South (42 page)

Mackintosh called a meeting of all hands on June 26 for the discussion of the plans he had made for the depot-laying expedition to be undertaken during the following spring and summer. “I gave an outline of the position and invited discussion from the members. Several points were brought up. I had suggested that one of our party should remain behind for the purpose of keeping the meteorological records and laying in a supply of meat and blubber. This man would be able to hand my instructions to the ship and pilot a party to the Bluff. It had been arranged that Richards should do this. Several objected on the ground that the whole complement would be necessary, and, after the matter had been put to the vote, it was agreed that we should delay the decision until the parties had some practical work and we had seen how they fared. The shortage of clothing was discussed, and Joyce and Wild have agreed to do their best in this matter. October sledging (on the Barrier) was mentioned as being too early, but is to be given a trial. These were the most important points brought up, and it was mutually and unanimously agreed that we could do no more. . . . I know we are doing our best.”

The party was anxious to visit Cape Royds, north of Cape Evans, but at the end of June open water remained right across the Sound and a crossing was impossible. At Cape Royds is the hut used by the Shackleton Expedition of 1907-1909, and the stores and supplies it contains might have proved very useful. Joyce and Wild make finneskoe (fur boots) from spare sleeping bags. Mackintosh mentions that the necessity of economizing clothing and footgear prevented the men taking as much exercise as they would otherwise have done. A fair supply of canvas and leather had been found in the hut, and some men tried their hands at making shoes. Many seals had been killed and brought in, and the supply of meat and blubber was ample for present needs.

During July Mackintosh made several trips northwards on the sea ice, but found always that he could not get far. A crack stretched roughly from Inaccessible Island to the Barne Glacier, and the ice beyond looked weak and loose. The improving light told of the returning sun. Richards and Jack were weighing out stores in readiness for the sledging expeditions. Mackintosh, from the hill behind the hut, saw open water stretching westward from Inaccessible Island on August 1, and noted that probably McMurdo Sound was never completely frozen over. A week later the extent of the open water appeared to have increased, and the men began to despair of getting to Cape Royds. Blizzards were frequent and persistent. A few useful articles were found in the neighborhood of the hut as the light improved, including some discarded socks and underwear, left by members of the Scott Expedition, and a case of candied peel, which was used for cakes. A small fire broke out in the hut on August 12. The acetylene-gas lighting plant installed in the hut by Captain Scott had been rigged, and one day it developed a leak. A member of the party searched for the leak with a lighted candle, and the explosion that resulted fired some woodwork. Fortunately the outbreak was extinguished quickly. The loss of the hut at this stage would have been a tragic incident.

Mackintosh and Stevens paid a visit to Cape Royds on August 13. They had decided to attempt the journey over the Barne Glacier, and after crossing a crevassed area they got to the slopes of Cape Barne and thence down to the sea ice. They found this ice to be newly formed, but sufficiently strong for their purpose, and soon reached the Cape Royds hut. “The outer door of the hut we found to be off,” wrote Mackintosh. “A little snow had drifted into the porch, but with a shovel, which we found outside, this was soon cleared away. We then entered, and in the center of the hut found a pile of snow and ice, which had come through the open ventilator in the roof of the hut. We soon closed this. Stevens prepared a meal while I cleared the ice and snow away from the middle of the hut. After our meal we commenced taking an inventory of the stores inside. Tobacco was our first thought. Of this we found one tin of Navy Cut and a box of cigars. Soap, too, which now ensures us a wash and clean clothes when we get back. We then began to look round for a sleeping bag. No bags were here, however, but on the improvised beds of cases we found two mattresses, an old canvas screen, and two blankets. We took it in turns to turn in. Stevens started first, while I kept the fire going. No coal or blubber was here, so we had to use wood, which, while keeping the person alongside it warm, did not raise the temperature of the hut over freezing point. Over the stove in a conspicuous place we found a notice left by Scott’s party that parties using the hut should leave the dishes clean.”

Mackintosh and Stevens stayed at the Cape Royds hut over the next day and made a thorough examination of the stores there. They found outside the hut a pile of cases containing meats, flour, dried vegetables, and sundries, at least a year’s supply for a party of six. They found no new clothing, but made a collection of worn garments, which could be mended and made serviceable. Carrying loads of their spoils, they set out for Cape Evans on the morning of August 15 across the sea ice. Very weak ice barred the way and they had to travel round the coast. They got back to Cape Evans in two hours. During their absence Wild and Gaze had climbed Inaccessible Island, Gaze having an ear badly frostbitten on the journey. The tobacco was divided among the members of the party. A blizzard was raging the next day, and Mackintosh congratulated himself on having chosen the time for his trip fortunately.

The record of the remaining part of August is not eventful. All hands were making preparations for the sledging, and were rejoicing in the increasing daylight. The party tried the special sledging ration prepared under my own direction, and “all agreed it was excellent both in bulk and taste.” Three emperor penguins, the first seen since the landing, were caught on August 19. By that time the returning sun was touching with gold the peaks of the Western Mountains and throwing into bold relief the massive form of Erebus. The volcano was emitting a great deal of smoke, and the glow of its internal fires showed occasionally against the smoke-clouds above the crater. Stevens, Spencer-Smith, and Cope went to Cape Royds on the 20th, and were still there when the sun made its first appearance over Erebus on the 26th. Preceding days had been cloudy, and the sun, although above the horizon, had not been visible. “The morning broke clear and fine,” wrote Mackintosh. “Over Erebus the sun’s rays peeped through the massed cumulus and produced the most gorgeous cloud effects. The light made us all blink and at the same time caused the greatest exuberance of spirits. We felt like men released from prison. I stood outside the hut and looked at the truly wonderful scenery all round. The West Mountains were superb in their wild grandeur. The whole outline of peaks, some eighty or ninety miles distant, showed up, stencilled in delicate contrast to the skyline. The immense ice slopes shone white as alabaster against dark shadows. The sky to the west over the mountains was clear, except for low-lying banks at the foot of the slopes round about Mount Discovery. To the south hard streaks of stratus lay heaped up to 30 degrees above the horizon. . . . Then Erebus commenced to emit volumes of smoke, which rose hundreds of feet and trailed away in a northwesterly direction. The southern slopes of Erebus were enveloped in a mass of cloud.” The party from Cape Royds returned that afternoon, and there was disappointment at their report that no more tobacco had been found.

The sledging of stores to Hut Point, in preparation for the depot-laying journeys on the Barrier, was to begin on September 1. Mackintosh, before that date, had discussed plans fully with the members of his party. He considered that sufficient sledging provisions were available at Cape Evans, the supply landed from the ship being supplemented by the stores left by the Scott Expedition of 1912-13 and the Shackleton Expedition of 1907-1909. The supply of clothing and tents was more difficult. Garments brought from the ship could be supplemented by old clothing found at Hut Point and Cape Evans. The Burberry windproof outer garments were old and in poor order for the start of a season’s sledging. Old sleeping bags had been cut up to make finneskoe (fur boots) and mend other sleeping bags. Three tents were available, one sound one landed from the
Aurora,
and two old ones left by Captain Scott. Mackintosh had enough sledges, but the experience of the first journey with the dogs had been unfortunate, and there were now only four useful dogs left. They did not make a full team and would have to be used merely as an auxiliary to man-haulage.

The scheme adopted by Mackintosh, after discussion with the members of his party, was that nine men, divided into three parties of three each, should undertake the sledging. One man would be left at Cape Evans to continue the meteorological observations during the summer. The motor tractor, which had been left at Hut Point, was to be brought to Cape Evans and, if possible, put into working order. Mackintosh estimated that the provisions required for the consumption of the depot parties, and for the depots to be placed southward to the foot of the Beardmore Glacier, would amount to 4000 lb. The first depot was to be placed off Minna Bluff, and from there southward a depot was to be placed on each degree of latitude. The final depot would be made at the foot of the Beardmore Glacier. The initial task would be the haulage of stores from Cape Evans to Hut Point, a distance of 13 miles. All the sledging stores had to be taken across, and Mackintosh proposed to place additional supplies there in case a party, returning late from the Barrier, had to spend winter months at Hut Point.

The first party, consisting of Mackintosh, Richards, and Spencer-Smith, left Cape Evans on September 1 with 600 lb. of stores on one sledge, and had an uneventful journey to Hut Point. They pitched a tent halfway across the bay, on the sea ice, and left it there for the use of the various parties during the month. At Hut Point they cleared the snow from the motor tractor and made some preliminary efforts to get it into working order. They returned to Cape Evans on the 3rd. The second trip to Hut Point was made by a party of nine, with three sledges. Two sledges, man hauled, were loaded with 1278 lb. of stores, and a smaller sledge, drawn by the dogs, carried the sleeping bags. This party encountered a stiff southerly breeze, with low temperature, and, as the men were still in rather soft condition, they suffered much from frostbites. Joyce and Gaze both had their heels badly blistered. Mackintosh’s face suffered, and other men had fingers and ears “bitten.” When they returned Gaze had to travel on a sledge, since he could not set foot to the ground. They tried to haul the motor to Cape Evans on this occasion, but left it for another time after covering a mile or so. The motor was not working and was heavy to pull.

Eight men made the third journey to Hut Point, Gaze and Jack remaining behind. They took 660 lb. of oil and 630 lb. of stores. From Hut Point the next day (September 14) the party proceeded with loaded sledges to Safety Camp, on the edge of the Barrier. This camp would be the starting point for the march over the Barrier to the Minna Bluff depot. They left the two sledges, with 660 lbs. of oil and 500 lb. of oatmeal, sugar, and sundries, at Safety Camp and returned to Hut Point. The dogs shared the work on this journey. The next day Mackintosh and his companions took the motor to Cape Evans, hauling it with its grip wheels mounted on a sledge. After a pause due to bad weather, a party of eight men took another load to Hut Point on September 24, and on to Safety Camp the next day. They got back to Cape Evans on the 26th. Richards meanwhile had overhauled the motor and given it some trial runs on the sea ice. But he reported that the machine was not working satisfactorily, and Mackintosh decided not to persevere with it.

“Everybody is up to his eyes in work,” runs the last entry in the journal left by Mackintosh at Cape Evans. “All gear is being overhauled, and personal clothing is having the last stitches. We have been improvising shoes to replace the finneskoe, of which we are badly short. Wild has made an excellent shoe out of an old horse rug he found here, and this is being copied by other men. I have made myself a pair of mits out of an old sleeping bag. Last night I had a bath, the second since being here. . . . I close this journal today (September 30) and am packing it with my papers here. Tomorrow we start for Hut Point. Nine of us are going on the sledge party for laying depots—namely, Stevens, Spencer-Smith, Joyce, Wild, Cope, Hayward, Jack, Richards, and myself. Gaze, who is still suffering from bad feet, is remaining behind and will probably be relieved by Stevens after our first trip. With us we take three months’ provisions to leave at Hut Point. I continue this journal in another book, which I keep with me.”

The nine men reached Hut Point on October 1. They took the last loads with them. Three sledges and three tents were to be taken on to the Barrier, and the parties were as follows: No. 1: Mackintosh, Spencer-Smith, and Wild; No. 2: Joyce, Cope, and Richards; No. 3: Jack, Hayward, and Gaze. On October 3 and 4 some stores left at Half-Way Camp were brought in, and other stores were moved on to Safety Camp. Bad weather delayed the start of the depot-laying expedition from Hut Point until October 9.

CHAPTER XV

LAYING THE DEPOTS

Mackintosh’s account of the depot-laying journeys undertaken by his parties in the summer of 1915-16 unfortunately is not available. The leader of the parties kept a diary, but he had the book with him when he was lost on the sea ice in the following winter. The narrative of the journeys has been compiled from the notes kept by Joyce, Richards, and other members of the parties, and I may say here that it is a record of dogged endeavor in the face of great difficulties and serious dangers. It is always easy to be wise after the event, and one may realize now that the use of the dogs, untrained and soft from shipboard inactivity, on the comparatively short journey undertaken immediately after the landing in 1915 was a mistake. The result was the loss of nearly all the dogs before the longer and more important journeys of 1915-16 were undertaken. The men were sledging almost continuously during a period of six months; they suffered from frostbite, scurvy, snow blindness, and the utter weariness of overtaxed bodies. But they placed the depots in the required positions, and if the Weddell Sea party had been able to make the crossing of the Antarctic continent, the stores and fuel would have been waiting for us where we expected to find them.