This part of Endurance made me laugh, it's so ridiculous.
Macklin's good humor continued into the next day when he and Greenstreet were out seal-hunting. They were suddenly taken with the idea of going for a ride along one of the small leads of open water. But they knew that Shackleton, who could not abide unnecessary risks, would be furious if he saw them, so they went some distance away behind a number of pressure ridges. They found a stable little floe and climbed on board, poling along with ski poles.
They were doing beautifully when they spied Shackleton a short distance away, riding on Wild's sledge. Shackleton caught side of them at the same time.
"We both felt," said Greenstreet, "like guilty schoolboys caught robbing an orchard, and immediately paddled for the bank and landed and went on with our seal hunt, finally meeting him as he returned to camp. Instead of the long harangue as we expected he only gave us an awful look and passed on."
Imagine being Shackleton, constantly aware of the responsibility to keep these men alive. And then he see his surgeon and first officer having a silly time paddling their little floe along the water.
