Transcriber’s Note:
Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
There is a possible missing word on page 135 in the sentence: “One has to be economical these hard times.”
On page 291, “Groote Schur” should possibly be “Groote Schuur”.
SHACKLETON’S LAST VOYAGE
SHACKLETON’S
LAST VOYAGE.
The Story of the Quest. By
Commander FRANK WILD, c.b.e.
From the Official Journal and Private
Diary kept by Dr. A. H. MACKLIN
With Frontispiece in Colour, numerous Maps
and over 100 Illustrations from Photographs
CASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD
London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne
1923
First Published May 1923.
Second Edition June 1923.
Reprinted November 1923
Printed in Great Britain
To
THE BOSS
“Yonder the far horizon lies,
And there by night and day
The old ships draw to port again,
The young ships sail away.
And go I must and come I may,
And if men ask you why,
You may lay the blame on the stars and the sun
And the white road and the sky.”
Gerald Gould
PREFACE
Sir Ernest Shackleton died suddenly; sosuddenly that he said no word at all with regard tothe future of the expedition. But I know that had heforeseen his death and been able to communicate to mehis wishes, they would have been summed up in the twowords, “Carry on!”
Perhaps the most difficult part of my task has beenthe recording of the work of the expedition. It has beento me a very sad duty, and one which I would gladlyhave avoided had it been possible. The demand, however,for the complete story of Sir Ernest Shackleton’slast expedition has been so widespread and insistent thatI could no longer withhold it.
In the subsequent pages of this book the reader willfind recorded the story of the voyage of the Quest, thetight little ship that carried us through over twenty thousandmiles of stormy ocean and brought us safely back.
I make no claim to literary style, but haveendeavoured to set forth a plain and simple narrative.
The writings of explorers vary, but in my opinionthey have all one common fault, which is, that they haveattempted to combine in one volume the scientific resultswith the more popular story o