Then the boiler was pumped
up. This work was completed early in the morning of October 19, and
during that day the engineer lit fires and got up steam very slowly, in
order to economize fuel and avoid any strain on the chilled boilers by
unequal heating. The crew cut up all loose lumber, boxes, etc., and
put them in the bunkers for fuel. The day was overcast, with occasional
snowfalls, the temperature +12° Fahr. The ice in our neighbourhood was
quiet, but in the distance pressure was at work. The wind freshened in
the evening, and we ran a wire-mooring astern. The barometer at 11
p.m. stood at 28.96, the lowest since the gales of July. An uproar
among the dogs attracted attention late in the afternoon, and we found
a 25-ft. whale cruising up and down in our pool. It pushed its head up
once in characteristic killer fashion, but we judged from its small
curved dorsal fin that it was a specimen of Balaenoptera acutorostrata,
not Orca gladiator.
A strong south-westerly wind was blowing on October 20 and the pack
was working. The 'Endurance' was imprisoned securely in the pool, but
our chance might come at any time. Watches were set so as to be ready
for working ship. Wild and Hudson, Greenstreet and Cheetham, Worsley
and Crean, took the deck watches, and the Chief Engineer and Second
Engineer kept watch and watch with three of the A.
Pages:
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139