South: The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition, 1914-1917
surface this morning for marching, but we did not make much headway. We
did the usual four miles before lunch. The temperature was –23° Fahr. A
mirage made the sastrugi appear to be dancing like some ice-goblins.
Joyce calls them ‘dancing jimmies.’ After lunch we travelled well, but
the distance for the day was only 7 miles 400 yds. We are blaming our
sledge-meter for the slow rate of progress. It is extraordinary that on
the days when we consider we are making good speed we do no more than
on days when we have a tussle.”
“_March_ 15.—The air temperature this morning was –35° Fahr. Last night
was one of the worst I have ever experienced. To cap everything, I
developed toothache, presumably as a result of frost-bitten cheek. I
was in positive agony. I groaned and moaned, got the medicine-chest,
but could find nothing there to stop the pain. Joyce, who had wakened
up, suggested methylated spirit, so I damped some cotton-wool, then
placed it in the tooth, with the result that I burnt the inside of my
mouth. All this time my fingers, being exposed (it must have been at
least 50° below zero), were continually having to be brought back.
After putting on the methylated spirit I went back to the bag, which,
of course, was frozen stiff. I wriggled and moaned till morning brought
relief by enabling me to turn out. Joyce and Wild both had a bad night,
their feet giving them trouble. My feet do not affect me so much as
theirs. The skin has peeled off the inside of my mouth, exposing a raw
sore, as the result of the methylated spirit. My tooth is better
though. We have had to reduce our daily ration. Frost-bites are
frequent in consequence. The surface became very rough in the
afternoon, and the light, too, was bad owing to cumulus clouds being
massed over the sun. We are continually falling, for we are unable to
distinguish the high and low parts of the sastrugi surface. We are
travelling on our ski. We camped at 6 p.m. after travelling 6 miles 100
yds. I am writing this sitting up in the bag. This is the first
occasion I have been able to do thus for some time, for usually the
cold has penetrated through everything should one have the bag open.
The temperature is a little higher to-night, but still it is –21° Fahr.
(53° of frost). Our matches, among other things, are running short, and
we have given up using any except for lighting the Primus.”
The party found the light bad again the next day. After stumbling on
ski among the sastrugi for two hours, the men discarded the ski and
made better progress; but they still had many falls, owing to the
impossibility of distinguishing slopes and irregularities in the grey,
shadowless surface of the snow. They made over nine and a half miles
that day, and managed to cover ten miles on the following day, March
18, one of the best marches of the journey. “I look forward to seeing
the ship. All of us bear marks of our tramp. Wild takes first place.
His nose is a picture for _Punch_ to be jealous of; his ears, too, are
sore, and one big toe is a black sore. Joyce has a good nose and many
minor sores. My jaw is swollen from the frost-bite I got on the cheek,
and I also have a bit of nose.... We have discarded the ski, which we
hitherto used, and travel in the finneskoe. This makes the sledge go
better but it is not so comfortable travelling as on ski. We
encountered a very high, rough sastrugi surface, most remarkably high,
and had a cold breeze in our faces during the march. Our beards and
moustaches are masses of ice. I will take care I am clean-shaven next
time I come out. The frozen moustache makes the lobes of the nose
freeze more easily than they would if there was no ice alongside
them.... I ask myself why on earth one comes to these parts of the
earth. Here we are, frostbitten in the day, frozen at night. What a
life!” The temperature at 1 p.m. that day was –23° Fahr., _i.e._ 55° of
frost.
The men camped abreast of “Corner Camp,” where they had been on
February 1, on the evening of March 19. The next day, after being
delayed for some hours by bad weather, they turned towards Castle Rock
and proceeded across the disturbed area where the Barrier impinges upon
the land. Joyce put his foot through the snow-covering of a fairly
large crevasse, and the course had to be changed to avoid this danger.
The march for the day was only 2 miles 900 yds. Mackintosh felt that
the pace was too slow, but was unable to quicken it owing to the bad
surfaces. The food had been cut down to close upon half-rations, and at
this reduced rate the supply still in hand would be finished in two
days. The party covered 7 miles 570 yds. on the 21st, and the hoosh
that night was “no thicker than tea.”
“The first thought this morning was that we must do a good march,”
wrote Mackintosh on March 22. “Once we can get to Safety Camp (at the
junction of the Barrier with the sea-ice) we are right. Of course, we
can as a last resort abandon the sledge and take a run into Hut Point,
about twenty-two miles away.... We have managed quite a respectable
forenoon march. The surface was hard, so we took full advantage of it.
With our low food the cold is penetrating. We had lunch at 1 p.m., and
then had left over one meal at full rations and a small quantity of
biscuits. The temperature at lunch-time was –6° Fahr. Erebus is
emitting large volumes of smoke, travelling in a south-easterly
direction, and a red glare is also discernible. After lunch we again
accomplished a good march, the wind favouring us for two hours. We are
anxiously looking out for Safety Camp.” The distance for the day was 8
miles 1525 yds.
“_March_ 23, 1915.—No sooner had we camped last night than a blizzard
with drift came on and has continued ever since. This morning finds us
prisoners. The drift is lashing into the sides of the tent and
everything outside is obscured. This weather is rather alarming, for if
it continues we are in a bad way. We have just made a meal of cocoa
mixed with biscuit-crumbs. This has warmed us up a little, but on empty
stomachs the cold is penetrating.”
The weather cleared in the afternoon, but too late for the men to move
that day. They made a start at 7 a.m. on the 24th after a meal of cocoa
and biscuit-crumbs.
“We have some biscuit-crumbs in the bag and that is all. Our start was
made under most bitter circumstances, all of us being attacked by
frost-bites. It was an effort to bare hands for an instant. After much
rubbing and ‘bringing back’ of extremities we started. Wild is a mass
of bites, and we are all in a bad way. We plugged on, but warmth would
not come into our bodies. We had been pulling about two hours when
Joyce’s smart eyes picked up a flag. We shoved on for all we were
worth, and as we got closer, sure enough, the cases of provisions
loomed up. Then what feeds we promised to give ourselves. It was not
long before we were putting our gastronomic capabilities to the test.
Pemmican was brought down from the depot, with oatmeal to thicken it,
as well as sugar. While Wild was getting the Primus lighted he called
out to us that he believed his ear had gone. This was the last piece of
his face left whole—nose, cheeks, and neck all having bites. I went
into the tent and had a look. The ear was a pale green. I quickly put
the palm of my hand to it and brought it round. Then his fingers went,
and to stop this and bring back the circulation he put them over the
lighted Primus, a terrible thing to do. As a result he was in agony.
His ear was brought round all right, and soon the hot hoosh sent warmth
tingling through us. We felt like new beings. We simply ate till we
were full, mug after mug. After we had been well satisfied, we replaced
the cases we had pulled down from the depot and proceeded towards the
Gap. Just before leaving Joyce discovered a note left by Spencer-Smith
and Richards. This told us that both the other parties had returned to
the Hut and apparently all was well. So that is good. When we got to
the Barrier-edge we found the ice-cliff on to the newly formed sea-ice
not safe enough to bear us, so we had to make a detour along the
Barrier-edge and, if the sea ice was not negotiable, find a way up by
Castle Rock. At 7 p.m., not having found any suitable place to descend
to the sea-ice we camped. To-night we have the Primus going and warming
our frozen selves. I hope to make Hut Point to-morrow.”
Mackintosh and his companions broke camp on the morning of March 25,
with the thermometer recording 55° of frost, and, after another futile
search for a way down the ice-cliff to the sea-ice, they proceeded
towards Castle Rock. While in this course they picked up sledge-tracks,
and, following these, they found a route down to the sea-ice.
Mackintosh decided to depot the sledge on top of a well-marked
undulation and proceed without gear. A short time later the three men,
after a scramble over the cliffs of Hut Point, reached the door of the
hut.
“We shouted. No sound. Shouted again, and presently a dark object
appeared. This turned out to be Cope, who was by himself. The other
members of the party had gone out to fetch the gear off their sledge,
which they also had left. Cope had been laid up, so did not go with
them. We soon were telling each other’s adventures, and we heard then
how the ship had called here on March 11 and picked up Spencer-Smith,
Richards, Ninnis, Hooke, and Gaze, the present members here being Cope,
Hayward, and Jack. A meal was soon prepared. We found here even a
blubber-fire, luxurious, but what a state of dirt and grease! However,
warmth and food are at present our principal objects. While we were
having our meal Jack and Hayward appeared.... Late in the evening we
turned into dry bags. As there are only three bags here, we take it in
turns to use them. Our party have the privilege.... I got a letter here
from Stenhouse giving a summary of his doings since we left him. The
ship’s party also have not had a rosy time.”
Mackintosh learned here that Spencer-Smith, Jack, and Gaze, who had
turned back on February 10, had reached Hut Point without difficulty.
The third party, headed by Cope, had also been out on the Barrier but
had not done much. This party had attempted to use the motor-tractor,
but had failed to get effective service from the machine and had not
proceeded far afield. The motor was now lying at Hut Point.
Spencer-Smith’s party and Cope’s party had both returned to Hut Point
before the end of February.
The six men now at Hut Point were cut off from the winter quarters of
the Expedition at Cape Evans by the open water of McMurdo Sound.
Mackintosh naturally was anxious to make the crossing and get in touch
with the ship and the other members of the shore party; but he could
not make a move until the sea-ice became firm, and, as events occurred,
he did not reach Cape Evans until the beginning of June. He went out
with Cope and Hayward on March 29 to get his sledge and brought it as
far as Pram Point, on the south side of Hut Point. He had to leave the
sledge there owing to the condition of the sea-ice. He and his
companions lived an uneventful life under primitive conditions at the
hut. The weather was bad, and though the temperatures recorded were
low, the young sea-ice continually broke away. The blubber-stove in use
at the hut seemed to have produced soot and grease in the usual large
quantities, and the men and their clothing suffered accordingly. The
whites of their eyes contrasted vividly with the dense blackness of
their skins. Wild and Joyce had a great deal of trouble with their
frost-bites. Joyce had both feet blistered, his knees were swollen, and
his hands also were blistered. Jack devised some blubber-lamps, which
produced an uncertain light and much additional smoke. Mackintosh