The civet cat sailed with its owner, encountered an accident on the way, and stayed in Antarctica forever with the sled dogs on the ship.

A cat once landed on the Antarctic continent. Although it did not bring any help to humans, nor did it cause any harm to the ecological balance of the Antarctic continent, and even its ending was very tragic, but this It does not affect the fact that it has left its own cat paw print in human history. Take the initiative to embark on a distant journey. Antarctica was once a place that was difficult for humans to easily set foot on. The famous British explorer Ernest Shackleton made several trips to Antarctica in the early 20th century, and in 1911 he became the first human to reach the South Pole. ▲Ernest Shackleton On August 1, 1914, Shackleton and his crew sailed the "Endurance" to the Antarctic again. At that time, the captain of the "Endurance" Harry Harry McNish also served as the ship's carpenter and was responsible for repair work when the ship was damaged. In English slang, the carpenter was called Chippy. As a famous captain and carpenter, Harry McNish had the nickname Chippy. The captain had a tabby cat, and he had been hesitant to bring his beloved cat on board. At that time, it was necessary to have a cat on the ship, because they could help catch mice and reduce the amount of food stored on the ship. However, considering that this trip was going to the remote and cold Antarctic, the captain was worried that the cat would not be able to bear it. ▲Captain Harry McNish did not expect that after a month of sailing, When the captain was packing things on the boat, he discovered that his cat had sneaked onto the boat at some point and was sitting in the corner of the room looking at him with an innocent face. The captain had no choice but to take it out and introduce it to everyone. The cat was named ""Mrs. Chippy"" to poke fun at the relationship between the captain and the cat. Although the cat itself is a male cat. ▲ ""Mrs. Chippy" and its poop shoveler Pace Blackborough This is the only photo of him. This tabby cat is very popular with the crew. It is not afraid of the ocean, waves, bumps, and heights, even when the waves are the strongest. Calmly walking on the rope with a width of only 1 inch, the adventurous performance of the civet cat fits the temperament of the Antarctic expedition. "When the Endurance docked in Buenos Aires, Argentina. A 19-year-old young man, Perce Blackborow, secretly hid on the "Endurance" because his visa expired and he could not legally board the ship. "The Endurance" left the port and sailed for three days. The crew Only then did I discover this kid. Pace accidentally became a member of the Antarctic expedition and became the "Mrs. Chibi"'s shit shovel. Even though his life was almost lost during the journey, he knew that Antarctica was dangerous and full of ice and snow. However, Li The first life crisis that the tabby cat Mrs. Chippy encountered was caused by the cat herself... It was the night of September 13, 1914. At that time, the "Endurance" had not yet reached the Antarctic and was traveling in the icy Antarctic. In the Atlantic waters, Lieutenant Hubert Hudson, who was sailing the ship, suddenly heard a cat crying loudly in the water, and quickly turned the Endurance back to pick up the cat. ▲A painting describing the scene on the ship at that time It turned out that the naughty tabby cat "Mrs. Chippy" was playful and jumped on the porthole of the cabin, and accidentally jumped into the dark sea. The usually calm cat finally panicked in the cold water and started yelling. It was eventually retrieved by ship's biologist Robert Clark using an animal trap net. The cat was still in shock when he returned to the ship. Everyone joked that if cats have 9 lives, then "Mrs. Chibby" only has 8 left. The cat has no special mission on the ship, but it is also a bit boring. Accompany it on the road. Apart from humans, there are only a few sled dogs left. The civet cat obviously doesn't like these noisy animals in cages. Its main job is to squat in a corner of the ship and sharpen its claws. In the end, it stayed in Antarctica. The ending of this tabby cat can probably only be written with the word "tragic". In mid-January 1915, the voyage of the "Endurance" was forced to interrupt because it was frozen by sea ice. The crew thought a lot They tried to break the ice, but they obviously never thought that the sea could be frozen. While the crew was struggling with the cold weather, the bored civet cat decided to have some fun for itself, and it walked out on February 5. He picked up the "Endurance" and ran along the sea ice to nowhere. Five days later, just when the crew couldn't find it and thought it had turned into a cat popsicle, it appeared again. In order to To celebrate its recovery, it received several feasts. ▲After the ship was damaged, the sled dogs were waiting on the shore. Later, none of the puppies left the South Atlantic alive. However, the subsequent development was not smooth sailing, but became increasingly difficult. The civet cat may have seen how cold the ocean near Antarctica is when it slipped out, and it may have given up one or two more of its eight remaining lives. It then gave up any chance to go out to explore and hid all day long. In the cabin, he ate and drank and slept in, turning into the only fat house on the ship.

Moreover, it only eats the food reserves on the ship, and does not even look at the penguin meat brought by the crew. ▲A photo of Ernest Shackleton and penguins. During this period, the "Endurance" has been frozen in the ice, with no sign of continuing to sail. The crew's efforts have not changed the status quo. The only thing that has changed is The weight of the civet cat was already 4.4 kilograms in July, and it was quite a fat man. By October, everything seemed to be turning around, and the ocean began to warm up in the southern hemisphere. They were finally able to break free from the shackles of the sea ice. However, the crew had no time to be happy. At the end of October, the "Endurance" hit too much sea ice while sailing and was completely damaged. ▲This is the ups and downs in the lives of the crew who managed to break the ice. ***, this sentence is very suitable for the crew of "Endurance", because they have experienced the most difficult Antarctic expedition in human history. After losing the ship, the crew's last hope is more than 500 kilometers away On the mainland, for this difficult test, people had to choose to throw away everything that might hold them back and bring only the most necessary items. The civet cat "Mrs. Chibi" and the remaining five sled dogs became one of the abandoned items. First, there is not much food left. If it is divided among cats and dogs, people will have no chance to survive. As the initiator of this trip, the explorer Shackleton only hopes that none of the crew members will land. Sent to safety. ▲The crew nervously prepared the lifeboat. People like the civet cat very much. It relieves people's stress and brings joy to people, but the situation forces people to give up on it. Although the captain, a cat owner, tried his best. Wanting to give the cat a chance of survival, he finally lost to reality. Everyone took turns hugging the kitten, and then fed it a bowl of its favorite sardines. When the cat fell asleep, It and five other dogs were shot to death by humans accompanying them. The captain had no time to mourn his pets. He had to prepare lifeboats for people before the ship sank, but this did not mean that he could forgive Shackleton for killing him himself. His cat, as Shackleton hoped, all survived, but the captain and Shackleton had a rift with each other. People will not forget the cat since Captain Harry Manish lost it. He never got over the pain after losing his wife. After that, he gave up any adventure that would excite a man and went to Wellington, New Zealand, where he worked in obscurity for a long time. He became impoverished in his later years. He never took it as a show off that he survived the trip to Antarctica when he was young. For him, the only result of that trip was that his cat left him. ▲"The statue of "Mrs. Chibby" is quietly guarding him. Fortunately for the owner, people who have experienced that trip on the "Endurance" still remember the captain and his cat. For them, the captain is their hero, and it was his professionalism that saved these people. The captain passed away Later, the original members of the "Endurance" managed to arrange a grand funeral for him. In June 2004, when local people in New Zealand cleaned the grave of this hero, they discovered that he did not even have a tombstone. People discussed A new tombstone should be erected for him, and a bronze statue should be made for him. The most important thing is the civet cat "Mrs. Chippy", which must stay with its owner. Sculptor Chris Elliott tried to carve the cat into an alert look, but ultimately chose to have its body relaxed, as if lying next to its owner. ▲Nowadays, people often come to visit “Mrs. Chibby”, and delicious food and cat toys are often placed in front of her statue. In February 2011, “Mrs. Chibby” appeared in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands On the stamps issued, works about it have continued uninterrupted, describing the thrilling journey to Antarctica, and people remember to give "Mrs. Chibby" an important position. Although the crew had to go through the most difficult times. Give it up, but people don't forget it.