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diff --git a/5199-h/5199-h.htm b/5199-h/5199-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..32c0f4e --- /dev/null +++ b/5199-h/5199-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,16311 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of South, by Sir Ernest Shackleton</title> +<link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> +<style type="text/css"> + +body { margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + text-align: justify; } + +h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: +normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;} + +h1 {font-size: 300%; + margin-top: 0.6em; + margin-bottom: 0.6em; + letter-spacing: 0.12em; + word-spacing: 0.2em; + text-indent: 0em;} +h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +h3 {font-size: 130%; margin-top: 1em;} +h4 {font-size: 120%;} +h5 {font-size: 110%;} + +.no-break {page-break-before: avoid;} /* for epubs */ + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;} + +hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + +p {text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-bottom: 0.25em; } + +.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} + +p.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: 90%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +p.center {text-align: center; + text-indent: 0em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.right {text-align: right; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.footnote {font-size: 90%; + text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +sup { vertical-align: top; font-size: 0.6em; } + +div.fig { display:block; + margin:0 auto; + text-align:center; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em;} + +p.caption {font-weight: bold; + text-align: center; } + +a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:hover {color:red} + +</style> + +</head> + +<body> + +<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of South, by Sir Ernest Shackleton</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. 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. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: South<br /> +The Story of Shackleton’s Last Expedition 1914–1917</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Sir Ernest Shackleton</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: May 15, 2002 [eBook #5199]<br /> +[Most recently updated: July 18, 2021]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Geoffrey Cowling, Jose Menendez and Eric Eldred</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOUTH ***</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="[Illustration]" /> +</div> + +<h1>South</h1> + +<h3>THE STORY OF SHACKLETON’S LAST EXPEDITION 1914–1917</h3> + +<h2 class="no-break">by Sir Ernest Shackleton C.V.O.</h2> + +<hr /> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus01"></a> +<img src="images/001.jpg" width="305" height="401" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">IN THE PRIDE OF HER YOUTH.<br /> +Colour Photograph by F. Hurley</p> +</div> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p class="center"> +TO<br /> +<br /> +MY COMRADES<br /> +<br /> +WHO FELL IN THE WHITE WARFARE<br /> +OF THE SOUTH AND ON THE<br /> +RED FIELDS OF FRANCE<br /> +AND FLANDERS +</p> + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap00">PREFACE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap01">I. INTO THE WEDDELL SEA</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap02">II. NEW LAND</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap03">III. WINTER MONTHS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap04">IV. LOSS OF THE <i>ENDURANCE</i></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap05">V. OCEAN CAMP</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap06">VI. THE MARCH BETWEEN</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap07">VII. PATIENCE CAMP</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap08">VIII. ESCAPE FROM THE ICE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap09">IX. THE BOAT JOURNEY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap10">X. ACROSS SOUTH GEORGIA</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap11">XI. THE RESCUE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap12">XII. ELEPHANT ISLAND</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap13">XIII. THE ROSS SEA PARTY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap14">XIV. WINTERING IN McMURDO SOUND</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap15">XV. LAYING THE DEPOTS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap16">XVI. THE <i>AURORA’S</i> DRIFT</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap17">XVII. THE LAST RELIEF</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap18">XVIII. THE FINAL PHASE</a><br /><br /></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap19">APPENDIX I:</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap20">SCIENTIFIC WORK</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap21">SEA-ICE NOMENCLATURE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap22">METEOROLOGY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap23">PHYSICS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap24">SOUTH ATLANTIC WHALES AND WHALING</a><br /><br /></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap25">APPENDIX II:</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap26">THE EXPEDITION HUTS AT McMURDO SOUND</a><br /><br /></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap27">INDEX</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus01">IN THE PRIDE OF HER YOUTH. Colour Photograph by F. Hurley</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus02">The Leader</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus03">The Weddell Sea Party</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus04">Young Emperor Penguins</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus05">A Huge Floe of Consolidated Pack</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus06">Samson</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus07">Ice-Flowers</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus08">Midnight off the New Land</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus09">New Land: Caird Coast</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus10">Close Under the Barrier</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus11">Trying to cut a way for the Ship through the Ice to a Lead ahead (February 14, 1915)</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus12">The Night Watchman’s Story</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus13">The Dying Sun: The <i>Endurance</i> firmly frozen in</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus14">The Rampart Berg</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus15">A Bi-Weekly Performance: Scrubbing out the “Ritz”</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus16">Pylon Avenue</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus17">The Long, Long Night</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus18">The Pups</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus19">Ice-Pressure Approaching the Ship</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus20">Ice-Rafting</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus21">The Returning Sun</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus22">Wild and Shackleton in the Heavy Pressure</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus23">Exercising the Dogs</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus24">Crab-eater Seals</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus25">The Beginning of the End</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus26">“Within a few Seconds she heeled over until she had a List of Thirty Degrees to Port”</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus27">Almost Overwhelmed</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus28">[Attack of the floes]</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus29">“The Driving Floe, moving laterally across the Stern, split the Rudder and tore out the Rudder-Post and Stern-Post”</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus30">The End</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus31">A Week Later</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus32">“The Wreckage lies around in Dismal Confusion”</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus33">The First Attempt to reach the Land 346 Miles Away</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus34">Ocean Camp</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus35">The Look-out at Ocean Camp</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus36">The Emergency Sledges being packed in case of a sudden break up of the Ice</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus37">The Sledges packed and ready</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus38">Relaying the <i>James Caird</i></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus39">Potash and Perlmutter</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus40">“Loneliness”: Patience Camp</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus41">The Kitchen at Patience Camp</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus42">The Stove at Patience Camp constructed out of old Oil-drums</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus43">Worsley taking Observations of the Sun to determine our Position</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus44">“We cut Steps in this Twenty-five Foot Slab and it makes a fine Look-out”</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus45">“There was no Sleep for us that Night, so we lit the Blubber Stove”</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus46">Hauling up the Boats for the Night</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus47">The Reeling Berg</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus48">Sailing South Again</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus49">The First Landing ever made on Elephant Island, April 15, 1916</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus50">“We Pulled the Three Boats a little Higher on the Beach”</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus51">Rough sketch map of landing place and first camp at C. Valentine, Elephant Island</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus52">The First Drink and Hot Food for Three-and-a-Half Days</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus53">Mount Frank Houlder, Elephant Island</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus54">Launching the <i>James Caird</i></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus55">The <i>Stancomb Wills</i></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus56">In Sight of our Goal: Nearing South Georgia</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus57">Landing on South Georgia</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus58">[Cave Cove on South Georgia]</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus59">[Surroundings of King Haakon Bay]</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus60">[Plan of Sleeping Berths in Cave]</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus61">Sea Elephants on South Georgia</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus62">The Cliffs we descended whilst crossing the Island</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus63">One of the Glaciers we Crossed</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus64">A Typical View in South Georgia</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus65">[Rough Memory Map of Route Across South Georgia]</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus66">Panorama of South Georgia</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus67">The <i>Yelcho</i></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus68">Arrival at Punta Arenas with the Rescued Men</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus69">Frank Wild, Second in Command of the Expedition</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus70">Our Dugout</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus71">The Hut on Elephant Island</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus72">View of Interior of Hut on Elephant Island</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus73">Marooned on Elephant Island</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus74">Elephant Island</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus75">The Rescue Ship Sighted</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus76">“All Safe! All Well!”</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus77">View through a Cave on Elephant Island</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus78">The Aurora</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus79">Ice Stalactites at the Entrance to a Cave on Elephant Island</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus80">A Newly-frozen Lead</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus81">The Ross Sea Party</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus82">Mackintosh and Spencer-Smith being dragged on the sledge</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus83">“The Rudder was bent over to Starboard and Smashed”</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus84">“Next Morning the Jury-Rudder was Shipped”</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus85">Ice Nomenclature: 1. Young Ice (Bay Ice of Scoresby) in the Middle Distance</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus86">2. Light Pack</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus87">3. Heavy Hummocked Pack</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus88">4. Hummocky Pack and Frozen Lead of Young-Ice</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus89">5. Close Pack</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus90">6. Open Pack</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus91">7. Very Open Pack, approximating to Drift-ice</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus92">8. Drift-Ice</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus93">“The Rookery”</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus94">The Anemometer covered with Rime</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus95">Map: The Voyage of the <i>Endurance</i></a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap00"></a>PREFACE</h2> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +When I returned from the <i>Nimrod</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Owing to the loss of the <i>Endurance</i> and the disaster to the +<i>Aurora</i>, 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. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“<i>The Trans-continental Party.</i> +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“The glaciologist and geologist will study ice formations and the nature +of the mountains, and this report will prove of great scientific interest. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“<i>Scientific Work by Other Parties.</i> +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“<i>How the Continent will be crossed.</i> +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“In all, fourteen men will be landed by the <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“The <i>Aurora</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“<i>The Ships of the Expedition.</i> +</p> + +<p> +“The two ships for the Expedition have now been selected. +</p> + +<p> +“The <i>Endurance</i>, 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. +</p> + +<p> +“The <i>Aurora</i>, the ship which will take out the Ross Sea party, has +been bought from Dr. Mawson. She is similar in all respects to the <i>Terra +Nova</i>, 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.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +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. +</p> + +<p> +On January 1, 1914, having received a promised financial support sufficient to +warrant the announcement of the Expedition, I made it public. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i>, 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 <i>Endurance</i> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>James Caird</i>, the +<i>Stancomb Wills</i> and the <i>Dudley Docker</i>. 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. +</p> + +<p> +The <i>James Caird</i> is now in Liverpool, having been brought home from South +Georgia after her adventurous voyage across the sub-Antarctic ocean. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +So the equipment and organization went on. I purchased the <i>Aurora</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +Towards the end of July all was ready, when suddenly the war clouds darkened +over Europe. +</p> + +<p> +It had been arranged for the <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +So, according to these definite instructions, the <i>Endurance</i> 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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +This is also the opportunity for me to thank the Uruguayan Government for their +generous assistance in placing the government trawler, <i>Instituto de +Pesca</i>, for the second attempt at the relief of my men on Elephant Island. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Yelcho</i> on +our last and successful venture. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap01"></a>CHAPTER I<br /> +INTO THE WEDDELL SEA</h2> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i>. The long +days of preparation were over and the adventure lay ahead. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Harpoon</i>, the steamer which tends the Grytviken +station, had arrived with mail for us not more than two hours after the +<i>Endurance</i> had proceeded down the coast. +</p> + +<p> +The bows of the <i>Endurance</i> 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 <i>Endurance</i> +rolled and pitched, they watched with wolfish eyes for a windfall. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus02"></a> +<img src="images/002.jpg" width="313" height="416" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The Leader</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus03"></a> +<img src="images/003.jpg" width="600" height="492" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The Weddell Sea Party</p> +</div> + +<p> +During December 6 the <i>Endurance</i> 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 <i>Endurance</i> 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 <i>diatoms</i>. 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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance’s</i> 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 +<i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Endurance</i> 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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<i>amphipods</i> about an inch long, allied to those found in the whales at +Grytviken. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus04"></a> +<img src="images/004.jpg" width="550" height="377" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Young Emperor Penguins</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus05"></a> +<img src="images/005.jpg" width="465" height="340" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">A Huge Floe of Consolidated Pack</p> +</div> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i>, 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. +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Endurance</i> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +The morning of December 18 found the <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus06"></a> +<img src="images/006.jpg" width="505" height="323" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Samson</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus07"></a> +<img src="images/007.jpg" width="506" height="332" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Ice-Flowers</p> +</div> + +<p> +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 <i>Aquitania</i>. 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The weather was still bad on December 26 and 27, and the <i>Endurance</i> +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 <i>radiolaria</i>. Every one took turns at +the work of heaving in, two men working together in ten-minute spells. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<i>Endurance</i> 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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> 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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a>CHAPTER II<br /> +NEW LAND</h2> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<i>Endurance</i>, 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.). +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> 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 <i>diatoms</i> at 9 a.m., and I ordered a +cast to be made. No bottom was found at 210 fathoms. The <i>Endurance</i> +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. +</p> + +<p> +We were now in the vicinity of the land discovered by Dr. W. S. Bruce, leader +of the <i>Scotia</i> 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 <i>Endurance</i> 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 <i>Scotia</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<i>Nimrod</i> had a narrow escape from a misadventure of this kind in the Ross +Sea early in 1908. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus08"></a> +<img src="images/008.jpg" width="505" height="328" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Midnight off the New Land</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus09"></a> +<img src="images/009.jpg" width="514" height="332" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">New Land: Caird Coast</p> +</div> + +<p> +Now we were beyond the point reached by the <i>Scotia</i>, 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 +<i>Endurance</i> 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 <i>Endurance</i> 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 +<i>Endurance</i>, and Hurley made a record of this unusual sight with the +kinematograph-camera. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> 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 +<i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Endurance</i> 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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus10"></a> +<img src="images/010.jpg" width="436" height="340" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Close Under the Barrier</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus11"></a> +<img src="images/011.jpg" width="459" height="351" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Trying to cut a way for the Ship through the Ice to a Lead ahead (February 14, 1915)</p> +</div> + +<p> +The <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i>. +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Endurance</i> 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 <i>Endurance</i> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +On the 22nd the <i>Endurance</i> 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 +<i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +On February 24 we ceased to observe ship routine, and the <i>Endurance</i> +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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus12"></a> +<img src="images/012.jpg" width="480" height="335" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The Night Watchman’s Story</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus13"></a> +<img src="images/013.jpg" width="476" height="347" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The Dying Sun: The <i>Endurance</i> firmly frozen in</p> +</div> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a>CHAPTER III<br /> +WINTER MONTHS</h2> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>plankton</i>, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> was still towards the north-west. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus14"></a> +<img src="images/014.jpg" width="476" height="335" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The Rampart Berg</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus15"></a> +<img src="images/015.jpg" width="506" height="344" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">A Bi-Weekly Performance: Scrubbing out the “Ritz”</p> +</div> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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, <i>brachiapods</i>, and <i>foraminiferæ</i>. 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. +</p> + +<p> +Mirages were frequent. Barrier-cliffs appeared all around us on the 29th, even +in places where we knew there was deep water. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The sun sank lower in the sky, the temperatures became lower, and the +<i>Endurance</i> 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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus16"></a> +<img src="images/016.jpg" width="501" height="336" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Pylon Avenue</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus17"></a> +<img src="images/017.jpg" width="315" height="506" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The Long, Long Night</p> +</div> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The drift of the pack was not constant, and during the succeeding days the +crevassed berg alternately advanced and receded as the <i>Endurance</i> moved +with the floe. On Sunday, April 18, it was only seven miles distant from the +ship. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +A strong drift to the westward during the night of the 18th relieved our +anxiety by carrying the <i>Endurance</i> to the lee of the crevassed berg, +which passed out of our range of vision before the end of the month. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<i>Endurance’s</i> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +This was the first seal we had secured since March 19, and the meat and blubber +made a welcome addition to the stores. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Endurance</i> 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 +<i>Endurance</i>, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i>, 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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus18"></a> +<img src="images/018.jpg" width="508" height="334" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The Pups</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus19"></a> +<img src="images/019.jpg" width="489" height="340" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Ice-Pressure Approaching the Ship</p> +</div> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The drift of the <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +The most severe blizzard we had experienced in the Weddell Sea swept down upon +the <i>Endurance</i> 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 +<i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> was swung to and fro by the pressure during the +day, but came back to the old bearing before midnight. +</p> + +<p> +“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 <i>diatoms</i> 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 <i>diatoms</i> 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.” +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus20"></a> +<img src="images/020.jpg" width="497" height="328" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Ice-Rafting</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus21"></a> +<img src="images/021.jpg" width="326" height="475" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The Returning Sun</p> +</div> + +<p> +The break-up of our floe came suddenly on Sunday, August 1, just one year after +the <i>Endurance</i> 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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Canopus</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus22"></a> +<img src="images/022.jpg" width="501" height="331" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Wild and Shackleton in the Heavy Pressure</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus23"></a> +<img src="images/023.jpg" width="485" height="334" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Exercising the Dogs</p> +</div> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> 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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap04"></a>CHAPTER IV<br /> +LOSS OF THE <i>ENDURANCE</i></h2> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“<i>September</i> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +“<i>September</i> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>plankton</i> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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 +<i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus24"></a> +<img src="images/024.jpg" width="499" height="336" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Crab-eater Seals</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus25"></a> +<img src="images/025.jpg" width="317" height="472" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The Beginning of the End</p> +</div> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<i>Endurance</i> 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 <i>Endurance</i> 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 <i>Balænoptera +acutorostrata</i>, not <i>Orca gladiator</i>. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus26"></a> +<img src="images/026.jpg" width="461" height="349" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">“Within a few Seconds she heeled over until she had a List +of Thirty Degrees to Port”</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus27"></a> +<img src="images/027.jpg" width="503" height="324" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Almost Overwhelmed</p> +</div> + +<p> +A strong south-westerly wind was blowing on October 20 and the pack was +working. The <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> 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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus28"></a> +<img src="images/028.jpg" width="311" height="122" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +</div> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> 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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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 +<i>Endurance</i> 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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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 <i>Endurance</i> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus29"></a> +<img src="images/029.jpg" width="509" height="334" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">“The Driving Floe, moving laterally across the Stern, split +the Rudder and tore out the Rudder-Post and Stern-Post”</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus30"></a> +<img src="images/030.jpg" width="326" height="478" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The End</p> +</div> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i>, 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 <i>Endurance</i>. 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 +<i>Endurance</i> received a particularly violent squeeze. There was a sound of +rending beams and the light disappeared. The connexion had been cut. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +The cook prepared breakfast, which consisted of biscuit and hoosh, at 8 a.m., +and I then went over to the <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Hurley meanwhile had rigged his kinematograph-camera and was getting pictures +of the <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus31"></a> +<img src="images/031.jpg" width="510" height="327" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">A Week Later</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus32"></a> +<img src="images/032.jpg" width="521" height="335" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">“The Wreckage lies around in Dismal Confusion”</p> +</div> + +<p> +“<i>October</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Out of whose womb came the ice?<br /> +And the hoary frost of Heaven, who hath gendered it?<br /> +The waters are hid as with a stone,<br /> +And the face of the deep is frozen.<br /> +—[Job 38:29–30] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus33"></a> +<img src="images/033.jpg" width="509" height="331" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The First Attempt to reach the Land 346 Miles Away</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus34"></a> +<img src="images/034.jpg" width="503" height="323" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Ocean Camp</p> +</div> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap05"></a>CHAPTER V<br /> +OCEAN CAMP</h2> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus35"></a> +<img src="images/035.jpg" width="522" height="338" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The Look-out at Ocean Camp</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus36"></a> +<img src="images/036.jpg" width="504" height="330" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The Emergency Sledges being packed in case of a sudden break +up of the Ice</p> +</div> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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?’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“It is just like school-days over again, and very jolly it is too, for +the time being!” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Our meals now consisted in the main of a fairly generous helping of seal or +penguin, either boiled or fried. As one man wrote: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +Our tents made somewhat cramped quarters, especially during meal-times. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +Each man took it in turn to be the tent “cook” for one day, and one +writes: +</p> + +<p> +“The word ‘cook’ is at present rather a misnomer, for whilst +we have a permanent galley no cooking need be done in the tent. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +During all this time the supply of seals and penguins, if not inexhaustible, +was always sufficient for our needs. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +No skuas, Antarctic petrels, or sea-leopards were seen during our two +months’ stay at Ocean Camp. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Money and Exchange</i>. They finally came to the conclusion that +the Encyclopædia, since it did not coincide with their views, must be wrong. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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 +<i>ad lib</i>., 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Later on, the freshening south-westerly wind brought mild, overcast weather, +probably due to the opening up of the pack in that direction. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +It was with a feeling almost of relief that the end came. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>November</i> 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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>December</i> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus37"></a> +<img src="images/037.jpg" width="505" height="331" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The Sledges packed and ready</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus38"></a> +<img src="images/038.jpg" width="512" height="326" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Relaying the <i>James Caird</i></p> +</div> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap06"></a>CHAPTER VI<br /> +THE MARCH BETWEEN</h2> + +<p> +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 <i>James Caird</i> and the <i>Dudley Docker</i>, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +It snowed a little during the day and those who were sleeping outside got their +sleeping-bags pretty wet. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<i>Stancomb Wills</i>, behind at Ocean Camp, and the remaining two will barely +accommodate the whole party when we leave the floe. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus39"></a> +<img src="images/039.jpg" width="508" height="336" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Potash and Perlmutter</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus40"></a> +<img src="images/040.jpg" width="512" height="330" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">“Loneliness”: Patience Camp</p> +</div> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>December</i> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Our new home, which we were to occupy for nearly three and a half months, we +called “Patience Camp.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap07"></a>CHAPTER VII<br /> +PATIENCE CAMP</h2> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +After a few days we were able to build him an igloo of ice-blocks, with a +tarpaulin over the top as a roof. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“We caught an adelie to-day (January 26) and another whale was seen at +close quarters, but no seals. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +To provide some variety in the food, I commenced to use the sledging ration at +half strength twice a week. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus41"></a> +<img src="images/041.jpg" width="513" height="323" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The Kitchen at Patience Camp</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus42"></a> +<img src="images/042.jpg" width="315" height="487" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The Stove at Patience Camp constructed out of old Oil-drums</p> +</div> + +<p> +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 <i>Stancomb Wills</i>. They started off at 1 a.m., towing the empty +boat-sledge on which the <i>James Caird</i> had rested, and reached Ocean Camp +about 3.30 a.m. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“One excellent result of our trip was the recovery of two cases of +lentils weighing 42 lbs. each.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +But, as one man philosophically remarked in his diary: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Our stock of forty days’ sledging rations remained practically untouched, +but once in the boats they were used at full strength. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus43"></a> +<img src="images/043.jpg" width="331" height="457" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Worsley taking Observations of the Sun to determine our Position</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus44"></a> +<img src="images/044.jpg" width="306" height="533" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">“We cut Steps in this Twenty-five Foot Slab and it makes a fine Look-out”</p> +</div> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Our hopes were now centred on Elephant Island or Clarence Island, which lay 100 +miles almost due north of us. +</p> + +<p> +If we failed to reach either of them we might try for South Georgia, but our +chances of reaching it would be very small. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap08"></a>CHAPTER VIII<br /> +ESCAPE FROM THE ICE</h2> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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 +<i>James Caird</i>, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus45"></a> +<img src="images/045.jpg" width="517" height="335" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">“There was no Sleep for us that Night, so we lit the Blubber Stove”</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus46"></a> +<img src="images/046.jpg" width="510" height="326" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Hauling up the Boats for the Night</p> +</div> + +<p> +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 <i>James Caird</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +I had decided to take the <i>James Caird</i> 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 <i>Dudley +Docker</i> with nine men, and Hudson and Crean were the senior men on the +<i>Stancomb Wills</i>. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Dudley Docker</i> and the <i>Stancomb Wills</i> +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 <i>James Caird</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>James Caird</i> 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 <i>Stancomb Wills</i> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Dudley Docker</i> 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 <i>James Caird</i> got a line aboard +the <i>Dudley Docker</i>, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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?” +</p> + +<p> +“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 <i>James +Caird</i> 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 <i>James +Caird</i> 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 <i>Stancomb Wills</i>, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>James Caird</i> was in the lead, with the <i>Stancomb +Wills</i> next and the <i>Dudley Docker</i> 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 +<i>James Caird</i> 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 <i>James Caird</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>James Caird</i> 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 <i>James Caird</i> and <i>Dudley Docker</i> 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 <i>Stancomb Wills</i> +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 <i>Dudley Docker</i> back for her and tied the <i>James +Caird</i> up to a piece of ice. The <i>Dudley Docker</i> had to tow the +<i>Stancomb Wills</i>, 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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus47"></a> +<img src="images/047.jpg" width="514" height="340" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The Reeling Berg</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus48"></a> +<img src="images/048.jpg" width="503" height="326" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Sailing South Again</p> +</div> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>James Caird</i> 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 <i>Stancomb Wills</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Dudley Docker</i> 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 <i>Dudley Docker</i> ranged up +alongside the <i>James Caird</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Stancomb Wills</i> 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 <i>Dudley Docker</i> 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 <i>James Caird</i>. 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 <i>Dudley Docker</i> could not +get her Primus under way, something being adrift. The men in that boat had to +wait until the cook on the <i>James Caird</i> had boiled up the first pot of +milk. +</p> + +<p> +The boats were bumping so heavily that I had to slack away the painter of the +<i>Stancomb Wills</i> and put her astern. Much ice was coming round the floe +and had to be poled off. Then the <i>Dudley Docker</i>, being the heavier boat, +began to damage the <i>James Caird</i>, and I slacked the <i>Dudley Docker</i> +away. The <i>James Caird</i> remained moored to the ice, with the <i>Dudley +Docker</i> and the <i>Stancomb Wills</i> 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 <i>James Caird</i> 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 <i>Dudley Docker</i> now +ahead, the <i>James Caird</i> astern of her, and the <i>Stancomb Wills</i> +third in the line. The boats were attached to one another by their painters. +Most of the time the <i>Dudley Docker</i> kept the <i>James Caird</i> and the +<i>Stancomb Wills</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Dudley Docker</i> +alongside and found the condition of the people there was no better than in the +<i>James Caird</i>. 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>James Caird</i> 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 +<i>Dudley Docker</i> came next to the <i>James Caird</i> and the <i>Stancomb +Wills</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Dudley Docker</i> ran down to me at dusk and +Worsley suggested that we should stand on all night; but already the +<i>Stancomb Wills</i> 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 <i>Dudley +Docker</i> in the lead, since she had the longest painter. The <i>James +Caird</i> swung astern of the <i>Dudley Docker</i> and the <i>Stancomb +Wills</i> 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 <i>Dudley Docker</i> +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 +<i>Stancomb Wills</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Stancomb Wills</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>James Caird</i>. 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 +<i>James Caird</i> and the <i>Dudley Docker</i> had been towing the <i>Stancomb +Wills</i> in turn, but my boat now took the <i>Stancomb Wills</i> in tow +permanently, as the <i>James Caird</i> could carry more sail than the <i>Dudley +Docker</i> in the freshening wind. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Stancomb Wills</i>, astern +of the <i>James Caird</i> 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 <i>Stancomb Wills</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Stancomb Wills</i> tightened and drooped under my hand, my +thoughts were busy with plans for the future. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Dudley Docker</i> ran +down to the <i>James Caird</i>, and Worsley shouted a suggestion that he should +go ahead and search for a landing-place. His boat had the heels of the <i>James +Caird</i>, with the <i>Stancomb Wills</i> in tow. I told him he could try, but +he must not lose sight of the <i>James Caird</i>. Just as he left me a heavy +snow-squall came down, and in the darkness the boats parted. I saw the +<i>Dudley Docker</i> 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 <i>Dudley Docker</i>, 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. +</p> + +<p> +My anxiety, as a matter of fact, was groundless. I will quote Worsley’s +own account of what happened to the <i>Dudley Docker:</i> +</p> + +<p> +“About midnight we lost sight of the <i>James Caird</i> with the +<i>Stancomb Wills</i> in tow, but not long after saw the light of the <i>James +Caird’s</i> 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 <i>Dudley Docker</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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 <i>Dudley Docker</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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 <i>James +Caird</i> and the <i>Stancomb Wills</i> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +Our experiences on the <i>James Caird</i> had been similar, although we had not +been able to keep up to windward as well as the <i>Dudley Docker</i> had done. +This was fortunate as events proved, for the <i>James Caird</i> and <i>Stancomb +Wills</i> went to leeward of the big bight the <i>Dudley Docker</i> entered and +from which she had to turn out with the sea astern. We thus avoided the risk of +having the <i>Stancomb Wills</i> 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 <i>Stancomb Wills</i> 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 <i>James Caird</i> +made the venture. I was just climbing into the <i>Stancomb Wills</i> when I saw +the <i>Dudley Docker</i> coming up astern under sail. The sight took a great +load off my mind. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus49"></a> +<img src="images/049.jpg" width="506" height="331" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The First Landing ever made on Elephant Island, April 15, 1916</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus50"></a> +<img src="images/050.jpg" width="499" height="330" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">“We Pulled the Three Boats a little Higher on the Beach”</p> +</div> + +<p> +Rowing carefully and avoiding the blind rollers which showed where sunken rocks +lay, we brought the <i>Stancomb Wills</i> 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 <i>James Caird</i> was too heavy to be beached +directly, so after landing most of the men from the <i>Dudley Docker</i> and +the <i>Stancomb Wills</i> I superintended the transhipment of the <i>James +Caird’s</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus51"></a> +<img src="images/051.jpg" width="339" height="243" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +</div> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Stancomb Wills</i> 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 <i>Stancomb Wills</i> 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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus52"></a> +<img src="images/052.jpg" width="506" height="339" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The First Drink and Hot Food for Three-and-a-Half Days</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus53"></a> +<img src="images/053.jpg" width="303" height="524" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Mount Frank Houlder, Elephant Island</p> +</div> + +<p> +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 <i>Stancomb +Wills</i> was still away, so I had a blubber-flare lit at the head of the +channel. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>James Caird</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>James Caird</i>, being +the heaviest boat, had to keep a full complement of rowers, while the <i>Dudley +Docker</i> and the <i>Stancomb Wills</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +After half an hour’s pause I gave the order to start again. The <i>Dudley +Docker</i> was pulling with three oars, as the <i>Stancomb Wills</i> 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 <i>James Caird</i> back to the assistance of the <i>Dudley +Docker</i> 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 <i>Stancomb Wills</i> followed safely. In the stinging spray I +lost sight of the <i>Dudley Docker</i> 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 <i>James Caird</i> and the <i>Stancomb Wills</i> reached +comparatively calm water and we saw Wild’s beach just ahead of us. I +looked back vainly for the <i>Dudley Docker</i>. +</p> + +<p> +Rocks studded the shallow water round the spit and the sea surged amongst them. +I ordered the <i>Stancomb Wills</i> 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 <i>James Caird</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +I was very anxious about the <i>Dudley Docker</i>, 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 +<i>Dudley Docker</i> 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 <i>James Caird</i>, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Dudley Docker</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap09"></a>CHAPTER IX<br /> +THE BOAT JOURNEY</h2> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The decision made, I walked through the blizzard with Worsley and Wild to +examine the <i>James Caird</i>. 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 +<i>Endurance</i>. 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 <i>James Caird</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>en masse</i> +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. +</p> + +<p> +There was a lull in the bad weather on April 21, and the carpenter started to +collect material for the decking of the <i>James Caird</i>. He fitted the mast +of the <i>Stancomb Wills</i> fore and aft inside the <i>James Caird</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus54"></a> +<img src="images/054.jpg" width="475" height="294" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Launching the <i>James Caird</i></p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus55"></a> +<img src="images/055.jpg" width="516" height="322" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The <i>Stancomb Wills</i></p> +</div> + +<p> +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 <i>James Caird</i> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>James +Caird</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<i>Stancomb Wills</i> and loaded her with stores, gear, and ballast, which +would be transferred to the <i>James Caird</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +The stores taken in the <i>James Caird</i>, which would last six men for one +month, were as follows: +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +30 boxes of matches.<br /> +6½ gallons paraffin.<br /> +1 tin methylated spirit.<br /> +10 boxes of flamers.<br /> +1 box of blue lights.<br /> +2 Primus stoves with spare parts and prickers.<br /> +1 Nansen aluminium cooker.<br /> +6 sleeping-bags.<br /> +A few spare socks.<br /> +A few candles and some blubber-oil in an oil-bag. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +<i>Food</i>:<br /> +3 cases sledging rations = 300 rations.<br /> +2 cases nut food = 200 ”<br /> +2 cases biscuits = 600 biscuits.<br /> +1 case lump sugar.<br /> +30 packets of Trumilk.<br /> +1 tin. of Bovril cubes.<br /> +1 tin of Cerebos salt.<br /> +36 gallons of water.<br /> +250 lbs. of ice. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +<i>Instruments</i>:<br /> +Sextant.<br /> +Sea-anchor.<br /> +Binoculars.<br /> +Charts.<br /> +Prismatic compass.<br /> +Aneroid. +</p> + +<p> +The swell was slight when the <i>Stancomb Wills</i> was launched and the boat +got under way without any difficulty; but half an hour later, when we were +pulling down the <i>James Caird</i>, 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 <i>James Caird</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +The <i>James Caird</i> 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 <i>Stancomb Wills</i> 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 <i>Stancomb Wills</i> was wet to the skin. The water-casks were +towed behind the <i>Stancomb Wills</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +By midday the <i>James Caird</i> 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 <i>Stancomb Wills</i> 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 <i>James Caird</i>. The crew of the <i>Stancomb +Wills</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +I had all sails set, and the <i>James Caird</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<i>James Caird</i> 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 <i>James +Caird’s</i> 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 <i>James +Caird</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +When daylight came on the morning of the sixth day out we saw and felt that the +<i>James Caird</i> 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 <i>James Caird</i> lifted to the endless waves as though she lived +again. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>James +Caird</i> 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 <i>James +Caird</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>James Caird</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The wind freshened to a good stiff breeze during the afternoon, and the +<i>James Caird</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus56"></a> +<img src="images/056.jpg" width="437" height="356" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">In Sight of our Goal: Nearing South Georgia</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus57"></a> +<img src="images/057.jpg" width="508" height="322" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Landing on South Georgia</p> +</div> + +<p> +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 +<i>James Caird</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>James Caird</i> 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 <i>James Caird</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>James Caird</i> 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 <i>James Caird</i> 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 <i>James Caird</i>, +which was still afloat in the tossing water just off the beach. +</p> + +<p> +Fending the <i>James Caird</i> 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 <i>James Caird</i> 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 <i>James Caird</i> +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 <i>James Caird</i> 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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus58"></a> +<img src="images/058.jpg" width="311" height="300" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">[Cave Cove on South Georgia]</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus59"></a> +<img src="images/059.jpg" width="306" height="279" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">[Surroundings of King Haakon Bay]</p> +</div> + +<p> +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 <i>James Caird</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus60"></a> +<img src="images/060.jpg" width="314" height="197" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">[Plan of Sleeping Berths in Cave]</p> +</div> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>James Caird</i> 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 <i>James Caird</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>James Caird</i> 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 <i>James Caird’s</i> topsides more freely. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>James Caird</i> 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 <i>James Caird</i> +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 <i>à la</i> Peggotty, turfing it round with +tussocks, which we dug up with knives. One side of the <i>James Caird</i> +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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus61"></a> +<img src="images/061.jpg" width="509" height="322" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Sea Elephants on South Georgia</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus62"></a> +<img src="images/062.jpg" width="326" height="521" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The Cliffs we descended whilst crossing the Island</p> +</div> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>James Caird</i>. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap10"></a>CHAPTER X<br /> +ACROSS SOUTH GEORGIA</h2> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus63"></a> +<img src="images/063.jpg" width="450" height="349" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">One of the Glaciers we Crossed</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus64"></a> +<img src="images/064.jpg" width="492" height="330" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">A Typical View in South Georgia</p> +</div> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” he said as he stared at us. +</p> + +<p> +“We would like to see him,” said I. +</p> + +<p> +“Who are you?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“We have lost our ship and come over the island,” I replied. +</p> + +<p> +“You have come over the island?” he said in a tone of entire +disbelief. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Sorlle came out to the door and said, “Well?” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t you know me?” I said. +</p> + +<p> +“I know your voice,” he replied doubtfully. “You’re the +mate of the <i>Daisy</i>.” +</p> + +<p> +“My name is Shackleton,” I said. +</p> + +<p> +Immediately he put out his hand and said, “Come in. Come in.” +</p> + +<p> +“Tell me, when was the war over?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“The war is not over,” he answered. “Millions are being +killed. Europe is mad. The world is mad.” +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus65"></a> +<img src="images/065.jpg" width="559" height="343" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">[Rough Memory Map of Route Across South Georgia]</p> +</div> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i>. 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 <i>James +Caird</i> 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 <i>James Caird</i> 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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus66"></a> +<img src="images/066.jpg" width="720" height="293" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Panorama of South Georgia</p> +</div> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap11"></a>CHAPTER XI<br /> +THE RESCUE</h2> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Lusitania</i>, 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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus67"></a> +<img src="images/067.jpg" width="467" height="349" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The <i>Yelcho</i></p> +</div> + +<p> +I heard the first rumour of the <i>Aurora’s</i> misadventures in the Ross +Sea from Mr. Sorlle. Our host could tell me very little. He had been informed +that the <i>Aurora</i> 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 <i>Aurora</i>. 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Southern Sky</i>, 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 +<i>Orwell</i>, 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 <i>Southern Sky</i>. 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 <i>Southern Sky</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Southern Sky</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The early part of the voyage down to Elephant Island in the <i>Southern Sky</i> +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 <i>Southern +Sky</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +To admit failure at this stage was hard, but the facts had to be faced. The +<i>Southern Sky</i> 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 <i>Southern Sky</i> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<i>Endurance</i> and the subsequent adventures of the Expedition. The next day +I received the following message from the King: +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +“Rejoice to hear of your safe arrival in the Falkland Islands and trust +your comrades on Elephant Island may soon be rescued. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +“G<small>EORGE</small> R.I.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Instituto de Pesca No. 1</i>, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. <i>Glasgow</i> was in the port, and the British sailors +gave us a hearty welcome as we steamed in. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Instituto de Pesca</i> went off to Montevideo +and I looked around for another ship. +</p> + +<p> +A British mail-boat, the <i>Orita</i> 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 <i>Emma</i> and equipped her for our use. +She was a forty-year-old oak schooner, strong and seaworthy, with an auxiliary +oil-engine. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<i>Yelcho</i>, 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 <i>Emma</i>, which Worsley kept as navigating officer. +</p> + +<p> +“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.—<i>Yelcho</i> 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 <i>Yelcho</i> steamed +into San Sebastian Bay.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Discovery</i> 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 <i>Yelcho</i>, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<i>Yelcho</i> 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 +<i>Yelcho</i> 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 <i>Yelcho</i> 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 <i>Yelcho</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Yelcho</i> 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 <i>Yelcho</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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 <i>Yelcho</i> 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 <i>Yelcho</i> was turning +in.” +</p> + +<p> +We encountered bad weather on the way back to Punta Arenas, and the little +<i>Yelcho</i> 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 <i>Yelcho</i> 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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus68"></a> +<img src="images/068.jpg" width="471" height="317" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Arrival at Punta Arenas with the Rescued Men</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus69"></a> +<img src="images/069.jpg" width="277" height="390" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Frank Wild, Second in Command of the Expedition</p> +</div> + +<p> +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 <i>Yelcho</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>en route</i>. +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 <i>Aurora’s</i> 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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap12"></a>CHAPTER XII<br /> +ELEPHANT ISLAND</h2> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus70"></a> +<img src="images/070.jpg" width="483" height="355" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Our Dugout</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus71"></a> +<img src="images/071.jpg" width="493" height="322" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The Hut on Elephant Island</p> +</div> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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 <i>Stancomb Wills</i> 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 <i>Dudley Docker</i>, and +the five sailors and Hussey on those of the <i>Stancomb Wills</i>, the +remainder disposing themselves on the floor.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus72"></a> +<img src="images/072.jpg" width="508" height="339" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">View of Interior of Hut on Elephant Island</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus73"></a> +<img src="images/073.jpg" width="510" height="360" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Marooned on Elephant Island</p> +</div> + +<p> +“All joints are aching through being compelled to lie on the hard, rubbly +floor which forms our bedsteads.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>all</i> +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 <i>Veuve +Cliquot</i>. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus74"></a> +<img src="images/074.jpg" width="506" height="343" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Elephant Island</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus75"></a> +<img src="images/075.jpg" width="492" height="332" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The Rescue Ship Sighted</p> +</div> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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>i.e.</i>, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“WILD: ‘Do you like doughnuts?’ +</p> + +<p> +“McILROY: ‘Rather!’ +</p> + +<p> +“WILD: ‘Very easily made, too. I like them cold with a little +jam.’ +</p> + +<p> +“McILROY: ‘Not bad; but how about a huge omelette?’ +</p> + +<p> +“WILD: ‘Fine!’ (with a deep sigh). +</p> + +<p> +“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!” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Caird</i>,’ were +drunk in hot water and ginger every Saturday night.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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!’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“We intend to keep August 30 as a festival for the rest of our +lives.” +</p> + +<p> +You readers can imagine my feelings as I stood in the little cabin watching my +rescued comrades feeding. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus76"></a> +<img src="images/076.jpg" width="516" height="340" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">“All Safe! All Well!”</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus77"></a> +<img src="images/077.jpg" width="489" height="332" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">View through a Cave on Elephant Island</p> +</div> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap13"></a>CHAPTER XIII<br /> +THE ROSS SEA PARTY</h2> + +<p> +I now turn to the fortunes and misfortunes of the Ross Sea Party and the +<i>Aurora</i>. In spite of extraordinary difficulties occasioned by the +breaking out of the <i>Aurora</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Aurora</i>, 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 <i>Aurora</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Aurora</i> 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 <i>Aurora</i> 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 <i>Clyde</i>. 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 +<i>Aurora</i> 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 <i>Aurora</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Aurora</i> 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 +<i>Aurora</i>, with instructions to select a base and land a party. +</p> + +<p> +The first objective was Hut Point, where stands the hut erected by the +<i>Discovery</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +Captain Mackintosh and his party left the <i>Aurora</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Sunday, January</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>February</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>February</i> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus78"></a> +<img src="images/078.jpg" width="305" height="531" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The Aurora</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus79"></a> +<img src="images/079.jpg" width="512" height="336" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Ice Stalactites at the Entrance to a Cave on Elephant Island</p> +</div> + +<p> +“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 +<i>Aurora</i>, the men saw the sun dip to the horizon in the south, a reminder +that the Antarctic summer was nearing its close. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“<i>March</i> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Punch</i> 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>i.e.</i> 55° of frost. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>March</i> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap14"></a>CHAPTER XIV<br /> +WINTERING IN McMURDO SOUND</h2> + +<p> +The <i>Aurora</i>, 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 +<i>Aurora</i> 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 <i>Aurora</i>, 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: +</p> + +<p class="right"> +“C<small>APE</small> E<small>VANS</small>, R<small>OSS</small> +I<small>SLAND</small>, <i>July</i> 30, 1915. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +“A. S<small>TEVENS</small>.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Aurora</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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 +<i>padre</i>, is in charge of photography, and, of course, assists in the +general routine work. Cope is the medical officer. +</p> + +<p> +“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 +<i>Aurora</i>. I dare not think any disaster has occurred.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus80"></a> +<img src="images/080.jpg" width="503" height="336" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">A Newly-frozen Lead</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus81"></a> +<img src="images/081.jpg" width="513" height="338" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The Ross Sea Party</p> +</div> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Aurora</i>, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap15"></a>CHAPTER XV<br /> +LAYING THE DEPOTS</h2> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The party moved southwards again on January 13 in bad weather. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>February</i> 23, <i>Wednesday</i>.—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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>February</i> 24, <i>Thursday</i>.—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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>February</i> 25, <i>Friday</i>.—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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>February</i> 26, <i>Saturday</i>.—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. +<i>Later</i>.—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. <i>Later</i>.—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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>February</i> 27, <i>Sunday</i>.—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. <i>Later</i>.—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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>February</i> 28, <i>Monday</i>.—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. <i>Later</i>.—Kept on blizzarding all afternoon and +night. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>February</i> 29, <i>Tuesday</i>.—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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus82"></a> +<img src="images/082.jpg" width="518" height="334" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Mackintosh and Spencer-Smith being dragged on the sledge</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus83"></a> +<img src="images/083.jpg" width="315" height="504" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">“The Rudder was bent over to Starboard and Smashed”</p> +</div> + +<p> +“<i>March</i> 1, <i>Wednesday</i>.—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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>March</i> 2, <i>Thursday</i>.—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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>March</i> 3, <i>Friday</i>.—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. +<i>Later</i>.—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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>March</i> 4, <i>Saturday</i>.—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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>March</i> 5, <i>Sunday</i>.—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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>March</i> 6, <i>Monday</i>.—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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>March</i> 7, <i>Tuesday</i>.—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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>March</i> 8, <i>Wednesday</i>.—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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>March</i> 9, <i>Thursday</i>.—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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>March</i> 10, <i>Friday</i>.—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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>March</i> 11, <i>Saturday</i>.—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 +<i>Discovery</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>March</i> 12, <i>Sunday</i>.—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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>March</i> 13, <i>Monday</i>.—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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>March</i> 14, <i>Tuesday</i>.—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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>March</i> 15, <i>Wednesday</i>.—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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>March</i> 16, <i>Thursday</i>.—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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>March</i> 17, <i>Friday</i>.—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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>March</i> 18, <i>Saturday</i>.—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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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: +</p> + +<p> +“(1) Wild and I thoroughly searched Inaccessible Island at the end of +August 1916. +</p> + +<p> +“(2) Various parties in September searched along the shore to the +vicinity of Turk’s Head. +</p> + +<p> +“(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. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +“I remain, etc.,<br /> +“ERNEST E. JOYCE. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +“<i>To</i> Sir ERNEST SHACKLETON, C.V.O.,<br /> +“<i>Commander</i>, I.T.A.E.” +</p> + +<p> +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 +<i>Aurora</i> was driven from her moorings off Cape Evans. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap16"></a>CHAPTER XVI<br /> +THE <i>AURORA’S</i> DRIFT</h2> + +<p> +After Mackintosh left the <i>Aurora</i> 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 <i>Aurora</i> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +A heavy gale came up on March 12, and the <i>Aurora</i>, 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 <i>Aurora</i> 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 <i>Aurora</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“<i>March</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>March</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>March</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>April</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>April</i> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“<i>May</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>May</i> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Aurora</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“The <i>Aurora</i> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Aurora</i> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +The record of the early months of the <i>Aurora’s</i> 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 <i>Aurora</i> 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 <i>Aurora’s</i> drift during long months can be +told briefly by means of extracts from Stenhouse’s log: +</p> + +<p> +“<i>May</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>May</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>May</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>May</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>May</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>May</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>June</i> 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 <i>Aurora</i>. I hope they have. [The messages were not received.] +</p> + +<p> +“<i>June</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>June</i> 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—<i>Aurora</i>,’ 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 <i>Aurora</i> was +continued, but it was learned afterwards that none of them had been received by +any station.] +</p> + +<p> +“<i>June</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>June</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>June</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>June</i> 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! +</p> + +<p> +“<i>June</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>July</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>July</i> 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! +</p> + +<p> +“<i>July</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>July</i> 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 <i>qui vive</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>July</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>July</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>July</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>July</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>July</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>July</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>July</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>July</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>July</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>August</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>August</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>August</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>August</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>August</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>August</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>August</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>August</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>August</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>August</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>August</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>August</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>September</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>September</i> 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 <i>pemphigus</i>, +so pemphigus it is, and he has been ‘tonic-ed’ and massaged. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>September</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>September</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>September</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>September</i> 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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“<i>September</i> 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 <i>Endurance</i> +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 <i>Aurora</i>. What a lot we +have to look for in the next six months—news of Shackleton and the +<i>Endurance</i>, the party at Cape Evans, and the war. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>September</i> 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). +</p> + +<p> +“<i>September</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>September</i> 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? +</p> + +<p> +“<i>October</i> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +During the month of October the <i>Aurora</i> 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 <i>Endurance</i>, 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 <i>Aurora</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>November</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>November</i> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Aurora</i>, +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +The middle of January was passed and the <i>Aurora</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<i>Aurora</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +During the 14th the <i>Aurora</i> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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 +<i>Aurora</i> 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 <i>Aurora</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Aurora</i>, 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 <i>Aurora</i> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +The next three days were full of anxiety. The <i>Aurora</i> 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 <i>Aurora</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Aurora</i> 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 <i>Aurora</i> 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.” +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus84"></a> +<img src="images/084.jpg" width="314" height="500" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">“Next Morning the Jury-Rudder was Shipped”</p> +</div> + +<p> +The <i>Aurora</i> 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 <i>Plucky</i> should meet the <i>Aurora</i> +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 <i>Aurora</i> 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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap17"></a>CHAPTER XVII<br /> +THE LAST RELIEF</h2> + +<p> +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 <i>Aurora</i> 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 <i>Aurora</i> 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 <i>Aurora</i> filled me with admiration +for his pluck, seamanship, and resourcefulness. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Aurora</i> 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 <i>Aurora</i> made a +fairly quick passage through the pack and entered the open water of the Ross +Sea on January 7, 1917. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus85"></a> +<img src="images/085.jpg" width="514" height="332" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Ice Nomenclature: 1. Young Ice (Bay Ice of Scoresby) in the +Middle Distance</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus86"></a> +<img src="images/086.jpg" width="434" height="340" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">2. Light Pack</p> +</div> + +<p> +Captain Davis brought the <i>Aurora</i> 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 +<i>Aurora</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus87"></a> +<img src="images/087.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">3. Heavy Hummocked Pack</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus88"></a> +<img src="images/088.jpg" width="426" height="357" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">4. Hummocky Pack and Frozen Lead of Young-Ice</p> +</div> + +<p> +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 <i>Aurora</i> 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 <i>Aurora</i> was berthed at Wellington. We were welcomed like returned +brothers by the New Zealand people. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap18"></a>CHAPTER XVIII<br /> +THE FINAL PHASE</h2> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus89"></a> +<img src="images/089.jpg" width="442" height="349" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">5. Close Pack</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus90"></a> +<img src="images/090.jpg" width="466" height="352" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">6. Open Pack</p> +</div> + +<p> +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 <i>Aurora</i>, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Wordie went to France with the Royal Field Artillery and was badly wounded at +Armentières. +</p> + +<p> +Hussey was in France for eighteen months with the Royal Garrison Artillery, +serving in every big battle from Dixmude to Saint-Quentin. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Stenhouse, who commanded the <i>Aurora</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Most of the crew of the <i>Endurance</i> served on minesweepers. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Nearly all of the crew of the <i>Aurora</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus91"></a> +<img src="images/091.jpg" width="495" height="340" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">7. Very Open Pack, approximating to Drift-ice</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus92"></a> +<img src="images/092.jpg" width="449" height="344" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">8. Drift-Ice</p> +</div> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap19"></a>APPENDIX I</h2> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap20"></a>SCIENTIFIC WORK</h2> + +<p class="center"> +By J. M. WORDIE, M.A. (Cantab.), Lieut. R.F.A. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>plankton</i>, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Besides collecting <i>plankton</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap21"></a>SEA-ICE NOMENCLATURE</h2> + +<p class="center"> +By J. M. WORDIE, M.A. (Cantab.), Lieut. R.F.A. +</p> + +<p> +During the voyage of the <i>Endurance</i> 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 <i>Discovery</i> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The following authorities have been followed as closely as possible: +</p> + +<p> +W. Scoresby, Jun., “An Account of the Arctic Regions,” 1820, vol. +i, pp. 225–233, 238–241. +</p> + +<p> +C. R. Markham and H. R. Mill in “The Antarctic Manual,” 1901, pp, +xiv–xvi. +</p> + +<p> +J. Payer, “New Lands within the Arctic Circle,” 1876, vol. i, pp. +3–14. +</p> + +<p> +W. S. Bruce, “Polar Exploration” in Home University Library, c. +1911, pp. 54–71. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +<i>Slush</i> or <i>Sludge</i>. 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. +</p> + +<p> +<i>Pancake-ice</i>. 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. +</p> + +<p> +<i>Young Ice</i>. 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +<i>Land floes</i>. 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 <i>Schelfeis</i> is not very different. +</p> + +<p> +<i>Floe</i>. 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. +</p> + +<p> +<i>Field</i>. A sheet of ice of such extent that its limits cannot be seen from +the masthead. +</p> + +<p> +<i>Hummocking</i>. Includes all the processes of pressure formation whereby +level young ice becomes broken up and built up into +</p> + +<p> +<i>Hummocky Floes</i>. The most suitable term for what has also been called +“old pack” and “screwed pack” by David and +<i>Scholleneis</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +<i>The Pack</i> 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 +<i>banquise de derive</i>. +</p> + +<p> +<i>Pack-ice</i>. 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 +</p> + +<p> +<i>Drift-ice</i>. 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. +</p> + +<p> +<i>Brash</i>. Small fragments and roundish nodules; the wreck of other kinds of +ice. +</p> + +<p> +<i>Bergy Bits</i>. Pieces, about the size of a cottage, of glacier-ice or of +hummocky pack washed clear of snow. +</p> + +<p> +<i>Growlers</i>. Still smaller pieces of sea-ice than the above, greenish in +colour, and barely showing above water-level. +</p> + +<p> +<i>Crack</i>. Any sort of fracture or rift in the sea-ice covering. +</p> + +<p> +<i>Lead</i> or <i>Lane</i>. 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. +</p> + +<p> +<i>Pools</i>. Any enclosed water areas in the pack, where length and breadth +are about equal. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap22"></a>METEOROLOGY</h2> + +<p class="center"> +By L. D. A. HUSSEY, B.Sc., (Lond.), Capt. R.G.A. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +I have given just this one instance to satisfy those who question the utility +of Polar Expeditions, but many more could be cited. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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>i.e.</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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>i.e.</i> 2° <i>below</i> freezing, is considered +unbearably hot. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus93"></a> +<img src="images/093.jpg" width="516" height="349" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">“The Rookery”</p> +</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus94"></a> +<img src="images/094.jpg" width="327" height="465" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The Anemometer covered with Rime</p> +</div> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap23"></a>PHYSICS</h2> + +<p class="center"> +By R. W. JAMES, M.A. (Cantab.), B.Sc. (Lond.), Capt. R.E. +</p> + +<p> +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°. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.<a href="#fn1" name="fnref1" id="fnref1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> +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 <i>Fram</i>. 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. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn1" id="fn1"></a> <a href="#fnref1">[1]</a> +Cf. “Scientific results of Norwegian North Polar Expedition, +1893–96,” vol. iii, p. 357. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +As the <i>Endurance</i> 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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap24"></a>SOUTH ATLANTIC WHALES AND WHALING</h2> + +<p class="center"> +By ROBERT S. CLARK, M.A., B.Sc., Lieut. R.N.V.R. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +£72 10s. per ton (barrels included) less 2½ per cent.<br /> +£68 per ton (barrels included) less 2½ per cent.<br /> +£65 ” ” ” ” ” ” ”<br /> +£63 ” ” ” ” ” ” ” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +From South Georgia the track of the <i>Endurance</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Belgica</i> on the western side and the <i>Gauss</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The whales captured at the various whaling-stations of the Falkland area are +confined largely to three species—blue whale (<i>Balænoptera +musculus</i>), fin whale (<i>Balænoptera physalis</i>), and humpback +(<i>Megaptera nodosa</i>); sperm whales (<i>Physeter catodon</i>) and right +whales (<i>Balæna glacialis</i>) being only occasional and rare captures, +while the sei whale (<i>Balænoptera borealis</i>) 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: +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The migrations of whales are influenced by two causes: +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +(1) The distribution of their food-supply;<br /> +(2) The position of their breeding-grounds. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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 +<i>plankton</i> 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 <i>Endurance</i> samples +of <i>plankton</i> 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 <i>Euphausiæ</i> 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 <i>Euphausia</i>, +and this generally to the exclusion of other forms. Occasionally, however, +small fish were recorded. The quantity of <i>Euphausiæ</i> 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. <i>Euphausiæ</i>, 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. +</p> + +<p> +The following is a rough classification of whales, with special reference to +those known to occur in the South Atlantic: +</p> + +<pre> +<b> + 1. WHALEBONE WHALES (<i>Mystacoceti</i>) + | + ____________________|__________________ + | | +Right whales (<i>Balænidæ</i>) Rorquals (<i>Balænopteridæ</i>) + | ________________|_________ +Southern right whale | | +(<i>Balæna glacialis</i>) Finner whales Humpback + (<i>Balænoptera</i>) (<i>Megaptera nodosa</i>) + | + | + Blue whale (<i>B. musculus</i>) + Fin whale (<i>B. physalis</i>) + Sei whale (<i>B. borealis</i>) + Piked whale (<i>B. acutorostrata</i>) + Bryde’s whale (<i>B. brydei</i>) + + + 2. TOOTHED WHALES (<i>Odontoceti</i>) + | + _________________________|________________________ + | | | +Sperm whale Beaked whales Dolphins +(<i>Physeter catodon</i>) (including bottlenose whales) (1) Killer + (<i>Hyperoodon rostratus</i>) (<i>Orcinus orca</i>) + (2) Black Fish + (<i>Globicephalus melas</i>) + (3) Porpoises + (<i>Lagenorhynchus</i> sp.) +</b> +</pre> + +<p class="noindent"> +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 <i>plankton</i>, 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—<i>Euphausiæ</i>, with a mixture of <i>amphipods</i>. 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 +<i>Cephalopod</i> “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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Globicephalus melas</i> 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 <i>Endurance</i> 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 (<i>Hyperoodon rostratus</i>) 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap25"></a>APPENDIX II</h2> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap26"></a>THE EXPEDITION HUTS AT McMURDO SOUND</h2> + +<p class="center"> +By SIR E. H. SHACKLETON +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +(1) THE NATIONAL ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION’S HUT AT HUT POINT—THE HEAD +OF McMURDO SOUND +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Discovery</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +When the <i>Discovery</i> 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 <i>Nimrod</i> was lying off the ice. +</p> + +<p> +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>i.e.</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<i>Discovery</i> Hut was in as good condition in 1917 as it was in 1902. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>pied-à-terre</i> for the start of any Southern journey. No +stores nor any equipment have been taken from it during either of my two +Expeditions. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +(2) CAPE ROYDS HUT +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +(3) CAPE EVANS HUT +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Aurora</i>, 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. +</p> + +<p> +To sum up, there are three available huts in McMurdo Sound. +</p> + +<p> +(a) The <i>Discovery</i> Hut with a certain amount of rough stores, and only of +use as a point of departure for the South. +</p> + +<p> +(b) Cape Royds Hut with a large amount of general stores, but no clothing or +equipment now. +</p> + +<p> +(c) Cape Evans Hut with a large amount of stores, but no clothing or equipment +and only a few sledges. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +(4) DEPOTS SOUTH OF HUT POINT +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus95"></a> +<img src="images/095.jpg" width="800" height="812" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The Voyage of the <i>Endurance</i></p> +</div> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap27"></a>INDEX</h2> + +<p> +Adare, Cape<br /> +Admiralty<br /> + Range<br /> +Agag<br /> +Aitken<br /> +Albatross<br /> +Allardyce Range<br /> +Allen, James<br /> +Amphipods<br /> +Amundsen<br /> + (dog)<br /> +“Ancient Mariner,” <br /> +Animal life in Weddell Sea<br /> + <i>See also</i> Penguins Seals <i>and</i> Bird life<br /> +Annewkow Island<br /> +Antarctic Circle<br /> + Derby<br /> +Argentine<br /> +Armitage, Cape<br /> + Lieut.<br /> +Atmospheric effects<br /> + <i>See also</i> Mirage <i>and</i> Sun<br /> +Attempt to cut ship out<br /> +<i>Aurora,</i> <br /> +Aurora Australis<br /> +Australia +</p> + +<p> +Bakewell<br /> +Barne Glacier<br /> +Barrier<br /> + Great Ice<br /> + surface<br /> +Beardmore Glacier<br /> +Beaufort Island<br /> +Belgica Straits<br /> +Bergs<br /> +Bergschrund<br /> +Bernsten, Mr.<br /> +Bird life in Weddell Sea<br /> +Black Island<br /> +Blackborrow<br /> +Blizzards, severe<br /> +Blue Ice Glacier<br /> +Bluff<br /> + depot<br /> +Boats<br /> +Bovril<br /> +British territory<br /> +Brocklehurst, Capt. H. Courtney<br /> +Browning<br /> +Bruce, Dr. W. S.<br /> +Buenos Ayres<br /> +Burberry clothing<br /> +Butler Point depot +</p> + +<p> +Caird Coast<br /> + Sir James<br /> +<i>Caird, James</i> (boat)<br /> +Candlemas Volcano<br /> +Cape Barne<br /> + Bernacchi<br /> + Bird<br /> + Cotter<br /> + Crozier<br /> + Evans<br /> + Horn weather<br /> + Hudson<br /> + pigeons<br /> + Ross<br /> + Royds<br /> + Valentine<br /> + Wild<br /> +Castle Rock<br /> +Cave Cove<br /> +Cheetham<br /> +Chile<br /> +Christmas celebrations<br /> +Clarence Island<br /> +Clark<br /> +Coal, Antarctic<br /> + on deck<br /> +Coats’ Land<br /> +Con (dog)<br /> +Cook<br /> +Cope<br /> +Corner Camp<br /> +Coulman Islands<br /> +Crean<br /> +Current meter<br /> +Cyclone +</p> + +<p> +Danger Islands<br /> +Davis, Captain John K.<br /> +Daylight saving<br /> +Deception Islands<br /> +<i>Diatoms</i><br /> +<i>Discovery</i><br /> +Discovery Bay<br /> + Mount<br /> +Distances, Ross Sea Party<br /> +Dog-pemmican<br /> +Dogs<br /> +Dominican gulls<br /> +Dudley Docker Mr.<br /> +<i>Dudley Docker</i> (boat)<br /> +Dunlop Island<br /> +Dump Camp +</p> + +<p> +Eclipse of moon<br /> +Elephant Island<br /> +<i>Emma</i><br /> +Empire Day celebrations<br /> +<i>Encyclopædia Britannica</i><br /> +Enderby Land<br /> +<i>Endurance</i><br /> + abandoned<br /> + beset<br /> + crushed<br /> + sunk<br /> +Erebus Mount<br /> +Expedition ships<br /> + first made public<br /> + Mawson<br /> + Scott<br /> + Shackleton<br /> + Swedish +</p> + +<p> +Falkland Islands<br /> + Wireless listened for<br /> +Farthest South<br /> + Scott’s<br /> +Filchner<br /> +Financial help, appeal for<br /> + failure to materialize<br /> + promised<br /> +Fish, dead<br /> + from sea-leopard<br /> + new species<br /> +Föhn effect<br /> +Fortuna Bay<br /> + Glacier<br /> +Franklin Island +</p> + +<p> +Galley<br /> +Gallipoli<br /> +Garrard, Mr. Cherry<br /> +Gaze<br /> +Girling tractor-motor<br /> +Glacier Bay<br /> + Tongue<br /> +<i>Glasgow</i>, H.M.S.<br /> +Gold<br /> +Graham Land<br /> +Greenstreet<br /> +Grytviken<br /> +Gunner (dog) +</p> + +<p> +Half-way Camp<br /> +Harding, Mr.<br /> +<i>Harpoon</i><br /> +Hayward<br /> +Hercules (dog)<br /> +Hobart<br /> +Holness<br /> +Hooke<br /> +Hope Bay<br /> + Mountain<br /> +Howe<br /> +Hudson<br /> +Hurley<br /> +Hurtado, Admiral Muñoz<br /> +Hussey<br /> +Husvik<br /> +Hut, Cape Evans<br /> + Cape Royds<br /> + Elephant Island<br /> + at Hut Point;<br /> +Hut Point +</p> + +<p> +Ice-blink<br /> +Ice-hole<br /> +Inaccessible Island<br /> +<i>Instituto de Pesca</i> +</p> + +<p> +Jack<br /> +Jaeger sleeping-bags<br /> +James<br /> +Joinville Land<br /> +Joyce +</p> + +<p> +Kavenagh<br /> +Kelvin sounding machine<br /> +Kerr<br /> +Khyber Pass<br /> +Killer whales<br /> +King Haakon Bay<br /> +King George V, flag<br /> + to inspect <i>Endurance</i><br /> + telegram from<br /> + telegram to +</p> + +<p> +Lambton, Miss Elizabeth Dawson<br /> +Lamps<br /> +Larkman<br /> +Leap Year Day<br /> +Leith<br /> +Lucas sounding machine<br /> +Luitpold Land<br /> +<i>Lusitania</i> +</p> + +<p> +Mackintosh<br /> +Macklin<br /> +Macquarie Island<br /> +Magnetic Pole<br /> + storm<br /> + variation<br /> +Magellan Straits<br /> +Marston<br /> +Mauger<br /> +McCarthy<br /> +McDonald, Allen<br /> +McIlroy<br /> +McLeod<br /> +McMurdo Sound<br /> +McNab, Dr.<br /> +McNeish<br /> +Meteorology<br /> +Midwinter’s Day celebrations<br /> +Minna Bluff<br /> +Mirage<br /> +Montevideo<br /> +Morell Land<br /> +Morell’s Farthest South<br /> +Motor crawler<br /> + sledge<br /> + tractor<br /> +Mount Haddington<br /> + Melbourne<br /> + Murchison<br /> + Sabine<br /> +Mugridge<br /> +Mutton Island +</p> + +<p> +New South Greenland<br /> +New Year Island<br /> +New Zealand<br /> +Nigger (dog)<br /> +<i>Nimrod</i><br /> +Ninnis<br /> +Nordenskjold<br /> + Ice Tongue<br /> +North Polar Basin<br /> +Norwegian Whalers<br /> +Nurse Cavell +</p> + +<p> +Orde-Lees<br /> +<i>Orita</i><br /> +<i>Orwell</i><br /> +Oscar (dog) +</p> + +<p> +Pack-ice<br /> + described<br /> + <i>See also</i> Pressure<br /> +Paddies<br /> +Pardo, Captain Luis<br /> +Paulet Island<br /> +Peak Berg<br /> + Foreman<br /> +Peggotty Camp<br /> +Penguins<br /> + Adelie<br /> + Emperor<br /> + Gentoo<br /> + Ringed<br /> +Peter (dog)<br /> +Petrels<br /> + <i>See also</i> Bird life<br /> +Pinkey (dog)<br /> +<i>Plankton</i><br /> +Pompey (dog)<br /> +Porpoises<br /> +Port Chalmers<br /> +Positions<br /> +Possession Bay<br /> + Islands<br /> +Potash and Perlmutter<br /> +Pram Point<br /> +Pressure in Ross Sea<br /> + in Weddell Sea<br /> + <i>See also</i> Pack-ice<br /> +Prince George Island<br /> +Programme of Expedition<br /> +Public Schools<br /> +Punta Arenas<br /> +Pups +</p> + +<p> +Queen Alexandra +</p> + +<p> +<i>Radiolaria</i><br /> +Rain<br /> +Rats on South Georgia<br /> +Rampart Berg<br /> +Razorback Island<br /> +Reeling Berg<br /> +Refraction, <i>See</i> Atmospheric effects<br /> +Reindeer<br /> +Richards<br /> +Rickenson<br /> +Rio Secco<br /> +Rocky Mountain Depot<br /> +Ross<br /> + Island<br /> + Sea<br /> + Sea Party<br /> +Royal Geographical Society<br /> +Ryan, Lieut. R.N.R. +</p> + +<p> +Safety Camp<br /> +Saint (dog)<br /> +Sally (dog)<br /> +Samson (dog)<br /> +Sanders Island<br /> +Santiago<br /> +Saunders, Edward<br /> +Scientific observations commenced<br /> + work proposed<br /> +<i>Scotia</i><br /> +Scott<br /> +Sea-elephants<br /> +Sea-leopard<br /> +Seal blubber<br /> + meat<br /> +Seals<br /> + Crab-eater<br /> + Ross<br /> + Weddell<br /> +Semaphore for sledging parties<br /> + on bridge<br /> +Shags<br /> +Shackleton, Sir E.<br /> +Shoaling, of sea-floor<br /> +Shore party<br /> +Sledging parties, proposed<br /> +Snapper (dog)<br /> +Snow Hill<br /> +Soldier (dog)<br /> +Sorlle, Mr.<br /> +South Georgia<br /> + Orkneys<br /> + Sandwich Group<br /> +<i>Southern Sky</i><br /> +Spencer-Smith<br /> +Splitting ice-floes<br /> +Stained Berg<br /> +Stancomb Wills, Dame Janet<br /> +<i>Stancomb Wills</i> (boat)<br /> +Stenhouse<br /> +Stevens<br /> +Stove<br /> +Stromness<br /> +Sue (dog)<br /> +Sun disappears<br /> + <i>See also</i> Atmospheric effects<br /> +Swell +</p> + +<p> +Temperature, air<br /> + sea<br /> +Tent Island<br /> +Tents<br /> + orderlies<br /> +Terns, <i>See also</i> Bird life<br /> +Terriss, Ellaline<br /> +“The Ritz”<br /> +Thom, Captain<br /> +Thompson<br /> +Tide-rip<br /> +Tobacco substitutes<br /> +Towser (dog)<br /> +Transcontinental party<br /> +Tripp, Mr. Leonard<br /> +Talloch, Mr.<br /> +Turk’s Head +</p> + +<p> +Uruguayan Government +</p> + +<p> +Vahsel Bay<br /> +Victoria Mountains<br /> +Vincent<br /> +Vinie’s Hill<br /> +Virol +</p> + +<p> +Wave, enormous<br /> +Weddell Sea<br /> + ice conditions in<br /> + plateau<br /> + winds in<br /> +Weather at Cape Evans<br /> + at Elephant Island<br /> + at Ocean Camp<br /> + at Patience Camp, <i>See also</i> Temperatures<br /> +Western Mountains<br /> +Whales<br /> + blue<br /> + humpback and finner seen<br /> + sperm<br /> +Wilhelmina Bay<br /> +Willywaw<br /> +Winston Churchill<br /> +Wild, Ernest<br /> + Frank<br /> +Wordie<br /> +Worsley<br /> +Wreckage at South Georgia +</p> + +<p> +Yaks<br /> +<i>Yelcho</i><br /> +Young, Mr. Douglas<br /> +Young Island +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOUTH ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +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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