Mrs. Chippy's Last Expedition: The Remarkable Journal of Shackleton's Polar-Bound Cat

Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1914 subzero expedition to Antarctica is regarded as one of the most perilous in history. After sailing halfway around the world, Shackleton's ship Endurance became trapped in a quick-freezing sea of ice. Over the course of nearly ten long months, the ice thickened around the ship until its hull was eventually crushed and the ship went down. All twenty-nine crew members were pushed to their limits to survive ... including the level-headed, quick-thinking Mrs. Chippy, the ship's robust (male) cat. Mrs. Chippy was no ordinary polar explorer, as evidenced from his magnificent diary, published here in its full annotated form. In his official expeditionary capacity, Mrs. Chippy worked as a carpenter's mate with shipwright Harry "Chips" McNeish. Together they skillfully executed all projects from building new ship quarters to repairing the Endurance. But Mrs. Chippy's vital duties went much further: monitoring the noisy sled dogs, climbing the rigging to survey the ice, watching for birds and penguins, and, essential to the expedition's success, patrolling the hold for stray mice. Illustrated with authentic photographs and closely based on the true events of Shackleton's journey, Mrs. Chippy's Last Expedition is a cat memoir that will take its place in the annals of fine expeditionary literature.