IN THE ANTARCTIC

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16837, 28 December 1928, Page 7

IN THE ANTARCTIC

THE BYRD EXPEDITION ICE BARRIER REACHED A DAY OF THANKSGIVING :Blpc T«! Copyright United Pr<'ss Assn.. (Copyright from Byrd Expedition.) (Received Dec. 28, 10 a.m.) ROSS SEA, Dec. 25. ''Christmas Day, and we are at the ice barrier. That formidable and glistening symbol of impregnability which Commander Byrd is about to explore by air appeared before us late tins evening—a grout, wall of white on (he distant horizon. Before miclnighl we were coasting along the fate of it. It was our first real contact with the Continent on which we will live for a \ear. We sighted it just alter our Christmas celebrations in the forecastle, when everyone receive!) presents and celebrated with sun- ami talks, some of humor and some charged with feeling of all that this Christmas means to us and to' those left behind. ,"Xo sooner had we reached the deck, than, in a severe storm, the first mate, in the crow's nest, .•ailed down, 'Hairier on the starboard bow.' A great cheer went up, releasing the nil pent-up emotion of the men who. for months, had been directing all their energies to this gaol. It, has been their dream and their ambit ion. to which purpose they have dedicated (wo years of their lives, and the word thai the Barrier was actually in sight acted like an electric stimulus. "To-morrow we expect to go ashore at Discovery Inlet, when we will set our feet for' the first time on that mystic land which has so drawn men thai they have laid down their lives to learn something of its secrets. It is as much a milestone as their first flight will be, and that we-should have reached if on Christmas Day, a. clay of thanksgiving and dedication to the" greatest ideals of man, is a source of thanksgiving and happiness to all aboard. AN UNSELFISH UNIT. "In a few days, if till goes well, our aeroplane may be winging its way oyer the snowy wilderness of the Barrier. Commander Byrd expressed this to-day, when in a message to the Secretary for the Navy, he said : "We have reached the great mysterious Ice Barrier. It presents to us an ice cliff higher than the. masts of the ship. We are 2400 miles from the nearest human dwelling, in the only area in the world where a ship can get so far from civilisation. That, we are hero safely is due to Providence and to my loyal and stouthearted shipmates, who have worked together unselfishly as a unit. It will probably be some days before we get permanently ashore on account of (he ice that will be in the Bay of Whales.' "Not the least wonderful of all 'the happenings of this evening is that as we were approaching the Barrier we all listened on deck to broadcasting from home, and one cannot listen to those metallic tones'coming from a loud speaker without feeling the tremendous progress made by man in science since the last Antarctic: adventure. It is weird, almost ghostly, to hear words from homo coming to us as we move through these ice-filled waters to our base, and comforting, too. for we know that we have not wholly lost touch with the world so very far away. "We are Irving on our slciis to-night on r1»(k. making ready for our first run on shore, and there is great expectancy of new things, of meeting at last, the tremendous icefields on which our home will be for 14 months, of glimpsing some of the beauty and stark loneliness of the Antarctic

"This has been a great Christmas Day for us. By next Christmas Day our stay will have been written for what it i* worth, alid there is not a man aboard who is not in liis heart determined thai it shall he a worthy one." ASHORE AT LAST DISCOVERY INLET REACHED DOORSTEP OF THE BARRIER (Copyright from Bvrd Expedition). (Received Dec.'2B, 11 a.m.) DISCOVERY INLET, Dec. 26. "We have been ashore at last; if one can call a floating sheet of ice shore, but as the entire Barrier is supposed to be afloat we have at least been on its doorstep. We reached the Barrier yesterday at long. 177.25 W. We cruised along it all Inst night, and this morning it rose 80 to 90ft., majestic, forbidding, beautiful, and terrible. "As we moved eastward, Frank Davis, the physicist, and Quia A. Blackburn, the topographer, sketched the face of the Barrier, and soundings were taken every hour. They showed depths ranging from 250 to 300 fathoms at distance from one mile to three miles off shore. About 8 o'clock in the morning Commander Byrd had predicted that we should see the beginning of Discovery Inlet, and just about that time we sighted what was at first believed to be a distant ice floe, or berg. Three hours later, however, we were well inside the jnlet, where it narrows to a width of from one to three miles. "A short run brought us to the hay ice, which was about half way down the narrowest part of the inlet, and here we came alongside the ice, threw out two ice anchors, and made them fast. A moment later the ice near the ship was covered with nun running to stretch their legs, and pelting" each other with snowballs. "We are now lying not more than 100 yards from the Barrier, which here is about 100 ft. high. As soon as we had made fast Commander Byrd, with Bert B'alchen and others, went inland to try and locate a landing field at the edge of the Barrier. Such ri Held could be used as a base for exploring the Barrier, and also' there has always been the possibility that Discovery Inlet would make a better base than the Say of Whales, although the latter would be much nearer the area which Commander Byrd wishes to explore. They are travelling on skis, and when they reach the Barrier will be; tied together with nn alpine rope. HUNT FOR SEALS "Another party composed of Captain Barker, Pilot Vaughan, and Jacob Burscy, both clog drivers, have gone some distance in to get seals, which are lying there in the sun. We need them for food for ourselves, and it is necessary to lay in as large a store as possible also'for the dogs. Dean Smith started off to hunt seals, but on the way he found two penguins which interested him so much that he stopped to play with them. They regarded him with friendly, curious eyes until he tried to pick one up, then he found that the little fellow could fight with its flippers and bite with his beak. He brought therti back finally with many bruises on his arms and legs, and posted them in front of cameras, but the real fun began when an emueror pn»iguin walked up to welcome us, an official greeter of tho Antarctic, resplendent in white shirt front, frock coat, loug brilliant black beak, colored purple

on the sides, and with bright yellow .spots on each side of his neck. He was a most imposing bird, and regarded us with just the proper touch of scornful toleration. He was at least 3ft. 6in. high, weight about 601 b., and with hvs powerful flippers mado an antagonist not to be laughed at. Harold June, the navy pilot, regarded the emperor for a time, and made up his mind that it should be his, or at least should be photographed in a proper state of subjection. So he walked up, and after being unmercifully nipped, dived at the bird and both rolled over in the snow to the sound of grunts. Clipping both arms around the flippers, and then lying on his majesty, he found he could hold him. Juno then roped the penguin, and brought, him in front of the camera, the prisoner protesting every inch of the way."