SHACKLETON ARRIVES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2945, 4 December 1916, Page 8

SHACKLETON ARRIVES

HOUND SOUTH AGAIN STORIES OF ADVENTURE HOW THE ENDURANCE WAS LOST Sir Ernest Sliackleton arrived in Wellington on Saturday morning after making a remarkable journey in record time in order to take part in the rescue of ten members of his Antarctic expedition at present isolated on Ross Island. Since September he lias traversed South America from the Straits of Magellan, crossed tho Andes twice within a. week, visited three Presidents, hurried through the Panama Canal to New Orleans, crossed the United States at v top speed, and journeyed from San Francisco to New Zealand. Incidentally he has gathered nearly £1000 of South American money for the British Red Cross by giving several lectures, and has-Tefused an offer of £15,000 to make a short lecturing tour on his own account in the United States. He does not intend, ho states, to lecture for profit during tho courso of the war, in which he hopes to take part as soou as his present task is completed, When tho Moana berthed in Wellington on Saturday mornmg, the explorer was met by the Minister of Marino (Hon.- Dr. irNah), tho Mayor of Wellington (Mr. J. I'. Luke), Lieut. Stenhouse, and some personal friends. He looked none the worse for the efforts and anxieties of the last two years, and, in answer to the welcome that was extended to him, stated that he was very glad' indeed to be hack in Now Zealand, where he had found friendship and hospitality on every visit. He admitted to having passed through strenuous times since- he went south with the Endurance, on what proved to be the ship's last voyage. There had hoen times, indeed, when things had looked very black indeed' for his men and himself. But although tho Endurance had met with disaster, he had succeeded in bringing out his party safely, and he trusted that similar good fortune would attend the relief expedition that was to start from New Zealand. Cheerful in Misfortune. Chatting with a. representative of The Dominiok, Sir Ernest Shackloton mentioned that he was -going to toll tho story of his expedition to Wellington peoplo in tho Town Hall on Monday night, and ho need not anticipate it in detail. He had tho philosophical smilo of the fighter and the sportsman for the misfortunes that hod showered upon his expedition. Ho had planned to push right across tho Antarctic Continent, starting from tho coast that was not morely untrodden, but actually not located. The journey would have been intensely interesting from a' scientific and geographical point of view, since it would have provided knowlodgc regarding tho vast unknown interior of tho frozon continent, previously penetrated only on the narrow Boss Sea. sector. Ho had planned this effort on his return from his march \o within 100 miles of the South Polo in 1008-9, and in making his preparations, long boforo the outbreak of war. he had sought to provido for all the difficulties "and dangers lhat would have to he encountered. Hut the ice conditions in the Weddell Sea bad proved an ohstaclo of an extraor--1 dinarv character. "The Weddell Sea is the worst in the world." said the ONplorcr.-_ "Wo fought our way through the ice for weeks, covering a. total tlistanco of some ICOO miles, in tho effort to reach the coast, where I was going to establish a base camp in preparatioiii for the 1 transcontinental journey. We mado every effort that seemed possible, but wo could not reaefi the coast, and at last tho shin became frozen tight in the ice. Then the pressure began, at first some miles away from tho Endurance, but gradually coming nearer. Mighty masses of ice wore, ground in fragments or forced up into miniature mountains by tho stupendous pressure of the floes against one another. The Endurance, on ona occasion, was forced right out of tho ice and lay on her side on the top, owing to "tho pressure getting tinder her. Then came tho timo when the ship was gripped fairly by tho ice and simply crushed to pieces. Her sides wero driven in, and her beams were bent and splintered by tho irregular push of the ice. We had camped .oh the ice near the ship before that, and wo had got out a. certain quantity of stores and gear. But there was no chance then of proceeding with the expedition, and there were times when it seemed very doubtful if we could get out at all." A Wonderful Voyage. Just how the party got to Elephant Island, after living for months on tho drifting ice, is a stcu-y full of thrills. From Elophant Island, a desolate patch of rock and ice, Sir Ernest Sliackleton and five companions set forth in an open boat, rescued from tho ship, to carry the news of the party's plight to tho last outpost of civilisation, a whaling station.on South Georgia, some eight luindred miles away. After a voyage that in itself was an epic of pluck and endurance, they beached their cockleshell of a boat on the iron-bound shores of South Georgia and found that the whaling station lay . thirty miles away across mountain ranges that had been regarded as impassable, even by unwearied men with proper equipment. The six men got across in thirtv-six hours, and Sir Ernest Sliackleton "was able to piocecd in a whaling 6'hip 'to the Falkland Islands, whence he could get into, communication with the world. The rescue of the twenty-two men who had been left in an ice cave on Elephant Island has been described in outline already. Sir Ernest Shackleton had less to say about his own achievement, in performing the apparently impossible during the polar winter with a borrowed ship and a borrowed crew, than he had about the open-handed generosity of the South American Governments, which placed their resources at his disposal without reservation. The first attempt at rescue was made in a small craft lone by the Government r>f Uruguay. The fourth and successful fj;ish southward was- undertaken in a steamer provided by the Chilean Government, which had spared neither eff«i;t_]ior money to secure the safety of tho explorers. It was easy to gather from the leader's modest account of the four voyages that the task' of rescue was one of immense difficulty and danger. Tho Antarctic night had settled down, and Elephant Island was surrounded by ice, into'which, the steamer pushed at very great risk. The final rescue appears jo have been made possible only by a gale, which temporarily broke up the ice floes and created navigable channels. Welcomed! in South America. When Sir Ernest Sliackleton brought the Chilian steamer and his companions back in triumph from Elephant Island in tho early days of September, he made his first call at .Rio Suco, in the Strait of Magellan, and from there telephoned the good news to Punta Arenas. "We reached Puntas Arenas a few hours later," said Sir Ernest, "and wo received a wonderful welcome. The police had been put out at the street corners to toll tho people that wo wore coming, and the general fire alarm had been rung in order that everybody should turn out. They treated 1 ns royally. My immediate concern was to

ascertain if there was time for me to get to New Zealand before the Aurora was required to leave for the Boss Sea. The news that I had received up to that time had been very fragmentary. My • mails had been following mo about for several mouths. 'The Chilian Navy undertook to take us up to Valparaiso, and 1 wo wero welcomed there by a crowd of 30,000 peoplo on September 27. Indeed, wo had tho sahio experience of kindness and hospitality everywhere wo went in South America After visiting Santiago I went across to Buenos Aires and Monte Video on a hurried call, and 1 cannot speak too gratefully of the treatment 1 received! everywhere. The night I lectured at Santiago the Minister for Foreign Affairs pinned an Order on my coat publicly, the Union Jack and the Chilian flags were entwined above the platform, and the band played the Chilian National Anthem, "God Save tfi'e King," and tho "Marseillaise." My appreciation of all this was not lessened by the fact that the German section of thb- population was highly, incensed. 'Apparently the Germans suspected that I was venturing « from exploration into diplomacy. _ Tho simple fact is that the South Americans were prepared to do everything possible to assist the expedition, and I may say that 1 have experienced nothing but kindness and generosity during the whole of my journey from Chili to New Zealand." The Task Remaining. Sir Ernest Shacklettm had a word to say in conclusion regarding the situation of the ten men who were left- in tho Antarctic nearly twenty _ months ago when his second ship, the Aurora, was driven out of M'Murdo Sound. The completion of tho rescue work must he. awaited with a certain amount of anxiety, he said, but thero was no need to anticipate bad news. The men on Boss Island had several stores of provisions, left by previous expeditions, to fall back upon, and the absence of Captain Mackintosh and his five companions between about March 11 and May C, when the ship was drjvon to sea, might be explained by the desire of Captain Mackintosh to wait at the head of the sound until the end of April, in case an overland party arrived. If everything had gone well in the .Weddell Sea, the march across tho continent might have been attempted in ' the 19H-15 season, and Captain Mackintosh would have had that consideration in mind. Tho men would have had no great difficulty in providing for themselves at the base, whero they could supplement their stores, if necessary, with seals and penguins. Civic Reception and Lecture. A civio reception will bo tendered to Sir Francis Shackloton in tho Concert Chamber of tho Town Hall at ten o'clock this morning. The Mayor will presido and tho citizens generally are invited to be present. In tho evening Sir Ernest Shackleton will deliver a lecture in the Town Hall, tho proceeds being devoted to the Returned Soldiers' Fund. Ho will deal with his recent adventures in tho Antarctic, and will illustrate his narrative with many remarkablo photographs taken during his* journoyings.' These photographs, presented in tho form of lantern views, depict, among othor incidents, tho /crushing of the Endeavour in the icepack in the Weddell Sea, and tho lifo of tho party on tho ice, whero the cold hand of death hovered above them day after day for over five mouths.