Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

This chapter begins with Chippy McNeish recording in his diary the process of coating boot seams with seal blood in order to preserve the calking from deteriorating. Because Macklin and Crean have obtained three seals to improve the food stores, Macklin’s dogs are not killed that day. Hurley’s dogs, however, are shot by Wild on another ice floe. “Patience Camp” is initially viewed as the home of optimism, as it is the first location north of the Antarctic Circle reached by the men since the start of their journey. However, by January 25, even Shackleton, revered for his incurable optimism and grace under pressure, starts to feel the strain. His diary entry consists merely of the words: “Waiting/Waiting/Waiting” (138).  

A reconnoiter team is sent back to the party’s initial ice floe, “Ocean Camp,” and returns with canned herring, tobacco, and an Encyclopedia Britannica. Later, they raise another small boat from the ocean in order to accommodate moving the entire party more feasibly. Worsley writes in his diary about the gastrointestinal disorders experienced as a result of the pure protein diet they are eating: seal steaks and cooked penguin meat. Additionally, the crew’s watering eyes often cause tears to run down a man’s nose and “form[] an icicle on the end, which […] ha[s] to be broken off” (140). Inevitably, this causes breaking off a patch of skin and a permanently open sore on the end of the nose. The crew faces starvation until a migrating group of several hundred Adelie penguins wander through the camp, providing several weeks of food. The only thing left for the crew is to wait for the wind to blow them north.

The issue of food, and the sufficient quantities of blubber needed to cook it, becomes increasingly problematic as time goes on. By March 16, the cook has run out of flour; no seals have been caught for three weeks, and the men re-hash Shackleton’s refusal to retrieve the three seals shot by Orde-Lees several weeks earlier. The diplomatic physician, Macklin, writes a coded diary entry in which he says, “I think the Boss was a bit improvident in not getting in all the food possible whilst the going was good” (151). Rations are decreased daily, and the men experience the food shortage almost as “physical pain.” Jokes regarding cannibalism abound, usually at the expense of Marston, the expedition’s artist, who is the plumpest member of the group. By March 22, Shackleton advises Macklin, who has been extremely attached to his animals, that his team of dogs must be shot the next day in order to preserve food for the crew. Macklin reacts with resignation and indifference. Although land, the Danger Islets, is sighted on March 23, the ice pack does not cooperate, and the crew is left trapped in an icy sea only 57 miles from land. 

By March 26, it is found that some of the men have appropriated bits of blubber and penguin meat from the general store and are “trying to eat it—frozen and raw” (156). Shackleton orders that the remaining supplies be stored directly outside his own tent. Macklin is directed to salvage any meat suitable for human consumption from the pile of waste meat used for dog food. It becomes clear that the dogs will be used to feed the men within a few days. Conditions deteriorate on every level. The lack of food, constant frigid temperatures, and wet clothing and sleeping bags take their toll upon the ordinarily amicable crew. Dr. Macklin and Clark, the biologist, engage in a verbal dispute that spreads throughout their tent, causing First Officer Greenstreet to spill his heavily diluted portion of powdered milk. Although angered, Greenstreet is closer to weeping when his precious allotment of beverage is spilled into the snow. In a remarkable display of charity, all of the men in the tent pour portions of their own small allotments of milk into Greenstreet’s mug. Later in the day, Shackleton stops an effort to shoot two seals, as he has concerns about the stability of the ice, and orders the hunters back to camp. Shackleton’s instincts are correct; at 5:20 am, the floe splits.

Alf Cheetham, night watchman and third officer, announces the split by running through the tents shouting, “[c]rack!...[l]ash up and stow” (161). A second crack sounds as the men hurry to slide the James Caird, one of their wooden boats, across the ice. Yet another crack forms as they attempt to eat a meager breakfast. Fortuitously, Wild shoots a 1,000-pound sea leopard, whose stomach contains about 50 undigested fish. Later in the morning, a saddened Macklin hands off each of his dogs to Wild, who shoots them with a revolver. Subsequently, Macklin skins and guts each carcass in order to feed the men. Second Officer Crean, who possesses a puckish sense of humor, brings a small steak cut from his own dog, Nelson, to Shackleton’s tent, saying, “I’ve just brought a bit of Nelson for you to try” (163). The men actually come to enjoy eating the dog flesh, and their spirits start to improve. Wild entertains the men with stories of his romantic escapades with women at home.

On April 3, another spotted seal, or sea leopard, appears at the edge of the floe. McLeod, a slightly built sailor, waves his arms in imitation of a penguin in order to attract the animal, and Wild shoots the creature. Food is assured for several weeks as a result. Nonetheless, the party’s situation remains precarious. The floe on which Patience Camp was originally struck has shrunk from a mile in diameter to less than 200 yards. There is a great sense of expectation among the men: A number of sea birds associated with land have appeared, but no winds favorable to their destination have emerged, and they are adrift in pack ice. Finally, on April 5, Captain Worsley determines that they are headed directly for the open sea.

Within the course of 48 hours, the drift has carried the floe inhabited by the crew a distance of 21 miles in a westerly direction, eliminating any hope of landing on either Clarence Island or Elephant Island. Once again, morale deteriorates among the men. While they dreamed of being blown free of the ice pack for many months, now they are worried about being cast out to the stormy Drake Passage, which they regard as impossible to survive. The party is relieved when Worsley calculates that the westerly drift has stopped and they are now headed north, toward their original destination of either Clarence Island or Elephant Island. Penguins and sea birds start to appear, indicating the nearby presence of land; however, the ice pack is still too solid to navigate. The men speculate about the advisability of boarding an iceberg; Shackleton worries about their tenuous balance, which could easily be upended, tossing the group into the sea. The following morning, their floe cracks directly under the James Caird, and the crew wrestles it away just as the crack widens. Later in the morning, the floe splits in half directly under Shackleton’s tent. Stores are saved, and an important decision looms: If the boats are launched, there will be no turning back, as the ice floe currently inhabited is the largest in sight. If the crew strikes sail and cannot find another floe prior to the pack closing up again, there will be no means of escape. Several hours later, Shackleton gives a quiet order: “Launch the boats” (174). Three boats are launched, each filled with men and supplies: the Dudley Docker, the Stancomb Wills, and the James Caird. Each boat is about 22 feet long and six feet wide. As they row away from camp and leave the floe that has been their home for four months, the ice pack begins to close.