75 pages • 2 hours read
The Terror
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 12-23Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism, gender discrimination, antigay bias, ableism, suicidal ideation, animal cruelty and death, substance use, substance dependency, graphic violence, cursing, illness, and death.
Chapter 12 Summary: “Goodsir”
From May 24th to June 3rd, 1847, Gore’s party, including Dr. Goodsir, makes the trek across the ice to King William Land. Though pools of drinkable water are found near the island, the approach is blocked by towering icebergs. To lighten their load for the crossing, the men cache much of their supplies, including robes and food, on the sea ice.
They locate Sir James Ross’s Victory Point cairn on May 28th and leave the message there. Exhausted, they return to camp, only to discover that most of their preserved rations are spoiled, leaving them little to eat except salt pork and canned soup. Soon after, a violent and unseasonal lightning storm erupts over the island, and the men take shelter.
After the storm, they find that their supplies were destroyed by a lightning strike, along with animal tracks that are too large for a polar bear. They then realize that one of the men, Tom Hartnell, is missing. Rushing back to the tent, they find him unconscious under the collapsed canvas.
With their food spoiled, their shelter damaged, and Hartnell injured, Gore decides to continue southward with one man, Best, to plant a second Admiralty message and search for signs of open water, while Des Voeux will take the others back to the ice cache, bringing Hartnell with them.
