Survival Tails: Endurance in Antarctica

by Katrina Charman

  “I’m feeling fine, Sally,” he croaked. “Don’t you worry about me.”

  Sally looked back at Judge hovering nearby and shook her head slightly.

  “Well, you just hold on for a while longer,” Sally told him. “Samson will be back soon. I am sure of it.”

  “Samson,” Bummer repeated, suddenly remembering.

  He had been thinking about Samson and the day they had met. Samson had stood up for Bummer when no other dog would.

  “Samson,” he mumbled, immediately forgetting the thought again.

  He let his eyes drift slowly shut as the sounds of the men arguing and Sally talking in a low voice beside him faded. His final thought was that he wished he could have seen his friend Samson one last time.

  CHAPTER 26

  SALLY

  August 30, 1916

  Sally watched with a sense of pride as her pups worked away with the men down on the shore. That morning, the sky had cleared, and the weather was calmer than it had been for months.

  Nell barked, and one of the men went over to her, bending to dislodge a limpet she had found clinging beneath a rock. They often went down at low tide to find limpets, crabs, or anything else they could add to their dwindling rations. Sally didn’t much like the salty taste or the squelchy, slimy feel of them as they slipped down her throat, but the food kept her strong for another day, and that was all she really cared about.

  She gazed out to sea, able to see much farther than usual as the fog of the past few days had all but disappeared. She thought she caught something dark on the horizon and moved closer to shore, squinting as she tried to make out what she had spotted. It could be a whale, she thought. They sometimes came closer to the bay on clearer days, when there was less chance of their being accidentally beached. But they usually visited in late afternoon or as the sun was setting.

  Sally continued to track the dark spot, unsure whether to get the men’s attention. Whatever it was, it was definitely moving closer. It had gone from a small black speck to a bigger blot. As it moved toward the bay, Sally could make out its outline. It sailed on top of the water, not within it as a whale or seal might, and as it turned slightly to the left, Sally knew for certain what she was looking at, although she could hardly believe her eyes.

  “A boat!” she barked, running to the water’s edge. “I see a boat!”

  The men shouted back up to camp and hurried to make a fire, gathering together blubber and paraffin. In their haste, they used too much paraffin, and as they dropped the lit match onto it, it exploded with a great whoosh of fire and smoke. Then, as quickly as it had ignited, it went out again, with only a few stubborn flames continuing to burn on the ground.

  It didn’t matter, as the ship had already seen them. It hoisted its flag, and the men gave a loud cheer, waving at their rescuers. When the ship could come no farther because of the risk of running against the rocks, it lowered its anchor, then let down a small boat over the side. Sally could just make out three figures in the boat, two men waving back at them and one large dog, wagging his tail back and forth.

  “Samson!” Sally whispered as tears filled her eyes.

  “Samson!” her pups cried, running to tell the other dogs. “It’s Samson!”

  Samson

  They had made numerous attempts to find their way back to Elephant Island, but each mission had been thwarted by bad weather or hindered by pack ice or some other obstacle that had forced them to turn back. The longer time went on, the more frustrated Samson felt. They had promised to return after four weeks. What must Bummer and Sally be thinking? That they had been abandoned?

  Samson hoped his friends knew that he would never give up, but what could he do? He was just a dog. He couldn’t commandeer a ship or sail to his friends’ rescue. The boss had exhausted almost every avenue possible. There were few ships that could make the crossing to Elephant Island and even fewer captains willing to try. Just when all seemed lost, the Chilean government offered the boss the use of one of its ships—the Yelcho. But Samson knew this was their last chance. He’d overheard the boss saying that if they didn’t make it this time, the British government would take over the rescue mission and it would be out of their hands. Samson might never have the chance to go back or see his friends again.

  As the imposing outline of Elephant Island finally appeared on the horizon, Samson felt his stomach lurch with emotion—he couldn’t tell if he was more excited, nervous, or afraid of what they might find. Would anyone be there to greet them when they arrived?

  His fears were short-lived. As they came in view of the bay, Samson could already see some of the men and dogs hailing them. Shackleton and Crean rushed to the Yelcho’s small lifeboat, and Samson bounded across the deck, determined not to be left behind. He leaped into the boat before either man had time to protest. The boat was slowly lowered to the water, and a flash of fear sparked in Samson’s stomach as he remembered the journey in the James Caird and how close they had come so many times to not making it back to Elephant Island at all.

  As Crean rowed them to shore, Shackleton took out his binoculars to get a better view of his men. Samson could hear him quietly counting the men under his breath, and Samson began doing the same with the dogs. He quickly spotted Wolf and Hercules, as they were still great lumbering beasts despite having lost weight. Judge was off to one side, his back turned as though he was looking back up to their camp. But there was no sign of Sally and the pups. Or Bummer.

  “Are you all well?” Shackleton called out as they neared shore.

  “All well, boss!” the men replied as they assembled in a line on the beach to greet him. Not one man was missing. Twenty-two men, all present and accounted for. Against all odds, they had made it.

  Samson scanned the beach again desperately, hoping that the same could be said for the dogs. Suddenly, from behind the lifeboats, which had been stacked one on top of the other, Sally emerged, shortly followed by one, two, three… four puppies! Samson allowed himself to breathe again, until he realized there was still no sign of Bummer.

  The men ran to meet the boat, dragging it up onto the shore as they greeted their boss. Samson leaped into the water, weaving his way between their legs and sniffing the ground for the scent of his best friend. Judge came over to greet him with a shake of his tail.

  “You are a sight for sore eyes,” Judge said.

  Samson smiled. “It’s good to see you again, Judge.”

  He looked up as the puppies, now fully grown dogs, bounded toward him, asking so many questions at once that he couldn’t understand a word any of them was saying.

  “Give him room to breathe,” Sally told them. “You’ll have plenty of time to catch up on the journey home.”

  She looked up at Samson and smiled, her eyes sparkling.

  “Bummer?” Samson whispered.

  Sally lowered her eyes and had opened her mouth to speak when a movement behind Samson caught his eye. He turned to look back at the camp. Bummer was slowly making his way toward him, limping as he held up his front leg, heavily wrapped in a bandage. Samson raced over to his friend, almost knocking him over as he skidded to a stop.

  “Bummer!” Samson cried. “I thought… when I didn’t see you on the beach, I thought I might have lost you.”

  Bummer beamed back at his friend. “Well, you almost did,” he admitted.

  That was when Samson noticed that not only was Bummer thinner than all the other dogs, his fur duller, but his front leg also ended in a stump where his paw should have been.

  “What happened?” Samson whispered.

  “Leopard seal,” Bummer replied. “I was almost on my way out when Dr. Macklin decided to take drastic action and chopped off my paw.” He gave a small smile. “Of course, it would have been polite if he’d consulted me first, but I wasn’t really in any fit state to protest, and besides,” he said, lifting his leg slightly, “I’d lose my paw again in a heartbeat if it meant being here for this moment.”

  Samson walked slowl
y beside his friend as he hobbled down to the shore, where the men were already loading the boat with supplies and anything else they wanted to take with them.

  An hour later, they were all safely on board the Yelcho, heading back to South Georgia and whatever lay ahead.

  “So,” Bummer asked, “did you get the adventure you were looking for?”

  Samson considered this for a while, watching the men and surviving dogs as they hugged and barked and cried.

  “I’ve seen and done things I never thought possible,” he said finally. “We’ve journeyed to places where no other dog in the world has ever set a paw before.”

  He nudged his friend’s shoulder with his head. “How about you, Bummer?”

  Bummer thought for a moment. “I found a place I belong,” he said.

  Samson raised an eyebrow.

  “Not the Antarctic, obviously,” Bummer added with a grin. “I think my days of exploration are over. But you and Sally and the pups… even Wolf and Hercules feel more like family to me than my own ever did.”

  “Do you know the most amazing thing of all?” Samson asked. He lifted his nose toward the men. All twenty-eight of them still in one piece… more or less. “They survived,” he continued. “Every single man on this expedition. Against all odds, and everything that was thrown at us.”

  He leaned his head gently against Bummer’s and whispered, “We survived.”

  Keep reading with Little, Brown.

  Get activities, videos, reading guides, and more!

  LittleBrownYoungReaders.com

  Facebook.com/LittleBrownYoungReaders

  Instagram.com/LittleBrownYoungReaders

  Twitter.com/LittleBrownYR

  Youtube.com/LittleBrownBooks

  Pinterest.com/LittleBrownYoungReaders

  Author’s Note

  The story of Shackleton’s Endurance expedition is such an amazing tale of survival because despite incredible odds—and due in no small part to the absolute determination of Shackleton to get his crew home safely—every single man on the expedition survived. This means that there are many books, diaries, and other accounts by the men themselves, including Shackleton’s documentation of the extraordinary expedition.

  Frank Hurley, the photographer, was also able to save many of his photographs and much of his film, which he sealed in watertight metal tins. As the wreck of the Endurance began sinking, he and Shackleton dived beneath the icy water to retrieve as much as they could. Thanks to their bravery and foresight, we can still see the haunting images of the Endurance today.

  While I have taken some creative license with parts of the story, many of the things that happened to Bummer and Samson in the book did actually happen on the expedition—but to the men.

  The seal attack, for example, when the men were running desperately low on food and provisions, occurred on a day when a seal jumped out at one of the crew (Thomas Orde-Lees). Luckily, Frank Wild was on hand to shoot the seal, and they did in fact find that it had a belly full of fish, saving the starving men.

  Mrs. Chippy also started off the adventure with a quick dip in the ocean and was saved by one of the crew. Holness did, in fact, fall into the water when the ice floe split beneath the men’s tents, but it was Shackleton himself who saved the man, and not one of the dogs.

  Sadly, unlike in this book, none of the dogs made it safely home. When the men sailed to Elephant Island, the dogs were deemed more of a burden than a help, and the adventure continued without them.

  Animals on the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition

  • During the expedition, the crew spotted many different types of wildlife, including whales, penguins, seals, and seabirds.

  • Ninety-nine dogs were sent from Canada to Shackleton in London, to be used to pull the sleds and equipment across Antarctica. On Shackleton’s previous expedition to Antarctica, he had used ponies, but he’d found that they were unsuited for the harsh conditions, so he followed explorer Roald Amundsen’s example and decided to take dogs.

  • Of those ninety-nine dogs, sixty-five were chosen for the expedition. They were specifically selected for their size, strength, and ability to withstand the freezing temperatures of the Antarctic. They were all very large dogs—mixtures of Newfoundlands, Saint Bernards, wolfhounds, wolves, and Eskimo dogs—and weighed around a hundred pounds each.

  • The dogs were named by Shackleton and the crew during the crossing over the Weddell Sea. Each man was allocated a group of dogs to look after.

  • The dogs’ names were:

  Alti

  Amundsen

  Blackie

  Bob

  Bo’sun

  Bristol

  Brownie

  Buller

  Bummer

  Caruso

  Chips

  Dismal

  Elliott

  Fluff

  Gruss

  Hackenschmidt

  Hercules

  Jamie

  Jasper

  Jerry

  Judge

  Luke

  Lupoid

  Mack

  Martin

  Mercury

  Noel

  Paddy

  Peter

  Rodger

  Roy

  Rufus

  Rugby

  Sadie

  Sailor

  Saint

  Sally

  Sammy

  Samson

  Sandy

  Satan

  Shakespeare

  Side Lights

  Simian

  Slippery Neck

  Slobbers

  Snowball

  Soldier

  Songster

  Sooty

  Spider

  Split Lip

  Spotty

  Steamer

  Steward

  Stumps

  Sub

  Sue

  Surly

  Swanker

  Sweep

  Tim

  Upton

  Wallaby

  Wolf

  • Sally’s puppies: Nell, Nelson, Roger, and Toby

  • As well as dogs, there was also a ship’s cat called Mrs. Chippy, who belonged to the carpenter, McNish. McNish brought his beloved cat along with him, and although she was called Mrs. Chippy, it turned out that she was male.

  Animal Facts

  SLED DOGS

  • Like Shackleton’s dogs, sled dogs are chosen for their size, strength, speed, thick fur, and ability to run long distances.

  • They can race across the ice as fast as twenty miles per hour.

  • Alaska hosts an annual sled race called the Iditarod, where people known as mushers race with teams of sixteen dogs over a thousand miles.

  • Each dog team has a leader.

  • Each dog has a separate harness that is attached to a main line leading to the sled.

  • Dogs have been used to pull sleds for thousands of years. As modern modes of transportation were invented, sled dogs came to be used only for racing.

  LEOPARD SEALS

  • Leopard seals often ambush their prey beneath the water or by leaping out of the sea onto ice shelves. With long, sharp teeth and powerful jaws, they eat fish, penguins, birds, and the young pups of smaller types of seals.

  • Female leopard seals are larger than males. They can grow to be ten feet long and can weigh up to a thousand pounds.

  • As with whales and penguins, the thick layer of blubber beneath their skin keeps them warm in the freezing temperatures of the Antarctic.

  • They are the second-largest species of seal in the world and are one of Antarctica’s most dangerous predators, second only to the killer whale.

  • The leopard seal became known as the leopard of the sea because of the spotted pattern of its skin.

  WHALES

  • Many species of whale are found in the Antarctic, including killer whales, blue whales, humpback whales, and sperm whales.

  • Killer whales, also known as orc
as, hunt in groups known as pods for penguins, seals, sharks, and smaller whales.

  • Whales can be found in every ocean on Earth. Killer whales’ rows of sharp teeth and ability to hunt in groups make them the deadliest predator in the Antarctic.

  • The blue whale is the largest creature on the planet, measuring over 100 feet long and weighing up to 170 tons.

  • The sperm whale can dive down to seven thousand feet and can remain underwater for an hour and a half.

  Expedition Facts

  • Five thousand men applied to go on the expedition, but only twenty-six were chosen. Blackborow, the stowaway, joined the expedition in Buenos Aires.

  • The crew were:

  • Frank Worsley—ship’s captain

  • Ernest Shackleton—expedition leader

  • Frank Wild—second-in-command

  • Leonard Hussey—meteorologist

  • George Marston—artist

  • Walter How—able seaman

  • Reginald James—physicist

  • Thomas Orde-Lees—motor expert and store keeper

  • John Vincent—boatswain and able seaman

  • Tom Crean—second officer

  • William Stephenson—fireman and stoker

  • Robert Clark—biologist

  • James Wordie—geologist

  • Timothy McCarthy—able seaman

  • Alfred Cheetham—third officer

  • Frank Hurley—photographer

  • Dr. James McIlroy—second surgeon

  • Dr. Alexander Macklin—surgeon

  • Lionel Greenstreet—first officer

  • Ernest Holness—able seaman and stoker

  • Huberht Hudson—navigating officer

  • Charles Green—cook

  • Alexander Kerr—second engineer

  • Louis Rickinson—chief engineer

  • Thomas McLeod—able seaman

  • Henry McNish—ship’s carpenter

  • William Bakewell—able seaman