Reginald James, physicist on Endurance wrote in the 1950s...
"I remember the chaos that reigned on board the ship in the harbour at Buenos Aires & the immediate shaping of things to a definite order as soon as he arrived (He joined the ship in B. A. coming out by liner). Port authorities were pacified, help was obtained from the Navy of the Argentine & all facilities granted, all as a result of personal interview. Shackleton was a great believer in the efficacy of personal interview & indeed I think he could persuade anyone to do almost anything if he could once talk to him. There was a mixture of personal magnetism, bluff & blarney that could be irresistible.
During the winter of the drift Shackleton must have suffered great anxiety, but although he took every precaution & set --- watches at night he was outwardly confident. One realized how much he was on the look out during night watches. One of the watchman’s duties was to keep the Boss’s fire going. One seldom found him asleep, and if he was awake he would invariably ask some question about the wind or the state of the ice."
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