There Was a Stowaway on Shackleton’s ship
Three days out of Buenos Aries (and too late to turn back) 19-year-old Welsh sailor Percy “Perce” Blackborow was found hiding in a locker. He was already an experienced crewman, having served in the Merchant Navy since he was 14. Blackborow had been in South America since his last crew shipwrecked in Montevideo, Uruguay. Blackborow tried to join the crew in Buenos Aries with his friend, Canadian sailor William, Bakewell. Shackleton accepted Bakewell into the crew, but Blackborow was turned away because of his age. The young men didn’t want to split up, so Blackborow hid in Bakewell’s locker. Shackleton, having no alternative, gave him a stern talking-to, reminding him that if the voyage ran into trouble, it was the custom to eat stowaways first. The Endurance, being short-handed, was able to put Blackborow to work, where he was able to prove his worth among the experienced sailors.