Read Shackleton's Heroes Online
Authors: Wilson McOrist
Shackleton's Heroes (36 page)
In his book Richards wrote that he, Joyce and Wild were able to go about their daily tasks with reasonable efficiency, but Mackintosh and Hayward required looking after. Mackintosh still had some internal haemorrhaging and neither he nor Hayward could straighten their legs more than a little past a right angle. At first everyone's teeth were barely visible owing to the
gums coming down over them. Richards remembered that it was impossible to eat a biscuit without first soaking it in tea first.
37
In an interview six decades later Richards could still paint a word picture of their life in the hut. He says they âlived the life of troglodytes' (ancient people who lived in caves) and that it would take a lot of imagination for anyone to realise just how primitive the conditions were.
Discovery
hut was only a shell with one layer of wooden boards between them and the outside. Richards remembered that most of the hut was full of ice and snow so they lived in one small area on the northern side which had been partially partitioned off with some empty cases. This enclosed a small portion of the hut and that was their living space. The hut was not windproof so the men lived in their clothes and stayed inside their sleeping bags when they were in the hut. Their sleeping bags rested on planks raised above the floor by wooden provision cases. Richards tells us it was not warm enough to even sit up in the bag; they would get down inside their bags âand get a bit of warmth that way'.
38
39
Their sole heating came from burning seal blubber chunks, each chunk about 6 inches square and 2 inches thick, which they would simply throw into the stove (a plate on top of a few bricks). The blubber would flare up, melt and then burn with a fierce heat. Richards remembered that some of the blubber oil would run out of the back of the bricks and onto the floor and every so often, when there was too much on the floor they would shovel it up into a tin, and use it again for fuel. He explained that as soon as they put any blubber into the stove the hut filled up with smoke.
Their clothes soon became saturated with blubber and seal blood. When they were out sealing they would cut the throat of the seal and the seal's arteries would spurt out blood all over them. In Richards's words the blood came out âlike a hose'. He says they never noticed the smell but they were all in a filthy condition, never taking their off their clothes or washing their hands â they had no facilities for heating water or any soap.
40
There was virtually nothing at Hut Point in the way of food apart from a few dried vegetables which only lasted a few days. They had only a little flour, but no bread or cake or biscuits. They found some old biscuits that had been left there by Scott in 1901 but they found them so anaemic and
musty they could not eat them. Virtually their sole food from the middle of March until the middle of June was seal meat. In Richards's memory that was all they had, âmorning, noon and night'.
41
They had no lighting; all they could do was make an improvised blubber lamp â a bit of string in some blubber oil, in an old tin. When the wind forced the smoke down the flue of the stove it was difficult to even see the other side of the tiny partitioned off area in the dim light.
42
Richards reminisced, when looking at an old photograph of the inside of the hut, that in his mind he could still see the dim figures of Mackintosh and Joyce crouching with hands outstretched over the blubber stove to get a bit of warmth.
43
Joyce: âWed 22nd â 29th. Patients recovering rapidly doing good exercise appetites not ceased one iota. Bay freezing + going out again. Richards + Wild still providing fuel + food killed 10 seals. Everything carrying on harmoniously.'
44
Hayward: â22 Mar: Less windy & brighter, hope again to take some exercise later.'
In March and April of 1915 Mackintosh had painted a picture of living at Hut Point:
Here we are all huddled up alongside of the stove, applying lumps of blubber as the last piece gets burnt away, the stove being below us we are sitting over it in a bent up position like Indians over a fire, the blubber gurgles and splutters, the delightful sound of heat which one gets to know besides the feel.
45
But the dirt, it's too terrible, everything we touch is blubber which, added with the smoke is as a dirty a mixture for blackening one as could be manufactured, the worst of this is that it soaks into one's clothes.
Already we are absorbed with it. What will it be like in another month, if we should be here? I can't say. Meals somehow seem to be the principal event of the day.
46
We can see the wind has blown all the surrounding ice out of the Sound. Chances of reaching Cape Evans are consequently postponed again. Hope not for long.
47
Do so hope the sea will freeze over and release us. What a crowd of utter tramps we look; long matted hair, un-cropped straggling beards, grease all over ourselves, clothes â dirtiness personified. The weather continues fine, light Northerly air, sea frozen in patches.
Oh! For the weather to continue fine for a few days and the sea to freeze.
48
Prisoners once more we remain.
49
Oh! This filth â when will be released?
50
We have now got into a state of savagery. I find myself having no scruples at picking up my food with blubbery fingers.
51
A significant diary entry then was his observation that a gale could take away the sea-ice between Hut Point and Cape Evans: âThe wind today is blowing fresh and later increasing to gale force; with this our slender hopes have vanished for the ice in the Sound has gone out en mass. Cape Evans is as distant as ever.'
52
Mackintosh recovered from his condition quickly but Richards tells us in an interview that he did not really assume command again.
53
They had expected Mackintosh to lead the sledge parties and in the early stages of sledging his position as leader was never queried. However, as he became progressively weaker on the way back to Hut Point, Richards recalled that he seemed incapable of making any decisions, deferring to him, Joyce and Wild.
54
The seal meat proved remarkably effective in curing their scurvy and Richards remembered the size of their meals as being truly prodigious. They did not plan it that way; their bodies seemed to demand an inordinate amount of meat. They could see each other gaining strength rapidly from day to day.
55
Richards recalled that as the winter closed in they experienced blizzards with increasing frequency which prevented them from sealing and forced them to stay in the hut. During these periods there was little they could do, other than lie in their sleeping bags and âtry to doze the time away'.
56
Their diary entries were sparse in April.
Joyce:
Wed 5th to 12th. Everyone now seems to be better. Skipper still black back of legs.
No pain. Had hair cut. 1st time for 19 mths seem to be walking on air + also whiskers trimmed seem like a smooth faced boy. Appetites still the same. Richy + Wild can just cope with the seal supply. Everyone quite cheerful. Seals killed 19. Temp -20 to 20.
57
Wed 19th â 26th. Been blowing for a whole week. Ice gone out I forgot to mention I walked out for 4 miles over the new ice on Thursday + found it about 2 inches thick and in about 2 days would have been able to traverse to C Evans but fate forbade. Wind eased about noon all hands out. Patients able to take long walks. The Ice has gone out within ½ mile of hut. In fact it seems that the whole lot is going out. Let us hope not Seals killed up to date 26 rather a good supply.
58
26 to 3 May Ice all gone out up to point. Been blizzarding for days not been able to go out much for xercize [sic]. Invalids practically better. Skipper still black back of leg. Gums better all our nails seem to be indented.
Party of 30 Penguins paid us a visit 24 Returned. 6 kept us company in our ⦠[indecipherable] Found heart + livers one of the best things we have tasted since civilization Everything same as usual time passing quickly Everyone sociable â Seals 39.
59
Hayward: â10 April: Lovely day â out (-20° getting cold).'
60
Towards the end of April Hayward's diary notes were even less detailed: â22 April: Could not go out. 27 April: Out 30 April: Good Out.'
61
At the end of April 1916 the five men were safe and recovering their health. There was now only one final scene to be played out.
1.
Richards,
The Ross Sea Shore Party
2.
Joyce field diary, 12 March 1916
3.
Hayward diary, 12 March 1916
4.
Wild diary, 13 March 1916
5.
Richards diary, 13 March 1916 Hayward diary, 13 March 1916
6.
Joyce field diary, 13 March, 1916
7.
Richards,
The Ross Sea Shore Party
8.
Hayward diary, 14 March 1916
9.
Richards diary, 14 March 1916
10.
Joyce field diary, 14 March 1916
11.
Richards diary, 15 March 1916
12.
Joyce field diary, 15 March 1916
13.
Richards, interview with L. Bickel, 1976
14.
Ibid.
15.
Ibid.
16.
Joyce field diary, 16 March 1916
17.
Wild diary, 17 March 1916
18.
Joyce field diary, 16 March 1916
19.
Ibid., 17 March 1916
20.
Hayward diary, 17 March 1916
21.
Joyce field diary, 18 March 1916
22.
Wild diary, 18 March 1916
23.
Richards diary, 18 March 1916
24.
Hayward diary, 18 March 1916
25.
Joyce field diary, 18 March 1916
26.
Wild diary, 18 March 1916
27.
Joyce diary transcripts for 18 March 1916
28.
Richards,
The Ross Sea Shore Party
29.
Ibid.
30.
Richards, interview with L. Bickel, 1976
31.
Hayward diary, 19 March 1916
32.
Richards diary, 19 March 1916
33.
Joyce field diary, 19 March 1916
34.
Ibid., 20 March 1916
35.
Hayward diary, 20 March 1916
36.
Richards,
The Ross Sea Shore Party
37.
Richards, interview with L. Bickel, 1976
38.
Richards,
The Ross Sea Shore Party
39.
Richards, interview with L. Bickel, 1976
40.
Ibid.
41.
Ibid.
42.
Richards letter to L. B. Quartermain, 7 March 1964
43.
Joyce field diary, 22 March 1916
44.
Mackintosh diary, 28 March 1915
45.
Ibid., 30 March 1915
46.
Ibid., 1 April 1915
47.
Ibid., 7 April 1915
48.
Ibid., 13 April 1915
49.
Ibid., 2 April 1915
50.
Ibid., 10 April 1915
51.
Ibid., 13 April 1915
52.
Richards, interview with L. Bickel, 1976
53.
Richards letter to L. B. Quartermain, 2 February 1964.
54.
Richards,
The Ross Sea Shore Party
55.
Ibid.
56.
Joyce field diary, 12 April 1916
57.
Ibid., 26 April 1916
58.
Ibid., 3 May 1916
59.
Hayward diary, 10 April 1916
60.
Ibid., April 1916
D
IARY ENTRIES FOR
early May tell us that the weather was fine. Hayward and Mackintosh were taking walks, to check the state of the sea-ice. Joyce was clearly unhappy that Mackintosh and Hayward were contemplating walking across the sea-ice so early in the winter season.
Hayward: âSat 6: Weather fine do Sea-ice Good.'
1
Joyce: âBlizzard still carrying on for a couple of days then cold snap. Temp below -30. Bay again frozen. Wild + Richy still butchering seals. Skipper + Hayward went over sea ice on the 7th + found it bearable.'
2
Mackintosh announced at breakfast that he and Hayward were going to make the trip across to Cape Evans that day. The weather was fine and calm but the others were still surprised by Mackintosh's decision. He and Hayward were now walking freely but they had not walked more than a mile or two at one time. Richards tells us they were confident in their strength to be able to walk the 13 miles to Cape Evans, and they planned to travel light. Joyce (with Mackintosh) then checked the weather and for Joyce, the weather over the Bluff indicated that a blizzard would arrive soon.
3
Joyce: âI don't know why these people are so anxious to risk their lives again but it seems to me they are that way inclined for at breakfast the 8th he asked me what I thought about him going to C. Evans with Hayward.'
4
Richards clearly remembered the discussion with Mackintosh, even sixty years later:
It was just twilight in the middle of the day and I distinctly remember Mackintosh saying when we were having our morning food: âHayward and I are going to Cape Evans today.'
And old Joycey got up and he went out through the passage-way and had a look down south to Minna Bluff, which you could see from there, and we always knew if it was obscured, there was bad weather coming.
He came back and he said: âNow look, Sir (he called him Sir), you may call me old cautious (which he sometimes did because Mackintosh was the reverse of that, he was terribly impetuous) but I wouldn't go to Cape Evans today for all the tea in China.'
And Mack says: âOh nonsense, Joyce, we'll be alright'.
And Joyce said: âWell, I'll make you up some seal meat'.
And he made up some fried seal meat in a calico bag and gave it to him.
They knew we didn't want them to go, but Mack was the leader and he said: âI'm going.'
5
Joyce: âI told him he could please himself, but I thought it was not a day for it, but still they shoved off + half an hour after leaving it came on a howling Blizzard.'
6
Richards related in his interviews that Mackintosh and Hayward went without any gear at all; they were just walking across, and in his opinion it was madness. He tells us that he, and Joyce and Wild, did not even consider joining them. In fact if Mackintosh had ordered them to join him Richards says they would have told him âyou go to hell'. In any case they could not go. Young ice has what the men called âice flowers' on it, which were ice crystals that look like small flowers. The crystals grow on freshly formed sea-ice and the sledges would not run on them.
7
Although Richards, Joyce and Wild were not in favour there was not much they could do about his decision. Mackintosh was still in charge of the party and short of forcibly restraining him they could only urge him not to go.
8
Richards believed that Hayward may not have been as keen as Mackintosh. He thought Hayward looked dubious but possibly he did not wish to âlose face'. Richards remembered the uncertain look on Hayward's face when Joyce said: âI wouldn't go there for all the tea in China'.
9
Richards's thoughts on the departure of Mackintosh and Hayward, revealed in an interview so many years afterwards, were that he, Joyce and Wild were extremely unhappy with Mackintosh's decision. He told his interviewer that the three of them had really worked their âguts out' to get them to the safety of Hut Point and they did not want anyone to risk going to Cape Evans before the sea-ice was firm. Richards said he âfelt a little bit of bitterness' because by that time not only did he think it was a needless risk, but he was starting to feel the strain of the journey.
10
Richards thought
that the two men took with them no more than a bag of cold seal meat and their personal diaries, which were carried in a wide pocket on the front of their sweaters.
11
(In fact, Hayward left his diary at Hut Point.)
Joyce, Richards and Wild walked up to the top of a small hill next to
Discovery
hut to watch the two men head north. (The hill has a cross on it, Vince's Cross, in memory of George Vince, who was a member of the
Discovery
Expedition. He died in 1902, the first man known to have lost his life in the McMurdo Sound region.)
There was just a dim twilight in the middle of the day and Richards remembered seeing Mackintosh and Hayward âin the distance rather dimly', and looking almost âpygmy-like' as they grew fainter walking across the expanse of sea-ice to the north.
12
Joyce, Richards and Wild watched them for a while without saying a word to each other.
13
Wild: âIf the other two get lost, I shall be sorry we humped them back here over the barrier. However, let's hope they get there alright.'
14
Richards: âSo we turned back and went back to the hut.
15
Sure enough, in little more than an hour, the wind began to rise and before long the blizzard Joyce had predicted had arrived and we were confined by it to the hut until 10 May.'
16
Joyce:
Whether they got there or no they deserved to be badly frostbitten or lose their lives. After dragging them back from death they seem to think they can court it again ah well such is life + what fools we got to put up with.
Carried on blowing + still the same outside open water to the N perhaps they have gone out on a flow [sic]. We are quite happy here + do not intend to leave until safe. There is no need to risk ones life without a cause.
17
Of course Richards, Joyce and Wild did not know then what had happened to Mackintosh and Hayward, but they did describe what happened after the two men left.
Joyce:
On the 10th, the first day possible the three left behind walked over the ice to the North to try to discover some trace as to the fate of the others. Their footmarks were seen clearly enough raised up in the ice and these we followed for about 2 miles in a direction leading to CE [Cape Evans]. Here they ended abruptly and in the dim light a wide stretch of open water very lightly covered with ice was seen as far as the eye could see, no doubt one night's freezing. It was evident at once that part of the ice over which they had travelled had gone out to sea.
18
Wild:
There were 2 sets of them going to CE and one set turning which had been made on the 7th.
Both sets of marks stopped suddenly about 2 miles from HP and we could see that the ice had all gone out from there, after they had passed. One set of marks was much nearer the land than the other.
19
Richards:
On 10th the three remaining members walked over the sea-ice to the North tracing the footsteps on the soft slushy ice. These ended abruptly in a sheet of water very lightly frozen as far as the eye could see.
The footsteps often keeping into land for a little suddenly turned heading directly for CE as though a sudden decision had been made. Before leaving M had promised Joyce that if the weather changed for the worse he would return.
20
Mackintosh took the risk to walk from Hut Point to Cape Evans in spite of a near-death experience on floating sea-ice seven years previously.
On the
Nimrod
Expedition in 1908 Mackintosh had been sent back to New Zealand after the accident where a boat hook hit his right eye, but in January 1909 he returned to McMurdo Sound. Due to pack ice the ship was stopped 25 miles away from the hut where the shore party was based so Mackintosh and three sailors left the ship to take the mail to the hut. They were pulling a sledge as they needed to carry a large postage bag, plus their tent, sleeping bags, cooking equipment and food. After four hours of hauling one of the sailors began to show signs of fatigue so he and another sailor returned to the ship, while Mackintosh and the remaining sailor, McGillan, pushed on.
That night they camped on the sea-ice but the next morning they came across open water, so they started back for the ship. However, they soon came across more open water. We have Mackintosh's own words from his diary at that time. He provides a graphic description of their predicament, and how close they came to losing their lives when caught on a floating sheet of ice:
The first intimation that everything was not well was the sight of a whale sprouting. I thought it was just a Killer coming up as they often do to breathe in a seal hole, so no further notice was taken and on we trudged.
Ten minutes later to my horror I saw water ahead and the ice moving rapidly. It seemed impossible and to make quite sure I had a good look from an elevated position. There was no room left for doubt for the immense ice sheet had formed into floes by the numerous cracks developing into lanes of open water.
The cold knowledge that we were very much adrift was anything but cheering. We thought we were then about two and a half miles from shore but it must have been four in the least.
Mackintosh and his companion McGillan were now in a precarious situation, on sea-ice that was breaking up, and facing the possibility of being carried out to sea. Mackintosh continues:
There was water to the southward, water to the northward and we were between the two, and would before long be floating out to sea! So a bee line was made for the nearest shore. Across floes, hummocks, and deep snow we dragged our sledge, both realising the necessity of a speedy arrival at the nearest land.
The two men struggled to pull their sledge over the ice floes, towards the shore.
At places we had to lift the sledge bodily over the rough ice face. In spite of the cold weather we were sweating freely the extra work that now came upon us was back breaking. I cannot express the keen and ready way in which McGillan stood by me, and the way in which he showed his willingness to assist me in every way.
Now the situation had become dire, with the size of the ice floes diminishing. Through Mackintosh's words we can imagine what must have been going through his mind at this critical time:
Our arrival at the first point of land filled us with horror and disgust as we found an impassable lane of water stopping our progress! With all out strength we dragged on to the next point which appeared to be safe.
How we pulled: the floes were getting square in shape and smaller. At about every 200 yards we had to drag our sledge to the edge of a floe and then jump on to the next one ourselves, and with a big effort pull it to safety.
For an hour this kind of work lasted, our hands were cut and bleeding, our clothes wet through to the waist which of course froze as stiff as boards on us, for we had, when crossing from floe to floe, frequently fallen and slipped on the edge.
Finally they came close to a glacier that allowed them to jump onto solid ground:
Luck however was with us at last, and it cheered me when my companion told me that he had always had good luck. At 2.30pm we were near to the land and came to a piece of detached glacier that formed a bridge apparently to the shore. The floe
that we were on was moving rapidly, so we had to make a great effort and drag our sledge over the six feet breach.
Our luck was in and we pulled the sledge a little way up the face of the ice and unpacked it. We were on terra firma! But none too soon for fifteen minutes later there was open water where we had gained the land!
21
Why did he risk his life in May 1916? Eleven months earlier, in early June 1915, Mackintosh (with others including Hayward) had crossed from Hut Point to Cape Evans on the sea-ice so he knew the journey was possible at that time of the year. Richards believed that Mackintosh must have imagined that in May 1916 he could ânip across' again â while the ice was in.
22
Mackintosh had talked about a way to make the journey, by simply walking back on his own, or with one companion and taking nothing with them. Wild had diarised these thoughts of Mackintosh (in May 1915); how his plans were to simply lie down and cover himself with a jacket if a blizzard came on quickly. At that time Wild wrote that he had no idea what Mackintosh meant. Wild called it an impractical scheme.
23
Mackintosh knew of the fragility of the weather. He even noted in his diary on 30 July 1915 that it could change from âParadise to Hades in a few hours'.
24
Richards tells us that all of the men including Mackintosh had seen blizzards take out the middle 7 miles of the sea-ice of the route between Cape Evans and Hut Point.
25
In Richards's opinion Mackintosh's desire to risk a crossing to Cape Evans was based on his dislike of the primitive conditions at Hut Point, when compared to those at Cape Evans. He knew Mackintosh was quite fond of comfort and there was none whatsoever at Hut Point; it was just horrific. Cape Evans seemed a palace, with acetylene lighting, bunks to sleep in and blankets. Richards thought that Mackintosh must have said to himself: âI could get across to Cape Evans; the Sound seems to be frozen over all the way.'
26
As leader he may have also been anxious to find out whether the four men at Cape Evans were safe but he (Richards) was more inclined to believe that Mackintosh could not put up with the conditions at Hut Point. Richards thought that outweighed everything else on his mind.
27
