 He was a natural sportsman, a keen golfer and angler, and was selected to play cricket for Scotland in 1912.He had a reserved manner, not given to laughing or joking, but with a strong work ethic and a passion for biology.On 9 August 1914 the "Endurance" departed Plymouth, carrying Shackleton and his crew on what was intended to be the first expedition to cross Antarctica from the Atlantic to the Pacific via the South Pole.