THE RESCUE 
anxious moment^ for we had still to locate the camp and the 
pack could not be trusted to allow time for a prolonged search 
in thick weather ; but presently the fog lifted and revealed 
the cliffs and glaciers of Elephant Island. I proceeded to the 
east, and at 11.40 a.m. Worsley's keen eyes detected the camp^ 
almost invisible under its covering of snow. The men ashore 
saw us at the same timej and we saw tiny black figures hurry 
to the beach and wave signals to us. We were about a mile 
and a half away from the camp. I turned the Yelcho in, and 
within half an hour reached the beach with Crean and some 
of the Chilian sailors. I saw a little figure on a surf -beaten 
rock and recognized Wild. As I came nearer I called out, 
" Are you all well ? " and he answered, " We are all well, 
boss," and then I heard three cheers. As I drew close to the 
rock I flung packets of cigarettes ashore ; they fell on them 
like hungry tigers, for well I knew that for months tobacco was 
dreamed of and talked of. Some of the hands were in a rather 
bad way, but Wild had held the party together and kept hope 
alive in their hearts. There was no time then to exchange 
news or congratulations. I did not even go up the beach to 
see the camp, which Wild assured me had been much improved. 
A heavy sea was running and a change of wind might bring 
the ice back at any time. I hmxied the party aboard with 
all possible speed, taking also the records of the Expedition and 
essential portions of equipment. Everybody was aboard the 
Yelcho within an hour, and we steamed north at the little 
steamer's best speed. The ice was open still, and nothing 
worse than an expanse of stormy ocean separated us from the 
South American coast. 
During the run up to Punta Arenas I heard Wild's story, 
and blessed again the cheerfulness and resource that had served 
the party so well during four and a half months of privation. 
The twenty-two men on Elephant Island were just at the end 
of their resources when the Yehlio reached them. Wild had 
husbanded the scanty stock of food as far as possible and had 
fought off the devils of despondency and despair on that little 
sand-spit, where the party had a precarious foothold between 
the grim ice-fields and the treacherous, ice-strewn sea. The 
219 
