It's only castles burning

After reading South and seeing a 1999 documentary on his Ulysses-strength odyssey, I was quite agog at the endurance of the sailors of the Endurance. (In 1915-17 they walked and sailed across Antarctic as part of a 20-month journey back to civilization after their ship was imprisoned by ice.) Imagine my dismay when I discover they may have been using a performance-enhancing drug! (In 1909, history reports this was this case.)

In a cruelly ironic twist, the cocaine tablets were marketed under the name of Forced March. As it happens, some intrepid fools are re-creating the 1916 journey in honor of the upcoming 100th anniversary of the event. I sure hope they're keeping it real with tablets!