South: the story of Shackleton's last expedition, 1914-1917

by Ernest Henry Shackleton

SOUTH

THE STORY OF SHACKLETON'S
LAST EXPEDITION 1914-1917: BY
SIR ERNEST SHACKLETON
C.V.O. : WITH EIGHTY-EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS
AND DIAGRAMS

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

Copyright, 1920,
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

Set up and electrotyped. Published January, 1920.

TO
MY COMRADES
WHO FELL IN THE WHITE WARFARE
OF THE SOUTH AND ON THE
RED FIELDS OF FRANCE
AND FLANDERS

CONTENTS

Preface
CHAPTER		PAGE
I.	INTO THE WEDDELL SEA	1
II.	NEW LAND	19
III.	WINTER MONTHS	38
IV.	LOSS OF THE ENDURANCE	63
V.	OCEAN CAMP	87
VI.	THE MARCH BETWEEN	103
VII.	PATIENCE CAMP	108
VIII.	ESCAPE FROM THE ICE	118
IX.	THE BOAT JOURNEY	158
X.	ACROSS SOUTH GEORGIA	199
XI.	THE RESCUE	213
XII.	ELEPHANT ISLAND	225
XIII.	THE ROSS SEA PARTY	244
XIV.	WINTERING IN McMURDO SOUND	266
XV.	LAYING THE DEPOTS	279
XVI.	THE AURORA'S DRIFT	309
XVII.	THE LAST RELIEF	340
XVIII.	THE FINAL PHASE	344

APPENDIX 1:
	SCIENTIFIC WORK	349
	SEA-ICE NOMENCLATURE	350
	METEOROLOGY	353
	PHYSICS	357
	SOUTH ATLANTIC WHALES AND WHALING	362
APPENDIX II:
	THE EXPEDITION HUTS AT McMURDO SOUND	371
INDEX		375

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

	FACING PAGE
In the Pride of Her Youth. Colour Photograph by F. Hurley	Frontispiece
The Leader	4
The Weddell Sea-Party	5
Young Emperor Penguins	8
A Huge Floe of Consolidated Pack	9
Samson	12
Ice-Plowers	13
Midnight off the New Land	24
New Land: Caird Coast	25
Close under the Barrier	28
Trying to cut a way for the Ship through the Ice to a Lead ahead (February 14, 1915)	29
The Night Watchman's Story	36
The Dying Sun: The Endurance firmly frozen in	37
The Rampart Berg	40
A Bi-Weekly Performance: Scrubbing out the "Ritz"	41
Pylon Avenue	44
The Long Long Night	45
The Pups	50
Ice-Pressure at Midwinter	51
Ice-Rafting	56
The Returning Sun	57
Wild and Shackleton in the Heavy Pressure	60
Exercising the Dogs	61
Crab-eater Seals	66
The Beginning of the End	67
"Within a few Seconds she heeled over until she had a List of Thirty Degrees to Port"	70
Almost Overwhelmed	71
"The Driving Floe, moving laterally across the Stern split the Rudder and tore out the Rudder-Post and Stem-Post"	76
The End	77
A Week Later	80
"The Wreckage lies around in Dismal Confusion"	81
The First Attempt to reach the Land Three-Hundred-and-Forty-Six Miles away	84
Ocean Camp	85
The Look-out at Ocean Camp	90
The Emergency Sledges being packed in case of a sudden break up of the Ice	91
The Sledges packed and ready	100
Relaying the James Caird	101
Potash and Perlmutter	106
"Loneliness":Patience Camp	107
The Kitchen at Patience Camp	110
The Stove at Patience Camp constructed out of old Oil-drums	111
Worsley taking Observations of the Sun to determine our Position	116
"We cut Steps in this Twenty-five Foot Slab and it makes a fine Look-out"	117
"There was no Sleep for us that Night, so we lit the Blubber Stove"	122
Hauling up the Boats for the Night	123
The Reeling Berg	131
Sailing South Again	131
The First Landing ever made on Elephant Island, April 15, 1916	144
"We Pulled the Three Boats a little Higher on the Beach"	145
The First Drink and Hot Food for Three-and-a-Half Days	148
Mount Frank Houlder, Elephant Island	149
Launching the James Caird	164
The Stancomb-Wills	165
In Sight of our Goal: Nearing South Georgia	180
Landing on South Georgia	181
Sea Elephants on South Georgia	194
The Cliffs we descended whilst crossing the Island	195
One of the Glaciers we Crossed	202
A Typical View in South Georgia	203
Panorama of South Georgia⁠Between pp.	210-211
The Yelcho	214
Arrival at Punta Arenas with the Rescued Men	222
Frank Wild, Second in Command of the Expedition	223
Our Dugout	226
The Hut on Elephant Island	227
View of Interior of Hut on Elephant Island	230
Marooned on Elephant Island	231
Elephant Island	236
The Rescue Ship Sighted	237
"All Safe! All Well!"	242
View through a Cave on Elephant Island	243
The Aurora	256
Ice Stalactites at the Entrance to a Cave on Elephant Island	257
A Newly-frozen Lead	270
The Ross Sea Party	271
Mackintosh and Spencer-Smith being dragged on the sledge	294
"The Rudder was bent over to Starboard and Smashed"	295
"Next Morning the Jury-Eudder was Shipped"	338
Ice Nomenclature: 1. Young Ice (Bay Ice of Scoresby) in the Middle Distance	340
2. Light Pack	341
3. Heavy Hummocked Pack	342
4. Hummocky Pack and Frozen Lead of Young-Ice	343
5. Close Pack	344
6. Open Pack	345
7. Very Open Pack, approximating to Drift-ice	346
8. Drift-Ice	347
"The Rookery"	356
The Anemometer covered with Rime	357
Map—The Voyage of the Endurance	374
Index	375

IN THE PRIDE OF HER YOUTH

Colour photograph by F. Hurley.