South: The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition, 1914-1917
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.
CHAPTER XIV
WINTERING IN McMURDO SOUND
The _Aurora_, 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 _Aurora_ 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 _Aurora_, 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:
“CAPE EVANS, ROSS ISLAND, _July_ 30, 1915.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“A. STEVENS.”
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.
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:
“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.”
The _Aurora_ 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.
“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 _padre_, is in charge of photography,
and, of course, assists in the general routine work. Cope is the
medical officer.
“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