THE EXPEDITION.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LV, Issue 13921, 25 March 1909, Page 5

THE EXPEDITION.

At 4 p.m. punctually en New T > »><ir » Day of lUOB the little Nun rod, ]/-n:'iiui Lieutenant Shackelton mid h<^ Polar exploring party, Antarctia bound sailed out of hytloiion h«ir!>o.ii\ v till iho tli under of biy; guns and the rl'Vers ol 30,000 people to say her godspeed in lier voyage into the aiui);, rtcd South. At the liciM:"; she \v:»- Imehed up to the towing-boat ti>e Koonya, which led lv r safely through tomo heavy weather ."to the ice-pixck. On /January lo the Koon>a took oi'f the (.online, and the Is'imioj. hei'-dhig for the icebound solitudes of Kinix 10 award Land and' the frozen Antarctic, btood off and said good-bye. Lieutenant Shackleton, leader of the expedition, had the following in his party of thirteen: — • Professor David (.Sydney University), geologist; Mr. Douglas Mawsbn, physicist; Mr J.. Murray, biologist; Dr .E. Marshall, surgeon, iliagnetician, and surveyor; Mr N. Priestly, assistant-geologist; Dr -'orbes Mackay, surgeon, farrier, and surveyor; Lieutenant J. B. Adams, meteorological and magnetician ; Sir Philip lirocklehurst, surveyor and baker; Mr Ernest Joyce nnd I-.ir Frank Wyld, "bandy men"; Mr 13. I>a?. chauffeur and electrician; Mr G. JE. Marston, artist ; Mr C. .Robert*;, cooi: and assistant-geologist '; snd Mr B. Armytage, sledger. v PLAN OF CAMPAIGN. v , After the shore party* v/as landec on King Edward Land, and winter quarters were set up there, it was intended to prosecute magnetic survey work with the Nimrod in the sea adjacent to Australia and New • Zealand/ Me&nwhile the exploring: expedition v;as to send out sledge parties — one, under Professor .David, to investigate tho geology of the surrounding district, and another party, upder Wyld, to travel south-west towards tho jrreot ice barrier. Thus, till about the third week in April, when the. polar night comes down, not to be dispelled till , August. ' . l "DASH FPR THE POLE." With the new daylight the explorers were to push south as^ far as possible, and about the middle of October tho "dash for the Pole" was meditated. The attacking party war; to comprise six men — three in the motor carrying the stores, and the other trio following with the ponies. The party would take meteorological Observations jHwring the journey. ' Said Lieutenant Shackleton: "If possible, the party will locate the Pole, and solve the question as to whether r> the vast ice bnrrier jealously blocking the-vway ( is the renfains of sea " frozen- in thty last. glacial age, fed, by the £now yoar after year, or whether it is "a great glecier coming from an cuorirous mountain * rangein tfie Far South." Mr Shackleton hoped to locaie the Pole hv means of a theodolite, taking -various necessary observations; .of, the s.un. and the record of distance travelled southward — a record kept by the sledge meter (a toothed wheel appliance in contact with the snow of ice, aftei-thc manner of a cyclometer). ' . . "The meteorological .^knowledge we will acquire," said the leader, "will he Of great value to New Zealand in future." ' ■ The expedition expected to return to the winter quarters about January 20, when the Nimrod would pick them vn 1 . Then, if circumstances permitted, it was intended to make invesHi£atidft3 in .. "WiJkes Land, to prove ot disprove the existence of the land' supposed .to haver beeH -discovered by Wilkes in 1842. - EXPEDITIONS. Britain has taken a prominent part during recent years 'in endeavouring to clear up the reniainibg .mysteries of the ice-bound south, but other countries have also .been eager to increase the sum of knowledge! about th<* v?ft silent spaces in the" low latitudes. -T^> prevent over-l&ppin.y;,' the South Fojarregio^n has. been divided iv-to four sections, known as th^ Victoria^ Koss, Enderby and Weddeli quedrar.tj. The Victoria and Ross quarter^, . which form the' fieid of British investigation ,> extend "9od^. E. and POdeg W. ol 180deg. ; the Enderby (Germany), from 0 to 90deg. El; the*'Weddoll (Swedish), f rorn^O. to. 90d6g W. In 1901 three exploring parties set out for the Antarctic. England sent tho Discovery (Captain Scott), Germany despatched the Gauss (Dr. von Dryg.'ilski), a"d -SwCdoji set her hopes in the ship Antarctic (D/. Nordenskiold). While tliese expeditions were busy in the far south a Scotch party, led by Dr. Bruce*, sailed in the Scotio for the "region beyonfl.' Lientenant Shackletori sharer? tl'.o glory won by Captain Scott, of the Bis- ! covery , whick reicained -long enough in .the south to need visits' from two relief s^ips, the Terra Nova and Morning. The, Discovery^ men bad Nature in strenuous opposition to, them. For days at a ,timo violent- hurricanes, laden with powdered snow, swept over the bleak Region, and, the thermometer sank to minus 50 degrees, as a regular thing, and once descended to minus 68deg. In the spring of 1804 when the Discovery was still hard and fist in the ice, partj.es went out in slwjrl's in different directions; One, led by Captain Scott, went, westward a cos 5 ? .Victoria Land-'tol46deg. 38min. E. in -79 deg. 59min. This was the most westerly point reached — 270 miles fmm tho ship. Here the surface 'proved a yast plain, about 9000 feet high. A slcdgo party, under Lieuten'an^ Barn<y travelling south-west, obtained distiret evidence/ aboivt the m'oceivent of the ice-barrier ;' a depot established in the previous yeaf had moved n flistanco of lt)8 "yards. Lieutenant Boyd. with another sleight . party, travelled over floating ice for 160 miles from the ship, .thus proving that a great arm of thejsea extended southward between Victoria Land and the Ross Carrier. The ice gave no sign of rebxiri; its ,«rip on the" Discovery. It was therefor© feared -ftiat tluvship would have to. be abandoned, /and the most valuable goods were tnken over the ice to the reliefships. . However, towards the end of January," 1905, the ice bonder bogou to loosen, and by February 3 tho ship was within six or seven w'lci of clear water. Blasting operations helped to make a passage, and on February 16 the vessel was able to mo\e homewards. On March 15 t*he Discovery arrived at the Auckland Islands, pushed 'on to Lyttelton, replenished lior stores, and sailed for England on June 8. - Very important work' was done by the Discovery's men during the period of over two years i') the Antarctic. Tho ttliysicjyl feature* of a hwsp parj of Victoria Land wm-o uetfnninetL the Balleny and Ruf=so}l Islands v ere fbown to be identica), the me'ceorological and magnetic observations secured mostvaluable data, geological specimens were, obtained in cbrjiidance, a fossil flora (believed to ho. of -the jnioi'epe pge) was discovered, rud a'livicjue l)iological collpction Avas wjide, representing a region half wnv belweon the Antarctic, Circle and t-lie South Pole.