After Shackleton and the rescue crew leave Elephant Island, the remaining men feel “an overwhelming gloom” as they know they might never be saved (118). However, their leader, Wild, is determined to remain optimistic. The men turn their attention to establishing decent shelter for the months of waiting that lie ahead. Their tents are in tatters, and some are unable to work due to illness or exhaustion. The men who are able bodied build a hut by using rocks for walls and turning over the Dudley Docker and Stancomb Wills to use as a roof. They secure a sail over the top using rocks. As they are fatigued, it takes them all day.

Their new shelter is drafty and dark, even with the seal-oil lamps some of the men have made. When they first use the stove, they are nearly suffocated by the smoke, so one of the men builds a makeshift chimney. It helps, but the wind sometimes still blows the smoke back inside. The worsening weather outside includes blizzards and strong winds that drive ice against the hut. The men pass time hunting penguins and seals and gathering water from the glaciers. The doctors, Macklin and McIlroy, pull teeth and treat infections, along with any other ailments the men are suffering from.