SOUTH POLE EXPEDITION.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 162, 9 July 1907, Page 7

SOUTH POLE EXPEDITION.

" UEIZEENANT SHACKLETON'S PLANS. STEAMER TO SAIL IN JULY. (From Oar Special Correspondent.) LONDON, May 31. Tie preparations for the forthcoming j •expedition to the Antarctic organised by j Lieutenant E. H. Shackleton are now near- | ing completion. Within the past few days a Newfoundland sealing steamer named the Nimrod, 250 tons, has been purchased, and *.ac will arrive in the Thames in a fortnight's time to take in coa] and stores. She is capable of carry- j iasr 300 tons of coal m addition to all j supplies. The work will be pushed on j rapidly, and it is hoped to despatch the j A'imrod for New Zealand by the end of j July. Mr. Shackleton himself will accompany the vessel on the outward voy- j age only as far as Madeira to see that j everything is in proper working order. ! .Arrangements are being made for the ac- ! eomplishment of an important magnetic survey. A special compass platform will be erected at a height of between : thirty and forty feet from the deck, and all iron fittings in its neighbourhood wal be replaced by brass fittings. Regular magnetic observations will be taken, and every five hundred miles the ship is to be "swung" for deviation and variation. Returning from Madeira, Mr. Shackleton will finally start for New I Zealand about the middle of October, and [ ■will rejoin the Nimrod at Lyttelton. The experience of the various voyages that were made through the pack-ice in connection with the Discovery Expedition went to show that the later the start the more favourable the conditions, as the pack-ice is dispersed by tie end of January; and aeeeordingry Mr. Shackleton does not propose to sail from Lyttelton till the end of the first week in the new year. The united expedition at that time will probably number twenty-eight members, including a landing party of twelve. A NEW WINTER BASE. Since I sent you a detailed account j «i the leader's plans some months ago, j an important change has been introduced j into the programme. King Edward j VIL Lead, at the eastern end of Ross 5 j great ice barrier, has been selected as i the base of operations in place of the ■ headqnarfers of the Discovery Expedition j at the {fiber end of the barrier. In j many respects, the "Morning Post" j points out, the change will be welcomed ; if gEOgrapheis. MrMurdo Strait, where j tie Discovery wintered, was the centre j of extensive explorations, lasting for a ample of years, and while Mr. Shackleton might have hoped to extend the radius of action, he will have around King Edward VUL Land—which has merely been sighted a≤ a strip of mountainous coast—practically a virgin field of exploration. It is hoped to reach King Edward VU. Land by February 1, those who are to winter with Tiim in the and after >*t>tltti<t Mi. Shackleton and Antarctic, the Kirn rod will return to New Zealand, and during the next eight or nine mcnrths devote as much time as possible to i&e contmnation of her magnetic survey along the great trade routes between New Zealand and Australia and 6onr lAnstralia across the Ocean.

j With the exploring party, will be landed on King Edward ~"vTL Land the seotiona of a carefnlly planned living hut, 32 Siberian ponies, a team of 12 picked -dogs from the far north-west of Canada. and the specially constructed motor-car S&ich -will form snch- a novel featare of the expedition. Work -will at once lie started in accordance with the definite p-ograarme <rf -which, I sent particulars last February. While the hat is being erected, and the winter quarters o&eiwise put in order, the dosiaj days of the Antarctic summer will be utilised for psfcaliTitthfntr a Ene of depots as far, it is hoped, as 150 geographical miles to the sooth. The part of King Edward OTL Load, which, it is hoped, to effect a landing, is in abont 77deg_, 30' S. latitude, " or seven hundred and fifty geographical ffiOes from the Pole. During the winter &c edeniafic studies far the pursuit of mbaeh the expedition trill be fully equipped will absorb a large share of attention. AH through, indeed, Mr. Sbacklefen intends to couple with exploring en- ' terprise the work of sdentifie investigation, and Ammo the year which the party expects to remain in the Far South, three of the members —the geologist, the biologist, and the magnetician —win devote themselves entirely to their *peeal researches within a radius of a famdied mflpg or bo of t-h« ■winter quarters. TEE t>aj=tt job Tm<; POLE. WiEh the return of spring, efforts will be made to extend the line of depots . mother hundred geographical miles io the sooth—that is, to within five emidred geographical miles of the Pole. ■Os oo the Discovery Expedition, the party which will attempt to reach the South Pole, will be limited to three ; Members, including Mr. Shackleton. With ..them they will take six of the Siberian j ponies and the motor-car which, constrocted by the Arrol-Johnston Company, of Paisley, is made of steel, specialty adapted to withstand extreme cold. oe driven by a spirit which ■»in work satisfactorily in low temper•*nes, and is provided with three dif■ferent sets of wheels for use on sur•feces of different softness. Great hopes are entertained of its value for traction purposes, bnt it is recognised that its employment is an experiment, and the *sances of the expedition's success are «r from being centred in any snch novel means of locomotion. The use of Siberia ponies in the Antarctic is also in .toe nature of an experiment, but the - oardmess and strength they have developed on the hitterlv cold plains of i ' r^" 1 Siberia, where" they are aecuswmed to live in the open all through ™c winter, justify the hope that the i experiment wiD be a success. In the! toal resort there will be the dogs to S+tT ° n ' The comparaitve failure <n the dogs on the Discovery Expedition i jaf in part, at any rate." due to the i of their food in passing Jtaongh the tropics. To all the food arrangements, Mr. Shackleton is devoting most careful attention, and. benenting by experience, hopes to avoid in ■ g* res P ect «»e misfortunes of the national expedition. Thus fortified in way way that human forethought can enggesst, Mr. Shackleton is confident of £» ability to reach a hisrh southern 1 Snrt ? DOt the Pole ita *U. But the - 2T 1 ? J ourne y not be the only expiration undertaken. A second party o f three, with three of . » Siberian ponies, will be detailed to ■-MrfTS. 1,, * south -easterly direction the coast of King Edward VII. C* a tMrf, also composed of members with three of the ponies, Jg seek to follow the coast round in ge of Alexandra Land. So gg * kn£ a» 9H thi* region that

whether or not all the hopes of the expedition are realised these journeys of exploration can scarcely fail to result in most interesting additions to geographical knowledge of the South Polar area.

THE RETURN OF THE EXPEDITION.

The return of the Nimrod has been fixed for about the end of January, 1909. Ag-ain3t any possible failure of the ship to keep the appointment the landing party will be doubly guarded. Not only is Mr. Shackleton taking out with him food supplies for two full years, but the explorers will be provided with a first-class lifeboat, equipped with a motor-engine and capable of carrying provisions to last a party of twelve for two and a half months. If, as is planned, the ship picks up the party early in 1909, the course of the vessel will be directed to the Balleny Islands, off the northern end of Victoria, Land, and the remainder of the summer will be devoted to a westerly cruise as near as the ice will permit to Adelie Land, Clarie Land, and the other patches of coast extending westwards to Kemp and Enderby Lands, which go by the general name of Wilke's Land, after the American explorer who visited that region some seventy years ago. Mr. Shackleton proposes to pursue a zigzag course, taking soundings the while, for the purpoee of discovering the limits of the continental shelf—supposing that the various patches of land that have been sighted do in fact form part of the hypothetical Antarctic continent. After pursuing the westerly voyage as far as the season will permit the expedition will turn northwards and eastwards again, and commence the homeward voyage across the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans, continuing to accumulate magnetic observations that should be of considerable practical value to mariners as well ac of scientific interest.