The ship was very steady in the quarterly sea, but certainly did not look as neat and trim as she had done when leaving the shores of England four months earlier.

We had filled up with coal at Grytviken, and this extra fuel was stored on deck, where it impeded movement considerably.

The carpenter had built a false deck, extending from the poop-deck to the chart-room.

We had also taken aboard a ton of whale-meat for the dogs.

The big chunks of meat were hung up in the rigging, out of reach but not out of sight of the dogs, and as the 'Endurance' rolled and pitched, they watched with wolfish eyes for a windfall.
I was greatly pleased with the dogs, which were tethered about the ship in the most comfortable positions we could find for them.