BOUND FOR THE POLE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 68, 13 December 1907, Page 6

BOUND FOR THE POLE.

LIEUTENANT SHACKLETON IN WELLINGTON. GENEROUS OFFER TO N.Z. MUSEUMS. * Lieutenant Shackleton, R.N., Commander of the British Antarctic expedition, arrived ■ by tho Mahono from Sydney yesterday. A representative of Tim Dominion had the pleasure of spending the afternoon iu his company. During tho course of their peri- ' grinations. Lieutenant Shackleton said a good deal that was interesting and, a good deal ■ that was new about tho expedition, which ,is. likely to prove one of. tho most important'in tho "history of Polar 'oxploriition. /When Liou- , tenant Shackleton heard that three, other countries wero arranging South Polar expeditions lie made vory strenuous efforts to get away ahead of them to win tho laurels for tho British nation, and in this ho has succeeded.' ! -V '^HE* WANT OF FUNDS.. . ; ..... Ho is still, however, in want of some funds—about £4000 — and this amount he believes he will have no difficulty in raising ill Australia and New Zealand. ; "Wo have," ho. said, "only some six. supporters. At: first," he added,;., "I. was, going . to the old winter quarters,, near Erebus and .Terror, but for good reasons I decided to change the base to a. new land. This change of base means an increased expenditure, and though I had promises of support sufficient to . meet all contingencies, some of these pro- , mises did not mature. My cpusin, William Bell, however l , gave £4000. He is a ;welU - known man in England,, with big interests' in America, and it will be romombered tliat he financed tho recent British expedition to Mount Ruawenzori, in Africa. But for tho • financial crisis in America, no doubt, the -..necessary further - funds would have ; been. forthcoming. The £4000 now wanted is really for the magnetic survey which the Nimrod is . . to undertake after landing the expedition in the Polar regions. THE MAGNETIC SURVEY; This work is really a very important one,and one that is of considerable economic value, so Lieutenant Shackleton would like - to extend it. Tho variation noted on the charts >in several parts'of - the .world'is incorrect; 1 It is altering at a greater rate than the allowance for. variation that has been ■ made. All the way' out. from England to .New Zealand tl\e Nimrod''has been "swing- .,. ing for variation," and has found errors of ; from one to two degrees of arc. She came out on one of tire trade routes of the world . —England to the Cape, the Cape .to ;Aiis 7( : : tralia. .It is the desire- of the expedition .to >'! add to the good work already done in this direction, and tho proposal :is that,.' afteiv, :: taking the party, down to their winter guar-' i v ters, she should return and make observa- ■ tions on tlie other trade routes—New Zealand to Australia, Australia to Colombo, Co-, lombo to Aden/and on to tho Mozambique, Channel,: iwhere ;,,there; is a very conr . . sidernble . error.;. Finally,- . the . .Nimrod]. ; kvould 'go. Home via Cape Horn am! ■ - : 'up the Atlantic, so that on the main

trade routes of the world the. variation would 1 be noted, and corrected where nccessary. Such a magnetic survey would result in a saving of time to every ship coming south of the Line —not a very considerable matter, per- ■ haps, to any one ship; but an-item of irn.portauco, considered m the ' aggregate, to , .. hundreds of ships when the matter, of wages, .. . provisions, etc.; <is considerable: "At the' same time that these observations were being ' ■ made, observations would be taken J by the land party near the magnetic Pole, : : which would be of peculiar advantage. ; ' GEOLOGY AND METEOROLOGY. . V, , ~- In regard to the other scientific work;'the study of geology in the terra incognita to be traversed will be particularly important.' ; " We don't know-what minerals we may come ' across," said. Lieut. Shackleton. "On our ...' last expeditions foundtraces of tin. We' shall go very carefully into the geological- , survey this time, and we are taking with ..us a trained mineralogist." ■ Lieutenant Sliuckleton took the reporter round to the Maho.no to seo a .wonderful self-'-..recording clcctricthermometer—a new imW . tion—that lie has'brought out with liini. The platinum thermometer- < looks like a bit of brass rod about threo inches long. It is Bealed up, and you sec nothing of:the ther- , • It is attached to a wire in" a lead cable, ibout the thickness of-a man's little finder. There are four milos of this .. cable. I 1 or attachment to the 'other end of the cable is a machine with a most dilicate . and ingenious mechanism. It is in a wooden case with a glass front. There isin that the electric .mechanism,, a cloak and a revolving : drum, on which a sheet of ruled paper is • ' printed with. the hours marked .as in a recording barometer. By means: of this, very up-to-dato appliance, you can have your thermometer four miles out 011 the ice awfey from all local inlluonces, and some distance from the hills, while-inside, your comfortable hut will bo the machine faithfully recording every fivo seconds the temperature.day after day and night after night. No going out in a deadly blizzard with the danger of frostbite and of-gotting lo3t to read this instrument 1 To meteorology will, of. course, be devoted special attention, and ' the conditions prevailing in the Polar regions, Liout.• Shaekle■t, ton thinks, are of special importance, to New v Zealand. ' . FOR NEW ZEALAND MUSEUMS. ' In regard to biology, tho expedition will be working 11 a new land, and it is anticipated that about 30 per cent, of tho species will be new. The land party will bo established on King Edward Land some .500 miles away from whore the Discovery wintered. Where there is such an oven temperature all the year i-ound. Lieut. Shackleton ; says there is a most interesting growtii of life. Tho expedition hopes to get many om- . peror penguins and their eggs, which aro very valuable. _ , Lieut. Shackleton, in answer to a suggestion by tho reporter, expressed his willingiiess to make collections v for tho principal museums of tho Dominion of the animals, insects, etc., found —a most valuablo -'and ■ generous offer, which would no doubt bo rewarded by tho hearty co-operation of tho Premier and his colleagues on behalf of New Zealand. 1 THE GREAT POLAR PROBLEM. Then' there is the peculiar geographical aspect of the expedition. "No one," said ' Lieut. Shackleton, "knows what lies to tho . gouth of . King Edward Land,- because we enly saw a short distance through'falling, snow and mist. Wo hope, by landing there,! "and going on tho westward on to the Great ' Ico Barrier, and travelling southwards over the barrier surface, to solve the greatest problem that, remains in polar work to-day. The groat question to be solved is whether this vast barrier is tho remains of n sea, - frozen in the last glacial age with layer upon layer of snow spread over it, or whether

it is a great glacier, cowing from a gigantic mountain range in th,e lar south. It is from this barrier, as you know, that tho groat icebergs broak'"olf and. float up towards tho region of' New Zealand., Tho question ,is a'great puzzle to geologists and physicists..''' If is . quite possible, looking at it broadly, tbiit we shall find King Edward •Land is tho north'olid of another rango of mountains" similar .to ,that which wo discovered on tho Farthest South Journey witli Captain If these mountains go round to Graharil'L'rind arid "link up tho two lands, it will''prove' tho''entire continental naturo of the Antartic, giving an area probably' greater'' than that of Australia—roughly spoaking; some, four million square miles." ; OTHER' EXPEDITIONS. v, ; ; Lieut. ■ Shackleton stated that Eho French , oxpedition is leaving in July, 1908. It receives a' grant, of £24,000 from the Froneh Government.. It will go to Graham Land, and .work down to King Edward Land. Somo of its membors may ondoavour to reach tho South Polo. The Belgian oxpedition will work down whoro .Cook went in 1777, i.e., half, way between Graham Land and King Edward Land. 'Tll.ey hope to work down to King Edward Land and make a dash for the Pole, using motors as far as they can, but-Lieut-Shackleton-dons not think they will start bef0r0.,1909.,"8y that time," he added, "I hope .that ono, at all events, of the two great prizes of Polar expeditions will, liavo been , won —in other words, that tho South .Polo will have been discb.verqd' by/mdii,of. the',British race." • The , Americans; ~it appears, are talking of. going to the old ,wintor quarters of tho Discovery, but-little has been heard for soma time."'of their proposed expedition., ' 1 -WILL -NEW ZEALAND HELP. ' Tliere'/is'every' probability' that the Australian Government will give a" grant in aid of tile expedition; an'd 'influcntial committees are now working'privately both in Victoria and New South Wales in the interests of tlio expedition—one' headed by Sir J." Mad-' den,"and.the other by Sir Frederick Darley. The'question arises,' Will New Zealand help? A grant of £1000 would, in tho opinion of many people hero, redound to the credit of the Dominion: In return' for this Lieutenant Shacklo'tbiKwould be glad to allow a New ' Zealand biologist to accompany the Nimrod whilo sho is, doing magnetic work, and, in addition, there would be the valuable collections' for tho nnisenms of the Dominion; !as mentioned. It is" also suggested that' perhaps' even the Tutenokai 'could Ipjit, to to'w/.tbo Nimrod down to tho pack ice and help,to carry her coal, for ihe will, be deeply laden. The reporter suggested that' Lieutenant' Sliackleton should lecture' in Wellington on the Discovery expedition, and he ..readily consented to do so. In company with Mr. Leonard Tripp,.who is taking a keen interest in tho expedition, His .Worship,.the, Mayor (the Hon. T. W. Hislop) was'called jm, and ho most cordially fell in witli tjie. proposal. As Lieutenant Shackleton! has. somo.' most' . magnificent lantern slides, of,;,th?.;Discovery expedition, and . is, moreover, . u a most. interesting lecturer, a great treat.is in store for Wellington people. In Sydney, 'Lieutenant Shackleton lectured to 4000 people. The Town Hall will probably, be taken, and admission will be free, so there should be an attendance of some 3000 people, , / ' I suppose," said the Pressman, as they' parted,.."you, don't, yet know the men you will takoion your .final journey towards tho ,Poie,,,' "No,", replied Lieutenant Shackleton. "I propose to take, six men, and it will rest with the. docto rto decide at the time who are. the most fit.to-go."