South!

towards our goal, though the relays and the deviations again made the actual distance travelled nearer six miles. As I could see that the men were all exhausted

wed on a sail which was lying in one of the boats. There was not much-just a sip each; but, as one

of leads opening close to us, and so of our being able to row north-west to where we might find land, I decided to find a more solid floe and there camp until conditions were more favourable for us to make a second attempt to escape from our icy prison. To this end we moved our tents and all our gear to a thick, heavy old floe

ld be so necessary for the inevitable boat journey, as much as

he things left behind at this dump. The remainder of the men made themselves as comfortable as possible under the circumstances at Ocean Camp. This floating lump of ice, about a mile square at first but later splitting into smaller and smaller fragments, was to be our home for nearly two

iron oil-drum did not prove eminently successful. We could only cook seal or penguin hooshes or stews on this stove, and so uncertain was its action that the food was either burnt or only partially cooked; and, hungry though we were, half-raw seal meat was not very appetizing. On one occasion a wonderful stew made from seal

an oil-drum was fixed, to be used as the fireplace, the other hole serving to hold our saucepan. Alongside this another hole was punched to enable two saucepans to be boiled at a time; and farther along still a chimney made fr

ractically complete. This, with the addition of some sails and tarpaulins stretched on spars, made a very comfortable storehouse and galley. Pieces of planking from the deck were lashed across some spars stuck upright into the

eing roughly determined with a simple balance made from a piece of woo

hip. Having, therefore, determined as nearly as possible that portion of the deck immediately above these cases, we proceeded to cut a hole with large ice-chisels through the 3-in. planking of which it was formed. As the ship at this spot was under 5 ft. of water and ice, it was not an easy job. However, we succeeded in making the hole sufficiently large to allow of some few cases to come floating up. These were greeted with great satisfaction, and later on, as we warmed to our work, other cases, whose upward progress was assisted with a boat-hook, were greeted with either cheers or groans according to whether they contained farinaceous food or merely luxuries such as

conomical manner. All seals and penguins that appeared anywhere within the vicinity of the camp were killed to provide food and fuel. The dog-pemmican we also added to our own larder, feeding the dogs on the seals which we caught, after removing such portions as were necessary for our ow

as one man states in his diary: "It must be admitted that we are feeding very well indeed, considering our position. Each meal consists of one course and a beverage. The dried vegetables, if any, all go into the same pot as the meat, and every dish is a sort of hash or stew, be it ham or seal meat or

our prospective boat journey, we are eking out the supply of flour by making bannocks, of which we have from three to four each day. These bannocks are made from flour, fat, water, salt, and a little baking-powder, th

ooked at a second time under ordinary circumstances, but to us on a floating lump of ice, over three hundred miles from land, and that qui

heerful, and that the depression occasioned by our surroundings and our precarious position could to some extent be alleviated by incr

short rations, we are a trifle more exacting than we were when we first commenced our 'simple life,' but

equal portions as there are men in the tent. One member then closes his eyes or turns his head away and call

a little enviously at the next man's helping, which differs in some especially appreciated detail from one's own. We break the Tenth Commandment

over again, and very jolly it

rations had to be considerably reduced. By that time, however, everybody ha

airly generous helping of seal or penguin,

e is always hungry enough to eat every scrap he can get. Meals are invariably

cramped quarters, espe

s we have to sit on the floor, and it is surprising how awkward it is to eat in such a

to be the tent "cook" for

isnomer, for whilst we have a permanent g

he tent, clearing up after each meal and washing up the two pots and the mugs. There are no spoons, etc., to wash, for we each keep o

e. To lose one's spoon would be almost as serious as it

als and penguins, if not inexhaustibl

to search among the hummocks and the pressure-ridges for them. When one was found a signal was hoisted

November 5, however, an adelie was caught, and this was the cause of much discussion, as the following extract shows: "The man on watch from 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. caught an adelie penguin. This is the first of its kind that

sea-leopards were seen during ou

ion of the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." This was being continually used to settle the inevitable arguments that would arise. The sailors were discovered one day engaged in a ve

ngton and long before, the Encyclopaedia would be hard to beat. Owing to our shortage of matches we have been driven to use it for purposes other than the purely literary ones th

The Ancient Mariner." On reading the latter, we sympathized with him and wondered what

to the boats and row to the nearest land. We started off in fine style, drifting north about twenty miles in two or three days in a howling south-westerly blizzard. Gradually, however, we slowed up, as successive observations showed, until we began to drift back to the south. An increasing north-easterly wind, which commenced on November 7 and lasted for twelve days, damped our spirits for a ti

as by noting the change of relative positions of the bergs around us, and, more definitely, by fixing our absolute latitude and

leased to know that although the wind was mainly south-west all this time, yet we had made very little easting. The land lay to the west, so had we drifted to the east

: "Once across the Antarctic Circle, it will seem as if we are practically halfway home again; and it is just possible that with favourable winds we may cr

were at this time last year, on our way down. The ship left South Georgia just a year and a week ago, and reached this lat

gh hopes and aspirations twelve months previously; but under what different conditions now! Our ship crushed and lost, and we ourselves drifting on a piece of ice at the mercy of t

e first left the ship the weather was cold and miserable, and altogether as unpropitious as it could possibly have been for our attempted march. Our first few days at Ocean Camp were passed under much the same conditions. At nights the temperature dropped to zero, with blinding snow and drift. One-hour watches were instituted, all hands taking their turn, and in such weather

e shelter of their tent. Deep drifts formed everywhere, burying sledges and provisions to a depth of two feet, and the snow piling up round the tents th

owards noon, and it was a beautiful evening; but we would far rather have the screeching blizzard with i

pped below zero, but every opportunity was taken during these fine, sunny days to partially dry our sleeping-bags and other gear, which had become so

not always represent the warmth which might be assumed from the thermometrical readings. They usually bring dull, overcast skies, with a ra

ly sinks a couple of feet until it comes to a hard layer. You wade along in this way step by step, like a mudlark at Portsmouth Hard, hoping gradually to regain the surface. Soon you do, only to repeat the exasperating performance ad lib., to the accompaniment of all the expletives that you can bring to be

et, and even then were very hot; in fact they were afraid of getting sunstroke, so let down flaps from their caps to cover their necks. Their sleeves were rolled up over their elbows, and their arms were red and sunburnt in consequence. The temperature on this occasion was 26°

ear the end of November, we had the midnight sun. "A thrice-blessed southerly wind" s

arm breeze from the south, and the most brilliant sunshine. We all took advantage of it

extensive panorama of ice-fields, intersected here and there by small broken leads, and dotted with nu

gradually approached nearer and nearer, lighting up the hummocky relief of the ice-field bit by bit, until

Yesterday we also had a rare form of snow, or, rather, precipitation of

it is a treat to get warm occasionally, and one can put up with a little stuffy atmosphere now and again

, with a distinct gap between their bases and the horizon; others were curiously distorted into all sorts of weird and fantastic shapes, appearing to be

rought mild, overcast weather, probably due to

tents were struck, gear and provisions packed, and the whole party was ready to move off. I now took a final survey of the men to note their condition, both mental and physical. For our time at Ocean Camp had not been one of unalloyed bliss. The loss of the ship meant more to us th

ng almost of relief

tless and useless as she was, she seemed to be a link with the outer world. Without her our destitution seems more emphasized, our desolation more complete. The loss of the ship sent a slight wave of depression over the camp. No one said much, but we cannot be blamed for feeling it in a sentimental way. It seemed as if the moment of severance from many cherished associations, many happy moments, even stirring incidents, had come as she silently up-ended to find a

ng out from the tents, and even the Boss had a passage-at-arms with the storekeeper over the inadequacy of the sausage ration, ins

fore the temperature had fallen, clouds of steam could be seen rising from our soaking bags and boots. During the night, as it grew colder, this all condensed as rime on the inside of the tent, and showered down upon us if one happened to touch the side inadvertently. One had to be careful how one walked,

d and stores in them. This was very satisfactory. We cut a slipway from our floe into a lead which ran alongside, and the boats took the water "like a bird," as one sailor remarked. Our hopes were high in anticipation of an early release. A blizzard sprang up, i

portion. Prospects could not be brighter than they are just now. The environs of our floe are continually changing

n, however, the wind once more veered to the south and south-west. These high temperatures, combined with the strong changeable winds that we had had of late,

So the next day I set off with Wild, Crean, and Hurley, with dog teams, to the westward to survey the route. After travelling about seven miles we mounted a small berg, and there as far as we could see stretched a series of immense flat floes from half a mile to a mile across, separ

ch as we could eat. Anchovies in oil, baked beans, and jugged hare made a glorious mixture such as we have not dreamed of since our school-days. Everybody was working at high pressure, packing and repacking sledges and stowing what provisio