The carpenter assisted
me by putting several screws in the sole of each boot with the object
of providing a grip on the ice. The screws came out of the 'James
Caird'.
We turned in early that night, but sleep did not come to me. My mind
was busy with the task of the following day. The weather was clear and
the outlook for an early start in the morning was good. We were going
to leave a weak party behind us in the camp. Vincent was still in the
same condition, and he could not march. McNeish was pretty well broken
up. The two men were not capable of managing for themselves and
McCarthy must stay to look after them. He might have a difficult task
if we failed to reach the whaling station. The distance to Husvik,
according to the chart, was no more than seventeen geographical miles
in a direct line, but we had very scanty knowledge of the conditions of
the interior. No man had ever penetrated a mile from the coast of
South Georgia at any point, and the whalers I knew regarded the country
as inaccessible. During that day, while we were walking to the snouted
glacier, we had seen three wild duck flying towards the head of the bay
from the eastward. I hoped that the presence of these birds indicated
tussock-land and not snow-fields and glaciers in the interior, but the
hope was not a very bright one.
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