# The March Between explained — South!

> Chapter companion for South! by Ernest Shackleton.

## What happens

The chapter describes the arduous march across the ice after leaving Ocean Camp, with the men hauling boats and sledges in relays over soft, broken ice. Shackleton and Wild reconnoiter ahead, marking a route, while the dogs prove invaluable. Despite initial progress, the ice becomes increasingly impassable, forcing the party to retreat to a stronger floe and establish 'Patience Camp,' where they will remain for nearly three and a half months.

## Themes in this chapter

### Endurance and Perseverance

The men continue the march despite soft surfaces, cracked lips, and the need to haul boats in relays, demonstrating relentless endurance.

### Leadership and Comradeship

Shackleton and Wild lead reconnaissance and route-marking, while the team works together to haul boats and support each other through the grueling march.

### Humanity vs. Nature

The men struggle against soft snow, pressure ridges, open leads, and killer whales, ultimately forced to halt by the unyielding ice.

## Character check-ins

### Ernest Shackleton

Leads the march, reconnoiters ahead with Wild, and makes the difficult decision to halt and establish Patience Camp.

### Frank Wild

Assists Shackleton in reconnaissance, marks the route, and helps secure seals for food.

### Frank Worsley

Leads the boat-hauling party of eighteen men; suffers from frozen trousers and socks after a snow shower.

### McIlroy

Goes out with Wild to kill seals, facing danger from killer whales.

### Greenstreet

Kills a large Weddell seal with Macklin, adding to the food supply.

### Macklin

Assists Greenstreet in killing the Weddell seal.

## Key lines

> It’s a hard, rough, jolly life, this marching and camping; no washing of self or dishes, no undressing, no changing of clothes. We have our food anyhow, and always impregnated with blubber-smoke; sleeping almost on the bare snow and working as hard as the human physique is capable of doing on a minimum of food.

One man described the march as a tough but cheerful existence, with no washing, undressing, or change of clothes, eating food always smelling of blubber smoke, sleeping on the snow, and working to the limit of human endurance on scant rations.

_This diary entry captures the men's morale and the harsh conditions during the march._

> We had marched seven and a half miles in a direct line and at this rate it would take us over three hundred days to reach the land away to the west. As we only had food for forty-two days there was no alternative, therefore, but to camp once more on the floe and to possess our souls with what patience we could till conditions should appear more favourable for a renewal of the attempt to escape.

After covering only seven and a half miles in seven days, Shackleton realized that at this pace they would need over 300 days to reach land, but they had only 42 days of food, so they had no choice but to camp and wait patiently for better conditions.

_This explains the strategic decision to halt the march and establish Patience Camp._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/south_se/chapters/vi-the-march-between
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/south_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/south_se/chapters