THE BOATJTOURNEY 
so that tlie canvas sagged down and accumulated water. Then 
icy trickles, distinct from the driving sprays, poured fore and 
aft into the boat. The nails that the carpenter had extracted 
from cases at Elephant Island and used to fasten down the 
battens were too short to make firm the decking. We did what 
we could to secure it, but our means were very limited, and the 
water continued to enter the boat at a dozen points. Much 
baling was necessary, and nothing that we could do prevented 
our gear from becoming sodden. The searching runnels from 
the canvas were really more unpleasant than the sudden definite 
douches of the sprays. Lying under the thwarts during watches 
below, we tried vainly to avoid them. There were no dry 
places in the boat, and at last we simply covered our heads 
with our Burberrys and endiured the all-pervading water. The 
baling was work for the watch. Real rest we had none. The 
perpetual motion of the boat made repose impossible ; we were 
cold, sore, and anxious. We moved on hands and knees in the 
semi-darkness of the day under the decking. The darkness 
was complete by 6 p.m., and not until 7 a.m. of the following 
day could we see one another under the thwarts. We had a 
few scraps of candle, and they were preserved carefully in order 
that we might have light at meal-times. There was one fairly 
dry spot in the boat, under the solid original decking at the 
bows, and we managed to protect some of our biscuit from the 
salt water ; but I do not think any of us got the taste of salt 
out of our mouths during the voyage. 
The difficulty of movement in the boat would have had its 
humorous side if it had not involved us in so many aches and 
pains. We had to crawl under the thwarts in order to move 
along the boat, and our knees suffered considerably. When a 
watch turned out it was necessary for me to direct each man by 
name when and where to move, since if all hands had crawled 
about at the same time the result would have been dire confusion 
and many bruises. Then there was the trim of the boat to be 
considered. The order of the watch was four hours on and 
four hours off, three men to the watch. One man had the 
tiller-ropes, the second man attended to the sail, and the third 
baled for all he was worth. Sometimes when the water in the 
167 
