South | Page 6

away from winter quarters, it would be preferable to have only a
small, carefully selected party of men ashore after the hut had been
built and the stores landed. These men could proceed to lay out depots
by man-haulage and make short journeys with the dogs, training them
for the long early march in the following spring. The majority of the
scientific men would live aboard the ship, where they could do their
work under good conditions. They would be able to make short
journeys if required, using the 'Endurance' as a base. All these plans
were based on an expectation that the finding of winter quarters was
likely to be difficult. If a really safe base could be established on the
continent, I would adhere to the original programme of sending one
party to the south, one to the west round the head of the Weddell Sea
towards Graham Land, and one to the east towards Enderby Land.
We had worked out details of distances, courses, stores required, and so
forth. Our sledging ration, the result of experience as well as close

study, was perfect. The dogs gave promise, after training, of being able
to cover fifteen to twenty miles a day with loaded sledges. The
trans-continental journey, at this rate, should be completed in 120 days
unless some unforeseen obstacle intervened. We longed keenly for the
day when we could begin this march, the last great adventure in the
history of South Polar exploration, but a knowledge of the obstacles
that lay between us and our starting-point served as a curb on
impatience. Everything depended upon the landing. If we could land at
Filchner's base there was no reason why a band of experienced men
should not winter there in safety. But the Weddell Sea was notoriously
inhospitable and already we knew that its sternest face was turned
toward us. All the conditions in the Weddell Sea are unfavourable from
the navigator's point of view. The winds are comparatively light, and
consequently new ice can form even in the summer-time. The absence
of strong winds has the additional effect of allowing the ice to
accumulate in masses, undisturbed. Then great quantities of ice sweep
along the coast from the east under the influence of the prevailing
current, and fill up the bight of the Weddell Sea as they move north in a
great semicircle. Some of this ice doubtless describes almost a
complete circle, and is held up eventually, in bad seasons, against the
South Sandwich Islands. The strong currents, pressing the ice masses
against the coasts, create heavier pressure than is found in any other
part of the Antarctic. This pressure must be at least as severe as the
pressure experienced in the congested North Polar basin, and I am
inclined to think that a comparison would be to the advantage of the
Arctic. All these considerations naturally had a bearing upon our
immediate problem, the penetration of the pack and the finding of a
safe harbour on the continental coast.
The day of departure arrived. I gave the order to heave anchor at 8.45
a.m. on December 5, 1914, and the clanking of the windlass broke for
us the last link with civilization. The morning was dull and overcast,
with occasional gusts of snow and sleet, but hearts were light aboard
the 'Endurance'. The long days of preparation were over and the
adventure lay ahead.
We had hoped that some steamer from the north would bring news of

war and perhaps letters from home before our departure. A ship did
arrive on the evening of the 4th, but she carried no letters, and nothing
useful in the way of information could be gleaned from her. The
captain and crew were all stoutly pro-German, and the "news" they had
to give took the unsatisfying form of accounts of British and French
reverses. We would have been glad to have had the latest tidings from a
friendlier source. A year and a half later we were to learn that the
'Harpoon', the steamer which tends the Grytviken station, had arrived
with mail for us not more than two hours after the 'Endurance' had
proceeded down the coast.
The bows of the 'Endurance' were turned to the south, and the good
ship dipped to the south-westerly swell. Misty rain fell during the
forenoon, but the weather cleared later in the day, and we had a good
view of the coast of South Georgia as we moved under steam and sail
to the south-east. The course was laid to carry us clear of the island and
then south of South Thule, Sandwich Group. The wind freshened
during the day, and all square sail was set, with the foresail reefed in
order to give the look-out a clear view ahead; for we did