ESCAPE FROM THE ICE 
light of our circumstances, I made up my mind that we should 
try to reach Deception Island. The relative positions of 
Clarence, Elephant, and Deception Islands can be seen on the 
chart. The two islands first named lay comparatively near 
to us and were separated by some eighty miles of water from 
Prince George Island, which was about 150 miles away from 
our camp on the berg. From this island a chain of similar 
islands extends westward, terminating in Deception Island. 
The channels separating these desolate patches of rock and 
ice are from ten to fifteen miles wide. But we knew from 
the Admiralty sailing directions that there were stores for 
the use of shipwrecked mariners on Deception Island, and it 
was possible that the summer whalers had not yet deserted 
its harbour. Also we had learned from our scanty records 
that a small church had been erected there for the benefit of 
the transient whalers. The existence of this building would 
mean to us a supply of timber, from which, if dice necessity 
urged us, we could construct a reasonably seaworthy boat. 
We had discussed this point during our drift on the floe. Two 
of our boats were fairly strong, but the third, the James Caird, 
was light, although a little longer than the others. All of them 
were small for the navigation of these notoriously stormy seas, 
and they would be heavily loaded, so a voyage in open water 
would be a serious undertaking. I fear that the carpenter's 
fingers were already itching to convert pews into topsides and 
decks. In any case, the worst that could befall us when we 
had reached Deception Island would be a wait until the whalers 
returned about the middle of November. 
Another bit of information gathered from the records of 
the west side of the Weddell Sea related to Prince George 
Island. The Admiralty " Sailing Directions," referring to the 
South Shetlands, mentioned a cave on this island. None of 
us had seen that cave or could say if it was large or small, 
wet or dry ; but as we drifted on our floe and later, when 
navigating the treacherous leads and making our uneasy night 
camps, that cave seemed to my fancy to be a palace which in 
contrast would dim the splendours of Versailles. 
The swell increased that night and the movement of the 
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