Hauling up the boats for the night

Datec 1919

Object number00054097

NameLantern Slide

MediumGlass, ink on paper

DimensionsOverall: 82 x 83 x 3 mm

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionA black and white slide of a painting depicting the crew of the ENDURANCE landing on an ice floe for the night. The picture is from Ernest Shackleton’s book 'South' and was based on a drawing by crew member George Marston who went twice to Antarctica with Ernest Shackleton, both times as the official expedition artist. This is from a collection of glass lantern slides assembled by Charles Reginald Ford, Chief Steward on Scott's DISCOVERY expedition, and used by him in talks about the various British expeditions to Antarctica during the so-called heroic age in the early twentieth century. HistoryAfter the ENDURANCE had been destroyed, Shackleton, his men and three life boats spent nearly six months on a drifting ice floe. It became clear however on the 8th April that their 'home' was becoming even more precarious and was in danger of breaking up. Shackleton prepared the men to leave and after sailing through dangerous moving ice made a new camp on the evening of the 9th April: "We hastened forward in the twilight in search of a flat, old floe, and presently found a fairly large piece rocking in the swell. It was not an ideal camping place by any means, but darkness had overtaken us. We hauled the boats up and by 8pm had the tents pitched and the blubber stove burning cheerily. Soon all hands were well fed and happy in their tents, and snatches of song came to me as I wrote up my log." - South, page 125. The camp lasted only one sleepless night as it also started to crack and, surrounded by whales and 'killers', the survivors were forced to launch the boats again in daylight. SignificanceThe collection of slides of Antarctic voyages compiled by Charles Ford documents aspects of the technical and geographical mapping work, personal challenges, daily lives, social dynamics and the landmarks, icescapes, waterscapes and environments the men encountered.