SOUTH 
and groaning of her timbers, the pistol-like cracks that told of 
the starting of a trenail or plank, and the faint, indefinable 
whispers of our ship's distress. Overhead the sun shone 
serenely ; occasional fleecy clouds drifted before the southerly 
breeze, and the light glinted and sparkled on the million facets 
of the new pressure-ridges. The day passed slowly. At 7 p.m. 
very heavy pressure developed, with twisting strains that 
racked the ship fore and aft. The butts of plankiDg were opened 
four and five inches on the starboard side, and at tlie same time 
we could see from the bridge that the ship was bending Hke a 
bow under titanic pressure. Almost like a living creature, she 
resisted the forces that Avould crush her ; but it was a one- 
sided battle. Millions of tons of ice pressed inexorably upon 
the little ship that had dared the challenge of the Anta.rctic. 
The Endurance was now leaking badly, and at 9 p.m. I gave 
the order to lower boats, gear, provisions, and sledges to the 
floe, and move them to the flat ice a little way from the ship. 
The working of the ice closed the leaks slightly at midnight, 
but all hands were pumping all night. A strange occurrence 
was the sudden appearance of eight emperor penguins from a 
crack 100 yds. away at the moment when the pressure upon 
tlie ship was at its climax. They walked a little way towards us, 
halted, and after a few ordinary calls proceeded to utter weird 
cries that sounded like a dirge for the ship. None of us had 
ever before heard the emperors utter any other than the most 
simple calls or cries, and the effect of this concerted effort was 
almost startling. 
Then came a fateful day — ^Wednesday, October 27. The 
position was lat. 69° 5 'S., long, 61° 30' W. The temperature 
was - 8 '5° Fahr., a gentle southerly breeze was blowing and 
the sun shone in a clear sky. After long months of ceaseless 
anxiety and strain, after times when hope beat high and times 
when the outlook Avas black indeed, the end of the Endurance 
has come. But though we have been compelled to abandon 
the ship, which is crushed beyond all hope of ever being righted, 
we are alive and well, and we have stores and equipment for 
the task that lies before us. The task is to reach land with all 
the members of the Expedition, It is hard to write what I feel. 
74 
