SOUTH 
learned, to my keen regret, that no ship of the type required 
was available at the islands. That evening I cabled to London 
a message to His Majesty the King, the first account of the 
loss of the Endurance and the subsequent adventures of the 
Expedition. The next day I received the following message 
from the King : 
" Eejoice to hear of your safe arrival in the Falkland Islands 
and trust your comrades on Elephant Island may soon be 
rescued. George E.I." 
The events of the days that followed our arrival at the 
Falldand Islands I will not attempt to describe in detail. My 
mind was bent upon the rescue of the party on Elephant Island 
at the earliest possible moment. Winter was advancing, and 
I was fully conscious that the lives of some of my comrades 
might be the price of unnecessary delay. A proposal had been 
made to send a relief ship from England, but she could not 
reach the southern seas for many weeks. In the meantime 
I got into communication with the Governments of the South 
American Republics by wireless and cable and asked if they 
had any suitable ship I could use for a rescue. I wanted a 
wooden ship capable of pushing into loose ice, with fair speed 
and a reasonable coal capacity. Messages of congratulation and 
goodwill were reaching me from all parts of the world, and 
the kindness of hundreds of friends in many lands was a very 
real comfort in a time of anxiety and stress. 
The British Admiralty informed me that no suitable vessel 
was available in England and that no relief could be expected 
before October. I replied that October would be too late. 
Then the British Minister in Montevideo telegraphed me 
regarding a trawler named Instituto de Pesca No. 1, belonging 
to the Uruguayan Government. She was a stout little vessel, 
and the Government had generously offered to equip her with 
coal, provisions, clothing, etc., and send her across to the 
Falkland Islands for me to take down to Elephant Island. 
I accepted this offer gladly, and the trawler was in Port Stanley 
on June 10. We started south at once. 
The weather was bad but the trawler made good progress, 
214 
