Macklin's Journal - November 14, 1915
... Our greatest trial is the warm temperature and a fine mushy sleet which we commonly get, and which makes things very wet. But for fairly limited cooking arrangements, we are almost as well off as we were aboard the ship, and most of us are just as happy.
Things will wear a very different aspect when we have to start our journey and leave this old friendly floe - then we will have less to eat, nothing to read, dead hard work, and nothing but the snow to lie on when we pitch tents. Then if the weather is warm our bags will get wet, and our lot for the time being will not be happy. But as long as we can come out of this predicament with our lives we shall not grumble - and please God we will succeed in doing this. My thoughts often turn to those at home, but as a rule I try not to think of anything but our surroundings, and I must confess that here I am remarkably well and happy."
NOTE: Most days life doesn't call for heroic moments but in this journal entry, and many others, we see the impact of what Reginald James characterized as Shackleton's "subtle and persuasive" strategies for keeping up the morale of the crew.
Comments