Part III Chapters 1-3

In Part III, the men have become stuck on a new flow, that they call Mark Time Camp. The men's cheerfulness is now beginning to fade. The crew has over 200 miles to march to get to land, but in five days, they have gone only nine miles and are now stuck. The men wish only for a break from the ennui of life on ice. Then, Thomas Orde-Lees gets attacked by a seal. It chases him, and nearly catches him when Wild shoots it dead. The seal weighed in at over 1,000 pounds. While the rest of the crew believes that as much meat as possible should be brought in. Shackleton; however, disagrees. Lancing writes "This indomitable self-confidence of Shackleton's took the form of optimism . And it worked in two ways: it set men's souls on fire; as Macklin said, just to be in his presence was an experience." This optimism; however, nearly becomes the crew's downfall. They begin to run out of meat. Because the camp does not have nearly enough meat, Shackleton quietly has three of the dog teams killed. This brings the crew's moral greatly down. When there seemed to be nothing but good news, the wind begins to kick up to the north. The men are then in good spirits thinking they may just reach Paulet Island. However, as time progresses, they go too far north, with too little western movement. At this point in the story, it seems as if it may become a tragedy. There is little good news to be had for the crew of the endurance at this point.