Then we pierced a petrol-tin in half a dozen places with an ice-axe and set fire to it.

The petrol blazed fiercely under the five-gallon drum we used as a cooker, and the hot milk was ready in quick time.

Then we three ministering angels went round the tents with the life-giving drink, and were surprised and a trifle chagrined at the matter-of-fact manner in which some of the men accepted this contribution to their comfort.

They did not quite understand what work we had done for them in the early dawn, and I heard Wild say, "If any of you gentlemen would like your boots cleaned just put them outside." This was his gentle way of reminding them that a little thanks will go a long way on such occasions.
The cook prepared breakfast, which consisted of biscuit and hoosh, at 8 a.m., and I then went over to the 'Endurance' again and made a fuller examination of the wreck.

Only six of the cabins had not been pierced by floes and blocks of ice.