1903 SHACKLETON FALLS ILL 77 



I have tried to impress on him the folly of pretending to be 

 stronger than he is, and have pointed out how likely he is to 

 aggravate the evil if he does not consent to nurse himself. 

 We have decided to increase our seal-meat allowance in 

 another effort to drive back the scurvy. 



' More than this I do not see that we can do at present. 

 Every effort must be devoted to keeping Shackleton on his 

 legs, and we must trust to luck to bring him through. In case 

 he should break down soon and be unable to walk, I can think 

 of absolutely no workable scheme ; we could only carry him 

 by doing relay work, and I doubt if Wilson or I am up to 

 covering the distance in that fashion ; it is a knotty problem 

 which is best left till the contingency arises. 



' It looks as though life for the next week or two is not 

 going to be pleasant for any of us, and it is rather curious 

 because we have always looked forward to this part of the 

 journey as promising an easier time.' 



^January 1^. — This morning "Nigger "and "Jim" were 

 taken a short distance from the camp and killed. This was 

 the saddest scene of all ; I think we could all have wept. 

 And so this is the last of our dog team, the finale to a tale of 

 tragedy ; I scarcely like to write of it. Through our most 

 troublous time we always looked forward to getting some of 

 our animals home. At first it was to have been nine, then 

 seven, then five, and at the last we thought that surely we 

 should be able to bring back these two. 



' After the completion of this sad business we got into our 

 harness, where another shock awaited us, for we put our 

 weights on the traces without the least effect, and it was only 

 when we jerked the sledges sideways the least movement 

 followed. It was evident that something was wrong, and on 

 turning the sledges up we found the runners solidly crusted 

 with ice. It took us twenty minutes to clear them ; but after- 

 wards we got on well and have covered nearly eight miles. As 

 this caking of the runners is likely to happen whenever our 

 sledges are left long in one position, we have decided to lift 

 them off the snow every night. 



