Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and the Endurance

After Shackleton and the rescue crew leave Elephant Island, the remaining men feel “an overwhelming gloom” as they know they might never be saved (118). However, their leader, Wild, is determined to remain optimistic. The men turn their attention to establishing decent shelter for the months of waiting that lie ahead. Their tents are in tatters, and some are unable to work due to illness or exhaustion. The men who are able bodied build a hut by using rocks for walls and turning over the Dudley Docker and Stancomb Wills to use as a roof. They secure a sail over the top using rocks. As they are fatigued, it takes them all day.

Their new shelter is drafty and dark, even with the seal-oil lamps some of the men have made. When they first use the stove, they are nearly suffocated by the smoke, so one of the men builds a makeshift chimney. It helps, but the wind sometimes still blows the smoke back inside. The worsening weather outside includes blizzards and strong winds that drive ice against the hut. The men pass time hunting penguins and seals and gathering water from the glaciers. The doctors, Macklin and McIlroy, pull teeth and treat infections, along with any other ailments the men are suffering from. They have to amputate some of Blackborrow’s toes on his left foot, which have rotted from gangrene caused by frostbite. They successfully complete the operation in less than an hour.

Otherwise, they read from the few remaining books, smoke cigarettes, and fix their clothes. They have a big celebration on June 22 for Midwinter’s Day. For dinner, they put “a little bit of everything” into the pot for a feast and sing along to Hussey’s banjo (121). In general, food becomes “an obsession.” They trade food so as not to do chores and put some of their daily sugar rations into a “sugar pool” that is given to a different person each week.

After they have spent over four months on Elephant Island, one of the men spots a rescue boat approaching the island. It is the Yelcho, a “Chilean steamer” carrying Shackleton, Worsley, and Crean. Everyone rejoices. One of the men tells Shackleton he knew he would return, which Shackleton later considers “the highest compliment he had ever been paid” (123). Shackleton had been working on launching a rescue ship from South America for four months, but the treacherous winter conditions kept preventing it.  

Although Shackleton has failed his initial mission, he has succeeded in keeping everyone alive. The conditions he and his men collectively faced were dire; the odds they overcame were immeasurable. Despite numerous harrowing and seemingly insurmountable situations, Shackleton has “brought them all home” (124).