The Lyttelton Times. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1907. THE SNOW-SEEKERS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCVI, Issue 14538, 25 November 1907, Page 6

The Lyttelton Times. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1907. THE SNOW-SEEKERS.

In these days no one is a' mere traveller, hunter or explorer. A man who goes out into the wilds must bo going to seek something, be it butterflies or bison, grisly bears or hum-ming-birds, and the bravo, little band of men that came into Lyttelton Harbour on Saturday evening must have its special designation. The surveyors who ca*me with the Nimrod and the scientists who are to come later are going down to the white wastes of the Antarctic to seek an elusive something, which may be described generally as pure knowledge. They may bring back the carcases of birds, a new seal, some hungry-looking mosses, and a fossil or two, but the results that count will be indicated by means of tracings on uninteresting sensitive

paper, some maps, and a great deal of descriptive accounts of climate and topography. Down in King Edward VII. Land, where Lieutenant Shackleton and his party are to make their headquarters, Captain Scott found nothing more interesting than, enowcovered hills and valleys, stretching apparently interminably to the distant horizon and beyond. The more detailed examination which the "present expedition will be able to make should add a great deal, however, to the bare story of a bare land, and Lieutenant Sliackleton, we hope, will be able to push <n little further east or west or south, and tell us whether there is any break in that strangely monotonous but strangely fascinating country. It seems a little futile to talk of "exploring" in so barren a region. Every account that we have of the Antarctic continent tells merely of vast frozen expanses, out of which rise snow-covered mountains, where there is no scenery that is not a snowscape, and where the only incidents that lend variety to existence are such natural phenomena as false suns and blizzards. But the snow wastes seem to possess some peculiar fascination for men, comparable only with that of the desert. Mr H. G. Wells, in one of his speculative romances, makes it incumbent upon men who aspire to lead the best life that they should periodically go out into the waste places of the.earth, into- the desert or among arctic snows, to meditate and to purify theiT souls by contact with Nature in her least distracting moods. It is to the absolute solitude that his heroes look for spiritual regeneration. Possibly the explorers of the Arctic and the Antarctic find in their battles with the blizzard and their sojourn on the snowfields some soul-testing factor, some spiritual inspiration, some physical influence on mental moods. At any rate, the man who has once fallen a victim to the charm of the waste w-ill go back to feel again the alternating depression and exaltation that belong there. It is, of course, with the more practical side of Antarctic exploration that we are concerned now. Lieutenant Shackleton will make his base, we believe, some seven hundred miles fromthe South Pole. Probably he will make a dash to surpass the " furthest south" that was established in 1903. He has had experience that will prove invaluable in polar travelling, as well as in all the other departments of explorer's work. His expedition is equipped in the light of the knowledge which he gained when he went to the ice-region with Captain Scott, and although on the scientific side it may not he possible to do more than repeat the observations which the Discovery expedition made, the men of the Nimrod should he able to make much more extensive journeys away from their base. 'The little Nimrod will be 'ea.gerly inspected while she lies in Lyttelton Harbour, and comparisons will he made, of course, with those other exploring vessels in which Canterbury folk took such a whole-hearted interest. But the Nimrod will achieve her purpose by landing the scientists at their base and coming out of the ice again, and the explorers have no doubts as to lier ability to stand any strain likely to be put upon her. We are glad to welcome the little group of snow-seekers to New Zealand. They will make many friends here, and they will be sent away with good wishes, all the more enthusiastic because their leader has already a warm place in our hearts.