ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION

Otago Witness, Issue 2913, 12 January 1910, Page 16

ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION

SIR ERNEST SHACKLETON AND CAPTAIN ENGLAND.

COMMAND OF THE NIMROD

(From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, November 26. With reference to Sir Ernest Shackleton's account of the Antractic Expedition, Captain Rupert G. England is desirous of correcting a statement concerning himself. Captain England says : —" He (Sir _E. Shackleton) states that rny resignation of the command of the Nimrod was due to ill-health, a statement which is incorrect, but which I should have been content to pass had not my professional reputation been, as I consider, brought in question by the entire ignoring of the work done by me on the outward voyage to New Zealand and the subsequent voyage to the ice, and in landing him and his party. I. feel that it is always an unpleasant task to bring personal questions that may have arisen between members of such an expedition before the public, but I am compelled to do so out of justice to myself and those of my friends who consider that my services have been overlooked." ■■'■■ :

The is a copy of Captain England's resignation, •elated Lyttelton, March 20, 1903, and sent to Mr J. J. Kinsey, of Christchurch : " In accordance with my instructions from Mr Sbackleton, a copy of which T believe you hold, I beg to hand to you herewith my resignation as captain of the Nimrod. I also hand to you a statement of some of the repairs, etc, that should be done before the Nimrod is, in my opinion, again rea<iy for sea, a,nd to inform' you that she needs extensive overhauling and almost entire re-equip-ment.

" You will, of course, understand that the limited time at my disposal, if I am to complete this work in a fortnight, makes it impossible lor me to go into more details, and my instructions are that Mr Dunlop will take charge of this .matter, but I shall be at all times ready to assist you to the utmost -of my ability. Should you consider that my knowledge can be of service to you or to those away, it is at your disposal. " I would also like you to feel assured that, in the event of any difficulty arising in~ the appointment of my successor, or in the work of repairs or equipment, causing thereby any anxiety as to the eventual relief of those working in the south, or in any way tending to increase any risk to them, I am at your service to do anything that lies in my power at all times.

"For your private information; since the question of my health in. mind and body has been quoted as the reason for my resignation, I beg to inform you thai I am perfectly sound in both body and mind, and that my resignation has been forced upon me, nor did I know of this, as you know, until I received my instructions from Mr Shackleton by your hands. At present I. do not wish this statement made public, unless it becomes necessary in the interests of the expedition; I beg to draw your attention to the fact that I have sent thi'ee chronometer's to Svdney in charge of Mr M'lntosh, all of them needing repairs. Herewith, also, I hand you all ship's paners, Including register, accounts, list of valuable. instruments, etc. I propose to leave in the course of a few days for Enelnd, and will let you have a permanent address as soon as possible. In the meantime I shall keep myself in daily communication with you. In reference to the crew of the Nimrod, there is an agreement existing between them and the expedition, that they receive a bonus of lQs a month throughout, which bonus is to be increased ; to £1 a month during their voyage south, reducing on their return to 10s a month until they sail again for the south, when it again should increase to .-61 a month until they return to New Zealand. This was subject to my approval. All hands wtell deserve khe bonus, and in the possibility of its being overlooked I wish to draw your attention to this. There is also another agreement, between Mr Shackleton and the crew of the Nimrod that they shall receive an extra bonus for their exceptional work. in the south this last time of £1 a month from the time of crossing the circle. This should be paid at once. These agreements were made verbally, and I therefore have no papers to give you confirming them." Mr J. J. Kinsey formally replied : " I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 20th inst. resigning yomposition as master of the Nimrod, which I herewith accept. I beg to thank you for the kind offer made in your letter, and I shall have'pleasure in communicating this to the London representatives of the expedition."