South (41 page)

Mackintosh learned here that Spencer-Smith, Jack, and Gaze, who had turned back on February 10, had reached Hut Point without difficulty. The third party, headed by Cope, had also been out on the Barrier but had not done much. This party had attempted to use the motor tractor, but had failed to get effective service from the machine and had not proceeded far afield. The motor was now lying at Hut Point. Spencer-Smith’s party and Cope’s party had both returned to Hut Point before the end of February.

The six men now at Hut Point were cut off from the winter quarters of the Expedition at Cape Evans by the open water of McMurdo Sound. Mackintosh naturally was anxious to make the crossing and get in touch with the ship and the other members of the shore party; but he could not make a move until the sea ice became firm, and, as events occurred, he did not reach Cape Evans until the beginning of June. He went out with Cope and Hayward on March 29 to get his sledge and brought it as far as Pram Point, on the south side of Hut Point. He had to leave the sledge there owing to the condition of the sea ice. He and his companions lived an uneventful life under primitive conditions at the hut. The weather was bad, and though the temperatures recorded were low, the young sea ice continually broke away. The blubber stove in use at the hut seemed to have produced soot and grease in the usual large quantities, and the men and their clothing suffered accordingly. The whites of their eyes contrasted vividly with the dense blackness of their skins. Wild and Joyce had a great deal of trouble with their frostbites. Joyce had both feet blistered, his knees were swollen, and his hands also were blistered. Jack devised some blubber lamps, which produced an uncertain light and much additional smoke. Mackintosh records that the members of the party were contented enough but “unspeakably dirty,” and he writes longingly of baths and clean clothing. The store of seal blubber ran low early in April, and all hands kept a sharp lookout for seals. On April 15 several seals were seen and killed. The operations of killing and skinning made worse the greasy and blackened clothes of the men. It is to be regretted that though there was a good deal of literature available, especially on this particular district, the leaders of the various parties had not taken advantage of it and so supplemented their knowledge. Joyce and Mackintosh of course had had previous Antarctic experience: but it was open to all to have carefully studied the detailed instructions published in the books of the three last Expeditions in this quarter.

CHAPTER XIV

WINTERING IN MCMURDO SOUND

The
Aurora,
after picking up six men at Hut Point on March 11, had gone back to Cape Evans. The position chosen for the winter quarters of the
Aurora
was at Cape Evans, immediately off the hut erected by Captain Scott on his last Expedition. The ship on March 14 lay about forty yards off shore, bows seaward. Two anchors had been taken ashore and embedded in heavy stone rubble, and to these anchors were attached six steel hawsers. The hawsers held the stern, while the bow was secured by the ordinary ship’s anchors. Later, when the new ice had formed round the
Aurora,
the cable was dragged ashore over the smooth surface and made fast. The final moorings thus were six hawsers and one cable astern, made fast to the shore anchors, and two anchors with about seventy fathoms of cable out forward. On March 23 Mr. Stenhouse landed a party consisting of Stevens, Spencer-Smith, Gaze, and Richards in order that they might carry out routine observations ashore. These four men took up their quarters in Captain Scott’s hut. They had been instructed to kill seals for meat and blubber. The landing of stores, gear, and coal did not proceed at all rapidly, it being assumed that the ship would remain at her moorings throughout the winter. Some tons of coal were taken ashore during April, but most of it stayed on the beach, and much of it was lost later when the sea ice went out. This shore party was in the charge of Stevens, and his report, handed to me much later, gives a succinct account of what occurred, from the point of view of the men at the hut.

“CAPE EVANS, ROSS ISLAND,
July 30, 1915.

“On the 23rd March, 1915, a party consisting of Spencer-Smith, Richards, and Gaze was landed at Cape Evans Hut in my charge. Spencer-Smith received independent instructions to devote his time exclusively to photography. I was verbally instructed that the main duty of the party was to obtain a supply of seals for food and fuel. Scientific work was also to be carried on.

“Meteorological instruments were at once installed, and experiments were instituted on copper electrical thermometers in order to supplement our meager supply of instruments and enable observations of earth, ice, and sea temperatures to be made. Other experimental work was carried on, and the whole of the time of the scientific members of the party was occupied. All seals seen were secured. On one or two occasions the members of the shore party were summoned to work on board ship.

“In general the weather was unsettled, blizzards occurring frequently and interrupting communication with the ship across the ice. Only small, indispensable supplies of stores and no clothes were issued to the party on shore. Only part of the scientific equipment was able to be transferred to the shore, and the necessity to obtain that prevented some members of the party landing all their personal gear.

“The ship was moored stern on to the shore, at first well over one hundred yards from it. There were two anchors out ahead and the vessel was made fast to two others sunk in the ground ashore by seven wires. The strain on the wires was kept constant by tightening up from time to time such as became slack, and easing cables forward, and in this way the ship was brought much closer inshore. A cable was now run out to the south anchor ashore, passed on board through a fairlead under the port end of the bridge, and made fast to bollards forward. Subsequent strain due to ice and wind pressure on the ship broke three of the wires. Though I believe it was considered on board that the ship was secure, there was still considerable anxiety felt. The anchors had held badly before, and the power of the ice pressure on the ship was uncomfortably obvious.

“Since the ship had been moored the bay had frequently frozen over, and the ice had as frequently gone out on account of blizzards. The ice does not always go out before the wind has passed its maximum. It depends on the state of tides and currents; for the sea ice has been seen more than once to go out bodily when a blizzard had almost completely calmed down.

“On the 6th May the ice was in and people passed freely between the shore and the ship. At 11 P.M. the wind was south, backing to southeast, and blew at forty miles per hour. The ship was still in her place. At 3 A.M. on the 7th the wind had not increased to any extent, but ice and ship had gone. As she was not seen to go we are unable to say whether the vessel was damaged. The shore end of the cable was bent twice sharply, and the wires were loose. On the afternoon of the 7th the weather cleared somewhat, but nothing was seen of the ship. The blizzard only lasted some twelve hours. Next day the wind became northerly, but on the 10th there was blowing the fiercest blizzard we have so far experienced from the southeast. Nothing has since been seen or heard of the ship, though a lookout was kept.

“Immediately the ship went as accurate an inventory as possible of all stores ashore was made, and the rate of consumption of foodstuffs so regulated that they would last ten men for not less than one hundred weeks. Coal had already been used with the utmost economy. Little could be done to cut down the consumption, but the transference to the neighborhood of the hut of such of the coal landed previously by the ship as was not lost was pushed on. Meat also was found to be very short; it was obvious that neither it nor coal could be made to last two years, but an evidently necessary step in the ensuing summer would be the ensuring of an adequate supply of meat and blubber, for obtaining which the winter presented little opportunity. Meat and coal were, therefore, used with this consideration in mind, as required but as carefully as possible.

“A. STEVENS.”

 

The men ashore did not at once abandon hope of the ship returning before the Sound froze firmly. New ice formed on the sea whenever the weather was calm, and it had been broken up and taken out many times by the blizzards. During the next few days eager eyes looked seaward through the dim twilight of noon, but the sea was covered with a dense black mist and nothing was visible. A northerly wind sprang up on May 8 and continued for a few hours, but it brought no sign of the ship, and when on May 10 the most violent blizzard yet experienced by the party commenced, hope grew slender. The gale continued for three days, the wind attaining a velocity of seventy miles an hour. The snow drift was very thick and the temperature fell to -20º Fahr. The shore party took a gloomy view of the ship’s chances of safety among the ice floes of the Ross Sea under such conditions.

Stevens and his companions made a careful survey of their position and realized that they had serious difficulties to face. No general provisions and no clothing of the kind required for sledging had been landed from the ship. Much of the sledging gear was also aboard. Fortunately, the hut contained both food and clothing, left there by Captain Scott’s Expedition. The men killed as many seals as possible and stored the meat and blubber. June 2 brought a welcome addition to the party in the form of the men who had been forced to remain at Hut Point until the sea ice became firm. Mackintosh and those with him had incurred some risk in making the crossing, since open water had been seen on their route by the Cape Evans party only a short time before. There were now ten men at Cape Evans—namely, Mackintosh, Spencer-Smith, Joyce, Wild, Cope, Stevens, Hayward, Gaze, Jack, and Richards. The winter had closed down upon the Antarctic and the party would not be able to make any move before the beginning of September. In the meantime they overhauled the available stores and gear, made plans for the work of the forthcoming spring and summer, and lived the severe but not altogether unhappy life of the polar explorer in winter quarters. Mackintosh, writing on June 5, surveyed his position:

“The decision of Stenhouse to make this bay the wintering place of the ship was not reached without much thought and consideration of all eventualities. Stenhouse had already tried the Glacier Tongue and other places, but at each of them the ship had been in an exposed and dangerous position. When this bay was tried the ship withstood several severe blizzards, in which the ice remained in on several occasions. When the ice did go out the moorings held. The ship was moored bows north. She had both anchors down forward and two anchors buried astern, to which the stern moorings were attached with seven lengths of wire. Taking all this into account, it was quite a fair judgment on his part to assume that the ship would be secure here. The blizzard that took the ship and the ice out of the bay was by no means as severe as others she had weathered. The accident proves again the uncertainty of conditions in these regions. I only pray and trust that the ship and those aboard are safe. I am sure they will have a thrilling story to tell when we see them.”

The
Aurora
could have found safe winter quarters farther up McMurdo Sound, towards Hut Point, but would have run the risk of being frozen in over the following summer, and I had given instructions to Mackintosh before he went south that this danger must be avoided.

“Meanwhile we are making all preparations here for a prolonged stay. The shortage of clothing is our principal hardship. The members of the party from Hut Point have the clothes we wore when we left the ship on January 25. We have been without a wash all that time, and I cannot imagine a dirtier set of people. We have been attempting to get a wash ever since we came back, but owing to the blow during the last two days no opportunity has offered. All is working smoothly here, and every one is taking the situation very philosophically. Stevens is in charge of the scientific staff and is now the senior officer ashore. Joyce is in charge of the equipment and has undertaken to improvise clothes out of what canvas can be found here. Wild is working with Joyce. He is a cheerful, willing soul. Nothing ever worries or upsets him, and he is ever singing or making some joke or performing some amusing prank. Richards has taken over the keeping of the meteorological log. He is a young Australian, a hard, conscientious worker, and I look forward to good results from his endeavors. Jack, another young Australian, is his assistant. Hayward is the handy man, being responsible for the supply of blubber. Gaze, another Australian, is working in conjunction with Hayward. Spencer-Smith, the
padre,
is in charge of photography, and, of course, assists in the general routine work. Cope is the medical officer.

“The routine here is as follows: Four of us, myself, Stevens, Richards, and Spencer-Smith, have breakfast at 7 A.M. The others are called at 9 A.M., and their breakfast is served. Then the table is cleared, the floor is swept, and the ordinary work of the day is commenced. At 1 P.M. we have what we call a ‘counter lunch,’ that is, cold food and cocoa. We work from 2 P.M. till 5 P.M. After 5 P.M. people can do what they like. Dinner is at 7. The men play games, read, write up diaries. We turn in early, since we have to economize fuel and light. Night watches are kept by the scientific men, who have the privilege of turning in during the day. The day after my arrival here I gave an outline of our situation and explained the necessity for economy in the use of fuel, light, and stores, in view of the possibility that we may have to stay here for two years. . . . We are not going to commence work for the sledging operations until we know more definitely the fate of the
Aurora.
I dare not think any disaster has occurred.”

During the remaining days of June the men washed and mended clothes, killed seals, made minor excursions in the neighborhood of the hut, and discussed plans for the future. They had six dogs, two being bitches without experience of sledging. One of these bitches had given birth to a litter of pups, but she proved a poor mother and the young ones died. The animals had plenty of seal meat and were tended carefully.