Part III

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The Establishment of Mark Time Camp

  • A whiff of defeat floats by and a deep, enduring boredom sets in.
  • Temperatures around freezing. Ice becomes a bog during the day, men are forced to trudge around in slush. They are continually soaked.

Fauna encounters

Returning from a hunting trip, Thomas Orde-Lees becomes chums with a sea leopard. He invites it to play bridge.
Sea leopard looking for a bridge partner
After losing a game, the leopard seal gets ferociously hungry and attempts to eat everyone. Quoth Frank "Wuzzles" Worsley: "A man on foot in soft, deep snow and unarmed would not have a chance against such an animal as they almost bound along with a rearing, undulating motion at least five miles an hour. They attack without provocation, looking on man as a penguin or seal."
Leopard seal hungry

The Crew notices they are running out of food

"That's weird," says Charles "Doughballs" Green, "I'm hungry and there doesn't seem to be any food?"

A hunting party returns and reports that they have killed 3 seals! "Huzzah!" shouts everyone but Ernest Shackleton. The Boss says "No, let them rot and we shall starve." Nobody argues.

Food stores low

Patience Camp

  • Blubber soot from the stove traps heat on the ice, causing it to melt.
  • Camp is moved 150 yards southeast to a neighboring floe. Patience Camp is born.

The dogs are murdered

The crew loved the Dogs. They were more than sledge haulers; they were a part of the crew. Some of them never knew another life. The crew does not take this news well. Many blame Ernest Shackleton for his grotesque over-optimism (see decision to let seals rot above).

Playing puppies

Playing puppies

Sledging

All dogs love a job

Doggy pile

Doggy pile

Dog graveyard

Dog graveyard

[Grus] is a fine little dog, hardworking and of a good disposition. Also I have had him, fed him and trained him since he was born. I remember taking him out when he was a puppy in my pocket, only his nose peeping out and getting covered with frost. I used to take him on the sledge when I was driving the team, and in those early days he used to take an active interest in the doings of the dogs.

- Alexander Macklin

The dogs belonging to Frank Wild, James McIlroy, George Marston and Tom Crean are all shot. Each dog "went unsuspectingly around the ice hummock to his death with his tail wagging."