THE The NeW Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1907. ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13605, 26 November 1907, Page 4

THE The NeW Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1907. ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION.

Preparations for the departure of the- N'imrod Expedition to the Antarctic Continent are now proceeding apace at Lyttelton, to which favourably-situated port has been assigned the position of first base. As the leaders of the party never fail to emphasise, when discussing their prospects and anticipations; the attempt to attain the South Pole is only one of the items in a comprehensive programme of scientific research. Rut it is undoubtedly the item which, looms largest in / the popular mind and the accomplishment • of which would be more rapturously greeted than any other feat or discovery. Nor is it unfair to assume, judging from' the equipment of the expedition and from the leadership of the South-going party having been assigned to Lieutenant Shackleton, who shared Captain Scott's famous dash from the Discovery, that the hope of carrying off the laurel-wreath of Polar attainment is one of the chief' interests of the entire expeditionary membership. For "the last infirmity of noble minds" may well be aroused by the knowledge that if the South Pole is won the.Ni'mrod expedition will be emblazoned upon the. great historical records of- the world, and that if its "Furthest .South" falls short of this its work will be speedily covered up by the greater success of subsequent parties. As far as any evidence or probability- goes, no human foot has yet trodden where longitude finally merges, into one, although a ceaseless series of attempts to reach that spot, especially in the North, have been made, during recent decades, by the bravest explorers of .every civilised nation. The South Polo has been comparatively ignored in the concentration of interest upon the attack at the North Pole. Yet it may be that Lieutenant Shackleton and his party may succeed and win for the Nimrod Expedition fame-in-perpetuity for as long as the annals of civilisation remain.

The Nimrod party itself woukl be foremost in- asserting that its greater chances of success do not depend upon the superiority of its membership over those which have heretofore tried and failed.. The .Shackleton who is leading the Southgoing land party is no better or braver a man to-day than when he was one. of the trio of plucky adventurers whom the piercing cold of ttie great snow desert beat blinded and starving back to, their ship. By- such attempts, by such failures, is acquired such experience of the conditions to be surmounted as enables better preparations to be made for another attempt and gives brave men the hope of succeeding where brave men had had to give in. The equipment of the Nimrod Expedition, as will, have been gathered from the accounts published in the Herald, is greatly superior to , that of previous parties. The provisioning is better and we may' hope that the cooking —of which Captain Scott had to complain in his Discovery journal.--will also be better; considerations which count for more than may be supposed when an expedition is compelled to live entirely upon its supplies and when desperate land journeys can only be accomplished by men in the pink of physical condition. And in addition to a provisioning which we may reasonably hope • will prevent scurvy from' appearing as it did with the Discovery, there are means of transport which are decidedly ingenious.- There is a motor-car specially designed, a mob of Manchurian ponies,, and a pack of Esquimaux dogs.. If by this means a chain of supply;-depots can be stretched out across the 700 miles thai. will.lie between the main camp and the Smith Pole, that longed-for point will be attained. Upon the possibility of establishing, these depots hang all hopes of reaching the Pole. Even should this be frustrated an immense amount • of invaluable scientific work is certain to be accomplished, and in any case the heartiest good wishes of* New, Zea-

land will be with the Nimrod people. For it is by work like this in which life* and fortune are offered without price in the service of country and of humanity that every step forward has come to the world.