South: The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition, 1914-1917
approached, but could see nothing of it through the snow and spindrift.
My eyes began to fail me. Constant peering to windward, watching for
seas to strike us, appeared to have given me a cold in the eyes. I
could not see or judge distance properly, and found myself falling
asleep momentarily at the tiller. At 3 a.m. Greenstreet relieved me
there. I was so cramped from long hours, cold, and wet, in the
constrained position one was forced to assume on top of the gear and
stores at the tiller, that the other men had to pull me amidships and
straighten me out like a jack-knife, first rubbing my thighs, groin,
and stomach.
“At daylight we found ourselves close alongside the land, but the
weather was so thick that we could not see where to make for a landing.
Having taken the tiller again after an hour’s rest under the shelter
(save the mark!) of the dripping tent, I ran the _Dudley Docker_ off
before the gale, following the coast around to the north. This course
for the first hour was fairly risky, the heavy sea before which we were
running threatening to swamp the boat, but by 8 a.m. we had obtained a
slight lee from the land. Then I was able to keep her very close in,
along a glacier front, with the object of picking up lumps of
fresh-water ice as we sailed through them. Our thirst was intense. We
soon had some ice aboard, and for the next hour and a half we sucked
and chewed fragments of ice with greedy relish.
“All this time we were coasting along beneath towering rocky cliffs and
sheer glacier-faces, which offered not the slightest possibility of
landing anywhere. At 9.30 a.m. we spied a narrow, rocky beach at the
base of some very high crags and cliff, and made for it. To our joy, we
sighted the _James Caird_ and the _Stancomb Wills_ sailing into the
same haven just ahead of us. We were so delighted that we gave three
cheers, which were not heard aboard the other boats owing to the roar
of the surf. However, we soon joined them and were able to exchange
experiences on the beach.”
Our experiences on the _James Caird_ had been similar, although we had
not been able to keep up to windward as well as the _Dudley Docker_ had
done. This was fortunate as events proved, for the _James Caird_ and
_Stancomb Wills_ went to leeward of the big bight the _Dudley Docker_
entered and from which she had to turn out with the sea astern. We thus
avoided the risk of having the _Stancomb Wills_ swamped in the
following sea. The weather was very thick in the morning. Indeed at 7
a.m. we were right under the cliffs, which plunged sheer into the sea,
before we saw them. We followed the coast towards the north, and ever
the precipitous cliffs and glacier-faces presented themselves to our
searching eyes. The sea broke heavily against these walls and a landing
would have been impossible under any conditions. We picked up pieces of
ice and sucked them eagerly. At 9 a.m. at the north-west end of the
island we saw a narrow beach at the foot of the cliffs. Outside lay a
fringe of rocks heavily beaten by the surf but with a narrow channel
showing as a break in the foaming water. I decided that we must face
the hazards of this unattractive landing-place. Two days and nights
without drink or hot food had played havoc with most of the men, and we
could not assume that any safer haven lay within our reach. The
_Stancomb Wills_ was the lighter and handier boat—and I called her
alongside with the intention of taking her through the gap first and
ascertaining the possibilities of a landing before the _James Caird_
made the venture. I was just climbing into the _Stancomb Wills_ when I
saw the _Dudley Docker_ coming up astern under sail. The sight took a
great load off my mind.
Rowing carefully and avoiding the blind rollers which showed where
sunken rocks lay, we brought the _Stancomb Wills_ towards the opening
in the reef. Then, with a few strong strokes we shot through on the top
of a swell and ran the boat on to a stony beach. The next swell lifted
her a little farther. This was the first landing ever made on Elephant
Island, and a thought came to me that the honour should belong to the
youngest member of the Expedition, so I told Blackborrow to jump over.
He seemed to be in a state almost of coma, and in order to avoid delay
I helped him, perhaps a little roughly, over the side of the boat. He
promptly sat down in the surf and did not move. Then I suddenly
realized what I had forgotten, that both his feet were frost-bitten
badly. Some of us jumped over and pulled him into a dry place. It was a
rather rough experience for Blackborrow, but, anyhow, he is now able to
say that he was the first man to sit on Elephant Island. Possibly at
the time he would have been willing to forgo any distinction of the
kind. We landed the cook with his blubber-stove, a supply of fuel and
some packets of dried milk, and also several of the men. Then the rest
of us pulled out again to pilot the other boats through the channel.
The _James Caird_ was too heavy to be beached directly, so after
landing most of the men from the _Dudley Docker_ and the _Stancomb
Wills_ I superintended the transhipment of the _James Caird’s_ gear
outside the reef. Then we all made the passage, and within a few
minutes the three boats were aground. A curious spectacle met my eyes
when I landed the second time. Some of the men were reeling about the
beach as if they had found an unlimited supply of alcoholic liquor on
the desolate shore. They were laughing uproariously, picking up stones
and letting handfuls of pebbles trickle between their fingers like
misers gloating over hoarded gold. The smiles and laughter, which
caused cracked lips to bleed afresh, and the gleeful exclamations at
the sight of two live seals on the beach made me think for a moment of
that glittering hour of childhood when the door is open at last and the
Christmas-tree in all its wonder bursts upon the vision. I remember
that Wild, who always rose superior to fortune, bad and good, came
ashore as I was looking at the men and stood beside me as easy and
unconcerned as if he had stepped out of his car for a stroll in the
park.
Soon half a dozen of us had the stores ashore. Our strength was nearly
exhausted and it was heavy work carrying our goods over the rough
pebbles and rocks to the foot of the cliff, but we dare not leave
anything within reach of the tide. We had to wade knee-deep in the icy
water in order to lift the gear from the boats. When the work was done
we pulled the three boats a little higher on the beach and turned
gratefully to enjoy the hot drink the cook had prepared. Those of us
who were comparatively fit had to wait until the weaker members of the
party had been supplied; but every man had his pannikin of hot milk in
the end, and never did anything taste better. Seal steak and blubber
followed, for the seals that had been careless enough to await our
arrival on the beach had already given up their lives. There was no
rest for the cook. The blubber-stove flared and spluttered fiercely as
he cooked, not one meal, but many meals, which merged into a day-long
bout of eating. We drank water and ate seal meat until every man had
reached the limit of his capacity.
The tents were pitched with oars for supports, and by 3 p.m. our camp
was in order. The original framework of the tents had been cast adrift
on one of the floes in order to save weight. Most of the men turned in
early for a safe and glorious sleep, to be broken only by the call to
take a turn on watch. The chief duty of the watchman was to keep the
blubber-stove alight, and each man on duty appeared to find it
necessary to cook himself a meal during his watch, and a supper before
he turned in again.
Wild, Worsley, and Hurley accompanied me on an inspection of our beach
before getting into the tents. I almost wished then that I had
postponed the examination until after sleep, but the sense of caution
that the uncertainties of polar travel implant in one’s mind had made
me uneasy. The outlook we found to be anything but cheering. Obvious
signs showed that at spring tides the little beach would be covered by
the water right up to the foot of the cliffs. In a strong
north-easterly gale, such as we might expect to experience at any time,
the waves would pound over the scant barrier of the reef and break
against the sheer sides of the rocky wall behind us. Well-marked
terraces showed the effect of other gales, and right at the back of the
beach was a small bit of wreckage not more than three feet long,
rounded by the constant chafing it had endured. Obviously we must find
some better resting-place. I decided not to share with the men the
knowledge of the uncertainties of our situation until they had enjoyed
the full sweetness of rest untroubled by the thought that at any minute
they might be called to face peril again. The threat of the sea had
been our portion during many, many days, and a respite meant much to
weary bodies and jaded minds.
The accompanying plan will indicate our exact position more clearly
than I can describe it. The cliffs at the back of the beach were
inaccessible except at two points where there were steep snow-slopes.
We were not worried now about food, for, apart from our own rations,
there were seals on the beach and we could see others in the water
outside the reef. Every now and then one of the animals would rise in
the shallows and crawl up on the beach, which evidently was a
recognized place of resort for its kind. A small rocky island which
protected us to some extent from the north-westerly wind carried a
ringed-penguin rookery. These birds were of migratory habit and might
be expected to leave us before the winter set in fully, but in the
meantime they were within our reach. These attractions, however, were
overridden by the fact that the beach was open to the attack of wind
and sea from the north-east and east. Easterly gales are more prevalent
than western in that area of the Antarctic during the winter. Before
turning in that night I studied the whole position and weighed every
chance of getting the boats and our stores into a place of safety out
of reach of the water. We ourselves might have clambered a little way
up the snow-slopes, but we could not have taken the boats with us. The
interior of the island was quite inaccessible. We climbed up one of the
slopes and found ourselves stopped soon by overhanging cliffs. The
rocks behind the camp were much weathered, and we noticed the sharp,
unworn boulders that had fallen from above. Clearly there was a danger
from overhead if we camped at the back of the beach. We must move on.
With that thought in mind I reached my tent and fell asleep on the
rubbly ground, which gave a comforting sense of stability. The fairy
princess who would not rest on her seven downy mattresses because a pea
lay underneath the pile might not have understood the pleasure we all
derived from the irregularities of the stones, which could not possibly
break beneath us or drift away; the very searching lumps were sweet
reminders of our safety.
Early next morning (April 15) all hands were astir. The sun soon shone
brightly and we spread out our wet gear to dry, till the beach looked
like a particularly disreputable gipsy camp. The boots and clothing had
suffered considerably during our travels. I had decided to send Wild
along the coast in the _Stancomb Wills_ to look for a new
camping-ground, and he and I discussed the details of the journey while
eating our breakfast of hot seal steak and blubber. The camp I wished
to find was one where the party could live for weeks or even months in