Shackleton's Heroes
Page 13
Hayward’s team arrive at Hut Point
On 14 March the three men reached Hut Point, but they found nobody there. A letter from Stenhouse told them the Aurora had picked up the others two days ago. For ten days Hayward, Cope and Jack were at Hut Point on their own, before being joined by Mackintosh, Joyce and Wild. They found Discovery hut a reasonable place to live, compared to sledging on the Barrier.
Hayward:
14 Mar: We set out after breakfast this morning roped after Alpine fashion & after looking round realised that the ascent was too steep to even consider attempting to haul up the sledge, we therefore decided to continue in the direction of Hut Point with all speed & after 5 hours precarious going we were rewarded by making the Hut safely, which I can honestly say I at times hardly expected, as without exaggeration we were several times as near to fatal accident as it is comfortable to be, & I am exceedingly thankful at our safety.
We have missed her by just 2 days.
We must now prepare ourselves for a sojourn here until the sea is sufficiently frozen to enable us to sledge to Cape Evans where the ship will winter, this will probably be 3 months.4
Hayward:
15 Mar: By Jingo, what a joy to sleep in something dry. I feel quite young again. Had a busy day straightening things up, a sort of Spring clean without the nuisance of soap & water, a shovel pick-axe & broom & a little effort has made the Hut far more comfortable than it was.5
Hayward: ‘21 Mar: Weather as usual rotten, heavy drift & driving wind. Temperatures these days average somewhere about 70° below, somewhat parky I tell you & makes the Hut seem very nice although it isn’t really.’6
Hayward:
22 Mar: Weather continues bad. Pottered about Hut making candlesticks out of Syrup tins & spoons out of wire, as although the ship so kindly left us any amount of Corned Beef & sardines, they very kindly omitted to leave us anything to tackle them with, we would use our fingers, only the tips are so badly sore through frost-bite.7
Mackintosh, Joyce and Wild arrive at Hut Point
After an uncomfortable night in the hills near Hut Point on 24 March, Mackintosh, Joyce and Wild left their sledge (with their sleeping bags) and risked sliding down the hills; a gamble which paid off as they landed safely, only a short distance from Hut Point. Hayward and Jack were out walking and were surprised when they heard their voices from inside the hut.
Cope, although a biologist, was the party’s doctor and he attended to Mackintosh, Joyce and Wild’s sores and injuries. Wild made no mention of his frostbite ailments, or the amputation of his toe.
Before long Mackintosh started to compare living in Discovery hut to being on the march, and then after only a few days at the hut his thoughts turned to the 13-mile trek north, to Cape Evans. They found a small quantity of meat at the hut, and Hayward had an unusual interpretation of ‘fresh’.
Joyce:
25 Mar: A woe begotten night. Feet + hands throbbing through the blisters. Made breakfast + proceeded towards the hut. We are on the trail of a sledge track. Expect it was the one made by the Padre + his party. It leads us to a comfortable down trail on to the sea-ice.
On inspection the ice was thin therefore treacherous. We decided to climb the hills. Proceeded to an easy slope. Before ascending same we thought it advisable to lunch, in case of accidents.
After satisfying the inner man we packed + abandoned the sledge, carrying ice axes we assisted Wild up the gradual slope. His feet still very painful. Reached the summit of the hills which leads down to a plateau between Cape Armitage + Hut Point.
I remarked, let us play chances? Slide down + see where we land. We let ourselves go, in 2 minutes we found ourselves at the bottom + about 10 yds from the edge of a drop of about 30 feet. Our breath exhausted.
In ½ an hour we were at Hut Point.8
Hayward:
25 Mar: I suddenly heard voices apparently coming from the Hut, & of course knowing that we had left Cope, who is no better, by himself, could not make it out, but needless to say lost no time in making investigations. It turned out to be the Skipper, Joyce & Wild, who having left their sledge on the Barrier Edge, had made their way over the fresh sea-ice barely one inch thick & on foot to the Hut.
I cannot describe their ghastly appearance, the Skipper looked dazed, Wild had an ear completely frost bitten, his nose & one foot. Joyce had his hands & nose & feet gone, they looked awful.
Of course we were all pleased to see each other & Jack & I set to work to make our visitors as comfortable as we could. We sat yarning nearly all night & I will not say too much as to what it meant.9
Mackintosh:
25 Mar: Having our breakfast and have the luxury of sitting in front of the primus while it goes full. Here we are at last, our troubles of sledging and sleep at least over!
We found here even a blubber-fire, luxurious, but what a state of dirt and grease! However, warmth and food are at present our principal objects. As there are only three bags here,† we take it in turns to use them. Our party have the privilege.10
Joyce:
26 Mar: After dinner we had a medical examination. Wild is in the worst condition his feet are raw + his big toe will have to be amputated. His face is a picture and one ear is a big blister. Hands badly blistered. I do not think he could have travelled another day.
Mac seems to have got off the best. His feet slightly blistered hands slightly, face cheeks + nose blistered, hands slightly.
My feet and hands badly gone but not serious. Nose I am afraid of. It is a big black blister from cheek bones across. Anyway we are in a hut + we have a doc, so that is something. Cope started on his doctoring right away.11
Wild’s big toe had to be amputated, a part of his ear came off, it was a couple of weeks before our faces straightened out again. It was painful to laugh but with the good management of Cope who was working under extreme difficulties, we were soon about again.12
Mackintosh:
26 Mar: This is indeed comfort – the trials & tribulations of the past (months) week can make us appreciate them.
Yet to see our habitation, this room (a space in the hut divisioned off) is full of smoke, we are sitting over a stove that has been made to use blubber – our clean faces which were so when we arrived are black with soot, this does not worry us, we are warm, we can turn in sleep, real sleep, no dreary shivers.13
27 Mar: The change in scene from a few days ago is remarkable. Here we are now leading a life of a primitive people, black now with grime and soot from the impoverished stove, all this so in contrast to the fresh air open life.
Although we have not been here yet long enough to wish to be back to sleepless nights and frozen fingers.
Today we have cleaned out some of the debris littered about, also the blubber which has overflowed from the stove laying all over the place, so that one is walking in it, we have now cleared this up and made an overflow ledge to receive the blubber and made a platform round the stove to walk over, the part we are living in has also been screened round, so we can retain more of the heat given out by the stove it has certainly made the place more habitable.14
Our clothes are rapidly becoming begrimed with blubber, as are our faces. We have not quite got used to the method of using the stove so perhaps this accounts for the smoke that issues from it. Washing is a thing we are unable to do, for one thing we have nothing to wash in, also the trouble of getting the water melted is all against us, as well as the room when we can do so.
Joyce’s and Wild’s frost bites are very bad, my principal damage is my nose and a couple of fingers – lanoline is our principal medicine.
28 Mar: The sea is freezing all round, but open water to the north, still.15
30 Mar: Now we have the shelter here and have been comforted I feel myself wishing to be back at Cape Evans (Aurora). I hate this idleness, besides the clothes we have are getting in a sad way. A bath would be just glorious. The ice all round is freezing fast tonight.
Joyce’s nose is not a pretty
sight being a resemblance of what one sees of Aly Soper.‡16
Hayward:
30 Mar: Late last evening I watched Killer Whales in the Bay here, sporting about & breaking up the sea-ice which we are relying on to get to the ship as soon as possible. This was 8 inches thick & these whales simply made great lanes through it with the utmost ease, it is not nice however to see ones ground as it were, broken up under ones feet, & especially under ones very eyes.
We are endeavouring to thaw out a leg of mutton which we have discovered here, it was left in 1901, Scott’s first Expedn so is nearly 15 years old, still fresh meat is always acceptable what!
Enjoyed mutton immensely.17
April 1915 – six men wait at Hut Point
Joyce describes their life inside Discovery hut. He was wondering why the ship has not come down to Hut Point and picked them up. He blamed Mackintosh for failing to direct Stenhouse, the acting captain of the Aurora.
Joyce:
It is impossible to wash, there being no utensils, soap or towels.
The Blubber stove is a peach. Every time a piece of blubber is placed on it, it throws out black smoke + the fumes are very disagreeable.
The sun went North on 22 April until 22 Aug. The darkness gradually coming over the Antarctic until there is no daylight at all.
So one can hardly realise what it is to be in a hut that was built for 45 people two thirds full of snow one corner blocked off with provision cases, no windows, table, chairs or bunks.
3 men in sleeping bags, 3 men sitting around the blubber stove. 2 out of the 3 bandaged up, no lighting except an improvised blubber lamp, which was an old tin full of blubber, a piece of canvas as a wick floating about which gives out plenty of fumes and very little light.
The food which is seal meat cooked in blubber oil, biscuits + now + again dried veges but in spite of all this everyone seems to have a good appetite.
The position here is there are only 3 sleeping bags so we will have to keep watch + wait until the others are brought from the bay. They will take about a week to dry as they are full of ice, the weight of a bag is 10 lbs + when brought in + weighed they were over 30 lbs. This shows the quantity of ice that accumulated through the heat of the body.
There is an assortment of stores. No clean clothing. One can exist here for some months. It is remarkable how one overcomes difficulties – what with the blubber + grease + our frostbites, which gave us a terrible time.18
(Twelve months on and Joyce, with others of the Mount Hope Party, would again be at Discovery hut, living in the same conditions.)
Joyce:
The nonappearance of the ship causes very heated arguments. Before the darkness came on there was open water as far as one could see from the hills. Even now there is open water as the sea is only frozen over to the South of Hut Pt.
I asked Mack one day what instructions had he given to Stenhouse regarding the returning sledging parties. He was very vague on the subject. Cape Evans is only 13 miles to the North + the ship could be here in 2 hours. Stenhouse knowing the conditions ought to have anchored here until the sledging parties were picked up. There being good anchorage in the bay, or landed coal, stove, lanterns, clothes + stores. In our arguments whoever is right or wrong only common sense ought to have been heard.
It does not take any thinking and until we found out otherwise Mack is in the wrong for not leaving instructions. Anyway we are going through the mill. Although we are heated in our arguments it is forgotten soon after.19
(It appears that Joyce may have been wrong to believe that Mackintosh did not leave instructions for Stenhouse. In his diary of 27 January, when at Hut Point, Mackintosh had written: ‘I wrote instructions here for Stenhouse to leave provisions here for our return in case we were not back in time to be taken off by the ship’.20 Stenhouse may not have seen the instructions because if he had, he it is hard to imagine that he would not have left stores at Hut Point when he picked up the party with Richards and Spencer-Smith in early March.)
Mackintosh and Hayward anxiously wait for the sea-ice to freeze
However, the men managed, by reading and singing and in friendly arguments. Hayward mentioned a ‘friendly’ argument where it appears that Hayward was arguing the case for a ‘Canadian Cowboy’ being able to go out in tougher conditions than a sailor, who he called ‘Broach Buster the Sailor’.
For Mackintosh, the conditions at Hut Point were now intolerable and understandably, he longed to be home. He tells us he was reading a book by a Richard Whiteing, written in 1899. No. 5 John Street was a hovel in the heart of a slum in the West End of London where Whiteing had gone to learn what it was like to live on half a crown a day, and to earn it. Mackintosh compared his predicament to that of Whiteing.
Mackintosh and Hayward had an overwhelming desire to be at Cape Evans. (Twelve months later they would again be at Hut Point and repeat their almost daily ritual of checking the sea-ice between the two locations.) Hayward was regularly taking walks, usually with Mackintosh to check the condition of the sea-ice.
On Thursday 22 April the sun did not rise and they noticed the diminishing light.
The men did not mention the First World War in their diaries and Richards tells us, in an interview, that the men placed little importance to the war because most of them thought that the end of the war was a foregone conclusion. He remembered that sometimes one of the men might say they wondered if the war was still going on and the others would look at the person who spoke as if they were mad. They did not imagine that the war could still possibly be on.21
Hayward:
1 Apr: Weather so bad that it is impossible to venture outside the Hut. I have been wondering what you are doing more than usual, in view of the close proximity of the Easter Holiday. 8 pm: Weather cleared sufficiently to enable Skipper & I to get a little walk in, very acceptable too.22
5 Apr: Lovely day. Skipper & I walked to Gap.
To-night from 7 o/c until 10.30 I have been engaged in an argument against Skipper Joyce & Wild on the respective merits of the Western Canadian Cowboy & Broach Buster the Sailor, of course I was up against a strong majority & took on rather more than I bargained for, nevertheless the Skipper thanked me for the debate. Debates have been suggested for a daily or rather nightly part of our entertainment whilst here.23
15 Apr: Strong wind from South has unfortunately completely broken up ice & again a heavy sea takes its place, this of course destroys our hope of reaching the ship without much more delay as we began to expect.24
22 Apr: Lovely day. To-day we saw the last of the sun till Sept next.
23 Apr: The sun is leaving us rapidly & will disappear altogether within the next few days. Wind sprung up from the S & brought all the ice in packing tight with a very loud grinding & crunching. I should say that the ice now in the Sound is about 2” thick. 2 or 3 more days & we shall be able to clear I hope.
This evening we found a sort of Christmas Pudding in a linen bag, 14 years old & it was jolly good too.25
25 Apr: Blizzard set in last night & lasted all to-day. Hope it will let up to-morrow, strong wind doing its best to break up ice again.26
29 Apr: Less windy & brighter. Sea-ice promising.27
Mackintosh:
1 Apr: This place is really an appalling mess, much worse than I like to see but under the circumstances I don’t like imposing tasks. I find myself getting more resigned to the grime and dirt, one minute I may be poking a lump of blubber on to the fire, one has to kneel down to get at the stove, your hands consequently get smothered in blubber lying all around.28
1 Apr: In the evenings songs are sung and everyone keeps more or less merry and bright. Yet we are grateful, I shall never forget the relief we found on getting back here safely. Arguments are rife. We have so much to settle and decide when we get back to the ship. I am sure if we should remember all that we have argued upon and not decided it will take us many days finding out.29
7 Apr: Great arguments go on. Hayward is a champion for C
anada, having lived there for some time on a ranch. He and Joyce have been at it fist and tongs. Hayward stating that the blizzards in Canada are more severe than we get here and that cowboys are able to get out in any weather. This I should state goes rather against him, as I am sure no one could face some of the winds we have to. Hayward sticks to his guns however, so the point is still unsettled.30
8 Apr: Reading No 5 John Street, the inhabitants there were clean in respect to ourselves, but who on earth could be filthier? Our clothes are deplorable, Hayward is walking about on his ‘uppers’,§ all of us have an odd assortment of clothing, odd shoes etc. A decent bed and wash are constant thoughts. Oh the joy of getting back to the other hut, or the ship!31
11 Apr: Got all hands to clear out living space, it’s been neglected I am afraid unless one keeps them up to mark they will soon get slack – discipline, the only thing down here, the filth we have cleared out is remarkable. We still remain more or less black with grime, but while here we have got quite immune to being without water; I am glad to say, all here are cheerful and bright.
The smoke though is terrific, we breathe it and our clothes are practically oozing with blubber.32
12 Apr: I try to get out as much as possible, breathing all the carbon we do can’t be good for one, so a little fresh air acts as an antidote. Have been making a wrapper to tie around my head to keep my ears from frost bite. What a joy it will be to get back to my cabin on the Aurora and have that wash and put on clean clothes once again!33