Loneliness is
the penalty of leadership, but the man who has to make the decisions is
assisted greatly if he feels that there is no uncertainty in the minds
of those who follow him, and that his orders will be carried out
confidently and in expectation of success.
The sun was shining in the blue sky on the following morning (April
8). Clarence Island showed clearly on the horizon, and Elephant Island
could also be distinguished. The single snow-clad peak of Clarence
Island stood up as a beacon of safety, though the most optimistic
imagination could not make an easy path of the ice and ocean that
separated us from that giant, white and austere.
"The pack was much looser this morning, and the long rolling swell
from the north-east is more pronounced than it was yesterday. The
floes rise and fall with the surge of the sea. We evidently are
drifting with the surface current, for all the heavier masses of floe,
bergs, and hummocks are being left behind. There has been some
discussion in the camp as to the advisability of making one of the
bergs our home for the time being and drifting with it to the west. The
idea is not sound. I cannot be sure that the berg would drift in the
right direction. If it did move west and carried us into the open
water, what would be our fate when we tried to launch the boats down
the steep sides of the berg in the sea-swell after the surrounding
floes had left us? One must reckon, too, the chance of the berg
splitting or even overturning during our stay.
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