Endurance - Alfred Lansing
Notes:
Shackleton didn’t really fit in with everyday life. He was a dreamer. It would probably be fair to call him immature, at least before the Antarctic voyage. But, as Lansing says, the great leaders of historical record (Napoleon, Alexander, etc.) “have rarely fitted any conventional mold, and it is perhaps an injustice to evaluate them in ordinary terms.”
The Endurance was originally called the Polaris. Shackleton renamed her in keeping with the motto of his family, Fortitudine vincimus—by endurance we conquer.
The men on board were heterogenous. Diversity of backgrounds. But they came to like each other, despite worsening conditions.
When they lost the ship, there was “a trace of mild exhilaration in their attitude.” They had a clear-cut task ahead of them.
Satisfaction in simplicity of purpose. p. 108-109.
Anemomania: wind madness.
Intrepid attempts to make jokes about cannibalism: “Greenstreet and I amuse ourselves at Marston’s expense. Marston is the plumpest man in the Camp and we become very solicitous about his welfare and condition, making a great show of generosity by offering him old penguin bones that we have gnawed till there is nothing left. We implore him not to get thin and even go so far as to select chops, etc., off him and quarrel about who shall have the tenderest part.”
The crew would log the day’s events even after a freezing, wet, miserable day at sea. Different culture/practice around journaling, keeping diaries. All the men did it.
The water in the improvised boats was usually at least ankle high, even with constant bailing. The men had to constantly wiggle their toes to avoid frostbite. Losing feeling would have been much more comfortable. It was always tempting to stop wiggling and just go numb, but that would mean losing toes or the whole foot.
After six days at sea, rowing, staying constantly alert, the crew enjoyed their brief time on shore despite its barrenness. “It was a joy, for example, to watch the birds simply as birds and not for the significance they might have—whether they were a sign of good or evil, an opening of the pack or a gathering storm.”
All these British chaps yearned for/fantasized about was soft mushy food: “nothing but porridge and sugar, black currant and apple pudding and cream, cake, milk, eggs, jam, honey and bread and butter till we burst.”