THE SOUTH POLE.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVI, Issue 287, 3 December 1912, Page 2

THE SOUTH POLE.

HOYvT IT WAS DISCOVERED

AMUNDSEN'S EXPEDITION. i LONDON, Nov. 21. ■ Captain Amundsen's book on his i journey to the South Pole, just pub- | jished by Murray, is the most popular ; Polar story yet written. It is gossipy ; and graphic, simple and unconventional, and aolightfully enthralling. Tli© pages are full' of details of ; thrilling'" adventure, . hairbreadth ; escapes, extraordinary incidents, and j remarkable experiences. ! The explorer states that he. intended to go north until he heard that Peary was successful in .that direction, and then, belr'eving that the possibilities of the Arctic trip were exhausted, he decided to try for the South Pole. His funds were raised for the purposes of Arctic exploration. He considered that Captain Scott's expedition was purely one.of scientific research. He felt that life own re- , sources were far short of Scott's, particularly in experience .and means. The party purposely avoided Scott's route, in the belief that they would not be playing .the game if they did not. r • . • i Had Shackleton, when he passed the Bay of Whales in 1908, noticed j the ice breaking up, and had that ex- I plorer waited a fow hours, the i problem of the South Pole would most likely, have been solved then '

Amundsen describes the final dash for the J2ole. "When we started, from the depot on the morning of October 19," he saysy-—"the weather was reasonable. The' sentiments of the party were elicited. 'Shall we start?' I said. 'Yes,' was the reply, 'let's be jogging on.' The animals were harnessed to the sledges in a jiffy, and with a bttle nod, as rtmoh as to say, 'We'll see you to-morrow,' we were off. Lindstrom did not even come outside the depot j to see the party oi; five start. It was such, an everyday affair. What was the use of making a. fuss? At the end of <a run of 12 miles or so the surface' beside the sledges dropped perpendicularly, and revealed a yawn- ! ing, black abyss, large enough to have j swallowed us up and all our para- J phernalia. Another few inches to one side and we should have taken no further part in. the Polar journey. "Passing Shackleton's 'farthest so a fh' tears welled np in our eyes, when we appreciated the ffailure of his effort and what it meant to him. ;JWe could not restrain those tears, and Shackleton's name will always be written in the annals of the Antarctic .in letters of fire. "On the morning of December 14 the weather was perfect. The necks of those in the advance sledges grew twice' as long, as they endeavored to ha the. first to see the actual spot of tho Pole. ; "At 3 in the afternoon there was a simultaneous halt. We ran out the sledge metei-s. We noted, by (reckoning, the destination that we s-o eagerly sought, and at 5 o'clock our weatherbeaten, frost-bilten fists grasped the pole that we had erected with the Norwegian... flag 'flying on, the top. There was festivity that night in our tent. Ohikmpagne corks popped and cigars were smoked. "In the morning observations were taken from the tent over the boundless plain, where there were no marks of any kind. Three of our men went. in different directions for distances of 12 miles each. They had no compasses, and though they fully realised that the} 7 were disking their Jives they went off amid a fusillade of laughter and chaff. "Those left in the thin, wind-proof gaberdine tent wrote a letter to the King of Norway," and a, shorter one to Captain Scott, rind these wore left there. Then we laced the tent-door and said 'Good-bye.' " It is interesting to add that Processor Polhelm, a scientific, investigator of Christiania, has, from the expedition's notes, placed the position of the South Pole at latitude 89deg. 58.5 south, anl longitude 60deg. east.1