Rations for a Year
One fixed share a day, and discipline as their only wall.
As the weeks became months, Weller understood that the ice would not release them soon.
Knowing that their food must last a full year, he began to count every single tin.
The store rooms held meat, biscuits, sugar, and enough to melt ice for water.
Weller calculated that each man could eat no more than a fixed share each day.
Careful rationing, he believed, was the only wall between his crew and slow .
Every morning the cook weighed the portions, giving no more than the agreed amount.
Some of the younger men complained that the meals were far too small for hungry sailors.
Understanding their hunger, Weller explained gently why the strict rule protected them all.
" is not cruelty," he said; "it is how we all reach home alive."
He shared exactly the same as the newest and youngest member of the crew.
Seeing their captain eat no more than they did, the men slowly accepted the rule.
The dogs, too, were fed carefully, for they would be needed if the ship failed.
Weller allowed no more than one warm meal each day, saving for the darker months.
Hunting seals became , since fresh meat could their through the long winter.
Standing for hours on the ice, the men waited patiently beside the seals' breathing holes.
A single seal could feed the whole crew and the dogs for nearly two full days.
Knowing that was as dangerous as hunger, Weller invented contests and small rewards.
The men raced the dog teams and competed to see who could build the best shelter.
In the evenings they sang, read aloud, and argued cheerfully about home and past voyages.
Weller wrote that a laughing crew ate less and complained far less than a silent one.
Yet beneath the songs, every man counted the shrinking rows of tins in the store.
They had food for a year, but no one knew how long the ice would hold.
Weller told no one that their might run out before any rescue could come.
Instead, keeping his fears hidden, he spoke only of the spring and the open sea.
had become their religion, and the daily their strict and law.
But alone could not stop the deep ice from tightening its jaws on the ship.