expeditions which have penetrated far +south and well into the pack-ice have, without exception, reported the +presence of whales in large numbers, even in the farthest south +latitudes, so that our knowledge of the occurrence of whales in the +Antarctic has been largely derived from these Expeditions, whose main +object was either the discovery of new land or the Pole itself. The +largest number of Antarctic Expeditions has concentrated on the two +areas of the South Atlantic and the Ross Sea, and the records of the +occurrences of whales have, in consequence, been concentrated in these +two localities. In the intervening areas, however, Expeditions, notably +the _Belgica_ on the western side and the _Gauss_ on the eastern side +of the Antarctic continent, have reported whales in moderately large +numbers, so that the stock is by no means confined to the two areas +above mentioned. + +The effective fishing area may be assumed to lie within a radius of a +hundred miles from each shore station and floating-factory anchorage, +and a rough estimate of all the Falkland stations works out at 160,000 +square miles. The total for the whole Falkland area is about 2,000,000 +square miles, which is roughly less than a sixth of the total Antarctic +sea area. The question then arises as to how far the “catch percentage” +during the short fishing season affects the total stock, but so far one +can only conjecture as to the actual results from a comparison of the +numbers seen, chiefly by scientific and other Expeditions, in areas +outside the intensive fishing area with the numbers and percentage of +each species captured in the intensive fishing area. Sufficient +evidence, however, seems to point quite definitely to one species—the +humpback—being in danger of extermination, but the blue and fin +whales—the other two species of rorquals which form the bulk of the +captures—appear to be as frequent now as they have ever been. + +The whales captured at the various whaling-stations of the Falkland +area are confined largely to three species—blue whale (_Balænoptera +musculus_), fin whale (_Balænoptera physalis_), and humpback +(_Megaptera nodosa_); sperm whales (_Physeter catodon_) and right +whales (_Balæna glacialis_) being only occasional and rare captures, +while the sei whale (_Balænoptera borealis_) appeared in the captures +at South Georgia in 1913, and now forms a large percentage of the +captures at the Falkland Islands. During the earlier years of whaling +at South Georgia, and up to the fishing season 1910–11, humpbacks +formed practically the total catch. In 1912–13 the following were the +percentages for the three rorquals in the captures at South Georgia and +South Shetlands: + +Humpback 38 per cent., fin whale 36 per cent., blue whale 20 per cent. +Of late years the percentages have altered considerably, blue whales +and fin whales predominating, humpbacks decreasing rapidly. In 1915, +the South Georgia Whaling Company (Messrs. Salvesen, Leith) captured +1085 whales, consisting of 15 per cent. humpback, 25 per cent. fin +whales, 58 per cent. blue whales, and 2 right whales. In the same year +the captures of three companies at the South Shetlands gave 1512 +whales, and the percentages worked out at 12 per cent. humpbacks, 42 +per cent. fin whales, and 45 per cent. blue whales. In 1919, the +Southern Whaling and Sealing Company captured (at Stromness, South +Georgia) 529 whales, of which 2 per cent. were humpbacks, 51 per cent. +fin whales, and 45 per cent. blue whales. These captures do not +represent the total catch, but are sufficiently reliable to show how +the species are affected. The reduction in numbers of the humpback is +very noticeable, and even allowing for the possible increase in size of +gear for the capture of the larger and more lucrative blue and fin +whales, there is sufficient evidence to warrant the fears that the +humpback stock is threatened with extinction. + +In the immediate northern areas—in the region from latitude 50° S. +northward to the equator, which is regarded as next in importance +quantitatively to the sub-Antarctic, though nothing like being so +productive, the captures are useful for a comparative study in +distribution. At Saldanha Bay, Cape Colony, in 1912, 131 whales were +captured and the percentages were as follows: 35 per cent. humpback, 13 +per cent. fin whale, 4 per cent. blue whale, 46 per cent. sei whale, +while nearer the equator, at Port Alexander, the total capture was 322 +whales, and the percentages gave 98 per cent. humpback, and only 2 +captures each of fin and sei whales. In 1914, at South Africa (chiefly +Saldanha Bay and Durban), out of a total of 839 whales 60 per cent. +were humpback, 25 per cent. fin whales, and 13 per cent. blue whales. +In 1916, out of a total of 853 whales 10 per cent. were humpback, 13 +per cent. fin whales, 6 per cent. blue whales, 68 per cent. sperm +whales, and 1 per cent. sei whales. In Chilian waters, in 1916, a total +of 327 whales gave 31 per cent. humpbacks, 24 per cent. fin whales, 26 +per cent. blue whales, 12 per cent. sperm whales, and 5 right whales. +There seems then to be a definite interrelation between the two areas. +The same species of whales are captured, and the periods of capture +alternate with perfect regularity, the fishing season occurring from +the end of November to April in the sub-Antarctic and from May to +November in the sub-tropics. A few of the companies, however, carry on +operations to a limited extent at South Georgia and at the Falkland +islands during the southern winter, but the fishing is by no means a +profitable undertaking, though proving the presence of whales in this +area during the winter months. + +The migrations of whales are influenced by two causes: + +(1) The distribution of their food-supply; +(2) The position of their breeding-grounds. + + +In the Antarctic, during the summer months, there is present in the sea +an abundance of plant and animal life, and whales which feed on the +small _plankton_ organisms are correspondingly numerous, but in winter +this state of things is reversed, and whales are poorly represented or +absent, at least in the higher latitudes. During the drift of the +_Endurance_ samples of _plankton_ were taken almost daily during an +Antarctic summer and winter. From December to March, a few minutes haul +of a tow-net at the surface was sufficient to choke up the meshes with +the plant and animal life, but this abundance of surface life broke off +abruptly in April, and subsequent hauls contained very small organisms +until the return of daylight and the opening up of the pack-ice. The +lower water strata, down to about 100 fathoms, were only a little more +productive, and _Euphausiæ_ were taken in the hauls—though sparingly. +During the winter spent at Elephant Island, our total catch of gentoo +penguins amounted to 1436 for the period April 15 to August 30, 1916. +All these birds were cut up, the livers and hearts were extracted for +food, and the skins were used as fuel. At the same time the stomachs +were invariably examined, and a record kept of the contents. The +largest proportion of these contained the small crustacean _Euphausia_, +and this generally to the exclusion of other forms. Occasionally, +however, small fish were recorded. The quantity of _Euphausiæ_ present +in most of the stomachs was enormous for the size of the birds. These +penguins were migrating, and came ashore only when the bays were clear +of ice, as there were several periods of fourteen consecutive days when +the bays and the surrounding sea were covered over with a thick compact +mass of ice-floes, and then penguins were entirely absent. +_Euphausiæ_, then, seem to be present in sufficient quantity in +certain, if not in all, sub-Antarctic waters during the southern +winter. We may assume then that the migration to the south, during the +Antarctic summer, is definitely in search of food. Observations have +proved the existence of a northern migration, and it seems highly +improbable that this should also be in search of food, but rather for +breeding purposes, and it seems that the whales select the more +temperate regions for the bringing forth of their young. This view is +strengthened by the statistical fœtal records, which show the pairing +takes place in the northern areas, that the fœtus is carried by the +mother during the southern migration to the Antarctic, and that the +calves are born in the more congenial waters north of the sub-Antarctic +area. We have still to prove, however, the possibility of a circumpolar +migration, and we are quite in the dark as to the number of whales that +remain in sub-Antarctic areas during the Southern winter. + +The following is a rough classification of whales, with special +reference to those known to occur in the South Atlantic: + + 1. WHALEBONE WHALES (_Mystacoceti_) + ____________________|__________________ +Right whales (_Balænidæ_) Rorquals (_Balænopteridæ_) + | ________________|_________ +Southern right whale | | (_Balæna +glacialis_) Finner whales Humpback +(_Balænoptera_) (_Megaptera nodosa_) + + Blue whale (_B. musculus_) Fin whale (_B. + physalis_) Sei whale (_B. borealis_) Piked + whale (_B. acutorostrata_) Bryde’s whale (_B. + brydei_) + + 2. TOOTHED WHALES (_Odontoceti_) + _________________________|________________________ +Sperm whale Beaked whales Dolphins (_Physeter +catodon_) (including bottlenose whales) (1) Killer (_Hyperoodon +rostratus_) (_Orcinus orca_) (2) Black Fish (_Globicephalus melas_) +(3) Porpoises (_Lagenorhynchus_ sp.) + + +The subdivision of whalebone whales is one of degree in the size of the +whalebone. These whales have enormously muscular tongues, which press +the water through the whalebone lamellæ and thus, by a filtering +process, retain the small food organisms. The food of the whalebone +whales is largely the small crustacea which occur in the _plankton_, +though some whales (humpback, fin whales, and sei whales) feed also on +fish. The stomachs examined at South Georgia during December 1914, +belonged to the three species, humpbacks, fin whales, and blue whales, +and all contained small crustacea—_Euphausiæ_, with a mixture of +_amphipods_. The toothed whales—sperms and bottlenoses—are known to +live on squids, and that there is an abundance of this type of food in +the Weddell Sea was proved by an examination of penguin and seal +stomachs. Emperor penguins (and hundreds of these were examined) were +invariably found to contain _Cephalopod_ “beaks,” while large, partly +digested squids were often observed in Weddell seals. A dorsal fin is +present in the rorquals but absent in right whales. With other +characters, notably the size of the animal, it serves as a ready mark +of identification, but is occasionally confusing owing to the variation +in shape in some of the species. + +With the exception of several schools of porpoises very few whales were +seen during the outward voyage. Not till we approached the Falkland +area did they appear in any numbers. Four small schools of fin whales +and a few humpbacks were sighted on October 28 and 29, 1914, in lat. +38° 01´ S., long. 55° 03´ W. and in lat. 40° 35´ S., long. 53° 11´ W., +while _Globicephalus melas_ was seen only once, in lat. 45° 17´ S., +long. 48° 58´ W., on October 31, 1914. At South Georgia, the whales +captured at the various stations in December 1914, were blue whales, +fin whales, and humpbacks (arranged respectively according to numbers +captured). During the fishing season 1914–15 (from December to March) +in the area covered—South Georgia to the South Sandwich Islands and +along Coats’ Land to the head of the Weddell Sea—the records of whales +were by no means numerous. Two records only could with certainty be +assigned to the humpback, and these were in the neighbourhood of the +South Sandwich Islands. Pack-ice was entered in lat. 59° 55´ S., long. +18° 28´ W., and blue whales were recorded daily until about 65° S. +Between lat. 65° 43´ S., long. 17° 30´ W., on December 27, 1914, and +lat. 69° 59´ S., long. 17° 31´ W., on January 3, 1915, no whales were +seen. On January 4, however, in lat. 69° 59´ S., long. 17° 36´ W., two +large sperm whales appeared close ahead of the ship in fairly open +water, and were making westward. They remained sufficiently long on the +surface to render their identification easy. Farther south, blue whales +were only seen occasionally, and fin whales could only be identified in +one or two cases. Killers, however, were numerous, and the lesser piked +whale was quite frequent. There was no doubt about the identity of this +latter species as it often came close alongside the ship. From April to +September (inclusive) the sea was frozen over (with the exception of +local “leads”), and whales were found to be absent. In October whales +again made their appearance, and from then onwards they were a daily +occurrence. Identification of the species, however, was a difficult +matter, for the _Endurance_ was crushed and had sunk, and observations +were only possible from the ice-floe, or later on from the boats. The +high vertical “spout” opening out into a dense spray was often visible, +and denoted the presence of blue and fin whales. The lesser piked whale +again appeared in the “leads” close to our “camp” floe, and was easily +identified. An exceptional opportunity was presented to us on December +6, 1915, when a school of eight bottlenose whales (_Hyperoodon +rostratus_) appeared in small “pool” alongside “Ocean” Camp in lat. 67° +47´ S., long. 52° 18´ W. These ranged from about 20 ft. to a little +over 30 ft. in length, and were of a uniform dark dun colour—the large +specimens having a dull yellow appearance. There were no white spots. +At the edge of the pack-ice during the first half of April 1916, about +lat. 62° S. and long. 54° W. (entrance to Bransfield Strait), whales +were exceedingly numerous, and these were chiefly fin whales, though a +few seemed to be sei whales. It is interesting to note that the fishing +season 1915–1916 was exceptionally productive—no less than 11,860 +whales having been captured in the Falkland area alone. + +The South Atlantic whaling industry, then, has reached a critical stage +in development. It is now dependent on the captures of the large fin +and blue whales, humpbacks having been rapidly reduced in numbers, so +that the total stock appears to have been affected. With regard to the +other species, the southern right whale has never been abundant in the +captures, the sperm whale and the sei whale have shown a good deal of +seasonal variation, though never numerous, and the bottlenose and +lesser piked whale have so far not been hunted, except in the case of +the latter for human food. The vigorous slaughter of whales both in the +sub-Antarctic and in the sub-tropics, for the one area reacts on the +other, calls for universal legislation to protect the whales from early +commercial extinction, and the industry, which is of world-wide +economic importance, from having to be abandoned. The British +Government, with the control of the world’s best fisheries, is +thoroughly alive to the situation, and an Inter-departmental Committee, +under the direction of the Colonial Office, is at present devising a +workable scheme for suitable legislation for the protection of the +whales and for the welfare of the industry. + + + + +APPENDIX II + + + + +THE EXPEDITION HUTS AT McMURDO SOUND + + +By SIR E. H. SHACKLETON + +The following notes are designed for the benefit of future explorers +who may make McMurdo Sound a base for inland operations, and to clear +any inaccuracies or ambiguities concerning the history, occupation, and +state of these huts. + +(1) THE NATIONAL ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION’S HUT AT HUT POINT—THE HEAD OF +McMURDO SOUND + + +This hut was constructed by Captain Scott in 1902, by the Expedition +sent out by the Royal Geographical Society, the Royal Society, the +Government, and by private subscription. Captain Robert F. Scott was +appointed to the command of the Expedition. I served as Third +Lieutenant until February 1903, when I was invalided home through a +broken blood vessel in the lungs, the direct result of scurvy +contracted on the Southern journey. The _Discovery_ hut was a large +strong building, but was so draughty and cold in comparison with the +ship, which was moored one hundred yards away, that it was, during the +first year, never used for living quarters. Its sole use was as a +storehouse, and a large supply of rough stores, such as flour, cocoa, +coffee, biscuit, and tinned meat, was left there in the event of its +being used as a place of retreat should any disaster overtake the ship. +During the second year occasional parties camped inside the hut, but no +bunks or permanent sleeping quarters were ever erected. The discomfort +of the hut was a byword on the Expedition, but it formed an excellent +depot and starting-point for all parties proceeding to the south. + +When the _Discovery_ finally left McMurdo Sound, the hut was stripped +of all gear, including the stove, but there was left behind a large +depot of the stores mentioned above. I was not aware of this until I +returned to McMurdo Sound in February 1908, when I sent Adams, Joyce, +and Wild across to the hut whilst the _Nimrod_ was lying off the ice. + +On the return of the party they reported that the door had been burst +open, evidently by a southerly blizzard, and was jammed by snow outside +and in, so they made an entrance through one of the lee windows. They +found the hut practically clear of snow, and the structure quite +intact. I used the hut in the spring, _i.e._ September and October +1908, as a storehouse for the large amount of equipment, food, and oil +that we were to take on the Southern journey. We built a sort of +living-room out of the cases of provisions, and swept out the debris. +The Southern Party elected to sleep there before the start, but the +supporting party slept outside in the tents, as they considered it +warmer. + +We still continued to use the lee window as means of ingress and egress +to avoid continual shovelling away of the snow, which would be +necessary as every southerly blizzard blocked up the main entrance. The +various depot parties made use of the hut for replenishing their +stores, which had been sledged from my own hut to Hut Point. On the +night of March 3, 1909, I arrived with the Southern Party, with a sick +man, having been absent on the march 128 days. Our position was bad, as +the ship was north of us. We tried to burn the Magnetic Hut in the hope +of attracting attention from the ship, but were not able to get it to +light. We finally managed to light a flare of carbide, and the ship +came down to us in a blizzard, and all were safely aboard at 1 a.m. on +March 4, 1909. Before leaving the hut we jammed the window up with +baulks of timber, to the best of our ability, in the storm and +darkness. The hut was used again by the Ross Sea Section of this last +Expedition. The snow was cleared out and extra stores were placed in +it. From reports I have received the _Discovery_ Hut was in as good +condition in 1917 as it was in 1902. + +The stores placed there in 1902 are intact. There are a few cases of +extra provisions and oil in the hut, but no sleeping gear, or +accommodation, nor stoves, and it must not be looked upon as anything +else than a shelter and a most useful _pied-à-terre_ for the start of +any Southern journey. No stores nor any equipment have been taken from +it during either of my two Expeditions. + +(2) CAPE ROYDS HUT + + +For several reasons, when I went into McMurdo Sound in 1908 in command +of my own Expedition, known as the British Antarctic Expedition, after +having failed to land on King Edward VII Land, I decided to build our +hut at Cape Royds—a small promontory twenty-three miles north of Hut +Point. Here the whole shore party lived in comfort through the winter +of 1908. When spring came stores were sledged to Hut Point, so that +should the sea-ice break up early between these two places we might not +be left in an awkward position. After the return of the Southern Party +we went direct north to civilization, so I never visited my hut again. +I had left, however, full instructions with Professor David as to the +care of the hut, and before the whole Expedition left, the hut was put +in order. A letter was pinned in a conspicuous place inside, stating +that there were sufficient provisions and equipment to last fifteen men +for one year, indicating also the details of these provisions and the +position of the coal store. The stove was in good condition, and the +letter ended with an invitation for any succeeding party to make what +use they required of stores and hut. The hut was then locked and the +key nailed on the door in a conspicuous place. From the report of +Captain Scott’s last Expedition the hut was in good condition, and from +a still later report from the Ross Sea side of this present Expedition, +the hut was still intact. + +(3) CAPE EVANS HUT + + +This large and commodious hut was constructed by Captain Scott at Cape +Evans on his last Expedition. The party lived in it in comfort, and it +was left well supplied with stores in the way of food and oil, and a +certain amount of coal. Several of the scientific staff of this present +Expedition were ashore in it, when the _Aurora_, which was to have been +the permanent winter quarters, broke adrift in May 1915, and went north +with the ice. The hut became the permanent living quarters for the ten +marooned men, and thanks to the stores they were able to sustain life +in comparative comfort, supplementing these stores from my hut at Cape +Royds. In January 1917, after I had rescued the survivors, I had the +hut put in order and locked up. + +To sum up, there are three available huts in McMurdo Sound. + +(a) The _Discovery_ Hut with a certain amount of rough stores, and only +of use as a point of departure for the South. + +(b) Cape Royds Hut with a large amount of general stores, but no +clothing or equipment now. + +(c) Cape Evans Hut with a large amount of stores, but no clothing or +equipment and only a few sledges. + +(4) DEPOTS SOUTH OF HUT POINT + + +In spite of the fact that several depots have been laid to the south of +Hut Point on the Barrier, the last being at the Gap (the entrance to +the Beardmore Glacier), no future Expedition should depend on them as +the heavy snowfall obliterates them completely. There is no record of +the depots of any Expedition being made use of by any subsequent +Expedition. No party in any of my Expeditions has used any depot laid +down by a previous Expedition. + + +[Illustration: The Voyage of the _Endurance_] + + + + +INDEX + + +Adare, Cape +Admiralty + Range +Agag +Aitken +Albatross +Allardyce Range +Allen, James +Amphipods +Amundsen + (dog) +“Ancient Mariner,” +Animal life in Weddell Sea + _See also_ Penguins Seals _and_ Bird life +Annewkow Island +Antarctic Circle + Derby +Argentine +Armitage, Cape + Lieut. +Atmospheric effects + _See also_ Mirage _and_ Sun +Attempt to cut ship out +_Aurora,_ +Aurora Australis +Australia + +Bakewell +Barne Glacier +Barrier + Great Ice + surface +Beardmore Glacier +Beaufort Island +Belgica Straits +Bergs +Bergschrund +Bernsten, Mr. +Bird life in Weddell Sea +Black Island +Blackborrow +Blizzards, severe +Blue Ice Glacier +Bluff + depot +Boats +Bovril +British territory +Brocklehurst, Capt. H. Courtney +Browning +Bruce, Dr. W. S. +Buenos Ayres +Burberry clothing +Butler Point depot + +Caird Coast + Sir James +_Caird, James_ (boat) +Candlemas Volcano +Cape Barne + Bernacchi + Bird + Cotter + Crozier + Evans + Horn weather + Hudson + pigeons + Ross + Royds + Valentine + Wild +Castle Rock +Cave Cove +Cheetham +Chile +Christmas celebrations +Clarence Island +Clark +Coal, Antarctic + on deck +Coats’ Land +Con (dog) +Cook +Cope +Corner Camp +Coulman Islands +Crean +Current meter +Cyclone + +Danger Islands +Davis, Captain John K. +Daylight saving +Deception Islands +_Diatoms_ +_Discovery_ +Discovery Bay + Mount +Distances, Ross Sea Party +Dog-pemmican +Dogs +Dominican gulls +Dudley Docker Mr. +_Dudley Docker_ (boat) +Dunlop Island +Dump Camp + +Eclipse of moon +Elephant Island +_Emma_ +Empire Day celebrations +_Encyclopædia Britannica_ +Enderby Land +_Endurance_ + abandoned + beset + crushed + sunk +Erebus Mount +Expedition ships + first made public + Mawson + Scott + Shackleton + Swedish + +Falkland Islands + Wireless listened for +Farthest South + Scott’s +Filchner +Financial help, appeal for + failure to materialize + promised +Fish, dead + from sea-leopard + new species +Föhn effect +Fortuna Bay + Glacier +Franklin Island + +Galley +Gallipoli +Garrard, Mr. Cherry +Gaze +Girling tractor-motor +Glacier Bay + Tongue +_Glasgow_, H.M.S. +Gold +Graham Land +Greenstreet +Grytviken +Gunner (dog) + +Half-way Camp +Harding, Mr. +_Harpoon_ +Hayward +Hercules (dog) +Hobart +Holness +Hooke +Hope Bay + Mountain +Howe +Hudson +Hurley +Hurtado, Admiral Muñoz +Hussey +Husvik +Hut, Cape Evans + Cape Royds + Elephant Island + at Hut Point; +Hut Point + +Ice-blink +Ice-hole +Inaccessible Island +_Instituto de Pesca_ + +Jack +Jaeger sleeping-bags +James +Joinville Land +Joyce + +Kavenagh +Kelvin sounding machine +Kerr +Khyber Pass +Killer whales +King Haakon Bay +King George V, flag + to inspect _Endurance_ + telegram from + telegram to + +Lambton, Miss Elizabeth Dawson +Lamps +Larkman +Leap Year Day +Leith +Lucas sounding machine +Luitpold Land +_Lusitania_ + +Mackintosh +Macklin +Macquarie Island +Magnetic Pole + storm + variation +Magellan Straits +Marston +Mauger +McCarthy +McDonald, Allen +McIlroy +McLeod +McMurdo Sound +McNab, Dr. +McNeish +Meteorology +Midwinter’s Day celebrations +Minna Bluff +Mirage +Montevideo +Morell Land +Morell’s Farthest South +Motor crawler + sledge + tractor +Mount Haddington + Melbourne + Murchison + Sabine +Mugridge +Mutton Island + +New South Greenland +New Year Island +New Zealand +Nigger (dog) +_Nimrod_ +Ninnis +Nordenskjold + Ice Tongue +North Polar Basin +Norwegian Whalers +Nurse Cavell + +Orde-Lees +_Orita_ +_Orwell_ +Oscar (dog) + +Pack-ice + described + _See also_ Pressure +Paddies +Pardo, Captain Luis +Paulet Island +Peak Berg + Foreman +Peggotty Camp +Penguins + Adelie + Emperor + Gentoo + Ringed +Peter (dog) +Petrels + _See also_ Bird life +Pinkey (dog) +_Plankton_ +Pompey (dog) +Porpoises +Port Chalmers +Positions +Possession Bay + Islands +Potash and Perlmutter +Pram Point +Pressure in Ross Sea + in Weddell Sea + _See also_ Pack-ice +Prince George Island +Programme of Expedition +Public Schools +Punta Arenas +Pups + +Queen Alexandra + +_Radiolaria_ +Rain +Rats on South Georgia +Rampart Berg +Razorback Island +Reeling Berg +Refraction, _See_ Atmospheric effects +Reindeer +Richards +Rickenson +Rio Secco +Rocky Mountain Depot +Ross + Island + Sea + Sea Party +Royal Geographical Society +Ryan, Lieut. R.N.R. + +Safety Camp +Saint (dog) +Sally (dog) +Samson (dog) +Sanders Island +Santiago +Saunders, Edward +Scientific observations commenced + work proposed +_Scotia_ +Scott +Sea-elephants +Sea-leopard +Seal blubber + meat +Seals + Crab-eater + Ross + Weddell +Semaphore for sledging parties + on bridge +Shags +Shackleton, Sir E. +Shoaling, of sea-floor +Shore party +Sledging parties, proposed +Snapper (dog) +Snow Hill +Soldier (dog) +Sorlle, Mr. +South Georgia + Orkneys + Sandwich Group +_Southern Sky_ +Spencer-Smith +Splitting ice-floes +Stained Berg +Stancomb Wills, Dame Janet +_Stancomb Wills_ (boat) +Stenhouse +Stevens +Stove +Stromness +Sue (dog) +Sun disappears + _See also_ Atmospheric effects +Swell + +Temperature, air + sea +Tent Island +Tents + orderlies +Terns, _See also_ Bird life +Terriss, Ellaline +“The Ritz” +Thom, Captain +Thompson +Tide-rip +Tobacco substitutes +Towser (dog) +Transcontinental party +Tripp, Mr. Leonard +Talloch, Mr. +Turk’s Head + +Uruguayan Government + +Vahsel Bay +Victoria Mountains +Vincent +Vinie’s Hill +Virol + +Wave, enormous +Weddell Sea + ice conditions in + plateau + winds in +Weather at Cape Evans + at Elephant Island + at Ocean Camp + at Patience Camp, _See also_ Temperatures +Western Mountains +Whales + blue + humpback and finner seen + sperm +Wilhelmina Bay +Willywaw +Winston Churchill +Wild, Ernest + Frank +Wordie +Worsley +Wreckage at South Georgia + +Yaks +_Yelcho_ +Young, Mr. Douglas +Young Island + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOUTH *** + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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