BURIAL SERVICE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 12 February 1913, Page 5

BURIAL SERVICE

CAPTAIN OATES' BODY NOT FOUND. THE NORTHERN PARTY' SAFE. LONDON, Feb. 11. Pr Atkinson and party gathered-the record, and effects of the dead nven Tliov read the burial serv;ce over the . bodies and erected a cairn and. cross their memorv over the inner c.i.in '" which they buried them. The record of the finding v\ Umi bodies 'was left attached to the cross. The partv then searched for 20 mile. south, €nde'a-'ourin S tcr discover the body

of Captain Oatos. It was never found, but another cairn and record were left in the vicinity to his memory. It should most certainly b,e noted that the Southern party mostly stood by their sick companions to the end, aiul in spite of their distressing condition tln-v had retained every record, tud 35 pounds of geological specimens, which prove to be of the greatest scientific value. This emphasises the nature of their journey. The search party then turned northwards, having decided, to next direct, their efforts to the relief cf Lieutenant C-imuboil and the northern party. On November 25th Dr. Atkinson brouuht his party to Hut Point and there received the welcome news that theentire northern party, counting of Lieutenant .Campbell to make h.s own Mr Pribley (geologist), Hainan, Abbot, Bro\vni..«. and Dickson had returned m safety to the expeditions base on November 7th. . . , , i. ■ Campbell's party. which had bet, picked up at Cape Adare and landed m I short sledge journey in January, 1912, returned to Terra Nova iky on I e L7th. expecting to be picked tip by the Terra Nova ship as detailed m last «a" s despatch. 'They met with ace conditions approaching the coast thai wo ; Wisunerable, and were lorced to leave fSenant' Camubell to make his own wIS back to Cape Evans, some two hunJl S:l^ey a> could not be attempted untirtlie sea was properly frozen ovei U J .appointed at the non-appearance of the sh p, Campbell set to work to wm'r. after duly considering the resources at his disposal. He selected for the home of his party a snowdrift, and into his thev cut and burro Wed- eventualcompleting an i«loo of the dimensions \\ fp-tbv 9 feet. This they insulated fe Whn 3 t the course of construction, every seal that appealed was killed for the shortage of food and fuel was a great problem that had to be faced. . , Campbell and his companions ted «.• primitive existence here for Their diet was principally seal meat and blubber eked out with a. few biscuits and a very small quantity of cocoa aT Thev S only had their summer sledging clothing to wear, and these were soon saturated with blubber which penetrated to the skin. 4.1, ~t Their meteorological record shows that the winds were almost constantly ot gale force. Temperatures were not recorded, the thermometers having" been broken " S-ckness in the shape of acute enteritis attacked the party, and so weakened them that the start tor Cape Erans a» not made until September 13th. Even then the condition of Petty-Officer Browning caused grave anxiety. On arrival at Caps Roberts they un-sxwct-edlv found the food depot lett by' Griffith and Taylor. The change to 'biscuits quickiy restored Browning to health. Good progress was then made to Cape Evans. The party was fortunate in picking up Professor David's specimens on Depot Island. . The most remarkable feature ot tins journey was that the entire party lived through Antarctic winter and actually sledged 230 miles on stores and equipment l°ft for one month's sledging. The appearance of seal after the winter had one? set in was after all a fortunate At Cape Evans the scientific work was continued throughout the winter. The special work done included, the ascent ot Mount Erebus for geological and sur-vp'-intr purposes. The records include a letter from Captain Amundsen to the Kimr of Norway, which was brought back from the Pole bv the southern party. Before the ship finally departed from the winter Quarters, she landed a party who erected-a large cross on Observatory Hill, overlooking the Great Ice Barrier, where their comrades sacrificed their lives ajier the achievement of the i great obiect of their expedition. On the return voyage cf the Terra Nova "one iceberg- was ; passed_ which Treasured 21 geographical miles in lensth. Man" hundreds rf iceberes were passed, and for some distance the vessel had a very narrow pasage to work throucb. AH surviving members are in excellent health.

After a month in New Zealand the Terra Nova will proceed to Cardiff.