The nightwatchman spins a yarn

Photograph of five of the crew gathered around a stove aboard "Endurance". Frank Wild (1873 - 1939) in the centre, smokes a pipe. After Endurance became a winter station in February 1915, Shackleton abandoned the usual system of watches. The single nightwatchman had little to do, apart from tending the dogs and observing ice movements. It was private leisure time, to read, or do some washing, but often became a social occasion as shown here, as the men gather companionably round the fire.