SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 1916. THE SHACKLETON EXPEDITION.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXI, Issue LXXI, 25 March 1916, Page 4

SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 1916. THE SHACKLETON EXPEDITION.

On the 18th instant it was announce'] from London that news of Sir Ernest Shackleton's expedition was expected within a few days, and yesterday afternoon a cable message despatched from Buenos Aires on Thursday, stated that Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship the Eudurance was expected daily. It was, m fact, added that a whaler had brought definite news in the form of Shackleton's diary of the poleward voyage as far as South Georgia, where it had been so had an ice season that tn© pack had not broken, in consequence or which Sir Ernest had decided to winter in the Weddell Sea. Beyond this there is nothing of importance that is definite in the diary or in the nevv« brought by the whaler, but it is probable that in a day or two the story of I the expedition will be in the possession of the world. Under his original plans Sir Ernest Shackletpn hoped •to cross the Atlantic Continent, from Weddell Sea to Ross Sea, thus taking a .new route, as previous expeditions had travelled polewards from the Ross Sea. The distance from sea to sea is about 1700 miles. The Endurance, with part of the staff and stores, under the command of Captain Davis, left England early in August, 1914, for Buenoi* Aires, and. on September 18 Sir E. Shackleton, with the remainder'of the expedition, sailed from Liverpool to join it. It was hoped to leave Buenos Aires for the south on October 18, to reach a landing place in the Weddell Sea in about 78deg., early in December, and there to establish a base. But the news just received from Buenos Aires shows that, on account of the state of the ice, Sir Ernest abandoned the idea of crossing the continent in 1914. Had the original plan been adhered to, two parties, each comprising a geologist, a biologist, and a physicist, were to be detached—one to go west to explore Graham Land and to ascertain the continuation of the Victoria Land Mountains, and the other to go e&st to explore Enderby Land. Two of the staff— a geologist and a meteorolo-gist^-were to remain at the base to carry out their observations and other scientific work. Of course, the performance' of this work had to be postponed, but we shall probably find that it was nevertheless done in due course. The expedition consists of two ships— the Endurance, commanded by Sir Ernest Shackleton, and the Aurora (Dr Mawson's ship) commanded by Captain Mackintosh. The Aurora left Sydney on the 14th of December, 1-914, for the Ross Sea base, on this side of the Antarctic Continent, and the main party } led by Sir Ernest Shackletpn himself, left a couple of months earlier from the South American side in the Endurance, for the Weddell Sea base. The objects of the great adventure were to cross Antarctica from sea to sea, securing for the British flag the honor of being the first carried across the South Polar continent, to carry on similar scientific work by the parties operating from the two bases, and to trace • unknown portions of the coastline. Previous explorers have sought or reached Jfe? P°le; a.nd retired as they Jiad come. Sir Ernest Shaekletoh's intention Was to go right on, beginning at Weddell Sea, and ending up at the Ross Sea, on the other side, not only of the continent, but of the world, sledging or •Iking the entire distance. He took with him 120 dogs, bred in Alaska and Siberia, to act as food-carriers and to be later used as food of necessary. In the last letter which he wrote before leaving on his adventure, the ' programme for the attempt to cross Antarctica was outlined by Sir Ernest Shaekleton. "The party that will, I think, cross the continent with me will (he wrote) be Frank Hurley'(of Sydney), Frank Wild, Crean, George Marston, and Macklin. They are all splendid men, and fit, and capable of looking after the dogs. They, indeed, spend the whole time with the dogs, and the latter know them, and are amenable to them. All but Macklin, who is a surgeon, have done a, lot of sledging. Macklin is a splendid strong fellow, and a good companion. Hurley is a great worker, and I think it will be a good stroke to take him, for he has a splendid camera, that is right for 1000 ft of film, and never have, moving pictures been taken on a. journey. The other men are all good and keen workers. Clark, the biologist, Wardie, geologist, and James,, magnetician, havjglalready been doing much work im•pdrtant to- science, which will make an interesting record when it comes to be written. You must not look for us until about the beginning of March, 1916. The Endurance, with the other members of the Weddell Sea party, will return to South Georgia about that time, do some scientific work, and then go on to Buenos Aires." This applies to the party with the Endurance, but the Aurora may turn up any day now at Stewart Island or Lyttelton or Hobart, for when he left Sydney in December, 1914, Captain Mackintosh observed, "if all goes well . with .-as we should turn up at Hobart some time in March. " The recently published news supports these anticipations, and the return of the explorers may be announced at any hour any day. Their arrival after an adventurous voyage in the interest of science and the general benefit of mankind will* indeed constitute a striking contrast to the -devastating and diabolical war, which was raging when they left Europe and which they will find still raging when they come back with the trophies of their peaceful conquests in the Polar Seas. [In another column we ipublish a message received to-day concerning the second ship of the expedition, the Aurora, and her trying experience in the ice. But. she is now, happily, on her way tto -New Zealand!]