South
Comments: 1
I’ve been reading South by Sir Ernest Shackleton, an account of his second expedition to Antarctica, 1914 to 1916. The story is simply unbelievable. Their ship, the Endurance, gets stuck in ice before she can reach her initial destination and is eventually crushed to pieces by the pressure of the floes. The party of 28 men must camp on floating ice which is breaking up as the summer approaches the storm-wracked Weddell Sea.
Sample quotes:
The last two teams of dogs were shot today (April 2), the carcasses being dressed for food. We had some of the dog-meat cooked, and it was not at all bad - just like beef but of course very tough.
As the floe begins to break up:
Some intangible feeling of uneasiness made me leave my tent about 11 p.m. that night and glance around the quiet camp. I started to walk across the flow in order to warn the watchman to look carefully for cracks, and as I was passing the men’s tent the floe lifted on the crest of a swell and cracked right under my feet. The men were in one of the dome-shaped tents, and it began to stretch apart as the ice opened. I rushed forward, helped some emerging men from under the canvas, and called out, “Are you all right?” The crack had widened to about four feet, and as I threw myself down at the edge, I saw a whitish object floating in the water. It was a sleeping bag with a man inside. I was able to grasp it, and with a heave lifted man and bag onto the floe. A few seconds later the ice-edges came together again with tremendous force.
•••
Posted to Books • 2002.02.24 (Sun) • 23:51
Comments
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens 2002.02.25, 23:01
The 1919 documentary “South” provides incredible film footage of these events, including the Endurance being crushed into pieces by the ice.
Post a comment:
Send This Story to an Enemy
• • •
