Endurance Part Three (ch. 4-6)

Paulet Island

It had been three weeks since the crew had last killed a seal, and food and blubber were running dangerously low. Many of the crew members were upset with Shackleton's past refusal to bring in all of the kills made. Some of the men even began joking about cannibalism even though deep down they all thought of it as a viable option. As I read this portion of the story, I could not help but question whether Shackleton made a good decision as a leader. In the morning of March 23, Shackleton spotted land. It was one of the Danger Islets, and it was only 42 miles away, and only 20 miles past that was their destination of Paulet Island.

"...two cracks developed in their floe, only about 90 feet from the boats." This statement foreshadows a later event in the next chapter when the floe finally splits. At five the next morning, the nightwatchman ran shouting "crack!" The men scurried about the floe securing their tents and most importantly the food and the boats. A little over an hour after the first split happened, another crack appeared within 100 feet of the tents. When the men had finished their breakfast, a leopard seal jumped through the ice and was quickly killed. This brought plenty of meat and blubber which helped ease the fear of starvation. That night, another crack formed, and the team scrambled around again trying to save their belongings. On April 3, they identified that the two islands closest to them were Elephant and Clarance Islands. Two days later, Worsley acquired their position, and he realized that they were heading straight for the open sea. They drifted rather quickly and randomly for the next couple of days. the pack ice began to open and close. Shackleton ordered the men to pack up everything. Later, the floe cracked yet again. The pack ice opened again, and that is when Shackleton gave the order to launch the boats. "Even as they drew away from Patience Camp, the ice began to close."

Endurance Part Three (ch. 1-3)

This is a picture of a massive leopard seal hunting a hopeless penguin

After settling into their new camp named "Mark Time Camp," the crew begins to realize the severity of their situation. After five days they had only traveled nine miles. There was one immediate advantage to their new position; food was abundant for the time being. The hunting parties had brought in several seals in a few days. A crew member named Orde-Lees survived an attack by a leopard seal which was twelve feet long. This seal was shot and provided a good amount of food. At one point, Shackleton told the hunting parties to not bring back the slain seals because they had plenty of food, but this turned out to be a failure in his judgement. Within only a few weeks, they were running out of food, and Shackleton made the decision to shoot four of the dog teams in order to save food for themselves. In his writing, Lansing provides an example of bathos: "In a tired hand he concluded the entry: 'my dogs will be shot tomorrow.' " In this sentence and the phrases leading before it, the author creates an overly sentimental attitude towards the killing of the dogs. As I read it, I began to feel pity for the dogs and the drivers who had to kill their own dogs which is exactly what the author intended. I myself have a dog, so I could never imagine having to kill my own dog.

Adelie Penguins

Macklin and Hurley's teams made trips to Ocean Camp in order to retrieve more supplies, but after they returned they too were given the order to shoot their dog teams. This left only Greenstreet's dog team as the only surviving team. Then that night a southerly gale picked up which recorded speeds of up to seventy miles per hour. This gale lasted for six days and blew the floe a total of eighty-four miles. This was welcome news to the crew because they were now approximately 170 miles from Paulet Island. The bad news was that there was still no sign of open water. Then Shackleton gave the order to bring back the third boat from Ocean Camp. However, there was a dangerous shortage of food and blubber for cooking until they had a slight change in fortune when they were able to capture almost 600 Adelie penguins in a week.

The floe continued to travel and on the fifth of March they were now approximately 91 miles from Paulet Island. Also, the men started to become excited because they felt the swell of the ocean for a day, but this was just a tease. The pack ice did not break apart and open water was no where in sight. The men became noticeably demoralized after this. The physicist Reginald James darkly noted: " 'Paulet Island probably already to the south of us.' "