AN ACCOUNT OF THE VOYAGE OUT.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCVI, Issue 14538, 25 November 1907, Page 7

AN ACCOUNT OF THE VOYAGE OUT.

The Nimrod, in her sixteen weeW*. slow travelling, met with little notab'.ej adventure. .She plodded along underi sail and steam most of the time, occasionally resorting to one or the other! alone, as occasion demanded, and madet an average speed of about six knots* Thero were fair winds and foul winds,! gales and no wind, but no one wa3 washed overboard, and tho surgeons found life easy. :

; It is already known, of course,' thatj after leaving London on July 30 slas called at Cowes, and the King; visited' her and made a kingly remark about* her. Lieutenant Shackleton left he?at Torquay, her last English port, oik August 7. No call was made, till S$ Vincent was reached, 2300 miles from Home, and there she stayed fauui hours on August 24 to pick up ooali and fresh provisions. Cape Town, 5400 l miles further, was reached on. October! 3; more coal and provisions came; aboard, and the vessel left on Octobepj 5 with a cleaned boiler. Sydney would!; have been made a port of call if timei* had allowed, but it did not, and the; Manchurian ponies, which would other»j wise have/been picked up there, hadi already come on by another The Snares were sighted on. day morning, and Nugget Point nextJ morning, but the land was too far ofS for signalling. Coming up the Caii-j terbury Bight, the ship encountered ai too strong head wind, and had to stopj for a while. Akaroa was signalled oni Saturday morning, but apparently distance of the vessel made it impes*] sible for those on shore to read theij signals. Taken ae a whole, the first? part of the voyage was marked by* adverse winds, and the second part? by fair, and a favouring gale brought the Nimrod up from their Snares to the Ninety-mile Beaebv Eleven days were passed under sail alone, and two or three under steam] alone. The' vessel is, of course, ban-* dicapp&d by not having power enough* to steam against a wind. She is denj scribed as a splendid- On the! voyage various observations were tokenj Deep-sea soundings were made, records ing 'the temperatures and the bottom) formation; specimens of various kindirf were collected, and as far as thel weather and the ship's liveliness mitted, a magnetic survey was carried; on. About twice, a week " currentt bottles" were thrown over, with mes-j sages inside to be to thej British Hydrographic Department. ;