DETAILS OF HER COMING AND GOING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2493, 25 December 1901, Page 59

DETAILS OF HER COMING AND GOING.

' (Bt a Special Cohbespokdext.) Up to th« present the barest outline only of- tne Discovery's movements since leaving Cape Colony have appeared in New Zealand papers. In view of the important ▼essel calling at our own port, we publish a few facts that may be of interest. As has been already stated, she steered nearly due south after passing the 131 st meridian on h?r voyage from Simon's Bay, in order to try her qualities in the ice and to take magnetic observations. The pack was encountered on the 16th N° ve mbe r > near the 62nd parallel of latitude. Lieutenant Barne, who was on the bridge about halfpast 10 that morning, ran down to the captain'? cabin, and reported, " First ice, sir, thereby becoming entitled to the reward of a bottle of champagne. Officers and staff tumbled up on deck in a drizzling slset, but saw no sign of ice, until the lucky second lieutenant pointed to his find, about the size ol a straw hat, disxppearing from view on the port quarter. It was, however, as- reported, " first ice," and to celebrate the event the ward room opened a bottle of wine which 'had been in the Arctic expedition of the old Discovery and the Alert in 1&75. Bigger ice became visible all around towards midday, and by * p.m. the ressel was in a fairly thick pack, which got bigger and more dense as. she went' along southward under sail until 9 o clock at ni*ht. Steam was then got up, and the ship put about, and headed straight for New Zealand, it being necessary to get to Lyttelton and then on her voyage to the unknown as soon as possible. It did not get dark until half -past 10 in- that high latitude, and was quite daylight again at 2 in the morning. About 4 o'clock the snowy sleet gave place to a glorious sunshine. The ice was covered with snow, which was glistened by the bright sun into dazzling white, right up to the sky-line. The sky itself had been a dark sombre gray all the morning, but the sun seemed to turn it into almost pure black, and the contrast of this black in broad daylight with the intense white of the dazzling snow, stretching away to the horizon, gave a striking effect. At times to the north-east a faint streak of lilac was visible low down in the heavens, while tHe well-known ice-blink, or broad band of greyish white, reflected from the surface ol the' frozen water, was seen a few feet above the horizon to the southward, stretching away on both sides well into the east and west. As more open pack v;as passed in the - journey north the snow on the surface ol both large and small lumps of ice was noticed to be hollowed into caverns ana recesses capped with white snow roof-. In these hollows the sun's rays produced lovely colour shades, varying from a beautiful pure translucent blue to brilliant emerald. The largest pieces of ice seen during' thp 24 hours ' spent in the pack would be equivalent to some 30 yards .quare, showing seven or eight feet above the surface of the water. A* ice floats with seven-eights of its heigit submerged, these, comparatively *Tf**™ft-'--little* bergs with their 50 feet of depth were ouite large enough to make the strong IE? shake when she bumped up against The weather wa? too hazy with sleet to get a glimpse of Adelie Land. There can be little doubt the trio down to 63deg »• la, made by Captain Scott partly to give h« new vewel her "bapt.sm" of ice. with a view to seeing how she would behave Lfore the last dry dock in New Zealand was left behind on the voyage to the Unknown. It was also desired to take magnetic readings around the j focus known to exist south of Adehe Land and ayery fair dip of the needle was obtained betore putting the vessel about for the north. Magnetic observations in these waters had not been made since 1842 ; and as the British Government had given £45.000 towards the Discovery's expedition, and are Tery anxious for this information, it was no doubt intended to do the work thoroughly on the voyage irorn^ the Cape, as well as after the ship leaves INew Zealand. A large party of officers and members of the staff landed for a few hours on the uninhabited Macquarie Islands, and, as an entire absence ofanimals of prey had made the penguins and seals so tame that the newcomers could go up and pat them, fairly large bags were obtained. The two king ■nensruins brought alive to Lyttelton, it may be interesting to know, have not yet eaten anything sines leaving the Macquanes but a fast of four month* is said to be quite an ordinary matter for a penguin. The?e birds have "been placed in the Acclimatisation Society's grounds at Ghmtchurch, and their chancea of living are considered quite good. The sealskins secured on the islands are of course, of the hair kind, unforhiimtelv—not. the valuable fur variety of the Northern Hemisphere. On arrival at LrtteUon Head? the Di.<=-cov-ry was anchored just inside the harbour, and soon after 1 a.m. the local postmaster was awakened by a loud knocking at his frout dnor. Gettir.er out cf bed. he was informed that one Rhackleton. a lieutenant «f the Disooverjr, w*t co the pavement

below, and, if not causing unnecessary trouble, th»y would like their letters. The sleepy official neatly professed himself delighted to welcome the important vessel in so serviceable a way, and the boat, with a huge bundle of mail, pulled back about four miles to where their ship was at anchor. The programme drawn up before the Discovery left England has not been materially altered, and she will make south and endeavour to reach and force the pack at the 175 th east meridian, and on reaching open water make for Cape Adaire ; thence the coast of Victoria Land will be followed ag closely aa possible to M'Murdo Bay. Cylinders for sealing, 18in long by 3in diameter, will be carried for leaving messages at Oape Adaire, Possessicm Islands, Coulman Island, Wood Bay, Franklin Island, and Cape Crozier for the benefit: of the relief ship, as the Discovery goes along. It may happen, though, that landing at any or all of these places early in the season, before the summer sun has had its effect on the ice, may be difficult ; and as the expedition is in a hurry to get along aa far aa possible before the winter brings their vessel to a halt, no delay will be made for leaving records if such difficulty is founa to exist. Therefore, if the relief finds no record right along thia routs it will not be cause for alarm. On leaving the vicinity of Mount Terror it is intended to follow along the ica barrier to its eastern extremity, it possible. A big effort will be made to leave a record, if it ha-s not been done anywhere else, at the spot where the Southern Cross waa brought alongside the ice-wall, and where the crew left the ship. Commander Scott ia recommending that the relief ship should leave England two months earlier than the Discovery left, as i the latter had to be pushed, and had no j allowance of time for breakdowns. Fortnnately no breakdowns occurred. It will not be necessary for the relief expedition to leave New Zealand earlier than the Discovery is doing, or to make the ice before the first week in January. Should the vessel fail to find the Discovery or any messages, it is recommended that records should be left by her, together with two months' provisions, at Cape Crozier and the same at Cape Adaire, and all her other supplies, including coal, be deposited at Wood Bay. Commander Scott suggests that the relief ship carry one and a-half i year's stores for herself in addition to those j wanted for the Discovery, the latter to consist for the most part of simply flour, , sugar or golden syrup, and meat. Aa large i supplies of frozen meat, have been gener- | ously promised by New Zealand pastorahsts, j the relief ship will no doubt be fitted up I with cold storage accommodation. All her spare space is to be filled with coal; that will be a very precious commodity in the Antarctic. . . In the Discovery this summer, it is intended to push quickly along the ice barrier j beyond the point reached by R°ss m 18*<2, j and, if possible, to round the barrier, and find winter harbourage, fay, a little to tl.e southward. Tailing the discovery of a suitable harbour, a return will probably be made for Wood Bay before the formation of next winter's ioe blocks the way back. Directions of probable movements will be left tor the relief ship, if possible, and for any furtheT information the interested inhabitants of the known portions of the world must wait in patience until the navigators of ±lie relief or those other intrepid representatives o£ the "boys of the bulldog breed" in the Discovery come back to New Zealand, or some other point of civilisation. It is very pleasing to know, writes a correspondent from Lyttelton, that a competent and trustworthy .shipwright like Mr James Millar, who has had charge of the repairs to the Discovery, is firmly of the opinion that the vessel's hull is now fit for her work, and that »he will cause her people no more inconvenience. Vexatious as the delay was it is satisfactory to us in New Zealand, who want to see our plucky visitors back in our midst again, to have this expert opinion, after a thorough overhaul of the craft and attendance to the few repairs thought advisable. The leaking which existed has nonbeen quite stopped aft of the for ard bulkhead, and the water being made on the foren°ak (or narrow V-9 T aaped 20ft of hold for - ard of this bulkhead) is such that seven rr ei«ht minutes daily working of a hamlpump will keep it down easily. This slig.it leakage, moreover, will no doubt get iess weekly, as the vessel takes up, especially when "she gets into the ice. The strength of the ship is evidently all there, and her captain, officers, ant} crew start eft with mil confidence in their craft. It would have been pleasant to have the Discovery with us longer, but they are -v a hurry to" be off on their quest— winter quarters beyond the c-nd of the ice barner. Her people would hsve been interesting to tatk to Lieutenant Armitage, for instance, was the fkbt man to see Nan&en after hia long disappearance in the arctic. On© evening, when the Jackson-Harnisworth Expedition had just finished dinner in their winter quarters on Frans Josef Land. Lieutenant Armitage, smoking a cigarette in the open, noticed a, walrus some four miles inland, which was so unusual that he got a telescope, and then saw the " walrus " was walking on its hmd leg 3. Mustering the crew, and finding no one missing, he r&ported a man in sijlit to Jackson, who went out and found ]San=en and Jobansen. after their 14 months sledge ride. The story goes tluU from head-quu-ters the two men meeting were seen to shake hands stroll towards the camp for a few minutes, stop and shako hands much more effusively, and continue their walk. The explanation is that Jackson, seeing a man wandering about, asked him to come over to his quarters and have something with them. A few minutes later the stranger"? fi»re icminded him of a Nansen photograph Feen m London, and he asked, "Excuse me, are you Nansen?" *"Yes: I am," wjs the iesponse. Then Jackson made his historical remark. "I'm damned glail to see you." It was not quite so boudoir-like as Stanley s "Dr Livingstone, I pie^umo," but the more rigorous climate was the excuse for more rioorous language. Dr Kcetlitz, of the Discovery staff, was aho a member of the expedition which ran icross Nan?en in this extraordinary way, but £he genial scientist, it is said, was on duty washing the dishes at that moment, and this is one of the only two occasions on which he has been late at important events.

Last week the Blackball Company shipped 771 tons of coal from Greymouth, and the Bi miner Company 1625 tons of coal and 51 tons of coke. Nijcmo and Blaiu's stocks of Artificial Manures for root ciops, grass lands, grain, potatoes, etc., are very extensive, and having erected expensive machinery for treating them, splendid results may be aauaected.