FORCED BACK BY ICE

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 591, 18 February 1929, Page 9

FORCED BACK BY ICE

BYRD FAILS TO REACH KING EDWARD LAND BERGS GUARD THEIR SECRET BY BUSSELL OWEX Copyrighted, ISJS. by tbe wk Times ’ company and the St. Louis "Post - Dispatch.” All rights Tor publication reserved throughout the world Y tr«.less to the "New York Times." BAY OF WHALES, Friday Commander Byrd returned last night from his attempt to reach King Edward Land in the City of New York, and the ship is once more alongside the ice in the bay. lie had hoped that the sea to the north-east would be open, as a result of the recent storm But the pack-ice was so thick that he was forced to turn back. It seems to have always been difficult to reach King Edward Luid. The late Captain Scott was nearly cut off when he first saw and named the Alexandra range of mountains, and Sir Ernest Sliackleton also found it almost impossible to penetrate the pace-ie* in that direction. When Byrd flew over King Edward Land, however, he found the sea open as far as he could observe, and lie hoped that navigation would be possible. We left here on the 13th, after the storm, and the buy was so choked with ice that the steamer could not enter. It seemed a propitious moment for heading northeast, so that these precious lust days of summer might be utilised. As far as we could see was ice, broke n into huge thick cakes studded with bergs of ali sizes and shapes, some of them of curious formation, which had come from the direction in which we were headed, but the ship could raov* at four or five knots without difficulty as the ice pilot in the crow's nest guided us through between the heavy ice. MANY ICEBERGS We have seen more bergs in the last few days than in any period since we came down here, although only a few of them have been as large as the big ones we saw north of the pack-ice in the Ross Sea. Many of them were of curious shapes. One which interested us was dented through its entire length as if it had been struck by a giant hand. From its low wall nearest to us the top sloped down, and then went steeply up to a height three times that of its lower side. The upper slope was covered with big fragments of ice, as if an explosion had worn it loose and sent it out to sea. After steaming all day and most, of the night through the scattered packice, which was 10ft thick and sometimes even heavier, the ship reached n nearly solid pack through which penetration would have been difficult if not impossible. Byrd did not wish to force his ship into this pack, which blocked the way north, and which had undoubtedly been blown down from the impenetrable regions beyond, because of the danger of getting stuck and being frozen in. He turned north anti steamed along the edge of it for several hours, passing around bergs and tremendous pieces of pack, until it became obvious that it extended far to the north.

UNSOLVED MYSTERY It was unbroken as far as could be seen from the masthead, and the commander felt that even if he found a passage around the end of the pack and turned in to the east, there might be a danger of its closing around the ship in uncertain weather. So he reluctantly ordered the return. This pack, moving from the northeast, has been one of the most interesting phenomena observed during outstay here. Tiiere seems to be no end, for it is still marching by outside, although largely broken up by the time it reaches here. The bergs are so numerous that it indicates that there, lias been an unusual breaking up of the ice along the coast of King Edward Land and even farther to the north, where no explorer has ever been able to determine what is the mysterious bond which holds the vast pack in its grip. The most plausible explanation is that there is a land which has never been seen, land curving toward the north and forming an enormous bight, either of mountains or islands. It is one of the most interesting mysteries of the Antarctic, and one to which Byrd intends to pay more attention.

BOLING BATTERED ICE-BLOCKS AND STORMS ■READY FOR RETURN TRIP Press Association DUNEDIN, To-day. Thirty-three days after sailing from Dunedin the Eleanor Boling returned from the Antarctic on Saturday afternoon after an exciting trip to the Bay of Whales. Though not constructed to pound through the ice-pack, the Eleanor Boling cut htr way through unassisted and discharged her valuable cargo at Commander Bryd's base. While she was moored alongside the Ice Bai-rier a 100-tou ice block crashed on to her bridge deck, crumpling rails and ladders, and shifting the deckhouse nine inches. o On the return journey the Boling was under water for hours on end, and at times heeled over to an angle of 62 degrees, so that the charthonse was being hit by the tremendous seas. By 2 p.m. yesterday two portable houses, 8,000 gallons of gasolene, 4,000 gallons of kerosene, an airplane, and 500 tons of coal had been loaded. The Boling is expected to sail this afternoon. She will make full speed, as unless she is away from the Bay of Wholes by March 5, she will run the risk of being imprisoned in the ice. She will probably tow the City of New York back. Captain Brown stated that Commander Byrd would retain 45 men on the ice during the winter. Early in the summer the planes would leave on a trip inland to the cairn erected over the body of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, who perished returning from the Pole in 1911. He did net think Commander Byrd would attempt his polar flight till next summer.