BOY EXPLORERS

Taranaki Daily News, 22 December 1932, Page 6

BOY EXPLORERS

LIFE IN FINLAND. Surgeon-Commander G. Murray Levick, who was a member of Captain Scott’s last expedition to the South Pole, returned to England recently from the Arctic regions of Finland with a team of nine boys of. the English Public Schools’ Exploring Club, of which he is the founder. The club will now be renamed the Arcturus Society. Commander Levick stated in an interview that this had been their first expedition and had been throughout a complete success. The boys spent a month in northern Finland’s virgin forests under real pioneering conditions. Their only shelter was provided by the tents they carried on their backs. “I led the boys on two or three days’ journeys from the central camp and back without other guidance than a compass,” said Commander Levick. “Our experiences included taking the camp across a river on rafts, and going down rapids in boats. We passed unarmed' through regions where bears were abundant, but where we never met any human being. “We made accurate meteorological observations and carefully studied the flora and fauna. AU the boys steadily improved in health and strength. During the nights they stood watches,. keeping the camp fire going, and making records from the meteorological instruments. The trip cost each boy £3O, and they travelled altogether 4000 miles. I shall return next summer with a bigger party in two groups. “Two of the boys told me themselves how highly enjoyable they had found the expedition. ‘We recommend others to do the same,’ they said, ‘yet they must not expect a picnic, but real hard training and work.’”