Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Thomas Orde-Lees

A sketch of three figures, two seated and one apparently falling.Thomas Orde-Lees was the storekeeper on Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. His diary is a log of events from March 1915 to April 1916 and was used in part by Shackleton in his book South. The diary includes an account of the loss of the Endurance and the subsequent journey in small, open boats to Elephant Island where Orde-Lees and other members of the expedition waited for Shackleton's return.

The page shown here contains one of many illustrations in the diary. This drawing is from the October 18, 1915 entry: "the ship was heaved up suddenly and violently and immediately rolled over slowly onto her side until she lay on her port side."

Ask for Stefansson Manuscript 185 to see the entire diary, which includes a typewritten addendum detailing some of the conditions on Elephant Island.

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