Shackleton's Heroes
Page 6
60. Shackleton, South
61. Mackintosh diary, 1 January 1915
62. Joyce, The South Polar Trail
63. Richards, The Ross Sea Shore Party
64. Mackintosh diary, 9 January 1915
65. Richards, The Ross Sea Shore Party
66. Richards, interview with P. Lathlean, 1976
67. Mackintosh diary, 9 January 1915
68. Richards notes, Art & Historical Collection, Federation University (formerly University of Ballarat)
69. Mackintosh diary, 10 January 1915
* Biscuits were made of flour mixed with Plasmon powder. The biscuits were hard – usually eaten by being broken into small pieces and then softened by putting them in hot chocolate or tea.
† H. G. Ponting was the expedition photographer on Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition.
Chapter 3
‘I AM GOING TO WRITE A DAILY ACCOUNT OF MY DOINGS TO YOU’
January 1915
ON 10 JANUARY, the Aurora was stopped by thick sea-ice, deep in McMurdo Sound, about 4 miles to the south of Cape Evans, and 9 miles north of Hut Point. The ship was tied up to the ice edge.1
It was a calm day and the ship became motionless and eerily quiet once the engines had stopped. The air was crisp and clear, almost breathlessly still, and Mount Erebus with its plume piling straight up into the sky dominated the view.2 The men on the Aurora’s deck looking south would see a flat expanse of dazzling white sea-ice stretching away as far as they could see, towards Hut Point.
Some of the men went out on the ice floes and tried their skills at skiing. In this Mackintosh thought that Wild proved the best whereas his own attempts were amateurish.3 They also skied across the ice to visit the Cape Evans hut, located on a rocky cape. The wooden hut was on a beach of coarse gravel, facing north-west and well protected by Mount Erebus and numerous small hills behind. Joyce saw ‘hundreds of wooden cases, most of which contain provisions’ around the hut.4 Mackintosh’s first impression was on the neatness of the area. He noted there were little compact heaps of store cases surrounding the hut itself – sledges, snow houses, huts – and ‘electrical wire like cast off spider’s webs seemed to litter the place’.5 The Cape Evans hut would be their main base, especially over the winter months of 1915 and for the months from July 1916 to January 1917.
On the voyage to Antarctica from Australia, Mackintosh had worked out his programme. The first season’s depot-laying would be carried out in the months of February and March of 1915 and the second and main season of sledging would be from October 1915 to March 1916.
For the first season he planned for teams to take provisions from the Aurora to Hut Point, and then onto the Barrier further south from there. The depots on the Barrier would start with one called Safety Camp, at the start of the Barrier, about 20 miles from Hut Point. Then three smaller depots would be laid, which would be called Cope No. 1, 2 and 3 depots. These would end up being approximately 25, 32 and 40 miles south of Hut Point. The next depot would be a large one at Minna Bluff, location 79°S, 70 miles out. The last depot to be laid in the first season would be at 80°S, 140 miles to the south of Hut Point.
In the second season Mackintosh planned for teams to restock the depots laid in the first season, particularly the Minna Bluff depot, and then place new depots out to 81°S, 82°S and 83°S, with the final one at Mount Hope at 83° 30´S, 360 miles from Hut Point.
On 24 January, stores were on the decks ready to be unloaded so that Mackintosh could arrange for sledging to start immediately. He did not allow any time for the men or the dogs to become fit for travel because he was already a month behind the timetable Shackleton had set for him: ‘Sail from Hobart about 1st Dec or in sufficient time to enable you to reach McMurdo Sound about the 1st of January’.6
Sledging was to be conducted by parties of three men. Mackintosh would be in charge of one team, Joyce another, and these two teams would carry out the bulk of the sledging in the first two months. Two other teams would lay depots close to Hut Point while Mackintosh and Joyce’s teams were placing depots further out on the Barrier. Stenhouse would remain on the Aurora and be in command of the ship.
24 January 1915
Gold-titled and embossed leather-bound diaries were distributed, but Joyce commenced his note-taking by writing on loose-leaf pages, waiting until October 1915 before using his diary. In his first entry, on 24 January 1915, he records his disagreement with two of Mackintosh’s decisions – both would have serious ramifications later on. The first was Mackintosh’s plan to use the dogs for hauling sledges before they were fit. The second was not sending the ship back to New Zealand for the winter.
Richards later wrote that at this stage of the expedition Mackintosh was in charge and Joyce loyally obeyed his instructions.7 But Joyce was the most experienced and expected some weight to be attached to his views. In his note he clearly felt that the dogs were not acclimatised (owing to the small amount of space they had had for exercising on the ship and the continual soakings they had from the sea water). However, Mackintosh was determined to have a depot laid at 80°S before winter so he decided to take the dogs sledging straight away.
Joyce was back in familiar territory, working around Hut Point, Observation Hill and Cape Armitage at the base of McMurdo Sound as he had in this area with Scott in 1901–04 and with Shackleton in 1907–09. Joyce’s main concern was the thickness of the sea-ice between Hut Point and the Ice Barrier to the south.
The dogs were clearly an important part of Joyce’s Antarctic life. Throughout his diary he made constant reference to them; how they prevented the men feeling lonely, how the dogs were always pleased to see the men and how he felt for them when they were short of food or dying.
Joyce starts his diary notes. (He occasionally used verbose or flowery phrases, for example, here he uses the term ‘the inner man’ – meaning he fed himself and the other men.)
Joyce:
Sledging Jan 24
Jan 24. After breakfast Skipper + I discussed several details. I could not get him to see that we were jeopardizing the dogs + I cannot quite understand why Shacks should alter his plan of campaign. As for wintering the ship – this to my mind is the silliest damn rot that could have possibly occurred. The wintering of the Discovery was quite alright in its way, but then we had no experience of Antarctic conditions. If I had Shacks here I would make him see my way of arguing.
Anyway Mack is my Boss + I must uphold him until I find that he is not fit to carry out the hard tedious work that is in front of us. Having one eye will play merry hell with him in the extreme temperatures. As he will not take my advice about the dogs I must let him have his way.
I gave a lecture to the parties on sledging. With the exception of Mack who accompanied me on a short journey in 1909 no one has any experience. I related to them some experience, advising them on different subjects such as avalanches, frostbite, snow blindness etc.
As I am laying the course to the Bluff I am marking same by cairns + flags as one is liable to find crevasses. As this is my 7th journey to the Bluff my experience will help them through.
After lunch packed sledge on the ice – the weight over 1200 lbs. Harnessed the dog team after a struggle they wanted to get right away. Their names are Nigger (leader), Dasher, Tug, Pat, Briton, Scotty and Hector. The average weight of the team about 80 lbs – a good heafty lot. My sledging mates are Gaze + Jack.
With many cheers we proceeded on our course south.
Arrived at Hut Point about 5 o’clock.
Tethered the dogs and viewed the sea-ice from Observation Hill. The ice around Cape Armitage seems very thin so will have to steer well out.
Fed the dogs + then the inner man. Turned in early in readiness for an early start in the morning.
During the night heard the dogs barking. On going out to find the cause – found some of them adrift. They had bitten through their harness. Were in a fighting mood, and before I could separate them one was killed. Unfortunately they have ve
ry sharp teeth + I suppose they have some old time feud to settle. Moral – see them properly secured.
I have seen one big dog fight here in about the same spot in 1902 when several were killed before we could get to them. This breed of dog requires studying – with the wolf strain they are almost human in their likes + dislikes.8
The dogs were given no shelter, but simply tied up by chains, suitably spaced, to a long steel cable, giving them a radius of movement of a few yards. They were usually very eager for work, and rushed up to the men and tried to insert their heads into the loop of harness being carried. The men noticed that dogs lived by incident; monotony was a dearth to them. After a night’s sleeping they would watch the tent as the men were making arrangements to start, yelping all the time at their companions with a general eagerness to be off. They would gallop gloriously for the first half-mile or so, when the sledge seemed to weigh nothing to them, but then the excitement began to pall, especially if there was nothing ahead to see, or smell. One man would often walk ahead when the going was very heavy, which would raise the spirits of the dogs – they would have something to see. If they saw a mirage up ahead the dogs would cock their ears and their footsteps would quicken. The men thought the dogs would see the mirage as a penguin or a seal.9
Mackintosh had been keeping a daily log, but his first diary note in Antarctica, on 24 January 1915, describes the dogs of Joyce’s team as they left the ship for Hut Point. Wild starts his diary when he and a few men from the Aurora skied across the sea-ice to Hut Point. His dry sense of humour comes through as he describes the destination not being any closer after each hour’s skiing. In his laconic way, Wild explained what happened when they reached the hut, with a backhanded compliment to the two Scotsmen in his group.
Mackintosh:
Nigger made a splendid leader and as soon as he was traced on the sledge, was all ready, legs spread out in the orthodox fashion … when once the order was given to start they made a wild dash, ran into each other and furiously bit their partners which brought the sledge to a standstill.
Another try was then made after adjusting the tangle they had put themselves into. The method was then tried of each man leading a dog, which went well at first: but again, a bundle of dogs fighting in their keenness to be off again occurred.
A third & fourth try and then at last with three men sitting on the sledge they went off fairly respectfully. A parting shout and three cheers, and they gradually were specks in the distance.10
Wild:
I must go back to Hobart now. We got the dogs ashore there on 31st of Oct 14. Ninnis & I stopped there with them until the ship came round from Sydney. We made a rough sledge & used to exercise the dogs whenever possible making three good teams. The ship came to Hobart on the 20th December & we went aboard with the dogs on the 24th. The Aurora leaving on the same day calling at Macquarie Island on the 29th to land stores. I went ashore & shot three seals for dog meat. We killed our first penguin there & had some of it for dinner. Everyone pronounced it excellent.
Since then, up to now, we have been trying to get to Hut Point. A party of six, myself included, left the ship last Monday to go to Hut Point. We went on ski & took a sledge with tent, food, etc. It took us eight & a half hours to get there & the last five hours it was only half a mile away at the end of every hour. The Skipper said it was 12 miles but we reckoned it was twenty.
Two others in the party fell into a crack in the ice and got wet feet and legs and a third fell into the water up to his neck, shivering so much when he got out that it made them all shiver so they dashed to the hut at Hut Point.
There was a blubber stove in there so we lit it & put some blubber on, drove everybody except Stenhouse & Stevens out; they are Scotch so they could stick it. There were only two sleeping bags there, so we had to take it in turns to have a sleep. It was too cold anywhere else. That was my first sledging experience.11
25 January 1915
The first team led by Joyce had departed on 24 January. The second sledging party of Mackintosh, Spencer-Smith and Wild, with a team of nine dogs, left the ship on 25 January, also aiming for Hut Point. These three men shared the one tent, cooked, and travelled together for the vast majority of their sledging. There was no explanation from Mackintosh as to why he chose Spencer-Smith and Wild to be in his team.
Spencer-Smith’s first diary note was made that night, 25 January. It was after his initial foray into sledging, but he had no complaints.
Wild made a few notes that evening. He mentions ‘Oates’, who was Captain Lawrence Oates, a member of Scott’s polar party. He had frostbitten feet and was unable to keep up with the others on their return journey. He is best known for sacrificing himself with the words ‘just going outside and may be some time’, found within Scott’s journal. The date was 17 March 1912 and Oates was also born on 17 March, in 1880. In a remarkable coincidence, Spencer-Smith too was born on this date, in 1883.
The sledge for each three-man party carried their equipment (tent, sleeping bags, etc.), their own food requirements and provisions that had to be left at depots for Shackleton. In his diary Wild listed the equipment they carried on each sledge for the three-man team.
Mackintosh described their departure from the ship but they did not reach Hut Point that day and camping on the ice worried Mackintosh. He may have remembered a narrow escape from floating sea-ice he had back in 1909 on the Nimrod Expedition. Then, he and a companion had camped on sea-ice and overnight conditions changed and the next morning they found open water between their tent and the land. Fortunately they were able to escape before the floating ice went out to sea.
Mackintosh seemed to enjoy his first night away from the ship. He mentions ‘hoosh’, which was the name for their regular meal, eaten at breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was pemmican, the staple food for Antarctic explorers of the day, which was a mixture of dried beef and fat, usually boiled up with crushed biscuits.
In the morning Mackintosh would give out a call to action and they would throw their sleeping bags open and jerk up into a sitting position. When they shook the side of the tent, down would come a shower of frost rime which had formed during the night, from their breathing and the previous night’s cooking. Some of the rime would fall down their neck and they would start the day with a cold damp collar and jersey. The dogs could just be seen, their noses only visible out of the snow but, to Mackintosh, they appeared quite comfortable sleeping that way.12
He had shaped a course where he imagined Hut Point to be, but even after a second day’s travel the sledge-meter showed 13 miles, and this was 4 miles in excess of the distance from the ship to Hut Point. So he decided to halt and camp again.
Mackintosh:
All day we have been busy on the ship getting prepared, prior to starting off – which we intend to do by the evening. At 7pm all was ready and shortly we started off. All hands came on to the ice to see us away, and lend a hand at the last lashings on the sledge, adjust the dogs’ harness and keep them also from fighting.
My companions consist of Smith (the Padre) and Wild; the dogs are nine in number. When all was prepared a parting handshake all around, a shout and we were off – the dogs went splendidly for a while at least. We found it necessary at first for one to sit on the sledge, so eager were the dogs. As we started a cheer went up from those of the ship’s party.
All went well until about ½ mile had been traversed when Pompey* felt he had had enough of this rapid mode of progression, so he turned back and headed for the ship. This naturally caused a mix up, the result of which was a riot, such a mix up one could hardly conceive – a mass of rolling, struggling fur and fury. It took all our beating to separate them which after a tussle we managed.
We proceeded as hard as we could, hoping to get to Hut Point by that night. In this direction our luck was out for we had not gone more than 5½ miles when it commenced to snow and everything became obscured. We were then forced to camp. It was against my wish to do this as I did not like the idea
of a ‘pitch’ on seaice, especially at this season when there is a danger of the ice breaking out.
However we were not disappointed for, being out of training, the excuse for a rest and a meal was welcome. We very soon heard the hum of the primus and our first hoosh was shortly going down our throat followed by a good brew of tea.13
Spencer-Smith:
The dogs at once snuggled into the snow and slept, while we unpacked the sledge, pitched the tent, with snow shovelled all around, got the Primus working and the hoosh water on the go.
The hoosh was very thin, but quite acceptable as we have had no food since lunch at 1pm. Also had tea and several smokes and are now in sleeping bags about to fall off for eight hours. Everything is very cosy: temperatures 28º F and snow falling.
We don’t know where we are.14
Wild:
We have travelled 13 miles now by our meter, & we are still not at Hut Point. It’s blowing a bit of a blizzard, & are not going to leave until we can see where we are going. We have got one of the new tents & are very pleased with it. It is easier to put up than the pole tents. Dogs have been pulling very well today & no scraps. Poor beggars, they have only had two biscuits for 48 hours.
Smith told us something else. i.e. Oates was born & died on his birthday. I forgot to say that the Skipper, Smith & myself form the party with nine dogs.15
Primus Box
1 Primus
1 spare parts
Toilet paper
1 medical bag
1 repair bag & spares
1 cooker
3 mugs & spoons
1 Alpine rope
1 Ice axe