In spite of wet and cold I fell asleep instantly, but soon after something awakened me. Then I heard Shackleton shout ‘It’s clearing, boys!’ and immediately after ‘For God’s sake, hold on! It’s got us!’ The line of white along the southern horizon that he had taken for the sky clearing was, in fact, the foaming crest of an enormous sea. I was crawling out of my bag as the sea struck us. There was a roaring of water around and above us – it was almost as though we had foundered. The boat seemed full of water. We other five men seized any receptacle we could find and pushed, scooped and baled the water out for dear life. While Shackleton held her up to the wind, we worked like madmen, but for five minutes it was uncertain whether we would succeed or not.