Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

Upon further inspection, the men determine that Elephant Island is less of a benign spot than previously imagined. The wind gusts through the new campsite violently, and there is no protection from it. Immediately upon being set up, two of the tents are torn apart by the winds. The men are so exhausted from their rowing that they merely spread their soaked sleeping bags out on the beach and sleep. Snow starts to fall heavily, and the tents are taken down before they are blown away. At 11:00 am, Shackleton orders the men out to kill penguins in the blizzard, and Orde-Lees’s journal notes that despite the pain of dressing the birds with frostbitten hands, “it [is] only the warmth of the dead penguins that save[s] [their] hands” (234). Shackleton announces that it is time to actively seek help: He plans to pick a party of five men and set sail for South Georgia in the Caird as soon as possible. Although South Georgia is 800 miles to the northeast of Elephant Island, “weather conditions [make] [South Georgia] the most sensible choice” (235). While the chance of reaching this destination is remote, many crewmembers hope to be included in the party; their reasoning is that the dangerous trip will be less painful than waiting behind on the island over the winter. Shackleton chooses Worsley as navigator, Crean and McCarthy (both experienced sailors), and McNeish and Vincent (two potentially demoralizing influences whom Shackleton does not want left in the camp). 

Crewmembers work to strengthen the Caird for the trip by removing planks from the other boats to build a deck. The men left on the island design a shelter by upending the Docker in order to form a roof, primarily to protect Blackboro, who is experiencing gangrene, and Rickenson, who is recovering from a heart attack. Extremely high winds hamper the efforts to prepare the Caird for departure; mittens are blown directly off the men’s hands. Frank Hurley, photographer, asks Shackleton to sign a statement certifying that all photographs of the expedition, and proceeds of the same, will become Hurley’s property. 

Blizzard conditions return the following day, and Wild predicts that without an improvement in weather, “some of the weaker men [will] not survive” (239). The well-being of the men left behind on Elephant Island is considered; a plan to dig a cave as shelter in the front of a glacier is abandoned, as the surface is too hard for the tools to penetrate. Finally, Shackleton leaves Wild a letter delineating instructions in the event of his demise. He requests that Wild, Lees, and Hurley write a book about the expedition and ends the letter, “God prosper your work and your life” (241).

Watchmen surveil weather changes all night and notify Shackleton when the winds lessen in the early morning. Six weeks’ worth of food is loaded onto the Caird. The scant amount of extra clothing available is loaded onto the boat as well. Minimal medical supplies and navigational supplies are added to the cache. A farewell breakfast is prepared, and a sad parting takes place between the group departing and those remaining on the island—they are aware they might never meet again. The Caird is shoved out to sea and immediately rolls as the result of distribution of weight on the deck. Vincent and McNeish are thrown into the water and curse angrily. Another of the wooden boats, the Wills, delivers more supplies to the Caird when it is beyond the swells, and the two crews shake hands and exchange nervous jokes. The Caird heads north, and the men on the shore watch the craft until it is out of sight.

The 22 men left behind on Elephant Island feel helpless after Shackleton’s departure, as the Caird has been loaded with the best supplies available. Superficially confident in Shackleton’s ability to reach help on South Georgia, many of the men privately feel that his odds of success are nil. The men agree to build a permanent hut and collect rocks to use as the hut’s foundation. Orde-Lees writes that the men “are all ridiculously weak” (248). The job takes a long time. Upon its completion, the men enter the hut to sleep and are afforded some protection from a howling storm that night. They improve the hut through trial and error; a chimney is extended through the roof to allow Green to cook without creating too much smoke. Ingeniously, they devise a makeshift lamp by filling a container with blubber oil and draping pieces of bandage over the sides as a wick. 

The sun appears on May 2, and spirits improve. All the men speculate endlessly as to how long it might take Shackleton to reach South Georgia. Many of them feel that ice conditions forming around the island will prevent a rescue ship from reaching them, as the Antarctic winter is only weeks away. They settle into the routine of survival on the island, killing penguins and seals. At night, the men fantasize about food: “[T]he craving for sweets [is] almost unanimous” (253). By May 25, “one month and one day after the Caird had sailed” (255), the men all agree that they will be forced to spend winter on the island.

Despite some cynicism regarding Shackleton’s search for help, Macklin goes to the top of the hill on the island each morning hoping to see a relief ship. Discussion of reasons for the delay cites a number of reasons: “the ice, the gales, the fog” (257), but no one ever voices the fear that the Caird has been lost. The men take turns tending the fire, arranging to melt ice for drinking water and retrieving frozen meat to be cooked. Once again, there exists an amicable relationship among the men despite their physical hardship. The most difficult element is the necessity of stepping outside the tent in order to relieve themselves at night without stepping on a crewmember. Eventually, a urinal is fashioned out of a gasoline can and kept inside the tent at night to minimize trips into the blizzard conditions outside. Morale fluctuates with the weather.

Blackboro’s gangrene has progressed to the point where an amputation is necessary, although the doctors hoped to postpone this until after their rescue. On June 15, Macklin administers the only six ounces of chloroform available to the patient and proceeds to remove the food at the ball joint. Blackboro “smile[s] up at the two doctors” upon completion of the surgery (262). He requests a cigarette, which they fashion out of a page of the Encyclopedia Britannica and some plug tobacco. The remaining men have spent the time in the cave on the island, cutting each other’s hair.

The men retain their hope of rescue by observing the pack ice on the occasions when it disintegrates to a point that would allow a rescue ship to reach them. They celebrate Midwinter’s Day on June 22 with a big breakfast and then present a satirical program of verses for entertainment, which chiefly satirize Green and Orde-Lees. James composes a ditty regarding the hut: “But nevertheless, you must confess, for many and many a mile / It’s the most palatial dwelling place you’ll find on Elephant Isle” (265). Despite attempts at optimism, conditions are becoming increasingly dire. Staples are becoming depleted; the absence of pipe tobacco is particularly difficult for the men to endure. Ingenious substitutes, such as boot insulation, are used instead of tobacco. Additionally, a clever device for controlling snoring is created: “[a] slip noose is attached to [the snoring man’s] arm […] across the bunks. As the various sleepers are disturbed, they vigorously haul on the line” (266). 

The glacier at the head of the inlet is a constant source of anxiety, often having chunks “as big as a church” fall off with a thunderous noise (266). Additionally, the hut becomes flooded with water that filters through the rocks on the hut’s floor and has to be bailed out regularly. 

By August 3, Shackleton’s failure to return is discussed openly, and the possibility of the men attempting a return to Deception Island is considered. Their remaining boat, the Wills, has been deconstructed for parts to improve the Caird for Shackleton, but it is thought that with some repairs, the boat will again be seaworthy. Diary entries mention eating boiled seaweed. By August 19, Orde-Lees’s entry reads, “There is no good in deceiving ourselves any longer” (272).