Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage to the Antarctic

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There was, infact, a notable lack of interest in the radio, primarily because it wasconsidered not only a novelty but an unserviceable one. There were a numberof parties on board the ship, and the whalers reciprocated with gatherings oftheir own ashore.

They waited through December 4, hoping that the supply ship for thewhaling station would arrive with the last mail from home before they sailed. But the water now was almostup to the floor plates, and it was gaining faster than the cofferdam could holdit back and faster than the pumps could carry it away.

By midnight they weresteaming west in the twilight 500 feet off a succession of 1,000-foot ice cliffs,collectively termed “the barrier. His face was handsome, though it oftenwore a brooding expression—as if his thoughts were somewhere else—whichgave him at times a kind of darkling look. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. They had been below for almost seventy-twohours maintaining steam in the boilers to operate the engine-room pumps.

The sense of loss wascompounded by the fact that the British, whose record for exploration hadbeen perhaps unparalleled among the nations of the earth, had to take ahumiliating second best to Norway. And Reginald James wassigned on as physicist after Shackleton inquired about the state of his teeth,whether he suffered from varicose veins, if he was good-tempered—and if hecould sing.

The northerly gale had compressedand crowded the whole Weddell Sea pack against the face of the land, and noforce on earth could open up the ice again—except another gale from theopposite direction. For luck, when they put the mast in her, thesuperstitious shipwrights placed the traditional copper kroner under each oneto insure against its breaking.

The whalers were especially interested in the expedition, because theirfirst-hand knowledge of the Antarctic seas gave them a very real appreciationof the problems Shackleton faced. Shackleton spoke of Cheetham as “theveteran of Antarctic,” since he had already been on three expeditions,including one with Shackleton and one with Scott.

It piled higher and higher against her bows as she repelledeach new wave, until gradually it mounted to her bulwarks, then crashedacross the deck, overwhelming her with a crushing load that pushed her headdown even deeper. Then came two important events: the expedition with Scott in 1901, and hismarriage to the daughter of a wealthy lawyer.