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diff --git a/6137.txt b/6137.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f378735 --- /dev/null +++ b/6137.txt @@ -0,0 +1,25629 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Home of the Blizzard, by Douglas Mawson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Home of the Blizzard + +Author: Douglas Mawson + +Release Date: July, 2004 [EBook #6137] +Posting Date: March 24, 2009 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOME OF THE BLIZZARD *** + + + + +Produced by Geoffrey Cowling + + + + + +THE HOME OF THE BLIZZARD: + +BEING THE STORY OF THE AUSTRALASIAN ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION, 1911-1914; + + +By Sir Douglas Mawson, D.Sc., B.E. + + +ILLUSTRATED IN COLOUR AND BLACK AND WHITE ALSO WITH MAPS + +WITH 260 FULL-PAGE AND SMALLER ILLUSTRATIONS BY DR. E. A. WILSON AND +OTHER MEMBERS OF THE EXPEDITION, PHOTOGRAVURE FRONTISPIECES, 12 PLATES +IN FACSIMILE FROM DR. WILSON'S SKETCHES, PANORAMAS AND MAPS + + + +TO THOSE WHO MADE IT POSSIBLE: THE SUBSCRIBERS AND CO-OPERATORS + +TO THOSE WHO MADE IT A SUCCESS: MY COMRADES + +AND TO THOSE WHO WAITED + + + + +AUTHOR'S PREFACE + +The object of this book is to present a connected narrative of the +Expedition from a popular and general point of view. The field of work +is a very extensive one, and I feel that this account provides a record +inadequate to our endeavours. However, I am comforted by the fact that +the lasting reputation of the Expedition is founded upon the scientific +volumes which will appear in due course. + +Allusion to the history of Antarctic exploration has been reduced to a +minimum, as the subject has been ably dealt with by previous writers. +This, and several other aspects of our subject, have been relegated +to special appendices in order to make the story more readable and +self-contained. + +A glossary of technicalities is introduced for readers not familiar with +the terms. In the same place is given a list of animals referred to from +time to time. There, the common name is placed against the scientific +name, so rendering it unnecessary to repeat the latter in the text. + +The reports handed to me by the leaders concerning the work of sledging +journeys and of the respective bases were in the main clearly and +popularly written. Still it was necessary to make extensive excisions so +as to preserve a "balance" of justice in all the accounts, and to keep +the narrative within limits. I wish to assure the various authors of my +appreciation of their contributions. + +Mr. Frank Hurley's artistic taste is apparent in the numerous +photographs. We who knew the circumstances can warmly testify to his +perseverance under conditions of exceptional difficulty. Mr. A. J. +Hodgeman is responsible for the cartographical work, which occupied +his time for many months. Other members of the Expedition have +added treasures to our collection of illustrations; each of which is +acknowledged in its place. + +To Dr. A. L. McLean, who assisted me in writing and editing the book, I +am very greatly indebted. To him the book owes any literary style it may +possess. Dr. McLean's journalistic talent was discovered by me when he +occupied the post of Editor of the 'Adelie Blizzard', a monthly volume +which helped to relieve the monotony of our second year in Adelie +Land. For months he was constantly at work, revising cutting down or +amplifying the material of the story. + +Finally, I wish to express my thanks to Dr. Hugh Robert Mill for hints +and criticisms by which we have profited. + +DOUGLAS MAWSON + +London, Autumn 1914. + + + + +FOREWORD + + + Nor on thee yet + Shall burst the future, as successive zones + Of several wonder open on some spirit + Flying secure and glad from heaven to heaven. + BROWNING + +The aim of geographical exploration has, in these days, interfused with +the passion for truth. If now the ultimate bounds of knowledge have +broadened to the infinite, the spirit of the man of science has +quickened to a deeper fervour. Amid the finished ingenuities of +the laboratory he has knitted a spiritual entente with the moral +philosopher, viewing: + + The narrow creeds of right and wrong, which fade + Before the unmeasured thirst for good. + +Science and exploration have never been at variance; rather, the desire +for the pure elements of natural revelation lay at the source of that +unquenchable power the "love of adventure." + +Of whatever nationality the explorer was always emboldened by that +impulse, and, if there ever be a future of decadence, it will live again +in his ungovernable heritage. + +Eric the Red; Francis Drake--the same ardour was kindled at the heart of +either. It is a far cry from the latter, a born marauder, to the modern +scientific explorer. Still Drake was a hero of many parts, and though +a religious bigot in present acceptation, was one of the enlightened of +his age. A man who moved an equal in a court of Elizabethan manners was +not untouched by the glorious ideals of the Renaissance. + +Yet it was the unswerving will of a Columbus, a Vasco da Gama or a +Magellan which created the devotion to geographical discovery, per se, +and made practicable the concept of a spherical earth. The world was +opened in imaginative entirety, and it now remained for the geographer +to fill in the details brought home by the navigator. + +It was long before Thule the wondrous ice-land of the North yielded her +first secrets, and longer ere the Terra Australis of Finne was laid bare +to the prying eyes of Science. + +Early Arctic navigation opened the bounds of the unknown in a haphazard +and fortuitous fashion. Sealers and whalers in the hope of rich booty +ventured far afield, and, ranging among the mysterious floes or riding +out fierce gales off an ice-girt coast, brought back strange tales to +a curious world. Crudely embellished, contradictory, yet alluring they +were; but the demand for truth came surely to the rescue. Thus, it was +often the whaler who forsook his trade to explore for mere exploration's +sake. Baffin was one of those who opened the gates to the North. + +Then, too, the commercial spirit of the generations who sought a North +West Passage was responsible for the incursions of many adventurers into +the new world of the ice. + +Strangely enough, the South was first attacked in the true scientific +spirit by Captain Cook and later by Bellingshausen. Sealing and whaling +ventures followed in their train. + +At last the era had come for the expedition, planned, administered, +equipped and carried out with a definite objective. It is characteristic +of the race of men that the first design should have centred on the +Pole--the top of the earth, the focus of longitude, the magic goal, to +reach which no physical sacrifice was too great. The heroism of Parry +is a type of that adamant persistence which has made the history of the +conquest of the Poles a volume in which disaster and death have played +a large part. It followed on years of polar experience, it resulted from +an exact knowledge of geographical and climatic conditions, a fearless +anticipation, expert information on the details of transport--and the +fortune of the brave--that Peary and Amundsen had their reward in the +present generation. + +Meanwhile, in the wake of the pioneers of new land there were passing +the scientific workers born in the early nineteenth century. Sir James +Clark Ross is an epitome of that expansive enthusiasm which was the +keynote of the life of Charles Darwin. The classic "Voyage of the +Beagle" (1831-36) was a triumph of patient rigorous investigation +conducted in many lands outside the polar circles. + +The methods of Darwin were developed in the 'Challenger' Expedition +(1872) which worked even to the confines of the southern ice. And +the torch of the pure flame of Science was handed on. It was the same +consuming ardour which took Nansen across the plateau of Greenland, +which made him resolutely propound the theory of the northern ice-drift, +to maintain it in the face of opposition and ridicule and to plan an +expedition down to the minutest detail in conformity therewith. The +close of the century saw Science no longer the mere appendage but the +actual basis of exploratory endeavour. + +Disinterested research and unselfish specialization are the phrases born +to meet the intellectual demands of the new century. + +The modern polar expedition goes forth with finished appliances, with +experts in every department--sailors, artisans, soldiers and students +in medley; supremely, with men who seek risk and privation--the glory of +the dauntless past. A.L.M. + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +One of the oft-repeated questions for which I usually had a ready +answer, at the conclusion of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Expedition +(1907-09) was, "Would you like to go to the Antarctic again?" In the +first flush of the welcome home and for many months, during which the +keen edge of pleasure under civilized conditions had not entirely worn +away, I was inclined to reply with a somewhat emphatic negative. But, +once more a man in the world of men, lulled in the easy repose of +routine, and performing the ordinary duties of a workaday world, +old emotions awakened. The grand sweet days returned in irresistible +glamour, faraway "voices" called: + + ...from the wilderness, the vast and Godlike spaces, + The stark and sullen solitudes that sentinel the Pole. + +There always seemed to be something at the back of my mind, stored +away for future contemplation, and it was an idea which largely matured +during my first sojourn in the far South. At times, during the long +hours of steady tramping across the trackless snow-fields, one's +thoughts flow in a clear and limpid stream, the mind is unruffled and +composed and the passion of a great venture springing suddenly before +the imagination is sobered by the calmness of pure reason. Perchance +this is true of certain moments, but they are rare and fleeting. It may +have been in one such phase that I suddenly found myself eager for more +than a glimpse of the great span of Antarctic coast lying nearest to +Australia. + +Professor T. W. E. David, Dr. F. A. Mackay and I, when seeking the South +Magnetic Pole during the summer of 1908-09, had penetrated farthest into +that region on land. The limiting outposts had been defined by other +expeditions; at Cape Adare on the east and at Gaussberg on the west. +Between them lay my "Land of Hope and Glory," of whose outline and +glacial features the barest evidence had been furnished. There, +bordering the Antarctic Circle, was a realm far from the well-sailed +highways of many of the more recent Antarctic expeditions. + +The idea of exploring this unknown coast took firm root in my mind +while I was on a visit to Europe in February 1910. The prospects of an +expedition operating to the west of Cape Adare were discussed with the +late Captain R. F. Scott and I suggested that the activities of his +expedition might be arranged to extend over the area in question. +Finally he decided that his hands were already too full to make any +definite proposition for a region so remote from his own objective. + +Sir Ernest Shackleton was warmly enthusiastic when the scheme was laid +before him, hoping for a time to identify himself with the undertaking. +It was in some measure due to his initiative that I felt impelled +eventually to undertake the organization and leadership of an +expedition. + +For many reasons, besides the fact that it was the country of my home +and Alma Mater, I was desirous that the Expedition should be maintained +by Australia. It seemed to me that here was an opportunity to prove that +the young men of a young country could rise to those traditions which +have made the history of British Polar exploration one of triumphant +endeavour as well as of tragic sacrifice. And so I was privileged to +rally the "sons of the younger son." + +A provisional plan was drafted and put before the Australasian +Association for the Advancement of Science at their meeting held at +Sydney in January 1911, with a request for approval and financial +assistance. Both were unanimously granted, a sum of L1000 was voted and +committees were formed to co-operate in the arrangement of a scientific +programme and to approach the Government with a view to obtaining +substantial help. + +The three leading members of the committees were Professor Orme Masson +(President), Professor T. W. Edgeworth David (President Elect) and +Professor G. C. Henderson (President of the Geographical Section). All +were zealous and active in furthering the projects of the Expedition. + +Meanwhile I had laid my scheme of work before certain prominent +Australians and some large donations** had been promised. The sympathy +and warm-hearted generosity of these gentlemen was an incentive for me +to push through my plans at once to a successful issue. + + + ** Refer to Finance Appendix. + +I therefore left immediately for London with a view to making +arrangements there for a vessel suitable for polar exploration, to +secure sledging dogs from Greenland and furs from Norway, and to order +the construction of certain instruments and equipment. It was also my +intention to gain if possible the support of Australians residing in +London. The Council of the University of Adelaide, in a broad-minded +scientific spirit, granted me the necessary leave of absence from my +post as lecturer, to carry through what had now resolved itself into an +extensive and prolonged enterprise. + +During my absence, a Committee of the Australasian Association for the +Advancement of Science approached the Commonwealth Government with an +appeal for funds. Unfortunately it was the year (1911) of the Coronation +of his Majesty King George V, and the leading members of the Cabinet +were in England, so the final answer to the deputation was postponed. I +was thus in a position of some difficulty, for many requirements had +to be ordered without delay if the Expedition were to get away from +Australia before the end of the year. + +At length, through the kindness of Lord Northcliffe, the columns of the +Daily Mail were opened to us and Sir Ernest Shackleton made a strong +appeal on our behalf. The Royal Geographical Society set the seal of +its approval on the aims of the Expedition and many donations were soon +afterwards received. + +At this rather critical period I was fortunate in securing the services +of Captain John King Davis, who was in future to act as Master of the +vessel and Second in Command of the Expedition. He joined me in April +1911, and rendered valuable help in the preliminary arrangements. Under +his direction the s.y. Aurora was purchased and refitted. + +The few months spent in London were anxious and trying, but the memory +of them is pleasantly relieved by the generosity and assistance which +were meted out on every hand. Sir George Reid, High Commissioner for +the Australian Commonwealth, I shall always remember as an ever-present +friend. The preparations for the scientific programme received a strong +impetus from well-known Antarctic explorers, notably Dr. W. S. Bruce, +Dr. Jean Charcot, Captain Adrian de Gerlache, and the late Sir John +Murray and Mr. J. Y. Buchanan of the Challenger Expedition. In the +dispositions made for oceanographical work I was indebted for liberal +support to H.S.H. the Prince of Monaco. + +In July 1911 I was once more in Australia, a large proportion of my time +being occupied with finance, the purchase and concentration of stores +and equipment and the appointment of the staff. In this work I was aided +by Professors Masson and David and by Miss Ethel Bage, who throughout +this busy period acted in an honorary capacity as secretary in +Melbourne. + +Time was drawing on and the funds of the Expedition were wholly +inadequate to the needs of the moment, until Mr. T. H. Smeaton, M.P., +introduced a deputation to the Hon. John Verran, Premier of South +Australia. The deputation, organized to approach the State Government +for a grant of L5000, was led by the Right Hon. Sir Samuel Way, +Bart., Chief Justice of South Australia and Chancellor of the Adelaide +University, and supported by Mr. Lavington Bonython, Mayor of Adelaide, +T. Ryan, M.P., the Presidents of several scientific societies and +members of the University staff. This sum was eventually forthcoming and +it paved the way to greater things. + +In Sydney, Professor David approached the State Government on behalf of +the Expedition for financial support, and, through the Acting Premier, +the Hon. W. A. Holman, L7000 was generously promised. The State of +Victoria through the Hon. W. Watt, Premier of Victoria, supplemented our +funds to the extent of L6000. + +Upheld by the prestige of a large meeting convened in the Melbourne +Town Hall during the spring, the objects of the Australasian Antarctic +Expedition were more widely published. On that memorable occasion the +Governor-General, Lord Denman, acted as chairman, and among others +who participated were the Hon. Andrew Fisher (Prime Minister of the +Commonwealth), the Hon. Alfred Deakin (Leader of the Opposition), +Professor Orme Masson (President A.A.A.S. and representative of +Victoria), Senator Walker (representing New South Wales) and Professor +G. C. Henderson (representing South Australia). + +Soon after this meeting the Commonwealth Government voted L5000, +following a grant of L2000 made by the British Government at the +instance of Lord Denman, who from the outset had been a staunch friend +of the Expedition. + +At the end of October 1911 all immediate financial anxiety had +passed, and I was able to devote myself with confidence to the final +preparations. + +Captain Davis brought the 'Aurora' from England to Australia, and on +December 2, 1911, we left Hobart for the South. A base was established +on Macquarie Island, after which the ship pushed through the ice and +landed a party on an undiscovered portion of the Antarctic Continent. +After a journey of fifteen hundred miles to the west of this base +another party was landed and then the Aurora returned to Hobart to refit +and to carry out oceanographical investigations, during the year 1912, +in the waters south of Australia and New Zealand. + +In December 1912 Captain Davis revisited the Antarctic to relieve the +two parties who had wintered there. A calamity befell my own sledging +party, Lieut. B. E. S. Ninnis and Dr. X. Mertz both lost their lives +and my arrival back at Winter Quarters was delayed for so long, that the +'Aurora' was forced to leave five men for another year to prosecute a +search for the missing party. The remainder of the men, ten in number, +and the party fifteen hundred miles to the west were landed safely at +Hobart in March 1912. + +Thus the prearranged plans were upset by my non-return and the +administration of the Expedition in Australia was carried out by +Professor David, whose special knowledge was invaluable at such a +juncture. + +Funds were once more required, and, during the summer of 1912, +Captain Davis visited London and secured additional support, while +the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science again +successfully approached the Commonwealth Government (The Right Hon. J. +H. Cook, Prime Minister). In all, the sum of L8000 was raised to meet +the demands of a second voyage of relief. + +The party left on Macquarie Island, who had agreed to remain at the +station for another year, ran short of food during their second winter. +The New Zealand Government rendered the Expedition a great service in +dispatching stores to them by the 'Tutanekai' without delay. + +Finally, in the summer of 1913, the 'Aurora' set out on her third cruise +to the far South, picking up the parties at Macquarie Island and in +the Antarctic, carried out observations for two months amid the ice and +reached Adelaide late in February 1914. + +Throughout a period of more than three years Professors David and +Masson--the fathers of the Expedition--worked indefatigably and +unselfishly in its interests. Unbeknown to them I have taken the liberty +to reproduce the only photographs at hand of these gentlemen, which +action I hope they will view favourably. That of Professor David needs +some explanation: It is a snapshot taken at Relief Inlet, South Victoria +Land, at the moment when the Northern Party of Shackleton's Expedition, +February 1909, was rescued by the S.Y. 'Nimrod'. + +In shipping arrangements Capt. Davis was assisted throughout by Mr. +J. J. Kinsey, Christchurch, Capt. Barter, Sydney, and Mr. F. Hammond, +Hobart. + +Such an undertaking is the work of a multitude and it is only by +sympathetic support from many sources that a measure of success can be +expected. In this connexion there are many names which I recall with +warm gratitude. It is impossible to mention all to whom the Expedition +is indebted, but I trust that none of those who have taken a prominent +part will fail to find an acknowledgment somewhere in these volumes. + +I should specially mention the friendly help afforded by the +Australasian Press, which has at all times given the Expedition +favourable and lengthy notices, insisting on its national and scientific +character. + +With regard to the conduct of the work itself, I was seconded by the +whole-hearted co-operation of the members, my comrades, and what they +have done can only be indicated in this narrative. + + + +CONTENTS + +AUTHOR'S PREFACE + +FOREWORD + +INTRODUCTION + +CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM AND PREPARATIONS + +CHAPTER II THE LAST DAYS AT HOBART AND THE VOYAGE TO + MACQUARIE ISLAND + +CHAPTER III FROM MACQUARIE ISLAND TO ADELIE LAND + +CHAPTER IV NEW LANDS + +CHAPTER V FIRST DAYS IN ADELIE LAND + +CHAPTER VI AUTUMN PROSPECTS + +CHAPTER VII THE BLIZZARD + +CHAPTER VIII DOMESTIC LIFE + +CHAPTER IX MIDWINTER AND ITS WORK + +CHAPTER X THE PREPARATION OF SLEDGING EQUIPMENT 176 + +CHAPTER XI SPRING EXPLOITS + +CHAPTER XII ACROSS KING GEORGE V LAND + +CHAPTER XIII TOIL AND TRIBULATION + +CHAPTER XIV THE QUEST OF THE SOUTH MAGNETIC POLE + +CHAPTER XV EASTWARD OVER THE SEA-ICE + +CHAPTER XVI HORN BLUFF AND PENGUIN POINT + +[VOLUME II] + +CHAPTER XVII WITH STILLWELL'S AND BICKERTON'S PARTIES + +CHAPTER XVIII THE SHIP'S STORY. BY CAPTAIN J. K. DAVIS + +CHAPTER XIX THE WESTERN BASE--ESTABLISHMENT AND EARLY + ADVENTURES. BY F. WILD + +CHAPTER XX THE WESTERN BASE--WINTER AND SPRING + +CHAPTER XXI THE WESTERN BASE--BLOCKED ON THE SHELF-ICE. + BY F. WILD + +CHAPTER XXII THE WESTERN BASE--LINKING UP WITH KAISER + WILHELM II LAND + +CHAPTER XXIII A SECOND WINTER + +CHAPTER XXIV NEARING THE END + +CHAPTER XXV LIFE ON MACQUARIE ISLAND. BY G. F. AINSWORTH + +CHAPTER XXVI A LAND OF STORM AND MIST. BY G. F. AINSWORTH + +CHAPTER XXVII THROUGH ANOTHER YEAR. BY G. F. AINSWORTH + +CHAPTER XXVIII THE HOMEWARD CRUISE + + +APPENDIX I THE STAFF + +APPENDIX II SCIENTIFIC WORK + +APPENDIX III AN HISTORICAL SUMMARY + +APPENDIX IV GLOSSARY + +APPENDIX V MEDICAL REPORTS: + + WESTERN BASE (QUEEN MARY LAND). + BY S. E. JONES, M.B., Ch.M. + + MAIN BASE (ADELIE LAND). + BY A. L. McLEAN, M.B., Ch.M., B.A. + +APPENDIX VI FINANCE + +APPENDIX VII EQUIPMENT + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + +Sir Douglas Mawson (Photogravure) + +In Memoriam cross at Cape Denison (Photogravure) + + + + +COLOUR PLATES + +Virgin solitudes + +A weather-worn snow-berg + +A grottoed iceberg + +The Mertz Glacier Tongue, at a point 50 miles from the land + +The Grey Rock Hills at Cape Denison + +Winter quarters, Adelie Land + +The Alpine-glow + +"Antarctica is a world of colour, brilliant and intensely pure..." + +Sledging in Adelie Land + +[Volume II] + +Islets fringing the mainland: view looking west from Stillwell Island + +Rafts of floe-ice + +Before sunrise: camped near the Hippo Nunatak + +Avalanche rocks + +Delay Point + +The great "Bergschrund" of the Denman Glacier + +Tussock slopes and misty highlands + +The shack and its vicinity + +A Victoria penguin on the nest + +A growth of lichen on red sandstone + +Antarctic marine life + +Brought up in the deep-sea trawl + + +PLATES + +Professor T. W. Edgeworth David + +Professor Orme Masson + +Captain John King Davis + +The wall of the Antarctic Continent + +Finner whales of the South + +The 'Aurora' crossing the equator, August 1911 + +Frank Wild + +Ginger and her family on the voyage from London + +Queen's Wharf, Hobart, an hour before sailing, December 2, 1911 + +The last view of Hobart nestling below Mt. Wellington + +A big, following sea + +McLean walking aft in rough weather + +Cruising along the west coast of Macquarie Island + +A Giant Petrel on the nest + +A Young Giant Petrel on the nest. Caroline Cove + +The wreck of the "Clyde" + +The boat harbour--Hassleborough Bay + +The North End of Macquarie Island showing Wireless Hill. The living hut +is at the north end of the isthmus, with North-East Bay on the right and +Hassleborough Bay on the left side + +The 'Aurora' anchored in Hassleborough Bay. In the foreground giant +seaweed is swinging in the wash of the surge + +A Wanderer Albatross at rest on the water + +Hunter tickles a sleeping baby Sea Elephant + +A typical Table-Topped neve berg originating from floating Shelf Ice + +An Antarctic iceberg with a reticulation of crevasses on its tilted +surface. This berg had no doubt taken its origin from the ice of the +coastal cliffs of Adelie Land + +In Pack-Ice + +A cavern in the wall (120 feet) of the shelf ice of the Mertz +Glacier-Tongue + +A glimpse from within the cavern (shown in the preceding illustration) + +The 'Aurora' in Commonwealth Bay; the rising plateau of Adelie Land in +the distance + +The invaluable motor-launch; left to right, Hamilton, Bickerton, and +Blake + +The whale-boat with passengers for the shore; Wild at the steering oar + +First steps in the formation of the Main Base Station; landing of stores +and equipment at the head of the Boat Harbour, Cape Denison. In the +distance men are to be seen sledging the materials to the site selected +for the erection of the hut + +A view of a rocky stretch of the Adelie Land Coast west of Commonwealth +Bay + +A panorama looking west from winter quarters. On the left and in the +distance are the rising slopes of the inland ice. The moraine is in the +foreground + +A panorama of the sea front looking eastward from winter quarters. The +plateau slopes are visible to a height of l500 feet + +In open pack-ice + +The face of the Shackleton Ice-Shelf 100 miles north of the mainland. +Each strongly-marked horizontal band on the sheer wall represents a +year's snowfall + +The 'Aurora' anchored to thick floe-ice 100 miles north of the western +base, Queen Mary Land. In this region the annual snowfall is very heavy, +so that it is possible that the great thickness of floe is due to the +accumulation of one year + +A berg with inclusions of mud and rock. Long. 10 degrees E. + +The 'Flying-Fox' viewed from the floe-ice below the brink of the shelf +ice on which the western party wintered + +Summer at the boat harbour, Cape Denison + +An Adelie penguin on the nest defending her eggs + +The living-hut, nearing completion. The tents and shelter built of +benzine cases used as temporary quarters are shown + +The completion of the hut--cheering the Union Jack as it was hoisted on +the flag pole + +Adelie penguins at home, Cape Denison + +A view of the main base hut in February 1912, just prior to its +completion. Within a few days of the taking of this picture the hut +became so buried in packed snow that ever afterwards little beyond the +roof was to be seen + +Weddell seals asleep on pancake ice + +Adelie penguin after weathering a severe blizzard. observe the lumps of +ice adhering to it + +A Panoramic view looking south from near the hut. In the distance are +the slopes of the inland ice-sheet. In the foreground is the terminal +moraine. Between the rocks and the figure is a zone where rapid thawing +takes place in the summer owing to the amount of dirt contained in the +ice + +A panoramic view looking north towards the sea. In the middle of the +picture is Round Lake. The hut is towards the left-hand side and the +anemograph is on the hill. The men are practising ski running + +An evening view from Cape Denison + +The head of a Weddell seal + +A Weddell seal scratching himself. "Drat those fleas!" + +The meteorologist with an ice-mask + +Where the plateau descends to Commonwealth Bay + +MacCormick Skua gull on the nest with egg + +Chick of MacCormick Skua gull on the nest + +Protection--Adelie penguin and chick + +The lower moraine, composed of water worn boulders, Cape Denison + +An ice-polished surface, Cape Denison + +The boat harbour in March. The hut is seen dimly through light drift + +"Race of the Spray Smoke's Hurtling Sheet" + +Walking against a strong wind + +Picking ice for domestic purposes in a hurricane wind. Note the high +angle at which Webb is leaning on the wind + +Leaning upon the wind; Madigan near the meteorological screen + +Stillwell collecting geological specimens in the wind + +In the blizzard; getting ice for domestic purposes from the glacier +adjacent to the hut + +An incident in March soon after the completion of the hut: Hodgeman, the +night watchman, returning from his rounds outside, pushes his way into +the veranda through the rapidly accumulating drift snow + +Mertz in the snow tunnels on his way to the interior of the hut with a +box of ice for the melters + +Mertz emerging from the trap-door in the roof + +Working in the hurricane wind, Adelie Land + +Getting ice for domestic purposes. Whetter picking; Madigan with the +ice-box + +The ice-cliff coastline east of winter quarters + +Madigan's frostbitten face + +Correll, Bage, McLean, Hodgeman, Hunter, and Bickerton + +A winter afternoon scene in the hut. From the left: Mertz, McLean, +Madigan, Hunter, Hodgeman. High on the left is the acetylene generator + +Taking a turn in the kitchen department. Hunter, Hodgeman, Bage. The +doorway on the right is the entrance to the workroom + +A corner of the hut--Bage mending his sleeping bag. The bunks in two +tiers around the wall are almost hidden by the clothing hanging from the +ceiling + +A winter evening at the hut. Standing up: Mawson, Madigan, Ninnis, and +Correll. Sitting round the table from left to right: Stillwell, Close, +McLean, Hunter, Hannam, Hodgeman, Murphy, Lasebon, Bickerton, Mertz, and +Bage + +A morning in the workshop. From left to right: Hodgeman, Hunter, +Lasebon, Correll, and Hannam. The petrol engine part of the wireless +plant on the right + +Welding by thermit in the workroom, Adelie Land. Bickerton, Correll, +Hannam and Mawson + +In the catacombs. Ninnis on the right + +Bage and his tide gauge which was erected on the frozen bay ice + +Raising the lower section of the northern wireless mast + +The weathered cliffs of a glacier sheet pushing out into the frozen sea +east of Cape Denison + +Bage at the door of his astronomical transit House + +Webb and his magnetograph house + +At work on the air-tractor sledge in the hangar; Bage, Ninnis, and +Bickerton + +Webb adjusting the instruments in the magnetograph house a calm noon in +winter, Cape Denison + +The ridged surface of a lake frozen during a blizzard + +A lively scene in the vicinity of an Antarctic Petrel rookery, Cape +Hunter + +A Weddell seal swimming below the ice-foot + +A rascally Sea Leopard casting a wicked eye over the broken floe at +Land's End. Main Base + +A Crab-Eater seal; common amongst the pack-ice + +The rare Ross seal + +One of McLean's cultures; bacteria and moulds; illustrating +micro-organisms in the hut + +Ice flowers on the newly formed sea-ice + +Madigan visiting the anemograph screen in a high wind + +The Puffometer, designed to record maximum gust velocities + +An enormous cone of snow piled up by the blizzards under the coastal +cliffs + +The cliffs at Land's End, Cape Denison. On the brow of the cliff in +front of the figure (Mertz) is a good example of a snow cornice + +On the frozen sea in a cavern eaten out by the waves under the coastal +ice-cliffs + +Ice stalactites draping the foreshores + +A grotto of "mysteries" + +The relief of Wild's party. The "Aurora" approaching the floe at the +western base, February 1913 + +Pacing the deck: Capt. John King Davis and Capt. James Davis + +An Adelie penguin feeding its young + +"Amundsen", one of the sledge dogs sent down to us from Amundsen's South +Polar Expedition + +At the foot of a snow ramp beneath the coastal ice-cliffs, Commonwealth +Bay + +At Aladdin's Cave. The vertical passage leading down into the cave +itself is situated immediately behind the figure on the right + + +Beneath the surface of the plateau. Bage preparing a meal in Aladdin's +Cave in August + + +Laseron and Hunter using the collapsible steel handcart in preparing for +dredging on the frozen sea + +Greenland Sledging Dogs--"John Bull" and "Ginger"--tethered on the rocks +adjacent to the hut + +The Mackellar islets viewed from an elevation of 800 feet on the +mainland + +Snow Petrels preparing to nest, Cape Denison + +A Snow Petrel on the nest + +Adelie penguins diving into the sea in quest of food + +Adelie penguins jumping on to the floe + +Mertz in an icy ravine + +Mertz and Ninnis arrive with the dogs at Aladdin's Cave + +Mertz emerging from Aladdin's Cave + +A team of dogs eagerly following Ninnis + +The dogs enjoy their work + +Speeding east + +A distant view of Aurora Peak from the west + +Lieutenant B. E. S. Ninnis, R.F. + +Mertz, Ninnis, and Mawson erecting the tent in a high wind + +A later stage in erection of the tent in a wind (one man is inside) + +Dr. Xavier Mertz + +Pages from Dr. Mertz' diary + +Mawson emerging from his makeshift tent + +The half-sledge used in the last stage of Mawson's journey + +"...The long journey was at an end--a terrible chapter of my life was +finished!" + +The southern supporting party on the plateau. Hunter, Murphy and Laseron + +The southern and supporting parties building a depot on the plateau + +Depot made by the southern and supporting parties at a point 67 miles +south of Commonwealth Bay. Murphy, Laseron, and Hunter packing sledge in +the foreground; Bage in the distance + +A rough sledging surface of high Sastrugi encountered by the southern +party 200 miles S.S.E. of the hut + +Farthest south camp of southern party, 17 "minutes" (about 50 miles) +from the South Magnetic Pole. Bage near sledge; Webb taking set of +magnetic observations behind snow barricade + +Sastrugi furrowed by the mighty winds of the plateau, 250 miles S.S.E. +of winter quarters, Adelie Land + +Under reefed sail. Southern party 290 miles S.S.E. of winter quarters, +Adelie Land + +Hurley in sledging gear + +Correll on the edge of a ravine in the ice sheet + +Madigan's, Murphy's, and Stillwell's parties breaking camp at Aladdin's +Cave at the commencement of the summer journeys + +The surface of the continental ice sheet in the coastal region where it +is badly crevassed + +Working the sledge through broken sea ice, 46 miles off King George V +Land. Madigan, Correll and McLean + +The "Organ-Pipes" of Horn Bluff (1000 feet in height) pushing out from +the mainland + +Madigan, Correll and McLean camped below the cliffs of Horn Bluff (1000 +FEET IN height). Columnar Dolerite is seen surmounting a sedimentary +series partly buried in the talus-slope + +An outcrop of a sedimentary formation containing bands of coal +projecting through the talus slope below the columnar dolerite at Horn +Bluff + +The face of a granite outcrop near penguin point. At its base is a tide +crack and ice foot + +The granite cliffs at Penguin Point where Cape Pigeon and Silver Petrel +rookeries were found; the site of New Year's Camp + +[VOLUME II] + +Madigan Nunatak--Close and Laseron standing by the sledge + +A desolate camp on the plateau + +Sledging rations for three men for three months + +Stillwell Island--a haunt of the Silver-Grey petrel + +"The Bus", the air-tractor sledge + +Bickerton and his sledge with detachable wheels + +Amongst the splintered ice where the ice-sheet descends to the sea near +Cape Denison + +The big winding-drum for the deep-sea dredging cable + +Fletcher with the driver loaded ready to take a sounding + +At the provision depot for castaways provided by the New Zealand +Government, Camp Cove, Carnley Harbour, Auckland Island. Primmer on the +right + +The brick pier erected at Port Ross, Auckland Islands, by the +magneticians of Sir James Clarke Ross's Expedition + +The "Aurora" at anchor in Port Ross, Auckland Islands + +The Monagasque trawl hoisted on the derrick: Gray standing by + +A remarkable berg, two cusps standing on a single basement. Note that it +has risen considerably out of the sea, exposing old water lines + +A portal worn through a berg by the waves + +A turreted berg + +A Midsummer view of the hut and its neighbourhood, looking S.E. + +Forging through pack-ice + +Members of the main base party homeward bound, January 1913. From left +to right: back row, Whetter, Hurley, Webb, Hannam, Laseron, Close; front +row, Stillwell, Hunter, Correll, Murphy + +"Wireless" Corner in the workshop. Our link with civilization + +The "Aurora" anchored to the floe off the western base + +The establishment of the western base. Hauling stores to the top of the +ice-shelf + +The western base hut in winter. Note the entrance; a vertical hole in +the snow in the foreground + +The western base hut--The Grottoes--in summer + +An evening camp, Queen Mary Land + +A man-hauled sledge + +In the veranda of the western base hut--The "Grottoes"--looking towards +the entrance dug vertically down through the snow drift + +The wind-weathered igloo built for magnetic observations--western base + +Nunatak--Queen Mary Land: showing remarkable moat on windward side and +ramp on lee + +Midwinter's dinner in Queen Mary Land, 1912. From left to right: +Behind--Hoadley, Dovers, Watson, Harrisson, Wild. In Front--Jones, +Moyes, Kennedy + +A bevy of Emperor penguins on the floe + +A yawning crevasse + +Wild's party making slow progress in dangerous country + +Wild, Kennedy, and Harrisson amongst the abysses of the Denman glacier + +"The whole was the wildest, maddest and yet the grandest thing +imaginable" + +Wild's party working their sledges through the crushed ice at the foot +of Denman glacier + +The Hippo Nunatak + +Dog-sledging + +Where the floe-ice meets the Shackleton Shelf + +The hummocky floe on the southern margin of the Davis Sea + +View showing the young birds massed together at the Emperor penguins' +rookery at Haswell Island + +Antarctic petrels on the nest + +A Snow petrel chick on the nest + +A Silver-Grey petrel on the nest + +The symmetrically domed outline of Drygalski Island, low on the horizon. +The island is 1200 feet high and 9 miles in diameter + +The main western party on their return to the "Grottoes." from the left: +Hoadley, Jones and Dovers + +Blizzard-harassed penguins, after many days buried in the snow + +The pancake ice under the cliffs at Land's End + +A wonderful canopy of ice + +Sastrugi sculptured by the incessant blizzards + +The terminal moraine, near the hut, Cape Denison + +Disappearing in the drift + +The hut looming through the drift + +A wall of solid gneiss near winter quarters + +An erratic on the moraine. Cape Denison + +Frozen spray built up by the blizzards along the shore + +A view of the mainland from the Mackellar Islets: ice-capped islets in +the foreground: the rock visible on the mainland is Cape Denison + +A Wilson petrel on the nest, Mackellar Islets + +The "Aurora" lying at anchor, Commonwealth Bay; in the distance the +ice-slopes of the mainland are visible rising to a height of 3500 feet. +In the foreground is a striking formation originating by the freezing of +spray dashed up by the hurricane wind + +The shack: showing the natural rocky protection on the windward side + +The interior of the operating hut on Wireless Hill + +Weka pecking on the beach + +Chicks of the Dominican gull + +Macquarie Island Skuas feeding + +Bull Sea Elephants fighting + +The thermometer screen, Macquarie Island + +The wind-recording instruments, Macquarie Island + +"Feather bed" terrace near Eagle Point, Macquarie Island + +A glacial lake (Major Lake) on Macquarie Island, 600 feet above sea +level + +Victoria penguins + +View of the wireless station on the summit of Wireless Hill + +The wireless operating hut + +The wireless engine hut + +Panoramic view of Macquarie Island, as seen from Wireless Hill at the +north extremity of the island. The shack is near the bottom of the +picture on the left-hand side: the sealers' hut at the far end of +the isthmus: the distant left-hand point of the coast is the Nuggets: +north-east bay on the left: Hasselborough Bay on the right + +A view of the shore at The Nuggets: the sealers' shed on the right. +the bare patches far inland high on the hills above the shed are Royal +penguins' rookeries, from which they travel to the beach in a long +procession + +Sooty albatrosses nesting + +A white Giant Petrel on the nest + +A Giant Petrel rookery + +The Macquarie Island party. From left to right: Sandell, Ainsworth, +Sawyer, Hamilton, Blake + +King penguins + +The head of a Sea Leopard, showing fight + +A precocious Victoria penguin + +Young male Sea Elephants at play + +A large Sea Leopard on the beach + +A Sea Elephant + +A cormorant rookery, Hasselborough Bay + +A young King penguin + +A Sclater penguin + +Royal penguins on the nest + +Gentoo penguin and young + +A cow Sea Elephant and pup + +The head of a bull Sea Elephant + +A rookery of Sea Elephants near the shore at the Nelson reef, chiefly +cows and pups + +A bull Sea Elephant in a fighting attitude + +A cormorant and young on nest + +The wild West Coast of Macquarie Island + +A Royal penguins rookery + +The wreck of the "Gratitude" on the Nuggets beach + +Kerguelen Cabbage + +Flowering plant + +Darby and Joan. Two rare examples of penguins which visited the shack, +Macquarie Island. On the left a Sclater penguin, on the right an albino +Royal penguin + +Large erratics and other glacial debris on the summit of Macquarie +Island + +Pillow-form lava on the highlands of Macquarie Island + +Waterfall Lake, of glacial origin + +On the plateau-like summit of Macquarie Island; a panorama near the +north end. Glacial lakes and tarns in the foreground + +The King penguins rookery, Lusitania Bay + +The head of a bull Sea Elephant photographed in the act of roaring + +The rookery of Royal penguins at the south end, viewed from a cliff +several hundred feet above it + +Young Sea Elephants asleep amongst Royal penguins, south end rookery + +Hamilton inspecting a good catch of fish at Lusitania Bay + +Hamilton obtaining the blubber of a Sea Elephant for fuel + +An illustration of the life on the Mackellar Islets + +An ice mushroom amongst the Mackellar Islets + +View looking out of a shallow ravine at the eastern extremity of the +rocks at Cape Denison + +"Hurley had before him a picture in perfect proportion...." + +Antarctic petrels resting on the snow + +Silver-grey petrels making love + +Looking towards the mainland from Stillwell Island: Silver-grey petrels +nesting in the foreground + +Antarctic petrels nesting on the rocky ledges of the cliffs near Cape +Hunter + +Icing ship in the pack north of Termination Ice-tongue + +Emperor penguins follow the leader into the sea + +Emperor penguins jumping on to the floe + +Cape Hunter, composed of ancient sedimentary rocks (Phyllites) + +Examples of Antarctic marine crustaceans + + + +TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS + + +Antarctic discoveries preceding the year 1910 + +Plan and section of the S.Y. 'Aurora" + +Map of Macquarie Island by L. R. BLAKE + +Ships' tracks in the vicinity of Totten's Land and North's Land + +Ships' tracks in the vicinity of Knox Land and Budd Land + +Plan of the hut, Adelie Land + +Sections across the hut, Adelie Land + +The vicinity of the main base, Adelie Land + +A section of the coastal slope of the continental ice-sheet inland from +winter quarters, Adelie Land + +Wind velocity and wind direction charts for a period of twenty-four +hours, Adelie Land + +A comparison of wind velocities and temperatures prevailing at Cape +Royds, McMurdo Sound, and at winter quarters, Adelie Land, during the +months of May and June + +The drift-gauge + +The wind velocity and wind direction charts for midwinter day + +The tide-gauge + +Midwinter Day menu at the main base, Adelie Land, 1912 + +Section through a Nansen sledging cooker mounted on the Primus + +Map showing the track of the southern sledging party from the main base + +[VOLUME II] + +Map showing the remarkable distribution of islets fringing the +coast-line of Adelie Land in the vicinity of Cape Gray + +Map showing the tracks of the western sledging party, Adelie Land + +Plan illustrating the arrangements for deep-sea trawling on board the +"Aurora" + +Map of the Auckland Islands + +The "Contents" page of the first number of the "Adelie Blizzard" + +The meteorological chart for April 12, 1913, compiled by the +Commonwealth Meteorological Bureau + +A diagrammatic sketch illustrating the meteorological conditions at the +main base, noon, September 6, 1913 + +Plan of the hut, Macquarie Island + +Map of the north end of Macquarie Island by L. R. Blake + +A section across Macquarie Island through Mt. Elder, by L. R. Blake + +A sketch illustrating the distribution of the Mackellar Islets + +A section illustrating the moat in the Antarctic continental shelf + +Signatures of members of the land parties + +A section of the Antarctic plateau from the coast to a point 300 miles +inland, along the route followed by the southern sledging party + +A section across a part of the Antarctic continent through the South +Magnetic Pole + +A section of the floor of the Southern Ocean between Tasmania and King +George V Land + +A section of the floor of the Southern Ocean between Western Australia +and Queen Mary Land + +A map showing Antarctic land discoveries preceding 1838 + +A map showing Antarctic land discoveries preceding 1896 + +A map of the Antarctic regions as known at the present day + + +FOLDING MAPS + +Regional map showing the area covered by the Australasian Antarctic +Expedition, 1911-1914 + +King George V Land, showing tracks of the eastern sledging parties from +the main base + +Queen Mary Land, showing tracks of the sledging party from the main base + + + + +CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM AND PREPARATIONS + + +Notwithstanding the fact that it has been repeatedly stated in the +public press that the Australasian Antarctic expedition had no intention +of making the South Geographical Pole its objective, it is evident that +our aims were not properly realized by a large section of the British +public, considering that many references have appeared in print +attributing that purpose to the undertaking. With three other Antarctic +expeditions already in the field, it appeared to many, therefore, that +the venture was entirely superfluous. + +The Expedition had a problem sketched in unmistakable feature, and +the following pages will shortly set forth its historical origin and +rationale. + +The Antarctic problem** assumed its modern aspect after Captain Cook's +circumnavigation of the globe in high southern latitudes, accomplished +between 1772 and 1775. Fact replaced the fiction and surmise of former +times, and maps appeared showing a large blank area at the southern +extremity of the earth, where speculative cartographers had affirmed the +existence of habitable land extending far towards the Equator. Cook's +voyage made it clear that if there were any considerable mass of +Antarctic land, it must indubitably lie within the Antarctic Circle, and +be subjected to such stringent climatic conditions as to render it an +unlikely habitation for man. + + + ** Dr. H. R. Mill has compiled a complete account of Antarctic +exploration in his "Siege of the South Pole." Refer also to the +Historical Appendix for an abridged statement. + +Cook's reports of seals on the island of South Georgia initiated in the +Antarctic seas south of America a commercial enterprise, which is still +carried on, and has incidentally thrown much light upon the geography of +the South Polar regions. Indeed, almost the whole of such information, +prior to the year 1839, was the outcome of sealing and whaling projects. + +About the year 1840, a wave of scientific enthusiasm resulted in the +dispatch of three national expeditions by France, the United States, +and Great Britain; part at least of whose programmes was Antarctic +exploration. Russia had previously sent out an expedition which had made +notable discoveries. + +The contributions to knowledge gained at this period were considerable. +Those carried back to civilization by the British expedition under Ross, +are so well known that they need not be described. The French under +Dumont D'Urville and the Americans under Wilkes visited the region to +the southward of Australia--the arena of our own efforts--and frequent +references will be made to their work throughout this story. + +What has been termed the period of averted interest now intervened, +before the modern movement set in with overpowering insistence. It +was not till 1897 that it had commenced in earnest. Since then many +adventurers have gone forth; most of the prominent civilized nations +taking their share in exploration. By their joint efforts some, at +least, of the mystery of Antarctica has been dispelled. + +It is now a commonplace, largely in the world of geographical concerns, +that the earth has still another continent, unique in character, whose +ultimate bounds are merely pieced together from a fragmentary outline. +The Continent itself appears to have been sighted for the first time in +the year 1820, but no human being actually set foot on it until 1895. +The Belgian expedition under de Gerlache was the first to experience the +Antarctic winter, spending the year 1898 drifting helplessly, frozen +in the pack-ice, to the southward of America. In the following year a +British expedition under Borchgrevinck, wintering at Cape Adare, passed +a year upon the Antarctic mainland. + +The main efforts of recent years have been centred upon the two more +accessible areas, namely, that in the American Quadrant** which is +prolonged as a tongue of land outside the Antarctic Circle, being +consequently less beset by ice; secondly, the vicinity of the Ross Sea +in the Australian Quadrant. It is because these two favoured domains +have for special reasons attracted the stream of exploration that +the major portion of Antarctica is unknown. Nevertheless, one is in a +position to sketch broad features which will probably not be radically +altered by any future expeditions. + + + ** For convenience, the Antarctic regions may be referred to in four +main divisions, corresponding with the quadrants of the hemisphere. Of +the several suggestions thrown out by previous writers, the one adopted +here is that based on the meridian of Greenwich, referring the quadrants +to an adjacent continent or ocean. Thus the American Quadrant lies +between 0 degrees and 90 degrees W., the African Quadrant between +0 degrees and 90 degrees E., and the Australian Quadrant between 90 +degrees and 180 degrees E. The fourth division is called the Pacific +Quadrant, since ocean alone lies to the north of it. + +Certain it is that a continent approaching the combined areas of +Australia and Europe lies more or less buried beneath the South Polar +snows; though any statement of the precise area is insufficient for a +proper appreciation of the magnitude, unless its elevated plateau-like +character be also taken into consideration. It appears to be highest +over a wide central crown rising to more than ten thousand feet. Of the +remainder, there is little doubt that the major portion stands as high +as six thousand feet. The average elevation must far exceed that of any +other continent, for, with peaks nineteen thousand feet above sea-level, +its mountainous topography is remarkable. Along the coast of Victoria +Land, in the Australian Quadrant, are some of the most majestic vistas +of alpine scenery that the world affords. Rock exposures are rare, ice +appearing everywhere except in the most favoured places. + +Regarding plant and animal life upon the land there is little to say. +The vegetable kingdom is represented by plants of low organization such +as mosses, lichens, diatoms and algae. The animal world, so far as true +land-forms are concerned, is limited to types like the protozoa (lowest +in the organic scale), rotifera and minute insect-like mites which lurk +hidden away amongst the tufts of moss or on the under side of loose +stones. Bacteria, most fundamental of all, at the basis, so to speak, of +animal and vegetable life, have a manifold distribution. + +It is a very different matter when we turn to the life of the +neighbouring seas, for that vies in abundance with the warmer waters +of lower latitudes. There are innumerable seals, many sea-birds and +millions of penguins. As all these breed on Antarctic shores, the +coastal margin of the continent is not so desolate. + +In view of the fact that life, including land-mammals, is abundant in +the North Polar regions, it may be asked why analogous forms are not +better represented in corresponding southern latitudes. Without going +too deeply into the question, it may be briefly stated, firstly, that a +more widespread glaciation than at present prevails invested the great +southern continent and its environing seas, within recent geological +times, effectually exterminating any pre-existing land life. Secondly, +since that period the continent has been isolated by a wide belt of +ocean from other lands, from which restocking might have taken +place after the manner of the North Polar regions. Finally, climatic +conditions in the Antarctic are, latitude for latitude, much more severe +than in the Arctic. + +With regard to climate in general, Antarctica has the lowest mean +temperature and the highest wind-velocity of any land existing. This +naturally follows from the fact that it is a lofty expanse of ice-clad +land circumscribing the Pole, and that the Antarctic summer occurs when +the earth is farther from the sun than is the case during the Arctic +summer. + +There are those who would impatiently ask, "What is the use of it all?" +The answer is brief. + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +Antarctic Land discoveries preceding the year 1910 + + +The polar regions, like any other part of the globe, may be said to be +paved with facts, the essence of which it is necessary to acquire before +knowledge of this special zone can be brought to even a provisional +exactitude. On the face of it, polar research may seem to be specific +and discriminating, but it must be remembered that an advance in any one +of the departments into which, for convenience, science is artificially +divided, conduces to the advantage of all. Science is a homogeneous +whole. If we ignore the facts contained in one part of the world, surely +we are hampering scientific advance. It is obvious to every one that, +given only a fraction of the pieces, it is a much more difficult task to +put together a jig-saw puzzle and obtain an idea of the finished pattern +than were all the pieces at hand. The pieces of the jig-saw puzzle are +the data of science. + +Though it is not sufficiently recognized, the advance of science is +attended by a corresponding increase in the creature comforts of +man. Again, from an economic aspect, the frozen South may not attract +immediate attention. But who can say what a train of enterprise the +future may bring? + +Captain James Cook, on his return to London after the circumnavigation +of Antarctica, held that the far-southern lands had no future. Yet, a +few years later, great profits were being returned to Great Britain +and the United States from sealing-stations established as a result of +Cook's own observations. At the present day, several whaling companies +have flourishing industries in the Antarctic waters within the American +Quadrant. + +Even now much can be said in regard to the possibilities offered by +the Antarctic regions for economic development, but, year by year, the +outlook will widen, since man is constantly resorting to subtler and +more ingenious artifice in applying Nature's resources. It will be +remembered that Charles Darwin, when in Australia, predicted a very +limited commercial future for New South Wales. But the mastery of man +overcame the difficulties which Darwin's too penetrating mind foresaw. + +What will be the role of the South in the progress of civilization and +in the development of the arts and sciences, is not now obvious. As +sure as there is here a vast mass of land with potentialities, strictly +limited at present, so surely will it be cemented some day within the +universal plinth of things. + +An unknown coast-line lay before the door of Australia. Following on +the general advance of exploration, and as a sequel to several important +discoveries, the time arrived when a complete elucidation of the +Antarctic problem was more than ever desirable. In the Australian +Quadrant, the broad geographical features of the Ross Sea area were well +known, but of the remainder and greater portion of the tract only vague +and imperfect reports could be supplied. + +Before submitting our plans in outline, it will be as well to review the +stage at which discovery had arrived when our Expedition came upon the +scene. + +The coast-line of the eastern extremity of the Australian Quadrant, +including the outline of the Ross Sea and the coast west-north-west +of Cape Adare as far as Cape North, was charted by Ross and has been +amplified by seven later expeditions. In the region west of Cape North, +recent explorers had done little up till 1911. Scott in the 'Discovery' +had disproved the existence of some of Wilkes's land; Shackleton in the +'Nimrod' had viewed some forty miles of high land beyond Cape North; +lastly, on the eve of our departure, Scott's 'Terra Nova' had met two +patches of new land--Oates Land--still farther west, making it evident +that the continent ranged at least two hundred and eighty miles in a +west-north-west direction from Cape Adare. + +Just outside the western limit of the Australian Quadrant lies +Gaussberg, discovered by a German expedition under Drygalski in +1902. Between the most westerly point sighted by the 'Terra Nova' and +Gaussberg, there is a circuit of two thousand miles, bordering the +Antarctic Circle, which no vessel had navigated previous to 1840. + +This was the arena of our activities and, therefore, a synopsis of the +voyages of early mariners will be enlightening. + +Balleny, a whaling-master, with the schooner 'Eliza Scott' of one +hundred and fifty-four tons, and a cutter, the 'Sabrina' of fifty-four +tons, was the first to meet with success in these waters. Proceeding +southward from New Zealand in 1839, he located the Balleny Islands, a +group containing active volcanoes, lying about two hundred miles off +the nearest part of the mainland and to the north-west of Cape Adare. +Leaving these islands, Balleny sailed westward keeping a look-out for +new land. During a gale the vessels became separated and the 'Sabrina' +was lost with all hands. Balleny in the 'Eliza Scott' arrived safely +in England and reported doubtful land in 122 degrees E. longitude, +approximately. Dr. H. R. Mill says: "Although the name of the cutter +'Sabrina' has been given to an appearance of land at this point, we +cannot look upon its discovery as proved by the vague reference made by +the explorers." + +On January 1, 1840, Dumont D'Urville sailed southward from Hobart in +command of two corvettes, the 'Astrolabe' and the 'Zelee'. Without much +obstruction from floating ice, he came within sight of the Antarctic +coast, thenceforth known as Adelie Land. The expedition did not set +foot on the mainland, but on an adjacent island. They remained in the +vicinity of the coast for a few days, when a gale sprang up which was +hazardously weathered on the windward side of the pack-ice. The ships +then cruised along the face of flat-topped ice-cliffs, of the type known +as barrier-ice or shelf-ice, which were taken to be connected with +land and named Cote Clarie. As will be seen later, Cote Clarie does not +exist. + +Dr. H. R. Mill sums up the work done by the French expedition during its +eleven days' sojourn in the vicinity of the Antarctic coast: + +"D'Urville's discoveries of land were of but little account. He twice +traced out considerable stretches of a solid barrier of ice, and at one +point saw and landed upon rocks in front of it; but he could only give +the vaguest account of what lay behind the barrier." + +Wilkes of the American expedition proceeded south from Sydney at the +close of 1839. His vessels were the 'Vincennes', a sloop of war of seven +hundred and eighty tons, the 'Peacock', another sloop of six hundred and +fifty tons, the 'Porpoise', a gun-brig of two hundred and thirty tons +and a tender, the 'Flying Fish' of ninety-six tons. The scientists +of the expedition were precluded from joining in this part of the +programme, and were left behind in Sydney. Wilkes himself was loud in +his denunciation both of the ships and of the stores, though they had +been specially assembled by the naval department. The ships were in +Antarctic waters for a period of forty-two days, most of the time +separated by gales, during which the crews showed great skill in +navigating their ill-fitted crafts and suffered great hardships. + +Land was reported almost daily, but, unfortunately, subsequent +exploration has shown that most of the landfalls do not exist. Several +soundings made by Wilkes were indicative of the approach to land, but +he must have frequently mistaken for it distant ice-masses frozen in the +pack. Experience has proved what deceptive light-effects may be observed +amid the ice and how easily a mirage may simulate reality. + +Whatever the cause of Wilkes's errors, the truth remains that Ross +sailed over land indicated in a rough chart which had been forwarded +to him by Wilkes, just before the British expedition set out. More +recently, Captain Scott in the 'Discovery' erased many of the landfalls +of Wilkes, and now we have still further reduced their number. The +'Challenger' approached within fifteen miles of the western extremity +of Wilkes's Termination Land, but saw no sign of it. The 'Gauss' in +the same waters charted Kaiser Wilhelm II Land well to the south of +Termination Land, and the eastward continuation of the former could +not have been visible from Wilkes's ship. After the voyage of the +'Discovery', the landfalls, the existence of which had not been +disproved, might well have been regarded as requiring confirmation +before their validity could be recognised. + +The only spot where rocks were reported in situ was in Adelie Land, +where the French had anticipated the Americans by seven days. Farther +west, earth and stones had been collected by Wilkes from material +embedded in floating masses of ice off the coast of his Knox Land. These +facts lend credence to Wilkes's claims of land in that vicinity. His +expedition did not once set foot on Antarctic shores, and, possibly on +account of the absence of the scientific staff, his descriptions tend to +be inexact and obscure. The soundings made by Wilkes were sufficient to +show that he was probably in some places at no great distance from the +coast, and, considering that his work was carried out in the days of +sailing-ships, in unsuitable craft, under the most adverse weather +conditions, with crews scurvy-stricken and discontented, it is wonderful +how much was achieved. We may amply testify that he did more than open +the field for future expeditions. + +After we had taken into account the valuable soundings of the +'Challenger' (1872), the above comprised our knowledge concerning +some two thousand miles of prospective coast lying to the southward of +Australia, at a time when the plans of the Australasian expedition were +being formulated. + +The original plans for the expedition were somewhat modified upon my +return from Europe. Briefly stated, it was decided that a party of five +men should be stationed at Macquarie Island, a sub-antarctic possession +of the Commonwealth. They were to be provided with a hut, stores and +a complete wireless plant, and were to prosecute general scientific +investigations, co-operating with the Antarctic bases in meteorological +and other work. After disembarking the party at Macquarie Island, the +'Aurora' was to proceed south on a meridian of 158 degrees E. longitude, +to the westward of which the Antarctic programme was to be conducted. + +Twelve men, provisioned and equipped for a year's campaign and provided +with wireless apparatus, were to be landed in Antarctica on the first +possible opportunity at what would constitute a main base. Thereafter, +proceeding westward, it was hoped that a second and a third party, +consisting of six and eight men respectively, would be successively +established on the continent at considerable distances apart. Of course +we were well aware of the difficulties of landing even one party, but, +as division of our forces would under normal conditions secure +more scientific data, it was deemed advisable to be prepared for +exceptionally favourable circumstances. + +Macquarie Island, a busy station in the days of the early sealers, +had become almost neglected. Little accurate information was to be had +regarding it, and no reliable map existed. A few isolated facts had been +gathered of its geology, and the anomalous fauna and flora sui generis +had been but partially described. Its position, eight hundred and +fifty miles south-south-east of Hobart, gave promise of valuable +meteorological data relative to the atmospheric circulation of the +Southern Hemisphere and of vital interest to the shipping of Australia +and New Zealand. + +As to the Antarctic sphere of work, it has been seen that very little +was known of the vast region which was our goal. It is sufficient to say +that almost every observation would be fresh material added to the sum +of human knowledge. + +In addition to the work to be conducted from the land bases, it was +intended that oceanographic investigations should be carried on by +the 'Aurora' as far as funds would allow. With this object in view, +provision was made for the necessary apparatus which would enable the +ship's party to make extensive investigations of the ocean and its floor +over the broad belt between Australia and the Antarctic Continent. This +was an important branch of study, for science is just as much interested +in the greatest depths of the ocean as with the corresponding elevations +of the land. Indeed, at the present day, the former is perhaps the +greater field. + +The scope of our intentions was regarded by some as over-ambitious, but +knowing + + How far high failure overleaps the bound + Of low successes, + +and seeing nothing impossible in these arrangements, we continued to +adhere to them as closely as possible, with what fortune remains to be +told. + +To secure a suitable vessel was a matter of fundamental importance. +There was no question of having a ship built to our design, for the +requisite expenditure might well have exceeded the whole cost of our +Expedition. Accordingly the best obtainable vessel was purchased, and +modified to fulfil our requirements. Such craft are not to be had in +southern waters; they are only to be found engaged in Arctic whaling and +sealing. + +The primary consideration in the design of a vessel built to navigate +amid the ice is that the hull be very staunch, capable of driving into +the pack and of resisting lateral pressure, if the ice should close in +around it. + +So a thick-walled timber vessel, with adequate stiffening in the +framework, would meet the case. The construction being of wood imparts +a certain elasticity, which is of great advantage in easing the shock +of impacts with floating ice. As has been tragically illustrated in a +recent disaster, the ordinary steel ship would be ripped on its first +contact with the ice. Another device, to obviate the shock and to assist +in forging a way through the floe-ice, is to have the bow cut away below +the water-line. Thus, instead of presenting to the ice a vertical face, +which would immediately arrest the ship and possibly cause considerable +damage on account of the sudden stress of the blow, a sloping, +overhanging bow is adopted. This arrangement enables the bow to rise +over the impediment, with a gradual slackening of speed. The immense +weight put upon the ice crushes it and the ship settles down, moving +ahead and gathering speed to meet the next obstacle. + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +Plan and Section of S.Y. 'Aurora' + + +Of importance second only to a strong hull is the possession of sails in +addition to engines. The latter are a sine qua non in polar navigation, +whilst sails allow of economy in the consumption of coal, and always +remain as a last resort should the coal-supply be exhausted or the +propeller damaged. + +The 'Aurora', of the Newfoundland sealing fleet, was ultimately +purchased and underwent necessary alterations. She was built in Dundee +in 1876, but though by no means young was still in good condition and +capable of buffeting with the pack for many a year. Also, she was not +without a history, for in the earlier days she was amongst those vessels +which hurried to the relief of the unfortunate Greely expedition. + +The hull was made of stout oak planks, sheathed with greenheart and +lined with fir. The bow, fashioned on cutaway lines, was a mass of solid +wood, armoured with steel plates. The heavy side-frames were braced and +stiffened by two tiers of horizontal oak beams, upon which were built +the 'tween decks and the main deck. Three bulkheads isolated the +fore-peak, the main hold, the engine-room and the after living-quarters +respectively. + +A hull of such strength would resist a heavy strain, and, should it +be subjected to lateral pressure, would in all probability rise out of +harm's way. However, to be quite certain of this and to ensure safety +in the most extreme case it is necessary that the hull be modelled after +the design adopted by Nansen in the 'Fram'. + +The principal dimensions were, length one hundred and sixty-five feet, +breadth thirty feet, and depth eighteen feet. + +The registered tonnage was three hundred and eighty-six, but the actual +carrying capacity we found to be about six hundred tons. + +The engines, situated aft, were compound, supplied with steam from a +single boiler. The normal power registered was ninety-eight horse-power, +working a four-bladed propeller, driving it at the rate of sixty or +seventy revolutions per minute (six to ten knots per hour). + +Steam was also laid on to a winch, aft, for handling cargo in the main +hold, and to a forward steam-windlass. The latter was mainly used for +raising the anchor and manipulating the deep-sea dredging-cable. + +The ship was square on the foremast and schooner-rigged on the main and +mizen masts. + +Between the engine-room bulkhead and the chain and sail locker was a +spacious hold. Six large steel tanks built into the bottom of the hold +served for the storage of fresh water and at any time when empty could +be filled with seawater, offering a ready means of securing emergency +ballast. + +On the deck, just forward of the main hatch, was a deckhouse, comprising +cook's galley, steward's pantry and two laboratories. Still farther +forward was a small lamp-room for the storage of kerosene, lamps and +other necessaries. A lofty fo'c'sle-head gave much accommodation for +carpenters', shipwrights' and other stores. Below it, a capacious +fo'c'sle served as quarters for a crew of sixteen men. + +Aft, the chart-room, captain's cabin and photographic dark-room formed +a block leading up to the bridge, situated immediately in front of the +funnel. Farther aft, behind the engine-room and below the poop deck, was +the ward-room(,) a central space sixteen feet by eight feet, filled by +the dining-table and surrounded by cabins with bunks for twenty persons. + +From the time the 'Aurora' arrived in London to her departure from +Australia, she was a scene of busy activity, as alterations and +replacements were necessary to fit her for future work. + +In the meantime, stores and gear were being assembled. Purchases were +made and valuable donations received both in Europe and Australia. +Many and varied were the requirements, and some idea of their great +multiplicity will be gained by referring to the appendices dealing with +stores, clothing and instruments. + +Finally, reference may be made in this chapter to the staff. In no +department can a leader spend time more profitably than in the selection +of the men who are to accomplish the work. Even when the expedition has +a scientific basis, academic distinction becomes secondary in the choice +of men. Fiala, as a result of his Arctic experience, truly says, "Many +a man who is a jolly good fellow in congenial surroundings will become +impatient, selfish and mean when obliged to sacrifice his comfort, +curb his desires and work hard in what seems a losing fight. The first +consideration in the choice of men for a polar campaign should be the +moral quality. Next should come mental and physical powers." + +For polar work the great desideratum is tempered youth. Although one man +at the age of fifty may be as strong physically as another at the age +of twenty, it is certain that the exceptional man of fifty was also an +exceptional man at twenty. On the average, after about thirty years +of age, the elasticity of the body to rise to the strain of emergency +diminishes, and, when forty years is reached, a man, medically speaking, +reaches his acme. After that, degeneration of the fabric of the +body slowly and maybe imperceptibly sets in. As the difficulties of +exploration in cold regions approximate to the limit of human endurance +and often enough exceed it, it is obvious that the above generalizations +must receive due weight. + +But though age and with it the whole question of physical fitness must +ever receive primary regard, yet these alone in no wise fit a man for +such an undertaking. The qualifications of mental ability, acquaintance +with the work and sound moral quality have to be essentially borne in +mind. The man of fifty might then be placed on a higher plane than his +younger companion. + +With regard to alcohol and tobacco, it may be maintained on theoretical +grounds that a man is better without them, but, on the other hand, +his behaviour in respect to such habits is often an index to his +self-control. + +Perfection is attained when every man individually works with the +determination to sacrifice all personal predispositions to the welfare +of the whole. + +Ours proved to be a very happy selection. The majority of the men chosen +as members of the land parties were young graduates of the Commonwealth +and New Zealand Universities, and almost all were representative of +Australasia. Among the exceptions was Mr. Frank Wild, who was appointed +leader of one of the Antarctic parties. Wild had distinguished himself +in the South on two previous occasions, and now is in the unique +position of being, as it were, the oldest resident of Antarctica. Our +sojourn together at Cape Royds with Shackleton had acquainted me with +Wild's high merits as an explorer and leader. + +Lieutenant B. E. S. Ninnis of the Royal Fusiliers, Dr. X. Mertz, an +expert ski-runner and mountaineer, and Mr. F. H. Bickerton in charge of +the air-tractor sledge, were appointed in London. Reference has already +been made to Captain Davis: to him were left all arrangements regarding +the ship's complement. + +A "Who's who" of the staff appears as an appendix. + + + +CHAPTER II THE LAST DAYS AT HOBART AND THE VOYAGE TO MACQUARIE ISLAND + + + "Let us probe the silent places, let us seek what luck betide us; + Let us journey to a lonely land I know. + There's a whisper on the night-wind, there's a star agleam to + guide us. + And the Wild is calling, calling--Let us go."--SERVICE. + + +It will be convenient to pick up the thread of our story upon the point +of the arrival of the 'Aurora' in Hobart, after her long voyage from +London during the latter part of the year 1911. + +Captain Davis had written from Cape Town stating that he expected to +reach Hobart on November 4. In company with Mr. C. C. Eitel, secretary +of the Expedition, I proceeded to Hobart, arriving on November 2. + +Early in the morning of November 4 the Harbour Board received news that +a wooden vessel, barquentine-rigged, with a crow's-nest on the mainmast, +was steaming up the D'Entrecasteaux Channel. This left no doubt as +to her identity and so, later in the day, we joined Mr. Martelli, the +assistant harbour-master, and proceeded down the river, meeting the +'Aurora' below the quarantine ground. + +We heard that they had had a very rough passage after leaving the Cape. +This was expected, for several liners, travelling by the same route, +and arriving in Australian waters a few days before, had reported +exceptionally heavy weather. + +Before the ship had reached Queen's Wharf, the berth generously provided +by the Harbour Board, the Greenland dogs were transferred to the +quarantine ground, and with them went Dr. Mertz and Lieutenant Ninnis, +who gave up all their time during the stay in Hobart to the care of +those important animals. A feeling of relief spread over the whole +ship's company as the last dog passed over the side, for travelling +with a deck cargo of dogs is not the most enviable thing from a sailor's +point of view. Especially is this the case in a sailing-vessel +where room is limited, and consequently dogs and ropes are mixed +indiscriminately. + +Evening was just coming on when we reached the wharf, and, as we ranged +alongside, the Premier, Sir Elliot Lewis, came on board and bade us +welcome to Tasmania. + +Captain Davis had much to tell, for more than four months had elapsed +since my departure from London, when he had been left in charge of the +ship and of the final arrangements. + +At the docks there had been delays and difficulties in the execution of +the necessary alterations to the ship, in consequence of strikes and the +Coronation festivities. It was so urgent to reach Australia in time for +the ensuing Antarctic summer, that the recaulking of the decks and +other improvements were postponed, to be executed on the voyage or upon +arrival in Australia. + +Captain Davis seized the earliest possible opportunity of departure, and +the 'Aurora' dropped down the Thames at midnight on July 27, 1911. As +she threaded her way through the crowded traffic by the dim light of a +thousand flickering flames gleaming through the foggy atmosphere, the +dogs entered a protest peculiar to their "husky" kind. After a short +preliminary excursion through a considerable range of the scale, they +picked up a note apparently suitable to all and settled down to many +hours of incessant and monotonous howling, as is the custom of these +dogs when the fit takes them. It was quite evident that they were not +looking forward to another sea voyage. The pandemonium made it all +but impossible to hear the orders given for working the ship, and a +collision was narrowly averted. During those rare lulls, when the dogs' +repertoire temporarily gave out, innumerable sailors on neighbouring +craft, wakened from their sleep, made the most of such opportunities to +hurl imprecations in a thoroughly nautical fashion upon the ship, her +officers, and each and every one of the crew. + +On the way to Cardiff, where a full supply of coal was to be shipped, a +gale was encountered, and much water came on board, resulting in damage +to the stores. Some water leaked into the living quarters and, on the +whole, several very uncomfortable days were spent. Such inconvenience +at the outset undoubtedly did good, for many of the crew, evidently not +prepared for emergency conditions, left at Cardiff. The scratch crew +with which the 'Aurora'journeyed to Hobart composed for the most part of +replacements made at Cardiff, resulted in some permanent appointments of +unexpected value to the Expedition. + +At Cardiff the coal strike caused delay, but eventually some five +hundred tons of the Crown Fuel Company's briquettes were got on board, +and a final leave taken of English shores on August 4. + +Cape Town, the only intermediate port of call, was reached on September +24, after a comparatively rapid and uneventful voyage. A couple of days +sufficed to load coal, water and fresh provisions, and the course was +then laid for Hobart. + +Rough weather soon intervened, and Lieutenant Ninnis and Dr. Mertz, who +travelled out by the 'Aurora' in charge of the sledging-dogs, had their +time fully occupied, for the wet conditions began to tell on their +charges. + +On leaving London there were forty-nine of these Greenland, Esquimaux +sledging-dogs of which the purchase and selection had been made through +the offices of the Danish Geographical Society. From Greenland they +were taken to Copenhagen, and from thence transhipped to London, where +Messrs. Spratt took charge of them at their dog-farm until the date of +departure. During the voyage they were fed on the finest dog-cakes, but +they undoubtedly felt the need of fresh meat and fish to withstand the +cold and wet. In the rough weather of the latter part of the voyage +water broke continually over the deck, so lowering their vitality that a +number died from seizures, not properly understood at the time. In each +case death was sudden, and preceded by similar symptoms. An apparently +healthy dog would drop down in a fit, dying in a few minutes, or +during another fit within a few days. Epidemics, accompanied by similar +symptoms, are said to be common amongst these dogs in the Arctic +regions, but no explanation is given as to the nature of the disease. +During a later stage of the Expedition, when nearing Antarctica, several +more of the dogs were similarly stricken. These were examined by Drs. +McLean and Jones, and the results of post-mortems showed that in one +case death was due to gangrenous appendicitis, in two others to acute +gastritis and colitis. + +The dog first affected caused some consternation amongst the crew, for, +after being prostrated on the deck by a fit, it rose and rushed about +snapping to right and left. The cry of "mad dog" was raised. Not +many seconds had elapsed before all the deck hands were safely in the +rigging, displaying more than ordinary agility in the act. At short +intervals, other men, roused from watch below appeared at the fo'c'sle +companion-way. To these the situation at first appeared comic, and +called forth jeers upon their faint-hearted shipmates. The next moment, +on the dog dashing into view, they found a common cause with their +fellows and sprang aloft. Ere many minutes had elapsed the entire crew +were in the rigging, much to the amusement of the officers. By this time +the dog had disappeared beneath the fo'c'sle head, and Mertz and Ninnis +entered, intending to dispatch it. A shot was fired and word passed that +the deed was done: thereupon the crew descended, pressing forward to +share in the laurels. Then it was that Ninnis, in the uncertain light, +spying a dog of similar markings wedged in between some barrels, was +filled with doubt and called out to Mertz that he had shot the wrong +dog. In a flash the crew had once more climbed to safety. It was some +time after the confirmation of the first execution that they could be +prevailed upon to descend. + +Several litters of puppies were born on the voyage, but all except one +succumbed to the hardships of the passage. + +The voyage from Cardiff to Hobart occupied eighty-eight days. + +The date of departure south was fixed for 4 P.M. of Saturday, December +2, and a truly appalling amount of work had to be done before then. + +Most of the staff had been preparing themselves for special duties; in +this the Expedition was assisted by many friends. + +A complete, detailed acknowledgment of all the kind help received would +occupy much space. We must needs pass on with the assurance that our +best thanks are extended to one and all. + +Throughout the month of November, the staff continued to arrive in +contingents at Hobart, immediately busying themselves in their own +departments, and in sorting over the many thousands of packages in the +great Queen's Wharf shed. Wild was placed in charge, and all entered +heartily into the work. The exertion of it was just what was wanted to +make us fit, and prepared for the sudden and arduous work of discharging +cargo at the various bases. It also gave the opportunity of personally +gauging certain qualities of the men, which are not usually evoked by a +university curriculum. + +Some five thousand two hundred packages were in the shed, to be sorted +over and checked. The requirements of three Antarctic bases, and one +at Macquarie Island were being provided for, and consequently the most +careful supervision was necessary to prevent mistakes, especially as the +omission of a single article might fundamentally affect the work of a +whole party. To assist in discriminating the impedimenta, coloured bands +were painted round the packages, distinctive of the various bases. + +It had been arranged that, wherever possible, everything should +be packed in cases of a handy size, to facilitate unloading and +transportation; each about fifty to seventy pounds in weight. + +In addition to other distinguishing marks, every package bore a +different number, and the detailed contents were listed in a schedule +for reference. + +Concurrently with the progress of this work, the ship was again +overhauled, repairs effected, and many deficiencies made good. The +labours of the shipwrights did not interfere with the loading, which +went ahead steadily during the last fortnight in November. + +The tanks in the hold not used for our supply of fresh water were packed +with reserve stores for the ship. The remainder of the lower hold and +the bunkers were filled with coal. Slowly the contents of the shed +diminished as they were transfered to the 'tween decks. Then came the +overflow. Eventually, every available space in the ship was flooded +with a complicated assemblage of gear, ranging from the comparatively +undamageable wireless masts occupying a portion of the deck amidships, +to a selection of prime Australian cheeses which filled one of the +cabins, and pervaded the ward-room with an odour which remained one of +its permanent associations. + +Yet, heterogeneous and ill-assorted as our cargo may have appeared to +the crowds of curious onlookers, Captain Davis had arranged for the +stowage of everything with a nicety which did him credit. The complete +effects of the four bases were thus kept separate, and available in +whatever order was required. Furthermore, the removal of one unit would +not break the stowage of the remainder, nor disturb the trim of the +ship. + +At a late date the air-tractor sledge arrived. The body was contained in +one huge case which, though awkward, was comparatively light, the case +weighing much more than the contents. This was securely lashed above the +maindeck, resting on the fo'c'sle and two boat-skids. + +As erroneous ideas have been circulated regarding the "aeroplane +sledge," or more correctly "air-tractor sledge," a few words in +explanation will not be out of place. + +This machine was originally an R.E.P. monoplane, constructed by Messrs. +Vickers and Co., but supplied with a special detachable, sledge-runner +undercarriage for use in the Antarctic, converting it into a tractor for +hauling sledges. It was intended that so far as its role as a flier +was concerned, it would be chiefly exercised for the purpose of drawing +public attention to the Expedition in Australia, where aviation was then +almost unknown. With this object in view, it arrived in Adelaide at an +early date accompanied by the aviator, Lieutenant Watkins, assisted by +Bickerton. There it unfortunately came to grief, and Watkins and Wild +narrowly escaped death in the accident. It was then decided to make no +attempt to fly in the Antarctic; the wings were left in Australia and +Lieutenant Watkins returned to England. In the meantime, the machine was +repaired and forwarded to Hobart. + +Air-tractors are great consumers of petrol of the highest quality. This +demand, in addition to the requirements of two wireless plants and a +motor-launch, made it necessary to take larger quantities than we liked +of this dangerous cargo. Four thousand gallons of "Shell" benzine and +one thousand three hundred gallons of "Shell" kerosene, packed in +the usual four-gallon export tins, were carried as a deck cargo, +monopolizing the whole of the poop-deck. + +For the transport of the requirements of the Macquarie Island Base, +the s.s. 'Toroa', a small steam-packet of one hundred and twenty tons, +trading between Melbourne and Tasmanian ports, was chartered. It was +arranged that this auxiliary should leave Hobart several days after the +'Aurora', so as to allow us time, before her arrival, to inspect the +island, and to select a suitable spot for the location of the base. As +she was well provided with passenger accommodation, it was arranged that +the majority of the land party should journey by her as far as Macquarie +Island. + +The Governor of Tasmania, Sir Harry Barron, the Premier, Sir Elliot +Lewis, and the citizens of Hobart extended to us the greatest +hospitality during our stay, and, when the time came, gave us a hearty +send-off. + +Saturday, December 2 arrived, and final preparations were made. All the +staff were united for the space of an hour at luncheon. Then began the +final leave-taking. "God speed" messages were received from far and +wide, and intercessory services were held in the Cathedrals of Sydney +and Hobart. + +We were greatly honoured at this time by the reception of kind wishes +from Queen Alexandra and, at an earlier date, from his Majesty the King. + +Proud of such universal sympathy and interest, we felt stimulated to +greater exertions. + +On arrival on board, I found Mr. Martelli, who was to pilot us down the +river, already on the bridge. A vast crowd blockaded the wharf to give +us a parting cheer. + +At 4 P.M. sharp, the telegraph was rung for the engines, and, with a +final expression of good wishes from the Governor and Lady Barron, we +glided out into the channel, where our supply of dynamite and cartridges +was taken on board. Captain G. S. Nares, whose kindness we had +previously known, had the H.M.S. 'Fantome' dressed in our honour, and +lusty cheering reached us from across the water. + +As we proceeded down the river to the Quarantine Station where the dogs +were to be taken off, Hobart looked its best, with the glancing sails of +pleasure craft skimming near the foreshores, and backed by the stately, +sombre mass of Mount Wellington. The "land of strawberries and cream", +as the younger members of the Expedition had come to regard it, was for +ever to live pleasantly in our memories, to be recalled a thousand times +during the adventurous months which followed. Mr. E. Joyce, whose name +is familiar in connexion with previous Antarctic expeditions, and who +had travelled out from London on business of the Expedition, was waiting +in mid-stream with thirty-eight dogs, delivering them from a ketch. +These were passed over the side and secured at intervals on top of the +deck cargo. + +The engines again began to throb, not to cease until the arrival at +Macquarie Island. A few miles lower down the channel, the Premier, and +a number of other friends and well-wishers who had followed in a small +steamer, bade us a final adieu. + +Behind lay a sparkling seascape and the Tasmanian littoral; before, +the blue southern ocean heaving with an ominous swell. A glance at the +barograph showed a continuous fall, and a telegram from Mr. Hunt, Head +of the Commonwealth Weather Bureau, received a few hours previously, +informed us of a storm-centre south of New Zealand, and the expectation +of fresh south-westerly winds. + +The piles of loose gear presented an indescribable scene of chaos, and, +even as we rolled lazily in the increasing swell, the water commenced +to run about the decks. There was no time to be lost in securing movable +articles and preparing the ship for heavy weather. All hands set to +work. + +On the main deck the cargo was brought up flush with the top of the +bulwarks, and consisted of the wireless masts, two huts, a large +motor-launch, cases of dog biscuits and many other sundries. Butter to +the extent of a couple of tons was accommodated chiefly on the roof of +the main deck-house, where it was out of the way of the dogs. The roof +of the chart-house, which formed an extension of the bridge proper, +did not escape, for the railing offered facilities for lashing sledges; +besides, there was room for tide-gauges, meteorological screens, and +cases of fresh eggs and apples. Somebody happened to think of space +unoccupied in the meteorological screens, and a few fowls were housed +therein. + +On the poop-deck there were the benzine, sledges, and the chief magnetic +observatory. An agglomeration of instruments and private gear rendered +the ward-room well nigh impossible of access, and it was some days +before everything was jammed away into corners. An unoccupied five-berth +cabin was filled with loose instruments, while other packages were +stowed into the occupied cabins, so as to almost defeat the purpose for +which they were intended. + +The deck was so encumbered that only at rare intervals was it visible. +However, by our united efforts everything was well secured by 8 P.M. + +It was dusk, and the distant highlands were limned in silhouette against +the twilight sky. A tiny, sparkling lamp glimmered from Signal Hill its +warm farewell. From the swaying poop we flashed back, "Good-bye, all +snug on board." + +Onward with a dogged plunge our laden ship would press. If 'Fram' were +"Forward," _she_ was to be hereafter our 'Aurora' of "Hope"--the Dawn of +undiscovered lands. + +Home and the past were effaced in the shroud of darkness, and thought +leapt to the beckoning South--the "land of the midnight sun." + +During the night the wind and sea rose steadily, developing into a full +gale. In order to make Macquarie Island, it was important not to allow +the ship to drive too far to the east, as at all times the prevailing +winds in this region are from the west. Partly on this account, and +partly because of the extreme severity of the gale, the ship was hove +to with head to wind, wallowing in mountainous seas. Such a storm, +witnessed from a large vessel, would be an inspiring sight, but was +doubly so in a small craft, especially where the natural buoyancy had +been largely impaired by overloading. With an unprecedented quantity of +deck cargo, amongst which were six thousand gallons of benzine, kerosene +and spirit, in tins which were none too strong, we might well have been +excused a lively anxiety during those days. It seemed as if no power on +earth could save the loss of at least part of the deck cargo. Would it +be the indispensable huts amidships, or would a sea break on the benzine +aft and flood us with inflammable liquid and gas? + +By dint of strenuous efforts and good seamanship, Captain Davis with +his officers and crew held their own. The land parties assisted in the +general work, constantly tightening up the lashings and lending "beef," +a sailor's term for man-power, wherever required. For this purpose the +members of the land parties were divided into watches, so that there +were always a number patrolling the decks. + +Most of us passed through a stage of sea-sickness, but, except in the +case of two or three, it soon passed off. Seas deluged all parts of the +ship. A quantity of ashes was carried down into the bilge-water pump and +obstructed the steam-pump. Whilst this was being cleared, the emergency +deck pumps had to be requisitioned. The latter were available for +working either by hand-power or by chain-gearing from the after-winch. + +The deck-plug of one of the fresh-water tanks was carried away and, +before it was noticed, sea-water had entered to such an extent as to +render our supply unfit for drinking. Thus we were, henceforth, on a +strictly limited water ration. + +The wind increased from bad to worse, and great seas continued to rise +until their culmination on the morning of December 5, when one came +aboard on the starboard quarter, smashed half the bridge and carried +it away. Toucher was the officer on watch, and no doubt thought himself +lucky in being, at the time, on the other half of the bridge. + +The deck-rings holding the motor-launch drew, the launch itself was +sprung and its decking stove-in. + +On the morning of December 8 we found ourselves in latitude 49 degrees +56 minutes S. and longitude 152 degrees 28' E., with the weather so far +abated that we were able to steer a course for Macquarie Island. + +During the heavy weather, food had been prepared only with the greatest +difficulty. The galley was deluged time and again. It was enough to +dishearten any cook, repeatedly finding himself amongst kitchen debris +of all kinds, including pots and pans full and empty. Nor did the +difficulties end in the galley, for food which survived until its +arrival on the table, though not allowed much time for further mishap, +often ended in a disagreeable mass on the floor or, tossed by a lurch +of more than usual suddenness, entered an adjoining cabin. From such +localities the elusive piece de resistance was often rescued. + +As we approached our rendezvous, whale-birds** appeared. During the +heavy weather, Mother Carey's chickens only were seen, but, as the wind +abated, the majestic wandering albatross, the sooty albatross and the +mollymawk followed in our wake. + + + ** For the specific names refer to Appendix which is a glossary of +special and unfamiliar terms. + + +Whales were observed spouting, but at too great a distance to be +definitely recognized. + +At daybreak on December 11 land began to show up, and by 6 A.M. we were +some sixteen miles off the west coast of Macquarie Island, bearing on +about the centre of its length. + +In general shape it is long and narrow, the length over all being +twenty-one miles. A reef runs out for several miles at both extremities +of the main island, reappearing again some miles beyond in isolated +rocky islets: the Bishop and Clerk nineteen miles to the southward and +the Judge and Clerk eight miles to the north. + +The land everywhere rises abruptly from the sea or from an exaggerated +beach to an undulating plateau-like interior, reaching a maximum +elevation of one thousand four hundred and twenty-five feet. Nowhere +is there a harbour in the proper sense of the word, though six or seven +anchorages are recognized. + +The island is situated in about 55 degrees S. latitude, and the climate +is comparatively cold, but it is the prevalence of strong winds that is +the least desirable feature of its weather. + +Sealing, so prosperous in the early days, is now carried on in a small +way only, by a New Zealander, who keeps a few men stationed at the +island during part of the year for the purpose of rendering down sea +elephant and penguin blubber. Their establishment was known to be at the +north end of the island near the best of the anchorages. + +Captain Davis had visited the island in the 'Nimrod', and was acquainted +with the three anchorages, which are all on the east side and sheltered +from the prevailing westerlies. One of the old-time sealers had reported +a cove suitable for small craft at the south-western corner, but the +information was scanty, and recent mariners had avoided that side of +the island. On the morning of our approach the breeze was from the +south-east, and, being favourable, Captain Davis proposed a visit. + +By noon, Caroline Cove, as it is called, was abreast of us. Its small +dimensions, and the fact that a rocky islet for the most part blocks the +entrance, at first caused some misgivings as to its identity. + +A boat was lowered, and a party of us rowed in towards the entrance, +sounding at intervals to ascertain whether the 'Aurora' could make use +of it, should our inspection prove it a suitable locality for the land +station. + +We passed through a channel not more than eighty yards wide, but with +deep water almost to the rocks on either side. A beautiful inlet now +opened to view. Thick tussock-grass matted the steep hillsides, and the +rocky shores, between the tide-marks as well as in the depths below, +sprouted with a profuse growth of brown kelp. Leaping out of the water +in scores around us were penguins of several varieties, in their actions +reminding us of nothing so much as shoals of fish chased by sharks. +Penguins were in thousands on the uprising cliffs, and from rookeries +near and far came an incessant din. At intervals along the shore sea +elephants disported their ungainly masses in the sunlight. Circling +above us in anxious haste, sea-birds of many varieties gave warning +of our near approach to their nests. It was the invasion by man of an +exquisite scene of primitive nature. + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +Macquarie Island + + +After the severe weather experienced, the relaxation made us all feel +like a band of schoolboys out on a long vacation. + +A small sandy beach barred the inlet, and the whaleboat was directed +towards it. We were soon grating on the sand amidst an army of Royal +penguins; picturesque little fellows, with a crest and eyebrows of +long golden-yellow feathers. A few yards from the massed ranks of the +penguins was a mottled sea-leopard, which woke up and slid into the sea +as we approached. + +Several hours were spent examining the neighbourhood. Webb and Kennedy +took a set of magnetic observations, while others hoisted some cases of +stores on to a rocky knob to form a provision depot, as it was quickly +decided that the northern end of the island was likely to be more +suitable for a permanent station. + +The Royal penguins were almost as petulant as the Adelie penguins which +we were to meet further South. They surrounded us, pecked at our +legs and chattered with an audacity which defies description. It was +discovered that they resented any attempt to drive them into the sea, +and it was only after long persuasion that a bevy took to the water. +This was a sign of a general capitulation, and some hundreds immediately +followed, jostling each other in their haste, squawking, whirring their +flippers, splashing and churning the water, reminding one of a crowd of +miniature surf-bathers. We followed the files of birds marching inland, +along the course of a tumbling stream, until at an elevation of some +five hundred feet, on a flattish piece of ground, a huge rookery opened +out--acres and acres of birds and eggs. + +In one corner of the bay were nests of giant petrels in which sat +huge downy young, about the size of a barn-door fowl, resembling +the grotesque, fluffy toys which might be expected to hang on a +Christmas-tree. + +Here and there on the beach and on the grass wandered bright-coloured +Maori hens. On the south side of the bay, in a low, peaty area overgrown +with tussock-grass, were scores of sea elephants, wallowing in bog-holes +or sleeping at their ease. + +Sea elephants, at one time found in immense numbers on all sub-antarctic +islands, are now comparatively rare, even to the degree of extinction, +in many of their old haunts. This is the result of ruthless slaughter +prosecuted especially bY sealers in the early days. At the present time +Macquarie Island is more favoured by them than probably any other known +locality. The name by which they are popularly known refers to their +elephantine proportions and to the fact that, in the case of the old +males, the nasal regions are enormously developed, expanding when in +a state of excitement to form a short, trunk-like appendage. They have +been recorded up to twenty feet in length, and such a specimen would +weigh about four tons. + +Arriving on the 'Aurora' in the evening, we learnt that the ship's +company had had an adventure which might have been most serious. It +appeared that after dropping us at the entrance to Caroline Cove, +the ship was allowed to drift out to sea under the influence of the +off-shore wind. When about one-third of a mile north-west of the +entrance, a violent shock was felt, and she slid over a rock which rose +up out of deep water to within about fourteen feet of high-water level; +no sign of it appearing on the surface on account of the tranquil state +of the sea. Much apprehension was felt for the hull, but as no serious +leak started, the escape was considered a fortunate one. A few soundings +had been made proving a depth of four hundred fathoms within one and a +half miles of the land. + +A course was now set for the northern end of the island. +Dangerous-looking reefs ran out from many headlands, and cascades of +water could be seen falling hundreds of feet from the highlands to the +narrow coastal flats. + +The anchorage most used is that known as North-East Bay, lying on the +eastern side of a low spit joining the main mass of the island, to an +almost isolated outpost in the form of a flat-topped hill--Wireless +Hill--some three-quarters of a mile farther north. It is practically an +open roadstead, but, as the prevailing winds blow on to the other side +of the island, quiet water can be nearly always expected. + +However, when we arrived at North-East Bay on the morning following our +adventure; a stiff south-east breeze was blowing, and the wash on the +beach put landing out of the question. Captain Davis ran in as near +the coast as he could safely venture and dropped anchor, pending the +moderation of the wind. + +On the leeward slopes of a low ridge, pushing itself out on to the +southern extremity of the spit, could be seen two small huts, but +no sign of human life. This was not surprising as it was only seven +o'clock. Below the huts, upon low surf-covered rocks running out from +the beach, lay a small schooner partly broken up and evidently a recent +victim. A mile to the southward, fragments of another wreck protruded +from the sand. + +We were discussing wrecks and the grisly toll which is levied by these +dangerous and uncharted shores, when a human figure appeared in front of +one of the huts. After surveying us for a moment, he disappeared within +to reappear shortly afterwards, followed by a stream of others rushing +hither and thither; just as if he had disturbed a hornets' nest. After +such an exciting demonstration we awaited the next move with some +expectancy. + +Planks and barrels were brought on to the beach and a flagstaff was +hoisted. Then one of the party mounted on the barrel, and told us by +flag signals that the ship on the beach was the 'Clyde', which had +recently been wrecked, and that all hands were safely on shore, but +requiring assistance. Besides the shipwrecked crew, there were half a +dozen men who resided on the island during the summer months for the +purpose of collecting blubber. + +The sealers tried repeatedly to come out to us, but as often as it was +launched their boat was washed up again on the beach, capsizing them +into the water. At length they signalled that a landing could be made +on the opposite side of the spit, so the anchor was raised and the +ship steamed round the north end of the island, to what Captain Davis +proposed should be named Hasselborough Bay, in recognition of the +discoverer of the island. This proved an admirable anchorage, for the +wind remained from the east and south-east during the greater part of +our stay. + +The sealers pushed their boat across the spit, and, launching it in +calmer water, came out to us, meeting the 'Aurora' some three miles off +the land. The anchor was let go about one mile and a half from the head +of the bay. + +News was exchanged with the sealers. It appeared that there had been +much speculation as to what sort of a craft we were; visits of ships, +other than those sent down specially to convey their oil to New Zealand, +being practically unknown. For a while they suspected the 'Aurora' of +being an alien sealer, and had prepared to defend their rights to the +local fishery. + +All was well now, however, and information and assistance were freely +volunteered. They were greatly relieved to hear that our auxiliary +vessel, the 'Toroa' was expected immediately, and would be available for +taking the ship-wrecked crew back to civilization. + +Owing to the loss of the 'Clyde', a large shipment of oil in barrels lay +piled upon the beach with every prospect of destruction, just at a time +when the realization of its value would be most desirable, to make good +the loss sustained by the wreck. I decided, therefore, in view of their +hospitality, to make arrangements with the captain of the 'Toroa' to +take back a load of the oil, upon terms only sufficient to recoup us for +the extension of the charter. + +In company with Ainsworth, Hannam and others, I went ashore to select +a site for the station. As strong westerly winds were to be expected +during the greater part of the year, it was necessary to erect +buildings in the lee of substantial break-winds. Several sites for a hut +convenient to a serviceable landing-place were inspected at the north +end of the beach. The hut was eventually erected in the lee of a large +mass of rock, rising out of the grass-covered sandy flat at the north +end of the spit. + +It would have been much handier in every way, both in assembling the +engines and masts and subsequently in operating the wireless station, +had the wireless plant been erected on the beach adjacent to the +living-hut. On the other hand, a position on top of the hill had the +advantage of a free outlook and of increased electrical potential, +allowing of a shorter length of mast. In addition the ground in this +situation proved to be peaty and sodden, and therefore a good conductor, +thus presenting an excellent "earth" from the wireless standpoint. In +short, the advantages of the hill-site outweighed its disadvantages. +Of the latter the most obvious was the difficult transportation of +the heavy masts, petrol-engine, dynamo, induction-generator and other +miscellaneous gear, from the beach to the summit--a vertical height of +three hundred feet. + +To facilitate this latter work the sealers placed at our disposal a +"flying fox" which ran from sea-level to the top of Wireless Hill, and +which they had erected for the carriage of blubber. On inspecting it, +Wild reported that it was serviceable, but would first require to be +strengthened. He immediately set about effecting this with the help of a +party. + +Hurley now discovered that he had accidentally left one of his +cinematograph lenses on a rock where he had been working in Caroline +Cove. As it was indispensable, and there was little prospect of the +weather allowing of another visit by the ship, it was decided that +he should go on a journey overland to recover it. One of the sealers, +Hutchinson by name, who had been to Caroline Cove and knew the best +route to take, kindly volunteered to accompany Hurley. The party was +eventually increased by the addition of Harrisson, who was to keep a +look-out for matters of biological interest. They started off at noon on +December 13. + +Although the greater part of the stores for the Macquarie Island party +were to arrive by the Toroa there were a few tons on board the 'Aurora'. +These and the dogs were landed as quickly as possible. How glad the poor +animals were to be once more on solid earth! It was out of the question +to let them loose, so they were tethered at intervals along a heavy +cable, anchored at both ends amongst the tussock-grass. Ninnis took up +his abode in the sealers' hut so that he might the better look after +their wants, which centred chiefly on sea elephant meat, and that in +large quantities. Webb joined Ninnis, as he intended to take full sets +of magnetic observations at several stations in the vicinity. + +Bickerton and Gillies got the motor-launch into good working order, +and by means of it the rest of us conveyed ashore several tons of coal +briquettes, the benzine, kerosene, instruments and the wireless masts, +by noon on December 13. + +Everything but the requirements of the wireless station was landed +on the spit, as near the north-east corner as the surf would allow. +Fortunately, reefs ran out from the shore at intervals, and calmer water +could be found in their lee. All gear for the wireless station was taken +to a spot about half a mile to the north-west at the foot of Wireless +Hill, where the "flying fox" was situated. Just at that spot there was +a landing-place at the head of a charming little boat harbour, formed by +numerous kelp-covered rocky reefs rising at intervals above the level of +high water. These broke the swell, so that in most weathers calm water +was assured at the landing-place. + +This boat harbour was a fascinating spot. The western side was peopled +by a rookery of blue-eyed cormorants; scattered nests of white gulls +relieved the sombre appearance of the reefs on the opposite side: whilst +gentoo penguins in numbers were busy hatching their eggs on the sloping +ground beyond. Skua-gulls and giant petrels were perched here and there +amongst the rocks, watching for an opportunity of marauding the nests of +the non-predacious birds. Sea elephants raised their massive, dripping +heads in shoal and channel. The dark reefs, running out into the +pellucid water, supported a vast growth of a snake-like form of kelp, +whose octopus-like tentacles, many yards in length, writhed yellow +and brown to the swing of the surge, and gave the foreground an +indescribable weirdness. I stood looking out to sea from here one +evening, soon after sunset, the launch lazily rolling in the swell, and +the 'Aurora' in the offing, while the rich tints of the afterglow paled +in the south-west. + +I envied Wild and his party, whose occupation in connexion with the +"flying fox" kept them permanently camped at this spot. + +The 'Toroa' made her appearance on the afternoon of December 13, and +came to anchor about half a mile inside the 'Aurora'. Her departure had +been delayed by the bad weather. Leaving Hobart late on December 7, she +had anchored off Bruni Island awaiting the moderation of the sea. The +journey was resumed on the morning of the 9th, and the passage made in +fine weather. She proved a handy craft for work of the kind, and Captain +Holliman, the master, was well used to the dangers of uncharted coastal +waters. + +Within a few minutes of her arrival, a five-ton motor-boat of shallow +draught was launched and unloading commenced. + +Those of the staff arriving by the 'Toroa' were housed ashore with the +sealers, as, when everybody was on board, the 'Aurora' was uncomfortably +congested. Fifty sheep were taken on shore to feed on the rank grass +until our departure. A large part of the cargo consisted of coal for the +'Aurora'. This was already partly bagged, and in that form was loaded +into the launches and whale-boats; the former towing the latter to their +destination. Thus a continuous stream of coal and stores was passing +from ship to ship, and from the ships to the several landing-places on +shore. As soon as the after-hold on the 'Toroa' was cleared, barrels +of sea elephant oil were brought off in rafts and loaded aft, +simultaneously with the unloading forward. + +We kept at the work as long as possible--about sixteen hours a day +including a short interval for lunch. There were twenty-five of the +land party available for general work, and with some assistance from the +ship's crew the work went forward at a rapid rate. + +On the morning of the 15th, after giving final instructions to Eitel, +who had come thus far and was returning as arranged, the 'Toroa' weighed +anchor and we parted with a cheer. + +The transportation of the wireless equipment to the top of the hill +had been going on simultaneously with the un-loading of the ships. Now, +however, all were able to concentrate upon it, and the work went forward +very rapidly. + +All the wireless instruments, and much of the other paraphernalia of +the Macquarie Island party had been packed in the barrels, as it was +expected that they would have to be rafted ashore through the surf. +Fortunately, the weather continued to "hold" from an easterly direction, +and everything was able to be landed in the comparatively calm waters +of Hasselborough Bay; a circumstance which the islanders assured us was +quite a rare thing. The wireless masts were rafted ashore. These were of +oregon pine, each composed of four sections. + +Digging the pits for bedding the heavy, wooden "dead men," and erecting +the wireless masts, the engine-hut and the operating-hut provided +plenty of work for all. Here was as busy a scene as one could witness +anywhere--some with the picks and shovels, others with hammers and +nails, sailors splicing ropes and fitting masts, and a stream of men +hauling the loads up from the sea-shore to their destination on the +summit. + +Some details of the working of the "flying fox" will be of interest. The +distance between the lower and upper terminals was some eight hundred +feet. This was spanned by two steel-wire carrying cables, secured above +by "dead men" sunk in the soil, and below by a turn around a huge rock +which outcropped amongst the tussock-grass on the flat, some fifty yards +from the head of the boat harbour. For hauling up the loads, a thin wire +line, with a pulley-block at either extremity, rolling one on each of +the carrying wires, passed round a snatch-block at the upper station. It +was of such a length that when the loading end was at the lower station, +the counterpoise end was in position to descend at the other. Thus a +freight was dispatched to the top of the hill by filling a bag, acting +as counterpoise, with earth, until slightly in excess of the weight of +the top load; then off it would start gathering speed as it went. + +Several devices were developed for arresting the pace as the freight +neared the end of its journey, but accidents were always liable to occur +if the counterpoise were unduly loaded. Wild was injured by one of these +brake-devices, which consisted of a bar of iron lying on the ground +about thirty yards in front of the terminus, and attached by a rope with +a loose-running noose to the down-carrying wire. On the arrival of the +counterpoise at that point on the wire, its speed would be checked owing +to the drag exerted. On the occasion referred to, the rope was struck +with such velocity that the iron bar was jerked into the air and struck +Wild a solid blow on the thigh. Though incapacitated for a few days, he +continued to supervise at the lower terminal. + +The larger sections of the wireless masts gave the greatest trouble, +as they were not only heavy but awkward. A special arrangement was +necessary for all loads exceeding one hundredweight, as the single +wire carrier-cables were not sufficiently strong. In such cases both +carrier-cables were lashed together making a single support, the hauling +being done by a straight pull on the top of the hill. The hauling was +carried out to the accompaniment of chanties, and these helped to +relieve the strain of the Work. It was a familiar sight to see a string +of twenty men on the hauling-line scaring the skua-gulls with popular +choruses like "A' roving" and "Ho, boys, pull her along." In calm +weather the parties at either terminal could communicate by shouting but +were much assisted by megaphones improvised from a pair of leggings. + +Considering the heavy weights handled and the speed at which the work +was done, we were fortunate in suffering only one breakage, and that +might have been more serious than it proved. The mishap in question +occurred to the generator. In order to lighten the load, the rotor had +been taken out. When almost at the summit of the hill, the ascending +weight, causing the carrying-wires to sag unusually low, struck a rock, +unhitched the lashing and fell, striking the steep rubble slope, to +go bounding in great leaps out amongst the grass to the flat below. +Marvellous to relate, it was found to have suffered no damage other than +a double fracture of the end-plate casting, which could be repaired. And +so it was decided to exchange the generators in the two equipments, as +there would be greater facilities for engineering work at the Main Base, +Adelie Land. Fortunately, the other generator was almost at the top of +the ship's hold, and therefore accessible. The three pieces into which +the casting had been broken were found to be sprung, and would not +fit together. However, after our arrival at Adelie Land, Hannam +found, curiously enough, that the pieces fitted into place +perfectly--apparently an effect of contraction due to the cold--and with +the aid of a few plates and belts the generator was made as serviceable +as ever. + +In the meantime, Hurley, Harrisson, and the sealer, Hutchinson, had +returned from their trip to Caroline Cove, after a most interesting +though arduous journey. They had camped the first evening at The +Nuggets, a rocky point on the east coast some four miles to the south of +North-East Bay. From The Nuggets, the trail struck inland up the +steep hillsides until the summit of the island was reached; then over +pebble-strewn, undulating ground with occasional small lakes, arriving +at the west coast near its southern extremity. Owing to rain and fog +they overshot the mark and had to spend the night close to a bay at the +south-end. There Hurley obtained some good photographs of sea elephants +and of the penguin rookeries. + +The next morning, December 15, they set off again, this time finding +Caroline Cove without further difficulty. Harrisson remained on the brow +of the hill overlooking the cove, and there captured some prions and +their eggs. Hurley and his companion found the lost lens and returned to +Harrisson securing a fine albatross on the way. This solitary bird +was descried sitting on the hill side, several hundreds of feet above +sea-level. Its plumage was in such good condition that they could not +resist the impulse to secure it for our collection, for the moment not +considering the enormous weight to be carried. They had neither firearms +nor an Ancient Mariner's cross-bow, and no stones were to be had in the +vicinity--when the resourceful Hurley suddenly bethought himself of a +small tin of meat in his haversack, and, with a fortunate throw, hit the +bird on the head, killing the majestic creature on the spot. + +Shouldering their prize, they trudged on to Lusitania Bay, camping there +that night in an old dilapidated hut; a remnant of the sealing days. +Close by there was known to be a large rookery of King penguins; a +variety of penguin with richly tinted plumage on the head and shoulders, +and next in size to the Emperor--the sovereign bird of the Antarctic +Regions. The breeding season was at its height, so Harrisson secured and +preserved a great number of their eggs. Hutchinson kindly volunteered +to carry the albatross in addition to his original load. If they had +skinned the bird, the weight would have been materially reduced, but +with the meagre appliances at hand, it would undoubtedly have been +spoiled as a specimen. Hurley, very ambitiously, had taken a heavy +camera, in addition to a blanket and other sundries. During the rough +and wet walking of the previous day, his boots had worn out and caused +him to twist a tendon in the right foot, so that he was not up to his +usual form, while Harrisson was hampered with a bulky cargo of eggs and +specimens. + +Saddled with these heavy burdens, the party found the return journey +very laborious. Hurley's leg set the pace, and so, later in the day, +Harrisson decided to push on ahead in order to give us news, as they +had orders to be back as soon as possible and were then overdue. When +darkness came on, Harrisson was near The Nuggets, where he passed the +night amongst the tussock-grass. Hurley and Hutchinson, who were five +miles behind, also slept by the wayside. When dawn appeared, Harrisson +moved on, reaching the north-end huts at about 9 A.M. Mertz and Whetter +immediately set out and came to the relief of the other two men a few +hours later. + +Fatigue and the lame leg subdued Hurley for the rest of the day, but the +next morning he was off to get pictures of the "flying fox" in action. +It was practically impossible for him to walk to the top of the hill, +but not to be baffled, he sent the cinematograph machine up by the +"flying fox," and then followed himself. Long before reaching the top +he realized how much his integrity depended on the strength of the +hauling-line and the care of those on Wireless Hill. + +During the latter part of our stay at the island, the wind veered to the +north and north-north-east. We took advantage of this change to steam +round to the east side, intending to increase our supply of fresh water +at The Nuggets, where a stream comes down the hillside on to the beach. +In this, however, we were disappointed, for the sea was breaking too +heavily on the beach, and so we steamed back to North-East Bay +and dropped anchor. Wild went off in the launch to search for a +landing-place but found the sea everywhere too formidable. + +Signals were made to those on shore, instructing them to finish off the +work on the wireless plant, and to kill a dozen sheep--enough for our +needs for some days. + +The ship was now found to be drifting, and, as the wind was blowing +inshore, the anchor was raised, and with the launch in tow we steamed +round to the calmer waters of Hasselborough Bay. At the north end of the +island, for several miles out to sea along the line of a submerged reef, +the northerly swell was found to be piling up in an ugly manner, and +occasioned considerable damage to the launch. This happened as the +'Aurora' swung around; a sea catching the launch and rushing it forward +so that it struck the stern of the ship bow-on, notwithstanding the fact +that several of the men exerted themselves to their utmost to prevent +a collision. On arrival at the anchorage, the launch was noticeably +settling down, as water had entered at several seams which had been +started. + +After being partly bailed out, it was left in the water with Hodgeman +and Close aboard, as we wished to run ashore as soon as the weather +improved. Contrary to expectation the wind increased, and it was +discovered that the 'Aurora' was drifting rapidly, although ninety +fathoms of chain had been paid out. Before a steam-winch** was +installed, the anchor could be raised only by means of an antiquated +man-power lever-windlass. In this type, a see-saw-like lever is worked +by a gang of men at each extremity, and it takes a long time to get in +any considerable length of chain. The chorus and chanty came to our aid +once more, and the long hours of heaving on the fo'c'sle head were a +bright if strenuous spot in our memories of Macquarie Island. In course +of time, during which the ship steamed slowly ahead, the end came in +sight--'Vast heaving!--but the anchor was missing. This put us in an +awkward situation, for the stock of our other heavy anchor had already +been lost. There was no other course but to steam up and down waiting +for the weather to moderate. In the meantime, we had been too busy +to relieve Close and Hodgeman, who had been doing duty in the launch, +bailing for five hours, and were thoroughly soaked with spray. All hands +now helped with the tackle, and we soon had the launch on board in its +old position near the main hatch. + + + ** Fitted on return to Sydney after the first Antarctic cruise. + +These operations were unusually protracted for we were short handed; the +boatswain, some of the sailors and most of the land party being marooned +on shore. We were now anxious to get everybody on board and to be off. +The completion of their quarters was to be left to the Macquarie Island +party, and it was important that we should make the most of the southern +season. The wind blew so strongly, however, that there was no immediate +prospect of departure. + +The ship continued to steam up and down. On the morning of December 23 +it was found possible to lower the whale-boat, and Wild went off with +a complement of sturdy oarsmen, including Madigan, Moyes, Watson and +Kennedy, and succeeded in bringing off the dogs. Several trips were made +with difficulty during the day, but at last all the men, dogs and sheep +were brought off. + +Both Wild and I went with the whale-boat on its last trip at dusk on the +evening of December 23. The only possible landing-place, with the sea +then running, was at the extreme north-eastern corner of the beach. No +time was lost in getting the men and the remainder of the cargo into +the boat, though in the darkness this was not easily managed. The final +parting with our Macquarie Island party took place on the beach, their +cheers echoing to ours as we breasted the surf and "gave way" for the +ship. + + + +CHAPTER III FROM MACQUARIE ISLAND TO ADELIE LAND + + +The morning following our farewell to Ainsworth and party at the north +end of the island found us steaming down the west coast, southward +bound. + +Our supply of fresh water was scanty, and the only resource was to +touch at Caroline Cove. As a matter of fact, there were several suitable +localities on the east coast, but the strong easterly weather then +prevailing made a landing impossible. + +On the ship nearing the south end, the wind subsided. She then crept +into the lee of the cliffs, a boat was dropped and soundings disclosed a +deep passage at the mouth of Caroline Cove and ample water within. +There was, however, limited space for manoeuvring the vessel if a change +should occur in the direction of the wind. The risk was taken; the +'Aurora' felt her way in, and, to provide against accident, was anchored +by Captain Davis with her bow toward the entrance. Wild then ran out a +kedge anchor to secure the stern. + +During the cruise down the coast the missing stock of our only anchor +had been replaced by Gillies and Hannam. Two oregon "dead men", bolted +together on the shank, made a clumsy but efficient makeshift. + +Two large barrels were taken ashore, repeatedly filled and towed off +to the ship. It was difficult at first to find good water, for the main +stream flowing down from the head of the bay was contaminated by the +penguins which made it their highway to a rookery. After a search, an +almost dry gulley bed was found to yield water when a pit was dug in its +bed. This spot was some eighty yards from the beach and to reach it one +traversed an area of tussocks between which sea elephants wallowed in +soft mire. + +A cordon of men was made and buckets were interchanged, the full ones +descending and the empty ones ascending. The barrels on the beach were +thus speedily filled and taken off by a boat's crew. At 11 P.M. darkness +came, and it was decided to complete the work on the following day. + +As we rowed to the ship, the water was serenely placid. From the dark +environing hills came the weird cries of strange birds. There was a hint +of wildness, soon to be forgotten in the chorus of a 'Varsity song and +the hearty shouts of the rowers. + +About 2 A.M. the officer on watch came down to report to Captain Davis +a slight change in the direction of the breeze. At 3 A.M. I was again +awakened by hearing Captain Davis hasten on deck, and by a gentle +bumping of the ship, undoubtedly against rock. It appeared that the +officer on watch had left the bridge for a few minutes, while the wind +freshened and was blowing at the time nearly broadside-on from the +north. This caused the ship to sag to leeward, stretching the bow and +stern cables, until she came in contact with the kelp-covered, steep, +rocky bank on the south side. The narrow limits of the anchorage were +responsible for this dangerous situation. + +All hands were immediately called on deck and set to work hauling on +the stern cable. In a few minutes the propeller and rudder were out of +danger. The engines were then started slowly ahead, and, as we came up +to the bower anchor, the cable was taken in. The wind was blowing across +the narrow entrance to the Cove, so that it was advisable to get quickly +under way. The kedge anchor was abandoned, and we steamed straight out +to sea with the bower hanging below the bows. The wind increased, and +there was no other course open but to continue the southward voyage. + +The day so inauspiciously begun turned out beautifully sunny. There was +additional verve in our Christmas celebration, as Macquarie Island and +the Bishop and Clerk, in turn, sank below the northern horizon. + +During the stay at the island little attention had been given to +scientific matters. All our energies had been concentrated on speedily +landing the party which was to carry out such special work, so as to +allow us to get away south as soon as possible. Enough had been seen to +indicate the wide scientific possibilities of the place. + +For some days we were favoured by exceptional weather; a moderate +breeze from the north-east and a long, lazy swell combining to make our +progress rapid. + +The sum of the experiences of earlier expeditions had shown that +the prevailing winds south of 60 degrees S. latitude were mainly +south-easterly, causing a continuous streaming of the pack from east to +west. Our obvious expedient on encountering the ice was to steam in the +same direction as this drift. It had been decided before setting out +that we would confine ourselves to the region west of the meridian +of 158 degrees E. longitude. So it was intended to reach the pack, +approximately in that meridian, and, should we be repulsed, to work +steadily to the west in expectation of breaking through to the land. + +Regarding the ice conditions over the whole segment of the unknown tract +upon which our attack was directed, very little was known. Critically +examined, the reports of the American squadron under the command of +Wilkes were highly discouraging. D'Urville appeared to have reached +his landfall without much hindrance by ice, but that was a fortunate +circumstance in view of the difficulties Wilkes had met. At the western +limit of the area we were to explore, the Germans in the 'Gauss' had +been irrevocably trapped in the ice as early as the month of February. +At the eastern limit, only the year before, the 'Terra Nova' of Scott's +expedition, making a sally into unexplored waters, had sighted new land +almost on the 158th meridian, but even though it was then the end of +summer, and the sea was almost free from the previous season's ice, they +were not able to reach the land on account of the dense pack. + +In the early southern summer, at the time of our arrival, the ice +conditions were expected to be at their worst. This followed from the +fact that not only would local floes be encountered, but also a vast +expanse of pack fed by the disintegrating floes of the Ross Sea, since, +between Cape Adare and the Balleny Islands, the ice drifting to the +north-west under the influence of the south-east winds is arrested in +an extensive sheet. On the other hand, were we to wait for the later +season, no time would remain for the accomplishment of the programme +which had been arranged. So we were forced to accept things as we found +them, being also prepared to make the most of any chance opportunity. + +In planning the Expedition, the probability of meeting unusually heavy +pack had been borne in mind, and the three units into which the land +parties and equipment were divided had been disposed so as to facilitate +the landing of a base with despatch, and, maybe, under difficult +circumstances. Further, in case the ship were frozen in, "wireless" +could be installed and the news immediately communicated through +Macquarie Island to Australia. + +At noon on December 27 whales were spouting all round us, and appeared +to be travelling from west to east. Albatrosses of several species +constantly hovered about, and swallow-like Wilson petrels--those nervous +rangers of the high seas--would sail along the troughs and flit over the +crests of the waves, to vanish into sombre distance. + +Already we were steaming through untravelled waters, and new discoveries +might be expected at any moment. A keen interest spread throughout the +ship. On several occasions, fantastic clouds on the horizon gave hope +of land, only to be abandoned on further advance. On December 28 and 29 +large masses of floating kelp were seen, and, like the flotsam met with +by Columbus, still further raised our hopes. + +The possibility of undiscovered islands existing in the Southern Ocean, +south of Australia and outside the ice-bound region, kept us vigilant. +So few ships had ever navigated the waters south of latitude 55 +degrees, that some one and a quarter million square miles lay open to +exploration. As an instance of such a discovery in the seas south of New +Zealand may be mentioned Scott Island, first observed by the 'Morning', +one of the relief ships of the British Expedition of 1902. + +The weather remained favourable for sounding and other oceanographical +work, but as it was uncertain how long these conditions would last, and +in view of the anxiety arising from overloaded decks and the probability +of gales which are chronic in these latitudes, it was resolved to +land one of the bases as soon as possible, and thus rid the ship of +superfluous cargo. The interesting but time-absorbing study of the +ocean-depths was therefore postponed for a while. + +With regard to the Antarctic land to be expected ahead, many of Wilkes's +landfalls, where they had been investigated by later expeditions, had +been disproved. It seemed as if he had regarded the northern margin +of the solid floe and shelf-ice as land; perhaps also mistaking bergs, +frozen in the floe and distorted by mirage, for ice-covered land. +Nevertheless, his soundings, and the light thrown upon the subject by +the Scott and Shackleton expeditions, left no doubt in my mind that +land would be found within a reasonable distance south of the position +assigned by Wilkes. Some authorities had held that any land existing +in this region would be found to be of the nature of isolated islands. +Those familiar with the adjacent land, however, were all in favour of it +being continental--a continuation of the Victoria Land plateau. The land +lay to the south beyond doubt; the problem was to reach it through +the belt of ice-bound sea. Still, navigable pack-ice might be ahead, +obviating the need of driving too far to the west. + +"Ice on the starboard bow!" At 4 P.M. on December 29 the cry was raised, +and shortly after we passed alongside a small caverned berg whose +bluish-green tints called forth general admiration. In the distance +others could be seen. One larger than the average stood almost in our +path. It was of the flat-topped, sheer-walled type, so characteristic +of the Antarctic regions; three-quarters of a mile long and half a mile +wide, rising eighty feet above the sea. + +It has been stated that tabular bergs are typical of the Antarctic as +opposed to the Arctic. This diversity is explained by a difference in +the glacial conditions. In the north, glaciation is not so marked and, +as a rule, coastal areas are free from ice, except for valley-glaciers +which transport ice from the high interior down to sea-level. There, +the summer temperature is so warm that the lower parts of the glaciers +become much decayed, and, reaching the sea, break up readily into +numerous irregular, pinnacled bergs of clear ice. In the south, the +tabular forms result from the fact that the average annual temperature +is colder than that prevailing at the northern axis of the earth. They +are so formed because, even at sea-level, no appreciable amount of +thawing takes place in midsummer. The inland ice pushes out to sea in +enormous masses, and remains floating long before it "calves" to form +bergs. Even though its surface has been thrown into ridges as it was +creeping over the uneven land, all are reduced to a dead level or +slightly undulating plain, in the free-floating condition, and are still +further effaced by dense drifts and repeated falls of snow descending +upon them. The upper portion of a table-topped berg consists, therefore, +of consolidated snow; neither temperature nor pressure having been +sufficient to metamorphose it into clear ice. Such a berg in old age +becomes worn into an irregular shape by the action of waves and weather, +and often completely capsizes, exposing its corroded basement. + +A light fog obscured the surrounding sea and distant bergs glided by +like spectres. A monstrous block on the starboard side had not been long +adrift, for it showed but slight signs of weathering. + +The fog thickened over a grey swell that shimmered with an oily lustre. +At 7 P.M. pack-ice came suddenly to view, and towards it we steered, +vainly peering through the mists ahead in search of a passage. The +ice was closely packed, the pieces being small and wellworn. On the +outskirts was a light brash which steadily gave place to a heavier +variety, composed of larger and more angular fragments. A swishing +murmur like the wind in the tree-tops came from the great expanse. It +was alabaster-white and through the small, separate chips was diffused +a pale lilac coloration. The larger chunks, by their motion and exposure +to wind and current, had a circle of clear water; the deep sea-blue +hovering round their water-worn niches. Here and there appeared the +ochreous-yellow colour of adhering films of diatoms. + +As we could not see what lay beyond, and the pack was becoming heavier, +the ship was swung round and headed out. + +Steering to the west through open water and patches of trailing brash, +we were encouraged to find the pack trending towards the south. By +pushing through bars of jammed floes and dodging numerous bergs, twenty +miles were gained due southwards before the conditions had changed. The +fog cleared, and right ahead massive bergs rose out of an ice-strewn +sea. We neared one which was a mile in length and one hundred feet in +height. The heaving ocean, dashing against its mighty, glistening walls, +rushed with a hollow boom into caverns of ethereal blue; gothic portals +to a cathedral of resplendent purity. + +The smaller bergs and fragments of floe crowded closer together, and the +two men at the wheel had little time for reverie. Orders came in quick +succession--"Starboard! Steady!" and in a flash--"Hard-a-port!" Then +repeated all over again, while the rudder-chains scraped and rattled in +their channels. + +Gradually the swell subsided, smoothed by the weight of ice. The +tranquillity of the water heightened the superb effects of this glacial +world. Majestic tabular bergs whose crevices exhaled a vaporous azure; +lofty spires, radiant turrets and splendid castles; honeycombed masses +illumined by pale green light within whose fairy labyrinths the water +washed and gurgled. Seals and penguins on magic gondolas were the silent +denizens of this dreamy Venice. In the soft glamour of the midsummer +midnight sun, we were possessed by a rapturous wonder--the rare thrill +of unreality. + +The ice closed in, and shock after shock made the ship vibrate as she +struck the smaller pieces full and fair, followed by a crunching and +grinding as they scraped past the sides. The dense pack had come, and +hardly a square foot of space showed amongst the blocks; smaller +ones packing in between the larger, until the sea was covered with a +continuous armour of ice. The ominous sound arising from thousands +of faces rubbing together as they gently oscillated in the swell was +impressive. It spoke of a force all-powerful, in whose grip puny ships +might be locked for years and the less fortunate receive their last +embrace. + +The pack grew heavier and the bergs more numerous, embattled in a +formidable array. If an ideal picture, from our point of view it was +impenetrable. No "water sky" showed as a distant beacon; over all was +reflected the pitiless, white glare of the ice. The 'Aurora' retreated +to the open sea, and headed to the west in search of a break in the +ice-front. The wind blew from the south-east, and, with sails set to +assist the engines, rapid progress was made. + +The southern prospect was disappointing, for the heavy pack was ranged +in a continuous bar. The over-arching sky invariably shone with +that yellowish-white effulgence known as "ice blink," indicative of +continuous ice, in contrast with the dark water sky, a sign of open +water, or a mottled sky proceeding from an ice-strewn but navigable sea. + +Though progress can be made in dense pack, provided it is not too heavy, +advance is necessarily very slow--a few miles a day, and that at the +expense of much coal. Without a well-defined "water sky" it would have +been foolish to have entered. Further, everything pointed to heavier +ice-conditions in the south, and, indeed, in several places we +reconnoitred, and such was proved to be the case. Large bergs were +numerous, which, on account of being almost unaffected by surface +currents because of their ponderous bulk and stupendous draught, helped +to compact the shallow surface-ice under the free influence of currents +and winds. In our westerly course we were sometimes able to edge a +little to the south, but were always reduced to our old position within +a few hours. Long projecting "tongues" were met at intervals and, when +narrow or open, we pushed through them. + +Whales were frequently seen, both rorquals and killers. On the pack, +sea-leopards and crab-eater seals sometimes appeared. At one time as +many as a hundred would be counted from the bridge and at other moments +not a single one could be sighted. They were not alarmed, unless the +ship happened to bump against ice-masses within a short distance of +them. A small sea-leopard, shot from the fo'c'sle by a well-directed +bullet from Wild, was taken on board as a specimen; the meat serving as +a great treat for the dogs. + +On January 2, when driving through a tongue of pack, a halt was made to +"ice ship." A number of men scrambled over the side on to a large piece +of floe and handed up the ice. It was soon discovered, however, that the +swell was too great, for masses of ice ten tons or more in weight +swayed about under the stern, endangering the propeller and rudder--the +vulnerable parts of the vessel. So we moved on, having secured enough +fresh-water ice to supply a pleasant change after the somewhat +discoloured tank-water then being served out. The ice still remained +compact and forbidding, but each day we hoped to discover a weak spot +through which we might probe to the land itself. + +On the evening of January 2 we saw a high, pinnacled berg, a few miles +within the edge of the pack, closely resembling a rocky peak; the +transparent ice of which it was composed appeared, in the dull light, +of a much darker hue than the surrounding bergs. Another adjacent block +exhibited a large black patch on its northern face, the exact nature of +which could not be ascertained at a distance. Examples of rock debris +embedded in bergs had already been observed, and it was presumed that +this was a similar case. These were all hopeful signs, for the earthy +matter must, of course, have been picked up by the ice during its repose +upon some adjacent land. + +At this same spot, large flocks of silver-grey petrels were seen resting +on the ice and skimming the water in search of food. As soon as we had +entered the ice-zone, most of our old companions, such as the albatross, +had deserted, while a new suite of Antarctic birds had taken their +place. These included the beautiful snow petrel, the Antarctic petrel, +and the small, lissome Wilson petrel--a link with the bird-life of more +temperate seas. + +On the evening of January 3 the wind was blowing fresh from the +south-east and falling snow obscured the horizon. The pack took a +decided turn to the north, which fact was particularly disappointing in +view of the distance we had already traversed to the west. We were now +approaching the longitude of D'Urville's landfall, and still the pack +showed no signs of slackening. I was beginning to feel very anxious, and +had decided not to pass that longitude without resorting to desperate +measures. + +The change in our fortunes occurred at five o'clock next morning, when +the Chief Officer, Toucher, came down from the bridge to report that the +atmosphere was clearing and that there appeared to be land-ice near +by. Sure enough, on the port side, within a quarter of a mile, rose a +massive barrier of ice extending far into the mist and separated from +the ship by a little loose pack-ice. The problem to be solved was, +whether it was the seaward face of an ice-covered continent, the +ice-capping of a low island or only a flat-topped iceberg of immense +proportions. + +By 7 A.M. a corner was reached where the ice-wall trended southward, +limned on the horizon in a series of bays and headlands. An El Dorado +had opened before us, for the winds coming from the east of south had +cleared the pack away from the lee of the ice-wall, so that in the +distance a comparatively clear sea was visible, closed by a bar of ice, +a few miles in extent. Into this we steered, hugging the ice-wall, and +were soon in the open, speeding along in glorious sunshine, bringing new +sights into view every moment. + +The wall, along the northern face, was low--from thirty to seventy feet +in height--but the face along which we were now progressing gradually +rose in altitude to the south. It was obviously a shelf-ice formation +(or a glacier-tongue projection of it), exactly similar in build, for +instance, to the Great Ross Barrier so well described by Ross, Scott, +and others. At the north-west corner, at half a dozen places within +a few miles of each other, the wall was puckered up and surmounted by +semi-conical eminences, half as high as the face itself. These peculiar +elevations were unlike anything previously recorded and remained +unexplained for a while, until closer inspection showed them to be the +result of impact with other ice-masses--a curious but conceivable cause. + +On pieces of broken floe Weddell seals were noted. They were the first +seen on the voyage and a sure indication of land, for their habitat +ranges over the coastal waters of Antarctic lands. + +A large, low, dome-topped elevation, about one mile in diameter, was +passed on the starboard side, at a distance of two miles from the long +ice-cliff. This corresponded in shape with what Ross frequently referred +to as an "ice island," uncertain whether it was a berg or ice-covered +land. A sounding close by gave two hundred and eight fathoms, showing +that we were on the continental shelf, and increasing the probability +that the "ice island" was aground. + +Birds innumerable appeared on every hand: snow petrels, silver petrels, +Cape pigeons and Antarctic petrels. They fluttered in hundreds about +our bows. Cape pigeons are well known in lower latitudes, and it was +interesting to find them so far south. As they have chessboard-like +markings on the back when seen in flight, there is no mistaking them. + +The ice-wall or glacier-tongue now took a turn to the south-east. At +this point it had risen to a great height, about two hundred feet sheer. +A fresh wind was blowing in our teeth from the south-south-east, and +beyond this point would be driving us on to the cliffs. We put the ship +about, therefore, and made for the lee side of the "ice island." + +In isolated coveys on the inclined top of the "island" were several +flocks, each containing hundreds of Antarctic petrels. At intervals they +would rise into the air in clouds, shortly afterwards to settle down +again on the snow. + +Captain Davis moved the ship carefully against the lee wall of the +"island," with a view of replenishing our water supply, but it was +unscalable, and we were forced to withdraw. Crouched on a small +projection near the water's edge was a seal, trying to evade the eyes of +a dozen large grampuses which were playing about near our stern. These +monsters appeared to be about twenty-five feet in length. They are the +most formidable predacious mammals of the Antarctic seas, and annually +account for large numbers of seals, penguins, and other cetaceans. The +sea-leopard is its competitor, though not nearly so ferocious as the +grampus, of whom it lives in terror. + +The midnight hours were spent off the "ice island" while we wafted for +a decrease in the wind. Bars of cirrus clouds covered the whole sky--the +presage of a coming storm. The wind arose, and distant objects were +blotted out by driving snow. An attempt was made to keep the ship +in shelter by steaming into the wind, but as "ice island" and +glacier-tongue were lost in clouds of snow, we were fortunate to make +the lee of the latter, about fourteen miles to the north. There we +steamed up and down until the afternoon of January 5, when the weather +improved. A sounding was taken and the course was once more set for the +south. + +The sky remained overcast, the atmosphere foggy, and a south-south-east +wind was blowing as we came abreast of the "ice island," which, by the +way, was discovered to have drifted several miles to the north, thus +proving itself to be a free-floating berg. The glacier-tongue on the +port side took a sharp turn to the east-south-east, disappearing on the +horizon. As there was no pack in sight and the water was merely littered +with fragments of ice, it appeared most likely that the turn in the +glacier-tongue was part of a great sweeping curve ultimately joining +with the southward land. On our south-south-east course we soon lost +sight of the ice-cliffs in a gathering fog. + +On the afternoon of January 6 the wind abated and the fog began to +clear. At 5 P.M. a line of ice confronted us and, an hour later, the +'Aurora' was in calm water under another mighty ice face trending across +our course. This wall was precisely similar to the one seen on the +previous evening, and might well have been a continuation of it. It is +scarcely credible that when the 'Aurora' came south the following year, +the glacier-tongue first discovered had entirely disappeared. It was +apparently nothing more than a huge iceberg measuring forty miles in +length. Specially valuable, as clearing up any doubt that may have +remained, was its re-discovery the following year some fifty miles to +the north-west. Close to the face of the new ice-wall, which proved to +be a true glacier-tongue, a mud bottom was found at a depth of three +hundred and ninety-five fathoms. + +While we were steaming in calm water to the south-west, the massive +front, serrated by shallow bays and capes, passed in magnificent review. +Its height attained a maximum of one hundred and fifty feet. In places +the sea had eaten out enormous blue grottoes. At one spot, several of +these had broken into each other to form a huge domed cavern, the roof +of which hung one hundred feet above the sea. The noble portico was +flanked by giant pillars. + +The glacier-tongue bore all the characters of shelf-ice, by which is +meant a floating extension of the land-ice.** A table-topped berg in the +act of formation was seen, separated from the parent body of shelf-ice +by a deep fissure several yards in width. + + + ** Subsequently this shelf-ice formation was found to be a floating +glacier-tongue sixty miles in length, the seaward extension of a large +glacier which we named the Mertz Glacier. + +At 11 P.M. the 'Aurora' entered a bay, ten miles wide, bounded on the +east by the shelf-ice wall and on the west by a steep snow-covered +promontory rising approximately two thousand feet in height, as yet seen +dimly in hazy outline through the mist. No rock was visible, but the +contour of the ridge was clearly that of ice-capped land. + +There was much jubilation among the watchers on deck at the prospect. +Every available field-glass and telescope was brought to bear upon it. +It was almost certainly the Antarctic continent, though, at that time, +its extension to the east, west and south remained to be proved. The +shelf-ice was seen to be securely attached to it and, near its point of +junction with the undulating land-ice, we beheld the mountains of this +mysterious land haloed in ghostly mist. + +While passing the extremity of the western promontory, we observed an +exposure of rock, jutting out of the ice near sea-level, in the face of +a scar left by an avalanche. Later, when passing within half a cable's +length of several berg-like masses of ice lying off the coast, rock +was again visible in black relief against the water's edge, forming a +pedestal for the ice. The ship was kept farther offshore, after this +warning, for though she was designed to buffet with the ice, we had no +desire to test her resistance to rock. + +The bottom was very irregular, and as an extra precaution, soundings +were taken every few minutes. Through a light fog all that could be +seen landwards was a steep, sloping, icy surface descending from the +interior, and terminating abruptly in a seaward cliff fifty to two +hundred feet in height. + +The ice-sheet terminating in this wall presented a more broken surface +than the floating shelf-ice. It was riven and distorted by gaping +crevasses; an indication of the rough bed over which it had travelled. + +Towards midnight another bay was entered and many rocky islets appeared +on its western side. The engines were stopped for a few hours, and the +voyage was resumed in clearer weather on the following morning. + +All day we threaded our way between islands and bergs. Seals and +penguins swam around, the latter squawking and diving in a most amusing +manner. + +Cautiously we glided by an iceberg, at least one hundred and fifty feet +high, rising with a faceted, perpendicular face chased with soft, snowy +traceries and ornamented with stalactites. Splits and rents broke into +the margin, and from each streamed the evanescent, azure vapour. Each +puncture and tiny grotto was filled with it, and a sloping cap of +shimmering snow spread over the summit. The profile-view was an exact +replica of a battleship, grounded astern. The bold contour of the +bow was perfect, and the massive flank had been torn and shattered +by shell-fire in a desperate naval battle. This berg had heeled over +considerably, and the original water-line ran as a definite rim, thirty +feet above the green water. From this rim shelved down a smooth and +polished base, marked with fine vertical striae. + +Soundings varied from twenty to two hundred fathoms, and, accordingly, +the navigation was particularly anxious work. + +Extending along about fifteen miles of coast, where the inland ice came +down steeply to the sea, was a marginal belt of sea, about two or three +miles in width, thickly strewn with rocky islets. Of these some were +flat and others peaked, but all were thickly populated by penguins, +petrels and seals. The rocks appeared all to be gneisses and schists. + +Later that night we lay off a possible landing-place for one of our +bases, but, on more closely inspecting it in the morning, we decided to +proceed farther west into a wide sweeping bay which opened ahead. About +fifty miles ahead, on the far side of Commonwealth Bay, as we named it, +was a cape which roughly represented in position Cape Decouverte, the +most easterly extension of Adelie Land seen by D'Urville in 1840. +Though Commonwealth Bay and the land already seen had never before been +sighted, all was placed under the territorial name of Adelie Land. + +The land was so overwhelmed with ice that, even at sea-level, the rock +was all but entirely hidden. Here was an ice age in all earnestness; a +picture of Northern Europe during the Great Ice Age some fifty thousand +years ago. It was evident that the glaciation of Adelie Land was much +more severe than that in higher Antarctic latitudes, as exampled on the +borders of the Ross Sea; the arena of Scott's, Shackleton's and other +expeditions. The temperature could not be colder, so we were led to +surmise that the snowfall must be excessive. The full truth was to be +ascertained by bitter experience, after spending a year on the spot. + +I had hoped to find the Antarctic continent in these latitudes bounded +by a rocky and attractive coast like that in the vicinity of Cape Adare; +the nearest well-explored region. It had proved otherwise, only too well +endorsing the scanty information supplied by D'Urville and Wilkes of +the coastline seen by them. A glance at the austere plateau and the +ice-fettered coast was evidence of a rigid, inhospitable climate. It +was apparent, too, that only a short summer could be expected in these +latitudes, thus placing limitations upon our operations. + +If three bases were to be landed it was important that they should be +spread at sufficiently wide intervals. If one were placed in Adelie +Land, the ship would probably have to break through the pack in +establishing each of the other two ba ses. Judging by our previous +experience there was no certain prospect of this being effected. The +successful landing of three bases in suitable positions, sufficiently +far apart for advantageous co-operation in geographical, meteorological +and other observations, had now become problematical. In addition, one +of the parties was not as strong as I would have liked, considering what +would be undoubtedly its strenuous future. + +For some days the various phases of the situation had occupied my mind, +and I now determined to risk two bases, combining the smallest of the +three parties with the Main Base. Alterations in the personnel of the +third party were also made, by which the Main Base would be increased in +strength for scientific work, and the other party under the leadership +of Wild would be composed of men of specially good sledging calibre, +besides being representative of the leading branches of our scientific +programme. + +We had a splendid lot of men, and I had no difficulty in choosing for +Wild seven companions who could be relied upon to give a good account of +themselves. It was only by assuring myself of their high efficiency that +I could expect to rest from undue anxiety throughout the year of our +separation. The composition of the two parties was as follows: + +Main Base: R. Bage, F. H. Bickerton, J. H. Close, P. E. Correll, W. H. +Hannam, A. J. Hodgeman, J. G. Hunter, J. F. Hurley, C. F. Laseron, C. +T. Madigan, A. L. McLean, X. Mertz, H. D. Murphy, B. E. S. Ninnis, F. L. +Stillwell, E. N. Webb, L. H. Whetter and myself. + +Western Party: G. Dovers, C. T. Harrisson, C. A. Hoadley, S. E. Jones, +A. L. Kennedy, M. H. Moyes, A. D. Watson, and F. Wild (leader). + +I was now anxious to find a suitable location for our Main Base; two +reasons making it an urgent matter. The first was, that as we advanced +to the west we were leaving the South Magnetic Pole, and I was anxious +to have our magnetographs running as near the latter as possible. +Secondly, we would be daily increasing our distance from Macquarie +Island, making wireless communication more uncertain. + +At noon on January 8, while I was weighing the pros and cons with +Captain Davis, Wild came in to say that there was a rocky exposure about +fifteen miles off on the port side, and suggested altering our course to +obtain a better view of it. + +Just after 4 P.M., when the ship was about one mile from the nearest +rocks, the whale-boat was lowered and manned. We rowed in with the +object of making a closer investigation. From the ship's deck, even when +within a mile, the outcrop had appeared to project directly from under +the inland ice-sheet. Now, however, we were surprised to find ourselves +amongst an archipelago of islets. These were named the Mackellar Islets, +in remembrance of one who had proved a staunch friend of the Expedition. + +Weddell seals and Adelie penguins in thousands rested upon the rocks; +the latter chiefly congregated upon a long, low, bare islet situated in +the centre. This was the largest of the group, measuring about half a +mile in length; others were not above twenty yards in diameter. As we +came inshore, the main body of the archipelago was found to be separated +by a mile and a half from the mainland. A point which struck us at the +time was that the islets situated on the southern side of the group were +capped by unique masses of ice; resembling iced cakes. Later we were +able to see them in process of formation. In the violent southerly +hurricanes prevalent in Adelie Land, the spray breaks right over them. +Part of it is deposited and frozen, and by increments the icing of these +monstrous "cakes" is built up. The amount contributed in winter makes +up for loss by thawing in midsummer. As the islets to windward shelter +those in their lee, the latter are destitute of these natural canopies. + +Soundings were taken at frequent intervals with a hand lead-line, +manipulated by Madigan. The water was on the whole shallow, varying +from a few to twenty fathoms. The bottom was clothed by dense, luxuriant +seaweed. This rank growth along the littoral was unexpected, for nothing +of the kind exists on the Ross Sea coasts within five or six fathoms of +the surface. + +Advancing towards the mainland, we observed a small islet amongst the +rocks, and towards it the boat was directed. We were soon inside a +beautiful, miniature harbour completely land-locked. The sun +shone gloriously in a blue sky as we stepped ashore on a charming +ice-quay--the first to set foot on the Antarctic continent between Cape +Adare and Gaussberg, a distance of one thousand eight hundred miles. + +Wild and I proceeded to make a tour of exploration. The rocky area at +Cape Denison, as it was named, was found to be about one mile in +length and half a mile in extreme width. Behind it rose the inland ice, +ascending in a regular slope and apparently free of crevasses--an outlet +for our sledging parties in the event of the sea not firmly freezing +over. To right and left of this oasis, as the visitor to Adelie Land +must regard the welcome rock, the ice was heavily crevassed and fell +sheer to the sea in cliffs, sixty to one hundred and fifty feet in +height. Two small dark patches in the distance were the only evidences +of rock to relieve the white monotony of the coast. + +In landing cargo on Antarctic shores, advantage is generally taken +of the floe-ice on to which the materials can be unloaded and at once +sledged away to their destination. Here, on the other hand, there was +open water, too shallow for the 'Aurora' to be moored alongside the +ice-foot. The only alternative was to anchor the ship at a distance +and discharge the cargo by boats running to the ideal harbour we had +discovered. Close to the boat harbour was suitable ground for the +erection of a hut, so that the various impedimenta would have to be +carried only a short distance. For supplies of fresh meat, in the +emergency of being marooned for a number of years, there were many +Weddell seals at hand, and on almost all the neighbouring ridges +colonies of penguins were busy rearing their young.64 + +As a station for scientific investigations, it offered a wider field +than the casual observer would have imagined. So it came about that the +Main Base was finally settled at Cape Denison, Commonwealth Bay. + +We arrived on board at 8 P.M., taking a seal as food for the dogs. +Without delay, the motor-launch was dropped into the water, and both it +and the whale-boat loaded with frozen carcasses of mutton, cases of eggs +and other perishable goods. + +While some of us went ashore in the motor-launch, with the whale-boat in +tow, the 'Aurora' steamed round the Mackellar Islets seeking for a good +anchorage under the icy barrier, immediately to the west of the boat +harbour. The day had been perfect, vibrant with summer and life, but +towards evening a chill breeze sprang up, and we in the motor-launch had +to beat against it. By the time we had reached the head of the harbour, +Hoadley had several fingers frost-bitten and all were feeling the cold, +for we were wearing light garments in anticipation of fine weather. +The wind strengthened every minute, and showers of fine snow were soon +whistling down the glacier. No time was lost in landing the cargo, and, +with a rising blizzard at our backs, we drove out to meet the 'Aurora'. +On reaching the ship a small gale was blowing and our boats were taken +in tow. + +The first thing to be considered was the mooring of the 'Aurora' under +the lee of the ice-wall, so as to give us an opportunity of getting the +boats aboard. In the meantime they were passed astern, each manned by +several hands to keep them bailed out; the rest of us having scrambled +up the side. Bringing the ship to anchor in such a wind in uncharted, +shoal water was difficult to do in a cool and methodical manner. The +sounding machine was kept running with rather dramatic results; depths +jumping from five to thirty fathoms in the ship's length, and back again +to the original figure in the same distance. A feeling of relief passed +round when, after much manoeuvring, the anchor was successfully bedded +five hundred yards from the face of the cliff. + +Just at this time the motor-launch broke adrift. Away it swept before a +wind of forty-five miles per hour. On account of the cold, and because +the engine was drenched with sea-water, some difficulty was found in +starting the motor. From the ship's deck we could see Bickerton busily +engaged with it. The rudder had been unshipped, and there was no chance +of replacing it, for the boat was bobbing about on the waves in a most +extraordinary manner. However, Whetter managed to make a jury-rudder +which served the purpose, while Hunter, the other occupant, was kept +laboriously active with the pump. + +They had drifted half a mile, and were approaching the rocks of an islet +on which the sea was breaking heavily. Just as every one was becoming +very apprehensive, the launch began to forge ahead, and the men had soon +escaped from their dangerous predicament. By the united efforts of all +hands the boats were hoisted on board and everything was made as "snug" +as possible. + +The wind steadily increased, and it seemed impossible for the anchor to +hold. The strain on the cable straightened out a steel hook two inches +in diameter. This caused some embarrassment, as the hook was part of +the cable attachment under the fo'c'sle-head. It is remarkable, however, +that after this was adjusted the ship did not lose her position up to +the time of departure from Adelie Land. + +Though we were so close under the shelter of a lofty wall, the waves +around us were at least four feet in height and when the wind increased +to sixty-five and seventy miles per hour, their crests were cut off and +the surface was hidden by a sheet of racing spindrift. + +Everything was securely lashed in readiness for going to sea, in case +the cable should part. Final arrangements were then made to discharge +the cargo quickly as soon as the wind moderated. + +Two days had elapsed before the wind showed any signs of abatement. It +was 8 P.M. on January 10 when the first boat ventured off with a small +cargo, but it was not till the following morning that a serious start +was made. In good weather, every trip between the ship and the boat +harbour, a distance of a mile, meant that five or six tons had been +landed. It was usual for the loaded launch to tow both whale-boats +heavily laden and, in addition, a raft of hut timbers or wireless masts. +Some of the sailors, while engaged in building rafts alongside the ship, +were capsized into the water and after that the occupation was not a +popular one. + +Ashore, Wild had rigged a derrick, using for its construction two of +the wireless royal masts. It was thus possible to cope with the heavier +packages at the landing-place. Of the last-named the air-tractor sledge +was by far the most troublesome. With plenty of manual labour, under +Wild's skilful direction, this heavy machine was hoisted from the +motor-launch, and then carefully swung on to the solid ice-foot. + +Captain Davis superintended the discharging operations on the ship, +effected by the crew and some of the land party under the direction of +the ship's officers. Wild supervised conveyance ashore, and the landing, +classification, and safe storage of the various boat-loads. Gillies and +Bickerton took alternate shifts in driving the motor-launch. The launch +proved invaluable, and we were very glad that it had been included in +the equipment, for it did a remarkable amount of work in a minimum of +time. + +In view of the difficulty of embarking the boats, if another hurricane +should arise, tents were erected ashore, so that a party could remain +there with the boats moored in a sheltered harbour. + +Everything went well until just before midnight on January 12, when the +wind again swept down. Wild, four of the men and I were forced to remain +ashore. We spent the time constructing a temporary hut of benzine cases, +roofed with planks; the walls of which were made massive to resist the +winds. This structure was henceforth known as the "Benzine Hut". + +The barometer dropped to 28.5 inches and the wind remained high. We were +struck with the singular fact that, even in the height of some of these +hurricanes, the sky remained serene and the sun shone brightly. It had +been very different when the ship was amongst the pack a few miles to +the north, for, there, cloudy and foggy conditions had been the rule. +The wind coming to us from the south was dry; obviously an argument for +the continental extension of the land in that direction. + +At 2 A.M. on January 15 a pre-arranged whistle was sounded from the +'Aurora', advising those of us ashore that the sea had moderated +sufficiently to continue unloading. Wild sped away in the launch, but +before he had reached the ship the wind renewed its activity. At last, +after 2 P.M. on the same day it ceased, and we were able to carry on +work until midnight, when the wind descended on us once more. This time, +eighteen men remained ashore. After twelve hours there was another lull, +and unloading was then continued with only a few intermissions from 1 +P.M. on January 16 until the afternoon of January 19. + +Never was landing so hampered by adverse conditions, and yet, thanks to +the assiduous application of all, a great assortment of materials was +safely embarked. Comprised among them were the following: twenty-three +tons of coal briquettes, two complete living-huts, a magnetic +observatory, the whole of the wireless equipment, including masts, +and more than two thousand packages of general supplies containing +sufficient food for two years, utensils, instruments, benzine, kerosene, +lubricating oils an air-tractor and other sledges. + +Then came the time for parting. There was a great field before Wild's +party to the west, and it was important that they should be able to +make the most of the remainder of the season. My great regret was that I +could not be with them. I knew that I had men of experience and ability +in Davis and Wild, and felt that the work entrusted to them was in the +best of hands. Through the medium of wireless telegraphy I hoped to keep +in touch with the Macquarie Island party, the Western Base,** and the +ship itself, when in Australian waters. + + + ** They were supplied with masts and a receiving set sufficiently +sensitive to pick up messages from a distance of five or six hundred +miles. + +It was my idea that Wild's party should proceed west and attempt to +effect a landing and establish a western wintering station at some +place not less than four hundred miles west of Adelie Land. On the way, +whenever opportunity presented itself, they were to cache provisions +at intervals along the coast in places liable to be visited by sledging +parties. + +The location of such caches and of the Western Base, it was hoped, would +be communicated to us at the Main Base, through the medium of wireless +telegraphy from Hobart. + +All members of the land parties and the ship's officers met in the +ward-room. There were mutual good wishes expressed all round, and then +we celebrated previous Antarctic explorers, more especially D'Urville +and Wilkes. The toast was drunk in excellent Madeira presented to us by +Mr. J. T. Buchanan, who had carried this sample round the world with him +when a member of the celebrated 'Challenger' expedition. + +The motor-launch was hoisted and the anchor raised. Then at 8.45 P.M. +on January 19 we clambered over the side into one of the whale-boats and +pushed off for Cape Denison, shouting farewells back to the 'Aurora'. +Several hours later she had disappeared below the north-western horizon, +and we had set to work to carve out a home in Adelie Land. + + + +CHAPTER IV NEW LANDS + + +Leaving the land party under my charge at Commonwealth Bay on the +evening of January 19, the 'Aurora' set her course to round a headland +visible on the north-western horizon. At midnight the ship came abreast +of this point and continued steaming west, keeping within a distance of +five miles of the coast. A break in the icy monotony came with a short +tract of islets fronting a background of dark rocky coastline similar to +that at Cape Denison but more extensive. + +Some six miles east of D'Urville's Cape Discovery, a dangerous reef was +sighted extending at right angles across the course. The ship steamed +along it and her soundings demonstrated a submerged ridge continuing +some twelve miles out to sea. Captain Davis's narrative proceeds: + +"Having cleared this obstacle we followed the coastline to the west from +point to point. Twelve miles away we could see the snow-covered slopes +rising from the seaward cliffs to an elevation of one thousand five +hundred feet. Several small islands were visible close to a shore +fringed by numerous large bergs. + +"At 10 P.M. on January 20, our progress to the west was stopped by a +fleet of bergs off the mainland and an extensive field of berg-laden +pack-ice, trending to the north and north-east. Adelie Land could be +traced continuing to the west. Where it disappeared from view there was +the appearance of a barrier-formation, suggestive of shelf-ice, +running in a northerly direction. Skirting the pack-ice on a north and +north-west course, we observed the same appearance from the crow's-nest +on January 21 and 22." + +The stretch of open, navigable, coastal water to the north of Adelie +Land, barred by the Mertz Glacier on the east and delimited on the west +by more or less compact ice, has been named the D'Urville Sea. We found +subsequently that its freedom from obstruction by ice is due to the +persistent gales which set off the land in that locality. To the north, +pack-ice in variable amount is encountered before reaching the wide open +ocean. + +The existence of such a "barrier-formation,"** as indicated above, +probably resting on a line of reef similar to the one near Cape +Discovery, would account for the presence of this ice-field in +practically the same position as it was seen by D'Urville in 1840. + + + ** An analysis of the data derived from the later voyages of the +'Aurora' makes it practically certain that there is a permanent obstacle +to the westerly drift of the pack-ice in longitude 137 degrees E. There +is, however, some uncertainty as to the cause of this blockage. An +alternative explanation is advanced, namely, that within the area +of comparatively shallow water, large bergs are entrapped, and these +entangle the drifting pack-ice. + +At a distance, large bergs would be undistinguishable from shelf-ice, +appearances of which were reported above. + +Quoting further: "We were unable to see any trace of the high land +reported by the United States Squadron (1840) as lying to the west and +south beyond the compact ice. + +"At 1.30 A.M. on the 23rd the pack-ice was seen to trend to the +south-west. After steaming west for twenty-five miles, we stood south in +longitude 182 degrees 30' E, shortly afterwards passing over the charted +position of Cote Clarie. The water here was clear of pack-ice, but +studded with bergs of immense size. The great barrier which the French +ships followed in 1840 had vanished. A collection of huge bergs was the +sole remnant to mark its former position. + +"At 10 A.M., having passed to the south of the charted position of +D'Urville's Cote Clarie, we altered course to S. 10 degrees E. true. +Good observations placed us at noon in latitude 65 degrees 2' S. and +132 degrees 26' E. A sounding on sand and small stones was taken in one +hundred and sixty fathoms. We sailed over the charted position of land +east of Wilkes's Cape Carr in clear weather. + +"At 5.30 P.M. land was sighted to the southward--snowy highlands similar +to those of Adelie Land but greater in elevation. + +"After sounding in one hundred and fifty-six fathoms on mud, the ship +stood directly towards the land until 9 P.M. The distance to the nearest +point was estimated at twenty miles; heavy floe-ice extending from our +position, latitude 65 degrees 45' S. and longitude 132 degrees 40' E., +right up to the shore. Another sounding realized two hundred and thirty +fathoms, on sand and small stones. Some open water was seen to the +south-east, but an attempt to force a passage in that direction was +frustrated. + +"At 3 A.M. on the 24th we were about twelve miles from the nearest +point of the coast, and further progress became impossible. The southern +slopes were seamed with numerous crevasses, but at a distance the +precise nature of the shores could not be accurately determined." + +To this country, which had never before been seen, was given the name of +Wilkes's Land; as it is only just to commemorate the American Exploring +Expedition on the Continent which its leader believed he had discovered +in these seas and which he would have found had Fortune favoured him +with a fair return for his heroic endeavours. + +"We steered round on a north-westerly course, and at noon on January 24 +were slightly to the north of our position at 5.30 A.M. on the 23rd. +A sounding reached one hundred and seventy fathoms and a muddy bottom. +Environing us were enormous bergs of every kind, one hundred and eighty +to two hundred feet in height. During the afternoon a westerly course +was maintained in clear water until 4 P.M., when the course was altered +to S. 30 degrees W., in the hope of winning through to the land visible +on the southern horizon." + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +Ship's tracks in the vicinity of Totten's Land and North's Land + + +At 8 P.M. the sky was very clear to the southward, and the land could +be traced to a great distance until it faded in the south-west. But the +ship had come up with the solid floe-ice once more, and had to give +way and steam along its edge. This floating breakwater held us off and +frustrated all attempts to reach the goal which we sought. + +"The next four days was a period of violent gales and heavy seas which +drove the ship some distance to the north. Nothing was visible through +swirling clouds of snow. The 'Aurora' behaved admirably, as she +invariably does in heavy weather. The main pack was encountered on +January 29, but foggy weather prevailed. It was not until noon on +January 31 that the atmosphere was sufficiently clear to obtain good +observations. The ship was by this time in the midst of heavy floe in +the vicinity of longitude 119 degrees E., and again the course had swung +round to south. We had soon passed to the south of Balleny's Sabrina +Land without any indication of its existence. Considering the doubtful +character of the statements justifying its appearance on the chart, it +is not surprising that we did not verify them. + +"At 11 A.M. the floes were found too heavy for further advance. The +ship was made fast to a big one and a large quantity of ice was taken +on board to replenish the fresh-water supply. A tank of two hundred +gallons' capacity, heated within by a steam coil from the engineroom, +stood on the poop deck. Into this ice was continuously fed, flowing away +as it melted into the main tanks in the bottom of the ship. + +"At noon the weather was clear, but nothing could be discerned in the +south except a faint blue line on the horizon. It may have been a 'lead' +of water, an effect of mirage, or even land-ice--in any case we could +not approach it." + +The position as indicated by the noon observations placed the ship +within seven miles of a portion of Totten's High Land in Wilkes's +charts. As high land would have been visible at a great distance, it +is clear that Totten's High Land either does not exist or is situated a +considerable distance from its charted location. A sounding was made in +three hundred and forty fathoms. + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +Ship's track in the vicinity of Knox Land and Budd Land + + +Towards evening the 'Aurora' turned back to open water and cruised along +the pack-ice. A sounding next day showed nine hundred and twenty-seven +fathoms. + +It was about this time that a marked improvement was noted in the +compass. Ever since the first approach to Adelie Land it had been found +unreliable, for, on account of the proximity to the magnetic pole, +the directive force of the needle was so slight that very large local +variations were experienced. + +The longitude of Wilkes's Knox Land was now approaching. With the +exception of Adelie Land, the account by Wilkes concerning Knox Land +is more convincing than any other of his statements relating to new +Antarctic land. If they had not already disembarked, we had hoped to +land the western party in that neighbourhood. It was, therefore, +most disappointing when impenetrable ice blocked the way, before +Wilkes's "farthest south" in that locality had been reached. Three +determined efforts were made to find a weak spot, but each time the +'Aurora' was forced to retreat, and the third time was extricated +only with great difficulty. In latitude 65 degrees 5' S. longitude 107 +degrees 20' E., a sounding of three hundred fathoms was made on a rocky +bottom. This sounding pointed to the probability of land within sixty +miles. + +Repulsed from his attack on the pack, Captain Davis set out westward +towards the charted position of Termination Land, and in following the +trend of the ice was forced a long way to the north. + +At 7.40 A.M., February 8, in foggy weather, the ice-cliff of floating +shelf-ice was met. This was disposed so as to point in a north-westerly +direction and it was late in the day before the ship doubled its +northern end. Here the sounding wire ran out for eight hundred and +fifty fathoms without reaching bottom. Following the wall towards the +south-south-east, it was interesting at 5.30 P.M. to find a sounding of +one hundred and ten fathoms in latitude 64 degrees 45'. A line of large +grounded bergs and massive floe-ice was observed ahead trailing away +from the ice-wall towards the north-west. + +On plotting the observations, it became apparent that the shelf-ice was +in the form of a prolonged tongue some seven miles in breadth. As it +occupied the position of the "Termination Land" which has appeared on +some charts, (after Wilkes) it was named Termination Ice-Tongue. + +A blizzard sprang up, and, after it had been safely weathered in the +lee of some grounded bergs, the 'Aurora' moved off on the afternoon of +February 11. The horizon was obscured by mist, as she pursued a tortuous +track amongst bergs and scattered lumps of heavy floe. Gradually the sea +became more open, and by noon on February 12 the water had deepened +to two hundred and thirty-five fathoms. Good progress was made to the +south; the vessel dodging icebergs and detached floes. + +The discovery of a comparatively open sea southward of the main pack was +a matter of some moment. As later voyages and the observations of the +Western Party showed, this tract of sea is a permanent feature of the +neighbourhood. I have called it the Davis Sea, after the captain of the +'Aurora', in appreciation of the fact that he placed it on the chart. + +At noon, on February 13, in latitude 65 degrees 54 1/2' S. longitude 94 +degrees 25' E., the western face of a long, floating ice-tongue loomed +into view. There were five hundred fathoms of water off its extremity, +and the cliffs rose vertically to one hundred feet. Soon afterwards land +was clearly defined low in the south extending to east and west. This +was thenceforth known as Queen Mary Land. + +The sphere of operations of the German expedition of 1902 was near at +hand, for its vessel, the 'Gauss', had wintered, frozen in the pack, +one hundred and twenty-five miles to the west. It appeared probable that +Queen Mary Land would be found to be continuous** with Kaiser Wilhelm +II Land, which the Germans had reached by a sledging journey from their +ship across the intervening sea-ice. + + + ** Such was eventually proved to be the case. + +The 'Aurora' followed the western side of the ice-tongue for about +twenty miles in a southerly direction, at which point there was a +white expanse of floe extending right up to the land. Wild and Kennedy, +walking several miles towards the land, estimated that it was about +twenty-five miles distant. As the surface over which they travelled was +traversed by cracks and liable to drift away to sea, all projects of +landing there had to be abandoned; furthermore, it was discovered that +the ice-tongue, alongside of which the ship lay, was a huge iceberg. A +landing on it had been contemplated, but was now out of question. + +The main difficulty which arose at this juncture was the failing +coal-supply. It was high time to return to Hobart, and, if a western +base was to be formed at all, Wild's party would have to be landed +without further delay. After a consultation, Davis and Wild decided that +under the circumstances an attempt should be made to gain a footing on +the adjacent shelf-ice, if nothing better presented itself. + +The night was passed anchored to the floe, on the edge of which were +numerous Emperor penguins and Weddell seals. A fresh south-easterly +wind blew on February 14, and the ship was kept in the shelter of the +iceberg. During the day enormous pieces were observed to be continually +breaking away from the berg and drifting to leeward. + +Captain Davis continues: "At midnight there was a strong swell from the +north-east and the temperature went down to 18 degrees F. At 4 A.M., +February 15, we reached the northern end of the berg and stood first of +all to the east, and then later to the south-east. + +"At 8.45 A.M., shelf-ice was observed from aloft, trending approximately +north and south in a long wall. At noon we came up with the floe-ice +again, in about the same latitude as on the western side of the long +iceberg. Land could be seen to the southward. At 1 P.M. the ship stopped +at the junction of the floe and the shelf-ice." + +Wild, Harrison and Hoadley went to examine the shelf-ice with a view +to its suitability for a wintering station. The cliff was eighty to one +hundred feet in height, so that the ice in total thickness must have +attained at least as much as six hundred feet. Assisted by snow-ramps +slanting down on to the floe, the ascent with ice-axes and alpine rope +was fairly easy. + +Two hundred yards from the brink, the shelf-ice was thrown into +pressure-undulations and fissured by crevasses, but beyond that was +apparently sound and unbroken. About seventeen miles to the south the +rising slopes of ice-mantled land were visible, fading away to the far +east and west. + +The ice-shelf was proved later on to extend for two hundred miles from +east to west, ostensibly fusing with the Termination Ice-Tongue, whose +extremity is one hundred and eighty miles to the north. The whole has +been called the Shackleton Ice-Shelf. + +Wild and his party unanimously agreed to seize upon this last +opportunity, and to winter on the floating ice. + +The work of discharging stores was at once commenced. To raise the +packages from the floe to the top of the ice-shelf, a "flying-fox" was +rigged. + +"A kedge-anchor was buried in the sea-ice, and from this a +two-and-a-half-inch wire-hawser was led upwards over a pair of +sheer-legs on top of the cliff to another anchor buried some distance +back. The whole was set taut by a tackle. The stores were then slung to +a travelling pulley on the wire, and hauled on to the glacier by means +of a rope led through a second pulley on the sheer-legs. The ship's +company broke stores out of the hold and sledged them three hundred +yards to the foot of an aerial, where they were hooked on to the +travelling-block by which the shore party, under Wild, raised them to +their destination." + +"It was most important to accelerate the landing as much as possible, +not only on account of the lateness of the season--the 'Gauss' had been +frozen in on February 22 at a spot only one hundred and seventy miles +away--but because the floe was gradually breaking up and floating away. +When the last load was hoisted, the water was lapping within ten yards +of the 'flying-fox'". + +A fresh west-north-west wind on February 17 caused some trouble. Captain +Davis writes: + +"February 19. The floe to which we have been attached is covered by +a foot of water. The ship has been bumping a good deal to-day. +Notwithstanding the keen wind and driving snow, every one has worked +well. Twelve tons of coal were the last item to go up the cliff." + +In all, thirty-six tons of stores were raised on to the shelf-ice, one +hundred feet above sea-level, in four days. + +"February 20. The weather is very fine and quite a contrast to +yesterday. We did not get the coal ashore a moment too soon, as +this morning the ice marked by our sledge tracks went to sea in a +north-westerly direction, and this afternoon it is drifting back as if +under the influence of a tide or current. We sail at 7 A.M. to-morrow. + +"I went on to the glacier with Wild during the afternoon. It is somewhat +crevassed for about two hundred yards inland, and then a flat surface +stretches away as far as the eye can see. I wished the party 'God-speed' +this evening, as we sail early to-morrow." + +Early on February 21, the ship's company gave their hearty farewell +cheers, and the 'Aurora' sailed north, leaving Wild and his seven +companions on the floating ice. + +The bright weather of the immediate coastal region was soon exchanged +for the foggy gloom of the pack. + +"February 21, 11 P.M. We are now passing a line of grounded bergs and +some heavy floe-ice. Fortunately it is calm, but in the darkness it is +difficult to see an opening. The weather is getting thick, and I expect +we shall have trouble in working through this line of bergs. + +"February 22. I cannot explain how we managed to clear some of the bergs +between 11 P.M. last night and 3 A.M. this morning. At first stopping +and lying-to was tried, but it was soon evident that the big bergs were +moving and would soon hem us in: probably in a position from which we +should be unable to extricate ourselves this season. + +"So we pushed this way and that, endeavouring to retain freedom at any +cost. For instance, about midnight I was 'starboarding' to clear what +appeared to be the loom of a berg on the starboard bow, when, suddenly, +out of the haze a wall seemed to stretch across our course. There was +no room to turn, so 'full speed astern' was the only alternative. The +engines responded immediately, or we must have crashed right into a huge +berg. Until daylight it was ice ahead, to port and to starboard--ice +everywhere all the time. The absence of wind saved us from disaster. +It was a great relief when day broke, showing clearer water to the +northward." + +On February 23, the 'Aurora' left the shelter of Termination Ice-Tongue, +and a course was set nearly true north. There was a fresh breeze from +the north-east and a high sea. The ship was desperately short of ballast +and the coal had to be carefully husbanded. All movable gear was placed +in the bottom of the ship, while the ashes were saved, wetted and +put below. The ballast-tanks were found to be leaking and Gillies had +considerable trouble in making them watertight. + +The distance from the Western Base in Queen Mary Land to Hobart was two +thousand three hundred miles, through the turbulent seas of the fifties +and forties. It was the end of a perilous voyage when the 'Aurora' +arrived in Hobart with nine tons of coal. + +On March 12, the captain's log records: + +"The 'Aurora' has done splendidly, beating all attempts of the weather +to turn her over. We had two heavy gales during the first week of March, +but reached Hobart safely to-day, passing on our way up the Derwent the +famous Polar ship, 'Fram', at anchor in Sandy Bay. Flags were dipped and +a hearty cheer given for Captain Amundsen and his gallant comrades who +had raised the siege of the South Pole." + + + +CHAPTER V FIRST DAYS IN ADELIE LAND + + +The overcrowded whale-boat disgorged its cargo at 10 P.M. on the +ice-quay at Cape Denison. The only shelter was a cluster of four tents +and the Benzine Hut, so the first consideration was the erection of a +commodious living-hut. + +While the majority retired to rest to be ready for a fresh burst of work +on the morrow, a few of us discussed the preliminary details, and struck +the first blows in the laying of the foundations. + +A site for the living-hut was finally approved. This was a nearly flat +piece of rocky ground of just sufficient size, partially sheltered on +the southern side by a large upstanding rock. Other points to recommend +it were, proximity to the boat harbour and to a good sledging surface; +the ice of the glacier extending to the "front door" on the western +side. Several large rocks had to be shifted, and difficulty was +anticipated in the firm setting of the stumps. The latter were blocks +of wood, three feet in length, embedded in the ground, forming the +foundation of the structure. Unfortunately, no such thing as earth or +gravel existed in which to sink these posts, and the rock being of the +variety known as gneiss, was more than ordinarily tough. + +Since two parties had combined, there were two huts available, and these +were to be erected so that the smaller adjoined and was in the lee of +the larger. The latter was to be the living-room; the former serving +as a vestibule, a workshop and an engine-room for the wireless plant. +Slight modifications were made in the construction of both huts, +but these did not affect the framework. After the completion of the +living-hut, regular scientific observations were to commence, and the +smaller hut was then to be built as opportunity offered. + +Nothing has so far been said about the type of hut adopted by our +Antarctic stations. As the subject is important, and we had expended +much thought thereon before coming to a final decision, a few remarks +will not be out of place. + +Strength to resist hurricanes, simplicity of construction, portability +and resistance to external cold were fundamental. My first idea was +to have the huts in the form of pyramids on a square base, to ensure +stability in heavy winds and with a large floor-area to reduce the +amount of timber used. The final type was designed at the expense of +floor-space, which would have been of little use because of the low +roof in the parts thus eliminated. In this form, the pyramid extended +to within five feet of the ground on the three windward sides so as to +include an outside veranda. That veranda, like the motor-launch, was a +wonderful convenience, and another of the many things of which we made +full use. It lent stability to the structure, assisted to keep the hut +warm, served as a store-house, physical laboratory and a dogshelter. + +Round the outside of the three veranda walls boxes of stores were +stacked, so as to continue the roof-slope to the ground. Thus, the wind +striking the hut met no vertical face, but was partly deflected; the +other force-component tending to pin the building to the ground. + +All three huts were essentially of the same construction. The +largest, on account of its breadth, had four special supporting posts, +symmetrically placed near the centre, stretching from the ground to the +roof framework. The only subdivisions inside were a small vestibule, a +photographic darkroom and my own room. This rough idea I had handed +over to Hodgeman, leaving him to complete the details and to draw up +the plans. The frame timbers he employed were stronger than usual in a +building of the size, and were all securely bolted together. The +walls and roof, both inside and outside, were of tongued and grooved +pine-boards, made extra wind-proof by two courses of tarred paper. As +rain was not expected, this roofing was sufficient. There were four +windows in the roof, one on each side of the pyramid. We should thereby +get light even though almost buried in snow. + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +Plan of the hut, Adelie Land + + +The largest hut was presented by the timber merchants of Sydney, and +proved its astonishing strength during the winter hurricanes. The +smallest was purchased in Adelaide, the third was built and presented by +Messrs. Anthony of Melbourne. + +On the morning of January 20 all were at work betimes. As we were +securely isolated from a trades hall, our hours of labour ranged from 7 +A.M. till 11 P.M. + +Dynamite was to be used for blasting out the holes for the reception +of the stumps, and so the steel rock-drills were unpacked and boring +commenced. This was easier than it appeared, because the rock was much +traversed by cracks. By the end of the day a good deal of damage had +been done to the rock, at the expense of a few sore fingers and wrists +caused by the sledge-hammers missing the drills. The work was tedious, +for water introduced into the holes had a habit of freezing. The +metal drills, too, tended to be brittle in the cold and required to be +tempered softer than usual. Hannam operated the forge, and picks and +drills were sent along for pointing; an outcrop of gneiss serving as an +anvil. + +Among other things it was found difficult to fire the charges, for, when +frozen, dynamite is not readily exploded. This was overcome by carrying +the sticks inside one's pocket until the last moment. In the absence of +earth or clay, we had no tamping material until some one suggested guano +from the penguin rookeries, which proved a great success. + +Next day the stumps were in place; most of them being fixed by wedges +and other devices. Cement was tried, but it is doubtful if any good came +of it, for the low temperature did not encourage it to set well. By the +evening, the bottom plates were laid on and bolted to the tops of the +stumps, and everything was ready for the superstructure. + +On January 22, while some were busy with the floor-joists and +wall-frames, others carried boulders from the neighbouring moraine, +filling in the whole space between the stumps. These were eventually +embedded in a mass of boulders, as much as three feet deep in places. +By the time both huts were erected, nearly fifty tons of stones had been +used in the foundations--a circumstance we did not regret at a later +date. + +Hodgeman was appointed clerk of works on the construction, and was +kept unusually busy selecting timber, patrolling among the workmen, +and searching for his foot-rule which had an unaccountable trick of +vanishing in thin air. + +Hannam had various occupations, but one was to attend to the needs of +the inner man, until the completion of the hut. There is no doubt that +he was regarded at this time as the most important and popular member of +the party, for our appetites were abnormally good. About an hour before +meals he was to be seen rummaging amongst the cases of provisions, +selecting tins of various brands and hues from the great confusion. +However remote their source or diverse their colour, experience taught +us that only one preparation would emerge from the tent-kitchen. It was +a multifarious stew. Its good quality was undoubted, for a few minutes +after the "dinner-bell rang" there was not a particle left. The +"dinner-bell" was a lusty shout from the master cook, which was +re-echoed by the brawny mob who rushed madly to the Benzine Hut. +Plates and mugs were seized and portions measured out, while the diners +distributed themselves on odd boxes lying about on the ice. Many who +were accustomed to restaurants built tables of kerosene cases and +dined al fresco. After the limited stew, the company fared on cocoa, +biscuits--"hard tack"--and jam, all ad libitum. + +On those rare summer days, the sun blazed down on the blue ice; skua +gulls nestled in groups on the snow; sly penguins waddled along to +inspect the building operations; seals basked in torpid slumber on +the shore; out on the sapphire bay the milk-white bergs floated in the +swell. We can all paint our own picture of the good times round the +Benzine Hut. We worked hard, ate heartily and enjoyed life. + +By the evening of January 24 the floor and outside walls were finished, +and the roof-frame was in position. Work on the roof was the coldest +job of all, for now there was rarely an hour free from a cold breeze, at +times reaching the velocity of a gale. This came directly down from the +plateau, and to sit with exposed fingers handling hammer and nails was +not an enviable job. To add to our troubles, the boards were all badly +warped from being continually wet with sea-water on the voyage. However, +by judicious "gadgetting," as the phrase went, they were got into place. + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +Sections across the hut, Adelie Land + + +The windward roof was up on January 25, and several of us camped in +sleeping-bags under its shelter. Already Hannam had unpacked the large +range and put the parts together in the kitchen. Henceforth the cooking +operations were simplified, for previously a sledging-cooker had been +used. + +Mention of the stove recalls a very cold episode. It happened that while +our goods were being lifted from the boats to the landing-stage, a case +had fallen into the harbour. When the parts of the stove were being +assembled, several important items were found to be missing, and it was +thought that they might compose the contents of the unknown case lying +in the kelp at the bottom of the bay. + +Laseron and I went on board the whale-boat one day at low water, and +located the box with a pole, but though we used several devices with +hooks, we were unable to get hold of it. At last I went in, and, +standing on tip-toe, could just reach it and keep my head above +water. It took some time to extricate from the kelp, following which I +established a new record for myself in dressing. The case turned out to +be full of jam, and we had to make a new search for the missing parts. +I do not think I looked very exhilarated after that bath, but strange to +say, a few days later Correll tried an early morning swim which was the +last voluntary dip attempted by any one. + +The enthusiasm of the builders rose to its highest pitch as the roof +neared completion, and we came in sight of a firm and solid habitation, +secure from the winds which harassed us daily. A dozen hammers worked at +once, each concentrated upon a specific job. The ardour with which those +engaged upon the ceiling inside the hut plied their nails resulted in +several minor casualties to those sitting on the roof, deeply intent +on the outer lining. A climax was reached when McLean, working on the +steeply inclined roof, lost his footing and, in passing, seized hold +of the wire-stay of the chimney as a last hope. Alas, that was the only +stay, and as he proceeded over the end of the roof into a bank of snow, +Ninnis, within the hut, convinced that nothing less than a cyclone had +struck the building, gallantly held on to the lower hot section amidst a +shower of soot. + +Everybody was in the best of spirits, and things went ahead merrily. On +January 30 the main building was almost completed, and all slept under +its roof. Bunks had been constructed, forming a double tier around three +sides of the room. For the first time since coming ashore we retired +to sleep in blankets; fur sleeping-bags had been previously used. That +night the sky which had been clear for a fortnight banked up with nimbus +cloud, and Murphy, who was sleeping under a gap in the roof, woke up +next morning to find over him a fine counterpane of snow. He received +hearty congratulations all round. + +Regular meteorological observations began on February 1. The various +instruments had been unpacked as soon as the outer shell of the Hut was +completed. The barometer and barograph were kept running inside. Outside +there were two large screens for the reception of a number of the +instruments. It was important to erect these as near the Hut as +possible. The standard thermometer, thermograph and hygrograph were to +occupy one of the screens, a convenient site for which was chosen about +twenty yards to the east. Close by there was also a nephoscope for +determining the motion of clouds. The immediate vicinity of the Hut, +being a gully-like depression, was unsuitable for the wind and sunshine +recorders. A more distant site, on a rocky ridge to the east, was chosen +for these. There were set up a recording anemometer (wind-velocity +meter), a sunshine-meter and the second screen containing the anemograph +(wind-direction recorder). + +Madigan was to take charge of the meteorological observations and he, +assisted by Ninnis and Mertz, erected the two screens and mounted +the instruments. Special care was taken to secure the screens against +violent winds. Phosphor-bronze wire-stays, with a breaking strength of +one ton, were used, attached to billets of wood driven into fissures +in the rock. Strong as these wires were, several breakages had to be +replaced during the year. + +Webb was busy with the magnetic work. For this two huts were to be +erected; the first for "absolute" determinations, the second for housing +the recording instruments--the magnetographs. Distant sites, away from +the magnetic disturbances of the Hut, were chosen. Webb and Stillwell +immediately set to work as soon as they could be spared from the +main building. For the "absolute hut" there were only scrap materials +available; the "magnetograph house," alone, had been brought complete. +They had a chilly job, for as the days went by the weather steadily +became worse. Yet in a little over a week there were only the finishing +touches to make, and the first observations were started. + +It was now necessary to institute a routine of nightwatchmen, cooks and +messmen. The night-watchman's duties included periodic meteorological +observations, attention to the fire in the range, and other +miscellaneous duties arising between the hours of 8 P.M. and 8 A. M. +The cook prepared the meals, and the messman of the day rendered any +assistance necessary. A rotation was adopted, so arranged that those +most actively engaged in scientific observations were least saddled with +domestic duties. Thus each contributed his equivalent share of work. + +Whilst others were occupied finishing off the interior of the +hut, Whetter and Close sledged the cases of stores across from the +landing-stage, classified them and stacked them against the veranda +walls. An additional barricade was constructed of flour cases, in the +form of a wall, which increased the breadth of the rocky break-wind on +the southern side. + +Murphy, who was in charge of all the stores, saw that a good stock of +food was accessible in the veranda. Here he put up shelves and unpacked +cases, so that samples of everything were at hand on the shortest +notice. Liquids liable to freeze and burst their bottles were taken into +the Hut. + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +The vicinity of the main base, Adelie Land + + +Already we had several times seized the opportunity of a calm hour to +take out the whale-boat and assist Hunter to set traps and make a few +hauls with the hand-dredge. Even in five fathoms, bright red and brown +star-fish had been caught in the trap, as well as numerous specimens of +a common Antarctic fish known as 'Notothenia'. In ten fathoms and over +the results were better, though in no case was the catch so abundant +as one would expect from the amount of life in the water. The luxuriant +kelp probably interfered with the proper working of the traps. Fish of +the same species as the above were caught on a hand-line. + +Hunter, our biologist, was very unfortunate in crushing some of his +fingers while carrying a heavy case. This accident came at a time when +he had just recovered from a severe strain of the knee-joint which he +suffered during our activities in the Queen's Wharf shed at Hobart. +Several of us were just going out to the traps one afternoon when the +casualty occurred. Hunter was very anxious to go, so we waited until +McLean had sewn up a couple of his fingertips. + +Weddell, and with them occasional crab-eater seals, were at this time +always to be found in numbers sleeping on the ice-foot around the boat +harbour. It appeared as if we would have plenty of meat throughout the +year, so I waited until the building was completed before laying in a +stock. The penguins, however, were diminishing in numbers fast and the +young birds in the rookeries had grown very large and were beginning to +migrate to warmer regions. Several parties, therefore, raided them and +secured some hundreds for the winter. + +Giant petrels and skua gulls swarmed in flocks round the seals' and +penguins' carcases. These scavengers demolish an incredible amount of +meat and blubber in a short time. It is a diabolical sight to witness a +group of birds tearing out the viscera of a seal, dancing the while with +wings outspread. + +During the afternoon of February 11 Webb came in with the news that a +sea elephant was making its way over the rocks near the shore. We rushed +out in time to see it standing over Johnson, one of the dogs, who, +true to his name, did not look abashed. Attracted by more formidable +antagonists, the monster left Johnson and came towards us. He was a +fair-sized male with a good skin, so we shot him before he had time to +get back into the sea. His measurements were seventeen feet six inches +in length and twelve feet in maximum circumference. + +With the temperature well below freezing-point, skinning is cold work in +the wind, and must be done before the animal has time to freeze stiff. A +number of us set to work flaying. In order to move the mountain of flesh +a Westing purchase and a "handy-billy" (rope and block purchase) had to +be rigged. It was several hours before everything was disposed of; the +skin and skull for the biological collection and the meat and blubber +for the dogs. Ninnis and Mertz, who were the wardens of the dogs, cut up +about one ton of meat and blubber, and stored it as a winter reserve for +their charges. + +It may be mentioned that sea elephants are sub-antarctic in +distribution, and only rarely have these animals been observed on the +shores of the Antarctic continent. As far as I am aware, the only other +occasion of such an occurrence was noted by Captain Scott in MacMurdo +Sound. Wilkes reported many of them on the pack-ice to the north of the +Balleny Islands, so possibly they have a stronghold in that vicinity. + +The dogs, ever since their arrival ashore, had been chained up on the +rocks below the Hut. The continuous wind worried them a good deal, +but they had a substantial offset to the cold in a plentiful supply of +seal-meat. On the whole, they were in a much better condition then when +they left the 'Aurora'. Nineteen in all, they had an odd assemblage +of names, which seemed to grow into them until nothing else was so +suitable: Basilisk, Betli, Caruso, Castor, Franklin, Fusilier, Gadget, +George, Ginger, Ginger Bitch, Grandmother, Haldane, Jappy, John Bull, +Johnson, Mary, Pavlova, Scott and Shackleton. Grandmother would have +been better known as Grandfather. He was said to have a grandmotherly +appearance; that is why he received the former name. The head dog was +Basilisk, and next to him came Shackleton. + +Early in February, after having experienced nothing but a succession +of gales for nearly a month, I was driven to conclude that the average +local weather must be much more windy than in any other part of +Antarctica. The conditions were not at all favourable for sledging, +which I had hoped to commence as soon as the Hut was completed. Now that +the time had arrived and the weather was still adverse, it seemed clear +that our first duty was to see everything snug for the winter before +making an attempt. + +Hannam, assisted by Bickerton, Madigan and others, had laid heavy and +firm foundations for the petrol-motor and generator. The floor of the +smaller room was then built around these bed-plates, and last of +all came the walls and roof. Murphy, Bage and Hodgeman were chiefly +responsible for the last-named, which was practically completed by +February 10. Minor additions and modifications were added after that +date. Meanwhile, Hannam continued to unpack and mount the instruments +forming the wireless plants. Along one wall and portion of another, in +the outer hut, a bench was built for mechanical work and for scientific +purposes. This was in future to be the work-room. + +Our home had attained to a stage of complex perfection. To penetrate to +the inside hut, the stranger reverently steps through a hole in the snow +to the veranda, then by way of a vestibule with an inner and outer door +he has invaded the privacy of the work-room, from which with fear and +trembling he passes by a third door into the sanctum sanctorum. Later, +when the snow-tunnel system came into vogue, the place became another +Labyrinth of Minos. + +The three doors were fitted with springs to keep them shut unless they +were jammed open for ventilation, which was at once obtained by opening +an aperture in the cooking-range flue. A current of air would then +circulate through the open doors. The roof windows were immovable and +sealed on the inside by a thick accumulation of ice. An officer of +public health, unacquainted with the climate of Adelie Land, would be +inclined to regard the absence of more adequate ventilation as a serious +omission. It would enlighten him to know that much of our spare time, +for a month after the completion of the building, was spent in plugging +off draughts which found their way through most unexpected places, urged +by a wind-pressure from without of many pounds to the square foot. + +Excepting the small portion used as an entrance-porch, the verandas were +left without any better flooring than well-trodden snow. In the boarded +floor of the porch was a trap-door which led down into a shallow +cellar extending under a portion of the work-room. The cellar was a +refrigerating chamber for fresh meat and contained fifteen carcases of +mutton, besides piles of seal-meat and penguins. + +In preparation for our contemplated sledging, masts, spars and +sails were fitted to some of the sledges, rations were prepared and +alterations made to harness and clothing. Soon a sledge stood packed, +ready to set out on the first fine day. + +For several days in succession, about the middle of February, the +otherwise continuous wind fell off to a calm for several hours in the +evening. On those occasions Mertz gave us some fine exhibitions of +skiing, of which art he was a consummate master. Skis had been provided +for every one, in case we should have to traverse a country where the +snow lay soft and deep. From the outset, there was little chance of that +being the case in wind-scoured Adelie Land. Nevertheless, most of the +men seized the few opportunities we had to become more practiced in +their use. My final opinion, however, was that if we had all been +experts like Mertz, we could have used them with advantage from time to +time. + +The end of February approached. We were fully prepared for sledging, +and were looking forward to it with great expectation. The wind still +continued, often rising to the force of a hurricane, and was mostly +accompanied by snow. + +One evening, when we were all at dinner, there was a sudden noise which +drowned the rush of the blizzard. It was found that several sledges had +been blown away from their position to the south of the Hut, striking +the building as they passed. They were all rescued except one, which had +already reached the sea and was travelling rapidly toward Australia. + +Mertz, Bage and I had taken advantage of a lull to ascend the ice-slope +to the south, and to erect a flag-pole at a distance of two miles. +Besides being a beacon for sledging parties, it was used for ablation +measurements. These were determinations of the annual wasting of the +ice-surface, whether by evaporation, melting, or wind-abrasion. + +Webb and Stillwell, assisted by others, had commenced to build the +Magnetograph House. Dr. Chree, of the British National Physical +Laboratory, had arranged that the German Antarctic Expedition, several +observatories in low latitudes and our own Expedition, should take +special "quick runs," synchronously, twice each month. A "quick run" was +a continuous, careful observation made over a period of two hours, on a +more searching time-scale then usual. Until the Magnetograph House was +established this could not be done efficiently, and so the construction +of this hut was pushed on as quickly as possible. + +Many other schemes required our attention, and there was not a spare +moment for any one. Though we chafed at the delay in sledging, there +was some consolation in the fact that the scientific programme was daily +becoming more and more complete. + + + +CHAPTER VI AUTUMN PROSPECTS + + +As far as we could see, the inland ice was an unbroken plateau with no +natural landmarks. From the hinterland in a vast solid stream the ice +flowed, with heavily crevassed downfalls near the coast. Traversing this +from north to south was a narrow belt, reasonably free from pitfalls, +running as a spur down to the sea. To reach the Hut in safety it would +be necessary for sledging parties returning from the interior to descend +by this highway. The problem was to locate the path. Determinations +of latitude and longitude would guide them to the neighbourhood of +Commonwealth Bay, but the coastline in the vicinity of Winter Quarters, +with the rocks and islets, would not come into view until within two +miles, as above that point the icy slopes filled the foreground up to +the distant berg-studded horizon. Delays in reaching the Hut owing to +the difficult descent might have serious consequences, for provisions +are usually short near the conclusion of a sledging journey. + +The necessity of making artificial landmarks was, therefore, most +obvious. Already we had a flagstaff two miles to the south. It was now +my intention to run a line of similar marks backwards to the plateau. + +Bage, Madigan and I were to form a reconnoitring party to plant +these flags, and to make a journey of a few days' duration into the +hinterland, to see its possibilities, and with a view to an extended +sledging campaign to commence as soon as possible after our return. It +was decided not to make use of the dogs until later in the year, when +they would be in better form. + +The wind continued, accompanied by more or less drift-snow. This +appeared to be the settled state of the weather. We decided to move out +as soon as a moderate phase should occur. + +On the afternoon of February 28 the weather cleared up for several +hours, and we decided to leave on the following day. The wind resumed +operations once more, but fell off late on February 29, when we made a +start. We intended to get the packed sledge up the first steep slope, +there to leave it until the morrow. The drift was slight and low, +flowing along like a stream below our knees. Bickerton, Hurley and Mertz +assisted us with the hauling. At a distance of a little more than a +mile, at an elevation of five hundred feet, the sledge was anchored and +we returned to the Hut for the night. + +Next morning the weather cleared still more, and we left just before +noon. Three miles out, a mast and flag were erected, when our companions +of the day before, who had again assisted us, turned back. At five and +a half miles the brow of the main rise was reached, and the gradient +became much flatter beyond it. The elevation was found to be one +thousand five hundred feet. + +To the south nothing was visible but a great, wan, icy wilderness. To +the north a headland appeared on either hand, each about twenty-five +miles away, and between them lay an expanse of sea dotted with many +bergs. The nearer portions of the coast, together with the Mackellar +Islets, were lost to view on account of the curvature of the foreground. + +During most of the day we had travelled over a surface of clear ice, +marked by occasional scars where fissuring, now healed, had at some time +taken place. Beyond the three-mile flag, however, the ice was gashed at +frequent intervals, producing irregular crevasses, usually a few yards +in length and, for the most part, choked with snow. At five and a half +miles we were on the edge of a strip of snow, half a mile across, +whose whiteness was thrown in dazzling contrast against the foil of +transparent, dark ice. + +It was dusk, and light drift commenced to scud by, so, as this was a +suitable place to erect a flag, we decided to camp for the night. Some +hours later I woke up to hear a blizzard blowing outside, and to find +Madigan fumbling amongst some gear at the head-end of the tent. From +inside my bag I called out to inquire if there was anything wrong, and +received a reply that he was looking for the primus-pricker. Then he +slipped back into his sleeping-bag, and all became quiet, except for +the snow beating against the tent. So I presumed that he had found it. +Revolving the incident in my mind, and dimly wondering what use he +could have for a primus-pricker in the middle of the night, I again fell +asleep. In the morning the blizzard was still blowing, accompanied by a +good deal of drift. On inquiry I found that Madigan knew nothing of his +midnight escapade. It was a touch of somnambulism. + +It would serve no useful purpose to go on in thick drift, for the main +object of our journey was to define the best route through the +crevassed zone; and that could only be done on a clear day. I decided, +accordingly, that if the weather did not improve by noon to leave the +sledge with the gear and walk back to the Hut, intending to make another +attempt when conditions became more settled. + +Whilst the others erected a flagstaff and froze the legs of a +drift-proof box (containing a thermograph) into the ice, I made lunch +and prepared for our departure. The tent was taken down and everything +lashed securely on the sledge. + +It was nearly 3 P.M. when we set out in thick drift, and in two hours we +were at the Hut; the weather having steadily improved as we descended. +On comparing notes with those at home it appeared that we, at the +fifteen hundred feet level, had experienced much more wind and drift +than they at sea-level. + +Webb and his assistants were beginning to make quite a display at the +Magnetograph House. The framework, which had already been erected once, +to be demolished by the wind, was now strongly rebuilt and was ready for +the outside covering of boards. + +From the night of our return to March 8 there was a high wind +accompanied by much drift; for some hours it continued at eighty miles +per hour, the mean temperature being about 15 degrees F., with a minimum +of 5 degrees F. + +Up to this date the dogs had been kept on the chain, on account of their +depredations amongst the seals and penguins. The severe weather now made +it necessary to release them. Thenceforth, their abode for part of the +day was inside the veranda, where a section was barricaded-off for +their exclusive use. Outside in heavy drift their habit was to take up +a position in the lee of some large object, such as the Hut. In such a +position they were soon completely buried and oblivious to the outside +elements. Thus one would sometimes tread on a dog, hidden beneath the +snow; and the dog often showed less surprise than the offending man. +What the dogs detested most of all during the blizzard-spells was the +drift-snow filling their eyes until they were forced to stop and brush +it away frantically with their paws. Other inconveniences were the icy +casing which formed from the thawing snow on their thick coats, and +the fact that when they lay in one position, especially on ice, for any +length of time they become frozen down, and only freed themselves at +the expense of tufts of hair. In high winds, accompanied by a low +temperature, they were certainly very miserable, unless in some kind of +shelter. + +Several families were born at this time, but although we did everything +possible for them they all perished, except one; the offspring of +Gadget. This puppy was called "Blizzard." It was housed for a while in +the veranda and, later on, in the Hangar. Needless to say, Blizzard was +a great favourite and much in demand as a pet. + +On the night of March 7, Caruso, who had been in poor condition for some +time, was found to have a gaping wound around the neck. It was a clean +cut, an inch deep and almost a foot in length. The cause was never +satisfactorily explained, though a piece of strong string embedded in +the wound evidently made the incision. Caruso was brought inside, and, +whilst Whetter administered chloroform, McLean sewed up the wound. After +careful attention for some days, it healed fairly well, but as the dog's +general health was worse, it was deemed advisable to shoot him. + +The outer shell of the Magnetograph House was nearly completed, +affording a protection for those who worked on the interior linings. +When completed, the walls and roof consisted of two coverings of tongued +and grooved pine boards and three layers of thick tarred paper. + +While there still remained a breach in the wall, Hurley repaired there +with his cinematograph camera and took a film showing the clouds of +drift-snow whirling past. In those days we were not educated in methods +of progression against heavy winds; so, in order to get Hurley and his +bulky camera back to the Hut, we formed a scrum on the windward side and +with a strong "forward" rush beat our formidable opponent. + +On March 8 the blizzard died away and a good day followed. All hands +joined in building a solid stone outside of the Magnetograph House. This +piece of work, in which thirty tons of rock were utilized, was completed +on the following day. The wall reached almost to the roof on every side. +The unprotected roof was lagged with sacks and sheep-skins and, after +this had been effected, the hut became practically windtight. The +external covering controlled the influx of cold from the penetrating +winds, and, on the other hand, the conduction of the sun's warmth in +summer. Thus a steady temperature was maintained; a most desirable +feature in a magnetograph house. Webb had the instruments set up in a +few days, and they were working before the end of the month. + +After the calm of March 8, the wind steadily increased and became worse +than ever. Madigan, who was in charge of the whale-boat, kept it moored +in the boat-harbour under shelter of the ice-foot. An excursion was made +to the fish traps, buoyed half a mile off shore, on February 8, and it +was found that one had been carried away in the hurricane. The other was +brought in very much battered. That night it was decided at the first +opportunity to haul up the boat and house it for the winter. Alas! the +wind came down again too quickly, increasing in force, with dense drift. +It was still in full career on the 12th, when Madigan came in with +the news that the boat had disappeared. It was no fault of the +rope-attachments for they were securely made and so we were left to +conclude that a great mass of ice had broken away from the overhanging +shelf and carried everything before it. + +The regularity of the high-velocity winds was already recognized as +one of the most remarkable features of Adelie Land. By itself such +wind would have been bad enough, but, accompanied by dense volumes of +drifting snow, it effectually put a stop to most outdoor occupations. + +The roof and walls of the veranda being covered with a single layer +of tongued and grooved boards, the snow drove through every chink. +The cases outside were a partial protection, but the cracks were +innumerable, and in the course of twenty-four hours the snow inside had +collected in deep drifts. This required to be shovelled out each day or +the veranda would have been entirely blocked. + +Much time was spent endeavouring to make it drift-tight; but as the +materials at our disposal were very limited, the result was never +absolutely satisfactory. The small veranda serving as an entrance-porch +was deluged with snow which drove in past the canvas doorway. The only +way to get over this trouble was to shovel out the accumulations every +morning. On one occasion, when Close was nightwatchman, the drift poured +through in such volume that each time he wished to go outside it took +him half an hour to dig his way out. On account of this periodic influx, +the vestibule doorway to the workroom was moved to the other end of the +wall, where the invading snow had farther to travel and was consequently +less obstructive. + +One advantage of the deposit of snow around the Hut was that all +draughts were sealed off. Before this happened it was found very +difficult to keep the inside temperature up to 40 deg. F. A temperature +taken within the Hut varied according to the specific position in +reference to the walls and stove. That shown by the thermometer attached +to the standard barometer, which was suspended near the centre of the +room, was taken as the "hut temperature". Near the floor and walls it +was lower, and higher, of course, near the stove. On one occasion, +in the early days, I remember the "hut temperature" being 19 deg. F., +notwithstanding the heat from the large range. Under these conditions +the writing-ink and various solutions all over the place froze, and, +when the night-watchman woke up the shivering community he had many +clamorous demands to satisfy. The photographer produced an interesting +product from the dark room--a transparent cast of a developing-dish in +which a photographic plate left overnight to wash was firmly set. + +We arranged to maintain an inside temperature of 40 degrees F.; when it +rose to 50 degrees F. means were taken to reduce it. The cooking-range, +a large one designed to burn anthracite coal, was the general warming +apparatus. To raise the temperature quickly, blocks of seal blubber, of +which there was always a supply at hand, were used. The coal consumption +averaged one hundred pounds a day, approximately, this being reduced at +a later date to seventy-five pounds by employing a special damper for +the chimney. The damper designed for ordinary climates allowed too +much draught to be sucked through during the high winds which prevailed +continually. + +The chimney was fitted with a cowl which had to be specially secured to +keep it in place. During heavy drifts the cowl became choked with snow +and ice, and the Hut would rapidly fill with smoke until some one, +hurriedly donning burberrys, rushed out with an ice-axe to chip an +outlet for the draught. The chimney was very short and securely stayed, +projecting through the lee side of the roof, where the pressure of the +wind was least felt. + +The first good display of aurora polaris was witnessed during the +evening of March 12, though no doubt there had been other exhibitions +obscured by the drift. As the days went by and the equinox drew near, +auroral phenomena were with few exceptions visible on clear evenings. In +the majority of cases they showed up low in the northern sky. + +In the midst of a torment of wind, March 15 came as a beautiful, sunny, +almost calm day. I remarked in my diary that it was "typical Antarctic +weather," thinking of those halcyon days which belong to the climate of +the southern shores of the Ross Sea. In Adelie Land, we were destined to +find, it was hard to number more than a dozen or two in the year. + +A fine day! the psychological effect was remarkable; pessimism vanished, +and we argued that with the passing of the equinox there would be a +marked change for the better. Not a moment was lost: some were employed +in making anchorages for the wireless masts; others commenced to +construct a Hangar to house the air-tractor sledge. + +In building the Hangar, the western wall of the Hut was used for one +side; the low southern end and the western wall were constructed of full +and empty cases, the lee side was closed with a tarpaulin and blocks +of snow and over all was nailed a roof of thick timber--part of the +air-tractor's case. To stiffen the whole structure, a small amount of +framework, in the form of heavy uprights, was set in the ground. The +dimensions inside were thirty-four feet by eleven feet; the height, +eleven feet at the northern and six feet at the southern end. As a +break-wind a crescent-shaped wall of benzine cases was built several +yards to the south. As in the case of the veranda, it was very difficult +to make the Hangar impervious to drift; a certain quantity of snow +always made its way in, and was duly shovelled out. + +Seals had suddenly become very scarce, no doubt disgusted with the +continuous winds. Every one that came ashore was shot for food. +Unfortunately, the amount of meat necessary for the dogs throughout the +winter was so great that dog-biscuits had to be used to eke it out. + +Only a few penguins remained by the middle of March. They were all young +ones, waiting for the completion of their second moult before taking to +the sea. The old feathers hung in untidy tufts, and the birds were often +in a wretched plight owing to the wind and drift-snow. Many were added +to the bleaching carcases which fill the crevices or lie in heaps +on ancient rookeries among the rocky ridges. None were free from the +encumbrance of hard cakes of snow which often covered their eyes or +dangled in pendent icicles from their bodies. The result was very +ludicrous. + +Hurley obtained some excellent photographs of the seals and penguins, as +of all other subjects. So good were they that most of us withdrew +from competition. His enthusiasm and resourcefulness knew no bounds. +Occasional days, during which cameras that had been maltreated by the +wind were patched up, were now looked upon as inevitable. One day, when +Webb and Hurley were both holding on to the cinematograph camera, they +were blown away, with sundry damages all around. It was later in +the year when Hurley with his whole-plate camera broke through the +sea-ice--a sad affair for the camera. + +The good conditions on the 15th lasted only a few hours, and back came +the enemy as bad as ever. On the 18th the wind was only thirty miles per +hour, giving us an opportunity of continuing the buildings outside. +It was only by making the most of every odd hour when the weather was +tolerable that our outdoor enterprises made any headway. Sometimes when +it was too windy for building we were able to improve our knowledge of +the neighbourhood. + +A glance at Stillwell's map is instruct*e as to the extent and character +of the rocky area. It is devoid of any forms of vegetation sufficiently +prominent to meet the casual eye. Soil is lacking, for all light +materials and even gravel are carried away by the winds. The bare rock +rises up into miniature ridges, separated by valleys largely occupied +by ice-slabs and lakelets. Snow fills all the crevices and tails away +in sloping ramps on the lee side of every obstacle. In midsummer a good +deal thaws, and, re-freezing, is converted into ice. The highest point +of the rock is one hundred and forty feet. The seaward margin is deeply +indented, and the islets off shore tell of a continuation of the rugged, +rocky surface below the sea. On the northern faces of the ridges, +fronting the ice-foot, large, yellowish patches mark the sites of +penguin rookeries. These are formed by a superficial deposit of guano +which never becomes thick, for it blows away as fast as it accumulates. +Standing on the shore, one can see kelp growing amongst the rocks even +in the shallowest spots, below low-water level. + +To the south, the rocks are overridden by the inland ice which bears +down upon and overwhelms them. The ice-sheet shows a definite basal +moraine, which means that the lowest stratum, about forty feet in +thickness, is charged with stones and earthy matter. Above this stratum +the ice is free from foreign matter and rises steeply to several hundred +feet, after which the ascending gradient is reduced. + +The continental glacier moves down to the sea, regularly but slowly; the +rate of movement of some portions of the adjacent coastal ice cliffs was +found to be one hundred feet per annum. The rocky promontory at Winter +Quarters, acting as an obstacle, reduces the motion of the ice to +an annual rate measured in inches only. Perhaps the conditions now +prevailing are those of a comparative "drought," for there is clear +evidence that our small promontory was at one time completely enveloped. +In a broad way this is illustrated by the topography, but the final +proof came when Stillwell and others discovered rock-faces polished and +grooved by the ice. + +Whatever "ice-floods" there may have been in the past, the position of +the margin of the glacier must have remained for a long period in its +present situation. The evidence for this is found in the presence of +a continuous, terminal moraine, at or just in advance of the present +ice-front. This moraine, an accumulation of stones of all kinds brought +to their present resting-place by the ice-sheet, was in itself a +veritable museum. Rocks, showing every variety in colour and form, were +assembled, transported from far and wide over the great expanse of the +continent. + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +A section of the coastal slope of the Continental Ice Sheet inland from +Winter Quarters, Adelie Land + + +Stillwell found these moraines a "happy hunting-ground" for the +geologist. His plane-table survey and rock collections are practical +evidence of work carried out in weather which made it seldom short of an +ordeal. + +The story of the buried land to the south is in large measure revealed +in the samples brought by the ice and so conveniently dumped. Let us +swiftly review the operations leading to the deposition of this natural +museum. + +As the ice of the hinterland moves forward, it plucks fragments from +the rocky floor. Secure in its grip, these are used as graving-tools +to erode its bed. Throwing its whole weight upon them it grinds and +scratches, pulverizes and grooves. The rocky basement is gradually +reduced in level, especially the softer regions. The tools are faceted, +polished and furrowed, for ever moving onwards. Finally, the rock-powder +or "rock-flour," as it is termed, and the boulders, thenceforth known +as "erratics," arrive at the terminal ice-face. Here, the melting due to +the sun's heat keeps pace with the "on-thrust" and some of the erratics +may remain stationary, or else, floating in the sea, a berg laden with +boulders breaks off and deposits its load in the depths of the ocean. +Each summer the ice-face above the rocks at Winter Quarters thawed back +a short distance and the water ran away in rivulets, milky-white on +account of the "rock-flour" in suspension. The pebbles and boulders too +heavy to be washed away remained behind to form the moraine. + +The "erratics" comprised a great variety of metamorphic and igneous +rocks, and, on a more limited scale, sedimentary types. Amongst the +latter were sandstones, slates, shales and limestones. + +Apart from the moraines, the rock exposed in situ was mainly a uniform +type of gneiss, crumpled and folded, showing all the signs of great +antiquity--pre-Cambrian, in the geological phrase. Relieving the grey +sheen of the gneiss were dark bands of schist which tracked about in an +irregular manner. Sporadic quartz veins here and there showed a light +tint. They were specially interesting, for they carried some less common +minerals such as beryl, tourmaline, garnet, coarse mica and ores of +iron, copper and molybdenum. The ores were present in small quantities, +but gave promise of larger bodies in the vicinity and indicated the +probability of mineral wealth beneath the continental ice-cap. + + + +CHAPTER VII THE BLIZZARD + + +The equinox arrived, and the only indication of settled weather was a +more marked regularity in the winds. Nothing like it had been reported +from any part of the world. Any trace of elation we may have felt at +this meteorological discovery could not compensate for the ever-present +discomforts of life. Day after day the wind fluctuated between a gale +and a hurricane. Overcast skies of heavy nimbus cloud were the rule and +the air was continually charged with drifting snow. + +Lulls of a singular nature occasionally relieved the monotony. During +these visitations the sequence of events could almost be predicted; +indeed, they would often occur at the same time on several succeeding +days. + +On March 19 the first well-marked lull intervened at the height of a +gale. On that day the wind, which had been blowing with great force +during the morning, commenced to subside rapidly just after noon. +Towards evening, the air about the Hut was quite still except for gusts +from the north and rather frequent "whirlies." + +This was the name adopted for whirlwinds of a few yards to a hundred +yards or more in diameter which came to be regarded as peculiar to the +country. Similar disturbances have been observed in every part of the +world, but seldom possessed of the same violence and regularity as is +the case in Adelie Land. + +The whirlies tracked about in a most irregular manner and woe betide any +light object which came in their path. The velocity of the wind in the +rotating column being very great, a corresponding lifting power was +imparted to it. As an illustration of this force, it may be mentioned +that the lid of the air-tractor case had been left lying on the snow +near the Hut. It weighed more than three hundredweights, yet it was +whisked into the air one morning and dropped fifty yards away in a +north-easterly direction. An hour afterwards it was picked up again and +returned near its original position, this time striking the rocks with +such force that part of it was shivered to pieces. Webb and Stillwell +watched the last proceeding at a respectful distance. + +Again, the radius of activity of these whirlies was strictly limited; +objects directly in their path only being disturbed. For instance, +Laseron one day was skinning at one end of a seal and remained in +perfect calm, while McLean, at the other extremity, was on the edge of a +furious vortex. + +Travelling over the sea the whirlies displayed fresh capabilities. +Columns of brash-ice, frozen spray and water-vapour were frequently seen +lifted to heights of from two hundred to four hundred feet, simulating +water spouts. + +Reverting to the afternoon of March 19. Beyond the strange stillness of +the immediate vicinity, broken occasionally by the tumult of a passing, +wandering whirly, an incessant, seething roar could be heard. One could +not be certain from whence it came, but it seemed to proceed either +from the south or overhead. Away on the icy promontories to the east and +west, where the slopes were visible, mounting to an altitude of several +thousand feet, clouds of drift-snow blotted out the details of the +surface above a level of about six hundred feet. It certainly appeared +as if the gale, for some reason, had lifted and was still raging +overhead. At 7.30 P.M. the sound we had heard, like the distant lashing +of ocean waves, became louder. Soon gusts swept the tops of the rocky +ridges, gradually descending to throw up the snow at a lower level. +Then a volley raked the Hut, and within a few minutes we were once more +enveloped in a sea of drifting snow, and the wind blew stronger than +ever. + +The duration of the lulls was ordinarily from a few minutes to several +hours; that of March 19 was longer than usual. In the course of time, +after repeated observations, much light was thrown on this phenomenon. +On one occasion, a party ascending the ice slopes to the south met the +wind blowing at an elevation of four hundred feet. At the same time +snow could be seen pouring over the "Barrier" to the west of the Winter +Quarters, and across a foaming turmoil of water. This was evidently the +main cause of the seething roar, but it was mingled with an undernote +of deeper tone from the upland plateau--like the wind in a million +tree-tops. + +In the early spring, while we were transporting provisions to the +south, frequent journeys were made to higher elevations. It was then +established that even when whole days of calm prevailed at the Hut, the +wind almost without exception blew above a level of one thousand +feet. On such occasions it appeared that the gale was impelled to blow +straight out from the plateau slopes over a lower stratum of dead-air. +An explanation was thereby afforded of the movement of condensation +clouds which appeared in the zenith at these times. A formation of +delicate, gauzy clouds developed at a low altitude, apparently in still +air, but doubtless at the base of a hurricane stratum. Whirling round +rapidly in eddying flocculi, they quickly tailed away to the north, +evaporating and disappearing. + +The auditory sense was strangely affected by these lulls. The contrast +was so severe when the racking gusts of an abating wind suddenly gave +way to intense, eerie silence, that the habitual droning of many weeks +would still reverberate in the ears. At night one would involuntarily +wake up if the wind died away, and be loth to sleep "for the hunger of +a sound." In the open air the stillness conveyed to the brain an +impression of audibility, interpreted as a vibratory murmur. + +During one hour on March 22 it blew eighty-six miles. On the morning +of that day there was not much snow in the air and the raging sea was a +fearful sight. Even the nearest of the islands, only half a mile off the +land, was partially hidden in the clouds of spray. What an impossible +coast this would be for the wintering of a ship! + +Everybody knows that the pressure exerted by a wind against an object in +its path mounts up in much greater proportion than the velocity of the +wind. Thus may be realized the stupendous force of the winds of Adelie +Land in comparison with those of half the velocity which fall within +one's ordinary experience. As this subject was ever before us, the +following figures quoted from a work of reference will be instructive. +The classification of winds, here stated, is that known as the "Beaufort +scale." The corresponding velocities in each case are those measured +by the "Robinson patent" anemometer; our instrument being of a similar +pattern + + ___________________________________________________________________ + Beaufort scale |Velocities|Pressures | Apparent effect | + | in miles | in lbs. | | + | per hour | square | | + | foot | | + | | area | | + __________________|__________| _________|_________________________| + 0|Calm | 2 | 0.02 |May cause smoke to | + | | | | move form vertical | + 1|Light air | 4 | 0.06 |Moves the leaves of trees| + 2|Light breeze | 7 | 0.19 |Moves small branches of | + 3|Gentle breeze | 10 | 0.37 | trees and blows up dust | + 4|Moderate breeze| 14 | 0.67 | | + 5|Fresh breeze | 19 | 1.16 |Good sailing breeze and | + 6|Strong breeze | 25 | 1.90 | makes white caps | + 7|Moderate gale | 31 | 2.81 |Sways trees and breaks | + 8|Fresh gale | 37 | 3.87 | small branches | + 9|Strong gale | 44 | 5.27 |Dangerous for sailing | + 10|Whole gale | 53 | 7.40 | vessels | + 11|Storm | 64 | 10.40 |Prostrates exposed trees | + 12|Hurricane | 77 | 14.40 | and frail houses | + ___________________________________________________________________ + + +Beyond the limits of this scale, the pressures exerted rise very +rapidly. A wind recorded as blowing at the rate of a hundred miles per +hour exerts a pressure of about twenty-three pounds per square foot of +surface exposed to it. Wind above eighty miles per hour is stated to +"prostrate everything." + +The mileages registered by our anemometer were the mean for a whole +hour, neglecting individual gusts, whose velocity much exceeded the +average and which were always the potent factors in destructive work. + +Obviously the greatest care had to be taken to secure everything. Still, +articles of value were occasionally missed. They were usually recovered, +caught in crevices of rock or amongst the broken ice. Northward from +the Hut there was a trail of miscellaneous objects scattered among the +hummocks and pressure-ridges out towards Penguin Hill on the eastern +side of the boat harbour: tins of all kinds and sizes, timber in small +scraps, cases and boards, paper, ashes, dirt, worn-out finnesko, ragged +mitts and all the other details of a rubbish heap. One of the losses +was a heavy case which formed the packing of part of the magnetometer. +Weighted-down by stones this had stood for a long time in what was +regarded as a safe place. One morning it was discovered to be missing. +It was surmised that a hurricane had started it on an ocean voyage +during the previous day. Boxes in which Whetter used to carry ice for +domestic requirements were as a rule short-lived. His problem was to +fill the boxes without losing hold of them, and the wind often gained +the ascendancy before a sufficient ballast had been added. We sometimes +wondered whether any of the flotsam thus cast upon the waters ever +reached the civilized world. + +Whatever has been said relative to the wind-pressure exerted on +inanimate objects, the same applied, with even more point, to our +persons; so that progression in a hurricane became a fine art. The first +difficulty to be encountered was a smooth, slippery surface offering no +grip for the feet. Stepping out of the shelter of the Hut, one was apt +to be immediately hurled at full length down wind. No amount of exertion +was of any avail unless a firm foothold had been secured. The strongest +man, stepping on to ice or hard snow in plain leather or fur boots, +would start sliding away with gradually increasing velocity; in the +space of a few seconds, or earlier, exchanging the vertical for the +horizontal position. He would then either stop suddenly against a +jutting point of ice, or glide along for twenty or thirty yards till he +reached a patch of rocks or some rough sastrugi. + +Of course we soon learned never to go about without crampons on the +feet. Many experiments in the manufacture of crampons were tried +with the limited materials at our disposal. Those designed for normal +Antarctic conditions had been found unserviceable. A few detachable +pairs made of wrought iron with spikes about one and a half inches in +length, purchased in Switzerland, gave a secure foothold. Some of the +men covered the soles of their boots with long, bristling spikes and +these served their purpose well. Ice-nails, screwed into the soles +without being riveted on plates, were liable to tear out when put to +a severe test, besides being too short. Spikes of less than an inch in +length were inadequate in hurricanes. Nothing devised by us gave the +grip of the Swiss crampons, but, to affix them, one had to wear leather +boots, which, though padded to increase their warmth, had to be tightly +bound by lashings compressing the feet and increasing the liability to +frost-bite. + +Shod with good spikes, in a steady wind, one had only to push hard to +keep a sure footing. It would not be true to say "to keep erect," for +equilibrium was maintained by leaning against the wind. In course +of time, those whose duties habitually took them out of doors became +thorough masters of the art of walking in hurricanes--an accomplishment +comparable to skating or skiing. Ensconced in the lee of a substantial +break-wind, one could leisurely observe the unnatural appearance of +others walking about, apparently in imminent peril of falling on their +faces. + +Experiments were tried in the steady winds; firmly planting the feet +on the ground, keeping the body rigid and leaning over on the invisible +support. This "lying on the wind," at equilibrium, was a unique +experience. As a rule the velocity remained uniform; when it fluctuated +in a series of gusts, all our experience was likely to fail, for no +sooner had the correct angle for the maximum velocity been assumed than +a lull intervened--with the obvious result. + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +A copy of the wind-velocity (anenometer) and the wind direction +(anemograph) for a period of twenty-four hours, Adelie Land + +This particular record illustrates a day of constant high velocity wind. +In the case of the upper chart each rise of the pen from the bottom to +the top of the paper indicates that another 100 miles of wind has passed +the instrument. The regularity of these curves shows the steadiness of +the wind. It will be observed that the average velocity for twenty-four +hours was 90.1 miles, and the maximum of the average hourly velocities +throughout that period was ninety-seven miles. The lower chart, the +record of the direction from which the wind blew, is marked only by a +single broad bar in the position of South-by-East, the wind not having +veered in the slightest degree. + + +Before the art of "hurricane-walking" was learnt, and in the primitive +days of ice-nails and finnesko, progression in high winds degenerated +into crawling on hands and knees. Many of the more conservative +persisted in this method, and, as a compensation, became the first +exponents of the popular art of "board-sliding." A small piece of board, +a wide ice flat and a hurricane were the three essentials for this new +sport. + +Wind alone would not have been so bad; drift snow accompanied it in +overwhelming amount. In the autumn overcast weather with heavy falls +of snow prevailed, with the result that the air for several months was +seldom free from drift. Indeed, during that time, there were not +many days when objects a hundred yards away could be seen distinctly. +Whatever else happened, the wind never abated, and so, even when the +snow had ceased falling and the sky was clear, the drift continued until +all the loose accumulations on the hinterland, for hundreds of miles +back, had been swept out to sea. Day after day deluges of drift streamed +past the Hut, at times so dense as to obscure objects three feet away, +until it seemed as if the atmosphere were almost solid snow. + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +A comparison of wind-velocities and temperatures prevailing at Cape +Royds, Mcmurdo Sound, and at winter quarters, Adelie Land, during the +months of May and June + + +At the time of plotting only the above two months were available, but +they are enough to illustrate the unusually severe winter conditions of +Adelie Land. The data for Cape Royds is that supplied by the Shackleton +Expedition. The solid black line refers to Adelie Land, the broken line +to Cape Royds. It will be noted that whereas the average temperature +conditions are closely similar at both stations, only on three days +during the period did the average wind velocity at Cape Royds reach that +of the lowest daily value of Adelie Land. + + + +Picture drift so dense that daylight comes through dully, though, +maybe, the sun shines in a cloudless sky; the drift is hurled, screaming +through space at a hundred miles an hour, and the temperature is below +zero, Fahrenheit.** You have then the bare, rough facts concerning +the worst blizzards of Adelie Land. The actual experience of them is +another thing. + + + ** Temperatures as low as -28 degrees F. +(60 degrees below freezing-point) were experienced in hurricane winds, +which blew at a velocity occasionally exceeding one hundred miles per +hour. Still air and low temperatures, or high winds and moderate +temperatures, are well enough; but the combination of high winds and low +temperatures is difficult to bear. + +Shroud the infuriated elements in the darkness of a polar night, and the +blizzard is presented in a severer aspect. A plunge into the writhing +storm-whirl stamps upon the senses an indelible and awful impression +seldom equalled in the whole gamut of natural experience. The world a +void, grisly, fierce and appalling. We stumble and struggle through +the Stygian gloom; the merciless blast--an incubus of vengeance--stabs, +buffets and freezes; the stinging drift blinds and chokes. In a ruthless +grip we realize that we are + + poor windlestraws + On the great, sullen, roaring pool of Time. + +It may well be imagined that none of us went out on these occasions +for the pleasure of it. The scientific work required all too frequent +journeys to the instruments at a distance from the Hut, and, in +addition, supplies of ice and stores had to be brought in, while the +dogs needed constant attention. + +Every morning, Madigan visited all the meteorological instruments and +changed the daily charts; at times having to feel his way from one place +to the other. Attending to the exposed instruments in a high wind with +low temperature was bad enough, but with suffocating drift difficulties +were increased tenfold. + +Around the Hut there was a small fraternity who chose the outside +veranda as a rendezvous. Here the latest gossip was exchanged, and the +weather invariably discussed in forcible terms. There was Whetter, who +replenished the water-supply from the unfailing fountain-head of the +glacier. For cooking, washing clothes and for photographic and other +purposes, eighteen men consumed a good deal of water, and, to keep up +with the demand, Whetter piled up many hardly-won boxes of ice in +the veranda. Close unearthed coal briquettes from the heap outside, +shovelled tons of snow from the veranda and made himself useful and +amiable to every one. Murphy, our stand-by in small talk, travel, +history, literature and what not, was the versatile storeman. The store +in the veranda was continually invaded by similar snow to that which +covered the provision boxes outside. To keep the veranda cleared, renew +the supplies and satisfy the demands of the kitchen required no other +than Murphy. Ninnis and Mertz completed the "Veranda Club," to which +honorary members from within the Hut were constantly being added. + +The meteorological instruments, carefully nursed and housed though they +were, were bound to suffer in such a climate. Correll, who was well +fitted out with a lathe and all the requirements for instrument-making, +attended to repairs, doing splendid service. The anemometer gave the +greatest trouble, and, before Correll had finished with it, most of the +working parts had been replaced in stronger metal. + +When the recording sheets of the instruments had been successfully +changed, the meteorologist packed them in a leather bag, strapped on his +shoulders, so that they would not be lost on the way to the Hut. As soon +as he arrived indoors the bag was opened and emptied; the papers being +picked out from a small heap of snow. + +It was a fortunate thing that no one was lost through failing to +discover the Hut during the denser drifts. Hodgeman on one occasion +caused every one a good deal of anxiety. Among other things, he +regularly assisted Madigan by relieving him of outdoor duties on the day +after his nightwatch, when the chief meteorologist was due for a "watch +below." It was in the early autumn--few of us, then, were adepts at +finding our way by instinct--that Hodgeman and Madigan set out, one +morning, for the anemometer. Leaving the door of the Hut, they lost +sight of each other at once, but anticipated meeting at the instrument. +Madigan reached his destination, changed the records, waited for a while +and then returned, expecting to see his companion at the Hut. He did +not appear, so, after a reasonable interval, search parties set off in +different directions. + +The wind was blowing at eighty miles per hour, making it tedious work +groping about and hallooing in the drift. The sea was close at hand +and we realized that, as the wind was directly off shore, a man without +crampons was in a dangerous situation. Two men, therefore, roped +together and carefully searched round the head of the boat harbour; one +anchoring himself with an ice-axe, whilst the other, at the end of the +rope, worked along the edge of the sea. Meanwhile Hodgeman returned to +the Hut, unaided, having spent a very unpleasant two hours struggling +from one landmark to another, his outer garments filled with snow. + +The fact that the wind came steadily from the same direction made it +possible to steer, otherwise outdoor operations would not have +been conducted so successfully. For instance, Webb, who visited the +Magnetograph House, a quarter of a mile distant, at least once a day, +made his way between various "beacons" by preserving a definite bearing +on the wind. His journeys were rendered all the more difficult because +they were frequently undertaken at night. + +In struggling along through very dense drifts one would be inclined to +think that the presence of the sun was a matter of small concern. As a +matter of fact there was, during the day, a good deal of reflected white +light and a dark object looms up within a yard or two. In darkness there +was nothing to recognize. So Webb would often run by dead reckoning on +to the roof of the Hut, and would then feel his way round it till he +caught the glimmer of a hurricane lantern coming through the veranda +entrance. + +I had always the greatest admiration for the unfailing manner in which +those responsible for the tidal, magnetic and meteorological work +carried out their duties. + +As a measure of the enormous amount of drift, we set about constructing +a gauge, which, it was hoped, would give us a rough estimate of the +quantity passing the Hut in a year. Hannam, following the approved +design, produced a very satisfactory contrivance. It consisted of a +large drift-tight box, fitted on the windward side with a long metal +cone, tapering to an aperture three-quarters of an inch in diameter. The +drift-laden air entered the aperture, its speed was checked on entering +the capacious body of the gauge and consequently the snow fell to the +bottom of the box and the air passed out behind through a trap-door. +The catch was taken out periodically through a bolted lid, the snow was +melted, the resulting water measured and its weight calculated. + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +The drift gauge + + +In thick drifts, one's face inside the funnel of the burberry helmet +became rapidly packed with snow, which, by the warmth of the skin and +breath, was changed into a mask of ice. This adhered firmly to the rim +of the helmet and to the beard and face. The mask became so complete +that one had to clear away obstructions continually from the eyes. It +was not easy to remove the casing of ice, outside in the wind, +because this could only be done slowly, with bare fingers exposed. An +experienced man, once inside the Hut, would first see that the ice +was broken along the rim of the helmet; otherwise, when it came to be +hastily dragged off, the hairs of the beard would follow as well. As +soon as the helmet was off the head, the icicles hanging on the beard +and glazing the eyelashes were gradually thawed by the fingers and +removed. The above treatment was learned by experience. + +The abrasion-effects produced by the impact of the snow particles were +astonishing. Pillars of ice were cut through in a few days, rope was +frayed, wood etched and metal polished. Some rusty dog-chains were +exposed to it, and, in a few days, they had a definite sheen. A deal +box, facing the wind, lost all its painted bands and in a fortnight was +handsomely marked; the hard, knotty fibres being only slightly attacked, +whilst the softer, pithy laminae were corroded to a depth of one-eighth +of an inch. + +The effect of constant abrasion upon the snow's surface is to harden it, +and, finally, to carve ridges known as sastrugi. Of these much will be +said when recounting our sledging adventures, because they increase so +much the difficulties of travelling. + +Even hard, blue ice may become channelled and pitted by the action of +drift. Again, both neve and ice may receive a wind-polish which makes +them very slippery. + +Of the effect of wind and drift upon rock, there was ample evidence +around Winter Quarters. Regarded from the north, the aspect of the +rocks was quite different from that on the southern side. The southern, +windward faces were on the whole smooth and rounded, but there was no +definite polish, because the surface was partly attacked by the chipping +and splitting action of frost. The leeward faces were rougher and +more disintegrated. More remarkable still were the etchings of the +non-homogeneous banded rocks. The harder portions of these were raised +in relief, producing quite an artistic pattern. + +In regard to the drift, a point which struck me was the enormous amount +of cold communicated to the sea by billions of tons of low-temperature +snow thrown upon its surface. The effect upon the water, already at +freezing-point, would be to congeal the surface at once. Whilst the wind +continued, however, there was no opportunity for a crust to form, +the uppermost layers being converted into a pea-soup-like film which +streamed away to the north. + +A description of the drifts of Adelie Land would not be complete +without mentioning the startling electrical effects which were sometimes +observed. The first record of these was made by McLean, when on +night-watch on March 22. While taking the observations at midnight, +he noticed St. Elmo's fire, a "brush discharge" of electricity, on the +points of the nephoscope. As the weather became colder this curious +phenomenon increased in intensity. At any time in the drift, an +electroscope exposed outside became rapidly charged. A spark gap in a +vacuum, connected with a free end of wire, gave a continuous discharge. +At times, when the effects were strong, the night-watchman would find +the edges and wire stays of the screen outlined in a fashion reminiscent +of a pyrotechnic display or an electric street-advertisement. The +corners of boxes and points of rock glowed with a pale blue light. The +same appeared over points on the clothing, on the mitts and round the +funnel of the helmet. No sensation was transmitted to the body from +these points of fire, at least nothing sufficiently acute to be felt, +with the drift and wind lashing on the body outside. However, the +anemograph several times discharged a continuous stream of sparks into +Madigan's fingers while he was changing the records. Once these sparks +reached half an inch in length, and, as his fingers were bared for the +work, there was no mistaking the feeling. + +For regular observations on the subject, Correll fixed a pointed +collector--a miniature lightning-conductor--above the flagpole on the +summit of the roof. A wire was led through an insulator, so that the +stream of electricity could be subjected to experiment in the Hut. Here +a "brush" of blue light radiated outwards to a distance of one inch. +When a conductor was held close to it, a rattling volley of sparks +immediately crossed the interval and the air was pervaded with a strong +smell of ozone. Of course sparks were not always being emitted by the +collector, and it was important to determine the periods of activity. +To ensure this, Hurley devised an automatic arrangement, so that an +electric bell was set ringing whenever a current was passing; the +night-watchman would then note the fact in the log-book. However, the +bell responded so often and so vigorously that it was soon dismantled +for the benefit of sleepers. It was singular that the "brush discharge" +was sometimes most copious when the atmosphere was filled with very fine +drift, and not necessarily during dense drift. + +After what has been said, it will be obvious that the drift-laden +hurricanes of the country were more than ordinarily formidable. They +scarcely seemed to provide a subject for poetic inspiration; still +the following effusion appeared by McLean, Editor of the 'Adelie +Blizzard':-- + + THE BLIZZARD + + A snow-hush brooding o'er the grey rock-hills! + A wold of silence, ominous, that fills + The wide seascape of ice-roofed islands, rolls + To ether-zones that gird the frigid Poles! + + Realm of purest alabaster-white, + Wreathed in a vast infinitude of light; + The royal orb swings to thy summer gaze + A glitt'ring azure world of crystal days. + + The lorn bird-voices of an unseen land- + No hue of forest, gleam of ocean sand- + Rise in a ceaseless plaint of raucous din, + On northern tides the bergs come floating in. + + The wind-sprites murmuring in hinter-snow- + The pent heart-throbbings of the wan plateau- + Wing through the pulsing spell thrown o'er the sea, + In wild and shrieking blizzard minstrelsy. + + Swirl of the drift-cloud's shimm'ring sleet; + Race of the spray-smoke's hurtling sheet + Swelling trail of the streaming, sunbright foam, + Wafting sinuous brash to an ice-field home. + + Eddy-wraiths o'er the splintered schist- + Torrent spume down the glacier hissed! + Throbbing surge of the ebbing seaward gust, + Raping stillness vast in its madd'ning lust. + + Lotus-floe 'neath the Barrier brink, + Starting sheer--a marble blink- + Pelting shafts from the show'ring arrow-blast + Strike--ill the blackened flood seethe riven past. + + Glow of the vibrant, yellow west + Pallid fades in the dread unrest. + Low'ring shades through the fury-stricken night + Rack the screaming void in shudd'ring might. + + Requiem peace from the hinter-snows + Soft as river music flows. + Dawn in a flushing glamour tints the sea; + Serene her thrill of rhythmic ecstasy. + +Sledging was out of the question. Indeed, we recognized how fortunate we +were not to have pushed farther south in March. Had we advanced, it is +more than likely that provisions would have been exhausted before we +could have located the Hut in the sea of drift. Our hopes were now +centred on midwinter calms. + +Looking through my diary, I notice that on March 24, "we experienced +a rise in spirits because of the improved weather." I find the average +velocity of the wind for that day to have been forty-five miles per +hour, corresponding to a "strong gale" on the Beaufort scale. This tells +its own story. + +When the high wind blew off shore, there was no backswell, on account of +the pack-ice to the north quelling the sea. The arrival of a true ocean +swell meant that the pack had been dispersed. On March 24 such appears +to have been the case, for then, during the day, a big northerly swell +set in, dashing over the ice-foot and scattering seaweed on the rocks. + +After the equinox, the temperatures remained in the vicinity of zero, +Fahrenheit. The penguins took to the sea, and, save for the glimpse of +an occasional petrel on the wing, the landscape was desolate. + +It was high time that our programme of construction was completed, but, +however much we tried, it was impossible to do a great deal in winds +exceeding fifty miles an hour. By taking advantage of days freest from +drift, the exterior of the Hangar was completed by April 6. After the +air-tractor sledge had been moved inside, the snow was piled so high +on the leeward face, that the shelter became naturally blocked with a +rampart of snow which served admirably in place of the wall of tarpaulin +which we originally intended to use. + +Bickerton could now proceed at leisure to make any necessary +alterations. The Hangar was also used as a store for many articles which +had been crowded into odd corners or rescued from the snow outside. To +increase its size, tunnels were afterwards driven into the bank of snow +and timber was stowed in these so as to be safe from burial and loss. + +The building was finished just in the nick of time. Snow came down so +thickly that had the falls occurred a few days earlier, the cases from +which the place was constructed would have been effectually buried and +the construction made an impossibility. + +But for the wind, the Hut would have been lost to sight. Still, it was +completely surrounded by massive drifts, and the snow was driven by the +wind past the canvas flap and through the entrance, until the veranda +became choked. + +Close, who was night-watchman during the early morning hours of April 7, +had the greatest difficulty in getting outside to attend to his duties. +To dig his way through the entrance, reach the instruments and to return +occupied a whole hour. + +We were inundated with snow; even a portion of the roof was buried. +The situation required immediate attention; so it was decided to make a +tunnel connecting the entrance veranda with the store veranda. From the +north-western end of the latter, an out-draught had established itself, +preserving a vertical funnel-like opening in the snow bank, always free +for entrance or exit. This proved a fortunate accident. + +Further, a second tunnel, over twenty feet in length, was driven out +from the original entrance with a view to reaching the surface at a +point beyond the lee of the Hut. It was thought that the scouring effect +of the wind, there, would keep the opening of the tunnel free of drift. +But when completed, it filled rapidly with snow and had to be sealed. It +was then used to receive slop-water. While the fever for excavation +was at its height, Whetter drove, as an off-shoot to the first, another +tunnel which came to be used as a nursery for the pups. + +At this stage, to leave the Hut, it was necessary to crawl through a low +trap-door in the wall of the inside or entrance veranda; the way then +led to the connecting tunnel and onwards to the store veranda; finally +one climbed through a manhole in the snow into the elements without. +From the store veranda there was access to the Hangar by a hinged door +in the common wall, and, as an additional convenience, a trap-door was +made in the roof of the inner veranda to be used during spells of clear +weather or in light drift. + +The old landmarks became smothered in snow, making the Hut's position a +matter of greater uncertainty. A journey by night to the magnetic huts +was an outing with a spice of adventure. + +Climbing out of the veranda, one was immediately swallowed in the chaos +of hurtling drift, the darkness sinister and menacing. The shrill wind +fled by-- + + ...the noise of a drive of the Dead, + Striving before the irresistible will + Through the strange dusk of this, the Debatable land + Between their place and ours. + +Unseen wizard hands clutched with insane fury, hacked and harried. It +was "the raw-ribbed Wild that abhors all life, the Wild that would crush +and rend." + +Cowering blindly, pushing fiercely through the turmoil, one strove to +keep a course to reach the rocks in which the huts were hidden--such and +such a bearing on the wind--so far. When the rocks came in sight, the +position of the final destination was only deduced by recognising a few +surrounding objects. + +On the return journey, the vicinity of the Hut would be heralded by +such accidents as tripping over the "wireless" ground wires or kicking +against a box or a heap of coal briquettes. These clues, properly +followed up, would lead to the Hut itself, or at least to its shelving +roof. In the very thick drifts it was even possible to stand on portions +of the roof without any notion of the fact. Fossicking about, one kept +on the alert for the feel of woodwork. When found and proved to be too +extensive to be a partially buried box, it might safely be concluded to +be some part of the roof, and only required to be skirted in order to +reach the vertical entrance. The lost man often discovered this pitfall +by dropping suddenly through into the veranda. + +At the entrance to the tunnel, the roar of the tempest died away into a +rumble, the trap-door opened and perhaps the strains of the gramophone +would come in a kind of flippant defiance from the interior. Passing +through the vestibule and work-room one beheld a scene in utter variance +with the outer hell. Here were warm bunks, rest, food, light and +companionship--for the time being, heaven! Outside, the crude and naked +elements of a primitive and desolate world flowed in writhing torrents. + +The night-watchman's duty of taking the meteorological observations +at the screen adjacent to the Hut was a small matter compared with the +foregoing. First of all, it was necessary for him to don a complete +outfit of protective clothing. Dressing and undressing were tedious, and +absorbed a good deal of time. At the screen, he would spend a lively +few minutes wrestling in order to hold his ground, forcing the door back +against the pressure of wind, endeavouring to make the light shine on +the instruments, and, finally, clearing them of snow and reading them. +For illumination a hurricane lantern wrapped in a calico wind-shield was +first used, to be displaced later by an electrical signalling-lamp and, +while the batteries lasted, by a light permanently fixed by Hannam in +the screen itself. To assist in finding the manhole on his return, the +night-watchman was in the habit of leaving a light burning in the outer +veranda. + +I remember waking up early one morning to find the Hut unusually cold. +On rising, I discovered Hurley also awake, busy lighting the fire which +had died out. There was no sign of Correll, the night-watchman, and we +found that the last entry in the log-book had been made several hours +previously. Hurley dressed in full burberrys and went out to make a +search, in which he was soon successful. + +It appeared that Correll, running short of coal during the early +morning hours, had gone out to procure some from the stack. While he was +returning to the entrance, the wind rolled him over a few times, causing +him to lose his bearings. It was blowing a hurricane, the temperature +was -70 F., and the drift-snow was so thick as to be wall-like in +opacity. He abandoned his load of coal, and, after searching about +fruitlessly for some time in the darkness, he decided to wait for dawn. +Hurley found him about twenty yards from the back of the Hut. + +The suppression of outdoor occupations reacted in an outburst of indoor +work. The smaller room had been well fitted up as a workshop, and all +kinds of schemes were in progress for adapting our sledging-gear and +instruments to the severe conditions. Correll worked long hours to keep +up with the demands made upon him. Nobody was idle during the day, +for, when there was nothing else to be done, there always remained the +manufacture and alteration of garments and crampons. + +As soon as the wind abated to a reasonable velocity, there was a rush to +the outside jobs. Lulls would come unexpectedly, activity inside ceased, +and the Hut, as seen by a spectator, resembled an ants' nest upon which +a strange foot had trodden: eighteen men swarming through the manhole in +rapid succession, hurrying hither and thither. + +The neighbouring sea still remained free from an ice-crust. This, of +course, did not mean that freezing was not going on continuously. On the +contrary, the chilling was no doubt accelerated, but the bulk of the +ice was carried off to the north as fast as it was formed. Quantities, +however, remained as ground-ice, anchored to the kelp and stones on the +bottom. Gazing down through the clear waters one saw a white, mamillated +sheath covering the jungle of giant seaweed, recalling a forest after a +heavy snowfall. The ice, instead of being a dead weight bearing down +the branches, tended to float, and, when accumulated in large masses, +sometimes succeeded in rising to the surface, uprooting and lifting +great lengths of seaweed with it. One branching stem, found floating in +the harbour, measured eighteen feet in length. + +Whenever a temporary calm intervened, a skin of ice quickly appeared +over the whole surface of the water. In the early stages, this formation +consisted of loose, blade-like crystals, previously floating freely +below the surface and rising by their own buoyancy. At the surface, if +undisturbed, they soon became cemented together. For example, during a +calm interval on April 6, within the interval of an hour, an even crust, +one inch thick, covered the sea. But the wind returned before the ice +was sufficiently strong to resist it, and it all broke up and drifted +away to the north, except a piece which remained wedged firmly between +the sides of the boat harbour. + +In the calm weather, abundant "worms" freely swimming, jelly-fish, +pteropods and small fish were observed. Traps were lowered along the +edge of the harbour-ice and dredgings were made in every possible +situation. The bulk of the biological collecting was effected under +circumstances in which Hunter and Laseron might well have given up work +in disgust. For instance, I noted in my diary that on May 16, with an +off shore wind of forty-three miles per hour, they and several others +were dredging from the edge of the slippery bay-ice. The temperature at +the time was -2 degrees F. + +During April the head of the boat harbour froze over permanently, the +ice reaching a thickness of eighteen inches in ten days. By that time +it was strong enough to be suitable for a tide-gauge. This was one of +Bage's charges, destined to take him out for many months in fair and +foul weather. + +There were several occasions in April when the velocity of the wind +exceeded ninety miles an hour. On the evening of the 26th, the wind +slackened, and for part of the 27th had almost fallen to a calm. This +brought the optimists to the fore, once again, with the theory that the +worst was over. The prediction was far from being fulfilled, for, as the +days passed, the average velocity steadily rose. On May 11 the average +for the twenty-four hours was eighty miles per hour. By that time the +Hut had been further protected by a crescent of cases, erected behind +the first break-wind. In height this erection stood above the Hangar, +and, when the snow became piled in a solid ramp on the leeward side, it +was more compact than ever. Inside the Hut extra struts were introduced, +stiffening the principal rafters on the southern side. It was reassuring +to know that these precautions had been taken, for, on May 15, the wind +blew at an average velocity of ninety miles per hour throughout the +whole twenty-four hours. + +Having failed to demolish us by dogged persistence, the hurricane tried +new tactics on the evening of May 24, in the form of a terrific series +of Herculean gusts. As we learned afterwards, the momentary velocity of +these doubtless approached two hundred miles per hour. At 11.30 P.M. the +situation was cheerfully discussed, though every one was tuned up to a +nervous pitch as the Hut creaked and shuddered under successive blows. +It seemed very doubtful whether the roof would resist the gusts, and the +feasibility of the meat cellar as a last haven of refuge was discussed. +After the passage of each gust, the barometer dropped, rising again +immediately afterwards. Similar pulsations of the barometer were +observed many times later in the year. The maximum sudden movement noted +was one-fifth inch. Had the interior of the Hut been more freely in +communication with the outside air, instead of resembling a hermetically +sealed box, the "kicks" would undoubtedly have been much greater. + +Cyclonic gusts were repeated a few days after, when the upper tiers of +boxes composing the break-wind were thrown down and pebbles from the +moraine were hurled on the roof. The average velocity of the wind for +each of the three autumn months was as follows: March, 49 miles per +hour; April, 51.5 miles per hour, and May 60.7 miles per hour. + +On May 1 the temperatures became lower, so that it was difficult to +move about in the gales without the face getting frost-bitten. Our usual +remedy when this occurred was to hold a mitt over the part affected; +thus sheltered, its circulation of blood was soon re-established, +unless the cold were very intense. In the extremities--the fingers and +toes--warmth was not so easily restored. + +Returning from attending the instruments at noon on May 22, Madigan, +according to the usual habit, before taking off his wind-proof clothes, +commenced clearing away the ice adhering to his helmet and face. One +white patch refused to leave the side of his face, until some one +observed that it was a frost-bite, and acquainted him of the fact. +Frost-bites that day were excusable enough, for the wind was blowing +between ninety-five and hundred miles per hour, there was dense drifting +snow and a temperature of -28 degrees F. + +We had found an accursed country. On the fringe of an unspanned +continent along whose gelid coast our comrades had made their home--we +knew not where--we dwelt where the chill breath of a vast, Polar +wilderness, quickening to the rushing might of eternal blizzards, surged +to the northern seas. Already, and for long months we were beneath +"frost-fettered Winter's frown." + + + +CHAPTER VIII DOMESTIC LIFE + + +Our hearth and home was the living Hut and its focus was the stove. +Kitchen and stove were indissolubly linked, and beyond their pale was +a wilderness of hanging clothes, boots, finnesko, mitts and what not, +bounded by tiers of bunks and blankets, more hanging clothes and dim +photographs between the frost-rimed cracks of the wooden walls. + +One might see as much in the first flicker of the acetylene through a +maze of hurrying figures, but as his eyes grew accustomed to the light, +the plot would thicken: books orderly and disorderly, on bracketed +shelves, cameras great and small in motley confusion, guns and a +gramophone-horn, serpentine yards of gas-tubing, sewing machines, +a microscope, rows of pint-mugs, until--thud! he has obstructed a +wild-eyed messman staggering into the kitchen with a box of ice. + +The wilderness was always inhabited, so much so that it often became a +bear-garden in which raucous good humour prevailed over everything. + +Noise was a necessary evil, and it commenced at 7.30 A.M., with the +subdued melodies of the gramophone, mingled with the stirring of the +porridge-pot and the clang of plates deposited none too gently on +the table. At 7.50 A.M. came the stentorian: "Rise and shine!" of the +night-watchman, and a curious assortment of cat-calls, beating on pots +and pans and fragmentary chaff. At the background, so to speak, of all +these sounds was the swishing rush of the wind and the creaking strain +of the roof, but these had become neglected. In fact, if there were a +calm, every one was restless and uneasy. + +The seasoned sleeper who survived the ten minutes' bombardment before +8 o'clock was an unusual person, and he was often the Astronomer Royal. +Besides his dignified name he possessed a wrist-watch, and there was +never a movement in his mountain of blankets until 7.59 A.M., unless +the jocular night-watchman chose to make a heap of them on the floor. +To calls like "Breakfast all ready! Porridge on the table getting cold!" +seventeen persons in varying stages of wakefulness responded. No one +was guilty of an elaborate toilet, water being a scarce commodity. There +were adherents of the snow-wash theory, but these belonged to an earlier +and warmer epoch of our history. + +For downright, tantalizing cheerfulness there was no one to equal the +night-watchman. While others strove to collect their befuddled senses, +this individual prated of "wind eighty miles per hour with moderate +drift and brilliant St. Elmo's fire." He boasted of the number of +garments he had washed, expanded vigorously on bread making--his brown, +appetizing specimens in full public view--told of the latest escapade +among the dogs, spoke of the fitful gleams of the aurora between 1.30 +and 2 A.M., of his many adventures on the way to the meteorological +screen and so forth; until from being a mere night-watchman he had +raised himself to the status of a public hero. For a time he was most +objectionable, but under the solid influence of porridge, tinned fruit, +fresh bread, butter and tea and the soothing aroma of innumerable +pipes, other public heroes arose and ousted this upstart of the night. +Meanwhile, the latter began to show signs of abating energy after +twelve hours' work. Soon some wag had caught him having a private nap, a +whispered signal was passed round and the unfortunate hero was startled +into life with a rousing "Rise and shine!" in which all past scores were +paid off. + +Every one was at last awake and the day began in earnest. The first hint +of this came from the messman and cook who commenced to make a Herculean +sweep of the pint-mugs and tin plates. The former deferentially +proceeded to scrape the plates, the master-cook presiding over a tub of +boiling water in which he vigorously scoured knives, forks and spoons, +transferring them in dripping handfuls to the cleanest part of the +kitchen-table. Cooks of lyric inclination would enliven the company with +the score of the latest gramophone opera, and the messman and company +would often feel impelled to join in the choruses. + +The night-watchman had sunk into log-like slumber, and the meteorologist +and his merry men were making preparations to go abroad. The merry men +included the ice-carrier, the magnetician, the two wardens of the +dogs, the snow-shoveller and coal-carrier and the storeman. The rest +subdivided themselves between the living Hut at 45 degrees F. and the +outer Hut below freezing-point, taking up their endless series of jobs. + +The merry men began to make an organized raid on the kitchen. Around +and above the stove hung oddments like wolf-skin mitts, finnesko, socks, +stockings and helmets, which had passed from icy rigidity through sodden +limpness to a state of parchment dryness. The problem was to recover +one's own property and at the same time to avoid the cook scraping the +porridge saucepan and the messman scrubbing the table. + +The urbane storeman saved the situation by inquiring of the cook: "What +will you have for lunch?" Then followed a heated colloquy, the former, +like a Cingalese vendor, having previously made up his mind. The +argument finally crystallized down to lambs' tongues and beetroot, +through herrings and tomato sauce, fresh herrings, kippered herrings, +sardines and corn beef. + +The second question was a preliminary to more serious business; "What +would you like for dinner?" + +Although much trouble might have been saved by reference to the +regulation programme, which was composed to provide variety in diet and +to eliminate any remote chance of scurvy, most cooks adopted an attitude +of surly independence, counting it no mean thing to have wheedled from +the storeman a few more ounces of "glaxo," another tin of peas or an +extra ration of penguin meat. All this chaffering took place in the open +market-place, so to speak, and there was no lack of frank criticism from +bystanders, onlookers and distant eavesdroppers. In case the cook was +worsted, the messman sturdily upheld his opinions, and in case the +weight of public opinion was too much for the storeman, he slipped on +his felt mitts, shouldered a Venesta box and made for the tunnel which +led to the store. + +He reaches an overhead vent admitting a cool torrent of snow, and with +the inseparable box plunges ahead into darkness. An hour later his +ruddy face reappears in the Hut, and a load of frosted tins is soon +unceremoniously dumped on to the kitchen table. The cook in a swift +survey notes the absence of penguin meat. "That'll take two hours to dig +out!" is the storeman's rejoinder, and to make good his word, proceeds +to pull off blouse and helmet. By careful inquiry in the outer Hut he +finds an ice-axe, crowbar and hurricane lantern. The next move is to +the outer veranda, where a few loose boards are soon removed, and the +storeman, with a lithe twist, is out of sight. + +We have pushed the tools down and, following the storeman, painfully +squeezed into an Arcadia of starry mounds of snow and glistening plaques +of ice, through which project a few boulders and several carcases +of mutton. The storeman rummages in the snow and discloses a pile of +penguins, crusted hard together in a homogeneous lump. Dislodging +a couple of penguins appears an easy proposition, but we are soon +disillusioned. The storeman seizes the head of one bird, wrenches hard, +and off it breaks as brittle as a stalactite. The same distracting thing +happens to both legs, and the only remedy is to chip laboriously an icy +channel around it. + +In a crouching or lying posture, within a confined space, this means +the expenditure of much patience, not to mention the exhaustion of all +invective. A crowbar decides the question. One part of the channel is +undermined, into this the end of the crowbar is thrust and the penguin +shoots up and hits the floor of the Hut. + +The storeman, plastered with snow, reappears hot and triumphant +before the cook, but this dignitary is awkwardly kneading the dough of +wholemeal scones, and the messman is feeding the fire with seal-blubber +to ensure a "quick" oven. Every one is too busy to notice the storeman, +for, like the night-watchman, his day is over and he must find another +job. + +Jobs in the Hut were the elixir of life, and a day's cooking was +no exception to the rule. It began at 7 A.M., and, with a brief +intermission between lunch and afternoon tea, continued strenuously +till 8.30 P.M. Cooks were broadly classified as "Crook Cooks" and +"Unconventional Cooks" by the eating public. Such flattering titles +as "Assistant Grand Past Master of the Crook Cooks' Association" or +"Associate of the Society of Muddling Messmen" were not empty inanities; +they were founded on solid fact--on actual achievement. If there were no +constitutional affiliation, strong sympathy undoubtedly existed between +the "Crook Cooks' Association" and "The Society of Muddling Messmen." +Both contained members who had committed "championships." + +"Championship" was a term evolved from the local dialect, applying to +a slight mishap, careless accident or unintentional disaster in any +department of Hut life. The fall of a dozen plates from the shelf to the +floor, the fracture of a table-knife in frozen honey, the burning of the +porridge or the explosion of a tin thawing in the oven brought down +on the unfortunate cook a storm of derisive applause and shouts of +"Championship! Championship!" + +Thawing-out tinned foods by the heroic aid of a red-hot stove was a +common practice. One day a tin of baked beans was shattered in the +"port" oven, and fragments of dried beans were visible on the walls +and door for weeks. Our military cook would often facetiously refer to +"platoon-firing in the starboard oven." + +One junior member of the "Crook Cooks' Association" had the hardihood +to omit baking powder in a loaf of soda-bread, trusting that prolonged +baking would repair the omission. The result was a "championship" of a +very superior order. Being somewhat modest, he committed it through the +trap-door to the mercy of the wind, and for a time it was lost in the +straggling rubbish which tailed away to the north. Even the prowling +dogs in their wolfish hunger could not overcome a certain prejudice. +Of course some one found it, and the public hailed it with delight. A +searching inquiry was made, but the perpetrator was never discovered. +That loaf, however, like the proverbial bad penny, turned up for months. +When the intricate system of snow-tunnels was being perfected, it was +excavated. In the early summer, when the aeroplane was dug out of the +Hangar, that loaf appeared once more, and almost the last thing we saw +when leaving the Hut, nearly two years after, was this petrifaction on +an icy pedestal near the Boat Harbour. + +No one ever forgot the roly-poly pudding made without suet; synthetic +rubber was its scientific name. And the muddling messman could never be +surpassed who lost the cutter of the sausage machine and put salt-water +ice in the melting-pots. + +There appeared in the columns of 'The Adelie Blizzard' an article by the +meteorologist descriptive of an occasion when two members of the "Crook +Cooks' Association" officiated in the kitchen: + +TEREBUS AND ERROR IN ERUPTION An 'Orrible Affair in One Act BY A +SURVIVOR + +Dramatis Personae + +TEREBUS | | Crook Cooks +ERROR | + +Other Expedition Members + +Scene: Kitchen, Winter Quarters. + +Time: 5.30 P.M. + +ERROR. Now, Terebus, just bring me a nice clean pot, will you? + +TEREBUS [from his bunk]. Go on, do something yourself! + +ERROR. Do something? I've done everything that has been done this +afternoon. + +TEREBUS. Well, you ought to feel pretty fresh. + +ERROR. And all the melting-pots are empty and I'm not going to fill +them. Besides, it's not in the regulations. + +Voices. Who's going crook? Error! + +[TEREBUS climbs from his bunk and exit for ice. ERROR attempts to +extricate a pot from the nails in the shelves. Loud alarums. + +Voices. Champ-ion-ship! + +[Alarums without. Loud cries of "Door!" Enter TEREBUS with box of ice; +fills all the pots on the stove. + +ERROR. Good heavens, man, you've filled up the tea water with ice. + +TEREBUS [with hoarse laugh]. Never mind, they won't want so much glaxo +to cool it. + +ERROR [who has meanwhile been mixing bread]. What shall we bake the +bread in? I believe it is considered that a square tin is more suitable +for ordinary ovens, but, on the other hand, Nansen in his 'Farthest +North' used flat dishes. + +TEREBUS. Use a tin. There'll be less surface exposed to the cold oven. + +ERROR. What's all this water on the floor? I thought my feet seemed +cold. Some one must have upset a bucket. + +TEREBUS. Oh, it's one of the taps turned on. Never mind, there's plenty +more ice where that came from. Get your sea-boots. + +[Enter METEOROLOGICAL STAFF and others with snow-covered burberrys, +mitts, etc., crowd kitchen and hang impedimenta round the stove. Great +tumult. + +TEREBUS. Here, out of the kitchen. This isn't the time to worry the +cooks. + +ERROR. Take those burberrys away, please, old man. They're dripping into +the soup. + +TEREBUS. Give it some flavour at least. + +[Great activity in the crater of ERROR while TEREBUS clears the kitchen. +ERROR continues stirring Soup and tapioca custard on the stove. Strong +smell of burning. + +VOICES [in peculiarly joyful chorus]. Something burning! + +ERROR [aside to TEREBUS]. It's all right. It will taste all right. Say +it's cloth on the stove. + +TEREBUS. Somebody's burberrys burning against the stove!! + +[General rush to the stove. + +TEREBUS. It's all right, I've taken them away. + +[Interval, during which much sotto voce discussion is heard in the +kitchen. + +ERROR. We haven't put the spinach on to thaw and it's after six o'clock. + +TEREBUS. Warm it up and put it on the table with the tin-openers. + +ERROR. I'm afraid that's against the regulations. Put it in the oven and +shut the door. + +[TEREBUS does so. Later, terrific explosion, followed by strong smell of +spinach. + +VOICES. What's the matter? Terebus in eruption! + +TEREBUS [wiping spinach off his face]. Nothing wrong. Only a tin of +spinach opened automatically. + +ERROR. It's plastered all over the oven and on everything. + +TEREBUS. Don't worry, it will be served up with the baked penguin. + +[Period of partial quiescence of TEREBUS and ERROR, which is regarded as +an evil omen. + +ERROR [in persuasive tone]. Have you made the tea, old boy? It's nearly +half-past six. + +[TEREBUS takes off the lid of the tea-boiler, peers inside, making a +scoop with his hand. + +ERROR. Here, don't do that. Mind your hands. + +TEREBUS. It's all right, it's not hot. + +ERROR. What shall we do, then? We'll never keep them quiet if we are +late with the tea. + +TEREBUS. Put the tea in now. It will be warmed up by the second course. + +[TEREBUS puts the infusers in the pot and stirs them round. + +ERROR. Taste it. + +[BOTH taste with a dirty spoon. + +TEREBUS. Tastes like your soup--'orrible! + +ERROR. There's nothing wrong with the soup. You attend to the tea. + +TEREBUS. I think we'll have coffee. Pass the coffee and I'll put that in +and bring it to the boil. The coffee will kill the taste of the tea. + +ERROR. Hope you make it stronger than that. + +[During quiescent stage while each is thinking of a retort, 6.30 P.M. +arrives, and the soup is put on the table. Interval elapses during which +the victims are expected to eat the soup. + +VOICES [in loud chant from the table]. How did you do it, Error? + +TEREBUS [after a suitable period]. Any one like any more soup? + +A VOICE. Couldn't risk it, Governor. TEREBUS. Bowls up! Lick spoons! + +[Bowls are cleared away and baked penguin is put on the table. + +ERROR. Cooks have got their penguin, gentlemen. + +[Suspicious glances exchanged at table. Later, monotonous chant goes up, +preceded by a soft "One, two, three." "Didn't scrape the blubber off, +Error." + +[Plates cleared away and scraped into dogs' bucket. ERROR takes tapioca +custard from oven in two dishes. + +ERROR [aside to TEREBUS]. Take some out of this one for us and don't +forget to put that dish in front of the Doctor, because I spilled soda +in the other. + +[TEREBUS takes two large helpings out and puts rest on table as +directed. + +TEREBUS. You need not remember the cooks, gentlemen. + +A VOICE. Don't want to, if I can manage it. + +ERROR [aside to TEREBUS]. Put on the Algerian sweets, and then we can +have ours. + +TEREBUS [taking several handfuls]. We'll put these aside for perks. + +[The sweets on the table, TEREBUS and ERROR retire to kitchen to have +their dinner. + +ERROR. Is this my pudding? It's only an ordinary share. + +[TEREBUS is too busy to reply, and further eruption is prevented by the +temporary plugging of ERROR. + +Cooking, under the inspiration of Mrs. Beeton, became a fine art: + + On bones we leave no meat on, + For we study Mrs. Beeton. + +So said the song. On birthdays and other auspicious occasions dishes +appeared which would tempt a gourmet. Puff-pastry, steam-puddings, +jellies and blancmanges, original potages and consommes, seal curried +and spiced, penguin delicately fried, vegetables reflavoured, trimmed +and adorned were received without comment as the culinary standard rose. + +Birthdays were always greeted with special enthusiasm. Speeches were +made, toasts were drunk, the supple boards of the table creaked +with good things, cook and messman vied with each other in lavish +hospitality, the Hut was ornate with flags, every man was spruce in +his snowiest cardigan and neck-cloth, the gramophone sang of music-hall +days, the wind roared its appreciation through the stove-pipe, and +rollicking merriment was supreme. On such occasions the photographer and +the biologist made a genial combination. + +The dark-room was the nursery of the topical song. There, by lantern +or candle-stump, wit Rabelaisian, Aristophanic or Antarctic was cradled +into rhyme. From there, behind the scenes, the comedian in full dress +could step before the footlights into salvoes of savage applause. "A +Pair of Unconventional Cooks are we, are we," and the famous refrain, +"There he is, that's him," were long unrivalled in our musical annals. + +Celebrations were carried on into the night, but no one forgot the +cook and the messman. The table was cleared by many willing hands, some +brought in ice and coal or swept the floor, others scraped plates or +rinsed out mugs and bowls. Soon, everything had passed through the +cauldron of water, soap and soda to the drying-towels and on to the +shelves. The main crowd then repaired with pipes and cigars to "Hyde +Park Corner," where the storeman, our raconteur par excellence, +entertained the smokers' club. A mixed concert brought the evening to +the grand finale--"Auld Lang Syne." + +After events of this character, the higher shelves of the kitchen, in +the interstices between thermographs, photographic plates ink bottles, +and Russian stout, abounded with titbits of pie crust, blancmange, +jelly, Vienna rusks, preserved figs, and other "perks." Such "perks," or +perquisites, were the property of the presiding cook or night-watchman +and rarely survived for more than a day. + +The mania for celebration became so great that reference was frequently +made to the almanac. During one featureless interval, the anniversary +of the First Lighting of London by Gas was observed with extraordinary +eclat. + +The great medium of monetary exchange in the Hut was chocolate. A ration +of thirty squares was distributed by the storeman every Saturday night, +and for purposes of betting, games of chance, "Calcutta sweeps" on the +monthly wind-velocity and general barter, chocolate held the premier +place. + +At the "sweeps," the meteorologist stood with a wooden hammer behind the +table, and the gaming public swarmed on the other side. Numbers ranging +from "low field" and forty-five to sixty-five and "high field" were +sold by auction to the highest bidder. Excitement was intense while the +cartographer in clerical glasses worked out the unknown number. + +As a consequence of wild speculation, there were several cases of +bankruptcy, which was redeemed in the ordinary way by a sale of the +debtor's effects. + +Two financiers, indifferent to the charms of chocolate, established a +corner or "Bank" in the commodity. "The Bank," by barter and usurious +methods, amassed a great heap of well-thumbed squares, and, when +accused of rapacity, invented a scheme for the common good known as +"Huntoylette." This was a game of chance similar to roulette, and for +a while it completely gulfed the trusting public. In the reaction which +followed, there was a rush on "The Bank," and the concern was wound up, +but the promoters escaped with a large profit in candles and chocolate. + +Throughout the winter months, work went on steadily even after dinner, +and hours of leisure were easy to fill. Some wrote up their diaries, +played games, or smoked and yarned; others read, developed photos, or +imitated the weary cook and went to bed. The MacKellar Library, so +called after the donor, was a boon to all, and the literature of polar +exploration was keenly followed and discussed. Taste in literature +varied, but among a throng of eighteen, the majority of whom were given +to expressing their opinions in no uncertain terms--there were no rigid +conventions in Adelie Land--every book had a value in accordance with a +common standard. + +There was not a dissenting voice to the charm of 'Lady Betty across the +Water', and the reason for this was a special one. The sudden breath of +a world of warmth and colour, richness and vivacity and astute, American +freshness amid the somewhat grim attractions of an Antarctic winter was +too much for every one. Lady Betty, in the realm of bright images, had +a host of devoted admirers. Her influence spread beyond the Hut to the +plateau itself. Three men went sledging, and to shelter themselves from +the rude wind fashioned an ice-cavern, which, on account of its magical +hues and rare lustre, could be none other than "Aladdin's Cave." Lady +Betty found her hero in a fairy grotto of the same name. + +'Lorna Doone', on the other hand, was liked by many. Still there were +those who thought that John Ridd was a fool, a slow, obtuse rustic, and +so on, while Lorna was too divine and angelic for this life. + +'The War of the Carolinas' took the Hut by storm, but it was a +"nine days' wonder" and left no permanent impression on the thinking +community. Mostly, the story was voted delightfully funny, but very +foolish and farcical after all. A few exclusive critics predicted for it +a future. + +Then there was 'The Trail of '98'. For power and blunt realism there was +nothing like it, but the character of the hero was torn in the shreds of +debate. There was general agreement on two points: that the portrayal +of the desolate Alaskan wild had a touch of "home," and that the heroine +was a "true sport." + +All those who had ever hauled on the main braces, sung the +topsail-halliard chanty, learned the intricate Matty Walker, the +bowline-and-a-bite and a crowd of kindred knots, had a warm spot for any +yarn by Jacobs. Night after night, the storeman held the audience with +the humorous escapades of 'Ginger Dick', 'Sam' and 'Peter Russet'. + +And lastly, there was a more serious, if divided interest in 'Virginibus +Puerisque', 'Marcus Aurelius', 'The Unveiling of Lhassa'--but the list +is rather interminable. + +The whole world is asleep except the night-watchman, and he, having made +the bread, washed a tubful of clothes, kept the fire going, observed +and made notes on the aurora every fifteen minutes and the weather every +half-hour, and, finally, having had a bath, indulges in buttered toast +and a cup of coffee. + +The Hut is dark, and a shaded burner hangs by a canvas chair in the +kitchen. The wind is booming in gusts, the dogs howl occasionally in the +veranda, but the night-watchman and his pipe are at peace with all men. +He has discarded a heavy folio for a light romance, while the hours +scud by, broken only by the observations. The romance is closed, and he +steals to his bunk with a hurricane lamp and finds a bundle of letters. +He knows them well, but he reads them--again! + +Pearly light rises in the north-east through the lessening drift, and +another day has come. + + + +CHAPTER IX MIDWINTER AND ITS WORK; + + +With the advent of the fateful Ides of March, winter ii had practically +set in, and work outside had a chequered career. When a few calm hours +intervened between two blizzards a general rush was made to continue +some long-standing job. Often all that could be done was to clear the +field for action, that is, dig away large accumulations of snow. Then +the furies would break loose again, and once more we would play the +waiting game, meanwhile concerning ourselves with more sedentary +occupations. + +There was a familiar cry when, for some meteorological reason, the wind +would relapse into fierce gusts and then suddenly stop, to be succeeded +by intense stillness. "Dead calm, up with the wireless masts!" Every one +hastily dashed for his burberrys, and soon a crowd of muffled figures +would emerge through the veranda exit, dragging ropes, blocks, picks, +and shovels. There was no time to be lost. + +So the erection of the wireless masts began in earnest on April 4, +continued feverishly till the end of the month, suffered a long period +of partial cessation during May and June, was revived in July and +August, and, by September 1, two masts, each consisting of a lower-mast +and top-mast, had been raised and stayed, while between them stretched +the aerial. For four weeks messages were sent out, and many of them were +caught by Macquarie Island. Nothing was heard in Adelie Land, although, +between certain hours, regular watches were kept at the receiver. The +aerial was about sixty-five feet from the ground, and it was resolved +to increase its height by erecting the top-gallant masts; but before +anything considerable could be done, a terrific gust of wind on October +13 broke three wire-stays, and down came the mast, broken and splintered +by the fall. That is a brief resume of the fortunes of the "wireless" +during the first year. + +During February and March there were various other operations of more +immediate importance which prevented concentration of our workers on the +erection of the masts. There were many odd jobs to finish about the +Hut, the Magnetograph House and Absolute Hut were "under way," the +air-tractor sledge had to be efficiently housed, and all these and +many other things could be done in weather during which it was out of +question to hoist a mast into position. At first we were fastidious and +waited for a calm, but later, as we grew more impatient, a top-mast was +actually hauled up in a wind of thirty miles per hour, with gusts of +higher velocity. Such work would sometimes be interrupted by a more +furious outbreak, when all ropes would be secured and everything made as +ship-shape as possible. + +On March 15 the following note was made: "The wind was on the cool side +just after breakfast. A few loads of wireless equipment were sledged up +to the rocks at the back of the Hut, and by the time several masts were +carried to the same place we began to warm to the work. One of Hannam's +coils of frozen rope (one hundred and twenty fathoms) had become kinked +and tangled, so we dragged it up the ice-slope, straightened it out and +coiled it up again. Several 'dead men' to hold the stays were sunk into +ice-holes, and, during the afternoon, one mast was dragged into position +by a willing crowd. Rocks were sledged to and packed around the 'dead +men' in the holes to make them compact. Towards sundown snow clouds +filled the northern sky and a blizzard sprang up which is now doing +sixty miles per hour. We philosophically expect another week cooped up +in the Hut." + +It took a long time to establish the twenty good anchorages necessary +for the masts. Within a radius of eighty yards from the centre, +ice-holes were dug, cairns of heavy boulders were built and rocky +prominences dynamited off to secure an efficient holding for the stout +"strops" of rope. April 24 was a typical day: "We spent the morning +fixing up 'strops' for the wireless masts. The wind was blowing strongly +in fifty- to sixty-mile gusts with drift, but most of the fellows 'stuck +at it' all day. It was cold work on the hands and feet. Handling picks +and shovels predisposes to frost-bite. Several charges of dynamite were +fired in one hole wherein a mast will be stepped." + +Each mast, of oregon timber, was in four sections. The lowest section +was ten inches square and tapered upwards to the small royal mast at a +prospective height of one hundred and twenty feet. At an early stage it +was realized that we could not expect to erect more than three sections. +Round the steel caps at each doubling a good deal of fitting had to +be done, and Bickerton, in such occupation, spent many hours aloft +throughout the year. Fumbling with bulky mitts, handling hammers +and spanners, and manipulating nuts and bolts with bare hands, while +suspended in a boatswain's chair in the wind, the man up the mast had +a difficult and miserable task. Bickerton was the hero of all such +endeavours. Hannam directed the other workers who steadied the stays, +cleared or made fast the ropes, pulled and stood by the hauling tackle +and so forth. + +One day the man on the top-mast dislodged a heavy engineering hammer +which he thought secure. No warning was given, as he did not notice +that it had fallen. It whizzed down and buried itself in the snow, just +grazing the heads of Close and Hodgeman. + +The ropes securing the aerial and running through various blocks were +in constant danger of chafing during the frequent hurricanes, from their +proximity to the mast and stays, or from friction on the sharp edges of +the blocks. Unknown to us, this had happened to a strong, new manilla +rope by which Murphy was being hauled to the top of the lower-mast. It +gave way, and, but for another rope close by, which he seized to break +his fall, an accident might have ensued. + +Frost-bites were common. There were so many occasions when one had to +stand for a long time gripping a rope, pulling or maintaining a steady +strain, that fingers would promptly become numb and feet unbearably +cold. The usual restorative was to stamp about and beat the chest with +the hands--an old sailor's trick. Attempting to climb to a block on the +top-gallant mast one day, McLean had all his fingers frost-bitten at the +same time. + +In May the weather was atrocious, and in June building the Astronomical +Hut and digging ice-shafts on the glacier absorbed a good many hands. +In July, despite the enthusiasm and preparation for sledging, much was +done. On August 10 the long looked-for top-mast of the southern mast +became a reality: + +"We were early astir--about 7 A.M.--while the pink coloration of dawn +was stealing over the peaceful Barrier. For once, after months, it was +perfectly still. We hurried about making preparations--hauled Bickerton +up to the cross-trees and awaited the moment when we should raise the +top-mast. We pulled it up half-way and Bickerton affixed a pin in its +centre, above which two stays were to be attached. Suddenly, down came +the wind in terrific gusts and, after securing the stays, the job had to +be given up.... We were just about to have lunch when the wind ceased as +suddenly as it had begun. We all sallied out once more, and, this time, +completed the job, though for a while the top-mast was in imminent peril +of being blown away by a sharp northerly gust." + +Next day the aerial was hoisted in a wind of sixty miles per hour, but +the strain was so severe on the block, upwind, that it carried away. +Fortunately the insulators of the aerial were entangled by the stays in +their fall to ground, otherwise some one may have been hurt, as there +were a dozen men almost directly below. + +Six days after this accident, August 17, the top-mast halliard of the +down-wind mast frayed through, and as a stronger block was to be +affixed for the aerial, some one had to climb up to wire it in +position. Bickerton improvized a pair of climbing irons, and, after some +preliminary practice, ascended in fine style. + +Finally, by September 30, the aerial was at such a height as to give +hope that long-distance messages might be despatched. There was a +certain amount of suppressed excitement on the evening of that day when +the engine started and gradually got up speed in the dynamo. The sharp +note of the spark rose in accompanying crescendo and, when it had +reached its highest pitch, Hannam struck off a message to the world at +large. No response came after several nights of signalling, and, since +sledging had usurped every other interest, the novelty soon wore off. + +"Atmospherics"--discharges of atmospheric electricity--and discharges +from the drift-snow were heard in the wireless receiver. + +While messages were being sent, induction effects were noted in metallic +objects around the Hut. A cook at the stove was the first to discover +this phenomenon, and then every one conceived a mania for "drawing" +sparks. A rather stimulating experience--the more so as it usually +happened unexpectedly and accidentally--was to brush one's head against +one of the numerous coils of flexible metal gas-piping festooned about +the place. Sparks immediately jumped the interval with startling effect. + +October 13, the day when the mast blew down, was known in wireless +circles as Black Sunday. All had worked keenly to make the "wireless" a +success, and the final event was considered to be a public misfortune. +However, the honours were to be retrieved during the following year. + +It fell to the lot of most of the Staff that they developed an interest +in terrestrial magnetism. For one thing every man had carried boulders +to the great stockade surrounding the Magnetograph House. Then, too, +recorders were regularly needed to assist the magnetician in the +absolute Hut. There, if the temperature were not too low and the +observations not too lengthy, the recorder stepped out into the blizzard +with the conviction that he had learned something of value, and, when +he sat down to dinner that night, it was with a genial sense of his own +altruism. In his diary he would write it all up for his own edification. + +It would be on this wise: The Earth's magnetic force, which is +the active agent in maintaining the compass-needle in the magnetic +meridian** at any particular spot, acts, not as is popularly supposed, +in a horizontal plane, but at a certain angle of inclination with the +Earth's surface. The nearer the magnetic poles the more nearly vertical +does the freely suspended needle become. At the South Magnetic Pole it +assumes a vertical position with the south end downwards; at the North +Magnetic Pole it stands on its other end. At the intermediate positions +near the equator the whole force is exerted, swinging the needle in the +horizontal plane, and in such regions ordinary ships' compasses +pivoted to move freely only in a horizontal plane give the greatest +satisfaction. On approaching the magnetic poles, compasses become +sluggish, for the horizontal deflecting force falls off rapidly. The +force, acting in a vertical direction, tending to make the needle dip, +correspondingly increases, but is of no value for navigation purposes. +However, in the scientific discussion of terrestrial magnetism, both the +horizontal and vertical components as well as the absolute value of the +total force are important, and the determination of these "elements" +is the work of the magnetician. Affecting the average values of the +"magnetic elements" at any one spot on the Earth's surface are regular +diurnal oscillations, apparent only by the application of very delicate +methods of observation: also there are sudden large irregular movements +referred to as magnetic storms; the latter are always specially +noticeable when unusually bright auroral phenomena are in progress. + + + ** The magnetic meridian is the straight line joining the North +and South Magnetic Poles and passing through the spot in question. + +The observations made in the "Absolute Hut", carried out at frequent +intervals and on each occasion occupying two men for several hours +together, are necessary to obtain standard values as a check upon the +graphic record of the self-recording instruments which run day and night +in the "Magnetograph House". + +But this is another story. Three hours, sitting writing figures in a +temperature of -15 degrees F., is no joke. The magnetician is not so +badly off, because he is moving about, though he often has to stop and +warm his fingers, handling the cold metal. + +The Magnetograph House had by far the most formidable name. The Hut, +though it symbolized our all in all, sounded very insignificant unless +it were repeated with just the right intonation. The Absolute Hut had +a superadded dignity. The Hangar, in passing, scarcely seemed to have a +right to a capital H. The Transit House, on the and other hand, was the +only dangerous rival to the first mentioned. But what's in a name? + +If the Magnetograph House had been advertised, it would have been +described as "two minutes from the Hut." This can easily be understood, +for the magnetician after leaving home is speedily blown over a few +hillocks and sastrugi, and, coming to an ice-flat about one hundred and +fifty yards wide, swiftly slides over it, alighting at the snow-packed +door of his house. The outside porch is just roomy enough for a man to +slip off burberrys and crampons. The latter are full of steel spikes, +and being capable of upsetting magnetic equilibrium, are left outside. +Walking in soft finnesko, the magnetician opens an inner door, to be at +once accosted by darkness, made more intense after the white glare of +the snow. His eyes grow accustomed to the blackness, and he gropes his +way to a large box almost concealing the feeble glimmer of a lamp. The +lamp is the source of the light, projected on to small mirrors attached +to the magnetic needles of three variometers. A ray of light is +reflected from the mirrors for several feet on to a slit, past which +revolves sensitized photographic paper folded on a drum moving by +clockwork. The slightest movements of the suspended needles are greatly +magnified, and, when the paper is removed and developed in a dark-room, +a series of intricate curves denoting declination, horizontal intensity +and vertical force, are exquisitely traced. Every day the magnetician +attends to the lamp and changes papers; also at prearranged times he +tests his "scale values" or takes a "quick run." + +To obtain results as free as possible from the local attraction of +the rocks in the neighbourhood, Webb resolved to take several sets of +observations on the ice-sheet. In order to make the determinations it +was necessary to excavate a cave in the glacier. This was done about +three-quarters of a mile south of the Hut in working shifts of two men. +A fine cavern was hewn out, and there full sets of magnetic observations +were taken under ideal conditions. + +On sledging journeys the "dip" and declination were both ascertained at +many stations, around and up to within less than half a degree of the +South Magnetic Pole. + +While the wind rushed by at a maddening pace and stars flashed like +jewels in a black sky, a glow of pale yellow light overspread the +north-east horizon--the aurora. A rim of dark, stratus cloud was often +visible below the light which brightened and diffused till it curved as +a low arc across the sky. It was eerie to watch the contour of the arc +break, die away into a delicate pallor and reillumine in a travelling +riband. Soon a long ray, as from a searchlight, flashed above one end, +and then a row of vertical streamers ran out from the arc, probing +upwards into the outer darkness. The streamers waxed and waned, died +away to be replaced and then faded into the starlight. The arc lost its +radiance, divided in patchy fragments, and all was dark once more. + +This would be repeated again in a few hours and irregularly throughout +the night, but with scenic changes behind the great sombre pall of the +sky. North-west, northeast, and south-east it would elusively appear in +nebulous blotches, flitting about to end finally in long bright strands +in the zenith, crossing the path of the "milky way." + +By the observer, who wrote down his exact observations in the +meteorological log, this was called a "quiet night." + +At times the light was nimble, flinging itself about in rich waves, +warming to dazzling yellow-green and rose. These were the nights when +"curtains" hung festooned in the heavens, alive, rippling, dancing +to the lilt of lightning music. Up from the horizon they would mount, +forming a vortex overhead, soundless within the silence of the ether. + +A "brilliant display," we would say, and the observer would be kept busy +following the track of the evanescent rays. + +Powerless, one was in the spell of an all-enfolding wonder. The vast, +solitary snow-land, cold-white under the sparkling star-gems; lustrous +in the radiance of the southern lights; furrowed beneath the icy sweep of +the wind. We had come to probe its mystery, we had hoped to reduce it +to terms of science, but there was always the "indefinable" which held +aloof, yet riveted our souls. + +The aurora was always with us, and almost without exception could be +seen on a dark, driftless night. The nature of the aurora polaris has +not yet been finally demonstrated, though it is generally agreed to be +a discharge of electricity occurring in the upper, more rarefied +atmosphere. The luminous phenomena are very similar to those seen when a +current of electricity is passed through a vacuum tube. + +One receives a distinct impression of nearness, watching the shimmering +edges of the "curtains" in the zenith, but all measurements indicate that +they never descend nearer than a few miles above the land-surface. + +Careful records were taken to establish a relation between magnetic +storms and aurorae, and a good deal of evidence was amassed to support +the fact that auroral exhibitions correspond with periods of great +magnetic disturbance. The displays in Adelie Land were found to be more +active than those which occur in higher latitudes in the Ross Sea. + +An occupation which helped to introduce variety in our life was the +digging of ice-shafts. For the purpose of making observations upon its +structure and temperature various excavations were made in the sea-ice, +in the ice of the glacier, and in that of the freshwater lakes. The work +was always popular. Even a whole day's labour with a pick and shovel at +the bottom of an ice-hole never seemed laborious. It was all so novel. + +A calm morning in June, the sky is clear and the north ablaze with the +colours of sunrise--or is it sunset? The air is delicious, and a cool +waft comes down the glacier. A deep ultramarine, shading up into a soft +purple hue, blends in a colour-scheme with the lilac plateau. Two men +crunch along in spiked boots over snow mounds and polished sastrugi to +the harbour-ice. The sea to the north is glazed with freezing spicules, +and over it sweep the petrels--our only living companions of the winter. +It is all an inspiration; while hewing out chunks of ice and shovelling +them away is the acute pleasure of movement, exercise. + +The men measure out an area six feet by three feet, and take a +preliminary temperature of the surface-ice by inserting a thermometer +in a drilled hole. Then the ice begins to fly, and it is not long before +they are down one foot. Nevertheless it would surprise those acquainted +only with fresh water ice to find how tough, sticky and intractable is +sea-ice. It is always well to work on a definite plan, channelling in +various directions, and then removing the intervening lumps by a few +rough sweeps of the pick. At a depth of one foot, another temperature is +taken, and some large samples of the ice laid by for the examination of +their crystalline structure. This is repeated at two feet, and so on, +until the whole thickness is pierced to the sea-water beneath. At three +feet brine may begin to trickle into the hole, and this increases in +amount until the worker is in a puddle. The leakage takes place, if not +along cracks, through capillary channels, which are everywhere present +in sea-ice. + +It is interesting to note the temperature gradually rise during the +descent. At the surface the ice is chilled to the air-temperature, say +-10 degrees F., and it rises in a steep gradient to approximately 28 +degrees F.; close to the freezing-point of sea water. The sea-ice in +the boat-harbour varied in thickness during the winter between five and +seven feet. + +In contrast with sea-ice, the ice of a glacier is a marvel of prismatic +colour and glassy brilliance. This is more noticeable near the surface +when the sun is shining. Deep down in a shaft, or in an ice-cavern, the +sapphire reflection gives to the human face quite a ghastly pallor. + +During the high winds it was always easy to dispose of the fragments +of ice in the earlier stages of sinking a shaft. To be rid of them, all +that was necessary was to throw a shovelful vertically upwards towards +the lee-side of the hole, the wind then did the rest. Away the chips +would scatter, tinkling over the surface of the glacier. Of course, when +two men were at work, each took it in turns to go below, and the one +above, to keep warm, would impatiently pace up and down. Nevertheless, +so cold would he become at times that a heated colloquy would arise +between them on the subject of working overtime. When the shaft had +attained depth, both were kept busy. The man at the pit's mouth lowered +a bucket on a rope to receive the ice and, in hauling it up, handicapped +with clumsy mitts, he had to be careful not to drop it on his +companion's head. + +The structural composition of ice is a study in itself. To the cursory +glance a piece of glacier-ice appears homogeneous, but when dissected +in detail it is found to be formed of many crystalline, interlocking +grains, ranging in size from a fraction of an inch to several inches +in diameter. A grain-size of a half to one inch is perhaps commonest in +Antarctic glacier-ice. + +The history of Antarctic glacier-ice commences with the showers of snow +that fall upon the plateau. The snow particles may be blown for +hundreds of miles before they finally come to rest and consolidate. +The consolidated snow is called neve, the grains of which are +one-twenty-fifth to one hundredth of an inch in diameter, and, en masse, +present a dazzling white appearance on account of the air spaces which +occupy one-third to one-half of the whole. In time, under the influence +of a heavy load of accumulated layers of neve, the grains run +together and the air spaces are eliminated. The final result is clear, +transparent ice, of a more or less sapphire-blue colour when seen in +large blocks. It contains only occasional air-bubbles, and the size of +the grains is much increased. + +Lake-ice, freezing from the surface downwards, is built up of long +parallel prisms, like the cells of a honey-comb on a large scale. In a +lakelet near the Hut this was beautifully demonstrated. In some places +cracks and fissures filled with snow-dust traversed the body of the +ice, and in other places long strings of beaded air-bubbles had become +entangled in the process of freezing. To lie down on the clear surface +and gaze "through the looking-glass" to the rocky bottom, twenty feet +below, was a glimpse into "Wonderland." + +In the case of sea-ice, the simple prismatic structure is complicated +owing to the presence of saline matter dissolved in the sea water. +The saline tracts between the prisms produce a milky or opalescent +appearance. The prisms are of fresh water ice, for in freezing the brine +is rejected and forced to occupy the interstices of the prisms. Water of +good drinking quality can be obtained by allowing sea water ice to thaw +partially. The brine, of lower freezing-point, flows away, leaving only +fresh water ice behind. In this way blocks of sea-ice exposed to the +sun's rays are relieved of their salty constituents, and crumble into +pellucid gravel when disturbed. + +A popular subject commanding general interest, apart from the devoted +attention of specialists, was zoological collecting. Seals and birds +were made the prey of every one, and dredging through the sea-ice in +winter and spring was always a possible diversion. + +It was a splendid sight to watch the birds sailing in the high winds of +Adelie Land. In winds of fifty to seventy miles per hour, when with good +crampons one had to stagger warily along the ice-foot, the snow petrels +and Antarctic petrels were in their element. Wheeling, swinging, +sinking, planing and soaring, they were radiant with life--the wild +spirits of the tempest. Even in moderate drift, when through swirling +snow the vistas of sea whitened under the flail of the wind, one +suddenly caught the silver flash of wings and a snow petrel glided past. + +But most memorable of all were certain winter mornings of unexpected +calm, when ruddy clouds tessellated the northern sky and were mirrored +in the freezing sea. Then the petrels would be en fete, flying over from +the east following the line of the Barrier, winding round the icy +coves, darting across the jutting points and ever onward in their +long migration. In the summer they flew for weeks from the west--a +never-ending string of snow, silver-grey and Antarctic petrels, and +Cape pigeons. The silver-grey petrels and Cape pigeons were only abroad +during that season and were accompanied by skua gulls, giant petrels, +Wilson petrels, and penguins. The penguins remained in Adelie Land for +the longest period--almost six months, the skua gulls and giant petrels +for five months, and the rest for a shorter period--the tolerable season +of midsummer. + +Birds that haunt the wide oceans all make use of the soaring principle +in flight, some much more than others. The beautiful sliding sweep of +the albatross is the most familiar example. With wings outspread, it is +a miniature aeroplane requiring no engines, for the wind itself supplies +the power. A slight movement of the tail-feathers and wing-tips controls +its balance with nice precision. Birds employing this method of flight +find their home in the zone of continuous steady winds which blow across +the broad wastes of the southern seas. + +Many petrels on the wing were shot during the winter. Laseron, who +prepared the skins of our Adelie Land collection, determined, in the +case of a number of specimens, the ratio of weight to horizontal area +exposed to the wind. This subject is one which has lately exercised the +curiosity of aviators. The ratios are those evolved by nature, and, +as such, should be wellnigh perfect. Below is appended a table of the +results obtained. + +WEIGHT OF CERTAIN ANTARCTIC BIRDS IN RELATION TO WING AREAS + +(Stated in pounds per square foot of wing surface) + +Each is the mean of several determinations by Laseron + + Giant petrel........... 3.5 + Albatross ........... 2.4 + Antarctic petrel......... 2.1 + Skua gull ........... 1.6 + Snow petrel ........... 1.1 + Wilson petrel........... 0.6 + + Values from a book of reference quoted for comparison + + Bat ........... 0.1 + Sparrow ........... 0.4 + Wild goose ........... 1.7 + + +During the winter, for a long period, no seals ventured ashore, though +a few were seen swimming in the bay. The force of the wind was so +formidable that even a heavy seal, exposed in the open, broadside-on, +would be literally blown into the water. This fact was actually observed +out on the harbour-ice. A Weddell seal made twelve attempts to land on +a low projecting shelf--an easy feat under ordinary circumstances. The +wind was in the region of eighty-five miles per hour, and every time +the clumsy, ponderous creature secured its first hold, back it would be +tumbled. Once it managed to raise itself on to the flat surface, and, +after a breathing spell, commenced to shuffle towards the shelter of +some pinnacles on one side of the harbour. Immediately its broad flank +was turned to the wind it was rolled over, hung for a few seconds on +the brink, and then splashed into the sea. On the other hand, during the +spring, a few more ambitious seals won their way ashore in high winds; +but they did not remain long in the piercing cold, moving uneasily from +place to place in search of protecting hummocks and finally taking to +the water in despair. Often a few hours of calm weather was the signal +for half a dozen animals to land. The wind sooner or later sprang up and +drove them back to their warmer element. + +Under the generic name, seal, are included the true or hair seals and +the sea-bears or fur seals. Of these the fur seals are sub-polar in +distribution, inhabiting the cold temperate waters of both hemispheres, +but never living amongst the polar ice. The southern coast of Australia +and the sub-antarctic islands were their favourite haunts, but the +ruthless slaughter of the early days practically exterminated them. From +Macquarie Island, for example, several hundred thousand skins were taken +in a few years, and of late not a single specimen has been seen. + +Closely related to the fur seals are the much larger animals popularly +known as sea-lions. These still exist in great numbers in south +temperate waters. Both are distinguished from the hair seals by one +obvious characteristic: their method of propulsion on land is by a +"lolloping" motion, in which the front and hind flippers are used +alternately. The hair seals move by a caterpillar-like shuffle, making +little or no use of their flippers; and so, the terminal parts of +their flippers are not bent outwards as they are in the fur seals and +sea-lions. + +Of the hair seals there are five varieties to be recognized in the +far South. The Weddell seals, with their mottled-grey coats, are the +commonest. They haunt the coasts of Antarctica and are seldom found at +any distance from them. Large specimens of this species reach nine and a +half feet in length. + +The crab-eater seal, a smaller animal, lives mostly on the pack-ice. +Lying on a piece of floe in the sunshine it has a glistening, +silver-grey skin--another distinguishing mark being its small, handsome +head and short, thin neck. Small crustaceans form its principal food. + +The Ross seal, another inhabitant of the pack-ice, is short and +bulky, varying from a pale yellowish-green on the under side to a dark +greenish-brown on the back. Its neck is ample and bloated, and when +distended in excitement reminds one of a pouter-pigeon. This rare seal +appears to subsist mainly on squid and jelly-fish. + +The sea-leopard, the only predacious member of the seal family, has an +elongated agile body and a large head with massive jaws. In general it +has a mottled skin, darker towards the back. It lives on fish, penguins +and seals. Early in April, Hurley and McLean were the first to obtain +proof that the sea-leopard preyed on other seals. Among the broken +floe-ice close beneath the ice-cliffs to the west of Winter Quarters, +the wind was driving the dead body of a Weddell seal which swept +past them, a few yards distant, to the open water. Then it was that +a sea-leopard was observed tearing off and swallowing great pieces of +flesh and blubber from the carcase. + +The last variety of hair seal, the sea elephant, varies considerably +from the preceding. Reference has already been made to the species +earlier in the narrative. The habitat of these monstrous animals ranges +over the cold, south-temperate seas; sea elephants are but occasional +visitors to the ice-bound regions. Although they have been exterminated +in many other places, one of their most populous resorts at the present +day is Macquarie Island. + +In the case of all the hair seals a layer of blubber several inches in +thickness invests the body beneath the skin and acts as a conserver of +warmth. They are largely of value for the oil produced by rendering down +the blubber. The pelts are used for leather. + +The operation of skinning seals for specimens, in low temperatures and +in the inevitable wind, was never unduly protracted. We were satisfied +merely to strip off the skin, leaving much blubber still adhering to it. +In this rough condition it was taken into the work-room of the Hut to +be cleaned. The blubber froze, and then had the consistency of hard soap +and was readily severed from the pelt. It was found that there exuded +amongst the frozen blubber a thin oil which remained liquid when +collected and exposed to low temperatures. This oil was used to +lubricate the anemometer and other instruments exposed outside. + +The main part of the biological work lay in the marine collections. +Hunter with the small hand-dredge brought up abundant samples of life +from depths ranging to fifty fathoms. In water shallower than ten +fathoms the variety of specimens was not great, including seaweeds up to +eighteen or more feet in length, a couple of forms of starfish, various +small mollusca, two or three varieties of fish, several sea-spiders, +hydroids and lace corals, and, in great profusion, worms and small +crustaceans. In deeper waters the life became much richer, so that +examples of almost every known class of marine animals were represented. + +Early in June the sea bottom in depths less than ten fathoms had become +so coated with ice that dredging in shallow water was suspended. + +Floating or swimming freely were examples of pteropods, worms, +crustaceans, ostracods, and jelly-fish. These were easily taken in the +hand-net. + +In those regions where ice and water are intermingled, the temperature +of the water varies very slightly in summer and winter, remaining +approximately at freezing-point. In summer the tendency to heating is +neutralized by a solution of some of the ice, and in winter the cold is +absorbed in the production of a surface layer of ice. This constancy of +the sea's temperature is favourable to organic life. On land there is a +wide range in temperature, and only the meagre mosses and lichens, and +the forms of insect life which live among them can exist, because they +have developed the capacity of suspending animation during the winter. +The fresh-water lakelets were found to be inhabited by low forms of +life, mainly microscopic. Among these were diatoms, algae, protozoa, +rotifera, and bacteria. + +The last-named were investigated by McLean and were found to be manifold +in distribution. Besides those from the intestines of animals and birds, +cultures were successfully made from the following natural sources: +lichen soil, moss soil, morainic mud, guano, ice and snow. The results +may open some new problems in bacteriology. + +Of recent years much attention has been given to the study of +parasites--parasitology. Parasites may be external, on the skin; +internal, in the alimentary canal; or resident, in the corpuscles of the +blood. In tropical countries, where there is great promiscuity of life, +one is led to expect their almost universal presence. But in polar +regions, where infection and intimate co-habitation for long periods are +not the rule, while the climate is not favourable to organic existence, +one would be surprised to find them in any great number. The fact +remains that internal parasites were found in the intestine of every +animal and fish examined, and in all the birds except the Wilson petrel. +External parasites were present on every species of bird and seal, +though individuals were often free of them. This was so in the case of +the Adelie penguins. It is a demonstration of the protective warmth of +the feathers that Emperor penguins may harbour insect parasites in great +numbers. It is only less wonderful than the fact that they are able +to rear their young during the Antarctic winter. A large number +of blood-slides were prepared and stained for examination for +blood-parasites. + +Searching for "fleas" amongst the feathers of birds and the hair +of seals, or examining the viscera for "worms" is neither of them a +pleasant occupation. To be really successful, the enthusiasm of the +specialist is necessary. Hunter allowed no opportunities to pass and +secured a fine collection of parasites. + +Amongst other work, McLean carried out monthly observations on six men, +determining the colour-index and haemoglobin value of their blood over +a period of ten months. The results showed a distinct and upward rise +above the normal. + +Among societies privileged to see the daily paper and to whom diversity +and change are as the breath of life, the weather is apt to be tabooed +as a subject of conversation. But even the most versatile may suddenly +find themselves stripped of ideas, ignominiously reduced to the obvious +topic. To us, instead of being a mere prelude to more serious matters, +or the last resort of a feeble intellect, it was the all-engrossing +theme. The man with the latest hare-brained theory of the causation +of the wind was accorded a full hearing. The lightning calculator who +estimated the annual tonnage of drift-snow sweeping off Adelie Land was +received as a futurist and thinker. Discussion was always free, and the +subject was never thrashed out. Evidence on the great topic accumulated +day by day and month by month; yet there was no one without an innate +hope that winter would bring calm weather or that spring-time, at least, +must be propitious. + +Meanwhile the meteorologist accepted things as he found them, supplied +the daily facts of wind-mileage and direction, amount of drift, +temperature and so forth, which were immediately seized by more +vivacious minds and made the basis of daring speculations. + +The daily facts were increased by the construction of a new instrument +known as the puffometer. It was entirely a home-made contrivance, +designed to measure the speed of heavy gusts of wind. A small aluminium +sphere was arranged to blow out at the end of a light cord exerting +tension on a calibrated spring. The pull was transferred to a lever +carrying a pencil, which travelled across a disk of carbonized paper. +The disk, moving by clockwork, made a complete revolution every hour. +The recording parts of the instrument were enclosed in a snow-proof box +in which there was a small aperture on the leeward side, through which +ran the cord attachment of the sphere. This may give a rough idea of +the apparatus employed to measure the momentary velocity of the cyclonic +gusts. The idea is not an original one, having been previously applied +for use on kites. + +It was not always possible to use the puffometer in the strongest gusts +because these were often transient, occurring unexpectedly or during the +night; while it took a little time to get the instrument into running +order. Even in daylight, with the landscape clear of drift, it was a +time-absorbing and difficult task to secure a record. + +Two men start from the Hut with iron crampons and a full complement of +clothes and mitts. Outside they find themselves in a rushing torrent +of air, pulsating with mighty gust-waves. Lowered from the estate +of upright manhood, they humbly crawl, or make a series of crouching +sprints between the gusts. Over the scattered boulders to the east of +the Hut, across a patch of polished snow they push to the first low +ridge, and there they stop for breath. Up on the side of "Annie Hill," +in the local phrase, the tide sweeps by with fiendish strength, and +among the jagged rocks the man clutching the puffometer-box has a few +desperate falls. At last both clamber slowly to an eminence where a long +steel pipe has been erected. To the top of this the puffometer is hauled +by means of a pulley and line. At the same time the aluminium sphere is +released, and out it floats in the wind tugging at the spring. + +The puffometer was left out for an hour at a time, and separate gusts up +to one hundred and fifty and one hundred and eighty miles per hour were +commonly indicated. I remember the final fate of this invention. While +helping to mount it one day, the wind picked me up clear of the ground +and dashed myself and the instrument on some rocks several yards away. +The latter was badly damaged, but thick clothing saved me from serious +injury. + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +The wind velocity and wind direction charts for Midwinter's Day, +when the steady south-by-east gale was broken after noon by a welcome +lull--the wind veering the while all round the compass. + +The average velocity for the day 66.9 miles per hour, and the maximum of +the average hourly velocities, ninety-six miles. + + +The steadiness of the temperature was a subject for debate. The stronger +the wind blew, the less variation did the thermometer show. Over a +period of several days there might be a range of only four or five +degrees. Ordinarily, this might be expected of an insular climate, but +in our case it depended upon the fact that the wind remained steady from +the interior of the vast frigid continent. The air which flowed over the +Hut had all passed through the same temperature-cycle. The atmosphere +of the interior, where the plateau stood at an elevation of, say, eight +thousand feet, might have a temperature -45 degrees F. As the air +flowed northwards over Adelie Land to the sea, it would rise slowly in +temperature owing to the increased barometric pressure consequent on the +descending gradient of the plateau. At sea-level the temperature of the +river of air would be, approximately, -20 degrees F. + +Such a rise in temperature due to compression is a well-known +phenomenon, referred to as the Foehn effect. + +The compression of the atmosphere during the gusts affected the air +temperature so considerably that, coincident with their passage, the +mercury column could often be seen rising and falling through several +degrees. The uniform conditions experienced during steady high winds +were not only expressed by the slight variation in the temperature, +but often in a remarkably even barometric curve. Thus on July 11 the +wind-velocity for twenty-four hours was, throughout, seventy miles per +hour; the temperature remaining within a few degrees of-21 degrees F., +and the barometric curve did not show as much range as one-twentieth of +an inch. + +In attending to the many instruments and in gathering the voluminous +meteorological data, Madigan had his hands very full. Throughout two +years he carried on the work capably and thoroughly. It was difficult to +keep the instruments free from the penetrating snow and in good running +order. The Robinson anemometer was perhaps the greatest source of +worry. Repairs and readjustments were unavoidable, as the instrument +was constantly working at high pressure. In order that these might be +carried out efficiently, the whole apparatus had to be carried down to +the Hut. Here, Bickerton and Correll were continually in consultation +with the meteorologist on the latest breakdown. Cups were blown off +several times, and one was lost and replaced with difficulty. Most +aggravating of all was a habit the clocks developed of stopping during +the colder spells. The old-fashioned method of boiling them was found +of assistance, but it was discovered that the best treatment was to put +them through successive baths of benzene and alcohol. + +The most chronic sufferer throughout the vicissitudes of temperature was +the clock belonging to Bage's tide-gauge. Every sleeper in the Hut who +was sensitive to ticking knew and reviled that clock. So often was it +subjected to warm, curative treatment in various resting-places that +it was hunted from pillar to post. A radical operation by Correll--the +insertion of an extra spring--became necessary at last. Correll, +when not engaged designing electroscopes, improving sledge-meters and +perfecting theodolites, was something of a specialist in clocks. His +advice on the subject of refractory time-pieces was freely asked and +cheerfully given. By perseverance and unlimited patience, the tide-gauge +down on the harbour-ice was induced to supply a good series of unbroken +records. + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +The tide-gauge + +The rise and fall of the tide is coincident with the movements of +a perpendicular wire to which the Float is attached. The Wheel is +revolved, and through wire connections (indicated above) displaces +vertically the Pen. This traces a record on paper folded on the drum +which is driven by clockwork. In all weathers, the box was enveloped in +drift-proof canvas. + + +Antarctica is a world of colour, brilliant and intensely pure. The +chaste whiteness of the snow and the velvet blackness of the rocks +belong to days of snowy nimbus enshrouding the horizon. When the sky has +broken into cloudlets of fleece, their edges are painted pale orange, +fading or richly glowing if the sun is low. In the high sun they are +rainbow-rimmed. + +The clouds have opened into rifts and the sun is setting in the +north-west. The widening spaces in the zenith are azure, and low in the +north they are emerald. Scenic changes are swift. Above the mounting +plateau a lofty arch of clear sky has risen, flanked by roseate clouds. +Far down in the south it is tinged with indigo and ultramarine, washed +with royal purple paling onwards into cold violet and greyish-blue. + +Soon the north is unveiled. The liquid globe of sun has departed, +but his glory still remains. Down from the zenith his colours descend +through greenish-blue, yellowish-green, straw-yellow, light terra-cotta +to a diffuse brick-red; each reflected in the dull sheen of freezing +sea. Out on the infinite horizon float icebergs in a mirage of mobile +gold. The Barrier, curving to east and west, is a wall of delicate pink +overlaid with a wondrous mauve--the rising plateau. A cold picture--yet +it awakens the throb of inborn divinity. + +Despite contrary predictions, there were some enjoyable days in June. +Occupation had to be strenuous, making the blood run hot, otherwise the +wind was apt to be chill. So the Transit House was founded, and there +were many volunteers to assist Bage in carrying the tons of stones which +formed its permanent base. The nearest large collection of boulders was +twenty yards away, on the edge of a moraine, but these after a while +became exhausted. Plenty of rocks actually showed above the surface, but +the majority were frozen-in, and, when of suitable size, could only +be moved by a heavy crowbar. Some of the men, therefore, dislodged the +rocks, while others carried them. + +When Bage was wondering how long the supply would last, Ninnis and Mertz +came to the rescue with sledges and dog-teams. Boxes were piled on +to the sledges and away the teams went, careering across the ice-flat +towards the Magnetograph House close to which there were many heaps +of stones, wind-swept and easily displaced. Soon a regular service was +plying to the foundations, and, at the same time, the dogs were being +trained. This occupation was continued, weather permitting, for several +weeks before Midwinter's Day. Thus the drivers gained experience, while +the animals, with a wholesome dread of the whip, became more responsive +to commands. Eagerly the huskies strained at their traces with excited +yelps. The heavily laden sledges would break out and start off with +increasing speed over the rough ice. The drivers, running at full speed, +jumped on the racing loads--Mertz in the lead shouting some quaint yodel +song; Ninnis, perhaps, just behind upbraiding a laggard dog. + +Midwinter's Day! For once, the weather rose to the occasion and calmed +during the few hours of the twilight-day. It was a jovial occasion, and +we celebrated it with the uproarious delight of a community of eighteen +young men unfettered by small conventions. The sun was returning, and we +were glad of it. Already we were dreaming of spring and sledging, summer +and sledging, the ship and home. It was the turn of the tide, and the +future seemed to be sketched in firm, sure outline. While the rest +explored all the ice-caves and the whole extent of our small +rocky "selection," Hannam and Bickerton shouldered the domestic +responsibilities. Their menu du diner to us was a marvel of gorgeous +delicacies. After the toasts and speeches came a musical and dramatic +programme, punctuated by choice gramophone records and rowdy student +choruses. The washing-up was completed by all hands at midnight. +Outside, the wind was not to be outdone; it surpassed itself with an +unusual burst of ninety-five miles per hour. + + + Menu du Diner + + Escoffier potage a la Reine + + Noisettes de Phoque | Claret + Haricot Verts | Tintara + Champignons en Sauce Antarctique | + + Pingouin a la Terre Adelie | Burgundy + Petits Pois a la Menthe | Chauvenet + Pommes Nouvelle | 1898 + | + Asperges au Beurre Fondu | + + Plum Pudding Union Jack | Port + Pate de Groseilles | Kopke + | + Desserts | + + Cafe + + ---------------0------------ + +During dinner the Blizzard will render the usual accompaniment--the +Tempest. For Ever and Ever etc. + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +MIDWINTER'S DAY MENU AT THE MAIN BASE, ADELIE LAND, 1912 + + + +CHAPTER X THE PREPARATION OF SLEDGING EQUIPMENT + + +The world of fashion insists on its minute vagaries in dress not always +with an eye to utility and an explorer in the polar regions is a very +fastidious person, expending a vast amount of care on his attire, but +with the sole idea of comfort, warmth, and usefulness. The clothes +he wears are many and often cumbersome, but they have gradually been +perfected to meet the demands of the local weather conditions. After a +sojourn in the ice-lands, he returns to civilization with a new concept +of the value of dress. At last he can stand still without being reminded +that his feet are chilly; he experiences the peculiar sensation of +walking about in an airily light suit, in glove-tight boots, without +helmet or mitts. It gives him such a delicious feeling of freedom that +his energy is unbounded and life is a very pleasant and easy thing. Then +it is that he can turn in retrospect to the time in exile, appreciate +his altered circumstances and recall the many ingenuities which were +evolved to make him master of his environment. + +It is sufficient to say that we found the proposition of clothing one +of unusual interest. Any one who was not a practised needleman and +machinist was handicapped for a time, until he fell into the ways of the +through-and-through and blanket-stitch, thimbles, shuttles, spools and +many other things he had once affected to despise as belonging to the +sphere of women's work. It was not long before he was an enthusiast in +many arts attaining to a stage of independence, in which he patented new +ideas and maintained them in hot opposition to the whole community of +the Hut. On some fundamental points all were in agreement, and one +of them was that Adelie Land was the country par excellence for the +wind-proof, drift-tight burberry. + +Outside all other garments the burberry gabardine was worn. The material +was light and loosely fitting, but in wind and drift it had to be +hermetically sealed, so to speak, for the snow crept in wherever there +was an aperture. The trousers were of double thickness, as they were +exposed to the greatest wear. Attached by large buttons, toggles or +lampwick braces, they reached as high as the lower part of the chest. +Below, they had lamp-wick lashings which were securely bound round the +uppers of boots or finnesko. In walking, the trousers would often work +off the leather boots, especially if they were cut to a tailor's +length, and snow would then pour up the leg and down into the boots in +a remarkably short time. To counteract this, Ninnis initiated the very +satisfactory plan of sewing a short length of canvas on to the boots to +increase the length of the upper. + +The burberry helmet and blouse were either in one piece or separate. For +use round the Hut, in thick drifts, the combination of helmet and blouse +was handy and time-saving. For sledging, when low temperatures and +strong winds might be expected all the time, it met the conditions well; +there being no necessity to worry about keeping the neck drift-tight. +Under ordinary circumstances it was very convenient to have a blouse +and helmet detached, as one so often could wear the former with a +well-padded woollen helmet and be reduced only as a last resource to +wearing the burberry helmet. + +The blouse was roomy, giving great freedom of movement. Around the neck +was a draw-string, which bunched in the jacket tightly over the lower +part of the helmet. There was also a draw-string round the waist. It +was here that we had the greatest difficulty in making the garment fit +snow-tight. If simply tied, the blouse would soon slip up from below, +especially if one were working with pick and shovel, carrying cases or +blocks of ice. To obviate this, some of the men sewed loops or tags of +lamp-wick on to the sides of the trousers, to connect with corresponding +attachments on the blouse. As an additional security, others wore an +outside belt which was, even if the blouse slipped up for some distance, +a line of defence against the drift-snow. + +The burberry helmet completely enclosed the head except for the face, +which remained uncovered at the bottom of a funnel stiffened by several +rings of copper-wire. Lampwick, the universal polar "cord," was sewn +in short strips in front of the ears and tied at the back of the +head, firmly securing the helmet. Since the voyage of the 'Discovery' +(1901-1904) lamp-wick had been used widely in sledging on account of +its width, softness, comparative warmth and because of the fact that +ordinary cord is not so easy to manipulate in cold weather. Large +buttons of leather or bone were not nearly so popular as small, smooth +lengths of stick engaging cross-wise with loops of cord--known as +toggles, which became quite a mania with some members of the Expedition. +Whetter, for instance, was known as the "Toggle King," because of the +multitude of these stick-and-cord appendages which hung from every part +of his clothing. + +Under the burberrys thick, but light, suits of Jaeger fleece were worn. +They combined trousers and a sleeveless coat, over which a woollen +jersey was worn. In calm weather these with underclothing were +all-sufficient, but in the average fifty-mile wind at any temperature in +the neighbourhood of zero Fahrenheit, they felt distinctly porous. + +In less windy weather the luxury of discarding burberrys, either partly +or wholly, was an indulgence which gave great satisfaction. + +Finnesko were the favourite foot-gear--soft and commodious reindeer-skin +fur boots. Once these were stuffed with Lapp saennegras or manilla +fibre, and the feet covered with several pairs of socks, cold could +be despised unless one were stationary for some time or the socks or +padding became damp. Even though the padding were wet, violent exercise +kept the temperature "balance" in the warm direction, especially if one +were also under the stimulus of a recent hot meal. + +Of course, on smooth ice or polished snow in even moderate winds it was +useless to try and keep one's feet in finnesko, although practice gave +great agility in calmer weather. As already indicated, spiked crampons +on approved models, tested on the glacier-slopes in a hurricane wind, +were almost always worn encasing the finnesko. With so many coverings +the feet often became uncomfortably hot, and for odd jobs about the Hut +and not far abroad spiked leather boots gave most satisfaction. + +There were various coverings for the hands: felt mitts, mittens, +instrument-gloves and wolfskin mitts. + +The first were used in conjunction with fingerless mittens. The wear and +tear on these was greater than on any other item of clothing. It was a +common sight to see them ragged, canvas-covered, patched, repatched and +again repatched, to be at last reluctantly thrown away. There were two +compartments in a single glove, one for the thumb and the other for the +fingers. It is much easier to keep the fingers warm when in contact with +one another than by having them in separate stalls. + +Instrument-gloves of wool were used for delicate manipulations, as a +partial protection, since they reduced the stinging chill of cold metal +at low temperatures. + +Wolfskin mitts are unexcelled for use in cold windy weather. Their +shaggy external hair entangles the drift-snow, which thaws, soaks the +skin and refreezes until the mitt is stiff as buckram. This is their +main disadvantage. These mitts or rather gauntlets were made longer in +the arms than usual so as to overlap the burberry sleeves and keep the +wrists warm. + +Lambskin mitts with the wool facing inwards were very useful and wore +well for occupations like hauling on ropes and lifting cases. + +Like every other movable thing, mitts had to be made fast to prevent +them blowing away. So they were slung round the neck by a yoke of +lamp-wick. The mittened hand could then be removed with the assurance +that the outer mitt would not be far away when it was wanted, no matter +how hard the wind blew. + +There has been much discussion as to the relative merits of fur and +woollen clothing. After all the question has resolved itself into one +of personal predilection. It has been claimed that furs are warmer and +lighter. The warmth follows from the wind-proof quality of the hide +which, unfortunately, also tends to retain moist exhalations from the +body. In Adelie Land, the only furs we used were finnesko, wolfskin +mitts and sleeping-bags of reindeer skins. + +As in every part of the equipment, modifications had to be made in the +circular Willesden-drill tents. To facilitate their erection in the +perpetual winds they were sewn permanently on to the five bamboo poles, +instead of being thrown over the latter previously set in position. Thus +the tents opened like large conical umbrellas. A rawhide loop was fixed +to the middle one of the three windward legs and, when raising a tent +during a high wind, it was the usual thing for a man to be inside +gripping the loop to pin down the windward legs and at the same time, +kicking out the two leeward legs. On hard surfaces, holes were dug to +receive the ends of the poles; at other times they were pressed home +into the snow by the man inside the tent. + +When pitched, the tent was held down by blocks of snow or ice, helped +by spare food-bags, which were all piled round on a broad flounce. +Ventilators, originally supplied with the tents, had to be dispensed +with on account of the incessant drift. The door of the tent was an oval +funnel of burberry material just large enough to admit a man and secured +by a draw-string. + +Strips of calico and webbing were sewn over the insides of the light +tents to strengthen them for sledging in the summer. For heavy weather +we also had japara sail-cloth tents with Willesden canvas flounces. +These gave one a feeling of greater security and were much more +wind-proof, but unfortunately twice as heavy as the first-mentioned. + +A floor-cloth of light Willesden canvas covered the surface of snow +or ice in the interior of the tent; performing when sledging the +alternative office of a sail. + +In order to cut snow, neve or ice to pile on the flounce, a pick and +spade had to be included in the sledging equip meet. As a rule, a +strong, pointed shovel weighing about six pounds answers very well; +but in Adelie Land, the surface was so often wind-swept ice, polished +porcelain-snow, or hard neve that a pick was necessary to make any +impression upon it. It was found that a four-pound spade, carefully +handled, and a four-pound miner's pick provided against all emergencies. + +Our sledges were similar to those of other British Antarctic +expeditions; of eleven- and twelve-foot lengths. The best were +Norwegian, made of ash and hickory. Others built in Sydney, of +Australian woods, were admirably suited for special work. Those made of +mountain-ash had the advantage of being extremely light, but the runners +wore out quickly on ice and hard neve. Sledges of powellized spotted gum +were very strong and stood plenty of rough usage, but were heavier +than those procured in Norway. A decking of bamboo slats secured by +copper-wire to the crossbars was usually employed. + +A light bamboo mast and spar were fitted to each sledge. Immediately +in front of the mast came the "cooker-box," containing in respective +compartments the primus and a bottle of spirit for lighting it, as well +as spare prickers, openers and fillers for the kerosene tins, repair +outfits and other odd articles. The cooker-boxes were of Venesta board, +with hinged lids secured by chocks and overlapped by japara cloth to +exclude as much drift-snow as possible. An instrument-box was secured to +the sledge near the rear and just forward of a Venesta or aluminium +tray on which the kerosene contained in one-gallon tins was carried. In +several cases the tray was widened to receive as well a case containing +a dip-circle. Rearmost of all was a wooden crosspiece to which the +shaft of the sledge-meter was attached through a universal joint. On the +middle section of the sledge between the cooker-box and instrument-box, +sleeping-bags, food-bags, clothes-bags, tent, alpine rope, theodolite +legs, and other articles, were arranged, packed and immovably stiffened +by buckled straps passing from side to side. + +Sledging harness for both men and dogs was constructed of canvas. In the +former case, a wide belt of triple thickness encircled the body at the +hips, sewn to braces of narrower strips passing over the shoulders, +while hauling-rope was attached to the belt behind. The strength of the +whole depended on the care bestowed in sewing the parts together, and, +since his life might depend upon it, no one made anything else but a +thorough job of his harness. + +Ninnis and Mertz ran a tailoring business for the dogs, who were brought +one by one into the outer Hut to be measured for harness. After many +lengths had been cut with scissors the canvas bands were put through and +sewn together on the large sewing-machine and then each dog was fitted +and the final alterations were made. The huskies looked quite smart in +their "suits". + +Upon the primus heater, alone, did we rely for cooking the meals on +sledging journeys. First used for purposes of sledging by Dr. Nansen in +his journey across Greenland, the primus is only economically managed +after some practice. To light a primus in a draughty tent at a low +temperature calls for some forbearance before one is a thorough master +of the art. A sledging cook will often make a disagreeable faux pas +by extinguishing the primus in the preparation of hoosh. This is most +readily done by lowering too quickly the outside cover over the rest +of the cooker. Fumes of vaporizing kerosene soon fill the tent and when +matches are found, the cooker pulled to pieces, the primus relighted and +the choking vapours have cleared, one is apt to think that all is well. +The hoosh is quite as successful as usual, but the cocoa, made from +water in the annulus, has a tincture of kerosene which cannot be +concealed. + +In the "Nansen Cooker," which we used, a maximum result is secured +from the heat of the primus. The hot gases from the combustion of the +kerosene, before they escape into the outside air, have to circulate +along a tortuous path, passing from the hot interior to the colder +exterior compartments, losing heat all the time. Thus a hot hoosh is +preparing in the central vessel side by side with the melting of snow +for cocoa or tea in the annulus. By the combination of "Nansen Cooker" +and primus stove one gallon of kerosene oil properly husbanded is made +to last for twelve days in the preparation of the ordinary ration for +three men. + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +Section through a Nansen Sledging Cooker mounted on the primus + + +The subject of food is one which requires peculiar consideration +and study. It is assumed that a polar expedition must carry all its +food-stuffs in that variety and quantity which may approximately satisfy +normal demands. Fortunately, the advance of science has been such that +necessaries like vegetables, fruit, meats and milk are now preserved so +that the chances of bacterial contamination are reduced to a minimum. A +cold climate is an additional security towards the same end. + +Speaking generally, while living for months in an Antarctic hut, it is a +splendid thing to have more than the mere necessaries of life. Since +one is cut off from the ordinary amenities of social existence, it is +particularly necessary that equipment and food should be of the very +best; in some measure to replace a lack which sooner or later makes +itself keenly felt. Explorers, after all, are only mortal. + +Luxuries, then, are good in moderation, and mainly for their +psychological effect. After a spell of routine, a celebration is the +natural sequel, and if there are delicacies which in civilization are +more palatable than usual, why not take them to where they will receive +a still fuller and heartier appreciation? There is a corresponding rise +in the "tide of life" and the ennui of the same task, in the same +place, in the same wind, is not so noticeable. So we did not forget our +asparagus and jugged hare. + +In the matter of sledging foods, one comes down to a solid basis of +dietetics. But even dietetics as a science has to stand aside when +actual experience speaks. Dietetics deals with proteins, carbohydrates, +fats, and calories: all terms which need definition and comprehension +before the value of a sledging ration can be fundamentally understood. +When the subject was first introduced into table conversation at the +Hut, it was regarded somewhat suspiciously as "shop." But it gradually +won interest simply because it was of such vital concern. + +In sledging there is undoubtedly a critical allowance which will yield +the best results. Circumstances alter cases, and the correct ration +under one set of conditions cannot be expected to coincide with that in +another situation. Thus, the journey may be conducted under conditions +of great cold or of comparative warmth, by man-hauling or auxiliary +power, at sea-level or on an altitude, through regions where there is +a reasonable hope of securing additions of meat by the way, or across +barren tracts devoid of game. In each instance particular demands must +be supplied. + +In selecting the articles of diet, idiosyncrasies of individuals should +be consulted in reason, and under no consideration should anything be +taken which bears the slightest stigma of contamination. It remains, +then, to discriminate those foods which contribute the greatest amount +of nutriment for a given weight, and which, inter se, preserve a proper +dietetic balance. Variety is very desirable, provided that there is no +important sacrifice in nutrient value. The proof of a wisely selected +ration is to find at the end of a long sledge journey that the sole +craving is for an increase in the ration. Of course, such would be the +ideal result of a perfect ration, which does not exist. + +Considering that an ordinary individual in civilization may only satisfy +the choice demands of his appetite by selecting from the multifarious +bill of fare of a modern restaurant, it will be evident that the same +person, though already on the restricted diet of an explorer, cannot +be suddenly subjected to a sledging ration for any considerable period +without a certain exercise of discipline. + +For example, the Eastern Coastal Party, sledging at fairly high +temperatures over the sea-ice, noted that the full ration of hoosh +produced at times a mild indigestion, they drank much liquid to satisfy +an intense thirst and on returning to the Hut found their appetites +inclined to tinned fruit and penguins' eggs. Bickerton's and Bage's +parties, though working at a much higher altitude, had a similar +experience. The former, for instance, could not at first drink the whole +allowance of thick, rich cocoa without a slight nausea. The latter saved +rations during the first two weeks of their journey, and only when they +rose to greater heights and were in fine condition did they appreciate +the ration to the full. Again, even when one becomes used to the ration, +the sensation of full satisfaction does not last for more than an hour. +The imagination reaches forward to the next meal, perhaps partly on +account of the fact that marching is often monotonous and the scenery +uninspiring. Still, even after a good evening hoosh, the subconscious +self may assert itself in food-dreams. The reaction from even a short +sledging trip, where food has been plentiful, is to eat a good deal, +astonishing in amount to those who for the time being have lived at the +Hut. + +It may appear that a serious case is being made against the polar +sledging ration. On the whole, it was found to be excellent and the best +that experience had been able to devise. Entering the polar zones, one +must not be over-fastidious, but take it as a matter of course that +there will be self-denial and deprivation of small luxuries. + +The energy exerted by man, and the requirements of tissue-building +are derived from the organic compounds known as proteins,** fats and +carbohydrates, though in a slight degree from other substances, most +important of which are minute quantities of mineral matter. + +A calorie as used in dietetics is the amount of heat required to raise +the temperature of one kilogramme of water at 0 degrees C. to 1 degree +C. The heat-value of food-stuffs, stated in calories, can be quickly +reckoned when chemical analyses stating their protein, fat and +carbohydrate contents are available. It has been ascertained that one +gramme of protein or carbohydrate yields 4.1 calories, whilst the same +amount of fat produces 9.3 calories. Thus the value of fat-containing +foods in a sledging ration is at once apparent. + + + ** The proteins are complex nitrogenous compounds which are preeminent +in fulfilling the two functions of a food: to form tissue and to produce +work and heat. As examples may be quoted, myosin the chief protein of +ordinary meat or muscle, ovalbumin one of the proteins of egg-white, +casein belonging to milk and cheese, and gluten a protein-mixture in +flour. + +Fats are organic non-nitrogenous substances obtained from both animal +and vegetable sources, e.g. butter and olive oil. + +The carbohydrates are compounds of carbon with hydrogen and oxygen in a +certain proportion, e.g. cane-sugar and starch. + +Mineral matters are inorganic, being chlorides, carbonates or phosphates +of calcium, sodium and potassium. + + +Theoretically, any of the three classes of foods mentioned might be +thought to supply adequate energy, if taken in sufficient amount. +Practically, however, protein and carbohydrate are essential, and it is +better to have a mixture of all three. So, in concentrating foods for +sledging, the largest possible proportion of fat, compatible with other +considerations, is included. + +Ordinarily, a normal man consumes some four or five pounds weight of +solid food per diem, of which 50 per cent., it is rather surprising to +learn, is water. When sledging, one has the satisfaction of knowing that +all but the smallest quantity of the food dragged is solid nutriment. +The water is added when the meals are cooked. It is just in this +artificial addition that the sledging ration is not perfect, though as a +synthesis it satisfies the demands of dietetics. Food containing water, +as cooked meat oozing with its own gravy is a more palatable thing than +dried meat-powder to which boiling water has been added. In the same +way, a dry, hard biscuit plus liquid is a different thing from a spongy +loaf of yeast bread with its high percentage of water. One must reckon +with the psychic factor in eating. When sledging, one does not look for +food well served as long as the food is hot, nourishing and filling. So +the usage of weeks and a wolfish appetite make hoosh a most delicious +preparation; but when the days of an enforced ration are over, the +desire for appetizing well-served food reasserts itself. The body +refuses to be treated merely as an engine. + +The daily polar sledging ration for one man has been concentrated to +a figure just above two pounds in weight, For instance, in recent +Antarctic expeditions, Scott, in 1903, used 34.7 ozs., Shackleton in +1908 used 34.82 ozs. and our own amounted to 34.25 ozs. Exclusive of +tea, pepper and salt, Shackleton's ration and that adopted by Wild at +the Western Base and ourselves in Adelie Land were identical--34 ozs. +Reverting to earlier explorers, for the sake of comparisons, McClintock +in 1850 brought his minimum down to 42 ozs., Nares in 1875 to 40 ozs., +Greely in 1882 to 41.75 ozs., and Abruzzi in 1900 to 43.5 ozs. + +Our allowance was made up as follows, the relative amounts in the daily +sledging ration for one man being stated: plasmon biscuit, 12 ozs.; +pemmican, 8 ozs.; butter, 2 ozs.; plasmon chocolate, 2 ozs.; glaxo +(dried milk), 5 ozs.; sugar, 4 ozs.; cocoa, 1 oz.; tea,.25 oz. It will +be instructive to make a short note on each item. + +Plasmon biscuit was made of the best flour mixed with 30 per cent. of +plasmon powder. Each biscuit weighed 2.25 ozs., and was made specially +thick and hard to resist shaking and bumping in transit as well as the +rough usage of a sledging journey. The effect of the high percentage +of plasmon, apart from its nutritive value, was to impart additional +toughness to the biscuit, which tested our teeth so severely that we +should have preferred something less like a geological specimen and more +like ordinary "hard tack," The favourite method of dealing with these +biscuits was to smash them with an ice-axe or nibble them into small +pieces and treat the fragments for a while to the solvent action of +hot cocoa. Two important proteins were present in this food: plasmon, a +trade-name for casein, the chief protein of milk, and gluten, a mixture +of proteins in flour. + +The pemmican we used consisted of powdered dried beef (containing the +important protein, myosin) and 50 per cent. of pure fat in the form of +lard. The large content of fat contributes to its high caloric value, +so that it is regularly included in sledging diets. Hoosh is a stodgy, +porridge-like mixture of pemmican, dried biscuit and water, brought to +the boil and served hot. Some men prefer it cooler and more dilute, and +to this end dig up snow from the floor of the tent with their spoons, +and mix it in until the hoosh is "to taste," Eating hoosh is a +heightened form of bliss which no sledger can ever forget. + +Glaxo is a proprietary food preparation of dried milk, manufactured in +New Zealand. It is without doubt an ideal food for any climate where +concentration is desirable and asepsis cannot be neglected. The value of +milk as an all-round food is well known. It contains protein as casein, +fat as cream and in fine globules, carbohydrate as lactose (milk sugar) +and mineral substances whose importance is becoming more recognized. +At the Western Base, Wild's party invented glaxo biscuits; an unbaked +mixture of flour and dried milk, which were in themselves a big +inducement to go sledging. At the Hut, making milk from the dried powder +required some little experience. Cold water was added to the dried +powder, a paste was made and warm or hot water poured in until the milk +was at the required strength. One of the professional "touches" was to +aerate the milk, after mixing, by pouring it from jug to jug. + +Butter, although it contains nearly 20 per cent. of water is a food of +high heat-value and is certainly more easily digested than fat, such as +dripping, with a higher melting-point. Ours was fresh Victorian butter, +packed in the ordinary export boxes, and carried to the Antarctic on the +open bridge of the Aurora. With a sheath-knife, the sledging cook cut +off three small chunks of two ounces each from the frozen butter every +day at lunch. To show how the appetite is affected by extreme cold, +one feels that butter is a wholesome thing just in itself, being more +inclined to eat a pound than two ounces. + +Sugar--the carbohydrate, sucrose--has special qualities as a food since +it is quickly assimilated, imparting within a few minutes fresh energy +for muscular exertion. Athletes will support this; in fact, a strong +solution of sugar in water is used as a stimulant in long-distance +running and other feats of endurance. Wild, for instance, found as +a matter of experience that chocolate was preferable to cheese as a +sledging food, even though similar weights had approximately the same +food-value. + +Cocoa and tea were the two sledging beverages. The cocoa was used for +two meals, the first and the last in the day, and the tea for lunch. +Both contain stimulating alkaloids, theobromine and caffeine, and fat is +a notable constituent of cocoa. Of course, their chief nourishing value, +as far as we were concerned, lay in the glaxo and sugar added. + +Lastly, plasmon chocolate is a preparation of pure chocolate (a mixture +of ground cocoa, white sugar and starch) with the addition of 10 per +cent. of plasmon. + +As food for the dogs, there was nothing better than dried seal-steaks +with the addition of a little blubber. Ordinary pemmican is readily +eaten, but not appreciated by the dogs in the same way as seal meat. +To save weight, the meat was dried over the stove without heating it +sufficiently to cook it. By this measure, almost 50 per cent. in weight +was saved. + +The Hut was all agog with movement and bustle on the days when rations +were being made up and packed. Starting from the earliest stage in +the process, there would be two men in the outer Hut grinding plasmon +biscuit into powder. One would turn away for dear life and the other +smash the biscuit with a hammer on a metal slab and feed continuously +into the grinder. The atmosphere would be full of the nauseous vapours +of blubber arising from dishes on the stove where seal meat was drying +for the dogs. Ninnis and Mertz superintended in this department, in +careless moments allowing the blubber to frizzle and diffuse its aroma +through the Hut. + +Inside, spread along the eighteen-foot table would be the weighers, the +bag-makers or machinists, and the packers. The first made up a compound +of cocoa, glaxo and sugar--cocoa compound; mixed glaxo and sugar and +stirred together, pemmican and biscuit--pemmican compound. These were +weighed and run into calico bags, rapidly supplied by several machinists +farther along the table. In spare moments the weighers stowed chocolate, +whole biscuits, butter and tea into 190 sacks of various sizes. Lastly, +the packers had strong canvas tanks, as they were called, designed +to hold food for a week and a fortnight respectively. Into these the +rations were carefully distributed, butter in the centre, whole biscuits +near the top. Then the tanks were tightly closed, and one man operated +with palm and sail-needle, sewing them up with twine. At the same time, +a side-line was run in pemmican which was removed semi-frozen from the +air-tight tins, and shaved into small pieces with a strong sheath-knife. +Butter, too, arrived from the refrigerator-store and was subdivided into +two-ounce or pound lumps. + +Meanwhile, other occupations were in full swing. An amateur cobbler, +his crampon on a last, studded its spiked surface with clouts, hammering +away in complete disregard of the night-watchman's uneasy slumbers. The +big sewing-machine raced at top-speed round the flounce of a tent, and +in odd corners among the bunks were groups mending mitts, strengthening +sleeping-bags and patching burberrys. The cartographer at his table +beneath a shaded acetylene light drew maps and sketched, the magnetician +was busy on calculations close by. The cook and messman often made their +presence felt and heard. In the outer Hut, the lathe spun round, its +whirr and click drowned in the noisy rasp of the grinder and the blast +of the big blow-lamp. The last-named, Bickerton, "bus-driver" and +air-tractor expert, had converted, with the aid of a few pieces of +covering tin, into a forge. A piece of red-hot metal was lifted out and +thrust into the vice; Hannam was striker and Bickerton holder. General +conversation was conducted in shouts, Hannam's being easily predominant. + +The sum total of sounds was sufficient for a while to make every one +oblivious to the clamour of the restless wind. + + + +CHAPTER XI SPRING EXPLOITS + + +If the "winter calms" were a delusion, there were at least several +beautifully clear, moderately calm days in June. The expectation of +colder weather had been realized, and by the end of the month it was a +perceptible fact that the sun had definitely turned, describing a +longer arc when skimming the distant fleets of bergs along the northern +horizon. Thus on June 28 the refracted image of the sun rose into +visibility about eleven o'clock, heralded by a vivid green sky and +damask cloud and by one o'clock had disappeared. + +On the same day every one was abroad, advancing the wireless masts +another stage and digging ice-shafts. Stillwell commenced a contoured +plane-table survey of the neighbourhood of Winter Quarters. He continued +this with many breaks during the next few months and eventually +completed an accurate and valuable map, undeterred by the usual series +of frost-bites. + +There was much anticipated of July, but the wind soughed on and the +temperature decreased. Just to demonstrate its resource, the wind +maintained ninety-seven miles per hour for six hours on July 19, while +the puff-anemometer indicated several "breaks" of one hundred and fifty +miles per hour. + +July 21 was cold, calm and clear. For the first time after many weeks +the sun was mildly warm, and all felt with a spring of optimism that +a new era had begun. The sea which had been kept open by the wind was +immediately overspread with thin, dark ice, which in a few hours was +dotted with many ice-flowers aggregates of fern-like, sprouting fronds +similar to small bouquets or rosettes. Soon the surface had whitened and +thickened and by next morning was firm enough to hold a man out beyond +the nearest island. The wind did not allow this state of affairs to last +for long, for by lunch-time it had hurried away the wide floes and raged +across a foaming sea. + +We still considered the question of sledging, and I decided that if +there were the slightest prospect of accomplishing anything, several +of us would start before the end of July on a short journey. The month, +however, closed with nothing to commend it. The night-watchman for July +29 says: + +"The moon was wonderfully bright to-night, encircled by a complete halo. +It appeared to hang suspended like a silver globe in the dark blue sky. +The stars flash and sparkle and seem much nearer here than in Australia. +At midnight the wind blew at ninety miles per hour, so that it was no +easy job getting to the screen in slippery finnesko. Away in the north +there was a dense cloud of spray and sea-smoke, and the wind screamed +past the Hut. The 'St. Elmoscope' was buzzing merrily in the roof all +the time." + +Ninnis and Mertz with a team of dogs managed, on the morning of the +29th, to get several loads of forty pounds over the first steep rise +of the glacier to Webb's magnetic ice-cave against a "blow" of seventy +miles per hour. + +August 1 was marked by a hurricane, and the celebration in the evening +of Swiss Confederation Day. Mertz was the hero of the occasion as well +as cook and master of ceremonies. From a mysterious box he produced all +kinds of quaint conserves, and the menu soared to unknown delicacies +like "Potage a la Suisse, Choucroute garnie aux saucission de Berne, +Puree de foie gras trufee, and Leckerley de Bale." Hanging above the +buoyant assembly were the Cross of Helvetia and the Jack of Britannia. + +It was not till August 8 that there was any indication of improvement. +The sun was bright, the barometer was steady, the wind fell to forty +miles an hour and a fine radiant of cirrus cloud spread out fan-like +from the north; the first from that direction for months. + +On the afternoon of August 9, Ninnis, Madigan and I set off with a team +of dogs against a forty-mile wind in an attempt to push to the south. +Darkness was coming on when we sighted a bamboo pole, three and a +quarter miles south of the Hut, and camped. The dogs pulled well up the +steep slopes, but the feet of several were cut by the sharp edges of the +wind-worn ice. + +Very heavy gusts swept by in the early morning hours of the 10th. and +when the time came to get out of our sleeping-bags it fell calm for a +short space. We had taken down the tent and had started to move away, +when back rushed the wind, strong and steady. Still we pushed on with +our willing team and by a piece of good fortune reached the sledge which +had been abandoned in the autumn, five and a half miles from the Hut, +and of whose fate in the winter's hurricanes we had made all kind of +conjectures. + +On its leeward side there was a ramp of very hard snow slanting down +from the top of the sledge. To windward the low pedestal of ice on +which the runners stood was hollowed out, and the wood of the rails and +cross-bars, the leather straps, tent, floor-cloth and canvas food-tanks +were all bleached and worn. The aluminium cooker, strapped on its box, +was brightly polished on the weather side by the dry, drifting snow +impelled by the furious winds. A thermograph, left behind in the autumn, +was found to be intact and indicated a temperature of -35 degrees +F.--the lowest for the eight days during which it had run. The remains +of Madigan's plum-pudding of the autumn were unearthed and found in +splendid condition. That evening it was thawed out over the primus and +we demolished it, after a pause of over five months since having the +first cut. + +At this spot the steepest grades of the ascent to the plateau were left +behind, and it appeared to be a strategic point from which to extend our +sledging efforts. The main difficulty was that of pitching camp in +the prevailing winds on a surface of ice. To obviate this, the only +expedient was to excavate a shelter beneath the ice itself; and there +was the further consideration that all sledging parties would be able to +make use of such a haven and save extra wear on their tents. + +On the morning of August 11 Madigan and Ninnis commenced to sink a deep +vertical trench, at one end of which a room was hewn out large enough to +accommodate three men. The job was finished on the following day, and we +struck the tent and moved to our new abode. The tent was spread over the +vertical shaft which served as the entrance. + +It was a great relief to be in a strong room, with solid walls of ice, +in place of the cramped tent flapping violently in the wind. Inside, the +silence was profound; the blizzard was banished. Aladdin's Cave it +was dubbed--a truly magical world of glassy facets and scintillating +crystals. + +Shelves were chipped out at a moment's notice for primus stove, spirit +bottle, matches, kerosene and other oddments. At one side a small hole +was cut to communicate with a narrow fissure which provided ventilation +without allowing the entrance of drift snow. Whatever daylight there was +filtered through the roof and walls without hindrance. A small crevasse +opened near at hand and was a natural receptacle for rubbish. The purest +ice for cooking could be immediately hacked from the walls without the +inconvenience of having to don one's burberrys and go outside for it. +Finally, one neatly disposed of spare clothes by moistening the corner +of each garment and pressing it against the wall for a few seconds, +where it would remain hanging until required. The place, in fact, was +simply replete with conveniences. We thoroughly enjoyed the night's +rest in Aladdin's Cave, notwithstanding alarming cracks proceeding +occasionally from the crevasses around. + +Madigan and Ninnis dug a shelter for the dogs, which spent their time +curled up so as to expose as little surface as possible to the biting +wind. Their thick coats did not adhere to a snow surface, but readily +became frozen down to ice, so that an ice-axe would have to be used to +chip them free. + +On August 13, though there was a steady, strong wind blowing, we +continued our advance to the south. The dogs hated to face wind, but, on +the whole, did better than expected. In the afternoon, when only eight +miles south of Winter Quarters and at an altitude of two thousand feet, +dark and lowering clouds formed overhead, and I decided to give up any +idea of going farther out, for the time being. We had provisions for +a few days only, and there was every indication of thick, drifting +weather, during which, in the crevassed ice of that vicinity, it would +not be advisable to travel. + +After depoting a pick, shovel and some pemmican, we started back, +thinking it might be possible to reach the Hut the same night. However, +driven by a strong wind over a polished, slippery surface split into +small crevasses, down a grade which steepened quickly, we required to +have all our senses vigilant. Two of the dogs remained in harness and +the rest were allowed to run loose ahead. These two strained every +effort to catch up to their companions. + +We retarded the sledge as much as possible and all went well for a +few minutes. Then the wind slewed the sledge, the runners struck an +irregularity in the surface and the whole capsized. This happened +repeatedly, until there was nothing to do but loose the two remaining +dogs and drag the sledge ourselves. The dogs were soon lost to sight, +except Pavlova, who remained with us all the time. As the hours of +light were short in August, darkness had come before Aladdin's Cave was +reached, and it was with some relief that we saw the sledge, flag-pole +and the expectant dogs suddenly loom up in front. The sleeping-bags and +other gear were passed down into the Cave and the dogs were fed. + +When the doorway was opened in the morning, August 14, a blizzard with +dense drifting snow was in full progress. As it was not possible to see +any distance, and as our quarters were very comfortable, we decided to +wait for another day. Madigan and Ninnis went out and fed the dogs, who +were all snugly curled up in beds of snow. + +The weather was no better on the 15th, but, as we were only five and a +half miles from the Hut, which was more comfortable and where there was +much work to be done, it seemed a shame to remain cooped up in idleness. +Madigan and Ninnis were both strongly in favour of making a dash for the +Hut, so we set off. + +The sledge having been dug out, one man went in front to keep the course +and two men brought up the rear, holding back the load. With long-spiked +Swiss crampons we could hold up very well on the ice. In dense drift it +was not a simple matter to steer a correct course for the Hut and it was +essential not to deviate, as the rocky foreshores near which it stood +extended only for a mile east and west; on either side abutting on +vertical ice-cliffs. With a compelling force like a prance at our backs, +it was not a nice thing to contemplate finding ourselves on the brink of +a precipice. + +The wind, however, was steady, and we knew at what angle to steer +to keep a rough course; and we were also helped by a number of +small crevasses between three and five and a half miles which ran +approximately north and south. + +Half a mile had been covered before we remarked the absence of the dogs +which had been left to follow. We had taken for granted that they would +follow us, and were so fully occupied after starting that their absence +had passed unnoticed. It would be difficult to locate them if we +returned; the weather would improve in a few days; if they felt hungry +they would come down of their own accord. So we decided to go on without +them. + +At two miles from the Hut the drift thinned out and the wind became more +gusty. Between the gusts the view ahead opened out for a considerable +distance, and the rocks soon showed black below the last steep fall. + +Back at the Hut it was arranged that if the dogs did not return in a +reasonable time, Bage, Mertz and Hurley should go up to Aladdin's Cave +in search of them. + +They made a great effort to get away next morning. The sledge was hauled +for one thousand one hundred yards up to the magnetic ice-cave against a +bitter torrent of air rushing by at eighty-two miles an hour. Here they +retreated exhausted. + +On the 17th the wind was gauged at eighty-four miles an hour, and +nothing could be done. Dense drift and ferocious wind continued until +the morning of August 21, and still none of the dogs had come home. + +Bage, Hurley and Mertz took advantage of a slight lull to start off at +6.30 A.M. As they did not return that night we presumed they were making +good headway. + +The drift was thick and the wind high for four days, and it was not +until the morning of the 25th that the weather showed clearer and more +promising. At 2 P.M. Bage and his companions arrived at the Hut bringing +all the dogs except Grandmother, who had died of exhaustion. Aladdin's +Cave had been difficult to find in the driving snow, which had thickened +after the first few miles. They actually passed close to it when Mertz, +between the gusts, sighted Castor jumping about, fully alive to the +approaching relief. The other dogs were found curled up in the snow, in +a listless, apathetic state; apparently in the same positions when left +seven days before. They had made no attempt to break into several bags +of provisions lying close at hand, preferring to starve rather than +expose their faces to the pelting drift. All were frozen down except +Basilisk and Castor. Pavlova was in the best condition, possibly because +her last meal had been an extra full one; a reward for remaining with us +when the others had bolted. Grandmother was in the worst condition, +and, despite all efforts at revival, died four hours after. As the poor +brutes were very weak after their long fast and exposure, they were +taken into the Cave and fed on warm hoosh. Everything possible was done +for them, and in return the party passed a very miserable time cramped +in such a small space with six dogs. The accommodation was slightly +increased by enlarging the Cave. + +Five days of calm weather! It could scarcely be credited, yet September +came with such a spell. They gave us great opportunities, and, for once, +a vision of what perfect Antarctic days might be. The sea speedily froze +over and extended our territory to the north. Every day we dredged among +the tide-cracks, until Hunter and Laseron had material enough to sort +and bottle for weeks. Seals came up everywhere, and the dogs gorged on +much-needed meat and blubber. Three large Weddells were shot near the +"Eastern Barrier" on September 1, and hauled up an ice-cliff eighty feet +high to the rocks above. Work on the wireless masts went on apace, and +the geologist was abroad with his plane-table every day. Webb and Bage, +after a protracted interval, were able to take star observations for +time, in order to check the chronometers. + +Mertz, Ninnis, Whetter and Laseron, with a team of dogs sledged a big +load of food-stuffs to Aladdin's Cave on September 1. At the Cave the +dogs were let loose, but instead of running back to the Hut, lingered +about and finally had to be led down the slope. On being loosed again, +several rushed back to the Cave and were only brought along by force. +That night, Scott and Franklin, two kindred spirits, were not present at +"roll-call". + +On September 3, McLean, Whetter and Close took more provisions to +Aladdin's Cave. They reported light drift and wind on the highlands, +while at sea-level it was clear and calm. + +The sea-ice was by then thick and safe. About half a mile off shore a +very successful dredging was made in fifty fathoms; the bottom at this +depth simply teemed with life. At first, the dredge, rope-coils, tub, +picks and other necessary implements were dragged about on a sledge, but +the sledge was hauled only with great difficulty and much exertion over +the sticky, new sea-ice. As a substitute a portable, steel handcart was +advantageously employed, although, owing to its weight, tide-cracks +and rotten areas had to be crossed at a run. On one occasion a flimsy +surface collapsed under it, and Hunter had a wetting before it was +hauled on to firmer ice. + +On September 4 there was a cloud radiant from the northwest, indicative +of a change in the weather. Ninnis, Mertz and Murphy transported more +food-bags and kerosene to Aladdin's Cave. They found Franklin one and a +half miles south of the Hut lying on the ice quite well, but there was +no sign of Scott. Both dogs were seen on the 1st of the month, when they +were in a locality south-east of the Hut, where crevasses were numerous. +It seemed most probable that Scott had lost his life in one of them. The +party visiting the Cave reported a considerable amount of snow drifting +above a level of one thousand feet. + +There was another day of successful dredging, and, about four o'clock, +while several men were still out on the ice, whirlies with great columns +of drift came steadily down the glacier, pouring over the seaward +cliffs. In a few minutes the snow-clouds were round the Hut and the wind +was not long in working up to eighty miles per hour. The dredging party +reached the land just in time; and the sea-ice drifted away to the +north. Thus ended one of the most remarkable periods of fine weather +experienced by us in Adelie Land, only to be excelled in the height of +summer. + +The possibility of such a spell being repeated fired us with the hope +that after all a reasonable amount of sledging could be accomplished +in the spring. Three parties were chosen to reconnoitre in different +directions and to test the sledging gear. As we were far from being +confident in the weather, I made it clear that no party should penetrate +farther than fifty miles from the Hut, nor remain away longer than a +fortnight. + +Webb, McLean and Stillwell, the southern reconnoitring party, were the +first to set off, leaving on September 7 against a wind of fifty-six +miles per hour. Between them they had only one pair of good spiked +crampons, and it was a hard, five hours' drag up to Aladdin's Cave. A +tent which had been spread over the entrance to keep out snow was picked +up here. It had suffered punctures and small tears from crampons, and, +as the next day was one of boisterous wind, the party spent it repairing +the tent and endeavouring to take magnetic observations. The latter had +to be abandoned owing to the instrument becoming iced up. + +Next afternoon the wind fell to the forties, and the party struggled +on to the south for three miles two hundred yards and camped, as it was +necessary to make a search for a small depot of pemmican tins, a pick +and a shovel left by us in the vicinity in August. The drift cleared +at noon on the 11th, and the bamboo pole marking the depot appeared +a quarter of a mile away on the right. The pick, shovel and flag were +secured and another afternoon's march against a fifty-mile wind with +a temperature at -20 degrees F. brought the party three and a quarter +miles further, to a point eleven and three-quarter miles south of the +Hut. The wind rose to the eighties during the night, and there were +many small holes in the tent which provided more ventilation than was +agreeable. As the wind was too strong for travelling on the 12th, it was +decided to make a cave in case of accident to the tent. + +A tunnel was driven into the sloping surface of the ice towards a +crevasse about a foot wide. It was a good ten hours' job in tough ice +before the crevasse was reached. Into the fissure all the hewn ice was +thrown instead of being laboriously shovelled up through the tunnel. The +"Cathedral Grotto" was soon finished, the tent was struck and the party +made themselves comfortable inside. The cavern was found to be a very +draughty place with a crevasse along one wall, and it was difficult to +keep warm in one-man sleeping-bags. The crevasse was accordingly closed +with ice and snow. That evening and on several subsequent occasions +McLean took blood-pressure observations. + +During the next three days the wind was so strong that Webb's were the +only crampons in which any efficient marching could be done. The time +was spent in building a high break-wind of ice-blocks, a pit being +excavated on the windward side in which Webb took a full set of magnetic +observations. Within the "Grotto" the instrument rapidly became coated +with ice-crystals; in the open air this difficulty did not arise, but +others had to be overcome. It was exceedingly cold work at -20 degrees +F. in a sixty-mile wind, both for Webb and his recorder Stillwell. + +There seemed no hope of going forward, so the depot flag was hoisted +and a fortnight's provisions and kerosene stowed in the lee of the +break-wind. It was a furious race back to the Hut via Aladdin's Cave +with a gusty, seventy-five-mile wind in the rear. McLean and Stillwell +actually skied along on their short blunt crampons, while Webb did his +best to brake behind. + +The second party comprised Ninnis, Mertz, and Murphy, who went to the +south-east, leaving on September 11. After a hard fight to Aladdin's +Cave, the wind approaching fifty miles an hour, they diverged to the +south-east. On the 12th they made steady progress up the slope of the +glacier, delayed by many small crevasses. The surface was so rough that +the nuts on the sledge-meter soon became loose and it was necessary to +stop every quarter of a mile to adjust them. The day's march was a solid +five and three quarter miles against a fifty-mile wind. + +On the 13th Ninnis's record proceeds as follows: + +"The sky was still clear but the wind had increased to sixty-five miles +per hour, the temperature standing at -17 degrees F. + +"We kept on the same course; the glacier's slope being steeper. +Mertz was as usual wearing leather boots and mountaineering crampons, +otherwise progress would have been practically impossible; the finnesko +crampons worn by Murphy and myself giving very little foothold. +Travelling was very slow indeed, and when we camped at 4 P.M., two and a +half miles was all that had been covered. + +"At 9.15 A.M. (September 14) the wind practically dropped, and we +advanced under perfect conditions." + +They had not gone far, however, before the wind suddenly increased so +that only about four and a half miles were completed in the day. That +evening, curiously enough, it fell calm for a time; then there was a +period of alternating violent winds and calm. + +On Sunday, September 15, it was impossible for them to move, as a +hurricane raged outside. The tent was very much damaged by the wind, but +in that state it managed to stand up till next morning. In the +meantime all three fully dressed themselves and lay in their three-man +sleeping-bag ready to take to the road at a moment's notice. + +The next morning, at a distance of eighteen miles southeast of the +Hut, there was nothing for it but to make for Aladdin's Cave, which was +safely reached by a forced march of twelve and three-quarter miles, with +a furious wind partly abeam. On the way the sledge was blown sideways +on to the lids of many wide crevasses, which, fortunately for the party, +were strong at that season of the year. + +From the realistic reports of the two parties which had returned it was +evident that Madigan and his companions, Close and Whetter who had set +out on the 12th to the west were having a bad time. But it was not till +the 23rd, after a week of clear skies, low temperatures and unceasing +drift-free wind that we began to feel apprehensive about them. + +September 24 and 25 were punctuated by several intervals of calm during +which it was judged the party would have been able to travel. + +On the morning of September 26 Ninnis and Mertz, with a team of dogs, +set off up the hill to Aladdin's Cave to deposit some provisions and to +scan the horizon for any sign of the sledgers. On the way they fell in +with them descending the slopes, very worn and frost-bitten. + +They had a thrilling story to tell, and, when it was known that the +party had reached fifty miles to the west, everybody crowded round to +listen. + +The wind average at the Hut during their fortnight of absence was +fifty-eight miles per hour, implying worse conditions on the plateau. +Madigan gave the facts: + +"After leaving Aladdin's Cave on the 12th we continued due south, +lunching at 2 P.M. on the site of Webb's first camp. Our troubles had +already begun; the wind averaging sixty miles an hour all day with a +temperature at noon of -14 degrees F. + +"As a few tears appeared in the tent during the night, we saw that it +would not be advisable to put it up next day for lunch, so we had a +cold meal, crouched in the lee of the sledge. This custom was found +to economize time, as we became so cold eating our fare of biscuit, +chocolate and butter that we got moving again as soon as possible. +The great disadvantage was that there was nothing to drink between the +morning and evening meals. + +"We sewed up the rents in the tent during the halt, having to use bare +fingers in the open. About four stitches at a time were as much as one +man could manage, and then the other two took their turns. + +"The next day was the only comparatively calm period of the two weeks of +travelling. The wind was in the vicinity of thirty miles per hour, and, +going west, we reached a spot, twenty miles 'out,' on a snow-covered +surface, by nightfall. + +"A steady seventy-five-mile wind blew all day on the 15th at right +angles to our course, accompanied by a thick, low drift. The surface was +partially consolidated snow, very hard and smooth. Sometimes the sledge +would grip and we could pull straight ahead. Then, suddenly, it would +slide away sideways down wind and often pull us off our feet with +a sudden vicious jerk. Most of the time we were dragging in a +south-westerly direction to make the sledge run west, stumbling through +the drift with the sledge now behind us, now sliding away to leeward, +often capsizing and requiring to be laboriously righted and sometimes +repacked. + +"After many experiments, we found the best device was to have two men +on the bow-rope, about twenty feet long, and one with about ten feet +of rope attached to the rear of the sledge. The man on the tail-rope, +usually Whetter, found it very difficult to keep his feet, and, after a +score of falls in stinging drift with incidental frost-bites on fingers +and cheeks, he did not feel exactly cheerful. + +"By 4 P.M. on the 15th we had reached twenty-five miles and were +exhausted. We pitched camp at an early hour, partly influenced by the +fact that it was a special occasion--Close's birthday! Some port wine +had been slipped in to provide against that 'emergency.' On taking the +precious bottle from the instrument-box, I found that the cork was out, +and, for one awful moment, thought the bottle was empty. Then I realized +that the wine had frozen solid and had pushed the cork out by its +expansion on solidification. + +"At last, the tent safely pitched and hoosh and cocoa finished, the +moment came to drink to Close's health and happiness. The bottle had +stood on the top of the cooker while the meal was being prepared, but +the wine was still as solid as ever. After being shaken and held over +the primus for a good half-hour it began to issue in lumps. Once the +lumps were secured in mugs the rest of the thawing was easy. Finally, we +toasted Close and his wife (in far Australia) in what we voted to be +the finest draught it had ever been our good fortune to drink. In the +morning a cairn was made of the snow-blocks which were taken from +the tent-skirt, and it was surmounted with the bottle, being called +'Birthday Camp.' + +"During September 16 my right eyelid became frostbitten. I noticed that +it was hard and refused to shut, so I rubbed vigorously to bring it +round. However, it swelled and blistered badly and the eye remained +closed for two days. + +"From twenty to fifty miles 'out', the surface was neve with areas +of sastrugi up to three feet in height. No crevasses were noticed. At +twenty-eight miles out, we lost sight of the sea, and at forty miles an +altitude of four thousand five hundred feet was reached. + +"We turned out at 6 A.M. every morning and were on the move by 9 A.M. +Lunch only took half an hour and was a most uncomfortable meal. As we +sat in the lee of the sledge, the surface-drift swirled up in our +faces like fine sand. We never camped before 6 P.M. and were obliged to +consider five miles a good day's run. + +"Pitching camp took nearly an hour. Blocks of snow were cut and arranged +in a semicircle, within which the tent was laid with its peak upwind. It +sounds simple enough, but, as we had to take off crampons so as not to +tread on the tent, our difficulties were enormously increased by having +to move about wearing finnesko on a smooth surface in a high wind. One +man crawled into the tent, and, at a given signal, the other two raised +the peak while the former held on to the upwind leg and kicked the other +legs into place with his feet. The others then quickly piled food-tanks +and blocks of snow on to the skirt, calling out as soon as there was +enough to hold it down, as the man gripping the bamboo leg inside would +soon have 'deadly cold' fingers. It was always a great relief when the +tent was up. + +"Almost every night there was some sewing to do, and it was not long +before every one's fingers were in a bad state. They became, especially +near the tips, as hard as wood and devoid of sensation. Manipulating +toggles and buttons on one's clothing gave an immense amount of trouble, +and it always seemed an interminable time before we got away in the +morning. Our lowest temperature was -35 degrees F., early on September +18. + +"We were fifty miles 'out' on September 19 on a white, featureless +plain. Through low drift we had seen very little of our surroundings +on the march. A bamboo pole with a black flag was raised, a mound was +built, and a week's provisions for three men and two gallons of kerosene +were cached. + +"In the morning there was a howling eighty-mile blizzard with dense +drift, and our hopes of an early start homeward were dispelled. We +feared for the safety of the tent, knowing that if it had gone during +that 'blow' our hopes of getting back to the Hut would have been small. + +"The wind continued all day and the next night, but, to our joy, abated +on the 21st to fifty miles an hour, permitting us to travel. + +"Through a seventy-five-miler on the 22nd and a quieter day on the 23rd, +we picked up our half-way mound at Birthday Camp on September 24. On +the same night the long-suffering sledge-meter, much battered, gave up +recording. + +"At 3 A.M. I was awakened by something striking me on the head. I looked +out of the sleeping-bag and found that the tent had fallen in on us. The +lashing at the apex had carried away and the poles upwind were almost +flat. The cap was gone, and one side of the tent was split from top to +bottom. I awakened the others, and Whetter and I got out, leaving Close +inside to hang on to the bag. Luckily we had kept on our burberrys in +case of accidents. For once the entrance had not to be unfastened, as +there was a ready-made exit. The poles were roughly bound together +with an alpine rope and anchored to a pick on the windward side. It was +blowing about eighty miles an hour, but fortunately there was no drift. +When daylight came the tent was found to be hopelessly ruined, and +to light the primus was impossible, though the wind had abated to +thirty-five miles an hour. + +"We ate some frozen food and pushed on, hoping to find Aladdin's Cave +before dark, so that we should not have to spend a night without a tent. +After a struggle of thirteen miles over rough ice we came, footsore and +worn out, to Aladdin's Cave. Close's feet were badly blistered, and both +my big toes had become frost-bitten at the fifty-mile camp, giving me a +good deal of trouble on the way back. + +"Never was the Cave a more luxurious place. The cooker was kept busy far +into the night, while we drank and smoked and felt happy." + +The successful conclusion of this journey in the face of the most +adverse weather conditions was something upon which Madigan, Whetter and +Close could well feel proud, for in its way it must be a record in the +sledging world. They were indeed badly frost-bitten; Madigan's great +toes having suffered most of all. Whetter's chief injury was a wound +under the chin occasioned by a pair of scissors handled by Madigan to +free Whetter's helmet on an occasion when it was firmly frozen to his +face. + +On October 1, Mertz, Hurley and Ninnis made a gallant attempt to rescue +two dogs, Basilisk and Franklin, which had remained at Aladdin's Cave on +September 26, after accompanying them there with a load of provisions. +At the Hut there was no drift, but during the ascent it became thicker, +and the wind stronger, forcing them at last to turn back. + +Two days later another attempt was made by Ninnis and Mertz, and, in +dense drift, after wandering about for a long time they happened on the +Cave, to find that the dogs were not there, though spots were discovered +where they had evidently been sleeping in the snow. Coming back +disconsolately, they found that the dogs had reached the Hut not long +before them. Apparently the two vagrants, hearing Ninnis and Mertz +blundering about in the drift in search of the depot, had decided +that it was time to return home. We concluded that the ways of these +Greenland dogs were past finding out. + +October came with a deluge of snow and transient hours of bright +sunlight, during which the seals would make a temporary landing and +retire again to the water when their endurance was exhausted. Snow +petrels flew in great numbers about the rocks in the evening, seeking +out their old nest-crevices. Seeing these signs of returning life, every +one was in great expectation of the arrival of the penguins. + +On the night of the 11th, Hurley, Laseron, Hunter and Correll made an +innovation by presenting a small farce to an audience which had been +starved of dramatic entertainment for a long time, and consequently +showed tremendous appreciation. + +The first penguin came waddling up the ice-foot against a seventy-mile +wind late on the afternoon of October 12. McLean brought the bird back +to the Hut and the newcomer received a great ovation. Stimulated by +their success on the previous night and the appearance of the first +penguin, the theatrical company added to their number, and, dispensing +with a rehearsal, produced an opera, "The Washerwoman's Secret" +(Laseron). Part of the Hut was curtained off as a combined green-room +and dressing-room; the kitchen was the stage; footlights twinkled on the +floor; the acetylene limelight beamed down from the rafters, while the +audience crowded on a form behind the dining-table, making tactless +remarks and steadily eating chocolate. + +The typed programmes advertised the following: + +THE WASHERWOMAN'S SECRET + +(Opera in Five Acts) + +DRAMATIS PERSONAE + + DR. STAKANHOISER (Tenor) "Hoyle" Hurley + CHEVALIER DE TINTAIL (Fiver) "Johnny" Hunter + BARON DE BRENT (Basso) "Joe" Laseron + COUNT HOOPENKOFF (Barrowtone) "Little Willie" Correll + MADAM FUCLOSE (Don't Sing) "Also Joe" Laseron + JEMIMA FUCLOSE (Soprano) "Dad" McLean + DR. STAKANHOISER'S Dog " Monkey" Greenland Pup + VILLAGE IDIOT "Bick" Bickerton + ORCHESTRA "Stillwater Willie" StillWell + +ACT I + +SCENE: Room in poorer part of Berlin: MADAM FUCLOSE in bed dying: JEMIMA +at table washing clothes + +Song "When Sparrows Build" JEMIMA + + [Knock at door. Enter Dr. STAKANHOISER. + +Song: "I vas a Doctor" + +[Attends MADAM FUCLOSE, who, when dying, tells him that JEMIMA is not +her daughter, but the Princess of Adeliana, whom she has rescued in +Paris during the Revolution. + +Death Scene and Chorus: "Who Killed my Mother?" + +ACT II + +SCENE: Beneath JEMIMA'S window + +[Enter Dr. STAKANHOISER disguised as organ grinder. + +Song: "Vurds der Likum" Dr. S. + +[JEMIMA opens window and throws flour on DOCTOR. + +[Enter BARON DE BRENT, kicks DOCTOR out. + +Song: "Baron of Brent" + +[BARON makes love to JEMIMA, who laughs at him. + +Duet: "Wilt love me" JEMIMA and BARON + +[Enter CHEVALIER DE TINTAIL, who denounces the BARON as already having +four wives. The BARON goes off, muttering revenge. + +Song: "I'm in love with a wonderful lady" CHEVALIER + +[The CHEVALIER makes love to JEMIMA, who loves him in return. + +Chorus: "Jemima" + +ACT III + +SCENE: Conspirators' Chamber + +[Enter DOCTOR, who hides behind a barrel. + +[Enter COUNT HOOPENKOFF, who amuses himself playing a piccolo. + +[Enter BARON. They discuss plot to kidnap Princess, which is overheard +by DOCTOR. + +[Enter Ghost, who frightens conspirators away. + +Chorus: "Little Willie Smith" + + +ACT IV + +SCENE: JEMIMA's room + + [The CHEVALIER DE TINTAIL is waiting. + +Song: "I want you to see my Girl" CHEVALIER + + [Enter JEMIMA. Love scene. + +[Enter DOCTOR, who discloses the plot he has heard and tells JEMIMA +of her high descent. The CHEVALIER and the DOCTOR hide, and the two +villains, by means of a ladder, enter the room. The heroes spring from +their hiding-place and the villains are ejected. + +Chorus: "There is a Wash-House" + +ACT V + +SCENE: Conspirators' Chamber + +[The BARON and COUNT enter by different doors. They accuse each other of +having betrayed the plot. Duel follows in which both are killed. + +Duet: "Mort de Botheo" COUNT and BARON + +[All the others rush in. The two lovers come together and the DOCTOR +says, "God bless you, my children." + +Chorus: "Auld Lang Syne" COMPANY and AUDIENCE + And + GOD SAVE THE KING + +Played by the Society for the Prevention of the Blues. + Saturday, October 12, 1912. + ADELIE HALL + +Admission Free. Children Half Price. + + + +October 13 was known as Black Sunday. We were all seated at dinner and +the Hut was quivering in the tornado-like gusts which followed a heavy +"blow" reaching a maximum hourly average of ninety-one miles. One mighty +blast was followed by a crack and the sound of a heavy falling body. For +a moment it was thought that something had happened to the Hut. Then the +messman ran out to the trap-door and saw that the northern wireless mast +had disappeared. + +The weather showed but meagre signs of improvement, but the penguins +came up in great numbers. They were in groups all along the ice-foot +in the lee of rocks and icy pinnacles. They climbed up to their old +resorts, and in a few days commenced to build nests of small pebbles. +Skua gulls mysteriously appeared, snow petrels hovered along the rocky +ridges and odd seals landed on the wind-raked harbour ice. Silver-grey +and Antarctic petrels flew along the shore with occasional Cape pigeons. +If the weather were indifferent to the fact, the birds did not forget +that spring had come. + +A Weddell seal calved on the bay-ice on October 18. For a week the pup +had a miserable time in winds ranging mostly about the seventies, with +the temperature below zero Fahrenheit. At last it became so weak that +it thawed a hole in the soft, sludgy ice and could not extricate itself. +Both it and the mother were killed and skinned for the biological +collection. + +On all but the worst days a gang of men worked with picks and shovels +digging out the Hangar, so that Bickerton could test the air-tractor +sledge. The attack was concentrated upon a solid bank of snow and ice +into which heaps of tins and rubbish had been compactly frozen. In soft +snow enormous headway can be made in a short space of time, but in that +species of conglomerate, progress is slow. Eventually, a cutting was +made by which the machine could pass out. The rampart of snow was broken +through at the northern end of the Hangar, and the sledge with its long +curved runners was hauled forth triumphantly on the 25th. From that +time onwards Bickerton continued to experiment and to improve the +contrivance. + +On October 21 there was a marked thaw inside the Hut. The frost +along all the cracks dissolved into water and ran down the walls over +pictures, on to book-shelves and bunks. The thick caking of ice on the +windows dripped continually, coming away in layers at lunch-time and +scattering among the diners at both ends of the table. Every available +bucket and tub was in use, and small tin-gutters hooked under each +window had to be emptied at frequent intervals. + +Stillwell came in during the afternoon bearing an albino penguin with +a prettily mottled head; a curious freak of which the biologists +immediately took possession. The penguins now swarmed along the +foreshores, those not settling down in the rookeries wandering about +in small crowds, occasionally visiting the Hut and exploring among the +rocks or up the slippery glacier. Murphy was heard, at this time, to +advance a theory accounting for the fact that Adelie penguins never made +their nests on a scale more elaborate than a collection of stones. +He submitted that anything else would be blown away. To support the +contention, he stated that as soon as the female lays her egg, she +places a stone on top to weight it down. The biologists kept a dignified +silence during the discussion. + +On the 21st an Emperor penguin landed on the harbour ice, and, early in +November, two more were captured. These imperial birds are very rare +on the coasts of Adelie Land, owing to the fact that their winter +breeding-grounds in Antarctica are selected in spots where climatic +conditions are comparatively good. + +October closed with an average wind velocity of 56.9 miles per hour. +Yet the possibility of summer sledging was no longer remote. The sun +was high, spells of calm were longer and more frequent, and, with the +certain knowledge that we should be on the plateau in November, the +sledging parties were chosen, schemes of exploration were discussed, and +the last details for an extensive campaign completed. + + + + +CHAPTER XII ACROSS KING GEORGE V LAND + + + We yearned beyond the skyline.--Kipling + + +October had passed without offering any opportunities for sledging, and +we resolved that in defiance of all but the worst weather a start would +be made in November. The 'Aurora' was due to arrive early in January +1913 and the time at our disposal for exploration was slipping away +rapidly. + +The investigation by sledging journeys of the coastline to the eastward +was regarded as of prime importance, for our experience in the 'Aurora' +when in those longitudes during the previous year was such as to give +little promise of its ever being accomplished from the sea. + +Westward, the coast was accessible from the sea; at least for some +distance in that direction. Madigan's journey in the springtime had +demonstrated that, if anything, the land to the west was steeper, and +consequently more windy conditions might be expected there. Further, it +was judged that information concerning this region would be forthcoming +from the ship, which had cruised westward after leaving Adelie Land in +January 1912. The field in that direction was therefore not so promising +as that to the east. + +On this account the air-tractor sledge, of somewhat doubtful utility, +was detailed for use to the westward of Winter Quarters, and, as it +was obvious that the engine could only be operated in moderately good +weather, its final departure was postponed until December. + +The following is a list of the parties which had been arranged and +which, now fully equipped, were on the tiptoe of expectation to depart. + +(1) A Southern Party composed of Bage (leader), Webb and Hurley. The +special feature of their work was to be magnetic observations in the +vicinity of the South Magnetic Pole. + +(2) A Southern Supporting Party, including Murphy (leader), Hunter and +Laseron, who were to accompany the Southern Party as far as possible, +returning to Winter Quarters by the end of November. + +(3) A Western Party of three men--Bickerton (leader), Hodgeman and +Whetter--who were to traverse the coastal highlands west of the Hut. +Their intention was to make use of the air-tractor sledge and the +departure of the party was fixed for early December. + +(4) Stillwell, in charge of a Near Eastern Party, was to map the +coastline between Cape Denison and the Mertz Glacier-Tongue, dividing +the work into two stages. In the first instance, Close and Hodgeman were +to assist him; all three acting partly as supports to the other eastern +parties working further afield. After returning to the Hut at the end +of November for a further supply of stores, he was to set out again with +Close and Laseron in order to complete the work. + +(5) An Eastern Coastal Party composed of Madigan (leader), McLean and +Correll was to start in early November with the object of investigating +the coastline beyond the Mertz Glacier. + +(6) Finally, a Far-Eastern Party, assisted by the dogs, was to push +out rapidly overland to the southward of Madigan's party, mapping more +distant sections of the coastline, beyond the limit to which the latter +party would be likely to reach. + +As the plans for the execution of such a journey had of necessity to +be more provisional than in the case of the others, I determined to +undertake it, accompanied by Ninnis and Mertz, both of whom had so ably +acquitted themselves throughout the Expedition and, moreover, had always +been in charge of the dogs. + +November opened with more moderate weather, auguring still better +conditions for midsummer. Accordingly November 6 was fixed as the date +of final departure for several of the parties. The evening of November +5 was made a special occasion: a farewell dinner, into which everybody +entered very heartily. + +On the morning of the 6th, however, we found a strong blizzard raging +and the landscape blotted out by drift-snow, which did not clear until +the afternoon of the following day. + +At the first opportunity, Murphy, Hunter and Laseron (supporting the +Southern Party) got away, but found the wind so strong at a level of +one thousand feet on the glacier that they anchored their sledge and +returned to the Hut for the night. + +The next morning saw them off finally and, later in the day, the +Near-Eastern Party (Stillwell, Close and Hodgeman) and the Eastern +Coastal Party (Madigan, McLean and Correll) got under way, though there +was still considerable wind. + +My own party was to leave on the 9th for, assisted by the dogs, we could +easily catch up to the other eastern parties, and it was our intention +not to part company with them until all were some distance out on the +road together. + +The wind increased on the 9th and the air became charged with drift, +so we felt sure that those who preceded us would still be camped at +Aladdin's Cave, and that the best course was to wait. + +At this date the penguin rookeries were full of new-laid eggs, and the +popular taste inclined towards omelettes, in the production of which +Mertz was a past master. I can recall the clamouring throng who pressed +round for the final omelette as Mertz officiated at the stove just +before we left on the 10th. + +It was a beautiful calm afternoon as the sledge mounted up the long icy +slopes. The Southern Party (Bage, Webb and Hurley) were a short distance +in advance, but by the help of the dogs we were soon abreast of +them. Then Bickerton, who had given Bage's party a pull as far as the +three-mile post, bade us good-bye and returned to the Hut where he was +to remain in charge with Whetter and Hannam until the return of Murphy's +party. + +At Aladdin's Cave, while some prepared supper, others selected tanks of +food from the depot and packed the sledges. After the meal, the Southern +Party bade us farewell and set off at a rapid rate, intending to +overhaul their supporting party on the same evening at the Cathedral +Grotto, eleven and three-quarter miles from the Hut. Many finishing +touches had to be put to our three sledges and two teams of dogs, so +that the departure was delayed till next morning. + +We were up betimes and a good start was made before anything came of the +overcast sky which had formed during the night. The rendezvous appointed +for meeting the others, in case we had not previously caught them up, +was eighteen miles south-east of Aladdin's Cave. But, with a view to +avoiding crevasses as much as possible, a southerly course was followed +for several miles, after which it was directed well to the east. In the +meantime the wind had arisen and snow commenced to fall soon after noon. +In such weather it was impossible to locate the other parties, so a halt +was made and the tent pitched after eight miles. + +Five days of wind and drift followed, and for the next two days we +remained in camp. Then, on the afternoon of the 13th, the drift became +less dense, enabling us to move forward on an approximate course to what +was judged to be the vicinity of the rendezvous, where we camped again +for three days. + +Comfortably ensconced in the sleeping-bags, we ate only a small ration +of food; the savings being carefully put away for a future "rainy day." +Outside, the dogs had at first an unpleasant time until they were buried +in snow which sheltered them from the stinging wind. Ninnis and Mertz +took turns day by day attending to their needs. + +The monotony and disappointment of delay were just becoming acute +when the wind fell off, and the afternoon of November 16 turned out +gloriously fine. + +Several excursions were immediately made in the neighbourhood to seek +for the whereabouts of the other parties, but all were unsuccessful. At +length it occurred to us that something serious might have happened, so +we left our loads and started back at a gallop for Aladdin's Cave with +two empty sledges, Mertz careering ahead on skis over the sastrugi +field. + +Shortly afterwards two black specks were seen away in the north; a +glance with the binoculars leaving no doubt as to the identity of the +parties. We returned to the loads, and, having picked them up, made a +course to the east to intercept the other men. + +It was a happy camp that evening!with the three tents pitched together, +while we compared our experiences of the previous six days and made +plans for the outward journey. + +Our sledge-meter had already suffered through bumping over rough ice and +sastrugi, and an exchange was made with the stronger one on Stillwell's +sledge. A quantity of food was also taken over from him and the loads +were finally adjusted. + +The details and weights of the equipment on the three sledges belonging +to my party are sufficiently interesting to be set out at length below. +Most of the items were included in the impedimenta of all our parties, +but slight variations were necessary to meet particular stances or to +satisfy the whim of an individual. + +TOTAL LOAD + + The Principal Sledge, 11ft. long, 45 lb. + + Fittings for Same: Instrument-box 7 lb. 5 oz.; cooker-box, 7 lb. + 6 oz.; kerosene-tray, 3 lb.; mast-attachment, 2 lb. 8 oz.; mast, 1 lb. + 16 oz.; spar, 1 lb. 8 oz.; decking (canvas and bamboo), 3 lb. 5 oz.; + rigging, 7.5 oz.; 5 leather straps, 5 lb..... 77 lb. 6.5 oz. + + Drill Tent, strengthened and attached to poles, also floor-cloth, + 33 lb. Spare drill cover, 11 lb. 8 oz........ 44 lb. 8 oz. + + Sleeping-bags, 3 one-man bags............ 30 lb. 0 oz. + + Cooking gear: Nansen cooker, 11 lb. 3 oz.; 3 mugs, 1 lb. 8 oz., 2 tins, + 10 oz.; scales, 0.5 oz.; 3 spoons, 1.5 oz.; matches, 13.5 oz., and + damp-proof tin to hold same, 3.7 oz.; "Primus" heater, full, 3 lb. + 10 oz.; "Primus" prickers, 2.5 oz.; "Primus" repair outfit, 2 oz.; + kerosene tin openers and pourers, 4.5 oz.; spirit for "Primus" in + tin, 5 lb. 14 oz., also a ready bottle, full, 1 lb. 5 oz. +........................... 25 lb. 14.2 oz. + + Repair Outfit: Spare copper wire, rivets, needles, thread, etc., + 1 lb. 14.5 oz.; set of 12 tools, 15.5 oz.; requirements for repairing + dog-harness and medically treating the dogs, 3 lb. 8 oz +........................ 6 lb. 6 oz. + + Medical Outfit: 6 "Burroughs & Wellcome" first field dressings; + absorbent cotton wool; boric wool; pleated lint; pleated bandages, + roll bandages; adhesive tape; liquid collodion; "tabloid" ophthalmic + drugs for treating snow-blindness; an assortment of "tabloid" drugs + for general treatment; canvas case containing scissors, forceps, + artery-forceps, scalpel, surgical needles and silk, etc. +........................... 2 lb. 12.3 oz. Photographic outfit: + A 1/4-plate, long, extension-camera in a case, + with special stiffening board and 36 cut films, 4 lb. 4.5 oz.; + adaptor to accommodate camera to theodolite legs, 2 oz.; a water-tight + tin with 14 packets, each containing 12 cut films, 3 lb.10 oz. +............................8 lb. 0.5 oz. + + Surveying Requirements: A 3" transit theodolite in case, 5 lb. 14 oz.; + legs for the same, 3 lb. 6 oz.; sledge-meter, 8 lb.; Tables from + Nautical Almanack and book of Logarithmic Tables, 1 lb. 3 oz.; + 2 note books, 1 lb. 6 oz.; angle-books, 5 oz.; map-tube, 10 oz.; + maps, 6.5 oz.; pencils, 1.5 oz.; dividers and rubber, 1.5 oz.; + protractor and set-square, 0.5 oz.; prismatic compass and clinometer, + 8.5 oz.; sun-compass (Bage's), 1.5 oz......... 22 lb. 0 oz. + + Other Instruments: Zeiss prismatic binoculars X.12, 1 lb. 13.5 oz.; + hypsometer, 2 lb. 1 oz.; 2 ordinary and 2 small minimum thermometers, + 10 oz.; specimen labels, l oz............. 4 lb. 9.5 oz. + + Rifle, 22-bore with cover and cleaner, 3 lb. 3.7 oz.; ammunition, + 1 lb. 6 oz.; sheath knife, 5.5 oz.; sharpening stone, 1.5 oz.; + fishing line and hooks, 3.5 oz............. 4 lb. 14.7 oz. + + Waterproof Clothe-bag, 4 lb. 8 oz., containing 9 pairs of finnesko + stuffed with saennegrass, 21 lb.; extra saennegrass, 3 lb.; 3 private + kit-bags containing spare clothing, etc., 39 lb.; 4 extra rolls of + lampwick for lashings, 1 lb. 3.5 oz.......... 64 lb. 3.5 oz. + + Odd gear: Pick, 4 lb. 5 oz.; 2 spades, 8 lb. 4 oz.; ice-axe, 2 lb. + 4 oz.; alpine rope (20 metros) 3 lb.; skis (1 pair), 11 lb.; + ski-stick, 1 lb. 1 oz.; ski-boots (2 pairs), 6 lb.; attachable + crampons for the same, 4 lb.; finnesko-crampons (3 pairs), 9 lb.; + 3 man-harnesses, 6 lb. 8 oz.; man-hauling tow-rope, 1 lb. 1 oz.; + flags, 9.5 oz.; a water-proof bag to hold oddments, 4 lb. 8 oz. +............................ 61 lb. 8.5 oz. + + Beacons: A depot-flag and bamboo pole, 5 lb.; a special metal + depot-beacon, mast, flag and stays, 16 lb.; 2 damp-proof tins for + depositing records at depots, 7.5 oz.......... 21 lb. 7.5 oz. + + Other Sledges: A second sledge decked with Venesta boarding and + fitted with straps.................. 55 lb. 0 oz. + A third sledge, 12 ft. long and strong rope lashings (spare spars + mentioned elsewhere acting as decking)........ 60 lb. 0 oz. + + Fuel: Kerosene, 6 gallons in one-gallon tins..... 60 lb. 0 oz. + + Food: Man Food: 9 weeks' supplies for 3 men on the ration scale; + also 25 lb. weight of special foods--'perks'..... 475 lb. 0 oz. + + Dog Food: Dried seal meat, blubber and pemmican; also the weight of + the tin and bag-containers.............. 700 lb. 0 oz. + + Total........................ 1723 lb. 11.3 oz. + +Madigan's and Stillwell's parties broke trail to the east on the morning +of the 17th while we were still attending to the sledges and dogs +preparatory to departure. It was decided that Gadget, a rather miserable +animal, who had shown herself useless as a puller thus far, should be +killed. The following dogs then remained:--Basilisk, Shackleton, Ginger +Bitch, Franklin, John Bull, Mary, Haldane, Pavlova, Fusilier, Jappy, +Ginger, George, Johnson, Castor, Betli and Blizzard. + +We went in pursuit of the other six men over a surface of rough +sastrugi. The dogs, who were in fine fettle, rushed the sledges along, +making frantic efforts to catch up to the parties ahead, who showed as +black specks across the white undulating plain. + +At noon all lunched together, after which we separated, shaking hands +warmly all round and interchanging the sledgers' "Good luck!" Our dogs +drew away rapidly to the east, travelling on a slight down grade; the +other two parties with their man-hauled sledges following in the same +direction. The surface was splendid, the weather conditions were ideal, +the pace, if anything, too rapid, for capsizes were apt to occur in +racing over high sastrugi. Any doubts as to the capability of the +dogs to pull the loads were dispelled; in fact, on this and on many +subsequent occasions, two of us were able to sit, each one on a sledge, +while the third broke trail ahead. + +In sledging over wide, monotonous wastes with dogs as the motive power, +it is necessary to have a forerunner, that is, somebody to go ahead and +point the way, otherwise the dogs will run aimlessly about. Returning +over old tracks, they will pull along steadily and keep a course. In +Adelie Land we had no opportunity of verifying this, as the continuous +winds soon obliterated the impression of the runners. + +If the weather is reasonably good and food is ample, sledging dogs enjoy +their work. Their desire to pull is doubtless inborn, implanted in a +long line of ancestors who have faithfully served the Esquimaux. We +found that the dogs were glad to get their harnesses on and to be led +away to the sledge. Really, it was often a case of the dog leading the +man, for, as soon as its harness was in place, the impatient animal +strained to drag whatever might be attached to the other end of the +rope. Before attaching a team of dogs to a sledge, it was necessary to +anchor the latter firmly, otherwise in their ardour they would make off +with it before everything was ready. + +There can be no question as to the value of dogs as a means of traction +in the Polar regions, except when travelling continuously over very +rugged country, over heavily crevassed areas, or during unusually +bad weather. It is in such special stances that the superiority of +man-hauling has been proved. Further, in an enterprise where human life +is always at stake, it is only fair to put forward the consideration +that the dogs represent a reserve of food in case of extreme emergency. + +We continued due eastwards until five o'clock on the afternoon of the +17th at an altitude of two thousand six hundred feet. On the crest of a +ridge, which bore away in distinct outline, on our left, a fine panorama +of coastal scenery was visible. Far off on the eastern horizon the Mertz +Glacier Tongue discovered itself in a long wall touched in luminous +bands by the south-western sun. A wide valley fell away in front, and +beyond it was a deep indentation of the coastline, which would make it +necessary for us to follow a more southerly course in order to round its +head. + +I determined to convey to the other parties my intentions, which had +become more defined on seeing this view; and, in the meantime, we halted +and treated ourselves to afternoon tea. This innovation in the ordinary +routine was extended to a custom by saving a portion of the lunch ration +for a "snack" at 5 P.M. on all days when the weather was moderately +good. As latitude sights were required at midday and longitude shots at +5 P.M., the arrangement was very convenient, for, while one of us made +tea, the other two took the observations. + +About 6 P.M. the two man-hauled sledges came up with us, our plans for +the future were reviewed and the final instructions were given. We bade +our comrades adieu and, turning to the south-east, descended quickly +down a long slope leading into the valley. The sky was overcast and it +was almost impossible to see the irregularities of the surface. Only a +dull-white glare met the eyes, and the first indication of a hillock was +to stub one's toes against it, or of a depression to fall into it. We +pulled up the dogs at 7.30 P.M. after covering thirteen and a quarter +miles in the day. + +At 9.45 A.M. on November 18 everything was ready for a fresh start. The +other parties could be seen rapidly bearing down on us under full +sail, but our willing teams had soon dragged the three sledges over an +eminence and out of their sight. + +It was a lovely day; almost like a dream after the lengthy months of +harassing blizzards. A venturesome skua gull appeared at lunch time, +just as an observation for latitude was being taken. By the time Ninnis +had unpacked the rifle the bird had flown away. + +The direction of the sastrugi was found to vary from that which obtained +farther west, owing to a slight swing in the direction of the prevailing +wind. The irregularities in the coastline account for this; the wind +tending to flow down to sea-level by the nearest route. + +To the north-west, behind us, a projecting ridge of rock--Madigan +Nunatak--came into sight. From the camp of the previous evening it had +evidently been hidden from view by an undulation in the surface. + +During the afternoon it was noted that the surface had become very +deeply eroded by the wind, troughs three feet in depth being common, +into which the sledges frequently capsized. Each of us took it in turn +to run ahead, jumping from one sastruga to another. As these were firm +and polished by the constant wind, one often slipped with a sudden shock +to the ground. Our bodies were well padded with clothing and we were +beginning to get into good form, so that these habitual tumbles were +taken with the best grace we could muster. I surprised myself during the +afternoon, when my turn came as forerunner, by covering two and a half +miles at a jog-trot without a break. The grade was slightly downhill and +the sledges moved along of their own accord, accelerated by jerks +from the dogs, gliding at right angles to the knife-edge crests of the +snow-waves. + +The roughness of the surface was not without its effect on the +sledge-meter, which had to be repaired temporarily. It was a matter of +some inconvenience that after this date its records were erroneous +and approximate distances were only obtained by checking the readings +against absolute observations made for latitude and longitude. + +At 5.30 P.M. a dark object stood in salient relief above the white +contour of the snowy sky-line on the right. Suppressing our excitement, +we pressed on eagerly, changing course so as to approach it. At nine +o'clock it resolved itself into the summit of an imposing mountain +rising up from a mysterious valley. Aurora Peak, as it was named, was to +be a prominent landmark for several days to come. + +All were ready to be on the move at 8.45 A.M. on November 19. While +Mertz and Ninnis built a cairn of snow, I wrote a note to be left on it +in a tin, containing instructions to Stillwell in case he should happen +on the locality. + +The weather was good and the temperatures were high, ranging at this +time (one month from midsummer) between zero and 18 degrees F. When +we camped for lunch the air was quite calm and the sun's rays were +extremely warm. + +The surface became softer and smoother as the afternoon lengthened until +Mertz was tempted to put on his skis. He then became forerunner for the +remainder of the day. + +Mertz, who was skilled in the use of skis, found them of great service +on this and on many future occasions. At such times he would relieve +Ninnis and myself in the van. On the other hand, over deeply furrowed +sastrugi or blue ice, or during a strong wind, unless it were at our +backs, skiing was impossible. + +Owing to a steeper down grade, the sledges were now commencing to +run more freely and improvised brakes were tried, all of which were +ineffectual in restraining the dogs. The pace became so hot that a small +obstacle would capsize the sledge, causing it to roll over and over down +the slope. The dogs, frantically pulling in various directions to keep +ahead of the load, became hopelessly entangled in their traces and were +dragged along unresistingly until the sledge stopped of its own accord +or was arrested by one of us. At length, most of the dogs were allowed +to run loose, and, with a man holding on behind and a couple of dogs +pulling ahead, the loads were piloted down a steep slope for several +miles. + +The evening camp was situated at the crest of the last but steepest fall +into a wide glacial valley which was clearly seen to sweep northwards +past the eastern side of Aurora Peak. Looking back we could define our +track winding down in the bed of a long shallow valley, while, uprising +on either hand near the rim of the plateau were crevassed bluffs where +the ice of the tableland streamed abruptly over the underlying crags. + +Ninnis had a touch of snow-blindness which rapidly improved under +treatment. The stock cure for this very irritating and painful affection +is to place first of all tiny "tabloids" of zinc sulphate and cocaine +hydrochloride under the eyelids where they quickly dissolve in the +tears, alleviating the smarting, "gritty" sensation which is usually +described by the sufferer. He then bandages the eyes and escapes, if he +is lucky, into the darkness of his sleeping-bag. + +In certain lights one is sure to be attacked more or less severely, and +coloured glasses should be worn continually. Unfortunately, goggles +are sometimes impracticable on account of the moisture from the breath +covering the glasses with an icy film or driving snow clogging them +and obscuring the view. For such contingencies narrow slots of various +shapes are cut in plates or discs of wood or bone in the Esquimaux +fashion. The amount of light reaching the eye can thus be reduced to the +limit of moderately clear vision. + +The morning of the 20th broke with wind and drift which persisted until +after noon. Already everything had been packed up, but, as there was a +steep fall in front and crevasses were not far distant, we decided not +to start until the air was clear of snow. + +When at last a move was possible, it became evident that the dogs could +not be trusted to pull the sledges down to the edge of the glacier. So +they were tethered to ice-axes while we lowered the sledges one by +one, all three checking their speed, assisted by rope brakes round the +runners. Finally, the impatient dogs were brought down and harnessed in +their accustomed places. + +Rapid travelling now commenced over a perfectly smooth surface, sloping +gently to the bed of the glacier. Mertz shot ahead on skis, and our +column of dogs and sledges followed quickly in his trail. + +From this day forward our "order of procession" was as follows:--Behind +the forerunner came a team of dogs dragging two sledges joined together +by a short length of alpine rope. Bringing up the rear were the rest of +the dogs dragging the third sledge. Each team pulled approximately equal +weights; the front load being divided between two sledges. Except when +taking my turn ahead, I looked after the leading team, Ninnis or Mertz, +as the case might be, driving the one behind. + +We skirted Aurora Peak on its south-eastern side. The mountain rose to +a height of about seventeen hundred feet on our left, its steep sides +being almost completely snow-clad. + +The wide depression of the Mertz Glacier lay ahead, and on its far side +the dim outline of uprising icy slopes was visible, though at the time +we could not be certain as to their precise nature. + +As the sledges passed Aurora Peak, Blizzard and Ginger Bitch ran +alongside. The former had hurt one of her forefeet on the previous day +during the "rough-and-tumble" descending into the valley. Ginger Bitch +was allowed to go free because she was daily expected to give birth to +pups. As she was such a good sledge-dog we could not have afforded +to leave her behind at the Hut, and later events proved that the work +seemed actually to benefit her, for she was at all times the best puller +and the strongest of the pack. However, in permitting both dogs to run +loose that afternoon, there was an element of danger which we had not +sufficiently appreciated. + +Suddenly, without any warning, half of my dogs dropped out of sight, +swinging on their harness ropes in a crevasse. Next moment I realized +that the sledges were in the centre of a bridge covering a crevasse, +twenty-five feet wide, along the edge of which part of the team had +broken through. + +We spent many anxious moments before they were all hauled to the +daylight and the sledge rested on solid ground. There were other +crevasses about and almost immediately afterwards Ginger Bitch and +Blizzard had broken through into a fissure and were frantically +struggling to maintain their hold on the edge. They were speedily +rescued; following which Ginger Bitch gave birth to the first of a large +litter of pups. After this second accident we decided to camp. + +During the morning of November 21 there was a good deal of wind +and drift which made travelling rather miserable. Occasionally open +crevasses would break the surface of the snow. + +When the light at last improved, a nunatak was observed some fifteen +miles or more to the south rising out of the glacier--Correll Nunatak. +Ahead of us was a glittering line of broken ice, stretching at right +angles to our path. Studded about on the icy plain were immense +cauldrons, like small craters in appearance. Then an area dotted over +with ice mounds approached and crevasses became correspondingly more +numerous. The dogs frequently broke through them but were easily +extricated in every instance. + +Camp was pitched for lunch in the vicinity of many gaping holes leading +down into darkness, places where the bridges over large crevasses had +fallen in. Mertz prepared the lunch and Ninnis and I went to photograph +an open crevasse near by. Returning, we diverged on reaching the back +of the tent, he passing round on one side and I on the other. The next +instant I heard a bang on the ice and, swinging round, could see nothing +of my companion but his head and arms. He had broken through the lid +of a crevasse fifteen feet wide and was hanging on to its edge close +to where the camera lay damaged on the ice. He was soon dragged into +safety. Looking down into the black depths we realized how narrowly +he had escaped. As the tent was found to encroach partly on the same +crevasse, it may be imagined that we did not dally long over the meal. + +In the afternoon the weather became clear and fine, but, as if to offset +this, the broken surface became impassable. The region was one of serac +where the glacier was puckered up, folded and crushed. After several +repulses in what seemed to be promising directions, we were finally +forced to camp, having ten miles to our credit. + +Whilst Mertz fed the dogs and prepared hoosh, Ninnis and I roped up and +went off to search for a passage. + +All around, the glacier was pressed up into great folds, two hundred +feet in height and between one quarter and a third of a mile from crest +to crest. The ridges of the folds were either domes or open rifts +partly choked with snow. Precipitous ice-falls and deep cauldrons were +encountered everywhere. To the north the glacier flattened out; to the +south it was more rugged. + +In this chaos we wandered for some miles until a favourable line of +advance had been discovered for the march on the following day. + +The first three miles, on the 22nd, were over a piece of very dangerous +country, after which our prospects improved and we came to the border of +a level plain. + +There Mertz slipped on his skis, went ahead and set a good pace. +Although the sky had become overcast and snow fell fitfully, our +progress was rapid towards the rising slopes of the land on the eastern +side of the glacier. Over the last three miles of the day's journey the +surface was raised in large, pimply masses surrounded by wide fissures. +Into one of the fissures, bridged by snow, Ninnis's sledge fell, but +fortunately jammed itself just below the surface. As it was, we had +a long job getting it up again, having to unpack the sledge in the +crevasse until it was light enough to be easily manipulated. Despite the +delay, our day's run was sixteen and a half miles. + +At 8 A.M. on the 23rd everything was in readiness for a fresh start. +Moderate drift and wind descended from the hills and there were yet +three miles of hidden perils to be passed. With the object of making our +advance less dangerous, various devices were employed. + +First of all the towing rope of the rear sledge was secured to the back +of the preceding sledge. This arrangement had to be abandoned because +the dogs of Ninnis's team persisted in entangling themselves and working +independently of the dogs in front. Next, all the sledges were joined +together with all the dogs pulling in front. The procession was then so +long that it was quite unmanageable on account of the tortuous nature +of our track through the labyrinth. In the long run, it was decided that +our original method was the best, provided that special precautions were +taken over the more hazardous crossings. + +The usual procedure was, that the forerunner selected the best crossing +of a crevasse, testing it with a ski-stick. The dog teams were then +brought up to the spot and the forerunner went over the snow-bridge and +stood on the other side, sufficiently far away to allow the first team +to cross to him and to clear the crevasse. Then the second team was +piloted to safety before the forerunner had resumed his position in +front. This precaution was very necessary, for otherwise the dogs in the +rear would make a course direct for wherever the front dogs happened +to be, cutting across corners and most probably dragging their sledge +sideways into a crevasse; the likeliest way to lose it altogether. + +Often enough the dogs broke through the snow-bridges on the morning +of the 23rd, but only once were matters serious, when Ninnis's sledge, +doubtless on account of its extra weight, again broke through a lid of +snow and was securely jammed in a crevasse just below the surface. + +On this occasion we were in a serious predicament, for the sledge was +in such a position that an unskilful movement would have sent it hurling +into the chasm below. So the unpacking of the load was a tedious and +delicate operation. The freight consisted chiefly of large, soldered +tins, packed tightly with dried seal meat. Each of these weighed about +ninety pounds and all were most securely roped to the sledge. The sledge +was got up and reloaded without the loss of a single tin, and once more +we breathed freely. + +A valley almost free of crevasses was chosen as the upward track to the +plateau. We threw in our weight hauling with the dogs, and had a long, +steep drag over furrowed neve, pitching the tent after a day's journey +of twelve miles. + +On waking up on November 24 I found that my watch had stopped. I had +been so tired on the previous evening that I had fallen asleep without +remembering to wind it. The penalty of this accident was paid in my +being forced to take an extra set of observations in order to start the +watch again at correct time relative to the Hut. + +Besides the observations for position, necessary for navigation, sets of +angles were taken from time to time to fix the positions of objects +of interest appearing within the field of view, while the magnetic +variation was obtained at intervals. In this work Ninnis always +assisted me. Mertz boiled the hypsometer when necessary to ascertain our +elevation above sea-level. The meteorological conditions were carefully +noted several times each day for future comparison with those of other +parties and of Winter Quarters. + +The day's work on November 24 brought us high up on the slopes. Away to +the north-west Aurora Peak was still visible, standing up like a mighty +beacon pointing the way back to the Hut. Below lay the Mertz Glacier +extending out to sea as a floating tongue beyond the horizon. Inland, +some twenty miles to the south, it mounted up in seamed and riven +"cataracts" to a smooth, broad and shallow groove which wound into the +ice-cap. Ahead, on our south-east course, the ground still rose, but +to the north-east the ice-sheet fell away in long wide valleys, at the +extremity of some of which icebergs were visible frozen into distant +sea-ice. + +The tent was raised at 10 P.M. in a forty-mile wind with light drift; +temperature 10 degrees F. The altitude of this camp was two thousand +three hundred and fifty feet. + +One of the worst features of drift overnight is that sledges and dogs +become buried in snow and have to be dug out in the morning. Thus on +the 25th it was 10 A.M. before we got away in a strong wind, with flying +snow, across fields of sastrugi. + +The dogs detested the wind and, as their heads were so near the +ground, they must have found the incessant stream of thick drift very +tantalizing. The snow became caked over their eyes so that every few +minutes they had to scrape it away with their paws or rub their faces on +the ground. + +We stopped at 6 P.M. after a miserable day, covering sixteen miles in +all. + +November 26 broke overcast, the light being bad for travelling and the +wind still strong. Nevertheless we set out at 10 A.M. through falling +snow. + +As the day progressed the wind subsided and Mertz was able to put on his +skis over a surface which sloped gradually away to the east. The light +was diffused uniformly over the irregularities of snow and ice so that +depressions only a few feet away were invisible. Black objects, on the +other hand, stood out with startling distinctness, and our attention was +soon arrested by a hazy, dark patch which appeared in front and to the +left. At first there was much doubt as to its nature, but it was +soon clear that it must be a group of rocks, apparently situated at a +considerable distance. They were subsequently found to be sixty miles +away (Organ Pipe Cliffs, near Cape Blake). + +Presently our course ended abruptly at the edge of a precipitous fall. +We skirted round this for a while, but were ultimately forced to camp +owing to the uncertainty of the light and the proximity of several large +crevasses. + +At 11 P.M. the sky cleared and a better idea could be gained of what +lay ahead. In a line between our elevated position and the distant rocky +outcrops the ice fell in a steep descent to a broad, glacial valley, +undulating and in places traversed by torn masses of serac-ice. We +examined the country to the east very carefully with a view to selecting +a track for the journey next day and finally resolved to pass to the +south of a large ice-capped island--Dixson Island, which was only about +ten miles to the north-east, set within Ninnis Glacier near its western +border + +On the 27th Mertz and I roped up, reconnoitred for a while and returned +to the sledges. We then spent several hours in advancing a mile over +badly broken ground, arriving at a slope covered with sastrugi and +descending steeply for one thousand feet into the bed of the glacier. + +In order the more safely to negotiate this, the dogs were all let +loose excepting two in each sledge. Even then the sledges were often +uncontrollable, rolling over and over many times before the bottom was +reached. + +When the dogs were re-harnessed it was found that Betli was missing +and was not to be seen when we scanned the slopes in our rear with +binoculars. It was expected that unless she had fallen into a crevasse +she would turn up at the camp that night. However, she did not reappear, +and we saw no more of her. Two other dogs, Jappy and Fusilier, had been +previously killed, as neither was of any use as a puller. Blizzard, who +had been always a great favourite with us, had to be shot next day. + +When it had reached the edge of the glacier, our path led over a solid +ocean rising and faring in billows, two hundred and fifty feet in +height; no doubt caused by the glacier in its northward movement being +compressed against the southern side of Dixson Island. Still, the +"caravan" made considerable progress, ending with a day's journey of +sixteen miles. + +During the small hours of November 28 the wind rose to a velocity of +sixty miles per hour, but gradually diminished to a twenty-knot breeze +as the day advanced. Light snow fell from a sky which was densely +clouded. + +We still pursued a devious track amid rolling waves of ice, encountering +beds of soft snow through which the sledges moved slowly. By 6 P.M. +pinnacles and hummocks stood around on every side, and the light was +such that one could not distinguish crevasses until he was on top of +them. We had to camp and be satisfied with seven miles "to the good." By +this time the dogs were in good training and grew noticeably ravenous. +In the evening, before they were properly tethered, Shackleton seized +a one-week provision bag, ripped it open and ate a block of butter +weighing more than two and a half pounds. This was a loss to us, as +butter was regarded as a particular delicacy. + +The sun was shining brightly next day and it was at once evident that we +were in a zone of tumbled and disrupted ice. + +For many hours a way was won through a mighty turmoil of serac and over +innumerable crevasses with varied fortune. Just before lunch my two +sledges were nearly lost through the dogs swinging sharply to one side +before the second sledge had cleared a rather rotten snow-bridge. I was +up with the dogs at the time, and the first intimation I received of +an accident was on seeing the dogs and front sledge being dragged +backwards; the rear sledge was hanging vertically in a crevasse. +Exerting all my strength I held back the front sledge, and in a few +moments was joined by Ninnis and Mertz, who soon drove a pick and +ice-axe down between the runners and ran out an anchoring rope. + +It was a ticklish business recovering the sledge which hung suspended in +the crevasse. It could not be lifted vertically as its bow was caught in +a V-shaped cornice formed by an overhanging mass of snow. To add to our +troubles the ground all about the place was precarious and unsafe. + +Mertz and Ninnis therefore lowered me down and I attached a rope to the +tail-end of the sledge. The bow-rope and tail-rope were then manipulated +alternately until the bow of the sledge was manoeuvred slowly through +the gaping hole in the snow-lid and was finally hauled up on to level +ground. No more remarkable test of the efficiency of the sledge straps +and the compactness of the load could have been made. + +After lunch Mertz ascended a high point and was able to trace out a +route which conducted us in a few hours to a better surface. + +We were now at an elevation of from four hundred to five hundred feet +above sea-level, running across a beam-wind on our right which increased +during the afternoon. A rising blizzard made it necessary to camp after +a day's run of ten and one-third miles. + +The wind blew up to seventy miles an hour during the night, but eased in +strength early on November 30. At 10 A.M. we tried to make a start, but +the dogs refused to face the drift. On the wind becoming gusty in the +afternoon, it was once more possible to travel, and we set out. + +Dense drift was still to be seen pouring over the highlands to the +south-east. Above the glacier ahead whirlies, out-lined in high +revolving columns of snow, "stalked about" in their wayward courses. + +The sledges ran through a sea of crevassed, blue ice, over ridges and +past open chasms. Seven miles brought us to the "foot-hills" on the +eastern border of the Ninnis Glacier, where we pitched camp. + +The first day of December was still and hot, with brilliant sunshine. +The shade temperature reached 34 degrees F. and the snow became so +sticky that it was as much as we and the dogs could do to move the +sledges up the slopes. As the evening lengthened and the sun sank +lower the surface froze hard and our toil was lightened. At midnight we +reached an altitude of nine hundred feet. + +December 2 was another warm, bright day. The surface was atrociously +bad; hard, sharp sastrugi, never less than two feet high and in many +instances three feet six inches from crest to trough. The dogs were not +able to exert a united pull for there were never more than half of them +in action at a time. + +Once more we were at a comparatively high altitude and a fine view +presented itself to the north. One could look back to the mainland +slopes descending on the western side of the Ninnis Glacier. Then the +glacier, tumultuous and broken, was seen to extend far out into the +frozen sea and, sweeping round to the north-east, the eye ranged over +a great expanse of floe-ice dotted with bergs. To the east there was +a precipitous coastline of dark rock which for a while we thought of +visiting. But then it seemed likely that Madigan's party would reach +as far east, so we set our faces once more to the rising plateau in the +south-east. + +At midnight the sun was peering over the southern sky-line, and we +halted at an elevation of one thousand five hundred and fifty feet, +having covered eight and a half miles in the day. The temperature was 5 +degrees F. + +"December 3.--We were not long on the way before the sky became overcast +and light snow fell. The surface was becoming flatter. Camp was pitched +at 11 P.M. after eleven and two-thirds miles. + +"December 4.--Another day of bad light but the surface improved and good +headway was made on an easterly course at an elevation of between +two thousand and two thousand eight hundred feet. The crevasses were +practically past. The day's march was fifteen miles. + +"December 5.--A bad day; overcast, snowing and a gale of wind from the +east-south-east. However, we plugged on blindly into it until 7.30 P.M. +and then camped, having done eleven and a half miles. + +"December 6, 7 and 8.--During these days a dense blizzard raged, the +wind reaching seventy miles per hour. There was nothing to do but lie +in our bags and think out plans for the future. Each morning Ninnis and +Mertz took it in turns to go out and feed their charges, who were snugly +buried in the deep snow. + +"One day in the sleeping-bag does not come amiss after long marches, +but three days on end is enough to bore any one thoroughly. + +"Ninnis was not so badly off with a volume of Thackeray, but Mertz +had come to the end of a small edition of 'Sherlock Holmes' when +blizzard-bound near Aladdin's Cave, and his only diversion on these days +was to recite passages from memory for our mutual benefit." + +I was troubled with an inflammation in the face just at this time, while +Ninnis suffered pain owing to a "whitlow" on one of his fingers. + +As usual the food ration was reduced. This caused us to have more than +ordinarily vivid dreams. I happened to be awake one night when Ninnis +was sledging in imagination, vociferously shouting, "Hike, hike," to the +dogs; our equivalent of the usual "Mush, mush." + +Despite considerable wind and drift we got away at 8 A.M. on December +9. The sky was overcast and there was nothing to be seen except a soft +carpet of newly fallen snow into which we sank half-way to the knees. +The sledges ran deeply and heavily so that the dogs had to be assisted. +Ahead Mertz glided along triumphant, for it was on such occasions that +skis were of the greatest assistance to him. + +During the day a snow petrel circled above us for a while and then +returned to the north. + +The course was due east at an elevation of two thousand three hundred +feet and the total distance we threw behind during the day was sixteen +and a half miles. + +On the 10th light wind and low drift were the order of things. Our +spirits rose when the sky cleared and a slight down grade commenced. + +During the morning Ninnis drew our attention to what appeared to be +small ice-capped islets fringing the coast, but the distance was too +great for us to be sure of their exact nature. Out near the verge of the +horizon a tract of frozen sea with scattered bergs could be seen. + +Next day more features were distinguishable. The coast was seen to run +in a north-easterly direction as a long peninsula ending in a sharp +cape--Cape Freshfield. The north appeared to be filled with frozen sea +though we could not be certain that it was not dense pack-ice. Little +did we know that Madigan's party, about a week later, would be marching +over the frozen sea towards Cape Freshfield in the north-east. + +At 10 P.M. on the 11th, at an altitude of one thousand eight hundred +feet, the highland we were traversing fell away rapidly and sea-ice +opened up directly in front of us. The coastal downfalls to the +south-east fell in rugged masses to a vertical barrier, off the seaward +face of which large, tabular bergs were grouped within environing floe. + +Throughout December 12 a somewhat irregular course was made to the +south-east and south to avoid the broken area ahead. We had had enough +of crevasses and wished to be clear of serac-ice in the future. + +For some days Ninnis had been enduring the throbbing pain of a whitlow +and had not been having sufficient sleep. He always did his share of the +work and had undoubtedly borne a great deal of pain without showing it. +On several nights I noticed that he sat up in his sleeping-bag for hours +puffing away at a pipe or reading. At last the pain became so acute +that he asked me to lance his finger. This was successfully accomplished +after breakfast on the 13th and during the day he had much relief. + +While Ninnis rested before we made a start, Mertz and I re-arranged the +sledges and their loads. A third sledge was no longer necessary, so the +one usually driven by Ninnis, which had been damaged, was discarded and +all the gear was divided between the other two sledges in nearly equal +amounts. When the work was completed, the rear sledge carried an extra +weight of fifty pounds. As, however, both food for men and dogs were to +come from it, we reckoned that this superadded load would soon diminish. + +On we went, during the afternoon, up a steep ascent. Crevasses were +so numerous that we took measures to vent them. Some were as much as a +hundred feet in width, filled with snow; others were great open holes +or like huge cauldrons. Close to the windward edge of some of the latter +high ramps of neve with bluff faces on the windward side stood up like +monoliths reaching twenty-five feet in maximum height. + +In the evening a field of neve was reached and we felt more placid after +the anxiety of the preceding hours. + +During the passage of a snow-filled valley a dull, booming sound like +the noise of far-distant cannon was heard. It was evidently connected +with the subsidence of large areas of the surface crust. Apparently +large cavities had formed beneath the snow and the weight of ourselves +and the sledges caused the crust to sink and the air to be expelled. + +The sun appeared late in the day and, as it was almost calm, the last +few hours of marching were very pleasant. At midnight we camped at an +altitude of one thousand nine hundred feet. + +A light east-south-east wind was blowing as the sledges started away +eastward on the morning of December 14. The weather was sunny and the +temperature registered 21 degrees F. + +Mertz and I were happy to know that Ninnis had slept well and was +feeling much better. + +Our march was interrupted at noon by a latitude observation, after which +Mertz went ahead on skis singing his student songs. The dogs rose to the +occasion and pulled eagerly and well. Everything was for once in harmony +and the time was at hand when we should turn our faces homewards. + +Mertz was well in advance of us when I noticed him hold up his ski-stick +and then go on. This was a signal for something unusual so, as I +approached the vicinity, I looked out for crevasses or some other +explanation of his action. As a matter of fact crevasses were not +expected, since we were on a smooth surface of neve well to the +southward of the broken coastal slopes. On reaching the spot where Mertz +had signalled and seeing no sign of any irregularity, I jumped on to +the sledge, got out the book of tables and commenced to figure out the +latitude observation taken on that day. Glancing at the ground a moment +after, I noticed the faint indication of a crevasse. It was but one of +many hundred similar ones we had crossed and had no specially dangerous +appearance, but still I turned quickly round, called out a warning word +to Ninnis and then dismissed it from my thoughts. + +Ninnis, who was walking along by the side of his sledge, close behind +my own, heard the warning, for in my backward glance I noticed that he +immediately swung the leading dogs so as to cross the crevasse squarely +instead of diagonally as I had done. I then went on with my work. + +There was no sound from behind except a faint, plaintive whine from one +of the dogs which I imagined was in reply to a touch from Ninnis's whip. +I remember addressing myself to George, the laziest dog in my own team, +saying, "You will be getting a little of that, too, George, if you are +not careful." + +When I next looked back, it was in response to the anxious gaze of Mertz +who had turned round and halted in his tracks. Behind me, nothing met +the eye but my own sledge tracks running back in the distance. Where +were Ninnis and his sledge? + +I hastened back along the trail thinking that a rise in the ground +obscured the view. There was no such good fortune, however, for I came +to a gaping hole in the surface about eleven feet wide. The lid of a +crevasse had broken in; two sledge tracks led up to it on the far side +but only one continued on the other side. + +Frantically waving to Mertz to bring up my sledge, upon which there was +some alpine rope, I leaned over and shouted into the dark depths below. +No sound came back but the moaning of a dog, caught on a shelf just +visible one hundred and fifty feet below. The poor creature appeared +to have broken its back, for it was attempting to sit up with the front +part of its body while the hinder portion lay limp. Another dog lay +motionless by its side. Close by was what appeared in the gloom to be +the remains of the tent and a canvas tank containing food for three men +for a fortnight. + +We broke back the edge of the neve lid and took turns leaning over +secured by a rope, calling into the darkness in the hope that our +companion might be still alive. For three hours we called unceasingly +but no answering sound came back. The dog had ceased to moan and lay +without a movement. A chill draught was blowing out of the abyss. We +felt that there was little hope. + +Why had the first sledge escaped the crevasse? It seemed that I had +been fortunate, because my sledge had crossed diagonally, with a greater +chance of breaking the snow-lid. The sledges were within thirty pounds +of the same weight. The explanation appeared to be that Ninnis had +walked by the side of his sledge, whereas I had crossed it sitting on +the sledge. The whole weight of a man's body bearing on his foot is a +formidable load and no doubt was sufficient to smash the arch of the +roof. + +By means of a fishing line we ascertained that it was one hundred and +fifty feet sheer to the ledge on which the remains were seen; on either +side the crevasse descended into blackness. It seemed so very far down +there and the dogs looked so small that we got out the field glasses, +but could make out nothing more by their aid. + +All our available rope was tied together but the total length was +insufficient to reach the ledge and any idea of going below to +investigate and to secure some of the food had to be abandoned. + +Stunned by the unexpectedness of it all and having exhausted the few +appliances we carried for such a contingency, we felt helpless. In such +moments action is the only tolerable thing, and if there had been any +expedient however hazardous which might have been tried, we should have +taken all and more than the risk. Stricken dumb with the pity of it and +heavy at heart, we turned our minds mechanically to what lay nearest at +hand. + +There were rations on the other sledge, and we found that there was a +bare one and a half weeks' food for ourselves and nothing at all for the +dogs. Part of the provisions consisted of raisins and almonds which had +been taken as extras or "perks," as they were usually called. + +Among other losses there were both spade and ice-axe, but fortunately a +spare tent-cover was saved. Mertz's burberry trousers had gone down +with the sledge and the best substitute he could get was a pair of thick +Jaeger woollen under-trousers from the spare clothing we possessed. + +Later in the afternoon Mertz and I went ahead to a higher point in order +to obtain a better view of our surroundings. At a point two thousand +four hundred feet above sea-level and three hundred and fifteen and +three-quarter miles eastward from the Hut, a complete observation for +position and magnetic azimuth was taken. + +The coastal slopes were fearfully broken and scaured in their descent to +the sea, which was frozen out to the horizon. No islands were observed +or anything which could correspond with the land marked by Wilkes as +existing so much farther to the north. Patches of "water sky" were +visible in two places in the far distance. As we stood looking north +a Wilson petrel suddenly appeared and after flitting about for a short +time departed. + +We returned to the crevasse and packed the remaining sledge, discarding +everything unnecessary so as to reduce the weight of the load. A thin +soup was made by boiling up all the old food-bags which could be found. +The dogs were given some worn-out fur mitts, finnesko and several spare +raw hide straps, all of which they devoured. + +We still continued to call down into the crevasse at regular intervals +in case our companion might not have been killed outright and, in the +meantime, have become conscious. There was no reply. + +A weight was lowered on the fishing line as far as the dog which had +earlier shown some signs of life, but there was no response. All were +dead, swallowed up in an instant. + +When comrades tramp the road to anywhere through a lonely +blizzard-ridden land in hunger, want and weariness the interests, ties +and fates of each are interwoven in a wondrous fabric of friendship and +affection. The shock of Ninnis's death struck home and deeply stirred +us. + +He was a fine fellow and a born soldier--and the end:-- + + Life--give me life until the end, + That at the very top of being, + The battle spirit shouting in my blood, + Out of very reddest hell of the fight + I may be snatched and flung + Into the everlasting lull, + The Immortal, Incommunicable Dream. + +At 9 P.M. we stood by the side of the crevasse and I read the burial +service. Then Mertz shook me by the hand with a short "Thank you!" and +we turned away to harness up the dogs. + + + +CHAPTER XIII TOIL AND TRIBULATION + + +The homeward track! A few days ago--only few hours ago-our hearts +had beat hopefully at the prospect and there was no hint of this, the +overwhelming tragedy. Our fellow, comrade, chum, in a woeful instant, +buried in the bowels of the awful glacier. We could not think of it; we +strove to forget it in the necessity of work, but we knew that the truth +would assuredly enter our souls in the lonely days to come. It was to be +a fight with Death and the great Providence would decide the issue. + +On the outward journey we had left no depots of provisions en route, +for it was our bad fortune to meet such impossible country that we had +decided to make a circuit on our return to Winter Quarters sufficiently +far inland to avoid the coastal irregularities. As a matter of fact, on +the very day of the calamity, preparations had been made to cache most +of the food within twenty-four hours, as during the last few days of the +journey we were to make a dash to our "farthest east" point. Such were +the plans, and now we were ranged against unexpected odds. + +With regard to the dogs, there were six very miserable animals left. +The best of them had been drafted into the rear team, as it was expected +that if an accident happened through the collapse of a snow-bridge the +first sledge would most probably suffer. For the same reason most of +the food and other indispensable articles had been carried on the rear +sledge. + +All the dogs which had perished were big and powerful; Basilisk, +Ginger Bitch, Shackleton, Castor, Franklin and John Bull. We had fully +anticipated that those at least would come back alive, at the expense of +the six dogs in my sledge. + +A silent farewell!--and we started back, aiming to reach our +camping-ground on December 12 before a snowstorm intervened, as several +things had been left there which would be of use to us in our straitened +stances. The weather still held good and there were no signs of +approaching snow or wind. So Mertz went ahead on skis, while we plodded +slowly up the hills and dashed recklessly down them. During the descents +I sat on the sledge and we slid over long crevassed slopes in a wild +fashion, almost with a languid feeling that the next one would probably +swallow us up. But we did not much care then, as it was too soon after +losing our friend. + +At 2.30 A.M. on December 15 the discarded sledge and broken spade came +into sight. On reaching them, Mertz cut a runner of the broken sledge +into two pieces which were used in conjunction with his skis as a +framework on which to pitch the spare tent-cover; our only tent and +poles having been lost. Each time the makeshift shelter was erected, +these props had to be carefully lashed together at the apex, which stood +four feet from the ground. Inside, there was just room for two one-man +sleeping-bags on the floor. However, only one man at a time could move +about and neither of us could ever rise above a sitting posture. Still, +it was a shelter which protected us from the bad weather, and, with +plenty of snow blocks piled around it, was wonderfully resistant to the +wind. + +When we retired to rest, it was not to sleep but to think out the best +plan for the return journey. + +It was obvious that a descent to the frozen sea would be dangerous on +account of the heavily crevassed nature of the falling glacier, delay +would undoubtedly be caused and our distance from the Hut would be +increased. To decide definitely for the sea-ice would be to take other +risks as well, since, from the altitude at which we were placed, we +could not be sure that the floe-ice which covered the sea would provide +a good travelling surface. In any case it was likely to be on the point +of breaking up, for the season was nearing midsummer. On the other hand, +there was on the sea-ice a chance of obtaining seals for food. + +After due consideration we resolved to follow the shorter route, +returning inland over the plateau, for it was reckoned that if the +weather were reasonable we might win through to Winter Quarters with +one and a half weeks' rations and the six dogs which still remained, +provided we ate the dogs to eke out our provisions. Fortunately neither +the cooker nor the kerosene had been lost. + +George, the poorest of the dogs, was killed and partly fed to the +others, partly kept for ourselves. The meat was roughly fried on the lid +of the aluminium cooker, an operation which resulted in little more than +scorching the surface. On the whole it was voted good though it had a +strong, musty taste and was so stringy that it could not be properly +chewed. + +As both mugs and spoons had been lost, I made two pannikins out of tins +in which cartridges and matches had been packed, and Mertz carved wooden +spoons out of a portion of the broken sledge. At this camp he also +spliced the handle of the broken shovel which had been picked up, so as +to make it temporarily serviceable. + +It was midsummer, and therefore we found it easier to drag the sledge +over the snow at night when the surface was frozen hard. Camp was not +finally broken until 6 P.M., when the long and painful return journey +commenced. + +For fourteen miles the way led up rising snow slopes to the north-west +until an elevation of two thousand five hundred feet had been reached. +After that, variable grades and flat country were met. Though the sledge +was light, the dogs required helping and progress was slow. The midnight +sun shone low in the south, and we tramped on through the morning hours, +anxious to reduce the miles which lay ahead. + +Early on December 16 the sky became rapidly overcast. The snowy land and +the snowy sky merged to form an enclosed trap, as it seemed to us, while +showers of snow fell. There were no shadows to create contrast; it was +impossible to distinguish even the detail of the ground underfoot. +We stumbled over unseen ridges of the hard neve, our gaze straining +forward. The air was so still that advantage was taken of the calm to +light the primus and melt some snow in the lee of the sledge. The water, +to which were added a few drops of primus alcohol, helped to assuage our +thirst. + +The erection of the makeshift tent was a long and tedious operation, and +so, on our return marches, we never again took any refreshment during +the day's work excepting on this occasion. + +At 6 A.M., having done twenty miles and ascended to an elevation of +about two thousand five hundred feet, we pitched camp. + +There was very little sleep for me that day for I had an unusually bad +attack of snow-blindness. During the time that we rested in the bags +Mertz treated one of my eyes three times, the other twice with zinc +sulphate and cocaine. + +On account of the smallness of the tent a great deal of time was +absorbed in preparations for "turning in" and for getting away from each +camp. Thus, although we rose before 6 P.M. on December 16, the start was +not made until 8.30 P.M., notwithstanding the fact that the meal was of +the "sketchiest" character. + +On that night ours was a mournful procession; the sky thickly clouded, +snow falling, I with one eye bandaged and the dog Johnson broken down +and strapped on top of the load on the sledge. There was scarcely a +sound; only the rustle of the thick, soft snow as we pushed on, weary +but full of hope. The dogs dumbly pressed forward in their harness, +forlorn but eager to follow. Their weight now told little upon the +sledge, the work mainly falling upon ourselves. Mertz was tempted to +try hauling on skis, but came to the conclusion that it did not pay and +thenceforth never again used them. + +Close to the Magnetic Pole as we were, the compass was of little use, +and to steer a straight course to the west without ever seeing anything +of the surroundings was a difficult task. The only check upon the +correctness of the bearing was the direction in which trended the old +hard winter sastrugi, channelled out along a line running almost north +and south. The newly fallen snow obliterated these, and frequent halts +had to be called in order to investigate the buried surface. + +At 2 A.M. on the 17th we had only covered eleven miles when we stopped +to camp. Then Mertz shot and cut up Johnson while I prepared the supper. + +Johnson had always been a very faithful, hard-working and willing beast, +with rather droll ways of his own, and we were sorry that his end should +come so soon. He could never be accused of being a handsome dog, in fact +he was generally disreputable and dirty. + +All the dogs were miserable and thin when they reached the stage of +extreme exhaustion. Their meat was tough, stringy and without a vestige +of fat. For a change we sometimes chopped it up finely, mixed it with a +little pemmican, and brought all to the boil in a large pot of water. We +were exceedingly hungry, but there was nothing to satisfy our appetites. +Only a few ounces were used of the stock of ordinary food, to which was +added a portion of dog's meat, never large, for each animal yielded +so very little, and the major part was fed to the surviving dogs. They +crunched the bones and ate the skin, until nothing remained. + +A fresh start was made at 7.30 P.M. and a wretched, trying night was +spent, when we marched without a break for twelve and a half hours. +Overhead there was a dense pall of nimbus from which snow fell at +intervals. None of the dogs except Ginger gave any help with the load, +and Mary was so worn out that she had to be carried on the sledge. Poor +Mary had been a splendid dog, but we had to kill her at the camp in the +morning. + +After a run of eighteen and a half miles we halted at 8 A.M. on December +18. + +At 5.30 P.M. a light south-easter blew and snow fell from an overcast +sky. Soon after a start was made, it became apparent that a descent was +commencing. In this locality the country had been swept by wind, for +none of the recent snow settled on the surface. The sastrugi were high +and hard, and over them we bumped, slipping and falling in the uncertain +light. We could not endure this kind of travelling for long and resolved +to camp shortly after midnight, intending to go on when the day had +advanced further and the light was stronger. + +"December 19.--Up at noon and tried a few more miles in the snow-glare. +Later in the afternoon the sky began to break and we picked our way with +less difficulty. Camped at 5 P.M., having done only twelve miles one +thousand and fifty yards since the morning of December 18. + +"Up at 8 P.M. again, almost calm and sun shining. Still continuing a +westerly course we dropped several hundred feet, marching over rough, +slippery fields of sastrugi." + +In the early morning hours of the 20th the surface changed to ice and +occasional crevasses appeared. It was clear that we had arrived at the +head of the Ninnis Glacier above the zone of serac we had traversed +on the outward journey. It was very satisfactory to know this; to be +certain that some landmark had been seen and recognized. + +Soon after this discovery we came near losing Haldane, the big grey +wolf, in a crevasse. Miserably thin from starvation the wretched dogs +no longer filled their harness. As we pulled up Haldane, after he had +broken into a deep, sheer-walled crevasse, his harness slipped off just +as he reached the top. It was just possible to seize hold of his hair at +that moment and to land him safely, otherwise we should have lost many +days' rations. + +He took to the harness once more but soon became uncertain in his +footsteps, staggered along and then tottered and fell. Poor brutes! that +was the way they all gave in--pulling till they dropped. + +We camped at 4 A.M., thinking that a rest would revive Haldane. Inside +the tent some snow was thawed, and we drank the water with an addition +of a little primus spirit. A temperature reading showed-1 degree F. + +Outside, the hungry huskies moaned unceasingly until we could bear to +hear them no longer. The tent was struck and we set off once more. + +Haldane was strapped on the sledge as he could not walk. He had not +eaten the food we had given him, because his jaws seemed too weak to +bite. He had just nursed it between his paws and licked it. + +Before the dogs became as weak as this, great care had to be taken in +tethering them at each camp so as to prevent them from gnawing the wood +of the sledge, the straps or, in fact, anything at all. Every time we +were ready for a fresh start they seemed to regain their old strength, +for they struggled and fought to seize any scraps, however useless, left +on the ground. + +The day's march was completed at 10.30 A.M. and fourteen and a half +miles lay behind. + +"We were up again at 11.20 P.M. Sky clear; fifteen-mile breeze from the +south-south-east and the temperature 3 degrees F. By midnight there was +a thirty-mile wind and low, flying drift. + +"December 21.--The night-march was a miserable one. The only thing which +helped to relieve it was that for a moment Dixson Island was miraged up +in the north, and we felt that we had met an old friend, which means +a lot in this icy desolation. The surface was furrowed by hard, sharp +sastrugi. + +"We camped at 9 A.M. after only eleven miles. Haldane was finished off +before we retired. + +"We were up again at 9 P.M., and when a start was made at 11 P.M. there +was a strong south-south-east wind blowing, with low drift; temperature, +zero Fahr. + +"December 22.--The surface of hard, polished sastrugi caused many falls. +The track was undulating, rising in one case several hundred feet and +finally falling in a long slope. + +"Pavlova gave in late in the march and was taken on the sledge. + +"Camped at 6.40 A.M. in a forty-mile wind with low drift. Distance +marched was twelve miles one thousand four hundred yards. + +"Before turning in, we effected sundry repairs. Mertz re-spliced the +handle of the shovel which had broken apart and I riveted the broken +spindle of the sledge-meter. The mechanism of the latter had frozen +during the previous day's halt, and, on being started, its spindle had +broken off short. It was a long and tedious job tapping at the steed +with a toy hammer, but the rivet held miraculously for the rest of the +journey. + +"Up at 11.30 P.M., a moderate breeze blowing, overcast sky, light snow +falling." + +On December 28 an uphill march commenced which was rendered very heavy +by the depth of the soft snow. Pavlova had to be carried on the sledge. + +Suddenly, gaping crevasses appeared dimly through the falling snow which +surrounded us like a blanket. There was nothing to do but camp, though +it was only 4.30 A.M., and we had covered but five miles one thousand +two hundred and thirty yards. + +Pavlova was killed and we made a very acceptable soup from her bones. In +view of the dark outlook, our ration of food had to be still further cut +down. We had no proper sleep, hunger gnawing at us all the time, and the +question of food was for ever in our thoughts. Dozing in the fur bags, +we dreamed of gorgeous "spreads" and dinner-parties at home. Tramping +along through the snow, we racked our brains thinking of how to make the +most of the meagre quantity of dogs' meat at hand. + +The supply of kerosene for the primus stove promised to be ample, for +none of it had been lost in the accident. We found that it was worth +while spending some time in boiling the dogs' meat thoroughly. Thus a +tasty soup was prepared as well as a supply of edible meat in which the +muscular tissue and the gristle were reduced to the consistency of a +jelly. The paws took longest of all to cook, but, treated to lengthy +stewing, they became quite digestible. + +On December 24 we were up at 8 A.M. just as the sun commenced to gleam +through clouds. The light was rather bad, and snow fell as the track +zigzagged about among many crevasses; but suddenly the sun broke forth. +The sledge was crossing a surface of deep snow which soon became so +sticky that the load would scarcely move. At last a halt was made after +four miles, and we waited for the evening, when the surface was expected +to harden. + +A small prion visited us but went off in a moment. It is very remarkable +how far some Antarctic sea-birds may wander inland, apparently at such +a great distance from anything which should interest them. We were then +more than one hundred miles south of the open sea. As the bird flew +away, we watched it until it disappeared in the north, wishing that we +too had wings to cross the interminable plateau ahead. + +Lying in the sleeping-bag that day I dreamt that I visited a +confectioner's shop. All the wares that were displayed measured feet in +diameter. I purchased an enormous delicacy just as one would buy a bun +under ordinary stances. I remember paying the money over the counter, +but something happened before I received what I had chosen. When I +realized the omission I was out in the street, and, being greatly +disappointed, went back to the shop, but found the door shut and "early +closing" written on it. + +Though a good daily average had been maintained on the march whenever +conditions were at all favourable, the continuance of bad weather +and the undoubtedly weaker state in which we found ourselves made it +imperative to dispense with all but the barest necessities. Thus +the theodolite was the only instrument retained, and the camera, +photographic films (exposed and unexposed), hypsometer, thermometers, +rifle, ammunition and other sundries were all thrown away. The frame +of the tent was made lighter by constructing two poles, each four +feet high, from the telescopic theodolite legs, the heavier pieces of +sledge-runner being discarded. + +We were up at 11 P.M. on December 24, but so much time was absorbed in +making a dog-stew for Christmas that it was not till 2.80 A.M. that we +got under way. We wished each other happier Christmases in the future, +and divided two scraps of biscuit which I found in my spare kit-bag; +relics of better days. + +The surface was a moderately good one of undulating, hard sastrugi, and, +as the course had been altered to north-west, the southerly wind helped +us along. The sun shone brightly, and only for the wind and the low +drift we might have felt tolerably comfortable. On our right, down +within the shallow depression of the Ninnis Glacier, the low outline of +Dixson Island, forty miles to the north, could be seen miraged up on the +horizon. + +The tent was raised at 9.30 A.M. after a run of eleven miles one hundred +and seventy-six yards. An ounce each of butter was served out from our +small stock to give a festive touch to the dog-stew. + +At noon I took an observation for latitude, and, after taking a bearing +on to Dixson Island, computed that the distance in an air-line to Winter +Quarters was one hundred and sixty miles. + +"December 26.--Got away at 2 A.M.; the surface undulating and hummocky +with occasional beds of soft snow. Sun shining, wind ranged between +thirty and forty miles per hour with much low drift; cold; camped about +noon having done ten miles five hundred and twenty-eight yards. + +"We have reached the western side of the Ninnis Glacier. Ahead are +rising slopes, but we look forward to assistance from the wind in the +ascent. + +"I was again troubled with a touch of snow-blindness, but it responded +to the usual treatment. + +"At 11 P.M. we were at it again,but what with preparing dog-stew, packing +up within the limited area of the tent and experimenting with a sail, it +was five hours before the march commenced. + +"The sail was the tent-cover, attached to the top of one ski lashed +vertically as a mast and secured below to the other ski, lashed across +the sledge as a boom." + +A start was made at 4 A.M. on the 27th in a thirty-mile wind accompanied +by low drift. The surface was smooth but grew unexpectedly soft at +intervals, while the ascent soon began to tell on us. Though the work +was laborious, notwithstanding some aid from the sail, the bright +sunlight kept up our spirits, and, whenever a halt was called for a few +minutes' spell, the conversation invariably turned upon the subject of +food and what we should do on arrival on board the 'Aurora'. + +At noon the sledge-meter showed nine miles one thousand four hundred +yards, and we agreed to halt and pitch camp. + +The wind had fallen off considerably, and in the brilliant sunshine it +was comparatively warm in the tent. The addition of the heat from +the primus stove, kept burning for an unusually long time during the +preparation of the meat, caused a thaw of drift-snow which became lodged +on the lee side of the tent. Thus we had frequently to put up with +an unwelcome drip. Moisture came from the floor also, as there was no +floor-cloth, and the sleeping-bags were soon very wet and soggy. As soon +as the cooking was finished, the tent cooled off and the wet walls froze +and became stiff with icy cakes. + +At this time we were eating largely of the dogs' meat, to which was +added one or two ounces of chocolate or raisins, three or four ounces +of pemmican and biscuit mixed together, and, as a beverage, very dilute +cocoa. The total weight of solid food consumed by each man per day was +approximately fourteen ounces. Our small supply of butter and glaxo was +saved for emergency, while a few tea-bags which remained were boiled +over and over again. + +The march commenced on December 28 at 3 A.M. in a thirty-mile wind +accompanied by light drift. Overhead there was a wild sky which augured +badly for the next few days. It was cold work raising the sail, and we +were glad to be marching. + +Our faithful retainer Ginger could walk no longer and was strapped on +the sledge. She was the last of the dogs and had been some sort of a +help until a few days before. We were sad when it came to finishing her +off. + +On account of the steep up grade and the weight of Ginger on the sledge, +we camped at 7.15 A.M. after only four miles one thousand two hundred +and thirty yards. + +We had breakfast off Ginger's skull and brain. I can never forget the +occasion. As there was nothing available to divide it, the skull was +boiled whole. Then the right and left halves were drawn for by the old +and well-established sledging practice of "shut-eye," after which we +took it in turns eating to the middle line, passing the skull from one +to the other. The brain was afterwards scooped out with a wooden spoon. + +On sledging journeys it is usual to apportion all food-stuffs in as +nearly even halves as possible. Then one man turns away and another, +pointing to a heap, asks "Whose?" The reply from the one not looking is +"Yours" or "Mine" as the case may be. Thus an impartial and satisfactory +division of the rations is made. + +After the meal I went on cooking more meat so as to have a supply in +readiness for eating. It was not till 2 P.M. that the second lot was +finished. The task was very trying, for I had to sit up on the floor of +the tent for hours in a cramped position, continually attending to the +cooker, while Mertz in his Sleeping-bag was just accommodated within the +limited space which remained. The tent was too small either to lie down +during the operation or to sit up comfortably on a sleeping-bag. + +At 9.30 P.M. Mertz rose to take a turn at the cooking, and at 11 P.M. I +joined him at "breakfast." + +At this time a kind of daily cycle was noted in the weather. It was +always calmest between 4 P.M. and 6 P.M. During the evening hours the +wind increased until it reached a maximum between four and six o'clock +next morning, after which it fell off gradually. + +We were away at 2.30 A.M. on the 29th in a thirty-mile wind which raised +a light drift. The sail was found to be of great assistance over a +surface which rose in terraces of fifty to one hundred feet in height, +occurring every one to one and a half miles. This march lasted for six +hours, during which we covered seven miles five hundred and twenty-eight +yards. + +On December 30 the ascent continued and the wind was still in the +"thirties." After several hours we overtopped the last terrace and stood +on flat ground--the crest of a ridge. + +Tramping over the plateau, where reigns the desolation of the outer +worlds, in solitude at once ominous and weird, one is free to roam in +imagination through the wide realm of human experience to the bounds of +the great Beyond. One is in the midst of infinities--the infinity of the +dazzling white plateau, the infinity of the dome above, the infinity of +the time past since these things had birth, and the infinity of the time +to come before they shall have fulfilled the Purpose for which they were +created. We, in the midst of the illimitable, could feel with Marcus +Aurelius that "Of life, the time is a point." + +By 9 A.M. we had accomplished a splendid march of fifteen miles three +hundred and fifty yards, but the satisfaction we should have felt at +making such an inroad on the huge task before us was damped by the fact +that I suddenly became aware that Mertz was not as cheerful as usual. +I was at a loss to know the reason, for he was always such a bright and +companionable fellow. + +At 10.15 P.M. the sky had become overcast, snow was falling and a strong +wind was blowing. We decided to wait for better conditions. + +On New Year's Eve at 5.30 A.M. the wind was not so strong, so we got up +and prepared for the start. + +Mertz said that he felt the dogs' meat was not doing him much good and +suggested that we should give it up for a time and eat a small ration +of the ordinary sledging food, of which we had still some days' +supply carefully husbanded. I agreed to do this and we made our first +experiment on that day. The ration tasted very sweet compared with dogs' +meat and was so scanty in amount that it left one painfully empty. + +The light was so atrocious for marching that, after stumbling along for +two and a half miles, we were obliged to give up the attempt and camp, +spending the day in sleeping-bags. + +In the evening at 9.30 P.M. the sun appeared for a brief moment and the +wind subsided. Another stage was therefore attempted but at considerable +cost, for we staggered along in the bewildering light, continually +falling over unseen sastrugi. The surface was undulating with a tendency +to down grades. Two sets of sastrugi were found crossing one another, +and, in the absence of the sun, we could not be sure of the course, so +the camp was pitched niter five miles. + +"January 1, 1913.--Outside, an overcast sky and falling snow. Mertz was +not up to his usual form and we decided not to attempt blundering along +in the bad light, believing that the rest would be advantageous to him. + +"He did not complain at all except of the dampness of his sleeping-bag, +though when I questioned him particularly he admitted that he had pains +in the abdomen. As I had a continuous gnawing sensation in the stomach, +I took it that he had the same, possibly more acute. + +"After New Year's Day he expressed a dislike to biscuit, which seemed +rather strange. Then he suddenly had a desire for glaxo and our small +store was made over to him, I taking a considerable ration of the dogs' +meat in exchange. + +"It was no use, however, for when we tried to cover a few more miles +the exertion told very heavily on him, and it was plain that he was in a +more serious condition than myself. + +"January 2.--The same abominable weather. We eat only a few ounces of +chocolate each day. + +"January 3.--In the evening the sky broke and the sun looked through the +clouds. We were not long in packing up and getting on the way. The night +was chilly and Mertz got frost-bitten fingers, so camp was pitched after +four miles one thousand two hundred and thirty yards. + +"January 4.--The sun was shining and we had intended rising at 10 A.M., +but Mertz was not well and thought that the rest would be good for him. +I spent the time improving some of the gear, mending Mertz's clothing +and cooking a quantity of the meat. + +"January 5.--The sky was overcast, snow was falling, and there was +a strong wind. Mertz suggested that as the conditions were so bad we +should delay another day. + +"Lying in the damp bags was wretched and was not doing either of us any +good, but what was to be done? Outside, the conditions were abominable. +My companion was evidently weaker than I, and it was apparently quite +true that he was not making much of the dogs' meat. + +"January 6.--A better day but the sky remained overcast. Mertz agreed to +try another stage." + +The grade was slightly downhill and the wind well behind. Unfortunately +the surface was slippery and irregular and falls were frequent. These +told very much upon my companion until, after consistently demurring, +he at last consented to ride on the sledge. With the wind blowing behind +us, it required no great exertion to bring the load along, though it +would often pull up suddenly against sastrugi. After we had covered two +and a half miles, Mertz became so cold through inaction in the wind that +there was nothing to do but pitch the tent. + +Mertz appeared to be depressed and, after the short meal, sank back into +his bag without saying much. Occasionally, during the day, I would ask +him how he felt, or we would return to the old subject of food. It +was agreed that on our arrival on board the 'Aurora' Mertz was to make +penguin omelettes, for we had never forgotten the excellence of those we +had eaten just before leaving the Hut. + +Reviewing the situation, I found that we were one hundred miles +south-east of Winter Quarters where food and plenty awaited us. At +the time we had still ordinary rations for several days. How short a +distance it would seem to the vigorous, but what a lengthy journey for +the weak and famished! + +The skin was peeling off our bodies and a very poor substitute remained +which burst readily and rubbed raw in many places. One day, I remember, +Mertz ejaculated, "Just a moment," and, reaching over, lifted from my +ear a perfect skin-cast. I was able to do the same for him. As we never +took off our clothes, the peelings of hair and skin from our bodies +worked down into our under-trousers and socks, and regular clearances +were made. + +During the evening of the 6th I made the following note in my diary: + +"A long and wearisome night. If only I could get on; but I must stop +with Xavier. He does not appear to be improving and both our chances are +going now." + +"January 7.--Up at 8 A.M., it having been arranged last night that we +would go on to-day at all costs, sledge-sailing, with Xavier in his bag +on the sledge." It was a sad blow to me to find that Mertz was in a weak +state and required helping in and out of his bag. He needed rest for a +few hours at least before he could think of travelling. "I have to turn +in again to kill time and also to keep warm, for I feel the cold very +much now." + +"At 10 A.M. I get up to dress Xavier and prepare food, but find him in a +kind of fit." Coming round a few minutes later, he exchanged a few words +and did not seem to realize that anything had happened. "... Obviously +we can't go on to-day. It is a good day though the light is bad, the +sun just gleaming through the clouds. This is terrible; I don't mind for +myself but for others. I pray to God to help us." + +"I cook some thick cocoa for Xavier and give him beef-tea; he is better +after noon, but very low--I have to lift him up to drink." + +During the afternoon he had several more fits, then became delirious and +talked incoherently until midnight, when he appeared to fall off into a +peaceful slumber. So I toggled up the sleeping-bag and retired worn out +into my own. After a couple of hours, having felt no movement from my +companion, I stretched out an arm and found that he was stiff. + +My comrade had been accepted into "the peace that passeth all +understanding." It was my fervent hope that he had been received where +sterling qualities and a high mind reap their due reward. In his life we +loved him; he was a man of character, generous and of noble parts. + +For hours I lay in the bag, rolling over in my mind all that lay behind +and the chance of the future. I seemed to stand alone on the wide shores +of the world--and what a short step to enter the unknown future! + +My physical condition was such that I felt I might collapse in a moment. +The gnawing in the stomach had developed there a permanent weakness, so +that it was not possible to hold myself up in certain positions. Several +of my toes commenced to blacken and fester near the tips and the nails +worked loose. + +Outside, the bowl of chaos was brimming with drift-snow and I wondered +how I would manage to break and pitch camp single-handed. There appeared +to be little hope of reaching the Hut. It was easy to sleep on in the +bag, and the weather was cruel outside. But inaction is hard to brook, +and I thought of Service's lines: + + Buck up, do your damndest and fight, + It's the plugging away that will win you the day. + +If I failed to reach the Hut it would be something done to reach some +prominent point likely to catch the eye of a search party, where a cairn +might be erected and our diaries cached. And so I commenced to modify +the sledge and camping gear to meet fresh requirements. + +The sky remained clouded, but the wind fell off to a calm which lasted +for several hours. I took the opportunity to set to work on the sledge, +sawing it in halves with a pocket tool. A mast was made out of one of +the rails of the discarded half of the sledge and a spar was cut +from the other rail. The sledge-meter, very much battered, was +still serviceable. Lastly, the load was cut down to a minimum by the +elimination of all but the barest necessities. + +Late on the evening of the 8th I took the body of Mertz, wrapped up +in his sleeping-bag, outside the tent, piled snow blocks around it and +raised a rough cross made of the two half-runners of the sledge. + +On January 9 the weather was overcast and fairly thick drift was flying +in a wind reaching about fifty miles an hour. As certain matters still +required attention and my chances of re-erecting the tent were rather +doubtful, if I had decided to move on, the start was delayed. + +"I read the Burial Service over Xavier this afternoon. As there is +little chance of my reaching human aid alive. I greatly regret inability +at the moment to set out the detail of coastline met with for three +hundred miles travelled and observations of glacier and ice-formations, +etc.; the most of which latter are, of course, committed to my head. + +"The approximate location of the camp is latitude 68 degrees 2' S., +longitude 145 degrees 9' E. This is dead reckoning, as the theodolite +legs have been out of action for some time, splinted together to form +tent-props. I believe the truth lies nearer latitude 67 degrees 57' S., +longitude 145 degrees 20' E., as the wind must have drifted us to the +north." + +During the afternoon I cut up Mertz's burberry jacket and roughly sewed +it to a large canvas clothes-bag, making a sail which could be readily +set or furled, so as to save delay in starting out or in camping. + +January 10 was an impossible day for travelling on account of thick +drift and high wind. I spent part of the time in reckoning up the amount +of food remaining and in cooking the rest of the dogs' meat; the last +device enabling me to leave behind some of the kerosene, of which there +was still a good supply. Late in the afternoon the wind fell and the +sun peered amongst the clouds just as I was in the middle of a long job +riveting and lashing the broken shovel. + +It was on January 11--a beautiful, calm day of sunshine--that I set out +over a good surface with a slight down grade. From the start my feet +felt lumpy and sore. They had become so painful after a mile of walking +that I decided to make an examination of them on the spot, sitting in +the sun on the sledge. The sight of my feet gave me quite a shock, for +the thickened skin of the soles had separated in each case as a complete +layer, and abundant watery fluid had escaped into the socks. The new +skin underneath was very much abraded and raw. + +I did what appeared to be the best thing under the stances: smeared +the new skin with lanoline, of which there was a good store, and with +bandages bound the skin soles back in place, as they were comfortable +and soft in contact with the raw surfaces. Outside the bandages I wore +six pairs of thick woollen socks, fur boots and a crampon over-shoe +of soft leather. Then I removed most of my clothing and bathed in +the glorious heat of the sun. A tingling sensation seemed to spread +throughout my whole body, and I felt stronger and better. + +When the day commenced with ideal weather I thought I would cover a +long distance, but at 5.30 P.M., after six and a quarter miles, I felt +nerve-worn and had to camp, "so worn that had it not been a delightful +evening, I should not have found strength to erect the tent." + +Though the medical outfit was limited, there were a fair number of +bandages and on camping I devoted much time to tending raw patches all +over the body, festering fingers and inflamed nostrils. + +High wind and much drift put travelling out of the question on January +12, and in any case my feet needed a rest. + +"January 13.--The wind subsided and the snow cleared off at noon. The +afternoon was beautifully fine. Descended hard ice-slopes over many +crevasses--almost all descent--but surface cut my feet up; at 8 P.M. +camped, having done five and three-quarter miles--painful feet--on +camping find feet worse than ever; things look bad but shall persevere. +It is now 11 P.M. and the glacier is firing off like artillery--appears +to send up great jets of imprisoned air." + +During the march Aurora Peak showed up to the west, about twenty miles +away, across the Mertz Glacier. I felt happy at thus fixing my position, +and at the sight of the far plateau which led onwards to Winter +Quarters. + +The glacier was the next obstacle to advance. To the south-west it +descended from the plateau in immense broken folds. Pressing northward +it was torn into the jumbled crush of serac-ice, sparkling beneath +an unclouded sun. The idea of diverging to the west and rounding the +ice-falls occurred to me, but the detours involved other difficulties, +so I strove to pick out the best track across the valley. + +A high wind which blew on the morning of the 14th diminished in strength +by noon and allowed me to get away. The sun was so warm that the +puckered ice underfoot was covered with a film of water and in some +places small trickles ran away to disappear into crevasses. + +Though the course was downhill to the Mertz Glacier, the sledge required +a good deal of pulling owing to the wet runners. At 9 P.M., after +travelling five miles, I pitched camp in the bed of the glacier. + +Between 9.30 P.M. and 11 P.M. the "cannonading" heard on the previous +night recommenced. The sounds, resembling the explosions of heavy guns, +usually started higher up the glacier and ended down towards the sea. +When I first heard them, I put my head outside the tent to see what was +going on. The reports came at random from every direction, but there was +no visible evidence as to how they were produced. Without a doubt they +had something to do with the re-freezing and splitting of the ice owing +to the evening chill; but the sounds seemed far too loud to be explained +by this cause alone. + +January 15--the date on which all the summer sledging parties were due +at the Hut! It was overcast and snowing early in the day, and in a few +hours the sun broke out and shone warmly. The travelling was so heavy +over a soft snowy surface, partly melting, that I gave up, after one +mile, and camped. + +At 7 P.M. the surface had not improved, the sky was thickly obscured and +snow fell. At 10 P.M. the snow was coming down heavily, and, since there +were many crevasses in the vicinity, I resolved to wait. + +On the 16th at 2 A.M. the snow was as thick as ever, but at 5 A.M. the +atmosphere lightened and the sun appeared. + +Without delay I broke camp. A favourable breeze sprang up, and with sail +set I managed to proceed through the snowy "deluge" in short stages. The +snow clung in lumps to the runners, which had to be scraped frequently. +I passed some broken ridges and sank into several holes leading down to +crevasses out of which it was possible to scramble easily. + +After laboriously toiling up one long slope, I was just catching my +breath at the top and the sledge was running easily when I noticed +that the surface beneath my feet fell away steeply in front. I suddenly +realized that I was on the brink of a great blue hole like a quarry. The +sledge was following of its own accord and was rapidly gaining speed, +so I turned and, exerting every effort, was just able to hold it back +by means of the hauling-line from the edge of the abyss. I should think +that there must have been an interval of quite a minute during which I +held my ground without being able to make it budge. Then it slowly came +my way, and the imminent danger was past. + +The day's march was an extremely hard five miles. Before turning in +I had an extra supper of jelly soup, made by boiling down some of the +dogs' sinews, strengthened with a little pemmican. The acute enjoyment +of eating under these circumstances compensates in a slight measure for +the suffering of starvation. + +January 17 was another day of overcast weather and falling snow. Delay +meant a reduction in the ration which was low enough already, so there +was nothing to do but go on. + +When I got away at 8 A.M. I found that the pulling was easier than it +had been on the previous day. Nevertheless I covered only two miles and +had to consider myself fortunate in not winding up the whole story then +and there. This is what happened, following the account in my diary. + +"Going up a long, fairly steep slope, deeply covered with soft snow, +broke through lid of crevasse but caught myself at thighs, got out, +turned fifty yards to the north, then attempted to cross trend of +crevasse, there being no indication of it; a few moments later found +myself dangling fourteen feet below on end of rope in crevasse--sledge +creeping to mouth--had time to say to myself, 'so this is the end,' +expecting the sledge every moment to crash on my head and all to go to +the unseen bottom--then thought of the food uneaten on the sledge; but +as the sledge pulled up without letting me down, thought of Providence +giving me another chance." The chance was very small considering my +weak condition. The width of the crevasse was about six feet, so I hung +freely in space, turning slowly round. + +A great effort brought a knot in the rope within my grasp, and, after a +moment's rest, I was able to draw myself up and reach another, and, at +length, hauled myself on to the overhanging snow-lid into which the rope +had cut. Then, when I was carefully climbing out on to the surface, a +further section of the lid gave way, precipitating me once more to the +full length of the rope. + +Exhausted, weak and chilled (for my hands were bare and pounds of snow +had got inside my clothing) I hung with the firm conviction that all was +over except the passing. Below was a black chasm; it would be but the +work of a moment to slip from the harness, then all the pain and toil +would be over. It was a rare situation, a rare temptation--a chance to +quit small things for great--to pass from the petty exploration of a +planet to the contemplation of vaster worlds beyond. But there was all +eternity for the last and, at its longest, the present would be but +short. I felt better for the thought. + +My strength was fast ebbing; in a few minutes it would be too late. It +was the occasion for a supreme attempt. New power seemed to come as I +addressed myself to one last tremendous effort. The struggle occupied +some time, but by a miracle I rose slowly to the surface. This time I +emerged feet first, still holding on to the rope, and pushed myself out, +extended at full length, on the snow--on solid ground. Then came the +reaction, and I could do nothing for quite an hour. + +The tent was erected in slow stages and I then had a little food. Later +on I lay in the sleeping-bag, thinking things over. It was a time when +the mood of the Persian philosopher appealed to me: + + Unborn To-morrow and dead Yesterday, + Why fret about them if To-day be sweet? + +I was confronted with this problem: whether it was better to enjoy life +for a few days, sleeping and eating my fill until the provisions gave +out, or to "plug on" again in hunger with the prospect of plunging at +any moment into eternity without the great luxury and pleasure of food. +And then an idea presented itself which greatly improved my prospects. +It was to construct a ladder from alpine rope; one end of which was to +be secured to the bow of the sledge and the other to be carried over +my left shoulder and loosely attached to the sledge harness. Thus, if +I fell into a crevasse again, it would be easy for me, even though +weakened by starvation, to scramble out again by the ladder, provided +the sledge was not also engulphed. + +Notwithstanding the possibilities of the rope ladder, I could not sleep +properly at all; my nerves had been so overtaxed. All night considerable +wind and drift continued. + +On the 19th it was overcast and light snow was falling. I resolved "to +go ahead and leave the rest to Providence." + +As they wallowed through the deep snow my feet and legs kept breaking +through into space. Then I went right under, but the sledge was held +back and the ladder "proved trumps." A few minutes later I was down +again, but I emerged again without much exertion, half-smothered with +snow. Faintness overcame me and I stopped to camp, though only a short +distance had been covered. + +All around me was a leaden glare, the snow clouds "corralling" me in. +The sun had not shown up for some days and I was eager to see it once +more, not only that it might show up the landscape, but for its cheerful +influence and life-giving energy. A few days previously my condition had +been improving, but now it was going back. + +During the night of the 18th loud booming noises, sharp cracks and +muffled growls issued form the neighbouring crevasses and kept waking +me up. At times one could feel a vibration accompanying the growling +sounds, and I concluded that the ice was in rapid motion. + +The sun at last appeared on the 19th, and I was off by 8.30 A.M. The +whole surface was a network of crevasses, some very wide. Along one +after another of these I dragged the sledge until a spot was reached +where the snow-bridge looked to be firm. Here I plunged across, risking +the consequences. + +After three hours' marching nothing serious had happened and I found +myself on safer ground with a "pimply" surface visible ahead, close +under the slopes of the highlands. Once on this I became over-reliant, +and in consequence sank several times into narrow fissures. + +At 1 P.M. the Mertz Glacier was at last crossed and I had reached the +rising hills on its western side. Overlooking the camp, five hundred +feet above the glacier, were beetling, crevassed crags, but I could +trace out a good road, free from pitfalls, leading to the plateau, at an +elevation of three thousand feet. + +To lighten my load for the climb I threw away alpine rope, finnesko +crampons, sundry pairs of worn crampons and socks, while I rubbed a +composition on the sledge-runners which prevented them from sticking to +wet snow. + +January 20 was a wretched day; overcast, with wind and light drift. +In desperation I got away at 2 P.M. in a wind which proved to be of +considerable assistance. I could see nothing of my surroundings; one +thing was certain, and that was that the ascent had commenced and every +foot took me upward. The day's work amounted to about two and a half +miles. + +On the 21st the sun shone brightly and there was a good following wind. +Through deep snow I zigzagged up for three miles before deciding to +camp. + +Wind and drift prevailed early on the 22nd but fell away towards noon, +and I was then favoured with a glorious sunny day. Away to the north +was a splendid view of the open sea; it looked so beautiful and friendly +that I longed to be down near it. Six miles had been covered during +the day, but I felt very weak towards the end on account of the heavy +pulling. + +During the early hours of the 23rd the sun was visible, but about 8 A.M. +the clouds sagged low, the wind rose and everything became blotted out +in a swirl of driving snow. + +I wandered on through it for several hours, the sledge capsizing at +times owing to the strength of the wind. It was not possible to keep an +accurate course, for even the wind changed direction as the day wore +on. Underfoot there was soft snow which I found comfortable for my sore +feet, but which made the sledge drag heavily at times. + +When camp was pitched at 4 P.M. I reckoned that the distance covered in +a straight line had been three and a half miles. + +Erecting the tent single-handed in the high wind was a task which +required much patience and some skill. The poles were erected first +and then the tent was gathered up in the proper form and taken to the +windward side of the legs where it was weighted down. The flounce on the +windward side was got into position and piled up with snow blocks. Other +blocks of snow had previously been placed in a ring round the legs in +readiness to be tumbled on to the rest of the flounce when the tent was +quickly slipped over the apex of the poles. In very windy weather it was +often as much as two hours after halting before I would be cosy within +the shelter of the tent. + +High wind and dense driving snow persisted throughout the 24th and I +made five and a half miles, sitting on the sledge most of the time with +the sail up. + +The blizzard continued on the 25th, but after the trying experience of +the previous two days, I did not feel well enough to go on. Outside, the +snow fell in "torrents," piled up round the tent and pressed in until it +was no bigger than a coffin, of which it reminded me. + +I passed most of the day doctoring myself, attending to raw and inflamed +places. Tufts of my beard and hair came out, and the snowy floor of the +tent was strewn with it at every camp. + +"January 26.--I went on again in dense, driving snow. There was no need +of the sail. The wind, which was behind, caught the sledge and bundled +it along so that, though over a soft surface of snow, the travelling was +rapid. The snow was in large, rounded grains, and beat on the tent like +hail. Altogether nine miles were covered. + +"January 27.--Blizzard-bound again. The previous day's exertions were +too much for me to undertake the same again without a long rest. + +"January 28,--In the morning the wind had moderated very much but the +sky remained overcast and snow continued to fall. It was a long job +digging the tent out. Soon after the start the sun gleamed and the +weather improved. The three-thousand-foot crest of the plateau had been +crossed and I was bearing down rapidly on Commonwealth Bay, the vicinity +of which showed up as a darker patch on the clouds of the north-west +horizon. + +"The evening was fine and I really began to feel that Winter Quarters +were approaching. To increase my excitement Madigan Nunatak came into +view for a time in the clear, evening light. Distance covered, over +eight miles." + +The calm of the previous evening was broken again, and I started on the +morning of January 29 in considerable drift and a fairly strong wind. +After going five miles I had miraculous good fortune. + +I was travelling along on an even down grade and was wondering how long +the two pounds of food which remained would last, when something dark +loomed through the drift a short distance away to the right. All sorts +of possibilities fled through my mind as I headed the sledge for it. The +unexpected happened--it was a cairn of snow erected by McLean, Hodgeman +and Hurley, who had been out searching for us. On the top of the mound +was a bag of food, left on the chance that it might be picked up, while +in a tin was a note stating the bearing and distance of the mound from +Aladdin's Cave (E. 30 degrees S., distance twenty-three miles), that the +Ship had arrived at the Hut and was waiting, that Amundsen had reached +the Pole, and that Scott was remaining another year in Antarctica. + +It was rather a singular fact that the search party only left this mound +at eight o'clock on the morning of that very day (January 29). It was +about 2 P.M. when I found it. Thus, during the night of the 28th, our +camps had been only about five miles apart. + +With plenty of food, I speedily felt stimulated and revived, and +anticipated reaching the Hut in a day or two, for there was then not +more than twenty-three miles to cover. Alas, however, there was to be +another delay. I was without crampons--they had been thrown away on the +western side of Mertz Glacier--and in the strong wind was not able to +stand up on the slippery ice of the coastal slopes. The result was that +I sat on the sledge and ran along with the wind, nibbling at the food +as I went. The sledge made so much leeway that near the end of the day, +after fourteen miles, I reckoned that I had been carried to the east of +Aladdin's Cave. The course was therefore changed to the west, but the +wind came down almost broadside-on to the sledge, and it was swept away. +The only thing to do was to camp. + +On the 30th I cut up the box of the theodolite and into two pieces +of wood stuck as many screws and tacks as I could procure from the +sledge-meter. In the repair-bag there were still a few ice-nails which +at this time were of great use. Late in the day the wind fell off, and +I started westward over the ice-slopes with the pieces of nail-studded +wood lashed to my feet. + +After six miles these improvised crampons broke up, and the increasing +wind got me into difficulties. Finally, the sledge slipped sideways into +a narrow crevasse and was caught by the boom (which crossed from side to +side at the lower part of the mast). I was not strong enough for the job +of extricating it straight away, and by the time I had got it safely on +the ice, the wind had increased still more. So I pitched camp. + +The blizzard was in full career on January 31 and I spent all day and +until late at night trying to make the crampons serviceable, but without +success. + +On February 1 the wind and drift subsided late in the afternoon, and I +clearly saw to the west the beacon which marked Aladdin's Cave. + +At 7 P.M. I reached this haven within the ice, and never again was I to +have the ordeal of pitching the tent. Inside the cave were three oranges +and a pineapple which had been brought from the Ship. It was wonderful +once more to be in the land of such things! + +I waited to mend one of the crampons and then started off for the Hut; +but a blizzard had commenced. To descend the five miles of steep icy +slopes with my miserable crampons, in the weak state in which I found +myself, would only have been as a last resort. So I camped in the +comfortable cave and hoped for better weather next day. + +The high wind, rising to a hurricane at times, continued for a whole +week with dense drift until the 8th. I spent the long hours making +crampons of a new pattern, eating and sleeping. Eventually I became so +anxious that I used to sit outside the cave for long spells, watching +for a lull in the wind. + +At length I resolved to go down in the blizzard, sitting on the sledge +as long as possible, blown along by the wind. I was making preparations +for a start when the wind suddenly decreased and my opportunity had +come. + +In a couple of hours I was within one mile and a half of the Hut. There +was no sign of the Ship lying in the offing, but I comforted myself +with the thought that she might be still at the anchorage and have swung +inshore so as to be hidden by the ice-cliffs, or on the other hand that +Captain Davis might have been along the coast to the east searching +there. + +But even as I gazed about seeking for a clue, a speck on the north-west +horizon caught my eye and my hopes went down. It looked like a distant +ship; it might well have been the 'Aurora'. Well, what matter! the long +journey was at an end-a terrible chapter of my life was finished! + +Then the rocks around Winter Quarters began to come into view, part +of the basin of the boat harbour appeared, and lo! there were human +figures! They almost seemed unreal--I was in a dream--but after a brief +moment one of them saw me and waved an arm, I replied, there was a +commotion and they all ran towards the Hut. Then they were lost, for +the crest of the first steep slope hid them. It almost seemed to me that +they had run away to hide. + +Minutes passed, and I slowly went along with the sledge. Then a head +rose over the brow of the hill and there was Bickerton, breathless after +a long run. I expect he considered for a while which one of us it was. +Soon we had shaken hands and he knew all in a few brief words, and I +learned that the Ship had left earlier in the day. Madigan, McLean, +Bage and Hodgeman arrived, and then a new-comer--Jeffryes. Five men had +remained behind to make a search for our party, and Jeffryes was a new +wireless operator brought down by Captain Davis. + +We were soon at the Hut where I found that full preparations had been +made for wintering a second year. The weather was calm and the Ship was +no distance away so I decided to recall her by wireless. The masts at +the Hut had been re-erected during the summer, and on board the 'Aurora' +Hannam was provided with a wireless receiving set. Jeffryes had arranged +with Hannam to call up at 8, 9 and 10 P.M. for several evenings while +the 'Aurora' was "within range" in case there were any news of my party. +A message recalling the Ship was therefore sent off and repeated at +frequent intervals till past midnight. + +Next morning there was a forty-mile wind when we went outside, but away +across Commonwealth Bay to the west the 'Aurora' could be seen close to +the face of the ice-cliffs. She had returned in response to the call and +was steaming up and down, waiting for the wind to moderate. + +We immediately set to work getting all the records, instruments and +personal gear ready to be taken down to the boat harbour in anticipation +of calm weather during the day. + +The wind chose to continue and towards evening was in the sixties, while +the barometer fell. During the afternoon Hodgeman went across to the +western ridge and saw that the Ship was still in the Bay. The sea was so +heavy that the motor-boat could never have lived through it. + +That night Jeffryes sent another message, which we learned afterwards +was not received, in which Captain Davis was given the option of +remaining until calm weather supervened or of leaving at once for the +Western Base. I felt that the decision should be left to him, as he +could appreciate exactly the situation of the Western Base and what the +Ship could be expected to do amid the ice at that season of the year. +The time was already past when, according to my written instructions +left for him on arrival at Commonwealth Bay, the 'Aurora' should sail +west to relieve Wild and his party. + +On the morning of the 10th there was no sign of the Ship and evidently +Captain Davis had decided to wait no longer, knowing that further delay +would endanger the chances of picking up the eight men who had elected +to winter on the shelf-ice one thousand five hundred miles to the +west. At such a critical moment determination, fearless and swift, was +necessary, and, in coming to his momentous decision, Captain Davis acted +well and for the best interests of the Expedition. + +A long voyage lay before the 'Aurora' through many miles of ice-strewn +sea, swept by intermittent blizzards and shrouded now in midnight +darkness. We still fostered the hope that the vessel's coal-supply would +be sufficient for her to return to Adelie Land and make an attempt to +pick us up. But it was not to be. + +The long Antarctic winter was fast approaching and we turned to meet it +with resolution, knowing that if the 'Aurora' failed us in early March, +that the early summer of the same year would bring relief. + + + +CHAPTER XIV THE QUEST OF THE SOUTH MAGNETIC POLE + +Dr. R. BAGE + + Send me your strongest, those who never fail. + I'm the Blizzard, King of the Southern Trail! + Sledging song. + + +On the afternoon of November 10, at Aladdin's Cave, after a convivial +hoosh, Webb, Hurley and I said good-bye to Dr. Mawson's party and +made off south for the eleven and three-quarter mile cave where our +Supporting Party, Murphy, Hunter and Laseron, were waiting for us. At +7 P.M. we started almost at a run over the smooth ice, to the +accompaniment of hearty cheers from Dr. Mawson, Ninnis, and Mertz; two +of whom we were never to see again. + +Half a mile of this easy going, and we were on snow for the first time +with a loaded sledge. Uphill snow, too, and the wind rising, so it was +no small relief when we finally made the Cathedral Grotto at 11.30 P.M., +and found Murphy's tent pitched alongside it. The wind by this time +was about forty-five miles per hour and, it being nearly dusk, the +crevasses--a five-mile belt--had been fairly difficult to negotiate. + +We soon had the cave clear of snow, had a good meal and then slept +the sleep of the just, feeling well content with the first day's +work--eleven and a half miles from home at an altitude of one thousand +nine hundred feet. We were off at last on a search for the Magnetic +Pole. + +On the morrow some time was spent in rearranging the loads. Finally, +both parties moved off south into heavy wind and fairly thick drift. +What with the ground rising steadily, the pressure of the wind and our +lack of condition, two and a quarter hours of solid work realized only +two and a quarter miles; so we decided to camp. + +All the night it blew hard, between seventy and eighty miles per hour, +and next day it was still blowing and drifting heavily. Our tent was +a good deal smaller than Murphy's, and, as Webb and Hurley are +both six-footers, we always had to put all gear outside when the +sleeping-bags were down. This is really a good thing when the weather is +bad, as one is not tempted to stay in the bag all the time. + +Early in the afternoon as we were all feeling hungry and had been in +bags long enough to feel cold, although the weather was quite warm (10 +degrees F.), we rolled bags, and, when our frozen burberrys were once +fairly on, quite enjoyed ourselves. After a boil-up and a few minutes' +"run" round in the drift and wind, we did some stitching on our light +drill tent, which was making very heavy weather of it, although pitched +close under the lee of Murphy's strong japara tent. A little reading, +some shouted unintelligible conversation with the other tent, another +boil-up, and, last but not least, a smoke, found us quite ready for +another sleep. + +Next day (November 13), the wind having dropped to thirty-five miles +per hour, we set out about 11 A.M. in light drift. The sky was still +overcast, so the light was very trying. In the worst fogs at home one +can at any rate see something of the ground on which one is treading; +in Adelie Land, even when the air was clear of snow, it was easy to bump +against a four-foot sastruga without seeing it. It always reminded me +most of a fog at sea: a ship creeping "o'er the hueless, viewless deep." + +When 6 P.M. arrived we had only covered five and a half miles, but +were all thoroughly exhausted and glad to camp. Lunch had been rather +barbarously served in the lee of the sledge. First came plasmon biscuit, +broken with the ice-axe into pieces small enough to go into the mouth +through the funnel of a burberry helmet; then followed two ounces of +chocolate, frozen rather too hard to have a definite taste; and finally +a luscious morsel--two ounces of butter, lovingly thawed-out in the +mouth to get the full flavour. Lunches like these in wind and drift are +uncomfortable enough for every one to be eager to start again as soon as +possible. + +By nine o'clock that night the wind had increased to a full gale. We +were in camp all the 14th and the 15th, the wind rising to eighty-five +miles per hour with very heavy drift during the small hours of the 15th. +This was its maximum, and by the afternoon it was down to about seventy +miles per hour with a clear sky and light drift. We donned our burberrys +(I should like to give Hurley's "Ode to a Frozen Burberry") and dug out +our sledges, both of which were completely buried in a ramp forty yards +long; the shovel projecting nine inches above the surface. + +While we were engaged on this work, I overheard the following +conversation being shouted in the Supporting Party's tent: + +FIRST VOICE. I'm hungry. Who will go out and get the food-bag? + +SLEEPY VOICE. The food-weights ** are in the cooker. + +FIRST VOICE. No they're not. + +SLEEPY VOICE. Saw them there yesterday, must be somewhere in the tent. + +FIRST VOICE. No they're not... I ate them last night. + + + ** Until amounts were known by experience, rations were weighed by a +small balance whose various weights were small calico bags filled with +chocolate. + +The exercise, a good hoosh and above all the clear sky made us take a +less morbid view of the fact that we were six days out from the Hut and +only nineteen and a half miles away. + +Early on the 16th we could hear above the roar of the wind the drift +still hissing against the tent, but it had diminished by nine o'clock +breakfast. + +By common consent it was agreed that our loads were too heavy for the +conditions under which we were working. I accordingly decided to drop +one hundred-pound bag. We had already saved nearly one week's food for +three men and had not yet worked up our full sledging appetites. The +bag was raised to the top of a six-foot snow mound, a thermograph being +placed alongside. As we now seemed to be on plateau snow, I thought it +wise to leave behind my heavy boots and Swiss crampons. + +By 4 P.M. the wind had decreased to a light breeze. Work was very slow +on a steeper up grade, and at six o'clock clouds came up quickly +from the south-east and snow began to fall, so we camped at 7.30 P.M. +thoroughly tired out. At twenty-four and a half miles the altitude was +three thousand two hundred feet. + +The snow was a false alarm. It ceased at 9 P.M. and the wind subsided to +a dead calm!! + +Good headway was being made against a strong breeze next day, when +it was noticed that two gallons of kerosene were missing off the +supporters' sledge. While Murphy and Laseron went back two miles +to recover them, Webb secured a magnetic declination and I took sun +observations for time and azimuth. + +We were off early on the 18th and for the first time were able to +appreciate the "scenery." Glorious sunshine overhead and all around +brilliant snow, dappled by livid shadows; very different from the +smooth, soft, white mantle usually attributed to the surface of +Antarctica by those in the homeland. Here and there, indeed, were +smooth patches which we called bowling-greens, but hard and slippery as +polished marble, with much the same translucent appearance. Practically +all the country, however, was a jumbled mass of small, hard sastrugi, +averaging perhaps a foot in height, with an occasional gnarled old +veteran twice as high. To either side the snow rolled away for miles. +In front, we made our first acquaintance with the accursed next ridge, +which is always ahead of you on the plateau. Generally we passed from +one ridge to another so gradually that we could never say for certain +just when we had topped one; still the next ridge was always there. + +The weather had lately been colder with the increased altitude. The +temperature in daily range varied from -10 degrees F. to 9 degrees F. +It was so hot in the sun, on the 18th, that lunching inside the tent was +unbearable. We preferred its shadow outside in the breeze. + +Wearing a minimum of clothes, we marched along gaily during the +afternoon. The country changed in a wonderful manner, the sastrugi +gradually becoming smaller and finally disappearing. The surface was so +soft that a bamboo would easily penetrate it for a foot. Evidently it +was fairly old and laid down in calm weather, for excavations showed +that it became more compact without any hard wind-swept layers marking +successive snowfalls. + +It was proved that we were commencing a descent of one thousand five +hundred feet down the north side of a valley feeding the Mertz Glacier. +In order to explain the surface, smooth and unruffled by any wind, the +question arose as to whether it is possible that there is a cushion +of dead air more or less permanently over the north side of this +depression. + +On the soft surface we were able to dispense with crampons. Hitherto, it +had been impossible to haul over a slippery surface in finnesko. Now we +felt as light as air and were vastly cheered when some one calculated +that the six of us were saving I don't know how many thousand +foot-pounds of work every mile. With a run of twelve miles we were +forty-two miles from Winter Quarters. + +Another splendid day on the 19th. We had lunch in a curious cup-shaped +hollow, estimated to be two miles wide and one hundred and fifty feet +deep. Webb obtained here an approximate dip of 88 degrees 44',** a very +promising increase from the Hut (87 degrees 27'). + + + ** At the South Magnetic Pole the dip is 90 degrees. + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +Map showing track of the southern sledging party from the Main Base + + +Snow-blindness had now begun to make itself felt for the first time. I +for one had my first experience of it that afternoon. During the halt +at lunch I put on yellow goggles in place of the smoked ones I had been +wearing, and in a quarter of an hour the change of colour had 'settled' +my eyes for the time being. + +The afternoon was very hot. The thermometer stood at 10 degrees F. at +4 P.M., but the still air made it almost insupportable. By the time +the load was hauled up out of the basin, we were streaming with +perspiration. + +Before halting, we sighted a dark, distant ridge, thirty miles away, +and the course was corrected by its bearing. Our extravagant hopes of +finding a permanently calm region had been dwindling for the last few +miles, as a hard bottom, a few inches under the surface, had become +evident. They were finally dispelled by a south-west wind springing up +during the night. + +As every one was beginning to feel the hard work after another +oppressive afternoon on the 20th, we decided to have an easy march next +day and to build our first depot. Of course we had hoped to have been +farther out before sending back the supporting party, but the weather +had settled the question. + +On the 21st, taking things as easily as a thirty-five mile wind would +permit, we pulled on, up and down small undulations till 4 P.M. when we +encountered a small rise, with the next ridge a considerable distance +ahead. The depot was to be built here. + +Webb at once proceeded to take full magnetic declination, time and +azimuth observations, Laseron recording for him. Murphy put in a +miserable hour over the primus melting snow. He was rather snow-blind +and his eyes must have contributed a good deal of water to the pot. The +water was poured into food-bags filled with snow, which were buried, +encircled by wire slings, in holes. Here they froze, making excellent +holdfasts for the depot flag. Depot flags had been exercising our +ingenuity for months before the start, ordinary forms being destroyed by +the wind in a few hours. Webb had finally built the perfect flag of +the wind-vane type: a V of pieces of blackened Venesta board with light +struts at the back and a piece of aeroplane tubing at the apex which +slipped over the bamboo pole. The pole, of two bamboos, stood sixteen +feet from the ground and was provided with two sets of flexible steel +stays. Close by, Hurley and Hunter had built a snow mound ten feet in +diameter and ten feet in height, finished off with a capping of snow +blocks wrapped in black bunting. + +Next day it was blowing a little harder and the sky was overcast, snow +falling all day. What bad light means can be gathered from the fact that +Laseron on crawling out of the tent in the morning raised an alarm that +our tent had been blown away in the night. It turned out that our tent +was hidden by a mound which he could not see, though only about ten +yards from it. + +I had been given the option of relieving the supporting party of any of +their gear I coveted and I used it freely. The sledgemeter was the first +thing commandeered, ours, made by Correll, having developed some slight +complaint in its interior. Their cooker, being in good condition, was +also taken. We all cast longing eyes at the roomy wind-proof tent but +finally decided that it was too heavy--forty pounds as against our own +of twenty-six pounds, including tent and poles. + +At 7 P.M. we said good-bye to our supporters, Hurley exposed the last +plate of his big reflex camera, which they carried back to the Hut, and +a few minutes later Webb, Hurley, and I were standing alone watching +three black specks disappearing in the drift; a stiff wind helping them +along in great style. We were left to our own resources now, for better +or for worse. "Weird" is how I described my feelings in the diary. + +The same night it blew a hurricane and only dropped to sixty miles per +hour during the 23rd, compelling us to remain in camp. Not an ideal +birthday for Webb, but we made the most of it. I quote from my diary: +"Turned out and rolled bags at 3 P.M. for lunch, for which we opened a +wee tin of bacon ration brought for the occasion. Had some extra lumps +of sugar (collared from the eleven-mile cave) in our tea. After the wine +had been round (i.e. after a special second cup of tea), I gave Eric +a pair of stockings from Murphy, and then 'Hoyle' and I smoked a cigar +each which Webb produced. Dinner at 7 was also a special affair as we +had the remains of the bacon ration in the hoosh, with great effect. +Also an extra strong brew of cocoa boiled quite smooth. Burberrys on and +a stroll outside in the wind for a yard or two to get up a circulation; +then into bag where I am smoking a plebeian pipe which is very tame +after the glories of the day, especially as I suspect my tobacco of +being a bit damp." + +Such was the first of the two "auspicious occasions" we had on the +journey. + +After going carefully through the gear, we discarded a pickaxe, one +pair of big spiked boots and some odd clothing. We also decided, as +the probability of leisure was not great, to leave our reading matter +behind. It was with regret that I added my little 'Virginibus Puerisque' +to the small pile of "rejects." The load now amounted to seven hundred +and forty-eight pounds in all. Not many days after, the floor-cloth +(eight pounds) was left behind, as the japara sail afforded ample +protection from damp in the low temperatures of the plateau. + +The dip-circle, which was to yield the most important result of our +journey, was housed after much thought on a conveniently shaped kerosene +tray between the tins of oil. Four light leather straps, buckled +tightly, made a solid mass of tray, oil tins, and dip-circle; very safe, +and easy to undo. + +My orders were to proceed inland, due south, taking magnetic, +geographical, meteorological, and such other observations as were +possible, returning to the Hut not later than January 15. Dr. Mawson had +left it to my discretion, in the event of any great change occurring in +the declination, to go either true or magnetic south. + +At the Hut and up to about sixty miles south of it, the declination had +proved fairly constant, but now at the Southern Cross Depot, as we +had christened the sixty-seven-mile camp, the compass, from pointing a +little to the east of south, had travelled to 40 degrees east of +south, so that it became obvious that there was considerable magnetic +disturbance in the country over which we were travelling. Whether +we went south or south-east seemed unlikely to affect the value of +geographical and other information we might gather, while Webb was of +the opinion that the best magnetic results would be obtained by +marching directly towards the Magnetic Pole, particularly if there were +disturbances over the intervening area. For these reasons the course was +maintained magnetic south. + +At 11 A.M. on Sunday, November 24, we moved off to the south-east in a +wind of fifty miles an hour. The light was bad, and steering had to be +done by sastrugi and wind. However, momentary glimpses of the sun served +to check the course. The lunch camp was five miles from the depot, and +a good mound with a top of black bunting was left there. At almost every +halt, thus far on our journey, the snow cut for pitching the tent had +been gathered up into a mound which, in addition to forming a landmark, +could often be used as a back-mark for checking the course. Our depot +thus had a mound four miles on the southern and five miles on the +northern side of it. It was not marked as well as I had hoped, but under +the circumstances we could not do better. Moreover, at intervals during +the day, some very distinctive snow ramps had appeared in the valley, +some five miles to the north-east, and their position was fixed relative +to the course. + +Our hopes for a good afternoon were disappointed, as the wind and drift +came up again as strong as ever. The surface, too, grew worse; nothing +but sastrugi eighteen inches to thirty inches high and very close +together. We were marching a little to the east of the wind, and the +sledge was continually blown sideways, making considerable leeway. By +8.30 P.M. it was blowing sixty miles per hour, so we halted, thoroughly +tired out, having hauled our one-third of a ton eight and three-quarter +miles. + +When it is blowing hard, the end of the day's march is not the end of +the day's work. As soon as a camping spot has been chosen, the sledge +is pulled round head to wind. The straps round the load are loosened +carefully, the shovel and tent removed and the straps retightened. One +man starts breaking out chunks of snow, experimenting until he finds a +place where large pieces come away readily. Lumps of forty pounds are +the handiest and quickest, but often only smaller ones can be obtained. +These are arranged in a circle round the tent-site, while the man with +the tent places it on the ground pointing upwind, the bottom of the +poles being just where the middle windward leg will be, and makes a hole +for that leg. + +When everything is ready, all three catch hold of the tent, one man +crawling half into it, gripping hard the leather loop on the windward +leg. The others sort out and grip their two side legs. "All ready? Up!" +It almost takes one's breath away, the roar and the flap! The side legs +are quickly separated as the tent rises, and before it can blow over, +the leeward legs are more or less in position, taking the strain. The +centre man is throwing all his weight on to the leather loop, while the +other two outside each holds down his windward pole with one hand and +with the other pulls blocks of snow on to the skirt to windward. Once +this is done, the rest is simple: cutting holes in just the right +positions for the other legs, pulling out the skirt and making it snug +all round. Then in goes the floor-cloth, and, by the time that is +spread out properly, the primus and cooker are passed in. The cooker is +dissected and the two water vessels passed out to be filled with snow. +The cook will have hard work to get the primus started if he does not +shield the spirit flame from the wind, which blows through the tent, by +putting the whole lamp inside the big cooker lid. + +In come the pots filled with lumps of snow. The food tank is placed just +outside the entrance, and the proper food-bags for the meal are passed +in to the cook, the tank being retied to keep out drift. The cooker +will now be going at full pressure, and the cook is ready to receive +the gear. Sleeping-bags, "computation bag," hypsometer, "meat block" (a +three-inch-square paper pad on which meteorological notes were taken); +clothes-bag opened, three ditty-bags passed in and bag retied; a final +temperature taken and aneroid read; sledge anchored securely by tow-rope +to the ice-axe, and a final look round to see all gear is safely +strapped down and snow-tight. + +In calm weather, camping is a very different thing. On a fine day, half +an hour after the halt would usually find us carefully scraping the last +of the hoosh out of our pannikins, ready for the cocoa. + +At the seventy-six-mile camp we tried the experiment of a break-wind. +The tent was so small and light that it was necessary to protect it in +the heavy winds. Hurley and I took about three-quarters of an hour to +build the first one, but later we improved, getting into the knack of +hewing snow with a sharp-pointed shovel. + +That night in bag I wrote: "The result of the breakwind is that for once +we have the wind bluffed. It is blowing seventy-five miles per hour--a +full hurricane--but all the viciousness is taken out of the flapping and +there will be no damage done to the tent by morning." + +The wind was too strong for travelling early in the day (November 25). +While outside we suddenly observed two snow petrels. It was hard to +realize that they had actually flown seventy-six miles inland to a +height of two thousand four hundred and fifty feet. I dashed inside for +the fishingline; Hurley got out the camera. They were a beautiful sight, +hovering with outspread wings just above the snow, tipping it with their +feet now and then, to poise without a flutter in a sixty-five-mile gale. +Hurley secured a couple of "snaps" at the expense of badly frost-bitten +hands. Just as I arrived with the line hooked and baited, the birds flew +away to the north-east; our visions of fresh meat went with them. The +line was always ready after this. + +Towards evening the wind dropped suddenly to twenty miles per hour. +Our camp was stationed on the southern side of the large valley we had +entered on the 18th, and we could identify the ridge crossed on that +date, blue and dim, forty miles away to the north. To the north-east +could be seen a distinct dip in the skyline, indicating the bed of the +valley, on whose northern side the dip met the higher skyline in a +steep bluff, twenty-five miles off. This bluff under the glasses was of +heavily crevassed, blue ice. + +The wind did not rise again much until 10 P.M., when we had moved on +seven and a half miles, rising about three hundred feet over several +ridges and practically losing our view to the north. + +A steady breeze on the 26th, and, on the whole, good light, allowed us +to make twelve miles. + +Each day, now, Webb took an approximate magnetic dip and declination in +the lee of the break-wind. This was necessary in order to get some +idea of local disturbances. Also, it gave us some vague idea as to the +direction in which lay the South Magnetic Pole. For instance, at the +eighty-three-and-three-quarter-mile camp, the needle showed the Pole to +be 18 degrees east of true south, while at our lunch camp that day, six +miles farther on, it was given as 50 degrees east of south. The dip was +so great that our prismatic compass would not set closer than about 15 +degrees, but the long compass needle of the dip-circle, though of course +sluggish, continued to give excellent results. + +Under these conditions it is obvious that the magnetic needle is quite +useless for steering purposes. The sun compass proved itself a more than +efficient substitute. On a snowfield there is usually a total absence of +landmarks of any kind, so the direction of wind, sastrugi, or perhaps +a low cloud is found with the sun-compass, frequently checked, and the +course kept accordingly. On camping we would generally carefully note +the direction in which the sledge was left, in case the next day proved +overcast. Thus we would march in the morning by the wind's direction +till the sun, gleaming through the clouds for a few moments, enabled us +to use the compass again. + +Sastrugi, only six inches high, seen on the 26th, showed the effects of +wind-erosion exquisitely. In an individual case the windward end of a +sastruga might be completely undercut for six or nine inches, leaving +a hard crust, sometimes only one-eighth of an inch in thickness and a +couple of inches wide. This would sag downwards under its own weight in +a fine curve till the tip rested on the snow beneath. It is marvellous +how such a delicate structure can withstand the heavy wind. + +November 27 proved a very hard day. The wind kept up sixty miles per +hour all the time, so that, after taking four hours to do four and +three-quarter miles, we were all thoroughly exhausted. It was not a +great run, but the century was hoisted--one hundred and three-quarter +miles by sledge-meter; altitude two thousand nine hundred feet. There +was a mild celebration that night over a square of butter-scotch and +half an ounce of chocolate, besides the regular hoosh and cocoa. + +Next day the light was very bad and the wind fifty miles per hour. +Observations were therefore made inside the tent. Webb, Hurley and +the instrument occupied all available space, while I spent three hours +digging a shaft eight feet deep in the snow, taking temperatures every +foot. It appeared that the mean annual temperature of the snow was +approximately -16 degrees F. + +The dip was 88 degrees 54'; certainly rather too large a rise from 88 +degrees 20' of twenty miles back. The declination had actually changed +about 80 degrees in the last ten miles. This one-hundred-mile station +was badly disturbed. From the evidence, it is possible that a subsidiary +"pole" or area of almost vertical dip may exist close by this spot to +the west or south-west. + +Going straight up wind into a "blow" which varied from forty to fifty +miles per hour, we were able to make eight miles after the previous +day's rest. At lunch a hole was dug five feet square and two feet deep. +It served three purposes. First, it gave a good shelter for a longitude +observation; secondly, with the mast, yard and floor-cloth we converted +it into a shelter snug enough to house the primus and to lunch +comfortably; and thirdly, a mound was left as a back-mark which was +picked up on the return journey. + +By experience we found that a warm lunch and a rest enabled one to "peg" +along a good deal farther than would otherwise be possible. + +The "scenery" in the afternoon became if possible more desolate--very +few new sastrugi, the surface appearing generally old and pitted. In +some places it was rotten and blown away, disclosing coarse granulated +substrata. At the top of one ridge the snow merged into neve split into +small crevasses, nine inches wide and four or five yards apart. The camp +was pitched, here, at 11 P.M. The latitude was 68 degrees 32' S., and we +saw the midnight sun for the first time that summer, about one-quarter +of its rim remaining above the horizon. + +A full hurricane came up and kept between fifty and sixty miles per hour +all day on the 30th. Before moving off, Webb found that the magnetic +needle had "waltzed" back 60 degrees since the one-hundred-mile camp, +now pointing 80 degrees east of south. Still, to allow the needle to +makeup its mind, we steered into the wind at 2 P.M., losing the neve and +meeting very rough country. By 6 P.M., with four miles to our credit, we +were nearly played out. It was being discussed whether we should go +on when the discovery was made that the theodolite legs were missing; +probably having slipped out in one of the numerous capsizes of the +sledge. + +The solemn rites of "shut-eye" determined that Webb was to stay and make +camp while Hurley and I retraced our steps. It was no easy matter to +follow the trail, for on hard snow the sledge runners leave no mark, +and we had to watch for the holes of the crampon-spikes. About two and +a half miles back, the legs were found, and there only remained a hard +"plug" against the wind to camp and hoosh. + +While we were lying half-toggled into the sleeping-bags, writing our +diaries, Hurley spent some time alternately imprecating the wind and +invoking it for a calm next day. As he said, once behind a break-wind +one could safely defy it, but on the march one is much more humble. + +Whether it was in honour of Queen Alexandra's birthday, or whether +Hurley's pious efforts of the evening before had taken effect, December +1 turned out a good day. By noon, the wind had dropped sufficiently for +us to hoist the Jack and Commonwealth Ensign for the occasion. + +After four miles of battling, there came into sight a distinct ridge, +ten miles to the west and south--quite the most definitely rising ground +observed since leaving the coast. In one place was a patch of immense +crevasses, easily visible to the naked eye; in another, due south, were +black shadows, and towards these the course was pointed. + +At a point more than one hundred and twenty-five miles from the sea, a +skua gull paid an afternoon call, alighting a few yards from the track. +I immediately commenced to stalk it with a fishing-line, this time all +ready and baited with pemmican. However, it was quite contemptuous, +flying off to the south-south-east as far as we could follow it. Was it +taking a short cut to the Ross Sea? + +December 2 saw us through "Dead-Beat Gully" to a rise, in sight of the +shadows towards which we had been steering. Two miles away they appeared +like the edge of the moon seen through a large telescope. The +shadows were due to large mounds of snow on the south side of a steep +escarpment. Three main prominences were cross-connected with regular +lines of hillocks, giving the impression of a subdivided town-site. The +low evening sun threw everything up in the most wonderful relief. + +On the morning of the 3rd we were in a valley running west-north-west +and east-south-east. The southern side rose steeply and from it +projected three large mounds, about two hundred feet from the bottom of +the valley, into which they fell just like tailings-heaps from a mine. +They were christened "The Nodules." + +Going due south uphill over neve we found ourselves in a regular network +of crevasses. They were about ten feet wide and well bridged. Most +noticeable were "hedges" of ice up to six feet in height on either side +of the crevasses which ran southward. It was now nearly calm and +in every crack and chink in the snow-bridges beautiful fern-like +ice-crystals were seen. These must have been just forming, as a very +light puff of wind was seen to destroy many of them. + +We spent three hours exploring the locality. On nearing the top of the +ridge, roped together, we found that the crevasses were becoming much +wider, while the "hedges" were disappearing. The centre "nodule" was +found to be immediately north or to the leeward of the intersection of +two crevasses, each about forty feet wide. The bridge of one crevasse +had dropped some thirty feet for a length of eighty yards. Doubtless, an +eddy from this hole accounts for the deposit of snow and, by accretions, +for the erection of the nodule. Webb went down at the end of the alpine +rope and found the bridge below quite solid. + +For about half a mile the summit of the slope was practically level, +three hundred feet above the bed of the valley. The surface was still of +neve, intersected by canals forty, sixty and eighty feet wide, in which +the snow-bridge was generally four or five feet from the brink. + +On the south-west horizon, perhaps twenty miles away, was a salient +crest streaked by three dark vertical bars; evidently another crevassed +area. + +Returning to the sledge, we toggled-on and worked it up over the top of +the ridge, much regretting that time would not allow us to examine the +other two large "nodules." Hurley was in the lead, lengthening his line +by thirty feet of alpine rope, but even then all three of us and the +sledge were often on the lid of a crevasse. Luckily, the lids were +fairly sound, and none of us went in beyond the waist. Finally, the +trail emerged on to ordinary sastrugi once more, where a halt was made +for lunch. We were all glad to have seen the place, but I think none of +us has any wish to see another like it. + +That night, after following the magnetic needle towards the south-east, +we were fairly on the plateau at one hundred and forty miles, with +an altitude of four thousand four hundred feet. The dip, however, had +steadily decreased, standing now at 88 degrees 30'. There was some +consolation in the hope that a big, sudden rise was stored up for us +somewhere along the way ahead. + +December 4 and 5 were fine days, giving only twenty-two miles, as we +met with a rough surface; a large quantity of very hard, razor-backed +sastrugi, generally about two feet high, like groined vaulting inverted, +on a small scale. Sledge and sledge-meter both had a very rough passage. +The sledge, for instance, balances itself on the top of a sastruga for a +moment, with an ominous bend in the runners, crashes down the slope and +jams its bow into the next one, from which it has to be lifted clear. + +During this run the needle again misbehaved itself, changing its +direction some 85 degrees in ten miles, but by the night of the 5th +we were getting past the disturbed locality and the dip had increased +considerably. + +For the first time on the trip the wind veered round to the south-east. +Snow had fallen overnight (December 5) and had drifted in long ramps +diagonally across the sastrugi. In two and a half hours we covered two +and a quarter miles, blindly blundering in an uncertain light among +crests and troughs and through piles of soft, new snow. Then we stopped; +Webb filling in the afternoon with a full set of dip observations. + +That night the break-wind played its one possible trick. Waking on the +8th, we found that the heavy snowfall, with only a moderate wind, had +drifted us up. Of course Hurley and I, who slept on the 'outsides,' had +known it most of the night. Before we could extricate ourselves from the +bags Webb had to turn out from the middle to dig away the drift which +was weighing down the walls of the tent on top of us. + +It was hopeless weather for travelling. In the afternoon a snow cave was +dug, seven feet deep and enlarged to seven feet square at the bottom. +The whole was covered with mast, yard and sail. It was very snug from +the outward aspect, but we soon found that there were two objections to +the "Sarcophagus," as it was named. There was very little light except a +ghastly blue half-tone filtering through the snow, and the place was not +over warm, surrounded by walls at a much lower temperature than that of +the surface. + +Webb commenced a declination "quick-run," consisting of half-hourly +observations of the direction in which the compass was pointing. In +ordinary latitudes, during the day, the compass needle moves over a +few minutes of arc, but here, being so close to the Magnetic Pole, its +movement is greatly magnified, the range being about 5 degrees on +this occasion. Webb carried on readings till midnight, and at 4 A.M., +December 9, I turned out, being relieved at 8 A.M. by Hurley, who +carried on until the twenty-four hours were completed. This observation +should be especially valuable when it is compared with continuous +magnetic records obtained at the same time at Winter Quarters and by the +Scott expedition at McMurdo Sound. + +It was not till 1.30 P.M. on December 10 that the sixty-mile wind had +subsided sufficiently for us to get away. Every yard of our quota of +seven miles was hard going. A fine example of a typical old sastruga was +passed on the way. In order to secure a photograph of it, Hurley had +to waste eighteen films before he could persuade one to pull into place +correctly. The film-packs had been carefully kept in an airtight tin, +but the cold was too much for them. The tags which should pull each film +round from the back to the front of the pack usually tore away with a +small piece of film. In fact, out of one hundred and twenty films only +forty-five exposures were made. + +On the 11th a good deal of "piecrust" cut down the day's march to eight +and a half miles. Sledge runners are usually supported by this surface, +but one's feet break through in a most annoying and tiring manner. The +drift eased off for a few hours and we managed to dry some of our gear. +At the Sarcophagus, things which had all been wet enough before became +saturated with drift which turned to ice. Felt mitts are perhaps the +worst in this respect, and it is no exaggeration to say that you could +easily brain a man with one after it had been worn in drift for a couple +of days. + +That night I decided that one more day must see us at our depot. +Allowing three days' grace for contingencies, there were thirty-one days +for us to attain our farthest southerly point and back to the Hut. + +On the 12th we planned to reach a spot for the depot, two hundred +miles out, and by 11.30 P.M. came on a fine site at one hundred and +ninety-nine and three-quarter miles; altitude four thousand eight +hundred and fifty feet, latitude 69 degrees 83.1' south; longitude +140 degrees 20' east. Everything possible was left behind, the +sledge-decking being even cut away, until only three light bamboo slats +remained. A pile, including ten days' food and one gallon of kerosene, +was placed on a small mound to prevent it being drifted over. A few +yards distant rose a solid nine-foot cairn surmounted by a black +canvas-and-wire flag, six feet higher, well stayed with steel wire. + +I took on food for seventeen days, three days more than I intended to +be out, partly so that we could keep on longer if we found we could +make very fast time, and also as a safeguard against thick weather when +returning to the depot. + +Late in the evening we set off against a stiff breeze. The sledge ran +lightly for three and a half miles, and we camped. The depot showed up +well in the north-west as a bright golden spot in the low midnight sun. + +Next day the piecrust was so bad that, despite the lessened load, we +only covered twelve miles. The surface was smoothly polished, and we +either crashed through it from four inches to a foot or else slipped and +came down heavily on knees, elbow, or head. New finnesko were largely +responsible for such an accident. + +At 11 P.M. a remarkable ramp, five chains long, was passed. On its +windward side was a tangled cluster of large sastrugi. They made one +imagine that the wind, infuriated at finding a block of snow impeding +its progress, had run amok with a giant gouge, endeavouring to pare it +down. Every now and then, the gouge, missing its aim, had taken great +lateral scoops from the surface, leaving trenches two and three feet +deep. + +In bags that night we had a talk (not the first by any means) over +our prospects. Up to the one hundred-and-seventy-four-mile camp, four +hundred miles seemed dimly possible, but now we saw we would be lucky to +reach three hundred miles. Moreover, the dip at this spot was 89 degrees +11', practically what it had been ever since one hundred and fifty +miles. Sixty-five miles for nothing! How far for the other forty-nine +minutes which were needed for a vertical dip and the South Magnetic +Pole? This problem was insoluble, so each toggled himself into his bag +in a rather depressed state of mind. + +December 16 was a glorious day; only a fifteen-mile wind, and for ten +miles an improved surface. There was no drift, consequently opportunity +was taken to turn the sleeping bags inside out. They needed it, too. The +upper parts were not so bad as they had been propped open occasionally, +but the lower halves were coated with solid ice. For the first time for +weeks we did not wear burberrys, as the weather was so warm. Fourteen +miles was the total work, the previous day's being twelve. + +All three of us were having trouble with snow-blindness; the "zinc and +cocaine" tabloids being in great demand. + +Latitude 70 degrees south was passed on the 17th and we were another +fourteen miles to the good. The dip was on the increase 89 degrees 25' +and the declination swung to 40 degrees east of the magnetic meridian. +At two hundred and fifty-six miles the altitude was five thousand five +hundred feet. + +The temperature was getting lower; the minimum being -21 degrees F. +on the night of the 17th, rising to a maximum of 3 degrees F. on the +following day. + +There was dead calm and a regular heat wave on December 19. As the sun +rose higher and higher, the tent became absolutely oppressive. The rime +coating the walls inside thawed and water actually trickled into our +finnesko. Usually we awoke to find them frozen hard, just as we had +shaped them on the previous night, but on this particular morning they +were pathetically limp and wet. The temperature inside the tent was 66 +degrees F., heated, of course, by the sun's rays which raised our black +bulb thermometer to 105 degrees F. We were not used to this sort of +thing and struggled out hurriedly for a breath of fresh air. + +Once into harness, we began to feel the effects of exertion. By degrees +we got rid of our clothing, but unfortunately soon came to bedrock in +that respect, as the underclothing was sewn on and immovable. At lunch +time, with the thermometer at -2 degrees F. in the shade, we reluctantly +dressed knowing how soon we would cool off. About 9 P.M. clouds moved +over rapidly from the south-east and the landscape faded into the blank, +shadowless nothing of an overcast day. The camp was pitched at two +hundred and eighty-three miles amidst a jumble of ramps and sastrugi. +The dip had seen fit to rise to 89 degrees 35'. + +In the morning the wind was doing thirty miles per hour, which certainly +seemed to be the normal thing. It fell to a nice sailing breeze, but, +at the time, we were not very appreciative of anything as the course +was uphill. Again, it was to be the last day's run, so we were "all out" +when the halt came after a good fifteen miles--the longest day's march +on the outward journey. Nevertheless, Webb unpacked the theodolite after +hoosh and took an altitude of the sun at midnight. + +On December 21 the load on the sledge was stripped down to tent, +dip-circle, theodolite, cooker and a little food. For two and a half +miles we went south-east over rising ground until the sledge-meter +showed three hundred and one miles. + +While Hurley and I pitched the tent, Webb built a breakwind for his +instrument fifty yards away. Then followed a long set of magnetic +observations. About 5 P.M. the magnetic work was interrupted; the +theodolite replacing the dip-circle on the legs, while I took a +longitude shot. I was seeing double, being slightly snow-blind, and had +some difficulty in choosing the correct combination from the assortment +of suns and cross-wires visible in the telescope. Setting the vertical +and horizontal wires simultaneously on the sun was beyond me; Webb +taking the observations for the true meridian, which also checked my +longitude shot. + +Magnetic work under these conditions is an extremely uncomfortable +operation. Even a light wind will eddy round the break-wind, and it is +wind which makes low temperatures formidable. Nearly all the work has to +be done with bare fingers or thin instrument-gloves, and the time +taken is far greater than in temperate climates, owing to the fingers +constantly "going" and because of the necessity of continually freeing +the instrument from the condensed moisture of the breath. Considering +that the temperature was -12 degrees F. when he had finished his four +hours' work, it may be imagined that Webb was ready for his hot tea. The +dip proved to be 89 degrees 43.5', that is, sixteen and a half minutes +from the vertical. The altitude was just over five thousand nine hundred +feet, in latitude 70 degrees 36.5' south and longitude 148 degrees 10' +east. + +After lunch the Union Jack and the Commonwealth Ensign were hoisted and +three cheers given for the King--willing but rather lonesome away out +there! We searched the horizon with glasses but could see nothing save +snow, undulating in endless sastrugi. To the south-east the horizon +was limited by our old enemy, "the next ridge," some two miles away. +We wondered what could be beyond, although we knew it was only the same +featureless repetition, since one hundred and seventy-five miles on the +same course would bring us to the spot where David, Mawson and Mackay +had stood in 1909. + +After Hurley had taken a photograph of the camp, the tent was struck and +the sledge repacked. At last the sail was rigged, we gave a final glance +back and turned on the homeward trail. + +My diary of that night sums up: "We have now been exactly six weeks on +the tramp and somehow feel rather sad at turning back, even though +it has not been quite a Sunday school picnic all along. It is a great +disappointment not to see a dip of 90 deg., but the time is too short +with this 'climate.' It was higher than we expected to get, after the +unsatisfactory dips obtained near the two-hundred-mile depot. The rate +of increase since that spot has been fairly uniform and indicates that +90 degrees might be reached in another fifty to sixty miles, if the same +rate held, and that means at least another week. It's no good thinking +about it for 'orders are orders.' We'll have our work cut out to get +back as it is. Twenty-five days till we are overdue. Certainly we have +twenty-three days' food, eight days' with us, ten days' at two hundred +miles, and five days' at sixty-seven miles, so with luck we should not +go hungry, but Webb wants to get five more full sets of dips if possible +on the way back, and this means two and a half days." + +That night the minimum thermometer registered its lowest at -25 degrees +F. It was December 21 and Midsummer Day, so we concluded that the spot +would be a very chilly one in the winter. + +At this juncture we were very short of finnesko. The new ones we had +worn since the two-hundred-mile camp had moulted badly and were now +almost "bald." The stitching wears through as soon as the hair comes off +and frequent mending is necessary. + +We rose earlier than usual on the 22nd, so as to get more advantage from +the wind, which each evening had always tended to die down somewhat. +With forty-two square feet of sail, the twenty-mile wind was too much +for us, the sledge capsizing on the smallest pretext. Instead of +hanging the yard from the top of the mast, we placed it across the load, +reversing the sail and hooking the clews over the top of the mast. Three +or four pieces of lampwick at intervals served as reefing-points by +which the area of the sail could be quickly cut down by bunching the +upper part as much as was necessary. + +During the day we frequently saw our tracks in patches of snow left +during a previous snowfall, but they were much eroded, although only +three days old. After sledging in Adelie Land it is hard to realize +that on certain parts of the Ross Barrier tracks a year old may remain +visible. + +After passing the two-hundred-and-eighty-three-mile mound, the +sledge-meter became very sickly. Spoke after spoke had parted and we +saw that nothing we could do would make it last very much longer. As we +intended in one place to make a cross-country run of seventy miles, so +as to cut off the detour to the "Nodules," the meter was carried on the +sledge. We had now the mounds to check distances. + +On December 23 we were lucky enough to catch sight of the +two-hundred-and-sixty-nine-mile mound and later the one at two hundred +and sixty-one miles, though there was a good deal of drift. The day's +run was twenty and a half miles. + +A thing which helped us unexpectedly was that, now with the wind behind, +we found it unnecessary to wear the stiff, heavy, frozen, burberry +trousers. Thick pyjama trousers took their place in all except the worst +weather. + +At our old two-hundred-and-forty-nine-mile camp, Webb took a complete +set of magnetic observations and another time-shot for watch-rate. It +was late when these were over, so we did only two and a half miles more, +halting for Christmas Eve, well content with a run of fourteen miles in +addition to a set of observations. + +On Christmas Day the country was very rough, making sailing difficult. +Still, eighteen and a half miles were left behind. The wind was +practically along the sastrugi and the course was diagonal to both. As +the sledge strikes each sastruga, it skids northwards along it to the +discomfort of the wheelers and the disgust of the leader. + +For Christmas dinner that night we had to content ourselves +with revising the menu for the meal which was to celebrate the +two-hundred-mile depot. But now it was all pretty well mapped out, +having been matured in its finer details for several days on the march. +Hors d'oeuvre, soup, meat, pudding, sweets and wine were all designed, +and estimates were out. Would we pick up the depot soon enough to +justify an "auspicious occasion"? + +Next day the wind was due south at thirty miles per hour. Dodging big +ramps and overturning on sastrugi, at the same time dragging well +upwind of the course to save leeway, twelve miles went by without the +two-hundred-and-fifteen-mile mound coming into sight. Finally, a search +with the glasses through falling snow revealed it a good two miles back. +As we particularly wanted some photos of the ramps at this camp, we made +across to it and had lunch there, Hurley exposing the last of the films. + +At two hundred and nine miles "Lot's Wife" appeared--a tall, thin mound +which Hurley had erected during a lunch-camp on the way out. + +On the 27th, with a thirty-five-mile wind and a good deal of drift, we +did not see the two-hundred-and-three-mile mound until we almost ran +into it. By three o'clock the great event occurred--the depot was found! +We determined to hold the Christmas feast. After a cup of tea and a bit +of biscuit, the rest of the lunch ration was put aside. + +Webb set up his instrument in the lee of the big mound and commenced a +set of observations; I sorted out gear from the depot and rearranged the +sledge load; Hurley was busy in the tent concocting all kinds of dishes. +As the tableware was limited to three mugs and the Nansen cooker, we had +to come in to deal with each course the moment it was ready. Aiming at a +really high-class meal, Hurley had started by actually cleaning out the +cooker. + +The absence of reindeer-hair and other oddments made everything taste +quite strange, though the basis was still the same old ration with a +few remaining "perks." After the "raisin gliders," soup and a good stiff +hoosh, Webb finished his observations while I recorded for him. It is +wonderful what sledging does for the appetite. For the first week of +the journey, the unaccustomed ration was too much for us; but now when +Hurley announced "Pudding!" we were all still ravenous. It was a fine +example of ye goode olde English plum-pudding, made from biscuit +grated with the Bonsa-saw, fat picked out of the pemmican, raisins and +glaxo-and-sugar, all boiled in an old food-bag. + +This pudding was so filling that we could hardly struggle through a +savoury, "Angels on runners," and cocoa. There was a general recovery +when the "wine" was produced, made from stewed raisins and primus +alcohol; and "The King" was toasted with much gusto. At the first sip, +to say the least, we were disappointed. The rule of "no heel taps" +nearly settled us, and quite a long interval and cigars, saved up for +the occasion by Webb, were necessary before we could get courage enough +to drink to the Other Sledging Parties and Our Supporting Party. + +The sun was low in the south when, cigars out and conversation lagging, +we finally toggled in for the finest sleep of the whole journey. + +The cook, under a doubtful inspiration, broke forth, later on, into a +Christmas Carol: + + I've dined in many places but never such as these- + It's like the Gates of Heaven when you find you've lost the keys. + I've dined with kings and emperors, perhaps you scarce believe; + And even they do funny things when round comes Christmas Eve. + I've feasted with iguanas on a lonely desert isle; + Once in the shade of a wattle by a maiden's winsome smile. + I've "grubbed" at a threepenny hash-house, I've been at a + counter-lunch, + Reclined at a clap-up cafe where only the "swankers" munch. + In short, I've dined from Horn to Cape and up Alaska-way + But the finest, funniest dinner of all was on that Xmas Day. + +For the first ten miles on the afternoon of the 28th, the sail was +reefed down to prevent the sledge overrunning us on smooth patches. Not +far past the one-hundred-and-ninety-mile mound, which was missed in the +drift, we picked up some of the outward tracks--a bas-relief of three +footsteps and a yard of sledge-meter track, raised half an inch and +undercut by the wind. It was not very much, but quite a comfort when one +is navigating in blinding weather. + +At 11.30 P.M. we had marched twenty-one miles, and both light and +surface were improving, so I proposed making a long run of it. Hurley +and Webb eagerly agreed, and we had a preparatory hoosh. Ten miles +scudded by monotonously without a sign of the mounds around the +one-hundred-and-seventy-mile camp. As we were in the vicinity of a point +where we had determined to diverge from our outward track, a course +was laid direct for the one-hundred-and-thirteen-mile mark. The +sledge-meter, which had been affixed, made its presence evident from +time to time by ringing like a cash register, as still another broken +spoke struck the forks. We would halt for a moment and extract the +remains. Out of the original thirty-six wire spokes, only twelve wire +and one wooden one remained. At 11.30 A.M. on December 29, a halt was +called and the sledge-meter was then lying over on its side with a +helpless expression. It indicated twenty-two miles, making, so we +thought, a total of forty-three miles in the twenty-two and a quarter +hours since leaving the depot. Observations for position next day proved +that in its dying effort it exaggerated the truth; the total run being +41.6 miles. + +We were now well ahead of schedule time, there being four and a half +days' surplus food; above what was probably required to reach the +sixty-seven-and-a-half-mile depot. It was decided to hold three days of +this and to use one and a half days food as a bonus during the coming +week, as long as we were ahead of our necessary distance. The sledging +ration is quite enough to live on, but for the whole of the journey +we had felt that we could have done more distance on a slightly larger +ration. This may be partly explained by our comparatively high altitude. + +Next morning the sledge-meter was cut away and stuck in the snow. It +looked very forlorn sitting askew in its forks, with a pair of worn-out +finnesko hanging over it. + +After twelve miles with a favourable wind, Webb took more observations; +Hurley and I recording by turns. There were several small holes in the +tent which needed mending, and I experimented with adhesive plaster from +the medical kit with great success. Heated over a fusee and pressed hard +down between the bottoms of mugs, held outside and inside, the patches +adhered well and made a permanent job. + +Early on December 31, 1912, snow was falling. The light gave Hurley an +attack of snow-blindness and a miserable day. Crampons were worn to give +some security to the foothold on the uneven track. The position, after +a trudge of fifteen miles, was estimated at five miles east of the +one-hundred-and-twenty-three-mile mound. + +On New Year's Day, 1913, the wind was fresher and the surface improved. +Estimation placed us to the north of one hundred and thirteen miles, but +we were not hopeful in the light falling snow of seeing a mound. Soon, +however, the snow ceased, and Webb made out a hillock two miles ahead. +It was identified as the one at one hundred and nine miles. + +It had been my turn to be snowblind. I was so bad that the only thing to +do was to camp or ride on the sledge. The trail changed here to straight +downwind, so Webb and Hurley undertook the job, hauling the sledge +with me as a passenger for three and a half miles to the +one-hundred-and-five-mile mound. It must have been a trying finish to a +run of twenty miles. + +In spite of the spell, which was a sleepless one, I was no better in +the morning and again had to ride. The others pulled away for five miles +with a good helping wind, but in a provoking light. The camp was made +where the one-hundred-mile mound was judged to be. We spent longer +over lunch, hoping that the clouds would clear. At last we moved on, or +rather _I_ was moved on. After two miles the surface became heavier. My +eyes were better now on account of the rest and a snow "poultice" Webb +had invented. I harnessed-in for five miles over light, unpacked snow, +with piecrust underneath. The day's work was twelve miles. + +The snow-clouds broke at noon on January 3, and a reliable latitude was +obtained. It agreed with our reckoning. Persevering over the same trying +surface as on the previous day, we sighted the ninety-mile-mound in the +rear as a rift broke in the sky. We must have passed a few hundred yards +from it. + +We were still eleven miles from the depot, so at breakfast on the 4th +the rations were reduced by one-half to give plenty of time to locate +our goal. On the 4th the sky was clear, but surface drift prevented +us from seeing any mounds till, in the afternoon, the ramps near the +sixty-seven-mile depot were discovered in fitful glimpses. They bore +too much to the north, so we altered course correspondingly to the west, +camping in rising wind and drift, with great hopes for the morrow. + +A densely overcast sky on the 5th; light snow falling! We moved on two +miles, but not being able to see one hundred yards, camped again; +then walking as far as seemed safe in various directions. One could do +nothing but wait for clear weather. The clouds lightened at 6 P.M. and +again at 9 P.M., when altitudes of the sun were secured, putting us four +miles south of the depot. + +With only one chronometer watch, one has to rely entirely on dead +reckoning for longitude, the rate of a single watch being very variable. +The longitude obtained on this occasion from our latest known rate +moved us several miles to the east of the depot, so I concluded that +our distances since the camp at ninety miles had been overestimated, and +that we were probably to the south-east of it. Accordingly, we shifted +four miles to the north-west, but by this time it had again clouded over +and nothing could be seen. + +On the 6th the sky was still overcast, but a lucky peep at noon aligned +us on the exact latitude of the depot. We walked east and west, but it +snowed persistently and everything was invisible. + +It is weary work waiting in the tent for weather to improve. During this +time Hurley amused himself and us by composing a Christmas carol on the +Christmas dinner; a fragment from which has already appeared. I whiled +away a whole afternoon, cutting up the remains of two cigars which had +refused to draw. Sliced up with a pair of scissors and mixed with a few +of Hurley's cigarettes, they made very good smoking tobacco. + +On the 7th the sky was immovable, and we trekked four miles due east, +camped once more and walked about without finding our goal. + +I now decided that if the weather did not improve by the morning, we +should have to dash for the north. It was a risk, but matters were +coming to a serious pass. On broaching the subject to Webb and Hurley, +they unconditionally agreed with me. + +At 3 A.M. the sky cleared rapidly and we turned out and saw the ramps +plainly to the east. Webb set up the theodolite while Hurley and I paced +out a half-mile base-line to find out the intervening distance. Just +as we got to the end of it, however, the clouds came over again and the +ramps faded. + +There was only one thing for it now, and that was to make a break for +the coast. Of food, there was one full day's ration with enough pemmican +for half a hoosh, six lumps of sugar and nine raisins, rather the worse +for wear, oil for two days, and, last but not least, a pint of alcohol. +After four days on half-rations we felt fairly fit, thanks no doubt to +the good meals of the previous week. + +There were sixty-seven miles to go, and in case we did not happen on +the narrow descent to the Hut, the food was apportioned to last for +five days. Everything unessential was stripped off the sledge, including +dip-circle, thermometers, hypsometer, camera, spare clothing and most of +the medical and repair kits. + +At 7 A.M. we set off on the final stage of the journey. The sky was +densely overcast and snow was falling, but there was a strong wind +almost behind. We would march for an hour by my wrist-watch, halt for +five minutes and on again till all agreed that we had covered ten miles; +when it was lunch time. Each man's share of this consisted of one-third +of a biscuit, one-third of an ounce of butter and a drink made of a +spoonful of glaxo-and-sugar and one of absolute alcohol, mixed in a mug +of lukewarm water. We could not afford oil enough to do much more than +thaw the water, but the alcohol warmed us splendidly, enabling us to get +a good rest. + +After an hour's spell we started again, luckily seeing just enough of +the sun to check the course. The wind grew stronger in the afternoon and +several times dense fog-banks drove down on us. Meeting one steep rise, +we sidled round it for what seemed hours, but my chief memory of that +afternoon was of the clouds of the northern horizon. They were a deep +bluish-grey colour--a typical "water-sky"--but I have never seen clouds +moving so fast. It was like trying to steer by one particular phase in a +kaleidoscope. When all were satisfied that twenty miles had been covered +we camped. + +Dinner consisted of a very watery hoosh, followed up by a mug of alcohol +and water. We were all very thankful for the forethought of Dr. Mawson +in providing absolute alcohol for lighting the primus, instead of +methylated spirit. + +Breakfast on the 9th was of about the same consistency as dinner on the +night before, except that cocoa replaced the alcohol. In fact, breakfast +was possibly even more watery, as I was in charge of the food-bag and +surreptitiously decided to make the rations last six days instead of +five. + +This was the worst day's march of the journey. The wind was booming +along at sixty miles per hour with dense drift and falling snow. What +made it worse was that it came from the south-east, forcing us to pull +partly across it. I was the upwind wheeler and had to hitch on to the +side of the sledge to reduce the leeway as much as possible. The sledge +was being continually jammed into big, old, invisible sastrugi and we +fell about in the wind until crampons became absolutely necessary. + +At 4 P.M. we were disgusted to find that the wind had veered to +south-by-east. So for possibly several hours we had been doing Heaven +only knows how many times the amount of work necessary, and for any time +up to four hours might have been marching three points off our course. +Being blown straight downwind, the sledge made rapid progress, and about +6 P.M. a halt was called for lunch. This was over almost as soon as +it was begun, but we had a good rest, sheltering ourselves with the +floor-cloth from the wind which blew through the tent. + +Off again, we "plugged" away until midnight when we were much surprised +to find the usual snow surface merging into blue ice. The tent was +pitched on the latter, snow being procured from the bridge of a crevasse +as we had no pick: even the ice-axe having been left behind. + +Turning out on the morning of the 10th, we were delighted to find the +sky clearing and the wind moderating. And then, far away on the northern +horizon a beautiful line of blue sea dotted with bergs! + +We now officially considered ourselves to be twenty-seven miles from +the Hut. As we should not have met blue ice on the proper course till +we were only thirteen miles out, it was thought that we had edged a long +way to the east the day before. When a start was made, we manoeuvred to +the west in looking for a crossing-place at each crevasse. + +It was not long before the bergs on the horizon were noticeably +enlarging, and at last we realized that in reality it was only a few +miles to them. Suddenly the grade increased, the ice becoming much +lacerated; and we had some trouble getting the sledge along. Hurley was +snow-blind and had one eye covered. He looked very comical feeling his +way over the crevasses, but he probably did not feel over-humorous. + +I was in the lead, and suddenly coming over a ridge above a steep +ice-fall, I caught sight of the Mackellar Islets and the old "Piano" +berg. Just at the same instant the spur of ice on which I was standing +collapsed, and down I went into a crevasse. The others quickly had me +out, and, as soon as I was in the upper air, I gave them the news: +"There are the Islands!" Being twenty feet farther back on the rope they +had not yet seen them. + +We were now able to place ourselves about three miles west of Aladdin's +Cave. The last camp must have been thirteen miles from the Hut, and we +had really done twenty-seven miles each day instead of our conservative +twenty. + +We tried to work along to the east, but the ice was too much broken, +so the camp was made on a patch of snow. In view of our good fortune, I +produced that evening's ration of hoosh in addition to our usual lunch. +Even this meagre spree went against Hurley's feelings, for, being +snow-blind, he had not been able to see the islands and positively would +not believe that we were nearly home. + +After lunch it was necessary to retrace our way upwind to get out of the +rough country. About midnight, Webb recognized Aladdin's Cave. Hurley +and I had a competition as to who should see it first, for I was also +getting a little blind again. We had a dead-heat at one hundred and +fifty yards. + +The first thing to arrest our attention was a tin of dog biscuits. These +kept things going till we dug out a food tank from which was rapidly +extracted a week's supply of chocolate. After that we proceeded in a +happier frame of mind to open up the cave and have a meal. + +The journey of more than six hundred miles was now practically over. +After a carousal lasting till 5 P.M. on the 11th, we went down hill, +arriving just after dinner and finding all well. + +We three had never thought the Hut quite such a fine place, nor have we +ever since. + + + +CHAPTER XV EASTWARD OVER THE SEA-ICE + +by C. T. MADIGAN + + Harnessed and girt in his canvas bands, + Toggled and roped to his load; + With helmeted head and bemittened hands, + This for his spur and his goad: + + "Out in the derelict fastnesses bare + Some whit of truth may be won." + Be it a will o' the wisp, he will fare + Forth to the rising sun. + + The Sledge Horse + +The Eastern Coastal party consisted of Dr. A. L. McLean, P. E. Correll +and myself. For weeks all preparations had been made; the decking put +on the sledge, runners polished, cooker- and instrument-boxes attached, +mast erected, spar and sail rigged, instruments and clothing collected, +tent strengthened--all the impedimenta of a sledge journey arranged and +rearranged, and still the blizzard raged on. Would we never get away? +November arrived, and still the wind kept up daily averages of over +fifty miles per hour, with scarce a day without drifting snow. + +At last it was decided that a start must soon be made even though it +ended in failure, so that we received orders to set out on November 6, +or the first possible day after it. + +Friday November 8 broke, a clear driftless day, and Murphy's party left +early in the morning. By noon, Stillwell's party (Stillwell, Hodgeman +and Close), and we, were ready to start. The former were bound on a +short journey to the near east and were to support us until we parted +company. + +All was bustle and excitement. Every one turned out to see us off. +Breaking an empty sauce-bottle over the bow of our sledge, we christened +it the M.H.S. Championship (Man-Hauled Sledge). The name was no +boastful prevision of mighty deeds, as, at the Hut, a "Championship" was +understood to mean some careless action usually occasioning damage to +property, while our party included several noted "champions." + +Mertz harnessed a dog-team to the sledge and helped us up the first +steep slope. With hearty handshakes and a generous cheer from the other +fellows, we started off and were at last away, after many months of +hibernation in the Hut, to chance the hurricanes and drifting snow and +to push towards the unknown regions to the east. + +At the steepest part of the rise we dismissed our helpers and said +good-bye. McLean and Correll joined me on the sledge and we continued on +to Aladdin's Cave. + +As we mounted the glacier the wind increased, carrying surface drift +which obscured the view to within one hundred yards. It was this which +made us pass the Cave on the eastern side and pull up on a well-known +patch of snow in a depression to the south of our goal. It was not long +before a momentary clearing of the drift showed Aladdin's Cave with its +piles of food-tanks, kerosene, dog biscuit and pemmican, and, to our +dismay, a burberry-clad figure moving about among the accumulation. +Murphy's party were in possession when we expected them to be on the way +south to another cave--the Cathedral Grotto--eleven and three-quarter +miles from the Hut. Of course the rising wind and drift had stopped +them. + +It was then 5 P.M., so we did not wait to discuss the evident +proposition as to which of the three parties should occupy the Cave, +but climbed down into it at once and boiled up hoosh and tea. Borrowing +tobacco from the supporting parties, we reclined at ease, and then in +that hazy atmosphere so dear to smokers, its limpid blue enhanced by the +pale azure of the ice, we introduced the subject of occupation as if it +were a sudden afterthought. + +It was soon decided to enlarge the Cave to accommodate five men, the +other four consenting to squeeze into Stillwell's big tent. McLean +volunteered to join Stillwell's party in the tent, while Correll and I +were to stay in the Cave with Murphy and company. + +I went outside and selected ten weeks' provisions from the pile of +food-tanks and piled them beside the sledge. McLean attended to the +thermograph which Bage and I had installed in the autumn. Meanwhile, in +a fifty-mile wind, Stillwell and his men erected the tent. Hunter and +Laseron started with picks and shovels to enlarge the Cave, and, working +in relays, we had soon expanded it to eight feet by seven feet. + +The men from the tent came down to "high dinner" at eight o'clock. They +reported weather conditions unimproved and the temperature -3 degrees F. + +Early next morning I dug my way out and found that the surface drift +had increased with a wind of fifty-five miles per hour. It was obviously +impossible to start. + +After breakfast it was arranged that those outside should have their +meals separately, digging down at intervals to let us know the state +of the weather. It was not pleasant for us, congested as we were in the +Cave, to have visitors sliding down through the opening with a small +avalanche of snow in their train. Further, to increase their own +discomfort, they arrived covered in snow, and what they were unable +to shake off thawed and wet them, subsequently freezing again to the +consistency of a starched collar. + +The opening was, therefore, kept partly closed with a food-tank. The +result was that a good deal of snow came in, while the hole diminished +in size. For a man to try to crawl out in stiff burberrys appeared as +futile as for a porcupine to try to go backwards up a canvas hose. + +The day passed slowly in our impatience. We took turns at reading 'The +Virginian', warmed by a primus stove which in a land of plenty we could +afford to keep going. Later in the afternoon the smokers found that a +match would not strike, and the primus went out. Then the man reading +said that he felt unwell and could not see the words. Soon several +others commented on feeling "queer," and two in the sleeping-bags had +fallen into a drowsy slumber. On this evidence even the famous Watson +would have "dropped to it," but it was some time before it dawned on us +that the oxygen had given out. Then there was a rush for shovels. +The snow, ice and food-tank were tightly wedged, at the mouth of the +entrance, and it took some exertion to perforate through to the outside +air with an ice-axe. At once every one speedily recovered. Later, +another party had a worse experience, not forgetting to leave a warning +note behind them. We should have done the same. + +The weather was no better by the evening, and during the night the +minimum thermometer registered -12 degrees F. + +At six o'clock on Sunday morning, November 10, McLean dug down to us +with the news that the wind had abated to thirty miles per hour with +light surface drift. + +We hurried through breakfast, rolled up the bags and started packing the +sledge. Three 100-lb. food-tanks, one 50-lb. bag opened for ready use, +and four gallons of kerosene were selected. Stillwell took for us a +50-lb. food-tank, a 56-lb. tin of wholemeal biscuits, and a gallon +of kerosene. With the 850 lbs. of food, 45 lbs. of kerosene, three +sleeping-bags of 10 lbs. each, a tent of 40 lbs., 86 lbs. of clothing +and personal gear for three men, a cooker, primus, pick, shovel, +ice-axe, alpine rope, dip-circle, theodolite, tripod, smaller +instruments such as aneroid, barometer and thermometer, tools, medical +outfit and sledge-fittings, our total load amounted to nearly 800 lbs., +and Stillwell's was about the same. + +All were ready at 9 A.M., and, shaking hands with Murphy's party, who +set off due south, we steered with Stillwell to the south-east. The +preliminary instructions were to proceed south-east from the Cave to a +distance of eighteen miles and there await the arrival of Dr. Mawson and +his party, who were to overtake us with their dogteams. + +The first few miles gave a gradual rise of one hundred feet per mile, +so that, with a heavy load against wind and drift, travelling was very +slow. The wind now dropped to almost calm, and the drift cleared. In the +afternoon progress was hampered by crevasses, which were very frequent, +running east and west and from one to twenty feet in width. The wider +ones were covered with firm snow-bridges; the snow in places having +formed into granular and even solid ice. What caused most delay were the +detours of several hundreds of yards which had to be made to find a +safe crossing over a long, wide crevasse. At 6.30 P.M. we pitched camp, +having only made five miles from the Cave. + +We got away at 9 A.M. the next morning. Throughout the whole journey +we thought over the same mysterious problem as confronted many another +sledger: Where did the time go to in the mornings? Despite all our +efforts we could not cut down the interval from "rise and shine" to the +start below two hours. + +Early that day we had our first experience of the treacherous crevasse. +Correll went down a fissure about three feet wide. I had jumped across +it, thinking the bridge looked thin, but Correll stepped on it and went +through. He dropped vertically down the full length of his harness--six +feet. McLean and I soon had him out. The icy walls fell sheer for about +sixty feet, where snow could be seen in the blue depths. Our respect for +crevasses rapidly increased after this, and we took greater precautions, +shuddering to think of the light-hearted way we had trudged over the +wider ones. + +At twelve miles, blue, wind-swept ice gave place to an almost flat snow +surface. Meanwhile the sky had rapidly clouded over, and the outlook was +threatening. The light became worse, and the sastrugi indistinguishable. +Such a phenomenon always occurs on what we came to call a "snow-blind +day." On these days the sky is covered with a white, even pall of cloud, +and cloud and plateau seem as one. One walks into a deep trench or a +sastruga two feet high without noticing it. The world seems one huge, +white void, and the only difference between it and the pitch-dark night +is that the one is white and the other black. + +Light snow commenced at 2.30 P.M., the wind rising to forty-five miles +per hour with heavy drift. Thirteen miles out we pitched camp. + +This, the first "snow-blind day" claimed McLean for its victim. By the +time we were under cover of the tent, his eyes were very sore, aching +with a throbbing pain. At his request I placed a zinc-cocaine tablet +in each eye. He spent the rest of the day in the darkness of his +sleeping-bag and had his eyes bandaged all next day. Up till then we had +not worn goggles, but were careful afterwards to use them on the trying, +overcast days. + +For four and a half days the weather was too bad to travel. On the +14th the wind increased and became steady at sixty miles per hour, +accompanied by dense drifting snow. We found it very monotonous lying in +the tent. As always happens during heavy drifts, the temperature outside +was high, on this day averaging about 12 degrees F.; inside the tent it +was above freezing-point, and the accompanying thaw was most unpleasant. + +Stillwell's party had pitched their tent about ten paces to the leeward +side of ours, of which stratagem they continually reminded us. Going +outside for food to supply our two small meals per day was an operation +fraught with much discomfort to all. This is what used to happen. The +man on whom the duty fell had to insinuate himself into a bundle of wet +burberrys, and, as soon as he was outside, they froze stiff. When, after +a while, he signified his intention of coming in, the other two would +collect everything to one end of the tent and roll up the floor-cloth. +Plastered with snow, he entered, and, despite every precaution, in +removing burberrys and brushing himself he would scatter snow about +and increase the general wetness. On these excursions we would visit +Stillwell's tent and be hospitably, if somewhat gingerly, admitted; the +inmates drawing back and pulling away their sleeping-bags as from one +with a fell disease. As a supporting party they were good company, among +other things, supplying us with tobacco ad libitum. When we parted, five +days after, we missed them very much. + +During the night the wind blew harder than ever--that terrible wind, +laden with snow, that blows for ever across the vast, mysterious +plateau, the "wind that shrills all night in a waste land, where no one +comes or hath come since the making of the world." In the early hours of +the morning it reached eighty miles per hour. + +Not till 9 next morning did the sky clear and the drift diminish. +Considering that it had taken us eight days to do thirteen miles, we +decided to move on the 16th at any cost. + +Our library consisted of 'An Anthology of Australian Verse', Thackeray's +'Vanity Fair' and 'Hints to Travellers' in two volumes. McLean spent +much of the time reading the Anthology and I started 'Vanity Fair'. The +latter beguiled many weary hours in that tent during the journey. I read +a good deal aloud and McLean read it afterwards. Correll used to pass +the days of confinement arranging rations and costs for cycling +tours and designing wonderful stoves and cooking utensils, all on the +sledging, "cut down weight" principle. + +On the 16th we were off at 9 A.M. with a blue sky above and a "beam" +wind of thirty-five miles per hour. Up a gentle slope over small +sastrugi the going was heavy. We went back to help Stillwell's party +occasionally, as we were moving a little faster. + +Just after lunch I saw a small black spot on the horizon to the south. +Was it a man? How could Dr. Mawson have got there? We stopped and saw +that Stillwell had noticed it too. Field-glasses showed it to be a man +approaching, about one and a half miles away. We left our sledges in a +body to meet him, imagining all kinds of wonderful things such as the +possibility of it being a member of Wild's party--we did not know where +Wild had been landed. All the theories vanished when the figure assumed +the well-known form of Dr. Mawson. He had made a little more south than +we, and his sledges were just out of sight, about two miles away. + +Soon Mertz and Ninnis came into view with a dog-team, which was +harnessed on to one sledge. All hands pulled the other sledge, and we +came up fifteen minutes later with Dr. Mawson's camp at eighteen and a +quarter miles. In the good Australian way we sat round a large pot of +tea and after several cups put up our two tents. + +It was a happy evening with the three tents grouped together and the +dogs securely picketed on the great plateau, forming the only spot on +the limitless plain. Every one was excited at the prospect of the weeks +ahead; the mystery and charm of the "unknown" had taken a strange hold +on us. + +Ninnis and Mertz came into our tent for a short talk before turning in. +Mertz sang the old German student song: + + Studio auf einer Reis' + Immer sich zu helfen weis + Immer fort durch's Dick und Dunn + Schlendert es durch's Leben hin. + +We were nearly all University graduates. We knew that this would be our +last evening together till all were safely back at the Hut. No thought +was farther from our minds than that it was the last evening we would +ever spend with two companions, who had been our dear comrades for just +a year. + +Before turning into sleeping-bags, a messenger brought me dispatches +from the general's tent--a letter on the plateau. This proved to be the +instructions to the Eastern Coastal Party. Arriving back at the Hut by +January 15, we were to ascertain as much as possible of the coast lying +east of the Mertz Glacier, investigating its broad features and carrying +out the following scientific work: magnetic, biological and geological +observations, the character, especially the nature and size of the +grains of ice or snow surfaces, details of sastrugi, topographical +features, heights and distances, and meteorology. + +On Sunday, November 17, we moved on together to the east with the wind +at fifteen miles an hour, the temperature being 9 degrees F. The sun +shone strongly soon after the start, and with four miles to our credit +a tent was run up at 1 P.M., and all lunched together on tea, biscuit, +butter and chocolate. Up to this time we had had only three al fresco +lunches, but, as the weather seemed to be much milder and the benefit of +tea and a rest by the way were so great, we decided to use the tent in +future, and did so throughout the journey. + +In the afternoon, Dr. Mawson's party forged ahead, the dogs romping +along on a downhill grade. We took the bit in our teeth as we saw them +sitting on their sledges, growing smaller and smaller in front of us. We +came up with them again as they had waited to exchange a few more words +at a point on the track where a long extent of coast to the east came +into view. + +Here we bade a final adieu to Dr. Mawson, Mertz and Ninnis. The surface +was on the down grade towards the east, and with a cheer and farewell +wave they started off, Mertz walking rapidly ahead, followed by Ninnis +and Dr. Mawson with their sledges and teams. They were soon lost to view +behind the rolling undulations. + +A mile farther on we pitched camp at 8 P.M. in a slight depression just +out of sight of the sea. Every one slept soundly after a good day's +pulling. + +November 18 was a bright dazzling day, the sky dotted with fleecy +alto-cumulus. At 6 A.M. we were out to find Stillwell's party moving in +their tent. There was a rush for shovels to fill the cookers with snow +and a race to boil hoosh. + +At this camp we tallied up the provisions, with the intention of taking +what we might require from Stillwell and proceeding independently of +him, as he was likely to leave us any day. There were fifty-nine days to +go until January 15, 1913, the latest date of arrival back at the Hut, +for which eight weeks' rations were considered to be sufficient. There +were seven weeks' food on the sledge, so Stillwell handed over another +fifty-pound bag as well as an odd five pounds of wholemeal biscuit. The +total amount of kerosene was five gallons, with a bottle of methylated +spirit. + +Shortly after eight o'clock we caught sight of Dr. Mawson's camp, and +set sail to make up the interval. This we did literally as there was +a light westerly breeze--the only west wind we encountered during the +whole journey. + +The sledge was provided with a bamboo mast, seven feet high, stepped +behind the cooker-box and stayed fore and aft with wire. The yard was +a bamboo of six feet, slung from the top of the mast, its height being +varied by altering the length of the slings. The bamboo was threaded +through canvas leads in the floor-cloth which provided a spread of +thirty square feet of sail. It was often such an ample area that it had +to be reefed from below. + +With the grade sloping gently down and the wind freshening, the pace +became so hot that the sledge often overran us. A spurious "Epic of the +East" (see 'Adelie Blizzard') records it: + + Crowd on the sail- + Let her speed full and free "on the run" + Over knife-edge and glaze, marble polish and pulverized chalk + The finnesko glide in the race, and there's no time for talk. + Up hill, down dale, + It's all in the game and the fun. + +We rapidly neared Dr. Mawson's camp, but when we were within a few miles +of it, the other party started in a south-easterly direction and were +soon lost to sight. Our course was due east. + +At thirty-three and a half miles the sea was in sight, some fine +flat-topped bergs floating in the nearest bay. Suddenly a dark, rocky +nunatak sprang into view on our left. It was a sudden contrast after ten +days of unchanging whiteness, and we felt very anxious to visit this new +find. As it was in Stillwell's limited territory we left it to him. + +According to the rhymester it was: + + A rock by the way- + A spot in the circle of white- + A grey, craggy spur plunging stark through the deep-splintered ice. + A trifle! you say, but a glow of warm land may suffice + To brighten a day + Prolonged to a midsummer night. + +After leaving Aladdin's Cave, our sledge-meter had worked quite +satisfactorily. Just before noon, the casting attaching the +recording-dial to the forks broke--the first of a series of break-downs. +Correll bound it up with copper wire and splints borrowed from the +medical outfit. + +The wind died away and the sail was of little use. In addition to this, +we met with a slight up grade on the eastern side of the depression, +our rate diminishing accordingly. At 7 P.M. the tent was pitched in +dead calm, after a day's run of fifteen miles with a full load of almost +eight hundred pounds--a record which remained unbroken with us till near +the end of the outward journey. Looking back, the nunatak and bergs were +still visible. + +Both parties were under way at 8 A.M. next day (November 19) on a calm +and sunny morning. The course by sun-compass was set due east. + +At noon I took a latitude "shot" with the three-inch Cary theodolite. +This little instrument proved very satisfactory and was easily handled +in the cold. In latitude 67 degrees 15' south, forty-six and a half +miles east of the Hut, we were once more on level country with a high +rise to the north-east and another shallow gully in front. + +A fog which had been moving along the sea-front in an opaque wall +drifted over the land and enveloped us. Beautiful crystals of ice in the +form of rosettes and small fern-fronds were deposited on the cordage of +the sail and mast. One moment the mists would clear, and the next, we +could not see more than a few hundred yards. + +We now parted with Stillwell, Hodgeman and Close, who turned off to a +rising knoll--Mount Hunt--visible in the north-east, and disappeared in +the fog. + +After the halt at noon the sastrugi became much larger and softer. The +fog cleared at 2 P.M. and the sun came out and shone very fiercely. +A very inquisitive skua gull--the first sign of life we had seen thus +far--flew around the tent and settled on the snow near by. In the calm, +the heat was excessive and great thirst attacked us all the afternoon, +which I attempted to assuage at every halt by holding snow in my +hands and licking the drops of water off my knuckles----a cold and +unsatisfactory expedient. We travelled without burberrys--at that time +quite a novel sensation--wearing only fleece suits and light woollen +undergarments. Correll pulled for the greater part of the afternoon in +underclothing alone. + +At forty-nine and a half miles a new and wonderful panorama opened +before us. The sea lay just below, sweeping as a narrow gulf into the +great, flat plain of debouching glacier-tongue which ebbed away north +into the foggy horizon. A small ice-capped island was set like a pearl +in the amethyst water. To the east, the glacier seemed to fuse with the +blue line of the hinterland. Southward, the snowy slope rose quickly, +and the far distance was unseen. + +We marched for three-quarters of a mile to where a steep down grade +commenced. Here I made a sketch and took a round of angles to all +prominent features, and the conspicuous, jutting, seaward points of +the glacier. McLean and Correll were busy making a snow cairn, six +feet high, to serve as a back-sight for angles to be taken at a higher +eminence southward. + +We set out for the latter, and after going one and a half miles it was +late enough to camp. During the day we had all got very sunburnt, and +our faces were flushed and smarting painfully. After the long winter at +the Hut the skin had become more delicate than usual. + +Under a clear sky, the wind came down during the night at forty-five +miles per hour, lashing surface drift against the walls of the tent. It +was not till ten o'clock that the sledge started, breaking a heavy trail +in snow which became more and more like brittle piecrust. There was +at first a slight descent, and then we strained up the eminence to the +south over high sastrugi running almost north and south. Capsizes +became frequent, and to extricate the heavy sledge from some of the deep +furrows it was necessary to unload the food-bags. The drift running +over the ground was troublesome when we sat down for a rest, but, in +marching, our heads were just clear of it. + +It was a long laborious day, and the four miles indicated by the +inexorable sledge-meter seemed a miserable result. However, near the +top of the hill there was a rich reward. A small nunatak slanted like a +steel-blue shadow on the side of a white peak to the south-west. There +was great excitement, and the sledge slid along its tracks with new +life. It was rock without a doubt, and there was no one to dispute +it with us. While speculating wildly as to its distance, we came +unexpectedly to the summit of the hill. + +The wind had subsided, the sky was clear and the sun stood low in the +south-west. Our view had widened to a noble outlook. The sea, a delicate +turquoise-blue, lay in the foreground of the low, white, northern +ice-cliffs. Away to the east was the dim suggestion of land across the +bed of the glacier, about which circled the southerly highlands of the +plateau, buried at times in the haze of distance. Due south, twenty +miles away, projecting from the glacier, was another island of rock. +The nunatak first seen, not many miles to the south-west, was a snowy +mountain streaked with sprouting rock, rising solitary in an indentation +of the land. We honoured our Ship by calling it Aurora Peak, while our +camp stood on what was thenceforth to be Mount Murchison. + +It was obvious that this was the place for our first depot. I had +decided, too, to make it the first magnetic station and the point from +which to visit and explore Aurora Peak. None of us made any demur over +a short halt. Correll had strained his back during the day from pulling +too hard, and was troubled with a bleeding nose. My face was very sore +from sunburn, with one eye swollen and almost closed, and McLean's eyes +had not yet recovered from their first attack of snow-blindness. + +November 21 was a day in camp. Most of the morning I spent trying, with +Correll's help, to get the declination needle to set. Its pivot had been +destroyed in transit and Correll had replaced it by a gramophone needle, +which was found too insensitive. There was nothing to do but use the +three-inch theodolite, which, setting to one degree, would give a good +result, with a mean of thirty-two settings, for a region with such +variable magnetic declination. A latitude "shot" was made at noon, +and in the afternoon I took a set of dip determinations. These, with a +panoramic sketch from the camp, a round of angles to conspicuous points +and an observation at 5.30 P.M. for time and azimuth completed the day's +work. Correll did the recording. + +Meanwhile, McLean had built an eight-feet snow mound, erected a depot +flag upon it and taken several photographs. + +The next day was devoted to an excursion to Aurora Peak. The weather +was, to our surprise, quite clear and calm. Armed with the paraphernalia +for a day's tour, we set off down the slope. Correll put the primus +stove and the inner pot of the cooker in the ready food-bag, McLean +slung on his camera and the aneroid barometer, while I took my ruck-sack +with the rations, as well as field-glasses and an ice-axe. In case of +crevasses, we attached ourselves to an alpine rope in long procession. +According to the "Epic" it was something like this: + + We saddled up, adventure-bent; + Locked up the house--I mean the tent- + Took "grub" enough for three young men + With appetite to equal ten. + A day's outing across the vale. + Aurora Peak! What ho! All hail! + + We waltzed a'down the silvered slope, + Connected by an Alpine rope; + "Madi" in front with ice-axe armed, + For fear that we should feel alarmed. + Glad was the hour, and--what a lark! + Explorers three? "Save the mark!" + +The mystery of the nunatak was about to be solved. Apparently it rose +from the level of the glacier, as our descent showed its eastern flank +more clearly outlined. It was three miles to the bottom of the gully, +and the aneroid barometer registered one thousand one hundred and ninety +feet. The surface was soft and yielding to finnesko crampons, which sank +through in places till the snow gripped the knees. + +Ascending on the other side we crossed a small crevasse and the peak +towered above us. The northern side terminated in a perpendicular face +of ice, below which a deep basin had been "scalloped" away; evidently +kept clear by eddies of wind. In it lay broken fragments of the +overhanging cliff. The rock was a wide, outcropping band curving steeply +to the summit on the eastern aspect. + +After a stiff climb we hurried eagerly to the rock as if it were a mine +of inexhaustible treasure. The boulders were all weathered a bright red +and were much pitted where ferruginous minerals were leached out. The +rock was a highly quartzose gneiss, with black bands of schist running +through it. Moss and lichens were plentiful, and McLean collected +specimens. + +The rocky strip was eighty feet wide and three hundred feet high, so, +making a cache of the primus, provisions and burberrys, we followed it +up till it became so steep that it was necessary to change to the snow. +This was in the form of hard neve with patches of ice. I went first, +cutting steps with the ice-axe, and the others followed on the rope. The +last ten of more than one hundred steps were in an almost vertical face, +which gave a somewhat precarious foothold. + +At 11.30 A.M. we stood on the summit at an altitude of one thousand +seven hundred and fifty feet, while across the valley to the north-east +rose Mount Murchison, one hundred and fourteen feet higher. The top of +the ridge was quite a knife-edge, with barely space for standing. It +ran mainly north and south, dipping in the centre, to curve away sharply +westward to a higher eminence. At the bend was an inaccessible patch of +rock. The surrounding view was much the same at that on Mount Murchison. + +The Union Jack and the Australian flag were erected on a bamboo, and +photographs taken. At the same time, low, threatening clouds rapidly +emerged from the southeast, covering the sun and creating the +"snow-blind" light. This was rather alarming as the climb had been +difficult enough under a clear sky, and the descent was certainly much +more difficult. So we hastily ate some chocolate and discussed the best +way down. + +Prospecting to the north, in search of a long snow ramp which appeared +to run away in that direction, we scrambled down to the edge of a wide +snowy crevasse full of blue chinks. + +Turning back, we considered the chances of sliding down a steep scoured +hollow to the west and finally decided to descend by the track we had +cut. + +McLean started off first down the steps and was out of sight in a few +moments. When the rope tightened, Correll followed him and then I came +last. It was very ticklish work feeling for the steps below with one's +feet, and, as we signalled to one another in turn after moving a step, +it took more than an hour to reach a safe position on the rocks. With +every step I drove my axe into the ice, so that if the others had fallen +there would still have been a last chance. + +There was no time to be wasted; light snow was falling with the prospect +of becoming thicker. In the gully the snowfall became heavy, limiting +the view to within a few hundred yards. We advanced up the hill in +what seemed to be the steepest direction, but circled half-way round it +before finding out that the course was wrong. Aimlessly trying to place +the broad flat summit I came across tracks in the snow, which were then +carefully followed and led to the tent. The wind was rising outside +and the hoosh in steaming mugs was eaten with extra relish in our snug +retreat. + +Specimens were labelled to be deposed and provisions were arranged +for the rest of the journey. It was evident that we had superfluous +clothing, and so the weight of the kit-bags was scrupulously cut down. +By the time we crawled into sleeping-bags, everything dispensable was +piled alongside the depot-flag. + +We slept the sleep of the weary and did not hear the flapping tent nor +the hissing drift. At 6 A.M. the wind was doing forty miles per hour and +the air was filled with snow. It must have been a new climate, for by +noon the sun had unexpectedly broken through, the wind was becoming +gusty and the drift trailed like scud over the surface. + +With six weeks' food we set off on a new trail after lunch. The way +to the eastern glacier--Mertz Glacier--issued through the mouth of the +gully, which ran in an easterly direction between Aurora Peak and Mount +Murchison. On Mount Murchison ice-falls and crevasses began a short +distance east of our first line of descent, but yet I thought a slight +deviation to the east of south would bring us safely into the valley, +and, at the same time, cut off a mile. Alas! it proved to be one of +those "best-laid schemes." + +The load commenced to glide so quickly as we were leaving the crest of +the mountain that Correll and McLean unhitched from the hauling line +and attached themselves by the alpine rope to the rear of the sledge, +braking its progress. I remained harnessed in front keeping the +direction. For two miles we were going downhill at a running pace and +then the slope became suddenly steeper and the sledge overtook me. I had +expected crevasses, in view of which I did not like all the loose rope +behind me. Looking round, I shouted to the others to hold back the +sledge, proceeding a few steps while doing so. The bow of the sledge was +almost at my feet, when--whizz! I was dropping down through space. The +length of the hauling rope was twenty-four feet, and I was at the end of +it. I cannot say that "my past life flashed before me." I just had time +to think "Now for the jerk--will my harness hold?" when there was a +wrench, and I was hanging breathless over the blue depth. Then the most +anxious moment came--I continued to descend. A glance showed me that the +crevasse was only four feet wide, so the sledge could not follow me, and +I knew with a thankful heart that I was safe. I only descended about +two feet more, and then stopped. I knew my companions had pulled up the +sledge and would be anchoring it with the ice-axe. + +I had a few moments in which to take in my surroundings. Opposite to +me was a vertical wall of ice, and below a beautiful blue, darkening +to black in that unseen chasm. On either hand the rift of the crevasse +extended, and above was the small hole in the snow bridge through which +I had shot. + +Soon I heard McLean calling, "Are you all right?" And I answered in +what he and Correll thought an alarmingly distant voice. They started +enlarging the hole to pull me out, until lumps of snow began to fall +and I had to yell for mercy. Then I felt they were hauling, and slowly I +rose to daylight. + +The crevasse ran westward along the gully, forcing us to make a detour +through a maze of smaller cracks. We had to retreat up the hill in one +place, throwing off half the load and carrying it on in relays. There +was a blistering sun and the work was hard. At last the sledge came to +a clear run and tobogganed into the snow-filled valley, turning eastward +towards its outlet. + +At the evening camp the sledge-meter indicated that our distance +eastward of the Hut was sixty miles, one thousand two hundred yards. The +northern face of the gully was very broken and great sentinel pillars +of ice stood out among the yawning caves, some of them leaning like +the tower of Pisa, others having fallen and rolled in shattered +blocks. Filling the vision to the south-west was Aurora Peak, in crisp +silhouette against a glorious radiant of cirrus cloud. + +Reviewing the day through our peaceful smoke-rings, I was rather +comforted by the fact that the fall into the crevasse had thoroughly +tested my harness. Correll expressed himself as perfectly satisfied with +his test. McLean seemed to feel somewhat out of it, being the only one +without a crevasse experience; which happy state he maintained until the +end, apparently somewhat to his disappointment. + +On the 24th we broke camp at 9 A.M., continuing down the gully towards +the glacier. A lofty wall of rocks, set within a frame of ice, was +observed on our left, one mile away. To it we diverged and found it to +be gneiss similar to that of Aurora Peak. Several photos were taken. + +The land was at our back and the margin of the glacier had been crossed. +Only too soon we were in the midst of terribly crevassed ground, through +which one could only thread a slow and zig-zag course. The blue ice was +riven in every direction by gaping quarries and rose smooth and slippery +on the ridges which broke the surface into long waves. Shod with +crampons, the rear of the sledge secured by a tail-rope, we had a +trying afternoon guiding the load along the narrow ridges of ice with +precipices on either hand. Fortunately the wind was not above twenty +miles per hour. As the frivolous "Epic" had it: + + Odds fish! the solid sea is sorely rent, + And all around we're pent + With quarries, chasms, pits, depressions vast, + Their snow-lids overcast. + + A devious track, all curved and serpentine + Round snow-lids superfine. + On jutting brinks and precipices sheer + Precariously we steer. + +We pushed on to find a place in which to camp, as there was scarcely +safe standing-room for a primus stove. At seventy miles the broken ice +gave way to a level expanse of hard sastrugi dotted all over with small +mounds of ice about four feet high. After hoosh, a friendly little +Wilson petrel came flying from the northern sea to our tent. We +considered it to be a good omen. + +Next day the icy mounds disappeared, to be replaced by a fine, flat +surface, and the day's march amounted to eleven and a quarter miles. + +At 11 A.M. four snow petrels visited us, circling round in great +curiosity. It is a cheerful thing to see these birds amid the lone, +inhospitable ice. + +We were taking in the surroundings from our position off the land +scanning the far coast to the south for rock and turning round to +admire the bold contours of Aurora Peak and Mount Murchison at our back. +Occasionally there were areas of rubbly snow, blue ice and crevasses +completely filled with snow, of prodigious dimensions, two hundred to +three hundred yards wide and running as far as the eye could travel. +The snow filling them was perfectly firm, but, almost always along the +windward edge, probing with an ice-axe would disclose a fissure. This +part of the Mertz Glacier was apparently afloat. + +The lucky Wilson petrel came again in the evening. At this stage the +daily temperatures ranged between 10 degrees F. and near freezing-point. +The greater part of November 26 was passed in the tent, within another +zone of crevasses. The overcast sky made the light so bad that it became +dangerous to go ahead. At 5.30 P.M. we started, and managed to do five +and a half miles before 8 P.M. + +It was rather an eventful day, when across the undulating sastrugi there +appeared a series of shallow valleys running eastward. As the valleys +approached closer, the ground sloped down to meet them, their sides +becoming steeper, buckled and broken. Proceeding ahead on an easterly +course, our march came to an abrupt termination on an ice-bluff. + +In front lay a perfectly flat snow-covered plain--the sea-ice. In point +of fact we had arrived at the eastern side of the Mertz Glacier and were +about fifteen miles north of the mainland. Old sea-ice, deeply covered +in snow, lay ahead for miles, and the hazy, blue coast sank below the +horizon in the south-east, running for a time parallel to the course we +were about to take. It was some time before we realized all this, but at +noon on the following day there came the first reminder of the proximity +of sea-water. + +An Adelie penguin, skiing on its breast from the north, surprised us +suddenly by a loud croak at the rear of the sledge. As astonished as +we were, it stopped and stared, and then in sudden terror made off. But +before starting on its long trek to the land, it had to be captured and +photographed. + +To the south the coast was marked by two faces of rock and a short, dark +spur protruding from beneath the ice-cap. As our friendly penguin had +made off in that direction, we elected to call the place Penguin Point, +intending to touch there on the return journey. During the afternoon +magnetic dips and a round of angles to the prominences of the mainland +were taken. + +The next evidence on the sea-ice question came in the shape of a line +of broken slabs of ice to the north, sticking out of the snow like the +ruins of an ancient graveyard. At one hundred and fifteen miles the +line was so close that we left the sledge to investigate it, finding +a depression ten feet deep, through which wound a glistening riband of +sea-water. It reminded one of a creek in flat, Australian country, and +the illusion was sustained by a dark skua gull--in its slow flight much +like a crow. It was a fissure in old thick sea-ice. + +Sunday, and the first day of December, brought good weather and a clear +view of the mainland. A bay opened to the east of Penguin Point, from +which the coast trended to the south-east. Across a crack in the sea-ice +we could just distinguish a low indented line like the glacier-tongue, +we had already crossed. It might have been a long promontory of land for +all we knew. Behind it was a continuous ice-blink and on our left, to +the north, a deep blue "water sky." It seemed worth while continuing on +an easterly course approximately parallel with the coast. + +We were faced by another glacier-tongue; a fact which remained unproven +for a week at least. From the sea-ice on to the glacier--the Ninnis +Glacier--there was a gentle rise to a prominent knoll of one hundred and +seventy feet. Here our distance from the Hut amounted to one hundred and +fifty-two miles, and the spot was reckoned a good situation for the last +depot. + +In taking magnetic observations, it was interesting to find that the +"dip" amounted to 87 degrees 44', while the declination, which had +varied towards the west, swung at this our most northerly station a few +degrees to the east. We were curving round the South Magnetic Pole. Many +points on the coast were fixed from an adjoining hill to which Correll +and I trudged through sandy snow, while McLean stayed behind erecting +the depot-mound, placing a food-bag, kerosene tin, black cloth and +miner's pick on the top. + +With four weeks' provisions we made a new start to cross the Ninnis +Glacier on December 3, changing course to E. 30 degrees N., in great +wonderment as to what lay ahead. In this new land interest never +flagged. One never could foresee what the morrow would bring forth. + +Across rolling "downs" of soft, billowy snow we floundered for +twenty-four miles, on the two following days. Not a wind-ripple could +be seen. We were evidently in a region of comparative calms, which was +a remarkable thing, considering that the windiest spot in the world was +less than two hundred miles away. + +After several sunny days McLean and I had very badly cracked lips. It +had been often remarked at the Hut that the standard of humour greatly +depreciated during the winter and this caused McLean and me many a +physical pang while sledging, as we would laugh at the least provocation +and open all the cracks in our lips. Eating hard plasmon biscuits was a +painful pleasure. Correll, who was immune from this affliction, tanned +to the rich hue of the "nut-brown maiden." + +On December 5, at the top of a rise, we were suddenly confronted with a +new vision--"Thalassa!" was our cry, "the sea!" but a very different sea +from that which brought such joy to the hearts of the wandering Greeks. +Unfolded to the horizon was a plain of pack-ice, thickly studded with +bergs and intersected by black leads of open water. In the north-east +was a patch of open sea and above it, round to the north, lowering banks +of steel-blue cloud. We had come to the eastern side of Ninnis Glacier. + +At this point any analogy which could possibly have been found with +Wilkes's coastline ceased. It seems probable that he charted as land the +limits of the pack-ice in 1840. + +The excitement of exploring this new realm was to be deferred. Even as +we raised the tent, the wind commenced to whistle and the air became +surcharged with snow. Three skua gulls squatted a few yards away, +squawking at our approach, and a few snow petrels sailed by in the +gathering blizzard. + +Through the 6th, 7th and 8th and most of the 9th it raged, during which +time we came definitely to the conclusion that as social entertainers +we were complete failures. We exhausted all the reserve topics of +conversation, discussed our Universities, sports, friends and homes. We +each described the scenery we liked best; notable always for the sunny +weather and perfect calm. McLean sailed again in Sydney Harbour, Correll +cycled and ran his races, I wandered in the South Australian hills or +rowed in the "eights," while the snow swished round the tent and the +wind roared over the wastes of ice. + +Avoiding a few crevasses on the drop to sea-level on December 10, the +sledge was manoeuvred over a tide-crack between glacier and sea-ice. The +latter was traversed by frequent pressure-ridges; hummocks and broken +pinnacles being numerous. + +The next six days out on the broken sea-ice were full of incident. The +weather was gloriously sunny till the 13th, during which time the sledge +had to be dragged through a forest of pinnacles and over areas of soft, +sticky slush which made the runners execrable for hours. Ponds of open +water, by which basked a few Weddell seals, became a familiar sight. We +tried to maintain a south-easterly course for the coast, but miles were +wasted in the tortuous maze of ice--"a wildering Theban ruin of hummock +and serrac." + +The sledge-meter broke down and gave the ingenious Correll a proposition +which he ably solved. McLean and I had a chronic weakness of the eyes +from the continual glare. Looking at the other two fellows with their +long protruding goggles made me think of Banquo's ghost: "Thou hast no +speculation in those eyes that thou dost glare with." + +I had noticed that some of the tide-cracks had opened widely and, when +a blizzard blew on December 13, the thought was a skeleton in my brain +cupboard. + +On the 15th an Emperor penguin was seen sunning himself by a pool of +water, so we decided to kill the bird and carry some meat in case of +emergency. McLean found the stomach full of fish and myriads of cestodes +in the intestines. + +By dint of hard toil over cracks, ridges and jagged, broken blocks, we +came, by diverging to the south-west, to the junction between shifting +pack and fast bay-ice, and even there, we afterwards shuddered to find, +it was at least forty-five miles, as the penguin skis, to the land. + +It was a fine flat surface on which the sledge ran, and the miles +commenced to fly by, comparatively speaking. Except for an occasional +deep rift, whose bottom plumbed to the sea-water, the going was +excellent. Each day the broken ice on our left receded, the mainland to +the south grew closer and traces of rock became discernible on the low, +fractured cliffs. + +On December 17 a huge rocky bluff--Horn Bluff--stood out from the shore. +It had a ram-shaped bow like a Dreadnought battleship and, adjoining it, +there were smaller outcrops of rock on the seaward ice-cliffs. On +its eastern side was a wide bay with a well-defined cape--Cape +Freshfield--at the eastern extremity about thirty miles away. + +The Bluff was a place worth exploring. At a distance of more than +fifteen miles, the spot suggested all kinds of possibilities, and in +council we argued that it was useless to go much farther east, as to +touch at the land would mean a detour on the homeward track and time +would have to be allowed for that. + +At a point two hundred and seventy miles from the Hut, in latitude 68 +degrees 18' S., longitude 150 degrees 12' E., we erected our "farthest +east" camp on December 18, after a day's tramp of eighteen miles. Here, +magnetic "dips" and other observations were made throughout the morning +of the 19th. It was densely overcast, with sago snow falling, but by +3 P.M. of the same day the clouds had magically cleared and the first +stage of the homeward journey had commenced. + + + +CHAPTER XVI HORN BLUFF AND PENGUIN POINT + +by C. T. MADIGAN + + + What thrill of grandeur ours + When first we viewed the column'd fell! + What idle, lilting verse can tell + Of giant fluted towers, + O'er-canopied with immemorial snow + And riven by a glacier's azure flow? + + +As we neared Horn Bluff, on the first stage of our homeward march, the +upper layers of snow were observed to disappear, and the underlying +ice became thinner; in corrugated sapphire plains with blue reaches of +sparkling water. Cracks bridged with flimsy snow continually let one +through into the water. McLean and I both soaked our feet and once I +was immersed to the thighs, having to stop and put on dry socks and +finnesko. It was a chilly process allowing the trousers to dry on me. + +The mountain, pushing out as a great promontory from the coast amid the +fast sea-ice, towered up higher as our sledge approached its foot. A +great shadow was cast on the ice, and, when more than a mile away, we +left the warm sunshine. + +Awed and amazed, we beheld the lone vastness of it all and were mute. +Rising out of the flat wilderness over which we had travelled was a +mammoth vertical barrier of rock rearing its head to the skies above. +The whole face for five miles was one magnificent series of organ-pipes. +The deep shade was heightened by the icy glare beyond it. Here was +indeed a Cathedral of Nature, where the "still, small voice" spoke amid +an ineffable calm. + +Far up the face of the cliff snow petrels fluttered like white +butterflies. It was stirring to think that these majestic heights had +gazed out across the wastes of snow and ice for countless ages, +and never before had the voices of human beings echoed in the great +stillness nor human eyes surveyed the wondrous scene. + +From the base of the organ-pipes sloped a mass of debris; broken blocks +of rock of every size tumbling steeply to the splintered hummocks of the +sea-ice. + +Standing out from the top of this talus-slope were several white +"beacons," up to which we scrambled when the tent was pitched. This +was a tedious task as the stones were ready to slide down at the +least touch, and often we were carried down several yards by a general +movement. Wearing soft finnesko, we ran the risk of getting a crushed +foot among the large boulders. Amongst the rubble were beds of clay, and +streams of thaw-water trickled down to the surface of a frozen lake. + +After rising two hundred feet, we stood beneath the beacons which loomed +above to a height of one hundred and twenty-eight feet. The organ-pipes +were basaltic** in character but, to my great joy, I found the beacons +were of sedimentary rock. After a casual examination, the details were +left till the morrow. + + + ** To be exact the igneous rook was a very thick sill of dolerite, + +That night we had a small celebration on raisins, chocolate and +apple-rings, besides the ordinary fare of hoosh, biscuit and cocoa. +Several times we were awakened by the crash of falling stones. Snow +petrels had been seen coming home to their nests in the beacons, which +were weathered out into small caves and crannies. From the camp we could +hear their harsh cries. + +The scene in the morning sun was a brilliant one. The great columnar +rampart ran almost north and south and the tent was on its eastern +side. So what was in dark shadow on the day before was now radiantly +illumined. + +Correll remained behind on the sea-ice with a theodolite to take heights +of the various strata. McLean and I, armed with aneroid, glasses, +ruck-sack, geological hammer (ice-axe) and camera, set out for the foot +of the talus-slope. + +The beacons were found to be part of a horizontal, stratified series +of sandstones underlying the igneous rock. There were bands of coarse +gravel and fine examples of stream-bedding interspersed with seams of +carbonaceous shale and poor coal. Among the debris were several pieces +of sandstone marked by black, fossilized plant-remains. The summits +of the beacons were platforms of very hard rock, baked by the volcanic +overflow. The columns, roughly hexagonal and weathered to a dull-red, +stood above in sheer perpendicular lines of six hundred and sixty feet +in altitude. + +After taking a dozen photographs of geological and general interest and +stuffing the sack and our pockets with specimens, we picked a track down +the shelving talus to a lake of fresh water which was covered with a +superficial crust of ice beneath which the water ran. The surface was +easily broken and we fetched the aluminium cover of the cooker, filling +it with three gallons of water, thus saving kerosene for almost a day. + +After McLean had collected samples of soil, lichens, algae and moss, and +all the treasures had been labelled, we lunched and harnessed-up once +more for the homeward trail. + +For four miles we ran parallel to the one-thousand-foot wall of Horn +Bluff meeting several boulders stranded on the ice, as well as the +fragile shell of a tiny sea-urchin. The promontory was domed with snow +and ice, more than one thousand two hundred feet above sea-level. From +it streamed a blue glacier overflowing through a rift in the face. Five +miles on our way, the sledge passed from frictionless ice to rippled +snow and with a march of seven miles, following lunch, we pitched camp. + +Every one was tired that night, and our prayer to the Sleep Merchant in +the book of Australian verse was for: + + Twenty gallons of balmy sleep, + Dreamless, and deep, and mild, + Of the excellent brand you used to keep + When I was a little child. + +For three days, December 22, 23 and 24, the wind soughed at thirty miles +per hour and the sky was a compact nimbus, unveiling the sun at rare +moments. Through a mist of snow we steered on a north-west course +towards the one-hundred-and-fifty-two mile depot. The wind was from the +south-east true, and this information, with hints from the sun-compass, +gave us the direction. With the sail set, on a flat surface, among +ghostly bergs and over narrow leads we ran for forty-seven miles with +scarce a clear view of what lay around. The bergs had long ramps of snow +leading close up to their summits on the windward side and in many cases +the intervals between these ramps and the bergs were occupied by deep +moats. + +One day we were making four knots an hour under all canvas through thick +drift. Suddenly, after a gradual ascent, I was on the edge of a moat, +thirty feet deep. I shouted to the others and, just in time, the sledge +was slewed round on the very brink. + +We pushed on blindly: + + The toil of it none may share; + By yourself must the way be won + Through fervid or frozen air + Till the overland journey's done. + +Christmas Day! The day that ever reminds one of the sweet story of old, +the lessons of childhood, the joys of Santa Claus--the day on which the +thoughts of the wildest wanderer turn to home and peace and love. All +the world was cheerful; the sun was bright, the air was calm. It was +the hometrail, provisions were in plenty, the sledge was light and our +hearts lighter. + +The eastern edge of Ninnis Glacier was near, and, leaving the sea-ice, +we were soon straining up the first slope, backed by a line of ridges +trending north-east and south-west, with shallow valleys intervening. On +the wind-swept crests there were a few crevasses well packed with snow. + +It was a day's work of twelve miles and we felt ready for Christmas +dinner. McLean was cook and had put some apple-rings to soak in the +cooker after the boil-up at lunch. Beyond this and the fact that he +took some penguin-meat into the tent, he kept his plans in the deepest +mystery. Correll and I were kept outside making things snug and taking +the meteorological observations, until the word came to enter. When at +last we scrambled in, a delicious smell diffused through the tent, and +there was a sound of frying inside the cooker-pot. We were presented +with a menu which read: + + "Peace on earth, good will to men." + + Xmas 1912 KING GEORGE V. LAND + 200 miles east of Winter Quarters. + + MENU DU DINER + Hors d'oeuvre + Biscuit de plasmon Ration du lard glace + + + Entree + Monsieur l'Empereur Pingouin fricasse + + Piece de Resistance + Pemmican naturel a l'Antarctique + + Dessert + Hotch-potch de pommes et de raisins + Chocolat au sucre glaxone + Liqueur bien ancienne de l'Ecosse + + Cigarettes Tabac + + +The hors d'oeuvre of bacon ration was a welcome surprise. McLean had +carried the tin unknown to us up till this moment. The penguin, fried +in lumps of fat taken from the pemmican, and a little butter, was +delicious. In the same pot the hoosh was boiled and for once we noted +an added piquancy. Next followed the plum-pudding--dense mixture of +powdered biscuit, glaxo, sugar, raisins and apple-rings, surpassing the +finest, flaming, holly-decked, Christmas creation. + +Then came the toasts. McLean produced the whisky from the medical kit +and served it out, much diluted, in three mugs. There was not three +ounces in all, but it flavoured the water. + +I was asked to call "The King." McLean proposed "The Other Sledgers" in +a noble speech, wishing them every success; and then there were a +few drops left to drink to "Ourselves," whom Correll eulogized to our +complete satisfaction. We then drew on the meagre supply of cigarettes +and lay on our bags, feeling as comfortable as the daintiest epicure +after a twelve-course dinner, drinking his coffee and smoking his cigar. + +We talked till twelve o'clock, and then went outside to look at the +midnight sun, shining brightly just above the southern horizon. Turning +in, we were once more at home in our dreams. + +By a latitude shot at noon on Boxing Day, I found that our position +was not as far north as expected. The following wind had been probably +slightly east of south-east and too much westing had been made. From +a tangle of broken ridges whose surface was often granular, +half-consolidated ice, the end of the day opened up a lilac plain of +sea-ice ahead. We were once more on the western side of Ninnis Glacier +and the familiar coast of Penguin Point, partly hidden by an iceberg, +sprang into view. The depot hill to the north-west could be recognized, +twenty miles away, across a wide bay. By hooch-time we had found a +secure path to the sea-ice, one hundred and eighty feet below. + +The wind sprang up opportunely on the morning of the 27th, and the sun +was serene in a blue sky. Up went the sail and with a feather-weight +load we strode off for the depot eighteen miles distant. Three wide +rifts in the sea-ice exercised our ingenuity during the day's march, but +by the time the sun was in the south-west the sledge was sawing through +the sandy snow of the depot hill. It was unfortunate that the food of +this depot had been cached so far out of our westerly course, as the +time expended in recovering it might have been profitably given to +a survey of the mainland east of Penguin Point. At 6.20 P.M., after +eighteen and a quarter miles, the food-bag was sighted on the mound, and +that night the dinner at our one-hundred-and-fifty-two-mile depot was +marked by some special innovations. + +Penguin Point, thirty miles away, bore W. 15 degrees S., and next day +we made a bid for it by a march of sixteen miles. There was eleven days' +ration on the sledge to take us to Mount Murchison, ninety miles away; +consequently the circuitous route to the land was held to be a safe +"proposition." + +Many rock faces became visible, and I was able to fix numerous prominent +points with the theodolite. + +At three miles off the coast, the surface became broken by ridges, small +bergs and high, narrow cupolas of ice surrounded by deep moats. One of +these was very striking. It rose out of a wind-raked hollow to a height +of fifty feet; just the shape of an ancient Athenian helmet. McLean took +a photograph. + +As at Horn Bluff, the ice became thinner and freer of snow as we drew +near the Point. The rocky wall under which the tent was raised proved to +be three hundred feet high, jutting out from beneath the slopes of ice. +From here the coast ran almost south on one side and north-west on the +other. On either hand there were dark faces corniced with snow. + +The next day was devoted to exploration. Adelie penguins waddled about +the tide-crack over which we crossed to examine the rock, which was of +coarse-grained granite, presenting great, vertical faces. Hundreds of +snow petrels flew about and some stray skua gulls were seen. + +Near the camp, on thick ice, were several large blocks of granite which +had floated out from the shore and lay each in its pool of thaw-water, +covered with serpulae and lace coral. + +Correll, our Izaak Walton, had brought a fishing-line and some +penguin-meat. He stopped near the camp fishing while McLean and I +continued down the coast, examining the outcrops. The type of granite +remained unchanged in the numerous exposures. + +I had noticed a continuous rustling sound for some time and found at +length that it was caused by little streams of ice-crystals running +down the steep slopes in cascades, finally pouring out in piles on the +sea-ice. The partial thaw in the sunlight causes the semi-solid ice to +break up into separate grains. Sometimes whole areas of the surface, in +delicate equilibrium, would suddenly flow rapidly away. + +For three miles we walked, and as the next four miles of visible coast +presented no extensive outcrops, we turned back for lunch. + +During the afternoon, on the summit of the Point, it was found that an +uneven rocky area, about a quarter of a mile wide, ran backwards to the +ice-falls of the plateau. The surface was very broken and weathered, +covered in patches by abundant lichens and mosses. Fossicking round +in the gravel, Correll happened on some tiny insect-like mites living +amongst the moss or on the moist under side of slabs of stone. This set +us all insect-hunting. Alcohol was brought in a small bottle from the +tent, and into this they were swept in myriads with a camel's-hair +brush. From the vantage-point of a high rock in the neighbourhood the +long tongue of Mertz Glacier could be seen running away to the north. + +At 8.30 A.M., on New Year's Eve, we set off for another line of rocks +about four miles away to the west. There were two masses forming an +angle in the ice-front and consisting of two main ridges rising to a +height of two hundred and fifty feet, running back into the ice-cap for +a mile, and divided by a small glacier. + +This region was soon found to be a perfect menagerie of life. Seals lay +about dozing peacefully by the narrow lanes of water. Adelie penguins +strutted in procession up and down the little glacier. To reach his +rookery, a penguin would leap four feet on to a ledge of the ice-foot, +painfully pad up the glassy slope and then awkwardly scale the rocks +until he came to a level of one hundred and fifty feet. Here he took +over the care of a chick or an egg, while the other bird went to fish. +Skua gulls flew about, continually molesting the rookeries. One area of +the rocks was covered by a luxuriant growth of green moss covering guano +and littered skeletons--the site of a deserted rookery. + +Correll and I went up to where the ridges converged, selecting numerous +specimens of rock and mineral and finding thousands of small red mites +in the moist gravel. Down on the southern ridge we happened on a Wilson +petrel with feathered nestlings. At this point McLean came along from +the west with the news of silver-grey petrels and Cape pigeons nesting +in hundreds. He had secured two of each species and several eggs. This +was indeed a discovery, as the eggs of the former birds had never before +been found. Quite close to us were many snow petrels in all kinds of +unexpected crevices. The light was too dull for photographing, but, +while I took magnetic "dips" on the following morning, McLean visited +the silver-grey petrels and Cape pigeons and secured a few "snaps." + +The last thing we did before leaving the mainland was to kill two +penguins and cut off their breasts and this meat was, later, to serve us +in good stead. + +Crossing the Mertz Glacier at any time would have been an unpleasant +undertaking, but to go straight to Mount Murchison (the site of our +first depot on the outward journey) from Penguin Point meant spanning it +in a long oblique line. It was preferable to travel quickly and safely +over the sea-ice on a north-westerly course, which, plotted on the +chart, intersected our old one-hundred-mile camp on the eastern margin +of the glacier; then to cross by the route we already knew. + +By January 2 we had thrown Penguin Point five miles behind, and a spell +of unsettled weather commenced; in front lay a stretch of fourteen miles +over a good surface. The wind was behind us, blowing between thirty and +forty miles per hour, and from an overcast sky light snow was falling. +Fortunately there were fleeting glimpses of the sun, by which the course +could be adjusted. Towards evening the snow had thickened, but thanks to +the splendid assistance afforded by a sail, the white jutting spurs of +the edge of Mertz Glacier were dimly visible. + +A blizzard took possession of the next day till 7 P.M., when we +all sallied out and found the identical gully in which was the +one-hundred-mile camp of the outward journey. The light was still bad +and the sky overcast, so the start was postponed till next morning. + +There was food for five days on a slightly reduced ration and the depot +on Mount Murchison was forty miles away. + +Once we had left the sea-ice and stood on the glacier, Aurora Peak with +its black crest showed through the glasses. Once there, the crevasses we +most dreaded would be over and the depot easily found. + +A good fourteen and a quarter miles slipped by on January 4--a fine day. +On January 5 the "plot began to thicken." The clouds hung above like a +blanket, sprinkling light snow. The light was atrocious, and a few open +rents gave warning of the western zone of pitfalls. All the while there +was a shifting spectral chaos of whiteness which seemed to benumb the +faculties and destroy one's sense of reality. We decided to wait for a +change in the weather. + +During the night the snow ceased, and by lunch time on the 6th the +sledge-meter recorded ten miles. The strange thing was that the firm +sastrugi present on the outward journey were now covered inches in snow, +which became deeper as we marched westward. + +It was now a frequent occurrence for one of us to pitch forward with his +feet down a hidden crevasse, sometimes going through to the waist. The +travelling was most nerve-racking. When a foot went through the crust +of snow, it was impossible to tell on which side of the crevasse one +happened to be, or in what direction it ran. The only thing to do was to +go ahead and trust in Providence. + +At last we landed the sledge on a narrow ridge of hard snow, surrounded +by blue, gaping pits in a pallid eternity of white. It was only when the +tent was pitched that a wide quarry was noticed a few yards away from +the door. + +It was now fourteen miles to the top of Mount Murchison and we had only +two more days' rations and one and a half pounds of penguin-meat. + +On January 7th the light was worse than ever and snow fell. It was only +six miles across the broken country between us and the gully between Mt. +Murchison and Aurora Peak, where one could travel with some surety. +A sharp look-out was kept, and towards 11 P.M. a rim of clear sky +overtopped the southern horizon. We knew the sun would curve round into +it at midnight, so all was made ready for marching. + +When the sun's disc emerged into the rift there was light; but dim, cold +and fleeting. The smallest irregularity on the surface threw a +shadow hundreds of yards long. The plain around was a bluish-grey +checquer-board of light and shade; ahead, sharp and clear against the +leaden sky, stood beautiful Aurora Peak, swathed in lustrous gold--the +chariot of the goddess herself. The awful splendour of the scene tended +to depress one and make the task more trying. I have never felt +more nervous than I did in that ghostly light in the tense silence, +surrounded by the hidden horror of fathomless depths. All was covered +with a uniform layer of snow, growing deeper and heavier at every step. +I was ahead and went through eight times in about four miles. The +danger lay in getting the sledge and one, two, or all of us on a weak +snow-bridge at the same time. As long as the sledge did not go down we +were comparatively safe. + +At 1.30 A.M. the sun was obscured and the light waned to dead white. +Still we went on, as the entrance of the gully between Aurora Peak +and Mount Murchison was near at hand and we had a mind to get over the +danger-zone before a snowstorm commenced. + +By 5.30 A.M. we breathed freely on "terra firma," even though one sunk +through a foot of snow to feel it. It had taken six hours to do the last +five and three-quarter miles, and, being tired out with the strain on +muscles and nerves, we raised the tent, had a meal, and then slept till +noon on the 8th. It was eight miles to the depot, five miles up the +gully and three miles to the summit of Mount Murchison; and no one +doubted for a moment that it could not be done in a single day's march. + +Advancing up the gully after lunch, we found that the surface became +softer, and we were soon sinking to the knees at every step. The +runners, too, sank till the decking rested on the snow, and it was as +much as we could do to shift the sledge, with a series of jerks at every +step. At 6 P.M. matters became desperate. We resolved to make a depot of +everything unnecessary, and to relay it up the mountain afterwards. + +The sledge-meter, clogged with snow and almost submerged, was taken +off and stood up on end to mark a depot, whilst a pile was made of the +dip-circle, theodolite and tripod, pick, alpine rope, ice-axe, all the +mineral and biological specimens and excess clothing. + +Even thus lightened, we could scarcely move the sledge, struggling on, +sinking to the thighs in the flocculent deluge. Snow now began to fall +so thickly that it was impossible to see ahead. + +At 7 P.M. we finished up the last scraps of pemmican and cocoa. Biscuit, +sugar and glaxo had given out at the noon meal. There still remained one +and a half pounds of penguin meat, several infusions of tea and plenty +of kerosene for the primus. + +We staggered on till 10.30 P.M., when the weather became so dense that +the sides of the gully were invisible. Tired out, we camped and had some +tea. In eight hours we had only made four and a half miles, and there +was still the worst part to come. + +In our exhausted state we slept till 11 P.M. of January 9, awaking to +find the sky densely overcast and a light fog in the air. During a rift +which opened for a few minutes there was a short glimpse of the rock on +Aurora Peak. Shredding half the penguin-meat, we boiled it up and found +the stew and broth excellent. + +At 1.30 A.M. we started to struggle up the gully once more, wading along +in a most helpless fashion, with breathing spells every ten yards or +less. Snow began to fall in such volume that at last it was impossible +to keep our direction with any certainty. The only thing to do was to +throw up the tent as a shelter and wait. This we did till 4.30 A.M.; but +there must have been a cloud-burst, for the heavy flakes toppled on to +the tent like tropical rain. We got into sleeping-bags, and tried to be +patient and to forget that we were hungry. + +Apparently, during our seven weeks' absence, the local precipitation had +been almost continual, and snow now lay over this region in stupendous +amount. Even when one sank three feet, it was not on to the firm +sastrugi over which we had travelled out of the valley on the outward +journey, for these lay still deeper. It was hoped that the "snowdump" +did not continue over the fifty miles to the Hut, but we argued that on +the windy plateau this could scarcely be possible. + +It was evident that without any more food, through this bottomless, +yielding snow, we could never haul the sledge up to the depot, a rise of +one thousand two hundred feet in three miles. One of us must go up and +bring food back, and I decided to do so as soon as the weather cleared. + +We found the wait for clearer weather long and trying with empty +stomachs. As the tobacco-supply still held out, McLean and I found great +solace in our pipes. All through the rest of the day and till 5 P.M. of +the next, January 10, there was not a rift in the opaque wall of flakes. +Then to our intense relief the snow stopped, the clouds rolled to +the north, and, in swift transformation--a cloudless sky with bright +sunshine! With the rest of the penguin-meat--a bare half-pound--we had +another thin broth. Somewhat fortified, I took the food-bag and shovel, +and left the tent at 5.30 A.M. + +Often sinking to the thighs, I felt faint at the first exertion. The +tent scarcely seemed to recede as I toiled onwards towards the first +steep slope. The heavy mantle of snow had so altered the contours of the +side of the gully that I was not sure of the direction of the top of the +mountain. + +Resting every hundred yards, I floundered on hour after hour, until, on +arriving at a high point, I saw a little shining mound standing up on +a higher point, a good mile to the east. After seven hours' wading I +reached it and found that it was the depot. + +Two feet of the original eight-foot mound projected above the surface, +with the bamboo pole and a wire-and-canvas flag rising another eighteen +inches. On this, a high isolated mountain summit, six feet of snow had +actually accumulated. How thankful I was that I had brought a shovel! + +At seven feet I "bottomed" on the hard snow, without result. Then, +running a tunnel in the most probable direction, I struck with the +shovel the kerosene tin which was on the top of the food-bag. On opening +the bag, the first items to appear were sugar, butter and biscuits; the +next quarter of an hour I shall not forget! + +I made a swag of five days' provisions, and, taking a direct route, +attacked the three miles downhill in lengths of one hundred and fifty +yards. Coming in sight of the tent, I called to my companions to thaw +some water for a drink. So slow was progress that I could speak to them +a quarter of an hour before reaching the tent. I had been away eleven +and a half hours, covering about seven miles in all. + +McLean and Correll were getting anxious about me. They said that they +had felt the cold and were unable to sleep. Soon I had produced the +pemmican and biscuit, and a scalding hoosh was made. The other two +had had only a mug of penguin broth each in three days, and I had only +broken my fast a few hours before them. + +After the meal, McLean and Correll started back to the cache, two +miles down the gully, to select some of the geological and biological +specimens and to fetch a few articles of clothing. The instruments, +the greater part of the collection of rocks, crampons, sledge-meter and +other odds and ends were all left behind. Coming back with the loads +slung like swags they found that by walking in their old footsteps they +made fair progress. + +By 8 P.M. all had rested, every unnecessary fitting had been stripped +off the sledge and the climb to the depot commenced. I went ahead in my +old trail, Correll also making use of it; while McLean broke a track for +himself. The work was slow and heavy; nearly six hours were spent doing +those three miles. + +It was a lovely evening; the yellow sun drifting through orange +cloudlets behind Aurora Peak. We were in a more appreciative mood than +on the last midnight march, exulting in the knowledge of ten days' +provisions at hand and fifty-three miles to go to reach the Hut. + +In the manner of the climate, a few wisps of misty rack came sailing +from the south-east, the wind rose, snow commenced to fall and a +blizzard held sway for almost three days. It was just as well that we +had found that depot when we did. + +The fifty-three miles to the Hut melted away in the pleasures of +anticipation. The first two miles, on the morning of January 14, gave us +some strenuous work, but they were luxurious in comparison with what we +expected; soon, however, the surface rapidly and permanently improved. A +forty-mile wind from the south-east was a distinct help, and by the end +of the day we had come in sight of the nunatak first seen after leaving +the Hut (Madigan Nunatak). + +In two days forty miles lay behind. Down the blue ice-slopes in slippery +finnesko, and Aladdin's Cave hove in sight. We tumbled in, to be +assailed by a wonderful odour which brought back orchards, shops, +people--a breath of civilization. In the centre of the floor was a pile +of oranges surmounted by two luscious pineapples. The Ship was in! There +was a bundle of letters--Bage was back from the south--Wild had been +landed one thousand five hundred miles to the west--Amundsen had reached +the Pole! Scott was remaining in the Antarctic for another year. How we +shouted and read all together! + + + +CHAPTER XVII WITH STILLWELL'S AND BICKERTON'S PARTIES + + +Leaving Madigan's party on November 19, when forty-six miles from the +Hut, Stillwell, Hodgeman and Close of the Near-Eastern Party diverged +towards a dome-shaped mountain--Mount Hunt. A broad valley lay +between their position on the falling plateau and this eminence to the +north-east. Looking across, one would think that the depression was +slight, but the party found by aneroid that their descent was one +thousand five hundred feet into a gully filled with soft, deep snow. +After skimming the polished sastrugi of the uplands, the sledge ran +heavily in the yielding drifts. Then a gale of wind rose behind them +just as the ascent on the other side commenced, and was a valuable aid +in the pull to the summit. + +From the highest point or cap of what proved to be a promontory, a wide +seascape dotted with bergs was unfolded to the north. To the west the +eastern cape of Commonwealth Bay was visible, and sweeping away to +the north-east was the Mertz Glacier with sheer, jutting headlands +succeeding one another into the distance. True bearings to these points +were obtained from the camp, and, subsequently, with the help of an +observation secured on the 'Aurora' during the previous year, the +trend of the glacier-tongue was determined. Hodgeman made a series of +illustrative sketches. + +On November 21 the party commenced the return journey, moving directly +towards Madigan Nunatak to the south-west. This nunatak had been sighted +for the first time on the outward march, and there was much speculation +as to what the rock would prove to be. A gradual descent for seven miles +brought them on to a plain, almost at sea-level, continuous with the +valley they had crossed on the 19th further to the east. On the far side +of the plain a climb was commenced over some ice-spurs, and then a broad +field of crevasses was encountered, some of which attained a width of +fifty yards. Delayed by these and by unfavourable weather, they did not +reach Madigan Nunatak until the evening of November 20. + +The outcrop--a jagged crest of rock--was found to be one hundred and +sixty yards long and thirty yards wide, placed at an altitude of two +thousand four hundred feet above sea-level. It is composed of grey +quartzose gneiss. + +There were no signs of recent glaciation or of ice-striae, though the +rock was much weathered, and all the cracks and joint-planes were filled +with disintegrating material. The weathering was excessive and peculiar +in contrast with that observed on fresh exposures near the Hut and at +other localities near sea-level. + +After collecting specimens and placing a small depot of food on the +highest point, the party continued their way to the Hut, reaching it on +November 27. + +At Winter Quarters noticeable changes had taken place. The harbour ice +had broken back for several hundred yards and was rotten and ready +to blow out in the first strong wind; marked thawing had occurred +everywhere, and many islands of rock emerged from the snow; the ice-foot +was diminishing; penguins, seals, and flying birds made the place, for +once, alive and busy. + +Bickerton, Whetter and Hannam carried on the routine of work; Whetter as +meteorologist and Hannam as magnetician, while Bickerton was busied with +the air-tractor and in preparations for sledging. Thousands of penguins' +eggs had been gathered for the return voyage of the 'Aurora', or in case +of detention for a second winter. + +Murphy, Hunter and Laseron arrived from the south on the same day as +Stillwell, Hodgeman and Close came in from the east. The former party +had plodded for sixty-seven miles through a dense haze of drift. They +had kept a course roughly by the wind and the direction of sastrugi. The +unvarying white light of thick overcast days had been so severe that all +were suffering from snow-blindness. When, at length, they passed over +the endless billows of snow on to the downfalls near the coast, the +weather cleared and they were relieved to see once more the Mecca of all +sledging parties--Aladdin's Cave. + +A redistribution of parties and duties was made. Hodgeman joined Whetter +and Bickerton in preparation for the air-tractor sledge's trip to the +west. Hunter took up the position of meteorologist and devoted all his +spare time to biological investigations amongst the immigrant life of +summer. Hannam continued to act as magnetician and general "handy man." +Murphy, who was also to be in charge during the summer, returned to +his stores, making preparations for departure. Hourly meteorological +observations kept every one vigilant at the Hut. + +In pursuance of a plan to examine in detail the coast immediately +east of Commonwealth Bay, Stillwell set out with Laseron and Close on +December 9. The weather was threatening at the start, and they had the +usual struggle with wind and drift to "make" Aladdin's Cave. + +Forewarned on the first journey of the dangers of bad ventilation, they +cleared the entrance to the cave of obstacles so that a ready exit could +be made, if, as was expected, the opening became sealed with snow-drift. +This did happen during the night, and, though everything seemed all +right the next morning, the whole party was overpowered during breakfast +by foul air, the presence of which was not suspected. + +Hoosh was cooked and about to be served, when Stillwell, who was in +charge of the primus, collapsed. Close immediately seized an ice-axe, +stood up, thrust its point through the choked entrance, and fell down, +overcome. Laseron became powerless at the same time. An hour and a half +later--so it was reckoned--the party revived and cleared the opening. +The hole made by the ice-axe had been sufficient to save their lives. +For a day they were too weak and exhausted to travel, so the tent was +pitched and the night spent outside the Cave. + +On December 11 they steered due south for a while and then eastward +for three days to Madigan Nunatak; delayed for twenty-four hours by a +blizzard. + +Stillwell goes on to describe: "Part of the 15th was spent in making +observations, taking photographs and collecting specimens of rocks and +lichens. Breaking camp, we set out on a northerly course for the coast +down gently falling snowfields. Gradually there opened up a beautiful +vista of sea, dotted with floes and rocky islets (many of which were +ice-capped). On December 16 camp was pitched near the coast on a stretch +of firm, unbroken ice, which enabled one to venture close enough to the +edge to discover an islet connected by a snow-ramp with the icy barrier. +Lying farther off the shore was a thick fringe of islets, among and +beyond which drifted a large quantity of heavy floe. The separate floes +stood some ten or fifteen feet above the water-level, and the lengths of +several exceeded a quarter of a mile. Every accessible rock was covered +with rookeries of Adelie penguins; the first chicks were just hatched." + +A theodolite traverse was run to fix the position of each islet. The +traverse-line was carried close to the ice-cliff, so that the number of +islets hidden from view was as few as possible. Snow mounds were built +at intervals and the intervening distances measured by the sledge-meter. + +The party travelled west for seven and a quarter miles round a +promontory--Cape Gray--until the Winter Quarters were sighted across +Commonwealth Bay. They then turned eastward over the higher slopes, +meeting the coast some three miles to the east of the place where they +had first encountered it. The surface was for the most part covered with +snow, while crevasses were frequent and treacherous. + +In the midst of the survey the sledge-meter broke down, and, as the +party were wholly dependent upon it for laying out base-lines, repairs +had to be made. + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +Map showing the remarkable distribution of islets fringing the coast of +Adelie Land in the vicinity of Cape Gray + + +On the 27th another accessible rocky projection was seen. Over it and +the many islands in the vicinity hovered flocks of snow petrels and +occasional Antarctic and Wilson petrels. Masses of Adelie penguins and +chicks constituted the main population, and skua gulls with eggs were +also observed. The rock was of garnet gneiss, traversed by black dykes +of pyroxene granulite. + +A great discovery was made on December 29. On the abrupt, northern face +of some rocks connected to the ice-cap of the mainland by a causeway +of ice a large colony of sea-birds had nested. Cape pigeons, the rare +silver-grey and snow petrels were all present. Amongst these Laseron +made a collection of many eggs and birds. + +The traverse-line was then carried back to Madigan Nunatak along a +series of connecting mounds. After being held up for three and a half +days in a blizzard from December 31 to January 4, the party were home +once more late on January 5, 1913. + +Returning to the fortunes of the air-tractor sledge, which was to start +west early in December. Bickerton has a short story to tell, inadequate +to the months of work which were expended on that converted aeroplane. +Its career was mostly associated with misfortune, dating from a serious +fall when in flight at Adelaide, through the southern voyage of the +'Aurora', buffeted by destructive seas, to a capacious snow shelter +in Adelie Land--the Hangar--where for the greater part of the year it +remained helpless and drift-bound. + +Bickerton takes up the story: + +I had always imagined that the air-tractor sledge would be most +handicapped by the low temperature; but the wind was far more +formidable. It is obvious that a machine which depends on the +surrounding air for its medium of traction could not be tested in +the winds of an Adelie Land winter. One might just as well try +the capabilities of a small motor-launch in the rapids at Niagara. +Consequently we had to wait until the high summer. + +With hopes postponed to an indefinite future, another difficulty arose. +As it was found that the wind would not allow the sea-ice to form, +breaking up the floe as quickly as it appeared, the only remaining field +for manoeuvres was over the highlands to the south; under conditions +quite different from those for which it was suited. We knew that for +the first three miles there was a rise of some one thousand four hundred +feet, and in places the gradient was one in three and a half. I thought +the machine would negotiate this, but it was obviously unsafe to make +the venture without providing against a headlong rush downhill, if, for +any reason, power should fail. + +Suggestions were not lacking, and after much consideration the following +device was adopted: + +A hand rock-drill, somewhat over an inch in diameter, was turned up in +the lathe, cut with one-eighth-inch pitched, square threads and pointed +at the lower end. This actuated through an internal threaded brass bush +held in an iron standard; the latter being bolted to the after-end of +a runner over a hole bushed for the reception of the drill. Two sets of +these were got ready; one for each runner. + +The standards were made from spare caps belonging to the wireless masts. +The timely fracture of one of the vices supplied me with sufficient +ready-cut thread of the required pitch for one brake. Cranked handles +were fitted, and the points, which came in contact with the ice, were +hardened and tempered. When protruded to their fullest extent, the +spikes extended four inches below the runners. + +The whole contrivance was not very elegant, but impressed one with its +strength and reliability. To work the handles, two men had to sit one on +each runner. As the latter were narrow and the available framework, +by which to hold on and steady oneself, rather limited, the office of +brakesman promised to be one with acrobatic possibilities. + + +To start the engine it was necessary to have a calm and, preferably, +sunny day; the engine and oil-tank had been painted black to absorb the +sun's heat. On a windy day with sun and an air temperature of 30 degrees +F., it was only with considerable difficulty that the engine could be +turned--chiefly owing to the thickness of the lubricating oil. But on +a calm day with the temperature lower -20 degrees F. for example--the +engine would swing well enough to permit starting, after an hour or +two of steady sun. If there were no sun even in the absence of +wind, starting would be out of the question, unless the atmospheric +temperature were high or the engine were warmed with a blow-lamp. + +It was not till November 15 that the right combination of conditions +came. That day was calm and sunny, and the engine needed no more +stimulus than it would have received in a "decent" climate. + +Hannam, Whetter and I were the only inhabitants of the Hut at the +time. Having ascertained that the oil and air pumps were working +satisfactorily, we fitted the wheels and air-rudder, and made a number +of satisfactory trials in the vicinity of the Hut. + +The wheels were soon discarded as useless; reliance being placed on the +long runners. Then the brakes were tested for the first time by driving +for a short distance uphill to the south and glissading down the slope +back to the Hut. With a man in charge of each brake, the machine, when +in full career down the slope, was soon brought to a standstill. The +experiment was repeated from a higher position on the slope, with the +same result. The machine was then taken above the steepest part of the +slope (one in three and a half) and, on slipping back, was brought to +rest with ease. The surface was hard, polished blue ice. The air-rudder, +by the way, was efficient at speeds exceeding fifteen miles per hour. + +On the 20th we had a calm morning, so Whetter and I set out for +Aladdin's Cave to depot twenty gallons of benzene and six gallons +of oil. The engine was not running well, one cylinder occasionally +"missing." But, in spite of this and a head wind of fifteen miles per +hour, we covered the distance between the one-mile and the two-mile +flags in three minutes. This was on ice, and the gradient was about one +in fifteen. We went no farther that day, and it was lucky that we did +so, for, soon after our return to the Hut, it was blowing more than +sixty miles per hour. + +On December 2 Hodgeman joined us in a very successful trip to Aladdin's +Cave with nine 8-gallon tins of benzene on a sledge; weighing in all +seven hundred pounds. + +After having such a good series of results with the machine, the start +of the real journey was fixed for December 3. At 3 P.M. it fell calm, +and we left at 4 P.M., amid an inspiriting demonstration of goodwill +from the six other men. Arms were still waving violently as we crept +noisily over the brow of the hill and the Hut disappeared from sight. + +On the two steepest portions it was necessary to walk, but, these past, +the machine went well with a load of three men and four hundred pounds, +reaching Aladdin's Cave in an hour by a route free of small crevasses, +which I had discovered on the previous day. Here we loaded up with +three 100-lb. food-bags, twelve gallons of oil (one hundred and thirty +pounds), and seven hundred pounds of benzene. Altogether, there was +enough fuel and lubricating oil to run the engine at full speed for +twenty hours as well as full rations for three men for six weeks. + +After a few minutes spent in disposing the loads, our procession of +machine, four sledges (in tow) and three men moved off. The going was +slow, too slow--about three miles an hour on ice. This would probably +mean no movement at all on snow which might soon be expected. But +something was wrong. The cylinder which had been missing fire a few +days before, but which had since been cleaned and put in order, was +now missing fire again, and the speed, proportionately, had dropped too +much. + +I made sure that the oil was circulating, and cleaned the sparking-plug, +but the trouble was not remedied. A careful examination showed no +sufficient cause, so it was assumed to be internal. To undertake +anything big was out of the question, so we dropped thirty-two gallons +of benzene and a spare propeller. Another mile went by and we came to +snow, where forty gallons of benzene, twelve gallons of oil and a sledge +were abandoned. The speed was now six miles an hour and we did two miles +in very bad form. As it was now 11 P.M. and the wind was beginning to +rise, we camped, feeling none too pleased with the first day's results. + +While in the sleeping-bag I tried to think out some rapid way of +discovering what was wrong with the engine. The only conclusion to which +I could come was that it would be best to proceed to the cave at eleven +and three-quarter miles--Cathedral Grotto--and there remove the faulty +cylinder, if the weather seemed likely to be favourable; if it did not, +to go on independently with our man-hauled sledge. + +On December 4 the wind was still blowing about twenty miles per hour +when we set to work on the machine. I poured some oil straight into the +crank-case to make sure that there was sufficient, and we also tested +and improved the ignition. At four o'clock the wind dropped, and in an +hour the engine was started. While moving along, the idle cylinder +was ejecting oil, and this, together with the fact that it had no +compression, made me hope that broken piston-rings were the source of +the trouble. It would only take two hours to remove three cylinders, +take one ring from each of the two sound ones for the faulty one, and +all might yet be well! + +These thoughts were brought to a sudden close by the engine, without any +warning, pulling up with such a jerk that the propeller was smashed. +On moving the latter, something fell into the oil in the crank-case and +fizzled, while the propeller could only be swung through an angle of +about 30 deg.. We did not wait to examine any further, but fixed up the +man-hauling sledge, which had so far been carried by the air-tractor +sledge, and cached all except absolute necessities. + +We were sorry to leave the machine, though we had never dared to expect +a great deal from it in the face of the unsuitable conditions found +to prevail in Adelie Land. However, the present situation was +disappointing. + +Having stuffed up the exhaust-pipes to keep out the drift, we turned our +backs to the aero-sledge and made for the eleven-and-three-quarter-mile +cave, arriving there at 8 P.M. There was a cheering note from Bage in +the "Grotto", wishing us good luck. + +To avoid crevasses we steered first of all to the southwest on the +morning of the 5th, which was clear and bright. After six miles the +sastrugi became hard and compact, so the course was changed to due west. +Shortly afterwards, a piece of rock ** which we took to be a meteorite, +was found on the surface of the snow. It measured approximately five +inches by three inches by three and a half inches and was covered with a +black scale which in places had blistered; three or four small pieces of +this scale were lying within three inches of the main piece. Most of +the surface was rounded, except one face which looked as if it had been +fractured. It was lying on the snow, in a slight depression, about +two and a half inches below the mean surface, and there was nothing to +indicate that there had been any violent impact. + + + ** This has since been examined by Professor E. Skeats and +Stillwell, who report it to be an interesting form of meteorite, +containing amongst other minerals, plagioclase felspar. This is, we +believe, the first occasion on which a meteorite has been found in the +Antarctic regions.--ED. + +At eight o'clock that night we had done twelve miles, losing sight of +the sea at a height of about three thousand feet. All felt pleased and +looked forward to getting over a ridge ahead, which, from an altitude +of four thousand feet, ran in pencilled outline to the western point of +Commonwealth Bay. + +On December 6 it was drifting hard, and part of the morning was spent +theorizing on our prospects in an optimistic vein. This humour gradually +wore off as the thick drift continued, with a fifty-mile wind, for three +days. + +At 5 P.M. on December 8 a move was made. The drift was what our +Hut-standard reckoned to be "moderate," but the wind had fallen to +thirty miles an hour and had veered to the east; so the sail was +hoisted. The going was difficult over a soft surface, and after five +hours, by which time the drift had perceptibly thickened, we had done +eight miles. + +The thirst each one of us developed in those earlier days was +prodigious. When filling the cooker with snow it was hard to refrain +from packing it "up to the knocker" in order to obtain a sufficient +supply of water. + +The next day it blew harder and drifted thicker. Above the loud flapping +of the tent and the incessant sizzling of the drift we discussed our +situation. We were one week "out" and had travelled thirty-one miles. +Future progress depended entirely on the weather--unfortunately. We were +beginning to learn that though the season was "meteorologically" called +summer, it was hardly recognizable as such. + +December 10 was Whetter's birthday. It was heralded by an extra strong +wind and the usual liberal allowance of drift. I was cook, and made some +modifications in the meal. Hodgeman (who was the previous cook) used to +make hoosh as thick as a biscuit, so we had some thin stuff for a change +--two mugs each. Then really strong tea; we boiled it for some time to +make sure of the strength and added some leaves which had already done +good service. + +Several times fault had been found with the way the tent was pitched. +I had not yet tried my hand at being the "man inside" during this +operation. One day, while every one was grumbling, I said I would take +the responsibility at the next camp; the proposal being received with +grunts of assent. When the job was finished and the poles appeared to +be spread taut, I found myself alone in what seemed to me a cathedral. +Feeling pleased, I called for the others to come in, and arranged myself +in a corner with an "I-told-you-so" expression on my face, ready to +receive their congratulations. Hodgeman came in first. He is not a large +man, though he somehow gives one the impression that he is, but after +he had made himself comfortable the place seemed smaller. When half-way +through the "spout," coming in, he gave a grunt which I took to be one +of appreciation. Then Whetter came in. He is of a candid disposition: +"Ho, ho, laddie, what the dickens have you done with the tent?" + +I tried to explain their mistake. But it was no good. When we were all +inside, I couldn't help seeing that the tent was much smaller than it +had ever been before, and we had to huddle together most uncomfortably. +And there were three days like this. + +At nine o'clock one morning Hodgeman woke me with, "What about getting +a move on?" The wind had dropped to forty miles an hour, and through a +tiny hole in the tent the ground could be seen. Amid a thinning fog of +drift, the disc of the sun was just visible. + +We made a start and then plodded on steadily till midnight over a soft +and uncomfortable surface. Shortly after that hour I looked at the +sledge-meter and found that it had ceased working; the sprocket had been +knocked off. Repair was out of the question, as every joint was soldered +up; so without more ado we dropped it. In future we were to estimate our +speed, having already had some good experience in this way. + +No sooner had Friday December 13 come on the scene than a catastrophe +overtook us. The superstitious might have blamed Fate, but on this +occasion there was no room for doubt; the fault was mine. The sail was +up and, while braking the load upwind, I slipped and fell, allowing the +sledge to collide with a large sastruga. The bow struck the solid snow +with such force that it was smashed. + +Next day a new bow was manufactured from a spare bamboo which had been +brought as a depot pole. It took some time splitting and bending this +into position and then lashing it with raw hide. But the finished +article fully justified the means, and, in spite of severe treatment, +the makeshift stood for the rest of the journey. + +While on the march on December 16, the wind dropped and the drift ceased +for the first time since December 5; for eleven days it had been heavy +or moderate. Before we got into harness on the same day, a Wilson petrel +flew above us. This little touch of life, together with the bright sun, +light wind and lack of drift enabled us to start away in better spirits +than had been our wont. + +The next four days passed in excellent weather. The surface was mainly +hard and the clusters of large sastrugi could generally be avoided. +Patches of softer "piecrust" were met but only lasted for two or three +miles. Making up for lost time, we did a few miles short of one hundred +in five days. + +Unfortunately there was always drift at midday, so that it was +impossible to get a latitude "shot" with a sextant and artificial +horizon. + +On December 19 camp was pitched at 1 A.M. before a glorious view; an +horizon of sea from west to north-east and white fields of massive +bergs. In the extreme west there was something which very closely +resembled pack-ice. + +On the 20th the surface was softer and the snow more recent, but the +wind was behind us and for part of the day the track led downhill into a +peculiar saucer-shaped depression which, on our first entry, looked +like a valley closed at the far end, while when we came to the middle it +resolved itself once more into a saucer. + +Camping here, I managed to get a good time-shot, so that, provided we +occupied this camp on the return journey, I reckoned that I could get +the watch-rate and fix the approximate longitude of the pack-ice, which +for two days had been clearly within view. + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +Adelie Land: Showing tracks of the Western Sledging Party from the Main +Base. + + +December 21 marked the end of the good weather, for drift and wind came +on apace lasting four days, the wind attaining about eighty miles an +hour. Sleeping-bags and tent-cloth were soon in a wretched state, sodden +with moisture. Christmas Day was not very enjoyable in cramped quarters, +the tent having encroached on us owing to drift settling around it. +Still, by the evening, it was clear enough to break camp and we made a +spurt of thirteen miles. + +From the next camp there was a good view to the northwest, the +pack extending beyond the limit of vision. The land trended to the +west-north-west and we could see it at a distance of fifty miles from +our altitude. + +All things considered, I thought it right to turn back at this stage. +In twenty-six days we had done one hundred and fifty-eight miles, and +ninety-seven miles of that distance had been covered on the only five +consecutive good days. We waited some time until the sun appeared, when +I was able to get an observation while Hodgeman made a sketch of the +view. + +By December 30 we reoccupied the camp of the 20th, sixteen miles on the +return journey. A time-shot was successful, and observations were also +taken for magnetic declination. + +As the weather was fine, Hodgeman and Whetter went to investigate two +odd-looking pyramids about five miles away. These turned out to be high +snow-ramps, two hundred yards long, on the lee side of open crevasses. + +The last day of 1912 was calm and "snow-blind"--the first of this +particular variety we had experienced without drift. A New Year pudding +was made of soaked biscuit, cocoa, milk, sugar, butter, and a few +remaining raisins, and it was, of course, an immense success. + +On January 1 and the two succeeding days the drift was so thick that +we had to lie up and amuse ourselves discussing various matters of +individual interest. Hodgeman gave us a lecture on architecture, +explaining the beauties of certain well-known buildings. Whetter +would describe some delicate surgical operation, while I talked about +machinery. I also worked up the time-shots, and the hours passed +quickly. If only our sleeping-bags had been drier we might have enjoyed +ourselves at intervals. + +The evening of the 4th found us camped ten miles nearer home, beside a +large crevasse and with a closer view of the bay seen on December 20. +This time we were greatly excited to see rocks outcropping near the +water-line, and an investigation of them was resolved upon for the +following day. + +The morning broke overcast and ghostly white. Although only ten yards +away from it, we could not see the huge crevasse in our vicinity. Thus +our expedition to the rocks had to be abandoned. + +After a week's travelling, during which obscured skies and intermittent +drift were the rule, we were once more in the neighbourhood of Madigan's +spring depot, forty-five miles west of Aladdin's Cave. It had been +passed without our seeing any signs of it on the outward journey, and, +as we never relied on finding it, we did not mind about missing it +again. + +Thick drift and a fifty-mile wind on January 12 kept us confined for +thirty-six hours. It was clear enough after noon on the 13th, and five +miles were covered in four hours through thick surface drift. What the +course was we did not care as we steered by the sastrugi. If ever a +man had any "homing instinct" it would surely show itself on such an +occasion as this. + +Travelling in driving snow used to have a curious effect on me. I always +imagined that we were just coming to an avenue of trees running at right +angles to our course. What produced this idea I have not the slightest +suspicion, but while it lasted, the impression was very strong. + +To avoid the drift, which was thickest by day, travelling had for some +time been conducted at night. On the evening of the 14th, during a clear +spell, a ridge rose up behind, and, in front, a wide bay was visible +with its far eastern point rising in mirage. This was taken to be +Commonwealth Bay, but the fact could not be verified as the drift came +on thickly once more. The day's march was twelve miles by concerted +reckoning. + +Next day we went three miles to the north to see if any recognizable +bergs would come in sight, but were stopped by crevasses. The eastward +course was therefore resumed. + +After continuing for about a mile Hodgeman told us to stop, flung +down his harness and dashed back to the sledge, rummaging in the +instrument-box till he found the glasses. "Yes, it's the aeroplane," he +said. + +This remark took us by surprise as we had not expected it for eight +miles at least. It was about midnight--the time when mirage was at a +maximum. Consequently, all agreed that the machine was about twelve +miles away, and we went on our way rejoicing, steering towards the +Cathedral Grotto which was two miles south of the aero-sledge. After +three miles we camped, and, it being my birthday, the two events were +celebrated by "blowing in" the whisky belonging to the medical outfit. + +On the 16th the weather was thick, and we marched east for ten miles, +passing a tea-leaf, which it was afterwards found must have come +downwind from the Grotto. For eight hours nothing could be done in thick +drift, and then, on breaking camp, we actually came to a flag which +had been planted by Ninnis in the spring, thirteen miles south-east of +Aladdin's Cave. The distance to the air-tractor had been over-estimated, +and the Grotto must have been passed quite close. + +We made off down the hill, running over the crevasses at a great pace. +Aladdin's Cave with its medley of boxes, tins, picks and shovels, +gladdened our eyes at 10 P.M. on the 17th. Conspicuous for its colour +was an orange, stuck on a pick, which told us at once that the Ship was +in. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII THE SHIP'S STORY + +by Captain J. K. Davis + + By sport of bitter weather + We're warty, strained, and scarred + From the kentledge on the kelson + To the slings upon the yard. + KIPLING. + + +Dr. Mawson's plans, as laid before the Royal Geographical Society in +1911, provided for an extensive oceanographical campaign in the immense +stretch of ocean to the southward of Australia. Very little was known +of the sea-floor in this area, there being but a few odd soundings only, +beyond a moderate distance from the Australian coast. Even the +great Challenger expedition had scarcely touched upon it; and so our +Expedition had a splendid field for investigation. + +The first discovery made in this connexion on board the 'Aurora' was +the fact that deep-water work is more intricate than books would make it +appear. Although text-books had been carefully studied on the subject, +it was found that most of them passed over the practical side of the +work in a few words, insufficient to give us much help in carrying out +difficult operations with the vessel rolling and tumbling about in the +heavy seas of the Southern Ocean. + +So it was only after a good deal of hard work and many disappointments +that the experience was gained which enabled us, during the later stages +of the Expedition, to do useful and successful work. + +Before passing on to the operations of the 'Aurora' during the winter +of 1912, I shall briefly refer to the equipment provided for +oceanographical work. + +The Lucas Automatic Sounding Machine was situated on the port side +of the forecastle head. It was suitable for depths up to six thousand +fathoms, being fitted with a grooved wheel so as to be driven by a rope +belt from a steam-winch or other engine. The wire was wound in by means +of a small horizontal steam-engine which had been specially designed for +the 'Scotia', of the Scottish Antarctic Expedition (1902) and was kindly +lent to us by Dr. W. S. Bruce. + +The wire as it is paid out passes over a measuring wheel, the +revolutions of which record on a dial the number of fathoms out. A +spring brake, which is capable of stopping the reel instantly, is kept +out of action by the tension of the wire, but when the sinker strikes +the bottom, the loss of tension allows the brake to spring back and stop +the reel. The depth can then be read off on the dial. + +A hollow iron tube called a driver is attached to a piece of hemp line +spliced into the outer end of the sounding wire. This driver bears +one or two weights to the bottom and detaches them on striking it; a +specimen of the bottom being recovered in the hollow part of the tube +which is fitted with valves to prevent water from running through it +on the way up. Immediately the driver and weight strike the bottom, the +reel automatically stops paying out wire. + +To obtain a deep-sea sounding on the 'Aurora', the vessel was stopped, +turned so as to bring the wind on the port-bow and kept as nearly +stationary as possible; the engines being used to balance any drift of +the vessel due to wind or sea. + +The difficulties of sounding in the Southern Ocean were much increased +by the almost constant, heavy swell. The breaking strain of the wire +being only two hundred and forty pounds and the load it had to carry to +the bottom weighing nearly fifty-six pounds in air, it could easily be +understood that the sudden strain imposed by the violent rolling of +the vessel often resulted in the parting of the wire. We soon learnt to +handle both vessel and sounding machine in such a way as to entail the +least possible strain on the wire. + +Of all the operations conducted on board the 'Aurora', deep-sea trawling +was the one about which we had most to learn. Dr. W. S. Bruce gave me +most valuable advice on the subject before we left England. Later, this +was supplemented by a cruise in Australian waters on the 'Endeavour', +of the Commonwealth Fisheries Investigation. Here I was able to observe +various trawling operations in progress, subsequently applying the +information gained to our own requirements on the 'Aurora'. + +A short description of our trawling arrangements may be useful to those +who are engaged in this work on board a vessel not specially designed +for it. + +We were provided with three thousand fathoms of tapered steel wire +(varying from one and three-quarters to one and a half inches in +circumference and weighing roughly a ton to the thousand fathoms in +air); this was kept on a large iron reel (A) mounted on standards and +controlled by a friction-brake. This reel was situated on the starboard +side of the main deck, the wire being wound on to it by means of a +chain-drive from the forward cargo-winch. + +For heaving in, our steam-windlass was fitted with a specially +constructed drum (B), which absorbed the crushing strain and then +allowed the slack wire to be wound on the reel (A), which was driven as +nearly as possible at the same speed; the windlass usually heaving at +the rate of four hundred and fifty fathoms per hour. + +A wooden derrick (D), provided with topping lift and guys, was mounted +on the foremast by means of a band and goose-neck. At the outer end of +the derrick, the dynamometer and a fourteen-inch block were attached. +The maximum strain which could be supported was ten tons. In paying out, +the wire was led from the head of the derrick to a snatch-block on the +quarter (E), constructed so as to admit of its disengagement from the +wire when it was necessary to heave in. This block kept the wire clear +of the propeller and allowed us to have the vessel moving slow or fast +as required, while the trawl was being paid out. The positions of the +various parts of the trawling gear are shown in the plan on the opposite +page. + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +Plan illustrating the arrangements for deep-sea trawling on board the +'Aurora'. + + +Before trawling in deep water the vessel was stopped and a sounding +obtained; then the derrick was hoisted, the wire rove through the +various blocks, the trawl shackled on, and the men distributed at their +stations. When all was ready, the engines were put at half-speed (three +knots), a course was given to the helmsman and the trawl lowered into +the water. When it was flowing nicely just astern, the order, "Slack +away," was given; the wire being paid out evenly by means of the +friction-brakes. In one thousand five hundred fathoms of water, after +the two-thousand-fathom mark had passed out, the order was given, "Hold +on and make fast." Speed was now reduced to one and a half knots and the +wire watched until it gave a decided indication of the trawl dragging +over the bottom. The strain was now taken by the windlass-barrel, +controlled by a screw-brake, backed if necessary by a number of turns +round the forward bitts. A slow drag over the bottom was generally +continued for one hour. The engines were then stopped, and the order +came, "Stand by to heave away." This was quickly followed by "Knock +out," which meant the disengaging of the after-block from the wire and +allowed the vessel to swing round head-on to the wire. "Vast heaving" +indicated the appearance of the net at the surface, and, when the +mouth of the net was well above the bulwarks the derrick was topped up +vertically, the lower part of the net dragged inboard and the cod-end +untied, the catch being thus allowed to empty itself on deck. The +contents of the haul supplied the biologists with the work of sorting +and bottling for the next twelve hours or more. + +The form of trawl used on board the 'Aurora' was known as a Monagasque +trawl, of a type employed by the Prince of Monaco. As will be seen from +the sketch, it is of simple construction and possesses the advantage of +having both sides similar so that it is immaterial which lands on the +bottom. + +The winter cruise in the Sub-Antarctic began on May 18, 1912, after +we had refitted in Sydney and taken on board all the oceanographic +apparatus, during the previous month. Leaving Port Jackson, we proceeded +to Port Kembla, N.S.W., and took in four hundred and eleven tons of +coal. + +The following was the personnel of the ship's officers on this and the +two following cruises: Chief Officer, F. D. Fletcher; Chief Engineer, F. +J. Gillies; Second Officer, P. Gray; Third Officer, C. P. de la Motte. + +During the first dredging cruise, Mr. E. R. Waite, from the Canterbury +Museum, Christchurch, was in charge of the biological work. + +My plan was to go through Bass Strait and then to sail towards the +Royal Company Islands as given on the French chart, before heading for +Macquarie Island. From thence we should steam across to the Auckland +Islands. At both the latter places Mr. Waite would be able to secure +specimens. It was not expected that the weather would permit of much +trawling, but we anticipated some good soundings. As a matter of +fact, sub-antarctic weather in the winter may be predicted with some +certainty: strong winds, heavy seas, much fog and general gloom. + +We had a fine run through Bass Strait with a light south-east breeze, +arriving off King's Island at noon on May 28. The trawling gear was +got ready for the following day, but the sea was too high and the ship +continued south towards the position of the Royal Company Islands. + +On June 1 we were in latitude 53 degrees south, longitude 152 degrees +east, and had been cruising about fruitlessly in heavy weather for days +waiting for an opportunity to dredge. After being at sea for a whole +fortnight we had only three soundings to our credit, and it was, +therefore, resolved to make for Macquarie Island. + +On the 7th we reached the island and anchored at North-East Bay in +twelve fathoms, about one mile from land. + +After a stiff pull ashore, next day, we landed and found the party all +well. They had built a comfortable hut and were enjoying life as far as +possible, despite the constant gales and continuous days of fog. + +We then climbed up the hill to the wireless station, where everything +was in splendid order. Two small huts had been erected, one for the +engine and the other for the receiving apparatus. Sandell and Sawyer, +the two operators, were to be congratulated on the efficient way the +station had been kept going under very considerable difficulty. In +addition to the routine work with Hobart and Wellington they had +occasionally communicated with stations over two thousand miles distant. + +I was able to send the following message to Professor David: "'Aurora' +arrived Macquarie Island; all well, June 7; constant gales and high seas +have prevented dredging so far. Royal Company Islands not found in the +position indicated on the chart." + +We were able to land some stores for the use of the land party under +Ainsworth. Meteorological, biological and geological work were all in +progress and the scientific records should be of great value. Up to the +date of our arrival, no wireless messages had been received from Adelie +Land. As Dr. Mawson was in ignorance of its exact location, the position +of the Western Base under Wild was given to Ainsworth to forward to +Adelie Land in case communication should be established. + +After Mr. Waite had obtained several birds, it was decided to move down +to Lusitania Bay to secure some Royal penguins and a sea-elephant. Two +days later, the 'Aurora' anchored in the bay, three-quarters of a mile +from the beach, in sixteen fathoms; the weather was very misty. Mr. +Waite and Mr. Haines, the taxidermist, were rowed ashore. + +The island, above a height of three hundred feet from sea-level, was +shrouded in mist throughout the day, and, before dark, all signs of the +land had disappeared. The mist did not clear until 6 P.M. on the 15th. + +We stayed for a whole fortnight at Macquarie Island, during which time +the highest velocity of the wind recorded on shore was thirty-five +miles per hour, although, during the winter, gales are almost of daily +occurrence. On June 22, the date of departure, a course was set for the +Auckland Islands, which lie in the track of homeward-bound vessels from +Australia via Cape Horn. + +The group was discovered in 1806 by Captain Bristow of the 'Ocean', +owned by Samuel Enderby. It comprises one main island and several +smaller ones, separated by narrow channels. There are two spacious +harbours; a northern, now called Port Ross, and a southern, Carnley +Harbour. The islands are situated about one hundred and eighty miles +south of Stewart Island (New Zealand). + +After a run of three hundred and forty miles on a northeast course, we +entered Carnley Harbour and anchored off Flagstaff Point. A breeze blew +strong from the west-northwest. Next day, June 25, we stood up to Figure +of Eight Island and found good holding for the anchor in nine and a half +fathoms. + +The eastern entrance to Carnley Harbour is formed by two bluff points, +about two miles apart; its upper extremity terminating in a lagoon. +The site of Musgrave's house ("Epigwaith") is on the east side of this +lagoon. Here he spent twenty months after the wreck of the 'Grafton'. + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +Auckland Island (from the Admiralty Chart) showing the track of the +'Aurora' + + +We set off in the motor-launch on the 26th to visit Camp Cove, where +we found the two huts maintained by the New Zealand Government for the +benefit of castaways. In the larger hut there were potatoes, biscuits, +tinned meats and matches. The smaller hut was empty but on the outside +were carved many names of shipwrecked mariners. The 'Amakura' had +visited the depot in November 1911. The various depots established on +the island by the New Zealand Government are visited every six months. + +While in Carnley Harbour we were able to make several hauls with the +small dredge. + +After passing up the eastern coast of the main island we entered Port +Ross and anchored west of Shoe Island. On June 30 the depot on Erebus +Cove was visited, where three white sheds contain the usual necessaries +for unfortunate castaways. The New Zealand Government steamer, +'Hinemoa', while on a scientific expedition to the Sub-Antarctic in +1907, rescued the sixteen survivors of the barque 'Dundonald', +two thousand two hundred and three tons, which had been wrecked on +Disappointment Island. The captain and ten men had been drowned and the +chief officer had died from the effects of exposure and starvation. + +On July 2 we went to Observation Point, finding there a flat stone +commemorating the visit of the German Scientific Expedition of 1874. + +The biologist found various kinds of petrels on Shoe Island, where the +turf was riddled in all directions by their burrows. + +At Rose Island, close by, there are some fine basaltic columns, eighty +feet high, weathered out into deep caverns along their base. + +In Sandy Bay, Enderby Island, there was an extensive depot. Among the +stores I found a Venesta case marked s.y. 'Nimrod', which contained +dried vegetables and evidently formed part of the stores which were sold +on the return of the British Antarctic Expedition of 1907. + +After leaving the Auckland Islands for New Zealand, we were fortunate in +having fairly good weather. Five soundings were taken, and, on July 9, +the trawl was put over in three hundred and forty-five fathoms. The +net unfortunately fouled on a rocky bottom and so we gained nothing but +experience in the operation. + +The 'Aurora' arrived at Port Lyttleton on July 11 and we received a very +kind welcome from the people of Christchurch. Mr. J. J. Kinsey, well +known in connexion with various British Antarctic expeditions, gave us +valuable assistance during our stay. We were back again in Melbourne on +the 17th of the month. + +While the first oceanographical cruise of the 'Aurora' did not prove +very fruitful in results, chiefly on account of the stormy weather, it +provided the necessary training for officers and men in the handling +of the deep-sea gear, and we were able to realize later how much we had +learnt on our first cruise. + +The ship, after undergoing a thorough overhaul at the State dockyard at +Williamstown, Victoria, undertook a second deep-sea cruise. + +Leaving Hobart on November 12, 1912, she laid her course to the +southward in order to obtain soundings for a complete section of the +sea-floor, as nearly as possible on the meridian of Hobart. Our time was +limited to one month, during which a visit to Macquarie Island for the +purpose of landing stores and mail had to be made. Professor T. Flynn +of Hobart University accompanied the vessel in charge of the biological +work. + +An interesting discovery was made two hundred miles south of Tasmania. +Here it was proved that a rocky ridge rose like a huge mountain from +depths of more than two thousand fathoms to within five hundred and +forty fathoms of the surface. A great number of soundings were taken +in the vicinity of this rise, subsequently named the Mill Rise, until a +heavy gale drove us far from its situation. + +On November 21 we were not far from Macquarie Island and, at 7 P.M., +sounded in one thousand four hundred and fifty fathoms. As the weather +was remarkably fine for these latitudes we decided to lower the trawl. +Before dark it was being towed slowly towards the east with one thousand +nine hundred fathoms of wire out. + +We spent an anxious night hoping that the weather would remain fine long +enough to permit us to get the gear on board again. We had been driving +before a light westerly wind, when the trawl caught on the bottom and +stopped the vessel. + +A very heavy strain was imposed on the wire as the vessel rose in the +swell; the dynamometer registering up to seven tons. I decided to wait +for daylight before attempting to heave in the trawl. At 3 A.M. we cast +the wire off the after-block and started to heave away; it was two hours +before the trawl cleared the bottom and the strain was reduced. + +At 8 A.M. the trawl was once more on board, the frames being bent and +twisted and the net badly torn. On sounding, the depth was found to be +only six hundred and thirty-six fathoms, so that we had evidently put +over the trawl on to the edge of a steep rise and then drifted across +it. + +In view of our position--only thirty miles from Macquarie Island--this +accident might have been expected. But opportunities of trawling had +been so few that risks had to be taken when the weather quieted down for +a few hours. Our only consolation on this occasion was that we recovered +the gear. + +The following evening, at 7.30, the anchor was dropped in North-East +Bay, Macquarie Island, and we were immediately boarded by our land party +who were all well. They had become very clever boatmen during their +stay, using a small dinghy to make coastal journeys. + +On November 24 we left the anchorage at 9 A.M. and spent the day in its +vicinity. More than one hundred soundings were taken, which Blake, the +geological surveyor, was to plot on the chart of the island which he had +almost completed. + +Some idea of the steepness of the submarine mountain of which Macquarie +Island forms the crest may be gathered from a sounding, taken ten and a +half miles east of the island, which gave two thousand seven hundred and +forty-five fathoms and no bottom. In other words, if the sea were to dry +up, there would be a lofty mountain rising from the plain of the ocean's +bed to a height of nearly eighteen thousand feet. + +A great deal of work still required to be done off Macquarie Island, +but, as the uneven and rocky nature of the bottom prevented dredging, I +decided to sail on the 25th, continuing the voyage towards the Auckland +Islands. + +Several people had expressed belief in a submarine ridge connecting +Macquarie Island with the Auckland group. Three soundings which we +obtained on this voyage did not support the suggestion, ranging as they +did from one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five to two thousand four +hundred and thirty fathoms, eighty-five miles south-west of the Auckland +group. We were the more glad to obtain these soundings, as, during the +winter cruise, in the same waters, the weather had forced us to abandon +the attempt. + +On November 28 we took several soundings on the eastern side of +the Auckland Islands, but did not prolong our stay as we wished to +investigate the ridge south of Tasmania--the Mill Rise. The course was +therefore directed westward with a view to outlining the eastern edge of +this submarine elevation. + +The first sounding to indicate that we were once more approaching the +Mill Rise was in one thousand and seventy-six fathoms. Continuing +west we secured the next record in one thousand three hundred fathoms, +limiting the southern extremity of the ridge which extends northward for +nearly one hundred miles. From this sounding the water shoaled quickly +as we steered north. Thus, on the same day, we were in eight hundred and +thirty-five fathoms at noon, in seven hundred and thirty-five fathoms +at 3.40 P.M. and in seven hundred and ten fathoms at 7.30 P.M. After the +last sounding we lowered the rock-gripper. On the first trial, however, +it failed to shut and, on the second, only a little fine sand was +recovered. As it was blowing hard most of the time, we were very +fortunate in being able to do this piece of work. + +An inspection of the chart reveals the fact that the main direction of +the shallowest water is in a north-west and south-east direction, but +the number of soundings obtained was too small to give more than a +general outline. Later, we were able to add to these on the voyage +southward to relieve the Antarctic Bases. + +The weather was so bad and the sea so heavy that we were unable to +obtain soundings on December 9, and, as dredging under such conditions +was out of the question, I decided to steer for the east coast of +Tasmania, where dredging might be possible under the lee of the land. +The constant gales were very disheartening, the last having continued +for four days with only short intervals of moderate weather. + +On December 12 and 13, in calmer water, some thirty miles off the east +coast of Tasmania, trawlings were made successfully in one thousand +three hundred fathoms and seventy-five fathoms respectively. From the +deeper trawling were obtained a large octopus and several interesting +fish. + +Just before noon on December 14 we arrived in Hobart and immediately +began preparations for the voyage to the Antarctic. + +On December 24, 1912, preparations for sailing were complete. For ten +days every one connected with the 'Aurora' had been working at high +pressure, and Christmas Day, our last day ashore, was to be celebrated +as a well-earned holiday. + +There was on board a good supply of coal, five hundred and twenty-one +tons, and a very heavy mail of letters and packages for the members +of the Expedition who had been isolated in the far South for more than +twelve months. We were to take thirty-five sheep on board as well as +twenty-one dogs, presented by Captain Amundsen upon his return from his +South Polar expedition. Captain James Davis, of Hobart, of long whaling +experience, was to accompany us to give an expert opinion upon such +whales as we might meet. Mr. Van Waterschoot van der Gracht, who had had +previous experience in the Antarctic, joined as marine artist, and Mr. +S. N. Jeffryes as wireless operator. With C. C. Eitel, Secretary of the +Expedition, the whole party on board numbered twenty-eight. + +A very pleasant Christmas was spent ashore. The ship's company of +twenty-three men met for dinner, and we did not forget to wish a "Merry +Christmas" to our leader and his twenty-six comrades who were holding +their celebration amid the icy solitudes of Antarctica. I was glad, on +this festive occasion, to be able to congratulate officers and men on +their willing and loyal service during the previous twelve months; every +one had done his best to advance the objects of the Expedition. + +The attractions of Hobart, at this season, are so numerous, and +Tasmanian hospitality so boundless, that it gives me great pleasure to +place on record that every man was at his post on the 'Aurora' at 10 +A.M. on Boxing Day. + +As we drew away from the wharf amid the cheers of those who had come to +wish us God-speed, the weather was perfect and the scene on the Derwent +bright and cheering. Captain James Davis acted as pilot. + +At 11.30 A.M. we had embarked the twenty-one dogs, which were brought +off from the Quarantine Station, and were steaming down Storm Bay. +Outside there was a heavy swell, and the wind was freshening from the +west. The course was laid south 50 degrees west, true. + +For the next two days there was a westerly gale with a very high sea, +and the dogs and sheep had a bad time, as a good deal of water came +aboard. Two of the sheep had to be killed. By the afternoon of the 29th +it had moderated, and a sounding was secured. + +This storm was followed by another from the west-northwest. The 'Aurora' +weathered it splendidly, although one sea came over everything and +flooded the cabins, while part of the rail of the forecastle head was +carried away on the morning of the 31st. At this time we were in +the vicinity of the reputed position of the Royal Company Islands. +A sounding was taken with great difficulty, finding two thousand and +twenty fathoms and a mud bottom. + +January 4, 1918, was a fine day, with a fresh westerly breeze and a +high sea. Occasionally there were snow squalls. At night the wireless +operator was able to hear H.M.S. 'Drake' at Hobart, and also the station +at Macquarie Island; the ship having been fitted to receive wireless +signals before sailing. + +Next day the sun was bright and there was only a moderate westerly +swell. Large bunches of kelp were frequently seen drifting on the +surface. "Blue Billys"** flew in great numbers about the ship. Two +soundings were obtained in one thousand nine hundred fathoms. + + + ** Prion Banksii. + +On the 8th a heavy swell came from the south-east. During the morning a +sounding realized two thousand two hundred and seventy fathoms and the +sample of mud contained a small, black manganese nodule. At 8 P.M. a +floating cask was sighted and taken aboard after much difficulty. It +turned out to be a ship's oil cask, empty, giving no clue from whence it +came. + +The first ice was observed about 6 P.M. on the 10th. The water was still +deep--more than two thousand fathoms. + +By noon on January 11 loose pack came into view, with a strong blink of +heavier pack to the south. The course was changed to south-west. At 7 +P.M. the ship was steaming west in clear water, a few bergs being in +sight and a marked ice-blink to the south. Several whales appeared which +Captain James Davis reported were "blue whales" (finners or rorquals). + +After we had been steering westward until almost midnight, the course +was altered to south-west in the hope of encountering the shelf-ice +barrier (met in 1912) well to the east of the Main Base station. On +the 12th we sailed over the position of the ice-tongue in 1912 without +seeing a trace of it, coming up with heavy broken floe at 10 A.M. + +For four hours the 'Aurora' pushed through massive floes and "bergy +bits," issuing into open water with the blink of ice-covered land to the +south. At nine o'clock Adelie Land was plainly visible, and a course +was set for the Main Base. In squally weather we reached the Mackellar +Islets at midnight, and by 2 A.M. on the 13th dropped anchor in +Commonwealth Bay under the ice-cliffs in twenty fathoms. + +At 6 A.M. Fletcher, the chief officer, reported that a heavy gust of +wind had struck the ship and caused the chain to carry away the lashing +of the heavy relieving-tackle. The chain then ran over the windlass, +and, before anything could be done, the pointer to which the end of +the chain was attached had been torn from the bolts, and our best +ground-tackle was lost overboard. It was an exasperating accident. + +At seven o'clock the port anchor was dropped in ten fathoms, about eight +hundred yards west of the first anchorage, with ninety fathoms of chain. +The wind shifted suddenly to the north, and the 'Aurora' swung inshore +until her stern was within one hundred yards of the cliffs; but the +depth at this distance proved to be seventeen fathoms. After a few +northerly puffs, the wind shifted to the south-east and then died away. + +At 2.30 P.M. the launch was hoisted over and the mail was taken ashore, +with sundry specimens of Australian fruit as "refreshment" for the +shore-party. The boat harbour was reached before any one ashore had seen +the 'Aurora'. At the landing-place we were greeted most warmly by nine +wild-looking men; some with beards bleached by the weather. They all +looked healthy and in very fair condition, after the severe winter, as +they danced about in joyous excitement. + +We learned that five sledging parties had left the Hut: Bage, Webb and +Hurley had returned from the south, Stillwell, Close and Laseron from +the east, and the others were still out. In Dr. Mawson's instructions, +all parties were to be back at the Hut by January 15, 1913. + +The launch made some trips to and from the ship with specimens during +the afternoon. I returned on board and had a look at the cable. The +weather was fine, but changes were apt to occur without much warning. +At midnight it was blowing a gale from the south-east, and the chain was +holding well. The launch was hoisted up in the davits and communication +with the shore was suspended until 8 A.M. on January 15. + +The lull was of two hours' duration, during which Murphy came aboard +and furnished me with some particulars about the sledging parties still +away. + +Dr. Mawson, with Ninnis and Mertz, had gone to the south-east. They were +well provisioned and had taken eighteen dogs for transport purposes. +Bickerton, Hodgeman and Whetter had been out forty-three days to the +west and had food for forty days only. Madigan, McLean and Correll had +been away for seventy days in an easterly direction. + +Dr. Mawson had left a letter for me with instructions to take charge if +he failed to return to time, that is not later than January 15, 1913. + +On January 16 a party was observed from the ship coming in over the +slope. There was much speculation as to its personnel since, at a +distance, the three figures could not be recognized. The launch took us +ashore and we greeted Madigan, McLean and Correll who had returned from +a very successful expedition along the eastern coast over sea-ice. + +Madigan and Bage came on board during the forenoon of the 17th and +we had a long consultation about the position of affairs owing to the +non-return of two parties. It was decided to re-erect the wireless mast +and stay it well while the ship was waiting, so that, in case of any +party being left at the Main Base, the wireless station would be in +working order.** + + + ** It should be borne in mind that during the summer months (November, +December, January and part of February) wireless communication with the +outside world is impossible owing to continuous daylight reducing the +effective range. In summer the range was only a few hundred miles, and +the effective working distance for all times of the day probably not +above one hundred miles. + +At one o'clock on the morning of January 18, de la Motte, the officer on +watch, reported that a party could be seen descending the glacier. This +proved to be Bickerton, Hodgeman and Whetter returning from their trip +along the west coast. Thus Dr. Mawson's party was the only one which had +not yet returned. + +All day work on the wireless mast went along very satisfactorily, while +Captain James Davis and Chief Officer Fletcher spent their time in the +launch dragging for the cable lost on the morning of our arrival. +The launch returned at 10.30 P.M. and Captain Davis reported that the +grapnel had been buoyed until operations could be resumed. + +On January 19 we tried to recover the chain, and to this end the +'Aurora' was taken over to the position where the grapnels had +been buoyed and was anchored. All efforts to secure the chain were +unsuccessful. At 7 P.M. we decided to return to our former position, +having a hard job to raise the anchor, which appeared to have dragged +under a big rock. Finally it broke away and came up in a mass of kelp, +and with the stock "adrift." The latter was secured and we steamed back, +"letting go" in eleven fathoms with ninety fathoms of chain. + +When Dr. Mawson's party was a week overdue, I considered that the +time had arrived to issue a provisional notice to the members of the +Expedition at Commonwealth Bay concerning the establishment of a relief +party to operate from the Main Base. + +A party of four left the Hut on the 20th, keeping a sharp look-out to +the south-east for any signs of the missing party. They travelled as +far as the air-tractor sledge which had been abandoned ten miles to the +south, bringing it back to the Hut. + +I decided to remain at Commonwealth Bay until January 30. If the +leader's party had not returned by that day, a search party was to +proceed eastward while the 'Aurora' sailed for Wild's Base. From the +reports of the gales which prevailed during the month of March in 1912, +and considering the short daylight there was at that time, I felt that +it would be risking the lives of all on board to return to the Main Base +after relieving Wild's party. I resolved, therefore, to wait _as long as +possible_. As a result of a consultation with Madigan and Bage, I had a +provisional notice drafted, to be posted up in the Hut on January 22. + +This notice was to the effect that the non-arrival of the leader's +party rendered it necessary to prepare for the establishment of a relief +expedition at Winter Quarters and appointed Bage, Bickerton, Hodgeman, +Jeffryes and McLean as members, under the command of Madigan; to remain +in Antarctica for another year if necessary. + +On the same evening I went ashore to inspect the wireless mast, which +was practically complete. The work had been done thoroughly and, +provided the mast itself did not buckle, the stays were likely to +hold. Hannam, Bickerton and Jeffryes were busy placing the engine and +instruments in position. + +I then went up the slope for about a mile. The Winter Quarters looked +like a heap of stones; boundless ice rose up to the southern skyline; +the dark water to the north was broken by an occasional berg or +the ice-covered islands. This wonderful region of ice and sea looks +beautiful on a fine day. But what a terrible, vast solitude, constantly +swept by icy winds and drift, stretches away to the south! A party will +go out to-morrow to visit the depot at the top of the slope. This is the +seventh day we have been waiting and hoping to welcome the absentees! + +On the 23rd the breeze was very strong in the forenoon, but the wind +moderated about 4 P.M., when the launch was able to leave for the shore. +We could see a search party (Hodgeman, Stillwell, and Correll) marching +against a strong south-east wind on their way to examine the depot at +Aladdin's Cave and its vicinity. + +Though there was a moderate south-easter blowing, communication with the +land went on during the day. I went ashore early, but the search party +did not return until noon. They had remained at Aladdin's Cave overnight +and marched farther south next morning, approaching a line of dense +drift, without seeing anything. + +It was arranged that another party of three men should start next +morning (January 25) and, going in a southeasterly direction, make a +search for five days, laying a depot at their farthest point. Hodgeman, +Hurley and McLean made preparations to set out. I left instructions that +a flag should be flown on the wireless mast if Dr. Mawson returned. + +I now went through the supplies of provisions and coal which were to +be landed for the use of the Relief Party. I intended to try and +have everything on shore by January 29, taking advantage of any short +interval of fair weather to send a boatload to the landing-place. + +On the 25th there was a hard south-east gale blowing until the +afternoon, when it moderated sufficiently to send off the launch with +thirteen bags of coal, Gillies being in charge. The boat harbour was +reached in safety, the wind freshening to a gale before 6 P.M. + +Terrific gusts followed in rapid succession and, without warning, the +cable parted sixty fathoms from the anchor at 9 P.M. Having cleared the +reefs to leeward, we managed to get in the rest of the chain and then +stood along the coast to the north-west. By keeping about three miles +from the shore, we seemed to be beyond the reach of the more violent +gusts, but a short sea holding the ship broadside to the wind during the +squalls, rendered it difficult to maintain a fixed course. + +With reefs and bergs around, the increasing darkness about midnight +made our position unpleasant. The engines had to be stopped and the ship +allowed to drift with the wind, owing to a bearing becoming hot, but in +a quarter of an hour they were moving once more. + +Early on January 26 the 'Aurora' was about half-way between Winter +Quarters and the western point of Commonwealth Bay, when the wind +suddenly ceased, and then came away light from the north-west. We could +see that a south-east gale was still raging close inshore. Over the sea, +towards the north, dark clouds were scudding with great rapidity along +the horizon: the scene of a violent disturbance. + +We returned towards our late anchorage. On reaching it, the south-east +wind had moderated considerably, and we let go our spare anchor and what +had been saved of the chain. + +To the north, violent gusts appeared to be travelling in various +directions, but, to our astonishment, these gusts, after approaching our +position at a great rate, appeared to curve upwards; the water close to +the ship was disturbed, and nothing else. This curious phenomenon +lasted for about an hour and then the wind came with a rush from the +south-east, testing the anchor-chain in the more furious squalls. + +The gale was in its third day on the 27th, and there was a "hurricane +sky" during the morning. The wind would die away, only to blow more +fiercely than before. The suddenness with which the changes occurred may +be gathered from the following extracts from my journal: + +"January 27. 6 A.M. A whole gale blowing from the south-east. + +"9 A.M. Light airs from north to east. Launch taking coal ashore. + +"11 A.M. Last cargo of coal had just left ship when the wind freshened +from the south-east. The launch had just got inside the boat harbour +when a terrific gust struck the vessel and our chain parted. We +were blown out to sea while heaving in thirty fathoms of chain which +remained. + +"4 P.M. We have been steaming backwards and forwards until the wind died +away. The launch has just come off and taken another load of stores to +the boat harbour. + +"7 P.M. The weather is moderating with rising barometer. Nearly +everything required by the Relief Party is now ashore. Two or three +trips will take the remainder. + +"We shall steam about for a few hours, and make the anchorage early +to-morrow morning." + +Next morning a kedge-anchor (about five hundred-weights) was lowered +with the remainder of the chain. For a time this held the ship, but a +gust of wind from the southeast caused it to drag. It was, therefore, +hauled up and, on coming to the surface, was seen to have lost a fluke. + +All equipment, coal and food were now on shore for the use of the +Relief Party. I had given them everything that could be spared from +the provisions set apart for the use of the ship's company. Next day +I purposed to cruise along the coast to the east, if the weather were +clear. + +January 29 was fine, so we steamed off at 6.30 A.M. As no flag was seen +on the wireless mast, we knew that Dr. Mawson had not returned. A course +was kept two or three miles from the ice-cliffs beyond the fringe of +rocky islets. + +At 4 A.M. on the 30th we were alongside the Mertz Glacier and reached +the head of the bay at the confluence of glacier with land-ice. Mount +Murchison was only dimly visible, but the weather was clear along the +glacier-tongue. Signals were fired and a big kite flown at a height +of about five hundred feet to attract attention on shore in case the +missing party were near. + +"1.30 P.M. We are now about half a mile from the head of the inlet. From +the appearance of the country (heavily crevassed) approach to the sea by +a sledging-party would be extremely difficult. There is no floe-ice at +the foot of the cliff. + +"10.30 P.M. We are approaching the end of the glacier-tongue around +which there is a collection of pack. There is some drift ahead and it +is difficult to see far. We have passed the eastern limit of coast to be +searched. + +"10.35 P.M. The glacier-tongue is trending to the east and a line of +heavy pack extends to the north, with many large bergs. No sign of flag +or signal on the end of the barrier. + +"January 31. We left the glacier-tongue at 8 A.M. and steered back to +Winter Quarters. + +"At noon we could see Madigan Nunatak, a rocky patch, high up on the +slope. + +"4.15 P.M. Sighted the large grounded berg, fifteen miles from the Main +Base. + +"9 P.M. Off Main Base. There is no flag to be seen on the wireless mast! + +"Dr. Mawson's party is now sixteen days overdue; there must be something +seriously amiss. But from our examination of the line of coast as far as +64 degrees 45' south, 146 degrees 19' east, there does not appear to be +any probability of finding traces along the shore line at the base of +vertical ice-cliffs." + +No communication with the shore was possible until the wind, which +had again risen, had moderated. We could just stand off and on until a +favourable opportunity occurred. Once the returning ten members of the +Expedition were embarked it was imperative to hasten towards Wild's +Base. + +A week's gale in Commonwealth Bay! The seven days which followed I +do not think any of us will forget. From February 1 to 7 it blew a +continuous heavy gale, interrupted only when the wind increased to a +full hurricane ** (eighty miles an hour). + + + ** * The maximum wind-velocity recorded at this time by the anemometer +on shore was approximately eighty miles an hour. + +We endeavoured to maintain a position under the cliffs where the sea had +not room to become heavy. This entailed a constant struggle, as, with a +full head of steam during the squalls, the vessel drove steadily seaward +to where the rising waves broke on board and rendered steering more +perplexing. Then, when it had moderated to a mere "howl," we would crawl +back, only to be driven out again by the next squall. The blinding spray +which was swept out in front of the squalls froze solidly on board and +lent additional difficulty to the operation of "wearing ship." + +It was on this occasion that we realized what a fine old vessel the +'Aurora' was, and, as we slowly moved back to shelter, could appreciate +how efficiently our engine-room staff under Gillies were carrying out +their duties. The ordinary steaming speed was six knots, yet for the +whole of this week, without a hitch, the ship was being driven at +an equivalent of ten knots. The fact of having this reserve power +undoubtedly saved us from disaster. + +A typical entry from my diary reads: + +"February 6. Just as the sun was showing over the ice-slopes this +morning (4 A.M.) the wind became very violent with the most terrific +squalls I have ever experienced. Vessel absolutely unmanageable, driving +out to sea. I was expecting the masts to go overboard every minute. +This was the worst, I think, lasting about two hours. At 6 A.M., still +blowing very hard but squalls less violent, gradually made shelter +during the morning...." + +On February 8 the weather improved after 1 A.M. The gusts were less +violent and the lulls were of longer duration. At 9 A.M. there was only +a gentle breeze. We steamed in towards the boat harbour and signalled +for the launch to come off with the ten members of the shore-party. The +latter had been instructed to remain at the Hut until the vessel was +ready to sail. Here, while the gale had been in full career, they had +helped to secure enough seal and penguin-meat to keep the Relief Party +and their dogs for another year. + +The good-byes were brief while the launch discharged the men and their +belongings. Instructions were handed over to Madigan directing him to +follow the course believed to have been taken by Dr. Mawson and to +make an exhaustive search, commencing as soon as the 'Aurora' left +Commonwealth Bay. Madigan gave me a letter containing a report of the +work done by the party which had left on the 25th. + +It appears that they had been confined in Aladdin's Cave for twenty-four +hours by dense drift and then, in moderate drift, made four miles to the +south-east. Here they camped and were not able to move for thirty-six +hours in a high wind with thick snow. + +On the 28th the drift decreased in amount and, though it was only +possible to see a few hundred yards and crevasses were frequent, they +kept a course of east 30 degrees south for six miles. A snow-mound was +built and on top of it were placed provisions and a note giving the +bearing and distance from Aladdin's Cave. + +In the afternoon the wind subsided and it became clear. Eight miles on +the same course brought them to their farthest camp, twenty-three miles +from the Hut. A mound of eleven feet was erected here, provisions and a +note being left and some black bunting wound among the snow-blocks. The +depot was on a ridge and, with glasses, several miles could be swept to +the south-east. + +The party consisted of McLean, Hodgeman and Hurley. + +De la Motte and Hannam took the Relief Party ashore in the launch and, +as soon as they had returned--at 11.30 A.M.--we steamed out of the bay. +The weather had calmed and there were light airs and a smooth sea. + +The members of the Relief Party were as follows: C. T. Madigan (leader), +R. Bage, F. H. Bickerton, A. J. Hodgeman, Dr. A. L. McLean and S. N. +Jeffryes (wireless operator). The remaining ten members of the Main Base +Party returned to Australia: J. H. Close, P. E. Correll, W. H. +Hannam, J. G. Hunter, J. F. Hurley, C. F. Laseron, H. D. Murphy, F. L. +Stillwell, E. N. Webb and Dr. L. A. Whetter. + +Throughout the afternoon we steered north-west and at 8.30 P.M. were +approaching heavy pack. Just then Hannam received a wireless message +from the Main Base informing us that Dr. Mawson had reached the Hut +alone, his two comrades having perished, and instructing me to return +at once and pick up all hands. We turned round and steered back +immediately. + +At 8 A.M. on February 9 the ship entered Commonwealth Bay steaming +against a strong southerly breeze with some snow. We were right up near +the anchorage about noon and the Pilot Jack could be seen flying from +the wireless mast. Instructions were signalled for, but our efforts were +unobserved. We then steamed to and fro across the bay. At 6 P.M. it was +blowing a hard gale and showed signs of becoming worse. + +At 6 P.M. the wind was growing in strength and the barometer was +falling. Not having received any reply to my signal for instructions, I +felt it was necessary to decide whether I was justified in remaining any +longer. + +After considering the position in all its bearings I decided to sail +westward without further delay and for the following reasons: + +1. Dr. Mawson and his companions were in safety, comfortably housed and +fully equipped for another winter. + +2. Any further delay was seriously endangering our chance of being able +to relieve Wild's party that year. The navigation of the fifteen hundred +miles to the Shackleton Ice-Shelf was becoming, daily, more dangerous on +account of the shortness of daylight and the conditions of the ice. + +3. The only vessel which had wintered in the vicinity of the Western +Base (the 'Gauss') had been frozen in as early in the season as February +22, spending more than twelve months in the ice. The 'Aurora' was not +provisioned for a winter in the ice. + +4. It had been ascertained from the records at the Main Base that gales +were often protracted at the close of the short summer season. We had +just experienced one such gale, lasting seven days. + +5. As a seaman, I had realized the difficulties encountered in +approaching and getting away from the Western Base in 1912. It was then +three weeks later in the year. + +I felt convinced that in leaving the Main Base, without further delay, +I was acting as Dr. Mawson would have wished, if I had been able to +acquaint him with the position of the Western Party. + +At 6.30 P.M. we steamed out of the bay, the wind moderating as the ship +got well out to sea. At midnight there was a moderate breeze from the +south, with some snow. + +On February 10 heavy pack was met, about fifty miles north of +Commonwealth Bay. After coasting along its margin for a while, we pushed +among the floes and, after three hours, reached a patch of fairly open +water about 1 P.M. + +One hour later a large ice-formation was sighted, which tallied with +that met on January 3 of the previous year (1912) and which, on this +occasion, was no longer in its original position. We came to the +conclusion that the whole must have drifted about fifty miles to the +north-west during the intervening year. The face of this huge berg, +along which the 'Aurora' coasted, was about forty miles in length. + +Hannam heard fragments of a message from Dr. Mawson during the evening. +The words, "crevasse," "Ninnis," "Mertz," "broken" and "cable" were +picked up. + +Good progress was made on the 11th against a high westerly sea. The sun +set in a clear sky and the barometer was slowly rising. Our position was +evidently north of the pack and, if unimpeded by ice, there was a chance +of the ship arriving at her destination in time. + +Poor headway was made for nearly three days against an adverse wind and +sea. Then, late on the 14th, a breeze sprang up from the east-south-east +and, under all sail, the 'Aurora' made seven knots. + +Next morning we were driving along before an easterly gale in thick +snow, and at noon the day's run was one hundred and eighty miles. + +The journal describes the following week: + +"February 16. The weather cleared up this morning and the sun came out, +enabling us to fix our position. + +"We are doing about eight knots under topsails and foresail. The +sky looked threatening this evening but improved considerably before +midnight. + +"February 17. There were frequent snow squalls today, making it +difficult to see. Only a few scattered pieces of ice were about. + +"February 18. Bright, clear weather to-day enabled us to get good +observations. There are a great many 'blue whales' round the ship, and +the many bergs in sight are suggestive of heavy pack to the south. A +great many petrels and Cape pigeons have been seen. + +"February 19. The ship was brought up this morning at 8.45 by a line +of heavy pack extending across the course. The weather was misty, but +cleared up before noon. We have been obliged to steer a northerly course +along the edge of the pack. + +"The margin of this pack is some sixty miles farther north than that +which we followed in 1912. + +"At midnight we were steering north-north-west; many bergs in sight and +a line of pack to port. + +"February 20. At daylight we were able to steer southwest, being at noon +about twenty miles north of Termination Ice-Tongue. Pushing through +the looser edge of pack for a couple of hours we saw the loom of the +ice-tongue to the southward. The pack becoming closer, we turned back to +the north in order to try and push through farther west, where the sky +looked more promising. + +"At dark we were in a patch of clear water, with ice all around. It +began to snow and, as the wind remained a light easterly, the ship was +allowed to drift until daylight. + +"February 21. The morning was very foggy up till 11 A.M. We steered west +until noon and then entered the pack; there was a promising sky towards +the south. Fair progress was made through the ice, which became looser +as we advanced to the south. At 8 P.M. we passed through leads by +moonlight, having a favourable run throughout the night. + +"February 22. At 4 A.M. the wind freshened from the south-east with some +snow; the floes were getting heavier and the advent of a blizzard was +not hailed with joy. About noon the ship approached open water and the +snow ceased. + +"We were now on the confines of the sea of bergs where navigation had +proved so dangerous in 1912. + +"At 8 P.M. the driving snow and growing darkness made it impossible to +see any distance ahead. The next seven hours were the most anxious I +have ever spent at sea. Although the wind blew hard from the south-east, +we passed through the sea of bergs without mishap, guided and protected +by a Higher Power. + +"February 23. At 4 A.M. the loom of an ice-tongue was sighted and +we were soon standing in to follow this feature until we reached the +Shackleton Shelf. + +"At 8 A.M. we found that we were some miles south of our reckoning. + +"At 11 A.M. we sighted a depot-flag on the slope. Soon after the ship +was up to the fast floe at the head of the bay, the ice being nearly +a mile farther north than on the previous year. In fact, the +ice-conditions as a whole had changed considerably. + +"At noon we reached the Base and found the party all well." + +Wild and his comrades were as glad to see the 'Aurora' as we were to +see them. They had commenced to lay in a stock of seal-meat fearing that +they might have to pass another winter on the glacier. + +All the afternoon every one was busy getting baggage on board and +watering ship. The weather was good and I had intended to sail on the +same evening by moonlight, following the glacier-tongue northward in +clear water for sixty miles. + +As we turned northward, "all well" on board, I felt truly thankful that +Wild's party had been relieved and anxiety on their account was now at +an end. The party included F. Wild (leader), G. Dovers, C. T. Harrisson, +C. A. Hoadley, Dr. S. E. Jones, A. L. Kennedy, M. H. Moyes and A. D. +Watson. + +Early on the 24th there was a fresh easterly breeze, while the ship +steamed among fields of bergs, for the most part of glacier-ice. It is +marvellous how a vessel can pass through such an accumulation in the +dark and come off with only a few bumps! + +Pack consisting of heavy broken floe-ice was entered at four o'clock on +the same day, and at 8 A.M. on the 25th we were clear of it, steering +once more among bergs, many of which were earth-stained. The day was +remarkably fine with light winds and a smooth sea. + +After we had passed through three hundred miles of berg-strewn ocean, +large masses of ice, water-worn in most instances, were still numerous, +and on February 27, though our position was north of the 80th parallel, +they were just beginning to diminish in numbers. At noon on that day a +sounding was made in two thousand two hundred and thirty fathoms. + +Any hope we may have had of steaming to the east with the object of +attempting to relieve the seven men at Adelie Land had to be definitely +abandoned on account of the small supply of coal which remained. + +There was now a clear run of two thousand miles through the zone of +westerly gales and high seas, and on March 14 we reached Port Esperance. +Mr. Eitel, Secretary of the Expedition, landed here and caught the +steamer Dover to Hobart. We heard of the disaster to Captain Scott and +it was learned that wireless messages had been received from Dr. Mawson, +which had been forwarded on to Australia through the Macquarie Island +party. + + + +CHAPTER XIX THE WESTERN BASE--ESTABLISHMENT AND EARLY ADVENTURES + +by F. Wild + + +At 7 A.M. on February 21, 1912, the 'Aurora' steamed away to the north +leaving us on the Shackleton Ice-Shelf, while cheers and hearty good +wishes were exchanged with the ship's company. On the sea-ice, that day, +there stood with me my comrades--the Western Party; G. Dovers, C. T. +Harrisson, C. A. Hoadley, S. E. Jones, A. L. Kennedy, M. H. Moyes and A. +D. Watson. + +We proceeded to the top of the cliff, where the remainder of the +stores and gear were hauled up. Tents were then erected and the work of +hut-building at once commenced. The site selected for our home was +six hundred and forty yards inland from the spot where the stores were +landed, and, as the edge of the glacier was very badly broken, I was +anxious to get a supply of food, clothing and fuel moved back from the +edge to safety as soon as possible. + +Of the twenty-eight Greenland dogs that had reached Antarctica in the +'Aurora', nineteen were landed in Adelie Land and nine with us. So far, +none of these had been broken in for sledging, and all were in poor +condition. Their quarters on the ship had been very cramped, and many +times they had been thoroughly soaked in salt water, besides enduring +several blizzards in Antarctic waters. + +Harrisson, Hoadley, Kennedy and Jones "turned the first sod" in the +foundations of the hut, while Dovers, Moyes, Watson and I sledged along +supplies of timber and stores. Inward from the brink of the precipice, +which was one hundred feet in height, the surface was fairly good for +sledges, but, owing to crevasses and pressure-ridges, the course was +devious and mostly uphill. + +Until the building was completed, the day's work commenced at 6 A.M., +and, with only half an hour for a midday meal, continued until 7 P.M. +Fortunately, the weather was propitious during the seven days when the +carpenters and joiners ruled the situation; the temperature ranging from +-12 degrees F. to 25 degrees F., while a moderate blizzard interrupted +one day. The chief trouble was that the blizzard deposited six feet of +snow around the stack of stores and coal at the landing-place, thereby +adding considerably to our labour. As evidence of the force of the wind, +the floe was broken and driven out past the foot of the "flying-fox," +tearing away the lower anchor and breaking the sheer-legs on the +glacier. + +An average day's work on the stores consisted in bringing thirteen loads +over a total distance of nine and a half miles. First of all, the cases +had to be dug out of the snow-drifts, and loading and unloading the +sledges was scarcely less arduous. + +On February 27, while working on the roof, Harrisson made an addition +to our geographical knowledge. Well to the north of the mainland, and +bearing a little north of east, he could trace the outline of land. +Subsequently this was proved to be an island, thirty-two miles distant, +and seventeen miles north of the mainland. It was twenty miles long and +fifteen miles wide, being entirely ice-covered. Later on, it was charted +as Masson Island. + +On the 28th, the hut was fit for habitation, the stove was installed, +and meals were cooked and eaten in moderate comfort. The interior of +the house was twenty feet square, but its area was reduced by a lobby +entrance, three feet by five feet, a dark-room three feet by six feet +situated on one side, and my cabin six feet six inches square in one +corner. The others slept in seven bunks which were ranged at +intervals round the walls. Of the remaining space, a large portion was +commodiously occupied by the stove and table. + +On three sides, the roof projected five feet beyond the walls and formed +a veranda which was boarded up, making an excellent store-room and +work-room. This was a splendid idea of Dr. Mawson's, enabling us to +work during the severest storms when there was no room in the hut, and +incidentally supplying extra insulation and rendering the inside +much warmer. The main walls and roof were double and covered with +weather-proof felt. Daylight was admitted through four plate-glass +skylights in the roof. + +A blizzard effectually prevented outdoor work on February 29, and all +hands were employed in the hut, lining the roof and walls and fixing +shelves for cooking and other utensils. + +An attack was made on the transport of stores next day. As a result of +twelve hours' work, five and a half tons of coal were dragged up and +stowed under the veranda. It was Hoadley's birthday, and the cook made a +special feature of the dinner. With extra dainties like figs, cake and a +bottle of wine, we felt that the occasion was fitly celebrated. On March +2, more stores were amassed round the house; Hoadley, Harrisson and I +doing odd jobs inside, opening cans, sorting out stores, fitting bunks, +shelves and the acetylene gas plant. + +While undoing some packages of small boards, Hoadley found that a space +had been arranged in the centre of one of the bundles, and a box +of cigars inserted by some of the men originally employed upon the +construction of the hut in Melbourne. Enclosed was a letter of hearty +good wishes. + +During the afternoon, Dovers and Kennedy lowered a small sledge down to +the floe and brought up a seal and three Adelie penguins. These served +for a while as fresh food for ourselves and the dogs. + +Sunday March 3 was the finest day we had up till then experienced, and, +since the work was now sufficiently advanced to make us comparatively +comfortable and safe, I determined to make a proper Sunday of it. All +hands were called at 8.30 A.M. instead of 6 A.M. After breakfast a few +necessary jobs were done and at noon a short service was held. When +lunch was over, the skis were unpacked, and all went for a run to the +east in the direction of Masson Island. + +The glacier's surface was excellent for travelling, but I soon found +that it would be dangerous to walk about alone without skis, as there +were a number of crevasses near the hut, some of considerable size; I +opened one twenty-five feet wide. They were all well bridged and would +support a man on skis quite easily. + +A heavy gale, with falling snow and blinding drift, came on early the +next day and continued for forty-eight hours; our worst blizzard up to +that time. The temperature, below zero before the storm, rose with the +wind to 30 degrees F. Inside, all were employed preparing for a sledging +trip I intended to make to the mainland before the winter set in. +We were greatly handicapped by the want of a sewing machine.** When +unpacked, the one which had been brought was found to be without +shuttles, spools and needles. Large canvas bags, made to contain +two weeks' provisions for a sledging unit of three men, were in the +equipment, but the smaller bags of calico for the different articles of +food had to be sewn by hand. Several hundred of these were required, and +altogether the time consumed in making them was considerable. + + + ** By accident the small sewing machine belonging to Wild's party +was landed at the Main Base--ED. + +Emerging on the morning of the 6th. after the blizzard had blown itself +out, we found that snow-drifts to a depth of twelve feet had collected +around the hut. For entrance and exit, a shaft had to be dug and a +ladder made. The stores, stacked in heaps close by, were completely +covered, and another blizzard swooping down on the 7th made things still +worse. This "blow," persisting till the morning of the 9th, was very +heavy, the wind frequently attaining velocities judged to reach ninety +miles per hour, accompanied by drift so thick that it was impossible to +go outside for anything. + +Beyond the erection of the wireless masts, everything was now ready for +the sledging journey. On the day when the wind abated, a party set to +work digging holes for the masts and stay-posts. The former were to +be fifty-two feet high, four and a half feet being buried in the ice. +Unfortunately, a strong breeze with thick drift sprang up just as +hoisting operations had started, and in a few minutes the holes were +filled up and the workers had to run for shelter. Meanwhile, four men +had succeeded in rescuing all the buried stores, some being stowed +alongside the hut, and the remainder stacked up again on a new level. + +On came another severe blizzard, which continued with only a few +minutes' interval until the evening of the 12th. During the short +lull, Jones, Dovers and Hoadley took a sledge for a load of ice from a +pressure-ridge rather less than two hundred yards from the hut. +While they were absent, the wind freshened again, and they had great +difficulty in finding a way to the entrance. + +It was very disappointing to be delayed in this manner, but there was +consolation in the fact that we were better off in the hut than on the +glacier, and that there was plenty of work inside. The interior was thus +put in order much earlier than it would otherwise have been. + +In erecting the hut, it was found that a case of nuts and bolts was +missing, and many places in the frame had in consequence to be secured +with nails. For a while I was rather doubtful how the building would +stand a really heavy blow. There was, however, no need for uneasiness, +as the first two blizzards drifted snow to such a depth in our immediate +vicinity that, even with the wind at hurricane force, there was scarcely +a tremor in the building. + +The morning of Wednesday March 13 was calm and overcast. Breakfast was +served at six o'clock. We then set to work and cleared away the snow +from the masts and stay-posts, so that by 8.30 A.M. both masts were in +position. Before the job was over, a singular sight was witnessed. A +large section of the glacier--many thousands of tons--calved off into +the sea. The tremendous waves raised by the fall of this mass smashed +into fragments all the floe left in the bay. With the sea-ice went the +snow-slopes which were the natural roadway down. A perpendicular cliff, +sixty to one hundred feet above the water, was all that remained, and +our opportunities of obtaining seals and penguins in the future were cut +off. Of course, too, the old landing-place no longer existed. + +The whole of the sledging provisions and gear were brought out, weighed +and packed on the sledges; the total weight being one thousand two +hundred and thirty-three pounds. Dovers, Harrisson, Hoadley, Jones, +Moyes and myself were to constitute the party. + +It was necessary for two men to remain behind at the base to keep the +meteorological records, to wind chronometers, to feed the dogs and to +bring up the remainder of the stores from the edge of the ice-cliff. +Kennedy, the magnetician, had to stay, as two term days** were due in +the next month. It was essential that we should have a medical man with +us, so Jones was included in the sledging party; the others drawing lots +to decide who should remain with Kennedy. The unlucky one was Watson. + + + ** Days set apart by previous arrangement for magnetic "quick runs." + +To the south of the Base, seventeen miles distant at the nearest point, +the mainland was visible, entirely ice-clad, running almost due east and +west. It appeared to rise rapidly to about three thousand feet, and +then to ascend more gradually as the great plateau of the Antarctic +continent. It was my intention to travel inland beyond the lower +ice-falls, which extended in an irregular line of riven bluffs all along +the coast, and then to lay a depot or depots which might be useful on +the next season's journeys. Another reason for making the journey was to +give the party some experience in sledging work. The combined weight of +both sledges and effects was one thousand two hundred and thirty-three +pounds, and the total amount of food carried was four hundred and sixty +pounds. + +While the sledges were being loaded, ten skua gulls paid us a visit, +and, as roast skua is a very pleasant change of food, Jones shot six of +them. + +At 1 P.M. we left the hut, making an east-south-east course to clear a +pressure-ridge; altering the course once more to south-east. The coast +in this direction looked accessible, whereas a line running due south +would have brought us to some unpromising ice-falls by a shorter route. + +The surface was very good and almost free from crevasses; only one, into +which Jones fell to his middle, being seen during the afternoon's march. +Not wishing to do too much the first day, especially after the "soft" +days we had been forced to spend in the hut during the spell of bad +weather, I made two short halts in the afternoon and camped at 5 P.M., +having done seven and half miles. + +On the 11th we rose at 5 A.M., and at 7 A.M. we were on the march. For +the two hours after starting, the surface was tolerable and then changed +for the worse; the remainder of the day's work being principally over +a hard crust, which was just too brittle to bear the weight of a man, +letting him through to a soft substratum, six or eight inches deep +in the snow. Only those who have travelled in country like this can +properly realize how wearisome it is. + +At 9 A.M. the course was altered to south, as there appeared to be a +fairly good track up the hills. The surface of the glacier rose and +fell in long undulations which became wider and more marked as the land +approached. By the time we camped, they were three-quarters of a mile +from crest to crest, with a drop of thirty feet from crest to trough. +Despite the heavy trudging we covered more than thirteen miles. + +I made the marching hours 7 A.M. to 5 P.M., so that there was time to +get the evening meal before darkness set in; soon after 6 P.M. + +The march commenced about seven o'clock on March 15, the thermometer +registering -8 degrees F., while a light southerly breeze made it feel +much colder. The exercise soon warmed us up and, when the breeze died +away, the remainder of the day was perfectly calm. + +A surface of "pie-crust" cut down the mileage in the forenoon. At 11 +A.M. we encountered many crevasses, from two to five feet wide, with +clean-cut sides and shaky bridges. Hoadley went down to his head in one, +and we all got our legs in others. + +It became evident after lunch that the land was nearing rapidly, its +lower slopes obscuring the higher land behind. The crevasses also became +wider, so I lengthened the harness with an alpine rope to allow more +room and to prevent more than two men from being over a chasm at the +same time. At 4 P.M. we were confronted with one sixty feet wide. +Crevasses over thirty feet in width usually have very solid bridges +and may be considered safe, but this one had badly broken edges and one +hundred yards on the right the lid had collapsed. So instead of marching +steadily across, we went over singly on the alpine rope and hauled the +sledges along in their turn, when all had crossed in safety. Immediately +after passing this obstacle the grade became steeper, and, between three +and five o'clock, we rose two hundred feet, traversing several large +patches of neve. + +That night the tent stood on a field of snow covering the lower slopes +of the hills. On either hand were magnificent examples of ice-falls, but +ahead the way seemed open. + +With the exception of a preliminary stiffness, every one felt well after +the toil of the first few days. + +In bright sunlight next morning all went to examine the ice-falls to the +east, which were two miles away. Roping up, we made an ascent half-way +to the top which rose five hundred feet and commanded a grand panorama +of glacier and coast. Soon the wind freshened and drift began to fly. +When we regained the tents a gale was blowing, with heavy drift, so +there was nothing to do but make ourselves as comfortable as possible +inside. + +All through Saturday night the gale raged and up till 11.30 A.M. on +Sunday March 16. On turning out, we found that the tents and sledges +were covered deeply in snow, and we dug continuously for more than two +hours before we were able to pack up and get away. Both sledges ran +easily for nearly a mile over neve, when the gradient increased to +one in ten, forcing us to relay. It was found necessary to change our +finnesko for spiked boots. Relaying regularly, we gradually mounted +six hundred feet over neve and massive sastrugi. With a steep slope +in front, a halt was made for the night. The sunset was a picture +of prismatic colours reflected over the undulating ice-sheet and the +tumbling cascades of the glacier. + +On the evening of March 18 the altitude of our camp was one thousand +four hundred and ten feet, and the slope was covered with sastrugi +ridges, three to four feet in height. Travelling over these on the +following day we had frequent capsizes. + +The outlook to the south was a series of irregular terraces, varying +from half a mile to two miles in breadth and twenty to two hundred feet +in height. These were furrowed by small valleys and traversed by ridges, +but there was not a sign of rock anywhere. + +The temperature varied from 4 degrees to 14 degrees F. during the day, +and the minimum recorded at night was -11 degrees F. + +Another nine miles of slow ascent brought us to two thousand feet, +followed by a rise of two hundred and twenty feet in seven and +three-quarter miles on March 21. Hauling over high broken sastrugi +was laborious enough to make every one glad when the day was over. The +rations were found sufficient, but the plasmon biscuits were so hard +that they had to be broken with a geological hammer. + +There now swept down on us a blizzard** which lasted for a whole week, +on the evening of March 21. According to my diary, the record is as +follows: + +"Friday, March 22. Snowing heavily all day, easterly wind: impossible +to travel as nothing can be seen more than ten to twelve yards away. +Temperature high, 7 degrees to 18 degrees F. + + + ** It is a singular fact that this blizzard occurred on the same date +as that during which Captain Scott and his party lost their lives. + +"Saturday, March 23. Blowing hard at turn-out time, so did not breakfast +until 8.30. Dovers is cook in my tent this week. He got his clothes +filled up with snow while bringing in the cooker, food-bag, etc. The +wind increased to a fierce gale during the day, and all the loose snow +which fell yesterday was shifted. + +"About 5 P.M. the snow was partially blown away from the skirt or ground +cloth, and the tent bulged in a good deal. I got into burberries and +went out to secure it; it was useless to shovel on snow as it was blown +off immediately. I therefore dragged the food-bags off the sledge and +dumped them on. The wind and drift were so strong that I had several +times to get in the lee of the tent to recover my breath and to clear +the mask of snow from my face. + +"We are now rather crowded through the tent bulging in so much, and +having cooker and food-bag inside. + +"Sunday, March 24. Had a very bad night. The wind was chopping about +from south-east to north and blowing a hurricane. One side of the tent +was pressed in past the centre, and I had to turn out and support it +with bag lashings. Then the ventilator was blown in and we had a pile of +snow two feet high over the sleeping-bags; this kept us warm, but it was +impossible to prevent some of it getting into the bags, and now we are +very wet and the bags like sponges. There were quite two hundredweights +of snow on us; all of which came through a hole three inches wide. + +"According to report from the other tent they are worse off than we are; +they say they have four feet of snow in the tent. All this is due to the +change of wind, making the ventilator to windward instead of leeward. + +"March 25, 26 and 27. Blizzard still continues, less wind but more +snowfall. + +"Thursday, March 28. Heavy falling snow and drift, south-east wind. At +noon, the wind eased down and snow ceased falling, so we slipped into +our burberry over-suits and climbed out to dig for the sledges. + +"Nothing could be seen except about two feet of the tops of the tents, +which meant that there was a deposit of five feet of freshly fallen +snow. The upper two feet was soft and powdery, offering no resistance; +under that it was still soft, so that we sank to our thighs every step +and frequently to the waist. By 4.30 P.M. both sledges were rescued, +and it was ascertained that no gear had been lost. We all found that the +week of idleness and confinement had weakened us, and at first were only +able to take short spells at the digging. The sky and barometer promise +fine weather to-morrow, but what awful work it will be pulling!" + +At 5.30 A.M. on March 29 the weather was bright and calm. As a strong +wind had blown throughout the night, a harder surface was expected. +Outside, we were surprised to find a fresh wind and thick, low drift; +owing to the tents being snowed up so high, the threshing of the drift +was not audible. To my disgust the surface was as soft as ever. It +appeared that the only resort was to leave the provisions for the depot +on the nearest ridge and return to the Base. The temperature was -20 +degrees F., and, while digging out the tents, Dovers had his nose +frost-bitten. + +It took six of us well over an hour to drag the necessary food half a +mile up a rise of less than one hundred feet; the load, sledge included, +not being five hundred pounds. Nearly all the time we were sinking +thigh-deep, and the sledge itself was going down so far that the +instrument-box was pushing a mass of snow in front of it. Arriving on +the ridge, Moyes found that his foot was frozen and he had to go back to +camp, as there was too much wind to bring it round in the open. + +Sufficient food and oil were left at this depot for three men for six +weeks; also a minimum thermometer. + +In a fresh breeze and flying drift we were off at 10 A.M. next day. At +first we were ambitious and moved away with two sledges, sinking from +two to three feet all the time. Forty yards was as much as we could do +without a rest, and by lunch time nine hundred yards was the total. +Now the course was downhill, and the two sledges were pulled together, +creeping along with painful slowness, as walking was the hardest +work imaginable. After one of the most strenuous days I have ever +experienced, we camped; the sledge-meter recorded one mile four hundred +and fifty yards. + +A spell of two days' blizzard cooped us up once more, but improved +the surface slightly. Still, it was dreadfully soft, and, but for the +falling gradient, we would not have made what we did; five miles six +hundred and ten yards, on April 2. On that and the following day it was +fortunate that the road chosen was free of crevasses. + +At the foot of the hills I had decided to reduce the rations but, as the +track had grown firm once more, and we were only twenty-five miles from +the hut, with a week's food, I thought it would be safe to use the full +allowance. + +Soon after leaving the hills (April 4), a direct course to the hut was +made. There was no mark by which to steer, except a "water-sky" to the +north, the hinterland being clouded over. During the afternoon, the sun +occasionally gleamed through a tract of cirro-stratus cloud and there +was a very fine parhelion: signs of an approaching blizzard. At 4.30 +P.M. we had done seventeen and a half miles, and, as all hands were +fresh and willing, I decided to have a meal and go on again, considering +that the moon was full and there were only six miles to be done. + +After supper the march was continued till 8.30 P.M., by which time we +were due for a rest. I had begun to think that we had passed the hut. + +April 5 was far from being a Good Friday for us. At 2 A.M. a fresh +breeze rose and rapidly increased to a heavy gale. At 10 A.M. Hoadley +and I had to go out to secure the tent; the weather-side bulged in more +than half the width of the tent and was held by a solid load of drift, +but the other sides were flapping so much that almost all the snow had +been shaken off the skirt. Though only five yards away from it we could +not see the other tent. At noon Hoadley again went out to attend to the +tent and entirely lost himself within six feet of it. He immediately +started to yell and I guessed what was the matter at once. Dovers and I +shouted our best, and Hoadley groped his way in with a mask of snow over +his face. He told us that the wind which was then blowing a good eighty +miles an hour, knocked him down immediately he was outside, and, when +he struggled to his feet again, he could see nothing and had no idea in +what direction lay the tent. + +The space inside was now so limited by the combined pressure of wind and +snow that we did not light the primus, eating lumps of frozen pemmican +for the evening meal. + +The blizzard continued with unabated violence until eleven o'clock next +morning, when it moderated within an hour to half a gale. We turned out +and had a good hot meal. Then we looked to see how the others had fared +and found that their tent had collapsed. Getting at once into wind-proof +clothing, we rushed out and were horrified to see Harrisson in his bag +on the snow. He quickly assured us that he was all right. After carrying +him, bag and all, into our tent, he emerged quite undamaged, but very +hungry. + +Jones and Moyes now had to be rescued; they were in a most uncomfortable +position under the fallen tent. It appears that the tent had blown down +on the previous morning at ten o'clock, and for thirty-six hours they +had had nothing to eat. We did not take long to dig them out. + +The wind dropped to a moderate breeze, and, through the falling snow, +I could make out a "water-sky" to the west. The three unfortunates said +that they felt fit to travel, so we got under way. The surface was soft +and the pulling very heavy, and I soon saw that the strain was largely +due to the weakness of the three who had been without food. Calling a +halt, I asked Jones if it would do to go on; he assured me that they +could manage to go on with an effort, and the march was resumed. + +Not long after, Dovers sighted the wireless mast, and a quarter of an +hour later we were safely in the hut, much to the surprise of Kennedy +and Watson, who did not expect us to be travelling in such weather, and +greatly to our own relief. According to the sledge-meter, the last camp +had only been two miles one hundred yards from home, and if anything had +been visible on the night of April 4, we could have got in easily. + +I was very pleased with the way all the party had shaped. They had +worked splendidly and were always cheerful, although conditions had been +exceptionally trying during this journey. No one was any the worse for +the hardships, except for a few blistered fingers from frost-bites. The +party lost weight at the average of two and a half pounds; Harrisson +was the greatest loser, being reduced six pounds. Out of the twenty-five +days we were away, it was only possible to sledge on twelve days. The +total distance covered, including relay work, was nearly one hundred +and twenty-two miles, and the greatest elevation reached on the southern +mainland was two thousand six hundred feet above sea-level. + +Kennedy and Watson had been very busy during our absence. In a few days +they had trained five of the dogs to pull in harness, and transported +the remainder of the stores from the landing-place, arranging them in +piles round the hut. The weather at the Base had been quite as bad as +that experienced by us on the land slopes. + +In the first blizzard both wireless masts were broken down. Watson and +Kennedy managed to repair and re-erect one of the masts, but it was only +thirty-seven feet in height. Any final hopes of hearing wireless signals +were dispelled by the discovery that the case containing the detector +and several other parts necessary for a receiving-station were missing. + +Watson had fitted up a splendid dark-room, as well as plenty of shelves +and racks for cooking utensils. + +Kennedy was able to secure a series of observations on one of his term +days, but, before the next one, the tent he was using was blown to +ribbons. + + + +CHAPTER XX THE WESTERN BASE--WINTER AND SPRING + + +On Easter Sunday, April 7, 1912, a furious blizzard kept us close +prisoners. To meet the occasion, Dovers prepared a special dinner, the +principal item being roast mutton, from one of the six carcases landed +with the stores. Divine service was held in the forenoon. + +The blizzard raged with such force all Sunday and Monday that I dared +not let any one go out to feed the dogs, although we found, later, that +a fast of three days did not hurt them at all. + +I now thought it time to establish a winter routine. Each member had his +particular duties to perform, in addition to general work, in which +all hands were engaged. Harrisson took charge of the lamps and checked +consumption of oil. Hoadley had the care of the provisions, making out +lists showing the amount the cook might use of each article of food, +besides opening cases and stowing a good assortment on convenient +shelves in the veranda. Jones and Kennedy worked the acetylene plant. In +connexion with this, I should mention that several parts were missing, +including T-pieces for joints and connexions for burners. However +Jones, in addition to his ability as a surgeon, showed himself to be an +excellent plumber, brazier and tinsmith, and the Hut was well lighted +all the time we occupied it. Moyes's duties as meteorologist took him +out at all hours. Watson looked after the dogs, while Dovers relieved +other members when they were cooks. The duty of cook was taken for a +week at a time by every one except myself. A night watch was kept +by each in turn. The watchman went on duty at 9 P.M., usually taking +advantage of this night to have a bath and wash his clothes. He prepared +breakfast, calling all hands at 8.30 A.M. for this meal at nine o'clock. +The cook for the week was exempt from all other work. In the case of +Kennedy, whose magnetic work was done principally at night, arrangements +were made to assist him with the cooking. + +Work commenced during the winter months at ten o'clock and, unless +anything special had to be done, finished at 1 P.M., when lunch was +served. The afternoon was usually devoted to sport and recreation. + +The frequent blizzards and heavy snowfall had by this time buried the +Hut so deeply that only the top of the pointed roof was visible and all +the outside stores were covered. + +My diary for April 9 says: + +"The blizzard" (which had commenced on the evening of the 6th) "played +itself out during the night and we got to work immediately after +breakfast. There was still a fresh breeze and low drift, but this +gradually died away. + +"We were an hour digging an exit from the Hut. The day has been occupied +in cutting a tunnel entrance, forty feet long, through the drift, so +that driving snow cannot penetrate, and we shall be able to get out with +less trouble. + +"As we get time I intend to excavate caverns in the huge drifts packed +round the house and stow all our stores inside; also a good supply of +ice for use during blizzards. + +"I had intended to make a trip to Masson Island before the winter +properly set in, but with the weather behaving as it does, I don't think +it would be wise." + +The 10th, 11th and 12th being fine, good progress was made in digging +out store-rooms on either side of the tunnel, but a blizzard on the 13th +and 14th stopped us again. + +On going to feed the dogs during the afternoon of the 14th, Watson found +that Nansen was dead; this left us with seven, as Crippen had already +died. Of the remainder, only four were of any value; Sweep and the two +bitches, Tiger and Tich, refusing to do anything in harness, and, as +there was less than sufficient food for them, the two latter had to be +shot. Sweep would have shared the same fate but he disappeared, probably +falling down a crevasse or over the edge of the glacier. + +Until the end of April almost all our time was spent in making +store-rooms and in searching for buried stores; sometimes a shaft would +have to be sunk eight to twelve feet. Bamboo poles stuck in the snow +marked the positions of the different stacks. The one marking the +carbide was blown away, and it was two days before Dovers finally +unearthed it. By the 30th, caves roomy enough to contain everything +were completed, all being connected by the tunnel. We were now +self-contained, and everything was accessible and immune from the +periodic blizzards. + +The entrance, by the way, was a trap-door built over the tunnel and +raised well above the outside surface to prevent it being drifted over. +From below it was approached by a ladder, but the end of the tunnel was +left open, so that in fine weather we could run sledges in and out with +loads of ice. With each blizzard the entrance was completely choked, and +it gave two men a day's work to clear it out once more. + +On April 16 Kennedy had a term day. A fresh breeze was blowing and the +temperature was -20 degrees F. Some of his observations had to be taken +in the open and the remainder in a tent. The series took three hours to +complete and by that time he was thoroughly chilled through, his feet +and fingers were frost-bitten and his language had grown more incisive +than usual. + +Between the 10th and the 19th we made a search for penguins and +seals. Hoadley and Moyes staying behind, the rest of us with tents and +equipment journeyed along the edge of the glacier to the south, without +seeing the smallest sign of life. The edge of the shelf-ice was very +much fissured, many of the breaches giving no sign of their presence, in +consequence of which several falls were sustained. It should be remarked +that the Shackleton Shelf-Ice runs mainly in a southerly direction from +the Winter Quarters, joining the mainland at a point, afterwards named +Junction Corner. The map of Queen Mary Land illustrates this at a +glance. + +From the 25th to the 29th, Kennedy, Harrisson and Jones were employed +building an igloo to be used as a magnetic observatory. On the afternoon +of the 30th, the magnetician invited every one to a tea-party in the +igloo to celebrate the opening. He had the place very nicely decorated +with flags, and after the reception and the formal inspection of +the instruments, we were served with quite a good tea. The outside +temperature was -33 degrees F. and it was not much higher inside the +igloo. As a result, no one extended his visit beyond the bounds of +politeness. + +On May 1, Harrisson, Hoadley and Watson went away south towards the +land at the head of the bay, which curved round to Junction Corner, to +examine icebergs, take photographs and to search for seals. They took +the four dogs with them and, as the load was a light one--three hundred +and forty-two pounds--the dogs pulled it easily. + +I went with the others to the north, hoping that we might find a portion +of the glacier low enough to give access to the sea-ice. There were +several spots where the ice-cliffs were not more than forty to fifty +feet high, but no convenient ramps led down from the cliffs. In any case +neither penguins nor seals were to be had in the vicinity. A great, flat +sheet of frozen sea stretched away to the north for quite thirty miles. + +May 2 was fine, but the 3rd and 4th were windy once more and we had to +remain indoors. Saturday, the 4th, was clean-up day, when the verandas, +tunnel and cave were swept and tidied, the stove cleaned, the hut and +darkroom scrubbed and the windows cleared. The last was a job which was +generally detested. During the week, the windows in the roof collected +a coat of ice, from an inch to three inches thick, by condensation of +moisture. Chipping this off was a most tedious piece of work, while in +the process one's clothes became filled with ice. + +One Sunday, Harrisson, Hoadley and Watson returned from their short +trip; they had missed the strong winds which had been blowing at the +Base, although less than twenty miles away. Some very fine old icebergs +were discovered which were of interest to the two geologists and made +good subjects for Harrisson's sketches. Watson had had a nasty fall +while crossing a patch of rough ice, his nose being rather badly cut in +the accident. + +On May 7 another blizzard stopped all outside work. Moyes ventured as +far as the meteorological screen at noon and got lost, but luckily only +for a short time. The barometer behaved very strangely during the blow, +rising abruptly during a little more than an hour, and then slowly +falling once more. For a few hours on the 8th there was a lull and the +store of ice was replenished, but the 9th and 10th were again spent +indoors, repairing and refitting tents, poles and other sledging gear +during the working hours, and reading or playing chess and bridge in +the leisure time. Harrisson carved an excellent set of chessmen, +distinguishing the "black" ones by a stain of permanganate of potash. + +Bridge was the favourite game all through the winter, and a continuous +record of the scores was kept. Two medals were struck: a neat little +thing for the highest scorer and a huge affair as large as a plate, +slung on a piece of three-and-a-half-inch rope, with "Jonah" inscribed +on it, to be worn by the player at the foot of the list. + +Divine service was held every Sunday, Moyes and I taking it in turn. +There was only one hymn book amongst the party, which made it necessary +to write out copies of the hymns each week. + +The sleeping-bags used on the first sledging journey had been hung up +near the roof. They were now taken down to be thoroughly overhauled. As +a consequence of their severe soaking, they had shrunk considerably and +required enlarging. Dovers's bag, besides contracting a good deal, had +lost much hair and was cut up to patch the others. He received a spare +one to replace it. + +May 15 was a beautiful bright morning and I went over to an icy cape two +miles southward, with Harrisson, Hoadley, Dovers and Watson, to find +a road down to the sea-ice. Here, we had good fortune at last, for, +by following down a crevasse which opened out at sea-level into a +magnificent cave, we walked straight out on to the level plain. Along +the edge of the glacier there was not even a seal's blow-hole. Watson +took some photos of the cave and cliff. + +It was Kennedy's term night; the work keeping him in the igloo from 10 +P.M. until 2.30 A.M. He had had some difficulty in finding a means +of warming the observatory--an urgent necessity, since he found it +impossible to manipulate delicate magnetic instruments for three or four +hours with the temperature from -25 degrees F. to -30 degrees F. The +trouble was to make a non-magnetic lamp and the problem was finally +solved by using one of the aluminium cooking pots; converting it into +a blubber stove. The stove smoked a great deal and the white walls were +soon besmirched with a layer of soot. + +The 17th, 18th and 19th were all calm but dull. One day I laid out a +ten-hole golf course and with some homemade balls and hockey sticks for +clubs played a game, not devoid of interest and excitement. + +During a blizzard which descended on the evening of the 20th, Zip and +Sweep disappeared and on the 21st, a search on the glacier having been +in vain, Dovers and Hoadley made their way down to the floe. They found +Zip well and hearty in spite of having had a drop of at least forty feet +off the glacier. A further search for Sweep proved fruitless. We +were forced to conclude that he was either killed by falling over the +precipice or he had gone far away hunting for penguins. + +The regular blizzard immured us on May 22, 23 and 24; the wind at +times of terrific force, approaching one hundred miles per hour. It was +impossible to secure meteorological observations or to feed the dogs +until noon on the 24th. Moyes and I went out during a slight cessation +and, with the aid of a rope from the trap-door, managed to find the +dogs, and gave them some biscuits. The drift was then so thick that six +feet was as far as one could see. + +We did not forget Empire Day and duly "spliced the mainbrace." The most +bigoted teetotaller could not call us an intemperate party. On each +Saturday night, one drink per man was served out, the popular toast +being "Sweethearts and Wives." The only other convivial meetings of our +small symposium were on the birthdays of each member, Midwinter's Day +and King's Birthday. + +On the 25th we were able to make an inventory of a whole series of +damages effected outside. The dogs' shelter had entirely carried away; +a short mast which had been erected some weeks previously as a holdfast +for sledges was snapped off short and the sledges buried, and, worst of +all, Kennedy's igloo had parted with its roof, the interior being filled +with snow, underneath which the instruments were buried. The dogs were, +however, all quite well and lively. It was fortunate for them that the +temperature always rose during the blizzards. At this period, when on +fine days it was usual to experience -25 degrees to-37 degrees F., the +temperature rose in the snowstorms to 25 degrees or even 30 degrees F. + +Monday the 27th was beautifully clear. The tunnel entrance was opened +and some of the party brought in ice while others undid the rope +lashings which had been placed over the hut. This was so compactly +covered in snow that the lashings were not required and I wanted to make +a rope ladder to enable us to get down to the sea-ice and also to be +used by Watson and Hoadley, who were about to dig a shaft in the glacier +to examine the structure of the ice. + +Fine weather continued until June 2. During this time we were occupied +in digging a road from the glacier down to the sea-ice in the forenoons +and hunting for seals or skiing in the afternoons. Kennedy and Harrisson +rebuilt the magnetic igloo. A seal-hole was eventually found near the +foot of the glacier and this was enlarged to enable the seals to come +up. + +At the end of May, daylight lasted from 9 A.M. until 3 P.M., and the +sunrise and sunset were a marvel of exquisite colour. The nightly +displays of aurora australis were not very brilliant as the moon was +nearing the full. + +On the days of blizzards, there was usually sufficient work to be found +to keep us all employed. Thus on June 2, Watson and I were making a +ladder, Jones was contriving a harpoon for seals, Hoadley was opening +cases and stowing stores in the veranda, Dovers cleaning tools, Moyes +repairing a thermograph and writing up the meteorological log, Harrisson +cooking and Kennedy sleeping after a night-watch. + +Between June 4 and 22 there was a remarkably fine spell. It was not calm +all the time, as drift flew for a few days, limiting the horizon to a +few hundred yards. An igloo was built as a shelter for those sinking the +geological shaft, and seal-hunting was a daily recreation. On June 9, +Dovers and Watson found a Weddell seal two and a half miles to the west +on the sea-ice. They killed the animal but did not cut it up as there +were sores on the skin. Jones went over with them afterwards and +pronounced the sores to be wounds received from some other animal, so +the meat was considered innocuous and fifty pounds were brought in, +being very welcome after tinned foods. Jones took culture tubes with him +and made smears for bacteria. The tubes were placed in an incubator +and several kinds of organisms grew, very similar to those which infect +wounds in ordinary climates. + +The snowstorms had by this time built up huge drifts under the lee of +the ice-cliffs, some of them more than fifty feet in height and reaching +almost to the top of the ice-shelf. An exhilarating sport was to ski +down these ramps. The majority of them were very steep and irregular +and it was seldom that any of us escaped without a fall at one time or +another. Several of the party were thrown from thirty to forty feet, +and, frequently enough, over twenty feet, without being hurt. The only +accident serious enough to disable any one happened to Kennedy on June +19, when he twisted his knee and was laid up for a week. + +There were many fine displays of the aurora in June, the best being +observed on the evening of the 18th. Curtains and streamers were showing +from four o'clock in the afternoon. Shortly after midnight, Kennedy, who +was taking magnetic observations, called me to see the most remarkable +exhibition I have so far seen. There was a double curtain 30 degrees +wide unfolded from the eastern horizon through the zenith, with waves +shimmering along it so rapidly that they travelled the whole length of +the curtain in two seconds. The colouring was brilliant and evanescent. +When the waves reached the end of the curtain they spread out to +the north and rolled in a voluminous billow slowly back to the east. +Kennedy's instruments showed that a very great magnetic disturbance +was in progress during the auroral displays, and particularly on this +occasion. + +Hoadley and Watson set up a line of bamboos, a quarter of a mile +apart and three miles long, on the 20th, and from thence onwards took +measurements for snowfall every fortnight. + +On Midwinter's Day the temperature ranged from -38 degrees F. to -25 +degrees F. and daylight lasted from 10 A.M. until 4 P.M. We proclaimed a +universal holiday throughout Queen Mary Land. Being Saturday, there were +a few necessary jobs to be done, but all were finished by 11 A.M. The +morning was fine and several of us went down to the floe for skiing, but +after twelve o'clock the sky became overcast and the light was dimmed. +A strong breeze brought along a trail of drift, and at 6 P.M. a heavy +blizzard was in full career. Inside, the hut was decorated with flags +and a savoury dinner was in the throes of preparation. To make the +repast still more appetising, Harrisson, Hoadley and Dovers devised some +very pretty and clever menus. Speeches, toasts and a gramophone concert +made the evening pass quickly and enjoyably. + +From this time dated our preparations for spring sledging, which I +hoped would commence about August 15. Jones made some experiments with +"glaxo," of which we had a generous supply. His aim was to make biscuits +which would be suitable for sledging, and, after several failures, he +succeeded in compressing with a steel die a firm biscuit of glaxo and +butter mixed, three ounces of which was the equivalent in theoretical +food value to four and a half ounces of plasmon biscuit; thereby +affording a pleasant variety in the usual ration. + +July came in quietly, though it was dull and cloudy, and we were able to +get out on the first two days for work and exercise. On the 2nd a +very fine effect was caused by the sun shining through myriads of +fog-crystals which a light northerly breeze had brought down from the +sea. The sun, which was barely clear of the horizon, was itself a deep +red, on either side and above it was a red mock sun and a rainbow-tinted +halo connected the three mock suns. + +On the 5th and 6th the wind blew a terrific hurricane (judged to reach +a velocity of one hundred miles per hour) and, had we not known that +nothing short of an earthquake could move the hut, we should have been +very uneasy. + +All were now busy making food-bags, opening and breaking up pemmican +and emergency rations, grinding biscuits, attending to personal gear and +doing odd jobs many and various. + +In addition to recreations like chess, cards and dominoes, a competition +was started for each member to write a poem and short article, humorous +or otherwise, connected with the Expedition. These were all read by the +authors after dinner one evening and caused considerable amusement. +One man even preferred to sing his poem. These literary efforts were +incorporated in a small publication known as "The Glacier Tongue." + +Watson and Hoadley put in a good deal of time digging their shaft in the +glacier. As a roofed shelter had been built over the top, they were able +to work in all but the very worst weather. While the rest of us were +fitting sledges on the 17th and 18th, they succeeded in getting down to +a level of twenty-one feet below the surface of the shelf-ice. + +Sandow, the leader of the dogs, disappeared on the 18th. Zip, who had +been missed for two days, returned, but Sandow never came back, being +killed, doubtless, by a fall of snow from the cliffs. All along the edge +of the ice-shelf were snow cornices, some weighing hundreds of tons; and +these often broke away, collapsing with a thunderous sound. On July 31, +Harrisson and Watson had a narrow escape. After finishing their day's +work, they climbed down to the floe by a huge cornice and sloping ramp. +A few seconds later, the cornice fell and an immense mass of hard snow +crashed down, cracking the sea-ice for more than a hundred yards around. + +July had been an inclement month with three really fine and eight +tolerable days. In comparison with June's, which was -14.5 degrees F., +the mean temperature of July was high at -1.5 degrees F. and the early +half of August was little better. + +Sunday August 11 was rather an eventful day. Dovers and I went out +in the wind to attend to the dogs and clear the chimney and, upon +our return, found the others just recovering from rather an exciting +accident. Jones had been charging the acetylene generators and by some +means one of them caught fire. For a while there was the danger of a +general conflagration and explosion, as the gas-tank was floating in +kerosene. Throwing water over everything would have made matters +worse, so blankets were used to smother the flames. As this failed to +extinguish them, the whole plant was pulled down and carried into the +tunnel, where the fire was at last put out. The damage amounted to two +blankets singed and dirtied, Jones's face scorched and hair singed, and +Kennedy, one finger jammed. It was a fortunate escape from a calamity. + +A large capsized berg had been noticed for some time, eleven miles to +the north. On the 14th, Harrisson, Dovers, Hoadley and Watson took +three days' provisions and equipment and went off to examine it. A brief +account is extracted from Harrisson's diary: + +"It was a particularly fine, mild morning; we made good progress, three +dogs dragging the loaded sledge over the smooth floe without difficulty, +requiring assistance only when crossing banks of soft snow. One and a +half miles from 'The Steps,' we saw the footprints of a penguin. + +"Following the cliffs of the shelf-ice for six and three quarter miles, +we sighted a Weddell seal sleeping on a drift of snow. Killing the +animal, cutting off the meat and burying it in the drift delayed us for +about one hour. Continuing our journey under a fine bluff, over floe-ice +much cracked by tide-pressure, we crossed a small bay cutting wedge-like +into the glacier and camped on its far side. + +"After our midday meal we walked to the berg three miles away. When seen +on June 28, this berg was tilted to the north-east, but the opposite +end, apparently in contact with the ice-cliffs, had lifted higher than +the glacier-shelf itself. From a distance it could be seen that the +sides, for half their height, were wave-worn and smooth. Three or four +acres of environing floe were buckled, ploughed up and in places heaped +twenty feet high, while several large fragments of the broken floe were +poised aloft on the old 'water-line' of the berg. + +"However, on this visit, we found that the berg had turned completely +over towards the cliffs and was now floating on its side surrounded by +large separate chunks; all locked fast in the floe. In what had been the +bottom of the berg Hoadley and Watson made an interesting find of stones +and pebbles--the first found in this dead land! + +"Leaving them collecting, I climbed the pitted wave-worn ice, brittle +and badly cracked on the higher part. The highest point was fifty feet +above the level of the top of the shelf-ice. There was no sign of open +water to the north, but a few seals were observed sleeping under the +cliffs." + +Next morning the weather thickened and the wind arose, so a start +was made for the Base. All that day the party groped along in the +comparative shelter of the cliff-face until forced to camp. It was not +till the next afternoon in moderate drift that a pair of skis which had +been left at the foot of 'The Steps' were located and the hut reached +once again. + +After lunch on August 11, while we were excavating some buried kerosene, +Jones sighted a group of seven Emperor penguins two miles away over the +western floe. Taking a sledge and camera we made after them. A mile off, +they saw us and advanced with their usual stately bows. It seemed an +awful shame to kill them, but we were sorely in need of fresh meat. The +four we secured averaged seventy pounds in weight and were a heavy load +up the steep rise to the glacier; but our reward came at dinner-time. + +With several fine days to give us confidence, everything was made ready +for the sledge journey on August 20. The party was to consist of six men +and three dogs, the object of the journey being to lay out a food-depot +to the east in view of the long summer journey we were to make in that +direction. Hoadley and Kennedy were to remain at the Base, the former +to finish the geological shaft and the latter for magnetic work. There +remained also a good deal to do preparing stores for later sledge +journeys. + +The load was to be one thousand four hundred and forty pounds +distributed over three sledges; two hundred pounds heavier than on the +March Journey, but as the dogs pulled one sledge, the actual weight per +man was less. + +The rations were almost precisely the same as those used by Shackleton +during his Expedition, and the daily allowance was exactly the +same--thirty-four ounces per man per day. For his one ounce of oatmeal, +the same weighs of ground biscuit was substituted; the food value being +the same. On the second depot journey and the main summer journeys, a +three-ounce glaxo biscuit was used in place of four and a half ounces of +plasmon biscuit. Instead of taking cheese and chocolate as the luncheon +ration, I took chocolate alone, as on Shackleton's southern journey it +was found more satisfactory than the cheese, though the food value was +practically the same. + +The sledging equipment and clothing were identical with that used by +Shackleton. Jaeger fleece combination suits were included in the outfit +but, though excellent garments for work at the Base, they were much too +heavy for sledging. We therefore wore Jaeger underclothing and burberry +wind clothing as overalls. + +The weather was not propitious for a start until Thursday, August 22. +We turned out at 5.30 A.M., had breakfast, packed up and left the Hut at +seven o'clock. + +After two good days' work under a magnificently clear sky, with the +temperature often as low as -34 degrees F., we sighted two small +nunataks among a cluster of pressure-ridges, eight miles to the south. +It was the first land, in the sense of rocks, seen for more than seven +months. We hoped to visit the outcrops--Gillies Nunataks--on our return. + +The course next day was due east and parallel to the mainland, then ten +miles distant. To the north was Masson Island, while at about the same +distance and ahead was a smaller island, entirely ice-covered like the +former--Henderson Island. + +A blizzard of three days' duration kept us in camp between August 27 and +30. Jones, Moyes and I had a three-man sleeping-bag, and the temperature +being high, 11 degrees to 15 degrees F., we were very warm, but +thoroughly tired of lying down for so long. Harrisson, Dovers and Watson +had single bags and therefore less room in the other tent. + +The last day of August was beautifully bright: temperature -12 degrees +to -15 degrees F. We passed Henderson Island in the forenoon, +and, hauling up a rise to the south of it, had a good view of the +surroundings. On the right, the land ran back to form a large bay, +seventeen miles wide. This was later named the Bay of Winds, as a "blow" +was always encountered while crossing it. + +In the centre of the bay was a nunatak, which from its shape at once +received the name of the Alligator. In front, apparently fifteen miles +off, was another nunatak, the Hippo, and four definite outcrops--Delay +Point and Avalanche Rocks--could be seen along the mainland. The sight +of this bare rock was very pleasing, as we had begun to think we were +going to find nothing but ice-sheathed land. Dovers took a round of +angles to all the prominent points. + +The Hippo was twenty-two miles away, so deceptive is distance in these +latitudes; and in one and a half days, over very heavy sastrugi, we were +in its vicinity. The sledges could not be brought very near the rock as +it was surrounded by massive ridges of pressure-ice. + +We climbed to the top of the nunatak which was four hundred and twenty +feet high, four hundred yards long and two hundred yards wide. It was +composed of gneissic granite and schists. Dovers took angles from an +eminence, Watson collected geological specimens and Harrisson sketched +until his fingers were frost-bitten. Moss and lichens were found and a +dead snow petrel--a young one--showing that the birds must breed in the +vicinity. + +To the south, the glacier shelf appeared to be very little broken, +but to the north it was terribly torn and twisted. At each end of the +nunatak there was a very fine bergschrund.** Twenty miles to the east +there appeared to be an uncovered rocky islet; the mainland turning +to the southward twelve miles away. During the night the minimum +thermometer registered -47 degrees F. + + + ** The term not used in the usual sense. Referring to a wide, +imposing crevasse caused by the division of the ice as it presses past +the nunatak.--ED. + +An attempt to get away next morning was frustrated by a strong gale. We +were two hundred yards from the shelter of the Hippo and were forced to +turn back, since it was difficult to keep one's feet, while the sledges +were blown sideways over the neve surface. + +I resolved to leave the depot in this place and return to the Base, +for our sleeping-bags were getting very wet and none of the party were +having sufficient sleep. We were eighty-four miles from the hut; I had +hoped to do one hundred miles, but we could make up for that by starting +the summer journey a few days earlier. One sledge was left here as well +as six weeks' allowance of food for three men, except tea, of which +there was sufficient for fifty days, seventy days oil and seventy-eight +days' biscuit. The sledge was placed on end in a hole three feet deep +and a mound built up around it, six feet high; a bamboo and flag being +lashed to the top. + +On September 4 we were homeward bound, heading first to the mainland +leaving Delay Point on our left, to examine some of the outcrops of +rock. Reaching the coast about 3 P.M., camp was shortly afterwards +pitched in a most beautiful spot. A wall of solid rock rose sheer for +over four hundred feet and was crowned by an ice-cap half the thickness. +Grand ice-falls surged down on either side. + +The tents were erected in what appeared to be a sheltered hollow, a +quarter of a mile from Avalanche Rocks. One tent was up and we were +setting the other in position when the wind suddenly veered right round +to the east and flattened out both tents. It was almost as humorous as +annoying. They were soon raised up once more, facing the other way. + +While preparing for bed, a tremendous avalanche came down. The noise +was awful and seemed so close that we all turned to the door and started +out. The fastening of the entrance was knotted, the people from the +other tent were yelling to us to come out, so we dragged up the bottom +of the tent and dived beneath it. + +The cliff was entirely hidden by a cloud of snow, and, though +the crashing had now almost ceased, we stood ready to run, Dovers +thoughtfully seizing a food-bag. However, none of the blocks had come +within a hundred yards of us, and as it was now blowing hard, all hands +elected to remain where they were. + +Several more avalanches, which had broken away near the edge of the +mainland, disturbed our sleep through the night, but they were not quite +so alarming as the first one. A strong breeze was blowing at daybreak; +still the weather was not too bad for travelling, and so I called the +party. Moyes and I lashed up our bags, passed them out and strapped them +on the sledge; Jones, in the meantime, starting the cooker. Suddenly a +terrific squall struck the front of our tent, the poles burst through +the apex, and the material split from top to bottom. + +Moyes and I were both knocked down. When we found our feet again, we +went to the aid of the other men, whose tent had survived the gust. The +wind rushed by more madly than ever, and the only thing to do was to +pull away the poles and allow the tent to collapse. + +Looking around for a lee where it could be raised, we found the only +available shelter to be a crevasse three hundred yards to windward, but +the wind was now so strong that it was impossible to convey the gear +even to such a short distance. All were frequently upset and blown along +the surface twenty or thirty yards, and, even with an ice-axe, one could +not always hold his own. The only resort was to dig a shelter. + +Setting to work, we excavated a hole three feet deep, twelve feet long +and six feet wide; the snow being so compact that the job occupied three +hours. The sledges and tent-poles were placed across the hole, the good +tent being laid on top and weighted down with snow and blocks of ice. +All this sounds very easy, but it was a slow and difficult task. Many +of the gusts must have exceeded one hundred miles per hour, since one of +them lifted Harrisson who was standing beside me, clean over my head and +threw him nearly twenty feet. Everything movable was stowed in the +hole, and at noon we had a meal and retired into sleeping-bags. At three +o'clock a weighty avalanche descended, its fearful crash resounding +above the roar of the wind. I have never found anything which gave me a +more uncomfortable feeling than those avalanches. + +The gale continued on September 6, and we still remained packed in the +trench. If the latter had been deeper and it had been possible to sit +upright, we should have been quite comfortable. To make matters worse, +several more avalanches came down, and all of them sounded horribly +close. + +We were confined in our burrow for five days, the wind continuing +to blow with merciless force. Through being closed up so much, the +temperature of the hole rose above freezing-point, consequently our +sleeping-bags and clothes became very wet. + +On Sunday September 8, Moyes went out to feed the dogs and to bring in +some biscuit. He found a strong gusty wind with falling snow, and drift +so thick that he could not see five yards. We had a cold lunch with +nothing to drink, so that the primus should not raise the temperature. +In the evening we sang hymns and between us managed to remember the +words of at least a dozen. + +The long confinement was over on the 10th; the sky was blue and the sun +brilliant, though the wind still pulsated with racking gusts. As soon +as we were on the ice, away from the land, two men had to hold on to the +rear of each sledge, and even then capsizes often occurred. The sledge +would turn and slide broadside-on to leeward, tearing the runners badly +on the rough ice. Still, by 9.30 A.M. the surface changed to snow and +the travelling improved. That night we camped with twenty miles one +hundred yards on the meter. + +There was a cold blizzard on the 11th with a temperature of -30 degrees +F. Confined in the tents, we found our sleeping-bags still sodden and +uncomfortable. + +With a strong beam wind and in moderate drift big marches were made for +two days, during which the compass and sastrugi determined our course. + +My diary of September 14 runs as follows: + +"On the march at 7 A.M.; by noon we had done twelve miles one thousand +five hundred yards. Lunch was hurried, as we were all anxious to get to +the hut to-night, especially we in the three-man bag, as it got so wet +while we were living underground that we have had very little sleep and +plenty of shivering for the last four nights. Last night I had no sleep +at all. By some means, in the afternoon, we got on the wrong course. +Either the compass was affected or a mistake had been made in some of +the bearings, as instead of reaching home by 5 P.M. we were travelling +till 8 P.M. and have done thirty-two miles one thousand one hundred +yards. Light loads, good surface and a fair wind account for the good +travelling, the sail doing almost all the work on the man-hauled sledge. + +"The last two hours we were in the dark, except for a young moon, +amongst a lot of crevasses and pressure-ridges which none of us could +recognize. At one time, we found ourselves on a slope within a dozen +yards of the edge of the glacier; this decided me to camp. Awfully +disappointing; anticipating another wretched night. Temperature-35 +degrees F." + +Next day we reached home. The last camp had been four and a half miles +north of the hut. I found that we had gone wrong through using 149 +degrees as the bearing of Masson Island from the Base, when it should +have been 139 degrees. I believe it was my own mistake, as I gave the +bearing to Dovers and he is very careful. + +Before having a meal, we were all weighed and found the average loss to +be eight pounds. In the evening, Moyes and I weighed ourselves again; he +had gained seven pounds and I five and three-quarter pounds. + +Comparing notes with Hoadley and Kennedy, I found that the weather at +the Base had been similar to that experienced on the sledging journey. + +It was now arranged that Jones was to take charge of the main western +journey in the summer. While looking for a landing-place in the +'Aurora', we had noted to the west an expanse of old, fast floe, +extending for at least fifty miles. The idea was for Jones and party +to march along this floe and lay a depot on the land as far west as was +possible in four weeks. The party included Dovers, Harrisson, Hoadley +and Moyes. They were to be assisted by the dogs. + +It was my intention to take Kennedy and Watson up to the depot we had +left on the hills in March, bringing back the minimum thermometer and +probably some of the food. Watson was slightly lame at the time, as he +had bruised his foot on the last trip. + +Until Jones made a start on September 26, there were ten days of almost +continuous wind and drift. The equinox may have accounted for this +prolonged period of atrocious weather. No time, however, was wasted +indoors. Weighing and bagging food, repairing tents, poles, cookers and +other gear damaged on the last journey and sewing and mending clothes +gave every man plenty of employment. + +At 6 A.M. on the 26th, Jones reported that there was only a little low +drift and that the wind was dying away. All hands were therefore called +and breakfast served. + +Watson, Kennedy and I assisted the others down to the sea-ice by a long +sloping snow-drift and saw them off to a good start in a south-westerly +direction. We found that the heavy sledge used for carrying ice had been +blown more then five hundred yards to the edge of the glacier, capsized +among the rough pressure-slabs and broken. Two heavy boxes which were on +the sledge had disappeared altogether. + +The rest of the day was devoted to clearing stores out of the tunnels. +It was evident to us that with the advent of warmer weather, the roof +of the caves or grottoes (by the way, the hut received the name of +"The Grottoes") would sink, and so it was advisable to repack the cases +outside rather than dig them out of the deep snow. By 6 P.M. nearly two +hundred boxes were passed up through the trap-door and the caverns were +all empty. + +After two days of blizzard, Watson, Kennedy and I broke trail with loads +of one hundred and seventy pounds per man. Right from the start the +surface was so soft that pulling became very severe. On the first day, +September 29, we managed to travel more than nine miles, but during +the next six days the snow became deeper and more impassable, and only +nineteen miles were covered. Crevasses were mostly invisible, and on the +slope upwards to the ice-cap more troublesome than usual. The weather +kept up its invariable wind and drift. Finally, after making laborious +headway to two thousand feet, Kennedy strained his Achilles tendon and I +decided to return to "The Grottoes." + +At 2 P.M. on October 8, the mast was sighted and we climbed down +into the Hut, finding it very cold, empty and dark. The sun had +shone powerfully that day and Kennedy and Watson had a touch of +snow-blindness. + +Two weeks went by and there was no sign of the western depot party. In +fact, out of sixteen days, there were thirteen of thick drift and high +wind, so that our sympathies went out to the men in tents with soaking +bags, waiting patiently for a rift in the driving wall of snow. On +October 23 they had been away for four weeks; provisions for that time +having been taken. I had no doubt that they would be on reduced rations, +and, if the worst came, they could eat the dogs. + +During a lull on October 24, I went to the masthead with the +field-glasses but saw nothing of the party. On that day we weighed out +provisions and made ready to go in search of them. It was my intention +to go on the outward track for a week. I wrote instructions to Jones to +hoist a large flag on the mast, and to burn flares each night at 10 P.M. +if he should return while I was away. + +There was a fresh gale with blinding drift early on the following +morning; so we postponed the start. At 4 P.M. the wind subsided to +a strong breeze and I again went up the mast to sweep the horizon. +Westward from an icy cape to the south a gale was still blowing and a +heavy cloud of drift, fifty to sixty feet high, obscured everything. + +An hour later Watson saw three Adelie penguins approaching across the +floe and we went down to meet them, bringing them in for the larder. +Four Antarctic petrels flew above our heads: a sign of returning summer +which was very cheering. + +The previous night had promised a fine day and we were not disappointed +on October 26. A sledge was packed with fourteen days' provisions for +eight men and we started away on a search expedition at 10 A.M. + +After doing a little over nine miles we camped at 5.30 P.M. Before +retiring to bag, I had a last look round and was delighted to see Jones +and his party about a mile to the south. It was now getting dark and we +were within two hundred yards of them before being seen, and, as they +were to windward, they could not hear our shouts. It was splendid +to find them all looking well. They were anxious to get back to "The +Grottoes," considering there was only one serviceable tent between them. +Kennedy and I offered to change with any of them but, being too eager +for warm blankets and a good bed, they trudged on, arriving at the Base +at midnight. + +Briefly told, their story was that they were stopped in their westerly +march, when forty-five miles had been covered, by a badly broken +glacier--Helen Glacier--on the far side of which there was open sea. +There was only one thing to do and that was to set out for the mainland +by a course so circuitous that they were brought a long way eastward, +back towards "The Grottoes." They had very rough travelling, bad +weather, and were beset with many difficulties in mounting on to the +land-ice, where the depot had to be placed. Their distance from the +Base at this point was only twenty-eight miles and the altitude was one +thousand feet above sea-level. On the ice-cap they were delayed by a +blizzard and for seventeen days--an unexampled time--they were unable to +move from camp. One tent collapsed and the occupants, Jones, Dovers and +Hoadley, had to dig a hole in the snow and lower the tent into it. + +These are a few snatches from Jones's diary: + +"The next sixteen days (following Wednesday, October 9) were spent at +this camp.... Harrisson and Moyes occupied one tent and Dovers, Hoadley +and myself the other. + +"On Saturday, the third day of the blizzard, the wind which had been +blowing steadily from the east-south-east veered almost to east and the +tents commenced to flog terrifically. This change must have occurred +early in the night, for we awoke at 5 A.M. to find clouds of snow +blowing under the skirt on one side: the heavy pile on the flounce +having been cut away by the wind. As it would have been impossible to do +anything outside, we pulled the tent poles together and allowed the tent +to collapse. The rest of the day was spent in confined quarters, eating +dry rations and melting snow in our mugs by the warmth of our bodies.... +Although Harrisson and Moyes were no more than twenty feet from us, the +noise of the gale and the flogging of our tents rendered communication +impossible. + +"The terrible flapping at last caused one of the seams of our tent to +tear; we sewed it as well as we were able and hoped that it would hold +till daylight. + +"On Monday morning, the same seam again parted and we decided to let the +tent down again, spending the day in a half-reclining position.... + +"At 6.30 P.M. the gale eased and, during a comparative lull, Moyes came +out to feed the dogs. Noticing our position, he helped us to re-erect +the tent and Dovers then went out and piled snow over the torn seam. +Moyes said that Harrisson and he had been fairly comfortable, although +the cap of their tent was slowly tearing with the pressure of the wind +and snow on the weather panels.... + +"On Friday, the 18th, Swiss, one of the dogs, returned very thin after +six days' absence from the camp. + +"On the following Monday the blizzard moderated somewhat and we +proceeded to make our quarters more roomy by digging out the floor and +undercutting the sides, thus lowering the level about eighteen inches. + +"Our tent now looks as if it were half blown over. To relieve the +tremendous strain on the cap, we lowered the feet of the two lee poles +on to the new floor. The tent now offered very little resistance to the +wind. We were able to communicate with Harrisson and Moyes and they said +they were all right." + +When the snow and wind at last held up, they immediately made down +to the sea-ice and back towards home, and, when they met us, had done +nineteen miles. All were stiff next day, and no wonder; a march +of twenty-eight miles after lying low for seventeen days is a very +strenuous day's work. + +Preparations were made on October 28 for the main eastern summer +journey, the object of which was to survey as much coast-line as +possible and at the same time to carry on geological work, surveying and +magnetics. The party was to consist of Kennedy, Watson and myself. + +Jones, Dovers and Hoadley were to start on the main western journey on +November 2. I arranged that Harrisson and Moyes should remain at the +Hut, the latter to carry on meteorological work, and Harrisson biology +and sketching. Later, Harrisson proposed to accompany me as far as the +Hippo depot, bringing the dogs and providing a supporting party. At +first I did not like the idea, as he would have to travel one hundred +miles alone, but he showed me that he could erect a tent by himself +and, as summer and better weather were in sight, I agreed that he should +come. + +Each party was taking fourteen weeks' provisions, and I had an +additional four weeks' supply for Harrisson and the dogs. My total load +came to nine hundred and seventy pounds; the dogs pulling four hundred +pounds with the assistance of one man and three of us dragging five +hundred and seventy pounds. + + + +CHAPTER XXI THE WESTERN BASE--BLOCKED ON THE SHELF-ICE + +by F. Wild + + +We started away on the main eastern journey with a spurt of eleven miles +on a calm and cloudless day, intending to follow our former track over +the shelf-ice to the Hippo Nunatak. The surface varied; soft patches +putting a steady brake on the ardour of the first, fresh hours of +marching. + +In the afternoon, it was only necessary to wear a shirt, singlet, heavy +pyjama trousers, finnesko and socks, and even then one perspired freely. +The temperature stood at 17 degrees F. The dogs pulled their load well, +requiring help only over loose snow. + +The evening of Friday November 1, 1912, saw us past Masson Island +and about ten miles from the mainland. All day there had been a chill +easterly breeze, the temperature being well below zero. The sky was hazy +with cirro-stratus and a fine halo "ringed" the sun. + +Looking out from the tent in the morning we saw that the clouds were +dense and lowering, but the breezes were light and variable until 5 +P.M., when an east-north-east wind arose, bringing snow in its train. +Travelling through foggy drift, we could just ascertain that the Bay +of Winds had opened up on the right. The day's march was a good one of +sixteen miles thirty-five yards. + +The Bay of Winds did not belie its name. Throughout November 3 the +wind veered about in gusts and after lunch settled down to a hard +south-easter. + +We had made a good start; more than sixty-two miles in a little over +four days. The camp was half-way across the Bay of Winds, with the +Alligator Nunatak six miles off on the "starboard bow" and the Rock of +the Avalanches seventeen miles straight ahead. Passing glimpses were +caught of the Hippo twenty-four miles distant. + +On November 5, after a day's blizzard, there was much accumulated snow +to shovel away from tents and sledges. Finding the hauling very +arduous, we headed in for the land to find a better surface, passing the +Alligator Nunatak close on its southern side. + +At noon on the 6th, the sledges were running parallel to the Rock of +the Avalanches, three miles away, and soon afterwards we came to a large +boulder; one of four in a line from the rock-cliffs, from which they had +been evidently transported, as they were composed of the same gneiss. + +The Hippo was close at hand at four o'clock and, on nearing the +shattered ice about the depot, we released the dogs and pulled the +sledge ourselves. On being freed, they galloped over to the rock and +were absent for over an hour. When they returned, Amundsen's head was +daubed with egg-yolk, as we thought. This was most probable as scores of +snow petrels were flying about the rocks. + +A nasty shock was awaiting us at the depot. The sledge, which had been +left on end, two feet buried in hard snow and with a mound six feet high +built round it, had been blown completely away. The stays, secured to +foodbags, were both broken; one food-bag weighing sixty-eight pounds +having been lifted ten feet. This was a very serious loss as the total +load to be carried now amounted to one thousand one hundred and eighty +pounds, which was too great a weight to be supported by one sledge. + +It appeared, then, that the only thing to do was to include Harrisson in +the party, so that we could have his sledge. This would facilitate our +progress considerably, but against that was the fact that Moyes would be +left alone at the Base under the belief that Harrisson had perished. + +A gale was blowing on the 7th, but as we were partly under the lee of +the Hippo, it was only felt in gusts. A visit was made to the Nunatak; +Harrisson to examine the birds, Watson for geology and photography, +while I climbed to the summit with the field-glasses to look for +the missing sledge. Kennedy remained at the camp to take a series of +magnetic observations. + +There were hundreds of snow petrels pairing off, but no eggs were seen +in any of the nest-crevices. They were so tame that it was quite easy +to catch them, but they had a habit of ejecting their partially digested +food, a yellow oily mess, straight at one. This was the stuff we had +thought was egg-yolk on Amundsen's head the previous night. + +Upon returning to camp, the search for the sledge was continued. After +prospecting with a spade in possible snow-drifts and crevasse-lids, we +walked out fanwise, in the direction of the prevailing wind, but with no +result. I decided, therefore, to take Harrisson with me. I was extremely +sorry for Moyes, but it could not be helped. + +On the way back towards the land to the south, we found that the surface +had improved in the morning's gale. Camp was finally pitched on a slope +close to the high land. + +The coast, from the Base to this spot--Delay Point--runs almost due east +and west and with no deep indentations except the Bay of Winds. To the +west, the slope from the inland plateau is fairly gradual and therefore +not badly broken, but still farther west it is much steeper, coming +down from two thousand feet in a very short distance, over tumbling +ice-fields and frozen cascades. Several outcrops of dark rock lay to the +east, one of them only two miles away. + +The wind-velocity fluctuated between sixty and eighty miles per hour, +keeping us securely penned. Harrisson and Kennedy, after battling their +way to our tent for a meal, used the second primus and cooker, brought +for Harrisson, in their own tent. All we could do was to smoke and +listen to the fierce squalls and lashing drift. I had brought nothing to +read on the trip, making up the weight in tobacco. Watson had Palgrave's +'Golden Lyrics', Kennedy, an engineer's hand-book, and Harrisson, a +portion of the 'Reign of Mary Tudor'. There was a tiny pack of patience +cards, but they were in the instrument-box on the sledge and none of us +cared to face the gale to get them. + +The wind, on the 10th, saw fit to moderate to half a gale; the drift +creeping low and thick over the ground; the land visible above it. +Donning burberrys, we made an excursion to the rocks ahead. Two miles +and a climb of six hundred feet were rather exhausting in the strong +wind. There were about eighty acres of rock exposed on the edge of the +ice-cap, mainly composed of mica schists and some granite; the whole +extensively weathered. A line of moraine ran from the rocks away in an +east-north-east direction. + +Most of the next day was broken by a heavy gale and, since the prospect +ahead was nothing but bare, rough ice, we passed the day in making +everything ready for a start and repaired a torn tent. The rent was made +by Amundsen, who dragged up the ice-axe to which he was tethered and, in +running round the tent, drove the point of the axe through it, narrowly +missing Kennedy's head inside. + +Tuesday November 12 was an interesting day. The greater part of the +track was over rippled, level ice, thrown into many billows, through +devious pressure-hummocks and between the inevitable crevasses. The +coast was a kaleidoscope of sable rocks, blue cascades, and fissured +ice-falls. Fifteen miles ahead stood an island twenty miles long, rising +in bare peaks and dark knolls. This was eventually named David Island. + +The dogs were working very well and, if only a little additional food +could be procured for them, I knew they could be kept alive. Zip broke +loose one night and ate one of my socks which was hanging on the sledge +to dry; it probably tasted of seal blubber from the boots. Switzerland, +too, was rather a bother, eating his harness whenever he had a chance. + +On the 14th, a depot was formed, consisting of one week's provisions +and oil; the bags being buried and a mound erected with a flag on top. +Kennedy took a round of angles to determine its position. + +At the end of two snowy days, after we had avoided many ugly crevasses, +our course in an east-south-east line pointed to a narrow strait between +David Island and the mainland. On the southern side of the former, there +was a heaped line of pressure-ice, caused by the flow from a narrow +bay being stopped by the Island. After lunch, on the 16th, there was an +hour's good travelling and then we suddenly pulled into a half-mile of +broken surface--the confluence of the slowly moving land-ice and of the +more rapidly moving ice from a valley on our right, from which issued +Reid Glacier. It was impossible to steer the dogs through it with a +load, so we lightened the loads on both sledges and then made several +journeys backwards and forwards over the more broken areas, allowing the +dogs to run loose. The crevasses ran tortuously in every direction +and falls into them were not uncommon. One large lid fell in just as a +sledge had cleared it, leaving a hole twelve feet wide, and at least a +hundred feet deep. Once over this zone, the sledges were worked along +the slope leading to the mainland where we were continually worried by +their slipping sideways. + +Ahead was a vast sea of crushed ice, tossed and piled in every +direction. On the northern horizon rose what we concluded to be a +flat-topped, castellated berg. Ten days later, it resolved itself into a +tract of heavy pressure ridges. + +Camping after nine and a half miles, we were surprised, on moving +east in the morning, to sight clearly the point--Cape Gerlache--of +a peninsula running inland to the southwest. A glacier from the +hinterland, pushing out from its valley, had broken up the shelf-ice on +which we were travelling to such an extent that nothing without wings +could cross it. Our object was to map in the coastline as far east as +possible, and the problem, now, was whether to go north or south. From +our position the former looked the best, the tumbled shelf-ice appearing +to smooth out sufficiently, about ten miles away, to afford a passage +east, while, to the south, we scanned the Denman Glacier, as it was +named, rolling in magnificent cascades, twelve miles in breadth, from a +height of more than three thousand feet. To get round the head of this +ice-stream would mean travelling inland for at least thirty miles. + +So north we went, getting back to our old surface over a heavy "cross +sea," honeycombed with pits and chasms; many of them with no visible +bottom. There was half a mile to safety, but the area had to be crossed +five times; the load on the twelve-foot sledge being so much, that half +the weight was taken off and the empty sledges brought back for the +other half. Last of all came the dogs' sledge. Kennedy remarked during +the afternoon that he felt like a fly walking on wire-netting. + +The camp was pitched in a line of pressure, with wide crevasses and +"hell-holes" within a few yards on every side. Altogether the day's +march had been a miserable four miles. On several occasions, during the +night, while in this disturbed area, sounds of movement were distinctly +heard; cracks like rifle shots and others similar to distant heavy guns, +accompanied by a weird, moaning noise as of the glacier moving over +rocks. + +November 18 was a fine, bright day: temperature 8 degrees to 20 degrees +F. Until lunch, the course was mainly north for more than five miles. +Then I went with Watson to trace out a road through a difficult area +in front. At this point, there broke on us a most rugged and wonderful +vision of ice-scenery. + +The Denman Glacier moving much more rapidly than the Shackleton Shelf, +tore through the latter and, in doing so, shattered both its own sides +and also a considerable area of the larger ice-sheet. At the actual +point of contact was what might be referred to as gigantic bergschrund: +an enormous chasm over one thousand feet wide and from three hundred +feet to four hundred feet deep, in the bottom of which crevasses +appeared to go down for ever. The sides were splintered and crumpled, +glittering in the sunlight with a million sparklets of light. Towering +above were titanic blocks of carven ice. The whole was the wildest, +maddest and yet the grandest thing imaginable. + +The turmoil continued to the north, so I resolved to reconnoitre +westward and see if a passage were visible from the crest of David +Island. + +The excursion was postponed till next day, when Kennedy, Watson and I +roped up and commenced to thread a tangled belt of crevasses. The island +was three and a half miles from the camp, exposing a bare ridge and a +jutting bluff, nine hundred feet high--Watson Bluff. At the Bluff the +rock was almost all gneiss, very much worn by the action of ice. The +face to the summit was so steep and coarsely weathered that we took +risks in climbing it. Moss and lichens grew luxuriantly and scores of +snow petrels hovered around, but no eggs were seen. + +Owing to an overcast sky, the view was not a great deal more +enlightening than that which we had had from below. The Denman +Glacier swept down for forty miles from over three thousand feet above +sea-level. For twenty miles to the east torn ice-masses lay distorted in +confusion, and beyond that, probably sixty miles distant, were several +large stretches of bare rock-like islands. + +On November 20, a strong north-east wind blew, with falling snow. +Nothing could be seen but a white blanket, above, below and all around; +so, with sudden death lurking in the bottomless crevasses on every hand, +we stayed in camp. + +A blizzard of great violence blew for two days and the tent occupied by +Kennedy and myself threatened to collapse. We stowed all our gear in the +sleeping-bags or in a hole from which snow had been dug for cooking. +By the second day we had become extremely tired of lying down. One +consolation was that our lips, which were very sore from exposure to the +sun and wind, had now a chance of healing. + +Next afternoon, the gale moderated sufficiently for us to go once more +to David Island, in clearer weather, to see the outlook from the bluff. +This time the sun was shining on the mainland and on the extension of +the glacier past the bluff to the north. The distant southern slopes +were seamed with a pattern of crevasses up to a height of three thousand +feet. To the north, although the way was certainly impassable for twelve +miles, it appeared to become smoother beyond that limit. We decided to +try and cross in that direction. + +We persevered on the 24th over many lines of pressure-ice and then +camped near an especially rough patch. Watson had the worst fall on that +day, going down ten feet vertically into a crevasse before his harness +stopped him. After supper, we went to locate a trail ahead, and were +greatly surprised to find salt water in some of the cracks. It meant +that in two days our descent had been considerable, since the great +bergschrund farther south was well over three hundred feet in depth and +no water had appeared in its depths. + +A few extracts from the diary recall a situation which daily became more +serious and involved: + +"Monday, November 25. A beautiful day so far as the weather and scenery +are concerned but a very hard one. We have been amongst 'Pressure,' with +a capital P, all day, hauling up and lowering the sledges with an alpine +rope and twisting and turning in all directions, with waves and hills, +monuments, statues, and fairy palaces all around us, from a few feet to +over three hundred feet in height. It is impossible to see more than a +few hundred yards ahead at any time, so we go on for a bit, then climb a +peak or mound, choose a route and struggle on for another short stage. + +"We have all suffered from the sun to-day; Kennedy has caught it worst, +his lips, cheeks, nose and forehead are all blistered. He has auburn +hair and the tender skin which frequently goes with it.... + +"Tuesday, November 26. Another very hard day's work. The first half-mile +took three hours to cover; in several places we had to cut roads with +ice-axes and shovels and also to build a bridge across a water-lead. At +1 P.M. we had done just one mile. I never saw or dreamt of anything +so gloriously beautiful as some of the stuff we have come through this +morning. After lunch the country changed entirely. In place of the +confused jumble and crush we have had, we got on to neve slopes; +huge billows, half a mile to a mile from crest to crest, meshed with +crevasses... + +"We all had falls into these during the day: Harrisson dropping fifteen +feet. I received rather a nasty squeeze through falling into a hole +whilst going downhill, the sledge running on to me before I could get +clear, and pinning me down. So far as we can see, the same kind of +country continues, and one cannot help thinking about having to return +through this infernal mess. The day's distance--only one thousand and +fifty yards. + +"Wednesday, November 27. When I wrote last night about coming back, +I little thought it would be so soon. We turn back to-morrow for the +simple reason that we cannot go on any farther. + +"In the morning, for nearly a mile along a valley running south-east, +the travelling was almost good; then our troubles commenced again. + +"Several times we had to resort to hand-hauling with the alpine rope +through acres of pitfalls. The bridges of those which were covered were +generally very rotten, except the wide ones. Just before lunch we had +a very stiff uphill pull and then a drop into a large basin, +three-quarters of a mile in diameter. + +"The afternoon was spent in vain searching for a road.... On every side +are huge waves split in every direction by crevasses up to two hundred +feet in width. The general trend of the main crevasses is north and +south.... + +"I have, therefore, decided to go back and if possible follow the road +we came by, then proceed south on to the inland ice-cap and find out the +source of this chaos. If we are able to get round it and proceed east, +so much the better; but at any rate, we shall be doing something and +getting somewhere. We could push through farther east from here, but it +would be by lowering the gear piecemeal into chasms fifty to one hundred +feet deep, and hauling it up on the other side; each crevasse taking +at least two hours to negotiate. For such slow progress I don't feel +justified in risking the lives of the party." + +Snow fell for four days, at times thickly, unaccompanied by wind. It was +useless to stir in our precarious position. Being a little in hand in +the ration of biscuits, we fed the dogs on our food, their own having +run out. I was anxious to keep them alive until we were out of the +pressure-ice. + +From this, our turning-point out on the shelf-ice, the trail lay over +eighteen inches of soft snow on December 3, our former tracks, of +course, having been entirely obliterated. The bridged crevasses were now +entirely hidden and many weak lids were found. + +At 9 A.M. Harrisson, Watson and I roped up to mark a course over a very +bad place, leaving Kennedy with the dogs. We had only gone about one +hundred yards when I got a very heavy jerk on the rope and, on looking +round, found that Watson had disappeared. He weighs two hundred pounds +in his clothes and the crevasse into which he had fallen was fifteen +feet wide. He had broken through on the far side and the rope, cutting +through the bridge, stopped in the middle so that he could not reach the +sides to help himself in any way. Kennedy brought another rope over and +threw it down to Watson and we were then able to haul him up, but it was +twenty minutes before he was out. He reappeared smiling, and, except for +a bruise on the shin and the loss of a glove, was no worse for the fall. + +At 2.30 P.M. we were all dead-beat, camping with one mile one thousand +seven hundred yards on the meter. One-third of this distance was relay +work and, in several places, standing pulls with the alpine rope. The +course was a series of Z's, S's, and hairpin turns, the longest straight +stretch one hundred and fifty yards, and the whole knee-deep in soft +snow, the sledges sinking to the cross-bars. + +The 4th was a repetition of the previous day--a terribly hard two and +a half miles. We all had "hangman's drops" into crevasses. One +snow-bridge, ten feet wide, fell in as the meter following the +twelve-foot sledge was going over behind it. + +The 5th was a day of wind, scurrying snow and bad light. Harrisson +went out to feed the dogs in the morning and broke through the lid of a +crevasse, but fortunately caught the side and climbed out. + +The diary again: + +"Friday, December 6. Still bad light and a little snowfall, but we +were off at ten o'clock. I was leading and fell into at least a dozen +crevasses, but had to be hauled out of one only. At 1.30 P.M. we arrived +at the open lead we had crossed on the outward journey and found the +same place. There had been much movement since then and we had to make +a bridge, cutting away projections in some places and filling up the +sea-water channels with snow and ice. Then Harrisson crossed with the +aid of two bamboo poles, and hauled me over on a sledge. Harrisson and I +on one side and Kennedy and Watson on the other then hauled the sledges +backwards and forwards, lightly loaded one way and empty the other, +until all was across. The shelf-ice is without doubt afloat, if the +presence of sea-water and diatomaceous stains on the ice is of any +account. We camped to-night in the same place as on the evening of +November 25, so with luck we should be out of this mess to-morrow. +Switzerland had to be killed as I cannot afford any more biscuit. +Amundsen ate his flesh without hesitation, but Zip refused it." + +Sure enough, two days sufficed to bring us under the bluff on David +Island. As the tents were being pitched, a skua gull flew down. I snared +him with a line, using dog's flesh for bait and we had stewed skua for +dinner. It was excellent. + +While I was cooking the others climbed up the rocks and brought back +eight snow petrels and five eggs, with the news that many more birds +were nesting. After supper we all went out and secured sixty eggs and +fifty-eight birds. It seemed a fearful crime to kill these beautiful, +pure white creatures, but it meant fourteen days' life for the dogs end +longer marches for us. + +Fresh breeze, light snow and a bad light on the 9th; we remained in +camp. Two more skuas were snared for the evening's dinner. The snow +petrels' eggs were almost as large as hens' eggs and very good to eat +when fresh. Many of them had been under the birds rather too long, but +although they did not look so nice, there was little difference in the +taste. I was very glad to get this fresh food, as we had lived on tinned +meat most of the year and there was always the danger of scurvy. + +The light was too changeable to make a satisfactory start until the +evening of December 11, when we managed to dodge through four and a +half miles of broken ice, reaching the mainland close to our position +on November 16, and camping for lunch at midnight. In front was a clear +mile on a peninsula and then the way led across Robinson Bay, seven +miles wide, fed by the Northcliffe Glacier. + +Another night march was commenced at 8 P.M. The day had been cloudless +and the sun very warm, softening the surface, but at the time of +starting it was hardening rapidly. Crossing the peninsula we resolved to +head across Robinson Bay as the glacier's surface was still torn up. We +ended with a fine march of twelve miles one thousand two hundred yards. + +The fine weather continued and we managed to cross three and a half +miles of heavy sastrugi, pressure-ridges and crevasses, attaining the +first slopes of the mainland at 10 P.M. on December 14. The discovery of +two nunataks springing out of the piedmont glacier to the south, lured +us on. + +The first rock--Possession Nunataks--loomed ahead, two hundred feet +above, up a slope of half a mile. Here a depot of provisions and spare +gear was made, sufficient to take us back to the Hippo. The rock was +found by Watson to be gneiss, rich in mica, felspar and garnets. We +lunched in this place and resumed our march at midnight. + +The second nunatak was on the course; a sharp peak in the south, +hidden by the contour of the uprising ridges. In four miles we steadily +ascended eight hundred feet. While we were engaged pitching camp, a Cape +pigeon flew overhead. + +There were advantages in travelling at night. The surface was firmer, +our eyes were relieved from the intense glare and our faces no longer +blistered. On the other hand, there were disadvantages. The skirt of the +tent used to get very wet through the snow thawing on it in the midday +sun, and froze solid when packed up; the floor-cloths and sleeping-bags, +also, never had a chance of drying and set to the same icy hardness. +When we had mounted higher I intended to return to work by day. + +It was not till the altitude was three thousand feet that we came +in sight of the far peak to the south. We were then pulling again in +daylight. The ice-falls of the Denman Glacier on the left were still +seen descending from the plateau, while down on the plain we saw that +the zone of disrupted ice, into which the short and intricate track of +our northern attempt had been won, extended for quite thirty miles. + +The surface then softened in a most amazing fashion and hauling became +a slow, dogged strain with frequent spells. A little over four miles +was the most we could do on the 18th, and on the 19th the loads were +dragging in a deluge of dry, flour-like snow. A long halt was made at +lunch to repair a badly torn tent. + +The peak ahead was named Mount Barr-Smith. It was fronted by a steep +rise which we determined to climb next day. On the eastern margin of the +Denman Glacier were several nunataks and higher, rising ground. + +Following a twenty-four hours' blizzard, the sky was overcast, with the +usual dim light filtering through a mist of snow. We set off to scale +the mountain, taking the dip-circle with us. The horizon was so obscured +that it was useless to take a round of angles. Fifteen miles south of +Mount Barr-Smith, and a little higher there was another peak, to be +subsequently called Mount Strathcona; also several intervening outcrops. +Not a distinct range of mountains as we had hoped. The Denman Glacier +sweeps round these projecting rocks from the south-west, and the general +flow of the ice-sheet is thereby concentrated within the neck bounded by +the two peaks and the higher land to the east. Propelled by the immense +forces of the hinterland, this stream of ice is squeezed down through +a steep valley at an accelerated speed, and, meeting the slower moving +Shackleton Shelf, rends it from top to bottom and presses onward. Thus +chaos, icequake, and ruin. + +Our tramp to Mount Barr-Smith was through eighteen inches of soft snow, +in many places a full two feet deep. Hard enough for walking, we knew +from experience what it was like for sledging. There was only sufficient +food for another week and the surface was so abominably heavy that in +that time, not allowing for blizzards, it would have been impossible to +travel as far as we could see from the summit of Mount Barr-Smith, while +four miles a day was the most that could have been done. Our attempt to +make east by rounding the Denman Glacier to the south had been foiled, +but by turning back at that point, we stood a chance of saving our two +remaining dogs, who had worked so well that they really deserved to +live. + +Sunday December 22 broke with a fresh breeze and surface drift; overhead +a clear sky. We went back to Mount Barr-Smith, Kennedy taking an +observation for latitude, Watson making a geological survey and +collecting specimens, Harrisson sketching. The rocks at the summit were +granites, gneisses and schists. The latitude worked out at 67 degrees +10.4' S., and we were a little more than one hundred and twenty miles in +an air-line from the hut. + +In the next two days, downhill, we "bullocked" through eleven miles, +reaching a point where the depot at Possession Nunataks was only sixteen +miles away. The surface snow was very sticky in places, clogging the +runners badly, so that they had to be scraped every half-mile. Stewed +skua was the feature of our Christmas Eve supper. + +From the diary: + +"Christmas Day, Wednesday. Turned out and got away at 8 A.M., doing nine +miles before lunch down a steep descent. The sun was very hot, and after +lunch the surface became sticky, but at 5 P.M. we reached the depot, +having done fifteen miles one hundred yards and descended two thousand +three hundred feet. + +"I am afraid I shall have to go back to travelling by night, as the snow +is so very soft down here during the day; not soft in the same way as +the freshly fallen powdery stuff we had on the hills, but half-thawed +and wet, freezing at night into a splendid surface for the runners. +The shade temperature at 5.30 P.M. to-day was 29 degrees F., and a +thermometer laid in the sun on the dark rocks went up to 87 degrees F. + +"Some time ago, a plum-pudding was found in one of our food-bags, +put there, I believe, by Moyes. We ate it to-night in addition to the +ordinary ration, and, with a small taste of spirits from the medical +store, managed to get up quite a festive feeling. After dinner the Union +Jack and Australian Ensign were hoisted on the rocks and I formally took +possession of the land in the name of the Expedition, for King George V. +and the Australian Commonwealth." + +Queen Mary Land is the name which, by gracious sanction, was eventually +affixed to that area of new land. + +Night marches commenced at 1 A.M. on December 27. The sail was hoisted +for the first time and the fresh breeze was of great assistance. We +were once more down on the low peninsula and on its highest point, two +hundred feet above the shelf-ice, Kennedy took a round of angles. + +Along the margin of the shelf the crevasses were innumerable and, as the +sun was hot and the snow soft and mushy, we pitched camp about six miles +from the bluff on David Island. + +At 6 A.M. on the 28th we rounded the bluff and camped under its leeward +face. After lunch there was a hunt for snow petrels. Fifty-six were +caught and the eggs, which all contained chicks, were given to the dogs. + +It was my intention to touch at all the rocks on the mainland on the way +home, as time and weather permitted. Under a light easterly breeze we +scudded along with sail set and passed close to several outcrops. Watson +examined them, finding gneiss and granite principally, one type being +an exceptionally coarse granite, very much weathered. A mile of bad +crevasses caused some delay; one of the dogs having a fall of twelve +feet into one abyss. + +Next day, the Hippo hove in sight and we found the depoted food in good +condition. The course had been over high pressure-waves and in some +places we had to diverge on account of crevasses and--fresh water! Many +of the hollows contained water from thawed snow, and in others there was +a treacherous crust which hid a slushy pool. The march of eighteen miles +landed us just north of the Avalanche Rocks. + +While we were erecting the tents there were several snow-slips, and +Watson, Kennedy and I walked landwards after supper to try for a "snap" +of one in the act of falling, but they refused to oblige us. It was +found that one or more avalanches had thrown blocks of ice, weighing +at least twenty tons, two hundred yards past the hole in which we spent +five days on the depot journey. They had, therefore, travelled six +hundred yards from the cliff. + +The Alligator Nunatak was explored on January 2, 1913. It was found to +be half a mile long, four hundred feet high and four hundred and fifty +feet in width, and, like most of the rock we had seen, mainly gneiss. + +There was half a gale blowing on the 4th and though the wind was abeam, +the sail was reefed and we moved quickly. The dogs ran loose, their feet +being very sore from pulling on rough, nobbly ice. The day's run was the +record up to that time--twenty-two miles. Our camp was in the vicinity +of two small nunataks discovered in August 1912. We reckoned to be at +the Base in two days and wondered how poor Moyes was faring. + +Early on the 5th, the last piece of broken country fell behind, and one +sledge being rigged with full sail, the second sledge was taken in tow. +Both dogs had bleeding feet and were released, running alongside. During +the halt for lunch a sail was raised on the dogs' sledge, using tent +poles as a mast, a floor-cloth for a sail, an ice-axe for an upper +yard and a bamboo for a lower yard. Getting under way we found that the +lighter sledge overran ours; so we cast off and Harrisson took the light +sledge, the sail working so well that he rode on top of the load most +of the time. Later in the afternoon the wind increased so much that the +dogs' sledge was dismasted and taken in tow once more, the sail on the +forward sledge being ample for our purpose. + +At 4 P.M. we had done twenty miles, and, everybody feeling fresh, I +decided to try and reach "The Grottoes," fifteen miles away. The wind +increasing to a gale with hurtling drift, the sail was reefed, and even +then was more than enough to push along both sledges. Two of us made +fast behind and maintained a continual brake to stop them running away. +At 9 P.M. the gale became so strong that we struck sail and camped. +Altogether, the day's run was thirty-five miles. + +An hour's march next morning, and, through the glasses, we saw the mast +and soon afterwards the hut. Just before reaching home, we struck up +a song, and in a few seconds Moyes came running out. When he saw there +were four of us, he stood on his head. + +As we expected, Moyes had never thought of Harrisson coming with me and +had quite given him up as dead. When a month had elapsed--the time for +which Harrisson had food--Moyes packed a sledge with provisions for +Harrisson, himself and the dogs and went out for six days. Then, +recognizing the futility of searching for any one in that white waste of +nothingness, he returned. He looked well, after his lonely nine weeks, +but said that it was the worst time he had ever had in his life. Moyes +reported that the Western party were delayed in starting by bad weather +until November 7. + +The total distance sledged during our main summer eastern journey was +two hundred and thirty-seven miles, including thirty-two of relay work, +but none of the many reconnoitring miles. Out of seventy days, there +were twenty-eight on which the weather was adverse. On the spring depot +journey the travelling had been so easy that I fully expected to go four +hundred or five hundred miles eastward in the summer. It was therefore, +a great disappointment to be blocked as we were. + + + +CHAPTER XXII THE WESTERN BASE--LINKING UP WITH KAISER WILHELM II LAND + +by Dr. S. E. Jones + + +On our return from the Western Depot journey towards the end of October +1912, we found preparations completed for the long western trip, towards +Gaussberg in Kaiser Wilhelm II Land, which was discovered by the German +Antarctic Expedition of 1902. The departure was delayed for several +days, but came at last on November 7, Moyes bidding us adieu and wishing +us good luck. + +The party consisted of Dovers (surveyor), Hoadley (geologist), and +myself (surgeon). We were hauling one sledge with rations for nine +weeks. Our course, which was almost due south lay over the glacier shelf +practically parallel to the sea-cliffs. The surface was good, and we +covered eleven miles by nightfall, reaching a point some two or three +miles from the rising land slopes. As the high land was approached +closer, the surface of the glacier-shelf, which farther north was +practically level, became undulating and broken by pressure-ridges and +crevasses. These, however, offered no obstacle to sledging. + +Proceeding in the morning and finding that an ascent of the slopes ahead +was rendered impracticable by wide patches of ice, we turned more to +the west and steered for Junction Corner. Upon our arrival there, it was +discovered that several bergs lay frozen within the floe close to where +the seaward wall of the glacier-shelf joined that of the land ice-sheet. +Some of these bergs were old and rotten, but one seemed to have broken +away quite recently. + +From the same place we could see several black points ahead; our course +was altered towards them, almost due westward, about halt a mile from +the sea-cliffs. They proved to be rocks, six in number, forming a +moraine. As it was then half-past five, we camped in order that Hoadley +might examine them. There had been a halo visible all day, with mock +suns in the evening. + +In the morning a high wind was blowing. Everything went well for a +little over a mile, when we found ourselves running across a steep +slope. The wind having increased and being abeam, the sledge was driven +to leeward when on a smooth surface, and when amongst soft sastrugi, +which occurred in patches, was capsized. Accordingly camp was pitched. + +The next day being less boisterous, a start was made at 9 A.M. There was +still a strong beam wind, however, which carried the sledge downhill, +with the result that for one forward step two had to be taken to the +right. We were more fortunate in the afternoon and reached the depot +laid on the earlier journey at 5.30 A.M. From this position we had a +fine view of the Helen Glacier running out of a bay which opened up +ahead. + +Having picked up the depot next morning, we were disappointed to find +that we should have to commence relay work. There were then two sledges +with rations for thirteen weeks; the total weight amounting to one +thousand two hundred pounds. By making an even division between the two +sledges the work was rendered easy but slow. When we camped at 6 P.M., +five and a half miles had been covered. The surface was good, but a +strong beam wind hindered us while approaching the head of Depot Bay. +The ice-cap to the west appeared to be very broken, and it seemed +inevitable that we should have to ascend to a considerable altitude +towards the south-west to find a good travelling surface. + +In the morning we were delayed by heavy wind, but left camp at ten +o'clock after spending an hour digging out the sledges and tent. At +lunch time the sun became quite obscured and each of us had many falls +stumbling over the invisible sastrugi. At five o'clock the weather +became so thick that camp was pitched. Hoadley complained of +snow-blindness and all were suffering with cracked lips; there was +consequently a big demand for hazeline cream in the evening. + +On Wednesday November 13, we started early, and, finding a good firm +track over a gently rising plateau, made fair progress. At three o'clock +a gale sprang up suddenly; and fortunately the sledges were only a +quarter of a mile apart as we were relaying them in stages up the rising +plateau. The tent was pitched hurriedly, though with difficulty, on +account of the high wind and drift. The distance for the day was four +miles one thousand five hundred yards, the last mile and a half being +downhill into a valley at the head of the bay. The morainic boulders +visible from the camp at the depot were now obscured behind a point to +the west of Depot Bay. + +The next sixty hours were spent in sleeping-bags, a heavy snowstorm +making it impossible to move. Owing to the comparatively high +temperature, 20 degrees to 26 degrees F., the snow melted readily on +the lee side of the tent, and, the water running through, things became +uncomfortably wet inside. At midday of the 16th, however, we were able +to go out, and, after spending two and a half hours digging out the tent +and sledges, we made a start, travelling two and three-quarter miles on +a south-westerly course. + +During the morning of the 17th a slight descent was negotiated, but in +the afternoon came the ascent of the slopes on the western side of Depot +Bay. The ice-cap here was very badly crevassed, and spiked boots had to +be worn in hauling the sledges up the steep neve slopes. In the latter +part of the afternoon a course was made more to the west, and about the +same time the south-east wind freshened and we travelled for a couple of +hours through thick drift. The night's camp was situated approximately +at the eastern edge of the Helen Glacier. The portion of the ice-cap +which contributes to the glacier below is marked off from the general +icy surface on either side by a series of falls and cascades. These +appeared quite impassable near sea-level, but we hoped to find a smooth +passage at an altitude of about one thousand feet. + +A start was made at 7 A.M. The surface consisted of ice and neve and +was badly broken by pressure-mounds, ten to twenty feet high, and by +numerous crevasses old and recent; many with sunken or fallen bridges. +While crossing a narrow crevasse, about forty feet of the bridge +collapsed lengthwise under the leading man, letting him fall to the full +extent of his harness rope. Hoadley and myself had passed over the same +spot, unsuspecting and unroped, a few minutes previously, while looking +for a safe track. We were now nearing the approximate western edge +of the Helen Glacier, and the broken condition of the ice evidently +indicated considerable movement. Later in the morning a more southerly +course was kept over an improving surface. + +At midday Dovers took observations of the sun and found the latitude +to be 66 degrees 47' S. Owing to the heat of the sun the fat in +the pemmican had been melting in the food-bags, so after lunch the +provisions were repacked and the pemmican was put in the centre of the +large tanks. In the afternoon we hoisted the sail, and by evening had +done four miles. From our camp the eye could range across the Helen +Glacier eastward to the shelf-ice of "The Grottoes." Far away in the +north-west was a wide expanse of open water, while a multitude of bergs +lay scattered along the coast to the west of the Helen Glacier. + +The next day was gloriously bright, with a breeze just strong enough to +make hauling pleasant. Erecting a sail, we made an attempt to haul both +sledges, but found that they were too heavy. It was soon discovered that +a considerable detour would have to be made to cross the broken ice on +the western edge of the Helen Glacier. By keeping to the saddles and +valleys as much as possible and working to the south, we were able to +avoid the rougher country, but at 4 P.M. we arrived at what at first +appeared an impasse. + +At this point three great crevassed ridges united to form the ice-falls +on the western side of the glacier. The point of confluence was the only +place that appeared to offer any hope of a passage, and, as we did not +want to retrace our steps, we decided to attempt it. The whole surface +was a network of huge crevasses, some open, the majority from fifty to +one hundred feet or more in width. After many devious turns, a patch of +snow between two large abysses was reached. As the ice in front seemed +even more broken than that behind, camp was pitched. After tea a search +was made for a way out, and it was found that by travelling along a +narrow, knife-edge ridge of ice and neve, with an open crevasse on each +side, a good surface could be reached within a mile of the camp. This +ridge had a gradient of one in ten, and, unfortunately, also sloped down +towards one of the open crevasses. + +During the next four days a heavy blizzard raged. There was a tremendous +snowfall accompanied by a gale of wind, and, after the second day, the +snow was piled four feet high round the tent, completely burying the +sledges and by its pressure greatly reducing the space inside the tent. +On the 23rd, the fourth day, we dug out the floor, lowering the level +of the tent about two feet, and this made things more comfortable. While +digging, a crack in the ice was disclosed running across the floor, +and from this came a considerable draught. By midday the weather had +improved sufficiently to allow us to move. + +The sledge and tent were excavated from beneath a great mass of soft +snow; the new level of the snow's surface being four to five feet above +that on which the camp had been made four days earlier. The wind having +fallen, we went ahead with the sledges. While crossing the ridge of ice +which led into the valley below, one man hauled the sledges while the +other two prevented them from sliding sideways downhill into the open +crevasse. That afternoon we noticed very fine iridescent colouring in +cirro-cumulus clouds as they crossed the sun. + +The next day gave us a pleasant surprise, there being a strong +breeze dead aft, while the travelling surface ahead looked distinctly +favourable. Sail was hoisted and the two sledges were coupled together. +The course for a short distance was downhill, and we had to run to keep +up with the sledges. The slopes on the far side of the valley we had +entered on the previous afternoon were not so formidable as they had +looked, for by lunch time six and a half miles had been covered. The +surface was good, with occasional long undulations. After lunch a turn +to the north was made for a short distance in order to come in touch +with the coastline. Then the march west was resumed by travelling +parallel to the shore at a distance of five to ten miles. At +halting-time the extreme western edge of Helen Glacier was passed, and +below lay young floe-ice, studded with numerous bergs. + +In the morning, Dovers called attention to what appeared to be an +ice-covered island lying to the north-north-west, thirty to forty miles +away. We watched this carefully during the day, but found its form to +be constant. Through binoculars, icy patches and bluff points at the +eastern and western ends were distinguishable.** + + + ** This was examined in detail from the 'Aurora' in January 1913 and +found to be an island, which was named Drygalski Island, for it is +evidently the ice-covered "high-land" observed by Professor Drygalski +(German Expedition, 1902) from his balloon.--ED. + +As soon as camp was struck the march was resumed direct for what every +one thought was a rocky outcrop, though nearer approach proved it to +be merely the shady face of an open crevasse. The same course was +maintained and the ridge of ice that runs down to the western point of +Depot Bay was soon close at hand. From its crest we could see a group of +about a dozen rocky islands, the most distant being five miles off the +coast. All were surrounded by floe. Descending steeply from the ridge +into a valley which ran out to the sea-cliffs, we pitched camp for +lunch. + +The meal completed, Hoadley and I descended to the edge of the glacier +in order to see if there were a passable route to the sea-ice. Crossing +wide areas of badly crevassed ice and neve during a descent of nine +hundred feet, we reached the sea-front about one and a half miles +from the camp. Below us there was a chaos of bergs and smaller debris, +resulting from the disintegration of the land-ice, which were frozen +into the floe and connected to one another by huge ramparts of snow. +Following a path downward with great difficulty, we approached a small +berg which was discovered to be rapidly thawing under the action of the +heat absorbed by a pile of stones and mud. The trickling of the falling +water made a pleasant relief in the otherwise intense silence. As it +seemed impossible to haul sledges through this jumble of ice and snow, +Hoadley suggested that he should walk across the floe and make a brief +geological examination of at least the largest islet. I therefore +returned to the camp and helped Dovers take observations for longitude +and magnetic variation. + +Hoadley returned at 9 P.M. and reported that he had seen an immense +rookery of Emperor penguins near the largest islet, besides Adelie +penguins, silver-grey, Wilson and Antarctic petrels and skua gulls. He +also said that he thought it possible to take a sledge, lightly laden, +through the drifts below the brink of the glacier. + +Accordingly in the morning the eleven-foot sledge was packed with +necessaries for a week's stay, although we intended to remain only for +a day in order to take photographs and search for specimens. Erecting +a depot flag to mark the big sledge, we broke camp at midday and soon +reached the sea-front. Our track then wound among the snow-drifts until +it emerged from the broken ice which was observed to border the land +ice-sheet for miles. The travelling became unexpectedly good for a time +over highly polished, green sea-ice, and thence on to snow, amid a +field of numerous small bergs. Many of these showed a marked degree +of ablation, and, in places, blocks of ice perched on eminences had +weathered into most grotesque forms. There were numerous streams of +thaw-water running from mud-covered bergs. Perspiring in the heat, we +more than once stopped to slake our thirst. + +Approaching the largest rock--Haswell Island, as it was called later--we +saw more distinctly the immense numbers of Emperor penguins covering +several acres of floe. The birds extended in rows even on to the lower +slopes of several bergs. The sound of their cries coming across the +ice reminded one of the noise from a distant sports' ground during a +well-contested game. We camped at 5 P.M. on a snow-drift at the southern +end of the island. A large rookery of Adelie penguins on a long, low +rock, about a mile distant, soon made itself evident. + +Although the stay was intended to occupy only about twenty-four hours, +we were compelled to remain five days on the island on account of a +snowstorm which continued for practically the whole of the time. This +did not prevent us from leaving the tent and wandering about; Hoadley +keen on the geology and Dovers surveying whenever the light was good +enough. The temperature of the rock was well above freezing-point +where it was exposed, and snow melted almost as soon as it fell. Our +sleeping-bags and gear soon became very wet, but we rejoiced in one +compensation, and that was a change in diet. It was agreed that five +Adelie penguins or ten Cape pigeons' eggs made a good tasty entree to +the monotonous ration. + +The camp was situated on the largest of a group of about twelve small +islets, lying within five or six miles of the coast, on the lower slopes +of which several outcrops of rock could be observed. Haswell Island was +found to be roughly diamond-shaped; three-quarters of a mile in length, +the same in width, and about three hundred feet on the highest point. +It was surrounded by one season's floe, raised in pressure-ridges on +the eastern side. On the northern, southern, and especially the eastern +face, the rock was steep; on the western aspect, there was a more +gentle slope down to the floe, the rock being almost concealed by big +snow-drifts. There were signs of previous glaciation in the form of +erratics and many examples of polishing and grooving. The rock was very +rotten, and in many places, especially about the penguin rookeries, +there were collections of soil. Two deep gorges cut through the island +from north-west to south-east, in both of which there were small ponds +of fresh water. + +The most marked feature was the wonderful abundance of bird life, for +almost all the birds frequenting the shores of the continent were found +nesting there. Adelie penguins were in greatest numbers. Besides +the large rookery on one of the smaller islets, there were numerous +rookeries of fifty to one hundred birds each on Haswell Island. In most +cases the penguins made their nests on the rock itself, but, failing +this, had actually settled on snow-drifts, where they presented a +peculiar sight, as the heat of their bodies having caused them to sink +in the snow, their heads alone were visible above the surface. One bird +was observed carrying an egg on the dorsal surface of his feet as the +Emperor penguins do. Feathers were scattered broadcast around each +rookery. These result from the numerous fights which occur and are also +partly derived from the bare patch of skin at the lower part of the +abdomen which provides the necessary heat for incubation when the bird +is sitting. Most of the birds had two eggs in a well-advanced stage +of incubation, and it was a difficult task to find a sufficient number +fresh enough for culinary purposes. Attached to each rookery was a pair +of skua gulls, who swooped down and quickly flew off with any eggs left +for a moment untended. + +The Emperor penguins had their rookery on the floe, about a mile +from the island. The birds covered four to five acres, but there were +undoubted signs that a much larger area had been occupied. We estimated +the numbers to be seven thousand five hundred, the great majority being +young birds. These were well grown, most of them standing as high as the +shoulders of the adults. They were all very fat, covered by a grey down, +slightly darker on the dorsal than on the ventral surface, with dark +tails and a black, straight beak. The eyes were surrounded by a ring +of grey plumage, and this again by a black band which extended over the +skull to the root of the beak. Thus the markings on the young do not +correspond with those of the adults. A few of the larger chicks +had commenced to moult, the change of plumage being observed on the +flippers. + +Daily we watched large numbers of adults departing from and returning +to the rookery. The direction in which they travelled was north, towards +open water, estimated to be twenty miles distant. Although more than +once the adults' return to the rookery was carefully noted, we never saw +the young birds being fed, old birds as they entered the rookery quietly +going to sleep. + +Hoadley, on his first visit to the island, had seen Antarctic petrels +flying about, and a search revealed a large rookery of these on the +eastern side. The nesting-place of this species of petrel had never +before been discovered, and so we were all elated at the great find. +About three hundred birds were found sitting in the gullies and clefts, +as close together as they could crowd. They made no attempt to form +nests, merely laying their eggs on the shallow dirt. Each bird had one +egg about the same size as that of a domestic fowl. Incubation was far +advanced, and some difficulty was experienced in blowing the specimens +with a blow-pipe improvised from a quill. Neither the Antarctic nor +any other petrels offered any resistance when disturbed on their nests, +except by the expectoration of large quantities of a pink or green, oily +fluid. + +The Cape pigeons had just commenced laying when we arrived at the +island. On the first day only two eggs were found, but, on the fourth +day after our arrival, forty were collected. These birds make a small +shallow nest with chips of stone. + +The silver-grey or Southern Fulmar petrels were present in large +numbers, especially about the steep north-eastern side of the island. +Though they were mated, laying had scarcely commenced, as we found only +two eggs. They made small grottoes in the snow-drifts, and many pairs +were seen billing and cooing in such shelters. + +The small Wilson petrels were found living in communities under slabs +of rock, and Hoadley one afternoon thought he heard some young birds +crying. + +Skua gulls were present in considerable force, notably near the penguin +rookeries. They were breeding at the time, laying their eggs on the soil +near the summit of the island. The neighbourhood of a nest was always +betrayed by the behaviour of these birds who, when we intruded on them, +came swooping down as if to attack us. + +Although many snow petrels were seen flying about, we found only one +with an egg. The nests were located in independent rocky niches but +never in rookeries. + +Vegetable life existed in the form of algae, in the pools, lichens on +oversell rocks and mosses which grew luxuriantly, chiefly in the Adelie +penguin rookeries. + +Weddell seals were plentiful about the island near the tide-cracks; two +of them with calves. + +Though the continuous bad weather made photography impossible, Hoadley +was able to make a thorough geological examination of the locality. On +December 2 the clouds cleared sufficiently for photography, and after +securing some snapshots we prepared to move on the next day. Dovers +built a small cairn on the summit of the island and took angles to the +outlying rocks. + +On the 3rd we packed our specimens and left for the mainland at 9.30 +A.M., arriving at the land ice-cliffs at 2 P.M. The snow surface was +soft, even slushy in places, and the heat amongst the bergs along the +coast of the mainland was very oppressive. After we had dug out the +second sledge and re-arranged the loads, the hour was too late for +sledging, so Dovers took another observation in order to obtain the rate +of the half-chronometer watch. While on the island, we had examined the +coast to the west with glasses and concluded that the only way to get +westward was to ascend to a considerable altitude on the ice-cap, +which, as far as the eye could reach, descended to the sea-level in +long cascades and falls. We had expected to place a depot somewhere near +Haswell Island, but such procedure was now deemed inadvisable in view of +its distance from what would probably be our direct return route. + +A start was made next day against an opposing wind, the sledges being +relayed up a steep hillside. Later on, however, a turn was made more +to the west, and it was then possible to haul both sledges at the same +time. The surface was soft, so that after every halt the runners had to +be cleared. The distance for the day was five and a half miles, and the +night's camp was at an altitude of about one thousand five hundred feet, +located just above the broken coastal ice. + +During December 5 and 6 a snowstorm raged and confined us to our tent. +The high temperature caused the falling snow to melt as it touched the +tent, and, when the temperature fell, the cloth became thickly coated +with ice. + +On the 7th the march was resumed, by skirting a small valley at an +approximate altitude of two thousand feet. The ice-cap ahead descended +in abrupt falls to the floe. Having a fair wind and a smooth surface, we +made good headway. In the afternoon we ran into a plexus of crevasses, +and the surface was traversed by high ridges. The snowbridges in many +cases were weak and several gave way while the sledge was crossing them. +A chasm about fifty feet deep and one hundred feet long was passed, +evidently portion of a crevasse, one side of which had been raised. +Later in the afternoon the surface became impassable and a detour to the +south was rendered necessary. This difficulty arose near the head of the +valley, in which situation the ice-cap fell in a series of precipitous +terraces for about one thousand feet. + +At midday on the 8th we were compelled to continue the detour over a +badly crevassed surface, ascending most of the time. On that night, camp +was pitched again amongst crevasses. The sledge-meter showed only two +miles one thousand one hundred yards for the afternoon, relaying having +been necessary. + +The sledges slipped along in the morning with a fresh breeze in their +favour. The sky was covered with rapidly scudding, cirro-cumulus clouds +which, by midday, quite obscured the sun, making surrounding objects and +even the snow at our feet indistinguishable. After continuing for four +and a half miles, we were forced to camp. In the afternoon a heavy +snowstorm commenced and persisted throughout the following day. + +Though snow was still falling on the morning of the 11th, camp was +broken at 10 A.M., and we moved off rapidly with a strong wind. During +the morning the surface was gently undulating, but it mounted in a +gradual ascent until nightfall. In the latter part of the afternoon +the sun was clouded over, and steering had to be done by the aid of +the wind. To the north we had a fine view of Drygalski's "High +Land" (Drygalski Island), perceiving a distinct seaward ice-cliff of +considerable height. + +As there were no prominences on the ice-cap that could be used for +surveying marks, Dovers had considerable difficulty in keeping +a reckoning of our course. The trouble was overcome by building +snow-mounds and taking back-angles to them with the prismatic compass. +At this juncture we were about ten miles from the shore and could see +open water some thirty miles to the north. Frozen fast within the floe +were great numbers of bergs. + +We started off early on December 12 with the aid of a fair breeze over +a good surface, so that both sledges were easily hauled along together. +The course was almost due west, parallel to the coast. Open water came +within a few miles of the ice-cliffs, and, farther north, a heavy belt +of pack was observed. When the sun sank lower, the bergs on the northern +horizon were refracted up to such a degree that they appeared to be +hanging from the sky. + +The aid rendered by the sail under the influence of a fair breeze was +well shown on the following day. In four hours, on a good surface, both +sledges were transported seven miles. When we moved off, the wind was +blowing at ten to fifteen miles an hour. By 10 A.M. the sky became +overcast and the wind freshened. Camp was pitched for lunch at 11 A.M., +as we hoped that the weather would clear again later, but the wind +increased and snow began to fall heavily in the afternoon, so we did +not stir. The storm continued throughout the following day and it was +impossible to march until the 15th. + +Continuing the ascent on the 16th out of a valley we had crossed on +the previous day, we halted on the top of a ridge within view of German +"territory"--a small, dark object bearing due west, evidently bare rock +and presumably Gaussberg. The course was altered accordingly towards +this object and everything went smoothly for ten miles. Then followed +an area where the ice fell steeply in waves to the sea, crossed by +crevasses which averaged fifty feet in width. The snow-bridges were +deeply concave, and the lower side of each chasm was raised into a ridge +five to ten feet high. Making fast the alpine rope on to the sledges, +one of us went ahead to test the bridge, and then the sledges, one at a +time, were rushed down into the trough and up on the other side. After +crossing ten or more crevasses in this fashion, we were forced to camp +by the approach of a rapidly moving fog driven before a strong westerly +wind. While camp was being prepared, it was discovered that a tin of +kerosene on the front sledge had been punctured causing the loss of a +gallon of fuel. Fortunately, we were well within our allowance, so the +accident was not serious. Soon after tea our attention was drawn to a +pattering on the tent like rain, caused by a fall of sago snow. + +In the morning the weather was clearer, and we saw that it was +impossible to reach Gaussberg by a direct route. The ice ahead was cleft +and split in all directions, and, in places, vertical faces stood up +to a height of one hundred feet. The floe was littered with hundreds of +bergs, and in several localities there were black spots which resembled +small rocks, but it was impossible to approach close enough to be +certain. Retracing the way out of the broken ice, we steered in a +south-westerly direction, just above the line of serac and crevassed +ice. The coast here trended to the south-west, forming the eastern side +of Drygalski's Posadowsky Bay. The going was heavy, the surface being +covered by a layer of frost-crystals deposited during the night. A fog +came up again early in the afternoon and had quite surrounded us at +camping time. During the day there were fine clouds of ice-crystals in +the air, and at 8 P.M. a fog-bow was seen in the east. + +Turning out in the morning we saw Gaussberg peeping over a ridge to the +west, but were still prevented from steering directly towards it by the +broken surface. When we had advanced ten miles, a heavy fog brought us +to a halt at 5 P.M. + +On Friday the 20th, in spite of a sticky surface, thirteen miles +was covered on a west-south-west course. The ice-cap continued to be +undulating but free of crevasses. The altitude was between two thousand +five hundred and three thousand feet. + +In the morning, after travelling two miles, we came in sight of +Gaussberg again and steered directly towards it. The surface was good +with a downward grade. At five and a quarter miles a depot was made of +the small sledge and most of the food, in expectation of a clear run +to the mountain. Not far ahead, however, were two broken-backed ridges +intersecting the course, and a detour had to be made to the south to +cross them higher up. + +Midsummer's day, December 22, was spent in the tent, a move being +impossible on account of the high wind. In the afternoon we walked ahead +a short distance and reconnoitred six or seven crumpled ridges. Though +the barometer had been falling ominously for twenty-four hours, the bad +weather did not continue. + +Gaussberg was reached in the afternoon, after our track had passed +through seventeen miles of dangerous country. For the first few miles +the surface consisted of a series of steep, buckled ice-ridges; later, +it was snow-covered, but at times literally cut into a network of +crevasses. + +The only approach to Gaussberg from the plateau is from the south. To +the east and west there are magnificent ice-falls, the debris from which +litters the floe for miles around. + +December 24 and Christmas Day were devoted to examining the mountain. +Dovers made a long series of observations for longitude, latitude +and magnetic variation, while Hoadley examined the rocks and took +photographs. + +On the southern side, the ice-cap abuts against this extinct volcano at +an elevation of about four hundred feet above sea-level; the summit of +the mountain rises another eight hundred feet. On the north, the rock +descends to the floe. Gaussberg is pyramidal in shape, falling steeply, +from a ridge at the summit. The sides are covered with a loose rubble +of volcanic fragments, square yards of which commence to slide at the +slightest disturbance. This renders climbing difficult and accounts for +the large numbers of isolated blocks fringing the base. + +At the summit two cairns were found, the bamboo poles which had +previously marked them having blown over. Further examination revealed +many other bamboos which had been used as marks, but no other record of +the visit of the German expedition, ten years before, was met. Bird life +was not plentiful, being limited to a few skuas, Wilson petrels and +snow petrels; the latter nesting under slabs of rock. There were large +quantities of moss where thaw-water had been running. + +The ice and snow near the mountain showed evidences of marked thawing, +and we had difficulty in finding a favourable spot for our camp. + +Christmas Day was gloriously fine, with just sufficient wind to +counteract the heat of the sun. At midday the Christmas "hamper" was +opened, and it was not long before the only sign of the plum-pudding was +the tin. In the afternoon we ascended the mountain and left a record in +a cairn at the top. By the route followed, Gaussberg was two hundred +and fifteen miles from "The Grottoes" but relay work had made the actual +distance covered three hundred miles. + +We had been away from home seven weeks, and, though there was sufficient +food for an outward journey of another week, there was no indication +that the country would change. Further, from the summit of Gaussberg one +could see almost as far as could be marched in a week. Accordingly it +was decided to commence our return on the 26th, making a course almost +due east, thus cutting out numerous detours which had to be taken on the +outward journey. + +We left the mountain on December 26, pursuing a course to the south +of our outward track so as to avoid some crevassed ridges. Ascending +steadily against a continuous headwind, we picked up the second sledge +at midday on the 28th. + +Next day all the gear was transferred to one sledge and a course made +direct to the Helen Glacier; the other sledge being abandoned. + +On December 31, after a day's blizzard, the surface was found to be +covered with sastrugi of soft snow eighteen inches to two feet in depth. +In crossing a wide crevasse, the sledge became bogged in the soft snow +of a drift which had a deceptive appearance of solidity. It took us +ten minutes to extricate ourselves, and, after this, crevasses were +negotiated at a run. + +A violent blizzard raged during the following day--the first of the New +Year 1913. This proved to be a blessing, for it made the surface more +crisp and firm. In the morning the sun was obscured and nothing was +visible but the snow at our feet, so that steering was very difficult. +In the afternoon the sun broke through, a strong westerly wind sprang +up and we moved along at a good pace, covering more than thirteen miles +before camping. + +On January 3 the track bordered on the edge of the plateau, the surface +being almost level, rising gently towards the south. + +After a violent blizzard of three days' duration, which confined us in +the tent, we continued on the same course for four days, averaging about +eleven miles each day. The surface was good, but a strong south-easter +blew practically all the time and reduced our speed considerably. + +At 10 A.M. on January 9, a fog-bank was observed in the east. This +rapidly approached, and in fifteen minutes was quite close. There was +now a splendid display of rings and arcs, caused apparently by minute +ice-crystals which filled the air without obscuring the sun or sky. +First an arc of prismatic colours appeared in the east, and in a few +seconds the sky seemed literally to be covered with other arcs. At first +they seemed to be scattered indiscriminately, but after a short time +several arcs joined and we could discern a symmetrical arrangement. The +sun was surrounded by a ring, the lower portion of which was broken by +an inverted arc; two other arcs were visible on either side. A large +ring appeared encircling the zenith, intersecting the first and passing +through the sun. Two pairs of arcs were also seen, one pair in +each ring. Excepting the arcs and ring about the zenith, which was +grayish-white against the blue sky, the arcs showed prismatic colouring. +The display lasted ten minutes and ended with the disappearance of the +ice-crystals. + +[ILLUSTRATION IN TEXT] + +The diagram shows the arrangement of the arcs: + +S = Sun. Z = Zenith. + +At A, B, C, mock suns could be seen. + + +From our camp on the night of January 10, broken country could be seen +ahead. To the north, open water was visible, and to the north-east the +Shackleton Shelf, so that we were nearing home at last. Here, a heavy +snowstorm delayed us for two and a half days, and it was not till the +afternoon of January 13 that we were able to move ahead. + +The next day was dull, the sun being quite obscured; and the only check +upon the steering was the south-easterly wind. At midday the thermometer +registered 35 degrees F. in the shade, and the surface became quite +sticky. After tea we walked ahead for a couple of hundred yards to the +summit of a ridge where the full extent of the Helen Glacier was laid +before us. It was evident that our position was some miles north of +the true course, but, considering the absence of steering marks and the +constant overcast weather, we considered ourselves lucky in being so +close to it. + +The bad weather continued and snow fell during the following day. On +the 16th the light was better, and we pushed into a strong wind which +freshened to the force of a moderate gale before we had travelled two +miles. Approaching a steep ascent we were compelled to camp. The morning +brought an improvement, and the crossing of the Helen Glacier was +commenced a mile or two above the outward course. + +At midday on January 18, over treacherous ice, in the face of strong +winds, we were making good headway towards Junction Corner. Almost daily +for a fortnight a Wilson petrel had visited us, the only form of life +seen on the return journey. + +On the 19th we were not able to move until 8.80 P.M., when the wind, +which had been blowing with the force of a gale, subsided. During the +afternoon a magnificent view of the Helen Glacier was obtained, and in +the west we could see Haswell Island and Drygalski Island. + +Continuing on the same course, throughout the following day, we picked +up the hut with the binoculars at 5 P.M. There now came a quick descent +to Junction Corner. + +On the lower levels there was clear evidence of thawing having occurred. +The firm surface of snow which had been present on the outward journey +was now converted into rough ice, over which we walked painfully in +finnesko. Neve and ice surfaces were covered with sharp spicules, and +the sides and bridges of crevasses were unmistakably thawed. + +Leaving Junction Corner at 6 A.M., we steered a course for the hut, +running parallel to the edge of the glacier. At 3 P.M. the mast was +sighted, and, later, the hut itself. When within half a mile of "The +Grottoes" we saw three figures on the floe and guessed that the eastern +party had returned. In a few minutes greetings were heartily exchanged +and they had welcomed us home. + +Instructions had been given that the Western Base should be in readiness +to embark on the 'Aurora' not later than January 30, 1913. + +When Wild's party had arrived, preparations for departure were +immediately made. Geological and biological collections were packed, +stores were sorted out and cases containing personal gear were sledged +to the edge of the glacier. + +Harrisson contrived a winch for sounding and fishing. Fourteen-gauge +copper wire was wound on it and, through a crack in the sea-ice a +quarter of a mile from the glacier, bottom was reached in two hundred +and sixty fathoms. As the water was too deep for dredging, Harrisson +manufactured cage-traps and secured some fish, a squid, and other +specimens. + +At this time there was abundant evidence of life. Skua gulls frequently +flew about the hut, as well as Cape pigeons, Antarctic, snow, Wilson, +giant and silver-grey petrels. Out on the sea-ice, there were Adelie and +Emperor penguins; the latter moulting. Hundreds of seals were seen with +glasses on the edge of the floe, ten miles to the north. + +On the whole, January was a very fine month. Some of the days seemed +really hot; the shade temperature on one occasion reaching 37 degrees +F., and, in several instances, 33 degrees F. It was quite a common +thing for a man to work outside in loose, light garments; in fact, with +nothing more than a singlet on the upper part of the body. + +On January 26, while Kennedy took observations, Wild and the others went +for a walk towards the open water. The surface was very rough and broken +by leads, along which Weddell seals lay in great numbers. Three miles +of ice were found to have drifted out, reducing the northern expanse to +seven miles. + +In view of the possibility of the 'Aurora' not relieving them, the party +went through their food-supplies, finding that these were sufficient for +another year, with the exception of meat. With regard to coal, two tons +of briquettes remained, which, augmented by good stock of seal-blubber, +would provide sufficient fuel. + +Laying in a store of seals' flesh and blubber now became the principal +work, and every fine day saw a party out with a sledge. Unfortunately, +the nearest crack on the sea-ice was nearly two miles away, so that the +return journey, with a heavily laden sledge, was long and tedious. Two +holes were dug in the glacier near the hut, one for blubber and the +other for meat. + +On January 31 six miles of sea-ice still remained, and, if the ship had +arrived to time, a good deal of sledging would have been required to +transport all the gear aboard. + +In February, the weather altered for the worse, and there was not +a single fine day until the 20th. A strong east-southeast wind with +falling snow prevailed. As the days were shortening rapidly, all were +beginning to feel anxious about the 'Aurora'. + +Wild erected a flagstaff on the highest ice-pinnacle near "The Grottoes" +and flew a large flag on it whenever the wind moderated. On the 16th, a +lamp-screen and reflector were fitted at the mast-head and each night +a hurricane lamp was placed there, which could be seen eight miles with +the naked eye. + +On the 20th Dovers and Wild made a large signboard, taking it out to a +prominent point on the glacier, three and a half miles to the north. It +was lashed to a bamboo pole with a flag flying on it. The open water was +then only three miles distant. + +Wild writes: + +"The 22nd February was the anniversary of the day the 'Aurora' left us, +but the weather was very different. A heavy blizzard was raging, the +wind's velocity ranging up to eighty miles per hour. As it was Saturday, +we kept the usual routine, scrubbing out and cleaning up the hut. We +could not help speculating as to whether we should have to do it for +another whole year. But every one had great faith in 'good old Davis,' +and nobody was at all downhearted. + +"When we 'turned out' on Sunday there was still a strong wind and drift, +but this died away to a light breeze before breakfast was over, and the +sun came out. I had a look round with the glasses and saw that the ice +had broken away beyond a limit of one and a half miles. As there was a +sledge, which Harrisson had been using for sounding, within a few yards +of the water's edge, Jones and I went off to bring it in. We had +gone less than half a mile when we saw what at first appeared to be a +penguin, standing on some pack-ice in the distance, but which we soon +saw was the mast-head of the 'Aurora'. + +"It was evident that she could not be alongside for some time, so Jones +went back to the hut to tell the others to bring down a load of gear, +and I went on to meet the ship. Before the 'Aurora' had reached the fast +ice, all the party were down with two sledge loads, having covered the +mile and a half in record time. + +"We were all anxious, of course, for news, and the first we received was +the sad account of the deaths of Ninnis and Mertz; then of the wonderful +march made by Dr. Mawson. + +"Before closing, I should like to pay a tribute to the good-fellowship, +unfailing industry, enthusiasm and unswerving loyalty which +characterized my comrades. During the whole of the Expedition, whether +carrying out monotonous routine work at the Base or under the trying +conditions of sledging, all duties were performed with never-failing +good temper and perseverance. + +"Should it ever be my lot to venture on a like expedition I hope to have +some, if not all, of the same party with me. But whether we meet again +or not, I shall always think of every man of them with the greatest +affection and respect." + + + +CHAPTER XXIII A SECOND WINTER + + +During the first busy year in Adelie Land, when the Hut was full of +life and work, there were few moments for reflection. Yet, over the +speculative pipe at home after a successful day's labour on the wireless +masts, or out on the turbulent plateau when the hour of hoosh brought +the strenuous day to a close, more than one man was heard to say, "One +year in this country is enough for me." Still, in the early days, no one +could predict what would happen, and therefore a change in the perverse +climate was always considered probable. So great was the emulation, and +so keen were all to extend our geographical boundaries, that the year +sped away almost before the meagre opportunity came. With the cheery +support of numbers, we did not find it a difficult matter "to drive dull +care away." + +Now there were only seven of us; we knew what was ahead; the weather had +already given ample proof of the early approach of winter; the field of +work which once stretched to the west, east and south had no longer the +mystery of the "unknown"; the Ship had gone and there was scant hope of +relief in March. + +Against all this. There remained the Hut--a proven shelter from the +wind; and, most vital of all, there was abundant food for another year. +Every avenue of scientific work was not yet closed. Even the routine of +meteorological and magnetic work was adding in no slight degree to +the sum of human knowledge. Our short mile of rocks still held some +geological secrets, and there were biological discoveries yet to make. A +wireless telegraphic station had at last been established, and we could +confidently expect communication with the outside world at an early +date. These were some of the obvious assurances which no one had +the heart to think about at first; and then there was always our +comradeship, most enduring of all. + +February, during 1912, was a tolerable month with a fair proportion of +sunny, moderately calm days. A year later, the first eight days of this +month were signalized by the blizzard in which the 'Aurora' had such a +perilous experience. While the winter began in 1912 with the advent of +March, now in 1913 it came on definitely in early February. Autumn was +a term which applied to a few brilliant days which would suddenly +intervene in the dense rack of drift-snow. + +We set to work to make the Hut, if anything, safer and snugger. Bage put +finishing touches to the break-wind of rock and cases, and with Hodgeman +and McLean nailed battens of wood over a large sheet of canvas which had +been stretched across the windward side of the roof, overlapping rolls +of black paper, scraps of canvas and bagging, which were also battened +down to make the eastern and western faces more air-tight. + +Before the Ship left us, the remaining coal briquettes had been dug out +of a bed of ice and carefully piled on a high point of the rocks. Round +them all the spare timber and broken cases were gathered to provide +sufficient fuel for the ensuing winter. The penguins' eggs, which had +been stored in boxes, were stacked together on the windward side of the +Hut, and a choice selection of steaks of seal and penguin for our own +use were at the storeman's disposal in the veranda. + +Madigan, in addition to his meteorological duties, took charge of the +new sledging-dogs which had been presented by Captain Amundsen. A good +many seals had been already killed, and a big cache of meat and blubber +was made alongside the Hut to last throughout the winter. + +Bickerton found many odd jobs to occupy his time in connexion with the +petrol-engine and the wireless installations. He was also busied with +the anemometer, which had broken down and needed a strong start for its +second year of usefulness. + +Bage, following the parting instructions of Webb, became the owner of +the Magnetograph House and the Absolute Hut, continuing to keep the +magnetic records. As storeman, Bage looked after the food-supplies. The +canvas coverings had made the veranda drift-tight, so the storeman could +arrange his tins and cases on the shelves with some degree of comfort, +and the daily task of shovelling out snow was now at an end. Further, +Hodgeman and he built an annex out of spare timber to connect the +entrance veranda with the store. This replaced the old snow-tunnel +which had melted away, and, when completed and padded outside with old +mattresses, was facetiously styled the "North-West Passage." The only +thing which later arose to disturb the composure of the storeman was +the admission of the dogs to a compartment in the veranda on the eastern +side. His constant care then became a heap of mutton carcases which the +dogs in passing or during the occasional escapades from their shelter +were always eager to attack. + +Hodgeman helped to change the appearance of the living-hut by cutting +the table in two and, since there was now plenty of room, by putting in +more shelves for a larder on which the storeman displayed his inviting +wares to the cook, who could think of nothing original for the next +meal. + +McLean undertook the duties of ice-cutting and coal-carrying throughout +the year, kept the biological log and assisted in general observations. +He also sent off sealed messages in bottles, regularly, on the chance of +their being picked up on the high seas, thereby giving some indication +of the direction of currents. + +Jeffryes was occupied regularly every night listening attentively for +wireless signals and calling at intervals. The continuous winds soon +caused many of the wire stays of the main wireless mast to become slack, +and these Jeffryes pulled taut on his daily rounds. + +Looking back and forward, we could not but feel that the sledging +programme of the previous summer had been so comprehensive that the +broad features of the land were ascertained over a wide radius; beyond +what we, with our weakened resources of the second year, could reach. +The various observations we were carrying on were adding to the value of +the scientific results, but we could not help feeling disappointed that +our lot was not cast in a new and more clement region. + +It was to be a dreary and difficult time for the five men who had +volunteered to remain behind in order to make a thorough search for +myself and comrades. They were men whom I had learned to appreciate +during the first year, and I now saw their sterling characters in a new +light. To Jeffryes all was fresh, and we envied him the novelties of +a new world, rough and inhospitable though it was. As for me, it was +sufficient to feel that + + ...He that tossed thee down into the Field, + He knows about it all--He knows, He knows. + +On the night of February 15, Jeffryes suddenly surprised us with the +exciting intelligence that he had heard Macquarie Island send a coded +weather report to Hobart. The engine was immediately set going, but +though repeated attempts were made, no answer could be elicited. Each +night darkness was more pronounced and signals became more distinct, +until, on the 20th, our call reached Sawyer at Macquarie Island, who +immediately responded by saying "Good evening." The insulation of a +Leyden jar broke down at this point, and nothing more could be done +until it was remedied. + +At last, on February 21, signals were exchanged, and by the 23rd a +message had been dispatched to Lord Denman, Governor-General of the +Commonwealth, acquainting him with our situation and the loss of our +comrades and, through him, one to his Majesty the King requesting his +royal permission to name a tract of newly discovered country to the +east, "King George V Land." Special messages were also sent to the +relatives of Lieutenant B. E. S. Ninnis and Dr. X. Mertz. + +The first news received from the outside world was the bare statement +that Captain Scott and four of his companions had perished on their +journey to the South Pole. It was some time before we knew the tragic +details which came home, direct and poignant, to us in Adelie Land. + +To Professor David a fuller account of our own calamity was sent and, +following this, many kind messages of sympathy and congratulation were +received from all over the world. On February 26 Lord Denman sent an +acknowledgment of our message to him, expressing his sorrow at the loss +of our two companions; and on March 7 his Majesty the King added his +gracious sympathy, with permission to affix the name, King George V +Land, to that part of the Antarctic continent lying between Adelie Land +and Oates Land. + +On February 23 there was a spell of dead calm; heavy nimbus clouds and +fog lowering over sea and plateau. Fluffy grains of sago snow fell most +of the day, covering the dark rocks and the blue glacier. A heaving +swell came in from the north, and many seals landed within the boat +harbour, where a high tide lapped over the ice-foot. The bergs and +islands showed pale and shadowy as the snow ceased or the fog lifted. +Then the wind arose and blew hard from the east-south-east for a day, +swinging round with added force to its old quarter--south-by-east. + +March began in earnest with much snow and monotonous days of wind. By +contrast, a few hours of sunny calm were appreciated to the full. The +face of the landscape changed; the rocky crevices filling flush with the +low mounds of snow which trailed along and off the ridges. + +On March 16 every one was relieved to hear that the 'Aurora' had arrived +safely in Hobart, and that Wild and his party were all well. But the +news brought disappointment too, for we had always a lingering ray of +hope that there might be sufficient coal to bring the vessel back to +Adelie Land. Later on we learned that on account of the shortage of +funds the Ship was to be laid up at Hobart until the following summer. +In the meantime, Professors David and Masson were making every effort to +raise the necessary money. In this they were assisted by Captain Davis, +who went to London to obtain additional donations. + +It was now a common thing for those of us who had gone to bed before +midnight to wake up in the morning and find that quite a budget of +wireless messages had been received. It took the place of a morning +paper and we made the most of the intelligence, discussing it from every +possible point of view. Jeffryes and Bickerton worked every night from 8 +P.M. until 1 A.M., calling at short intervals and listening attentively +at the receiver. In fact, notes were kept of the intensity of +the signals, the presence of local atmospheric electrical +discharges--"static"--or intermittent sounds due to discharges from snow +particles--St. Elmo's fire--and, lastly, of interference in the +signals transmitted. The latter phenomenon should lead to interesting +deductions, for we had frequent evidence to show that the wireless waves +were greatly impeded or completely abolished during times of auroral +activity. + +Listening at the wireless receiver must have been very tedious and +nerve-racking work, as so many adventitious sounds had to be neglected. +There was, first of all, the noise of the wind as it swept by the Hut; +then there was the occasional crackling of "St. Elmo's fire"; the dogs +in the veranda shelter were not always remarkable for their quietness; +while within the Hut it was impossible to avoid slight sounds which were +often sufficient to interrupt the sequence of a message. At times, +when the aurora was visible, signals would often die away, and the only +alternative was to wait until they recurred, meanwhile keeping up calls +at regular intervals in case the ether was not "blocked." So Jeffryes +would sometimes spend the whole evening trying to transmit a single +message, or, conversely, trying to receive one. By experience it was +found easier to transmit and receive wireless messages between certain +hours in the evening, while not infrequently, during the winter months, +a whole week would go by and nothing could be done. During such a period +auroral displays were usually of nightly occurrence. Then a "freak +night" would come along and business would be brisk at both terminals. + +It was often possible for Jeffryes to "hear" Wellington, Sydney, +Melbourne and Hobart, and once he managed to communicate directly +with the last-named. Then there were numerous ships passing along the +southern shores of Australia or in the vicinity of New Zealand whose +"calls" were audible on "good nights." The warships were at times +particularly distinct, and occasionally the "chatter in the ether" was +so confusing that Sawyer, at Macquarie Island, would signal that he was +"jammed." + +The "wireless" gave us another interest in life, and plenty of outside +occupation when the stays became loose or an accident occurred. It +served to relieve some of the tedium of that second year: + + Day after day the same + Only a little worse. + +On March 13 there was a tremendous fall of snow, and worst "pea-souper" +we had had during the previous year. Next day everything was deluged, +and right up the glacier there were two-foot drifts, despite a +sixty-mile wind. + +It was very interesting to follow the changes which occurred from day to +day. First of all, under the flail of the incessant wind, a crust would +form on the surface of the snow of the type we knew as "piecrust," +when out sledging. It was never strong enough to bear a man, but the +sledge-runners would clear it fairly well if the load were not too +heavy. Next day the crust would be etched, and small flakes and pellets +would be carried away until the snow was like fleece. Assuming that the +wind kept up (which it always did) long, shallow concavities would +now be scooped out as the "lobules" of the fleece were carried away +piecemeal. These concavities became deeper, hour by hour and day by day, +becoming at last the troughs between the crests of the snow-waves or +sastrugi. All this time the surface would be gradually hardening and, if +the sun chanced to shine for even a few hours every day, a shining glaze +would gradually form on the long, bevelled mounds. It was never a wise +thing to walk on these polished areas in finnesko and this fact was +always learnt by experience. + +Above the Hut, where the icy slopes fell quickly to the sea, the snow +would lie for a few days at the very most, but, lower down, where the +glacier ran almost level for a short distance to the harbour ice, the +drifts would lie for months at the mercy of the wind, furrowed and cut +into miniature canyons; wearing away in fragments until the blue ice +showed once more, clear and wind-swept. + +Towards the end of March the wind gave a few exhibitions of its power, +which did not augur well for the maximum periods of the winter. A few +diary jottings are enough to show this: + +"March 23. During the previous night the wind steadily rose to an +eighty-mile 'touch' and upwards. It was one of those days when it is a +perpetual worry to be outside. + +"March 24. Doing at least seventy miles per hour during the morning. +About 8 P.M. there was a temporary lull and a rise of.15 in the +barometer. Now, 9.30 P.M., it is going 'big guns.' The drift is fairly +thick and snow is probably falling. + +"March 25. Much the same as yesterday. + +"March 28. In a seventy-five-mile wind, Hodgeman had several fingers +frost-bitten this morning while attending to the anemograph. + +"March 29. It was quite sunny when we opened the trap-door, though it +blew about sixty miles per hour with light drift. + +"March 30. The wind is doing itself full justice. About 8 P.M. it ranged +between ninety-five and one hundred miles per hour, and now the whole +hut is tremulous and the stove-pipe vibrates so that the two large pots +on the stove rattle." + +At the beginning of April, McLean laid the foundations of The Adelie +Blizzard which recorded our life for the next seven months. It was a +monthly publication, and contributions were invited from all on every +subject but the wind. Anything from light doggerel to heavy blank verse +was welcomed, and original articles, letters to the Editor, plays, +reviews on books and serial stories were accepted within the limits of +our supply of foolscap paper and type-writer ribbons. + + _____________________________________________________ + / \ + / THE ADELIE BLIZZARD \ + | | + | | + | / Registered at the General Plateau Office \ + |/ \ | + | / for transmission by wind as a newspaper \ | + | / \ | + | -o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o- | + | | + | | + | ----CONTENTS---- | + | o-o-o-o- | + | | + | Editorial.............................. Page 1 | + | Southern Sledging Song................. " 2 | + | A Phantasm of the Snow................. " 3 | + | The Romance of Exploration | + | First Crossing of Greenland (Nansen). " 8 | + | Ode to Tobacco.......................... " 10 | + | Punch, the dinner epilogue.............. " 11 | + | To the Editor........................... " 12 | + | Scott's British Antarctic Expedition.... " 13 | + | Statics and Antarctics.................. " 14 | + | Wireless--the realization............... " 16 | + | Birth's, Deaths and Marriages........... " 17 | + | The Evolution of Women.................. " 18 | + | A Concise Narrative..................... " 21 | + | The Daylight Proposition................ " 23 | + | Meteorological and Magnetic Notes....... " 24 | + | Calendar Rhymes......................... " 25 | + | Answers to Correspondents............... " 26 | + | | + | o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o- | + | | + | VOL-I--No. I April, 1913 | + | | + |__________________________________________________________| + + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +It was the first Antarctic publication which could boast a real cable +column of news of the day. Extracts from the April number were read +after dinner one evening and excited much amusement. An "Ode to Tobacco" +was very popular, and seemed to voice the enthusiasm of our small +community, while "The Evolution of Women" introduced us to a +once-familiar subject. The Editor was later admitted by wireless to the +Journalists' Association (Sydney). + +Many have asked the question, "What did you do to fill in the time +during the second year?" + +The duties of cook and night-watchman came to each man once every week, +and meteorological and magnetic observations went on daily. Then we were +able to devote a good deal of time to working up the scientific work +accomplished during the sledging journeys. The wireless watches kept +two men well occupied, and in spare moments the chief recreation was +reading. There was a fine supply of illustrated journals and periodicals +which had arrived by the 'Aurora', and with papers like the 'Daily +Graphic', 'Illustrated London News', 'Sphere' and 'Punch', we tried to +make up the arrears of a year in exile. The "Encyclopaedia Britannica" +was a great boon, being always "the last word" in the settlement of a +debated point. Chess and cards were played on several occasions. Again, +whenever the weather gave the smallest opportunity, there were jobs +outside, digging for cases, attending to the wireless mast and, in the +spring, geological collecting and dredging. If the air was clear of +drift, and the wind not over fifty miles per hour, one could spend a +pleasant hour or more walking along the shore watching the birds and +noting the changes in "scenery" which were always occurring along our +short "selection" of rocks. During 1912 we had been able to study all +the typical features of our novel and beautiful environment, but 1913 +was the period of "intensive cultivation" and we would have gladly +forgone much of it. Divine service was usually held on Sunday mornings, +but in place of it we sometimes sang hymns during the evening, or +arranged a programme of sacred selections on the gramophone. There was a +great loss in our singing volume after the previous year, which Hodgeman +endeavoured to remedy by striking up an accompaniment on the organ. + +Cooking reached its acme, according to our standard, and each man became +remarkable for some particular dish. Bage was the exponent of steam +puddings of every variety, and Madigan could always be relied upon for +an unfailing batch of puff-pastry. Bickerton once started out with the +object of cooking a ginger pudding, and in an unguarded moment used +mixed spices instead of ginger. The result was rather appetizing, and +"mixed-spice pudding" was added to an original list. McLean specialized +in yeast waffles, having acquired the art of tossing pancakes. Jeffryes +had come on the scene with a limited experience, but his first milk +scones gained him a reputation which he managed to make good. Hodgeman +fell back on the cookery book before embarking on the task of preparing +dinner, but the end-product, so to speak, which might be invariably +expected for "sweets" was tapioca pudding. Penguin meat had always +been in favour. Now special care was devoted to seal meat, and, after +a while, mainly owing to the rather copious use of onion powder, no one +could say for certain which was which. + +During the previous year, yeast had been cultivated successfully +from Russian stout. The experiments were continued, and all available +information was gathered from cookery books and the Encyclopaedia. +Russian stout, barley wine, apple rings, sugar, flour and mould from +potatoes were used in several mixtures and eventually fermentation was +started. Bread-making was the next difficulty, and various instructions +were tried in succession. The method of "trial and error" was at +last responsible for the first light spongy loaf, and then every +night-watchman cultivated the art and baked for the ensuing day. + +On April 8 the snow had gathered deeply everywhere and we had some +exercise on skis. Several of the morainic areas were no longer visible, +and it was possible to run between the rocks for a considerable +distance. A fresh breeze came up during the afternoon and provided a +splendid impetus for some good slides. During the short calm, twenty-six +seals landed on the harbour-ice. + +On the morning of the same day Mary gave birth to five pups in the +Transit House. The place was full of cracks, through which snow and wind +were always driving, and so we were not surprised when four of them were +found to have died. The survivor was named "Hoyle" (a cognomen for our +old friend Hurley) and his doings gave us a new fund of entertainment. + +The other dogs had been penned in the veranda and in tolerable weather +were brought outside to be fed. Carrying an axe, Madigan usually went +down to the boat harbour, followed by the expectant pack, to where there +were several seal carcases. These lay immovably frozen to the ice, and +were cut about and hacked so that the meat in section reminded one of +the grain of a log of red gum, and it was certainly quite as hard. When +Madigan commenced to chop, the dogs would range themselves on the lee +side and "field" the flying chips. + +On April 16 the last penguin was seen on a ledge overhanging an icy cove +to the east. Apparently its moulting time had not expired, but it was +certainly a very miserable bird, smothered in small icicles and snow and +partly exposed to a sixty-five mile wind with the temperature close to +-10 degrees F. Petrels were often seen flying along the foreshores and +no wind appeared to daunt them. It was certainly a remarkable thing to +witness a snow-petrel, small, light and fragile, making headway over the +sea in the face of an eighty-mile hurricane, fluttering down through the +spindrift to pick up a morsel of food which it had detected. Close to +the western cliffs there was a trail of brash-ice where many birds were +often observed feeding on Euphausia (crustaceans) in weather when it +scarcely seemed possible for any living creature to be abroad. + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +The meteorological chart for April 12, 1913, compiled by the +Commonwealth Meteorological Bureau + +Mr. Hunt appends the following explanation: "A very intense cyclone +passing south of Macquarie Island, where the barometer fell on the 11th +from 29.49 at 9 A.M. to 29.13 at 6 P.M., and the next day to 28.34 at +9 A.M. and 27.91 at 6 P.M. At Adelie Land the barometer was not greatly +affected, but rose in sympathy with the passage of the 'low' from 28.70 +to 28.90 during the twenty-four hours. The influence of this cyclone was +very wide and probably embraced both Adelie Land and Tasmania." + + + +Throughout April news by wireless came in slowly and spasmodically, and +Jeffryes was becoming resigned to the eccentricities of the place. As +an example of the unfavourable conditions which sometimes prevailed: on +April 14 the wind was steady, in the nineties, with light drift and, +at times, the aurora would illumine the north-west sky. Still, during +"quiet" intervals, two messages came through and were acknowledged. + +A coded weather report, which had priority over all other messages, was +sent out each night, and it is surprising how often Jeffryes managed to +transmit this important intelligence. On evenings when receiving was an +impossibility, owing to a continual stream of St. Elmo's fire, the three +code words for the barometric reading, the velocity and direction of +the wind were signalled repeatedly and, on the following night, perhaps, +Macquarie Island would acknowledge them. Of course we had to use new +signs for the higher wind velocities, as no provision had been made for +them in our meteorological code-book. The reports from Macquarie Island +and Adelie Land were communicated to Mr. Hunt of the Commonwealth +Weather Bureau and to Mr. Bates of the Dominion Meteorological Office, +who plotted them out for their daily weather forecasts. + +It was very gratifying to learn that the Macquarie Island party to a man +had consented to remain at their lonely post and from Ainsworth, +their leader, I received a brief report of the work which had been +accomplished by each member. We all could appreciate the sacrifice they +were making. Then, too, an account was received of the great sledging +efforts which had been made by Wild and his men to the west. But it was +not till the end of the year that their adventurous story was related to +us in detail. + +On the 23rd Lassie, one of the dogs, was badly wounded in a fight and +had to be shot. Quarrels amongst the dogs had to be quelled immediately, +otherwise they would probably mean the death of some unfortunate animal +which happened to be thrown down amongst the pack. Whenever a dog was +down, it was the way of these brutes to attack him irrespective of +whether they were friends or foes. + +Among our dogs there were several groups whose members always consorted +together. Thus, George and Lassie were friends and, when the latter was +killed, George, who was naturally a miserable, downtrodden creature, +became a kind of pariah, morose and solitary and at war with all except +Peary and Fix, with whom he and Lassie had been associated in fights +against the rest. The other dogs lived together in some kind of harmony, +Jack and Amundsen standing out as particular chums, while the "pups," as +we called them--D'Urville, Ross and Wilkes ("Monkey")--were a trio born +in Adelie Land and, therefore, comrades in misfortune. Hoyle, as a pup, +was treated benevolently by all the others, and entered the fellowship +of the other three when he grew up. Among the rest, Mikkel stood out as +a good fighter, Colonel as the biggest dog and ringleader against the +Peary-Fix faction, Fram as a nervous intractable animal, and Mary as the +sole representative of the sex. + +It was remarkable that Peary, Fix and George in their hatred of the +others, who were penned up in the dog shelter during bad weather, would +absent themselves for days on a snow ramp near the Magnetograph House, +where they were partly protected from the wind by rocks. George, from +being a mere associate of Peary and Fix, became more amiable as the +year went by, and at times it was quite pathetic to see his attempts at +friendliness. + +We became very fond of the dogs despite their habit of howling at night +and their wolfish ferocity. They always gave one a welcome, in drift or +sunshine, and though ruled by the law of force, they had a few domestic +traits to make them civilized. + +May was a dreaded month because it had been the period of worst wind and +drift during 1912. On this occasion the wind velocities over four +weeks were not so high and constant, though the snowfall was just as +persistent. On the 17th and 18th, however, there was an unexpected +"jump" to the nineties. The average over the first twenty-four hours +was eighty-three, and on the 18th it attained 93.7 miles per hour. One +terrific rise between 6.30 and 7.30 on the night of the 17th was shown +as one hundred and three miles on the anemometer--the record up to that +time. + +Madigan was thrown over and had a hard fall on his arm, smashing a +bottle of the special ink which was used for the anemograph pen. Bage +related how he had sailed across the Magnetic Flat by sitting down +and raising his arms in the air. He was accompanied by Fix, Peary and +George, who were blown along the slippery surface for yards. McLean had +a "lively time" cutting ice and bringing in the big blocks. Often he +would slide away with a large piece, and "pull up" on a snow patch +twenty yards to leeward. + +On the 22nd there were hours of gusts which came down like thunderbolts, +making us apprehensive for the safety of the wireless masts; we had +grown to trust the stability of the Hut. Every one who went outside came +back with a few experiences. Jeffryes was roughly handled through not +wearing crampons, and several cases of kerosene, firmly stacked on the +break-wind, were dislodged and thrown several yards. + +Empire Day was celebrated in Adelie Land with a small display. At 2.30 +P.M. the Union Jack was hoisted to the topmast and three cheers were +given for the King. The wind blew at fifty miles an hour with light +drift, temperature -3 degrees F. Empire greetings were sent to the +Colonial Secretary, London, and to Mr Fisher, Prime Minister of +Australia. These were warmly reciprocated a few days afterwards. + +Preceded by a day of whirlies on the 7th and random gusts on the same +evening, the wind made a determined attack next morning and carried away +the top and part of the middle section of the main wireless mast. It +was a very unexpected event, lulled as we were into security by the fact +that May, the worst month, had passed. On examination it was found that +two of the topmast wire stays had chafed through, whilst another had +parted. At first it seemed a hopeless task to re-erect the mast, but +gradually ways and means were discussed, and we waited for the first +calm day to put the theories into execution. + +Meanwhile, it was suggested that if a heavy kite were made and induced +to fly in the continuous winds, the aerial thus provided would be +sufficient to receive wireless messages. To this end, Bage and Bickerton +set to work, and the first invention was a Venesta-box kite which was +tried in a steady seventy-mile wind. Despite its weight,--at least ten +pounds --the kite rose immediately, steadied by guys on either side, and +then suddenly descended with a crash on to the glacier ice. After the +third fall the kite was too battered to be of any further use. Another +device, in which an empty carbide tin was employed, and still another, +making use of an old propeller, shared the same fate. + +On the evening of the 19th a perfect coloured corona, three degrees +in diameter, was observed encircling the moon in a sky which lit up at +intervals with dancing auroral curtains. Coronae or "glories," which +closely invest the luminary, are due to diffraction owing to immense +numbers of very minute water or ice particles floating in the air +between the observer and the source of light. The larger the particles +the smaller the corona, so that by a measurement of the diameter of a +corona the size of the particles can be calculated. Earlier in the +year, a double corona had been seen when the moon was shining through +cirro-cumulus clouds. Haloes, on the other hand, are wide circles (or +arcs of circles) in the sky surrounding the sun or moon, and arising +from light-refraction in myriads of tiny ice-crystals suspended in +the atmosphere. They were very commonly noted in Adelie Land where the +conditions were so ideal for their production. + +Midwinter's Day 1913! we had reached a turning-point in the season. +The Astronomer Royal told us that at eight o'clock on June 22 the sun +commenced to return, and every one took note of the fact. The sky was +overcast, the air surcharged with drifting snow, and the wind was forty +miles an hour--a representative day as far as the climate was concerned. +The cook made a special effort and the menu bore the following foreword: + + Now is the winter of our discontent + Made glorious summer.... + +On July 6 the wind moderated, and we set about repairing once more the +fortunes of the "wireless." The shattered topmast used to sway about +in the heavy winds, threatening to bring down the rest of the mast. +Bickerton, therefore, climbed up with a saw and cut it almost through +above the doubling. All hands then pulled hard, and the upper +part cracked off, the lower section being easily removed from the +cross-trees. The mast now looked "shipshape" and ready for future +improvements. + +It was decided to use as a topmast the mast which had been formerly +employed to support the northern half of the aerial. So on the 29th this +was lowered and removed to the veranda to be fitted for erection. + +Almost a fortnight now elapsed, during which the weather was +"impossible." In fact, the wind was frightful throughout the whole +month of July, surpassing all its previous records and wearing out our +much-tried patience. All that one could do was to work on and try grimly +to ignore it. On July 2 we noted: "Thick as a wall outside with an +eighty-five miler." And so it commenced and continued for a day, +subsiding slowly through the seventies to the fifties and then suddenly +redoubling in strength, rose to a climax about midnight on the 5th--one +hundred and sixteen miles an hour! For eight hours it maintained an +average of one hundred and seven miles an hour, and the timbers of +the Hut seemed to be jarred and wrenched as the wind throbbed in its +mightier gusts. These were the highest wind-velocities recorded during +our two years' residence in Adelie Land and are probably the highest +sustained velocities ever reported from a meteorological station. + +With the exception of a few Antarctic and snow petrels flying over the +sea on the calmer days, no life had been seen round the Hut during June. +So it was with some surprise that we sighted a Weddell seal on July +9 attempting to land on the harbour-ice in a seventy-five-mile wind. +Several times it clambered over the edge and on turning broadside to the +wind was actually tumbled back into the water. Eventually it struggled +into the lee of some icy hummocks, but only remained there for a few +minutes, deciding that the water was much warmer. + +On the 11th there was an exceptionally low barometer at 27.794 +inches. At the same time the wind ran riot once more--two hundred and +ninety-eight miles in three hours. The highest barometric reading was +recorded on September 3, 30.4 inches, and the comparison indicates a +wide range for a station at sea-level. + +To show how quickly conditions would change, it was almost calm next +morning, and all hands were in readiness to advance the wireless mast +another stage. Previously there had been three masts, one high one in +three lengths, and two smaller ones of one length each, between which +the aerial stretched; the "lead-in" wires being connected to the middle +of the aerial. This is known as an "umbrella aerial." Since we were +without one short mast it was resolved to erect a "directive" [capital +gamma gjc]-shaped aerial. The mainmast was to be in two instead of three +lengths, and we wondered if the aerial would be high enough. In any +case, it was so calm early on the 11th that we ventured to erect the +topmast and had hauled it half-way, when the wind swooped down from the +plateau, and there was just time to make fast the stays and the hauling +rope and to leave things "snug" for the next spell of bad weather. + +In eight days another opportunity came, and this time the topmast was +hoisted, wedged and securely stayed. Bickerton had fixed a long bolt +through the middle of the topmast and just above it three additional +wire stays were to be placed. Another fine day and we reckoned to finish +the work. + +From July 26 onwards the sky was cloudless for a week, and each day the +northern sun would rise a fraction of a degree higher. The wind was very +constant and of high velocity. + +It was a grand sight to witness the sea in a hurricane on a driftless, +clear day. Crouched under a rock on Azimuth Hill, and looking across +to the west along the curving brink of the cliffs, one could watch the +water close inshore blacken under the lash of the wind, whiten into foam +farther off, and then disappear into the hurrying clouds of spray and +sea-smoke. Over the Mackellar Islets and the "Pianoforte Berg" columns +of spray would shoot up like geysers, and fly away in the mad race to +the north. + +Early in July Jeffryes became ill, and for some weeks his symptoms were +such as to give every one much anxiety. His work on the wireless had +been assiduous at all times, and there is no doubt that the continual +and acute strain of sending and receiving messages under unprecedented +conditions was such that he eventually had a "nervous breakdown." +Unfortunately the weather was so atrocious, and the conditions under +which we were placed so peculiarly difficult, that nothing could be done +to brighten his prospects. McLean considered that as the spring returned +and it became possible to take more exercise outside, the nervous +exhaustion would pass off. In the meantime Jeffryes took a complete +rest, and slowly improved as the months went by, and our hopes of relief +came nearer. It was a great misfortune for our comrade, especially as it +was his first experience of such a climate, and he had applied himself +to work with enthusiasm and perhaps in an over-conscientious spirit. + +July concluded its stormy career with the astonishing wind-average of +63.6 miles an hour. We were all relieved to see Friday, August 1, appear +on the modest calendar, which it was the particular pleasure of each +night-watchman to change. More light filtered day by day through the ice +on the kitchen window, midwinter lay behind, and we were ready to hail +the first signs of returning spring. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV NEARING THE END + + Seven men from all the world, back to town again, + Seven men from out of hell. + Kipling + + +It is wonderful how quickly the weeks seemed to pass. Situated as we +were, Time became quite an object of study to us and its imperceptible +drift was almost a reality, considering that each day was another step +towards liberty--freedom from the tyranny of the wind. In a sense, the +endless surge of the blizzard was a slow form of torture, and the subtle +effect it had on the mind was measurable in the delight with which one +greeted a calm, fine morning, or noted some insignificant fact which +bespoke the approach of a milder season. Thus in August, although the +weather was colder, there were the merest signs of thawing along the +edges of the snow packed against the rocky faces which looked towards +the sun; Weddell seals came back to the land, and the petrels would at +times appear in large flocks; all of which are very commonplace events +which any one might have expected, but at the time they had more than +their face value. + +August 5 was undoubtedly a great day from our very provincial point of +view. On the 4th there had been a dense drift, during which the Hut +was buttressed round with soft snow which rose above the eaves and half +filled the entrance-veranda. The only way in which the night-watchman +could keep the hourly observations was to dig his way out frequently +with a shovel. In the early morning hours of the 5th the wind abated +and veered right round from south through east to north-east, from which +quarter it remained as a fresh breeze with falling snow. By 7 A.M. +the air was still, and outside there was a dead world of whiteness; +flocculent heaps of down rolling up to where glimpses of rock streaked +black near the skyline of the ridges, striated masses of livid cloud +overhead, and to the horizon the dark berg-strewn sea, over which the +snow birds fluttered. + +We did not linger over the scenery, but set to work to hoist to the head +of the mainmast the aerial, which had been hurriedly put together. The +job occupied till lunch-time, and then a jury-mast was fixed to the +southern supporting mast, and by dusk the aerial hung in position. +Bickerton was the leading spirit in the work and subsequently steadied +the mainmast with eighteen wire stays, in the determination to make +it stable enough to weather the worst hurricane. The attempt was so +successful that in an ordinary fifty-mile "blow" the mast vibrated +slightly, and in higher winds exhibited the smallest degree of movement. + +At eight o'clock that night, Jeffryes, who felt so benefited by his rest +that he was eager to commence operating once more, had soon "attuned" +his instrument to Macquarie Island, and in a few minutes communication +was reestablished. + +We learned from the Governor-General, Lord Denman, that her Majesty the +Queen was "graciously pleased to consent to the name 'Queen Mary Land' +being given to newly discovered land." The message referred to the tract +of Antarctic coast which had been discovered and mapped by Wild and his +party to the west. + +On August 6 Macquarie Island signalled that they had run short of +provisions. The message was rather a paradox: " Food done, but otherwise +all right." However, on August 11, we were reassured to hear that the +'Tutanekai', a New Zealand Government steamer, had been commissioned to +relieve the party, and that Sawyer through ill-health had been obliged +to return to Australia. A sealing-ship, the 'Rachel Cohen', after +battling for almost the whole month of July against gales, in an +endeavour to reach the island, with stores for our party and the +sealers, had returned damaged to port. + +Marvellous to relate we had two calm days in succession, and on the 6th +the snow lay so deeply round the Hut that progression without skis was a +laborious flounder. The dogs plunged about in great glee, rolling in +the snow and "playing off" their surplus energy after being penned for a +long spell in the shelter. + +On skis one could push up the first slopes of the glacier for a long +distance. Soft snow had settled two feet thick even on the steep icy +downfalls. The sea to the north was frozen into large cakes between +which ran a network of dark water "leads." With glasses we could make +out in the near distance five seals and two tall solitary figures which +were doubtless Emperor penguins. During the whole day nimbus clouds had +hung heavily from the sky, and snow had fallen in grains and star-like +crystals. Gradually the nimbus lightened, a rift appeared overhead, +and,the edges of the billowy cumulus were burnished in the light of the +low sun. The sea-horizon came sharply into sight through fading mist. +Bergs and islands, from being ghostly images, rose into sharp-featured +reality. The masts and Hut, with a dark riband of smoke floating from +the chimney, lay just below, and two of the men were walking out to the +harbour-ice where a seal had just landed, while round them scampered the +dogs in high spirits. That was sufficient to set us sliding downhill, +ploughing deep furrows through the soft drift and reaching the Hut in +quick time. + +During August we were able to do more work outside, thus enlarging our +sphere of interest. Bage, who had been busy up till August 8 with his +daily magnetograph records, ran short of bromide papers and now had to +be contented with taking "quick runs" at intervals, especially when +the aurora was active. His astronomical observations had been very +disappointing owing to the continuous wind and drift. Still, in +September, which was marked by periods of fine weather, a few good star +observations were possible. Shafts were sunk in the sea-ice and up on +the glacier, just above the zone where the ice was loaded with stones +and debris--the lower moraine. The glacier shaft was dug to a depth of +twenty-four feet, and several erratics were met with embedded in the +ice. In this particular part the crystalline structure of the ice +resembled that of a gneiss, showing that it had flowed under pressure. +I was able to make measurements of ablation on the glacier, to take +observations of the temperature and salinity of the sea-water, and to +estimate the forward movement of the seaward cliffs of the ice-cap. + +Geological collecting now became quite a popular diversion. With +a slight smattering of "gneiss," "felspar," "weathered limestone," +"garnets," and "glacial markings" the amateurs went off and made many +finds on the moraines, and the specimens were cached in heaps, to be +later brought home by the dogs, some of which were receiving their first +lessons in sledge-pulling. + +Rather belated, but none the less welcome, our midwinter wireless +greetings arrived on August 17 from many friends who could only +imagine how much they were appreciated, and from various members of the +Expedition who had spent the previous year in Adelie Land and who knew +the meaning of an Antarctic winter. A few evenings later, Macquarie +Islanders had their reward in the arrival of the 'Tutanekai' from New +Zealand with supplies of food, and, piecing together a few fragments of +evidence "dropped in the ether," we judged that they were having a night +of revelry. + +The wind was in a fierce humour on the morning of August 16, mounting to +one hundred and five miles per hour between 9 and 10 A.M., and carrying +with it a very dense drift. + +We were now in a position to sit down and generalize about the wind. It +is a tiresome thing to have it as the recurring insistent theme of our +story, but to have had it as the continual obstacle to our activity, the +opposing barrier to the simplest task, was even more tedious. + +A river, rather a torrent, of air rushes from the hinterland northward +year after year, replenished from a source which never fails. We had +reason to believe that it was local in character, as apparently a +gulf of open water about one hundred miles in width--the D'Urville +Sea--exists to the north of Adelie Land. Thus, far back in the +interior--back to the South Geographical Pole itself--across one +thousand six hundred miles of lofty plateau--is a zone of high +barometric pressure, while to the north lies the D'Urville Sea and +beyond it the Southern Ocean--a zone of low pressure. As if through a +contracted outlet, thereby increasing the velocity of the flow, the wind +sweeps down over Adelie Land to equalize the great air-pressure system. +And so, in winter, the chilling of the plateau leads to the development +of a higher barometric pressure and, as the open water to the north +persists, to higher winds. In summer the suns shines on the Pole for six +months, the uplands of the continent are warmed and the northern zone of +low pressure pushes southward. So, in Adelie Land, short spells of calm +weather may be expected over a period of barely three months around +the summer solstice. This explanation is intentionally popular. The +meteorological problem is one which can only be fully discussed when +all the manifold observations have been gathered together, from other +contemporary Antarctic expeditions, from our two stations on the +Antarctic continent, and from Macquarie Island; all taken in conjunction +with weather conditions around Australia and New Zealand. Then, when all +the evidence is arrayed and compared, some general truths of particular +value to science and, maybe, to commerce, should emerge. + +Of one thing we were certain, and that was that Adelie Land was the +windiest place in the world. To state the fact more accurately: such +wind-velocities as prevail at sea-level in Adelie Land are known in +other parts of the world only at great elevations in the atmosphere. +The average wind-velocity for our first year proved to be approximately +fifty miles per hour. The bare figures convey more when they are +compared with the following average annual wind-velocities quoted from a +book of reference: Europe, 10.3 miles per hour; United States, 9.5 miles +per hour; Southern Asia, 6.5 miles per hour; West Indies, 6.2 miles per +hour. + +Reference has already been made to the fact that often the high winds +ceased abruptly for a short interval. Many times during 1913 we had +opportunities of judging this phenomenon and, as an example, may be +quoted September 6. + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +A diagrammatic sketch illustrating the meteorological conditions at the +main base, noon, September 6, 1913 + + +On that day a south-by-east hurricane fell off and the drift cleared +suddenly from about the Hut at 11.20 A.M. On the hills to the south +there was a dense grey wall of flying snow. Whirlies tracked about at +intervals and overhead a fine cumulus cloud formed, revolving rapidly. +Over the recently frozen sea there was an easterly breeze, while about +the Hut itself there were light northerly airs. Later in the day the +zone of southern wind and drift crept down and once more overwhelmed us. +Evidently the "eye" of a cyclonic storm had passed over. + +During September the sea was frozen over for more than two weeks, +and the meteorological conditions varied from their normal phase. It +appeared as if we were situated on the battlefield, so to speak, of +opposing forces. The pacific influence of the "north" would hold sway +for a few hours, a whole day, or even for a few days. Then the vast +energies of the "south" would rise to bursting-point and a "through +blizzard" would be the result. + +On September 11, although there was a wind of seventy miles per hour, +the sea-ice which had become very solid during a few days of low +temperature was not dispersed. Next day we found it possible to walk +in safety to the Mackellar Islets. On the way rushes of southerly wind +accompanied by a misty drift followed behind us. Then a calm intervened, +and the sun momentarily appeared and shone warmly. Suddenly from the +north-west came breezy puffs which settled into a light wind as we +went north. On the way home we could not see the mainland for clouds of +drift, and, when approaching the mouth of the boat-harbour, these clouds +were observed to roll down the lower slopes of the glacier and, reaching +the shore, rise into the air in columns. They then sailed away northward +at a higher altitude, almost obscuring the sun with a fine fog. On the +same night the "south" had gained the mastery, and the wind blew with +its accustomed strength. + +Again, on September 24, McLean had a unique experience. He was digging +ice in a fifty-mile wind with moderate drift close to the Hut and, on +finishing his work, walked down to the harbour-ice to see if there were +any birds about. He was suddenly surprised to leave the wind and drift +behind and to walk out into an area of calm. The water lapped alongside +the ice-foot, blue in the brilliant sunlight. Away to the west a few +miles distant a fierce wind was blowing snow like fine spume over the +brink of the cliffs. Towards the north-west one could plainly see the +junction between calm water and foam-crested waves. To the south the +drift drove off the hills, passed the Hut, and then gyrated upwards and +thinned away seawards at an altitude of several hundred feet. + +The wind average for September was 36.8 miles per hour, as against 53.7 +for September of the previous year. There were nine "pleasant" days, +that is, days on which it was possible to walk about outside and enjoy +oneself. On the 27th there was a very severe blizzard. The wind was +from the south-east: the first occasion on which it had blown from any +direction but south-by-east at a high velocity. The drift was extremely +dense, the roof of the Hut being invisible at a distance of six feet. +Enormous ramps of snow formed in the vicinity, burying most of the cases +and the air-tractor sledge completely. The anemograph screen was blown +over and smashed beyond all repair. So said the Meteorological Notes in +the October number of the 'Adelie Blizzard'. + +Speaking of temperature in general, it was found that the +mean-temperature for the first year was just above zero; a very low +temperature for a station situated near the Circle. The continual flow +of cold air from the elevated interior of the continent accounts for +this. If Adelie Land were a region of calms or of northerly winds, the +average temperature would be very much higher. On the other hand, the +temperature at sea-level was never depressed below-28 degrees F., though +with a high wind we found that uncomfortable enough, even in burberrys. +During the spring sledging in 1912 the lowest temperature recorded was +-35 degrees F. and it was hard to keep warm in sleeping-bags. The wind +made all the difference to one's resistance. + +There was an unusually heavy snowfall during 1913. When the air was +heavily charged with moisture, as in midsummer, the falls would consist +of small (sago) or larger (tapioca) rounded pellets. Occasionally +one would see beautiful complicated patterns in the form of hexagonal +flakes. When low temperatures were the rule, small, plain, hexagonal +stars or spicules fell. Often throughout a single snowfall many types +would be precipitated. Thus, in September, in one instance, the fall +commenced with fluffy balls and then passed to tapioca snow, sago snow, +six-rayed stars and spicules. + +Wireless communication was still maintained, though September was +found to be such a "disturbed" month--possibly owing to the brilliant +aurorae--that not a great many messages were exchanged. Jeffryes was not +in the best of health, so that Bickerton took over the operating +work. Though at first signals could only be received slowly, Bickerton +gradually improved with practice and was able to "keep up his end" until +November 20, when daylight became continuous. One great advantage, which +by itself justified the existence of the wireless plant, was the fact +that time-signals were successfully received from Melbourne Observatory +by way of Macquarie Island, and Bage was thus able to improve on his +earlier determinations and to establish a fundamental longitude. + +During this same happy month of September, whose first day marked the +event of "One hundred days to the coming of the Ship" there was a great +revival in biological work. Hodgeman made several varieties of bag-traps +which were lowered over the edge of the harbour-ice, and many large +"worms" and crustaceans were caught and preserved. + +On September 14 Bickerton started to construct a hand-dredge, which was +ready for use by the next evening. It was a lovely, cloudless day on +the 16th and the sea-ice, after more than two weeks, still spread to the +north in a firm, unbroken sheet. We went out on skis to reconnoitre, and +found that the nearest "lead" was too far away to make dredging a safe +proposition. So we were contented to kill a seal and bring it home +before lunch, continuing to sink the ice-shaft above the moraine for the +rest of the day. + +The wind rose to the "seventies" on September 17, and the sea-ice +was scattered to the north. On the 19th--a fine day--there were many +detached pieces of floe which drifted in with a northerly breeze, and +on one of these, floating in an ice-girt cove to the west, a sea-leopard +was observed sunning himself. He was a big, vicious-looking brute, and +we determined to secure him if possible. The first thing was to dispatch +him before he escaped from the floe. This Madigan did in three shots +from a Winchester rifle. A long steel-shod sledge was then dragged from +the Hut and used to bridge the interval between the ice-foot and the +floe. After the specimen had been flayed, the skin and a good supply +of dogs' meat were hauled across and sledged home. On the 30th another +sea-leopard came swimming in near the harbour's entrance, apparently on +the look-out for seals or penguins. Including the one seen during 1912, +only three of these animals were observed during our two years' sojourn +in Adelie Land. + +Dredgings in depths up to five fathoms were done inside the boat harbour +and just off its entrance on five separate occasions between September +22 and the end of the month. Many "worms," crustaceans, pteropods, +asteroids, gastropods and hydroids were obtained, and McLean and I had +many interesting hours classifying the specimens. The former preserved +and labelled them, establishing a small laboratory in the loft above +the "dining-room." The only disadvantage of this arrangement was that +various "foreign bodies" would occasionally come tumbling through the +interspaces between the flooring boards of the loft while a meal was in +progress. + +Some Antarctic petrels were shot and examined for external and internal +parasites. Fish were caught in two traps made by Hodgeman and myself +in October, but unfortunately the larger of the two was lost during a +blizzard. However, on October 11 a haul of fifty-two fish was made with +hand-lines off the boat harbour, and we had a pleasant change in the +menu for dinner. They were of the type known as Notothenia, to which +reference has already been made. + +By October 13, when a stray silver-grey petrel appeared, every one was +on the qui vive for the coming of the penguins. In 1912 they had arrived +on October 12, and as there was much floating ice on the northern +horizon, we wondered if their migration to land had been impeded. + +The winds were very high for the ensuing two days, and on the 17th the +horizon was clearer and more "water sky" was visible. Before lunch +on that day there was not a living thing along the steep, overhanging +ice-foot, but by the late afternoon thirteen birds had effected a +landing, and those who were not resting after their long swim were +hopping about making a survey of the nearest rookeries. One always has +a "soft spot" for these game little creatures--there is something +irresistibly human about them--and, situated as we were, the wind seemed +of little account now that the foreshores were to be populated by the +penguins--our harbingers of summer and the good times to be. Three days +later, at the call of the season, a skua gull came flapping over the +Hut. + +It was rather a singular circumstance that on the evening of the 17th, +coincident with the disappearance of the ice on the horizon, wireless +signals suddenly came through very strongly in the twilight at 9.30 +P.M., and for many succeeding nights continued at the same intensity. On +the other hand, during September, when the sea was either firmly frozen +or strewn thickly with floe-ice, communication was very fitful and +uncertain. The fact is therefore suggested that wireless waves are for +some reason more readily transmitted across a surface of water than +across ice. + +The weather during the rest of October and for the first weeks +of November took on a phase of heavy snowfalls which we knew were +inevitable before summer could be really established. The winds were +very often in the "eighties" and every four or five days a calm might be +expected. + +The penguins had a tempestuous time building their nests, and resuming +once more the quaint routine of their rookery life. In the hurricanes +they usually ceased work and crouched behind rocks until the worst was +over. A great number of birds were observed to have small wounds on +the body which had bled and discoloured their feathers. In one case a +penguin had escaped, presumably from a sea-leopard, with several serious +wounds, and had staggered up to a rookery, dying there from loss of +blood. Almost immediately the frozen carcase was mutilated and torn by +skua gulls. + + +On October 31 the good news was received that the 'Aurora' would leave +Australia on November 15. There were a great number of things to be +packed, including the lathe, the motor and dynamos, the air-tractor +engine, the wireless "set" and magnetic and meteorological instruments. +Outside the Hut, many cases of kerosene and provisions, which might +be required for the Ship, had been buried to a depth of twelve feet in +places during the southeast hurricane in September. So we set to work in +great spirits to prepare for the future. + +McLean was busy collecting biological specimens, managing to secure a +large number of parasites from penguins, skua gulls, giant petrels, snow +petrels, Wilson petrels, seals and an Emperor penguin, which came up on +the harbour-ice. On several beautiful days, with a sea-breeze wafting in +from the north, large purple and brown jelly-fish came floating to the +ice-foot. Many were caught in a hand-net and preserved in formalin. In +his shooting excursions McLean happened on a small rocky ravine to the +east where, hovering among nests of snow and Wilson petrels, a small +bluish-grey bird,* not unlike Prion Banksii, was discovered. Four +specimens were shot, and, later, several old nests were found containing +the unhatched eggs of previous years. + + + ** On arrival in Australia this bird proved to be new to science. + +On the highest point of Azimuth Hill, overlooking the sea, a Memorial +Cross was raised to our two lost comrades. + +A calm evening in November! At ten o'clock a natural picture in shining +colours is painted on the canvas of sea and sky. The northern dome is a +blush of rose deepening to a warm terra-cotta along the horizon, and the +water reflects it upward to the gaze. Tiny Wilson petrels flit by like +swallows; seals shove their dark forms above the placid surface; the +shore is lined with penguins squatting in grotesque repose. The south is +pallid with light--the circling sun. Adelie Land is at peace! + +For some time Madigan, Hodgeman and I had been prepared to set out on +a short sledging journey to visit Mount Murchison and to recover if +possible the instruments cached by the Eastern Coastal and the +Southern Parties. It was not until November 23 that the weather "broke" +definitely, and we started up the old glacier "trail" assisted by a good +team of dogs. + +Aladdin's Cave was much the same as we had left it in the previous +February, except that a fine crop of delicate ice-crystals had formed on +its walls. We carried with us a small home-made wireless receiving set, +and arrangements were made with Bickerton and Bage to call at certain +hours. As an "aerial" a couple of lengths of copper wire were run out +on the surface of the ice. At the first "call" Madigan heard the signals +strongly and distinctly, but beyond five and a half miles nothing more +was received. + +Resuming the journey on the following day, we made a direct course for +Madigan Nunatak and then steered southeast for Mount Murchison, pitching +camp at its summit on the night of November 28. + +On the 29th Madigan and Hodgeman made a descent into the valley, on +whose southern side rose Aurora Peak. The former slid away on skis and +had a fine run to the bottom, while Hodgeman followed on the sledge +drawn by Monkey and D'Urville, braking with an ice-axe driven into +the snow between the cross-bars. Their object was to find the depot of +instruments and rocks which the Eastern Coastal Party were forced to +abandon when fifty-three miles from home. They were unsuccessful in +the search, as an enormous amount of snow had fallen on the old surface +during the interval of almost a year. Indeed, on the knoll crowning +Mount Murchison, where a ten-foot flagpole had been left, snow had +accumulated so that less than a foot of the top of the pole was +showing. Nine feet of hard compressed snow scarcely marked by one's +footsteps--the contribution of one year! To such a high isolated spot +drift-snow would not reach, so that the annual snowfall must greatly +exceed the residuum found by us, for the effect of the prevailing winds +would be to reduce it greatly. + +On the third day after leaving Mount Murchison for the Southern +Party's depot, sixty-seven miles south of Winter Quarters, driving snow +commenced, and a blizzard kept us in camp for seven days. When the drift +at last moderated we were forced to make direct for the Hut, as the time +when the Ship was expected to arrive had passed. + +Descending the long blue slopes of the glacier just before midnight +on December 12, we became aware of a faint black bar on the seaward +horizon. Soon a black speck had moved to the windward side of the +bar--and it could be nothing but the smoke of the 'Aurora'. The moment +of which we had dreamt for months had assuredly come. The Ship was in +sight! + +There were wild cheers down at the Hut when they heard the news. They +could not believe us and immediately rushed up with glasses to the +nearest ridge to get the evidence of their own senses. The masts, the +funnel and the staunch hull rose out of the ocean as we watched on the +hills through the early hours of a superb morning. The sun was streaming +warmly over the plateau and a cool land breeze had sprung up from the +south, as the 'Aurora' rounded the Mackellar Islets and steamed up to +her old anchorage. We picked out familiar figures on the bridge and +poop, and made a bonfire of kerosene, benzine and lubricating oil in a +rocky crevice in their honour. + +The indescribable moment was when Davis came ashore in the whale-boat, +manned by two of the Macquarie Islanders (Hamilton and Blake), Hurley +and Hunter. They rushed into the Hut, and we tried to tell the story of +a year in a few minutes. + +On the Ship we greeted Gillies, Gray, de la Motte, Ainsworth, Sandell +and Correll. It was splendid to know that the world contained so many +people, and to see these men who had stuck to the Expedition through +"thick and thin." Then came the fusillade of letters, magazines and +"mysterious" parcels and boxes. At dinner we sat down reunited in the +freshly painted ward-room, striving to collect our bewildered thoughts +at the sight of a white tablecloth, Australian mutton, fresh vegetables, +fruit and cigars. + +The two long years were over--for the moment they were to be effaced +in the glorious present. We were to live in a land where drift and wind +were unknown, where rain fell in mild, refreshing showers, where the sky +was blue for long weeks, and where the memories of the past were to fade +into a dream--a nightmare? + + + +CHAPTER XXV LIFE ON MACQUARIE ISLAND + +By G. F. Ainsworth + + +Left on an island in mid-ocean! + +It suggests the romances of youthful days--Crusoe, Sindbad and all their +glorious company. Still, when this narrative is completed, imagination +will be seen to have played a small part. In fact, it is a plain tale of +our experiences, descriptive of a place where we spent nearly two years +and of the work accomplished during our stay. + +The island was discovered in 1810 by Captain Hasselborough of the ship +'Perseverance', which had been dispatched by Campbell and Sons, of +Sydney, under his command to look for islands inhabited by fur seals. +Macquarie Islands, named by Hasselborough after the Governor of New +South Wales, were found to be swarming with these valuable animals, and +for two years after their discovery was made known, many vessels visited +the place, landing gangs of men to procure skins and returning at +frequent intervals to carry the proceeds of their labours to the markets +of the world. + +The slaughter of the seals was so great that the animals were almost +exterminated within a few years. One ship is known to have left +Macquarie Island with a cargo of 35,000 skins during the first year of +operations. High prices were obtained for them in London and China, and +many American, British and Sydney firms were engaged in the enterprise. + +The value of a skin is determined by the condition of the fur, which is +often damaged by the animals fighting amongst themselves. Furthermore, +at a certain season of the year, the seals moult, and if taken within +a certain time of this natural process, the skin is almost valueless. +These facts were ignored by the sealers, who killed without +discrimination. + +Again, both male and female, old and young were ruthlessly slaughtered, +with the obvious result--the extermination of the species. If +supervision had been exercised and restrictions imposed, there is no +doubt that the island would still have been used by the fur seal as a +breeding-ground. During our stay none were seen, but Mr. Bauer, who acts +as sealing herdsman and who had visited the island in that capacity each +summer for eleven years, stated that he had seen odd ones at infrequent +intervals. + +Associated as the island has been since the year 1812 with sealing and +oil ventures, it follows that a history has been gradually developed; +somewhat traditional, though many occurrences to which we shall refer +are well authenticated. + +It might be supposed from the foregoing, that a good deal is known about +the place, but such is not the case, except in a general sense. Several +scientific men from New Zealand, recognizing the importance of the +island as a link between Australasia and Antarctica, visited it at +different times within the past twenty years, only remaining long enough +to make a cursory examination of the eastern side. They had to depend +on the courtesy of the sealing ships' captains for a passage, and the +stormy conditions which are ever prevalent made their stay too brief for +any exhaustive work. + +A Russian Antarctic expedition, under Bellingshausen's command, called +there in 1821 and stayed for two days, collecting a few bird and animal +specimens. They referred to the island as being "half-cooled down," in +a short but interesting account of their visit, and remarked upon the +large number of sea-elephants lying on the shores. + +In 1840 the ship 'Peacock', one of the exploring vessels of the American +Expedition under Wilkes, landed several men after much difficulty on the +south-west of the island, but they remained only a few hours, returning +to their ship after securing some specimens of birds. Expressing +astonishment at the "myriad of birds", they remarked, "Macquarie Islands +offer no inducement for a visit, and as far as our examination showed, +have no suitable place for landing with a boat." + +The next call of an Antarctic expedition was made by Captain Scott in +the 'Discovery' in November 1901. He, with several naturalists, landed +on the eastern side to collect specimens, but remained only a few hours. +He refers to the penguins, kelp-weed and tussock grass; certainly three +characteristic features. + +Captain Davis, during his search for charted sub-antarctic islands, when +connected with Sir Ernest Shackleton's expedition, called there in +the 'Nimrod' in 1909. He landed a party of men who secured several +sea-elephants and some penguins. + +It will thus be seen that very little had been done which was +scientifically important or generally interesting. Sealers came and went +as a matter of business, and probably the arduous nature of their work +and the rugged topography of the island combined to prevent the more +curious from exploring far afield. + +Captain Scott was desirous of establishing a base on Macquarie Island +in 1910, but circumstances compelled him to abandon the idea. And so it +came that we five men of Dr. Mawson's Expedition were landed on December +22, 1911, with a programme of work outlined by our leader. H. Hamilton +was biologist, L. R. Blake surveyor and geologist, C. A. Sandell and A. +J. Sawyer were wireless operators, the former being also a mechanic, and +I was appointed meteorologist and leader of the party. + +We stood on the beach in the dusk, watching the boat's party struggle +back to the 'Aurora', which lay at anchor one and a half miles from +the north-west shore. Having received a soaking landing in the surf and +being tired out with the exertions of the day, we started back to our +temporary shelter. We had not gone very far when a mysterious sound, +followed by a shaking of the earth, made us glance at each other and +exclaim, "An earthquake!" The occurrence gave rise to a discussion which +carried us to bed. + +Seeing that we were to spend a long time on the island, the question of +building a hut was the first consideration. Through the kindness of Mr. +Bauer, who had just left the island in the s.s. 'Toroa', we were able to +live for the time being in the sealers' hut. + +It was urgent to get the wireless station into working order as soon as +possible. The masts and operating-hut had been erected during the stay +of the 'Aurora', but there yet remained the building of the engine-hut +and the installation of the machinery and instruments, as well as the +construction and erection of the aerial. Accordingly we proceeded with +the living-hut and the job on Wireless Hill at the same time, working on +the hill most of the day and at the hut in the evening. + +Wireless Hill rose to three hundred and fifty feet in height, and formed +part of a peninsula running in a northeasterly direction from the +main island. It had been chosen by Mr. Hannam of the Adelie Land party +because of its open northerly aspect, and because "wireless" waves +would probably have a good "set-off," southward to the Main Base in +Antarctica. + +Just a few yards from the base of the hill on its southwestern side was +a huge rock, upon the easterly side of which we decided to build our +dwelling. The timbers for the hut had been cut and fitted in Hobart, so +all that remained for us was to put them together. + +After working at high pressure until December 30, we were able to +establish ourselves in a home. The doorway faced to the east, and the +rock protected the small place from the strong westerly weather which +is invariable in these latitudes. The dimensions were twenty feet by +thirteen feet, the front wall being nine feet six inches high, sloping +to seven feet six inches at the back. All the timbers were of oregon and +deal, and particular attention was paid to bracing and strengthening +the building, which rested on piles just clear of the sandy surface. +The inside was lined and ceiled, and the roof of galvanized iron was set +flush with the front wall, fascia boards along the front and sides being +designed to keep the fine snow from blowing under the corrugations and +lodging on the ceiling. "George V Villa" was fixed upon as the name, but +the hut was never at any time referred to as the villa, and in future +will always be known as the Shack. + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +Plan of Hut--Macquarie Island + + +Twelve live sheep had been landed, and these had been driven on to +Wireless Hill so as to be accessible. We decided to kill one for +Christmas, so on December 24 Sandell and I, leaving the others at work +on the Shack, started out. + +The hillsides are deeply ravined and the slopes covered with a dense +growth of tussock, which renders progress uncertain and laborious. Our +experience was a foretaste of many to come. We found the sheep huddled +together in a deep gully on the eastern side, and drove them round to +the front of the hill, where one was caught, killed and dressed. + +Christmas Day dawned fine and sunny, and we decided to make some attempt +at a dinner. Blake produced a plum pudding, and this, together with +roast mutton and several kinds of vegetables, washed down with a little +claret, constituted our first Christmas dinner. + +The sealing schooner, Clyde, had been wrecked without loss of life on +November 14, 1911, on the east coast, and was now lying on the beach +nearly half a mile away. A two-hundred-gallon tank had been saved +from the wreck and we managed on Christmas morning, after two hours of +carrying and trundling, to place it at the end of the Shack. This was a +valuable find, ensuring in the future a constant, convenient supply +of rain water. Further, we made use of the timber of the wreck for +building, and the broken pieces strewn about were stored up as firewood. + +On the 26th we all went to the wireless station, and, as Sandell had the +aerial made, we pulled it into position. In the afternoon I unpacked +all my instruments and started them off so as to make sure that all +were working correctly. I did not intend to record any observations till +January 1, 1912, and therefore did not erect the meteorological screen +until the 28th. + +On moving into our abode domestic arrangements were made. With regard +to cooking, each man took duty for a week, during which he was able to +write up his work and to wash and mend clothes. To Hamilton and Sandell, +who had had previous experience, frequent appeals were made as to +methods of cooking various dishes, but by degrees each one asserted his +independence. There were several cookery books for reference and each +week saw the appearance of some new pudding, in each instance prefaced +by the boast: "This is going to be the best pudding ever turned out on +the island!" The promise was not always made good. + +We had a good deal of difficulty at first in making bread and several +batches were very "heavy" failures. This difficulty, however, was soon +overcome and, after the first few months, the cooking standard was high +and well maintained. Our stove was very small and only two loaves of +bread could be cooked at once. It frequently happened, therefore, that +the others, which would go on rising in the tins, overflowed; a matter +which could only be set right by experience. + +On New Year's Day, 1912, we carried timber in relays from the wreck to +the top of Wireless Hill, so that the building of the engine-hut could +be started. The next few days were occupied in getting food-stuffs, +medicines, stationery, clothing and other necessaries over to the Shack +from the landing-place on the beach. Blake and Hamilton unpacked +their instruments and appliances, fitting up a small laboratory and +photographic dark-room in one corner of the hut. + +Some kind Hobart friend had sent four fowls to me on the day of sailing, +requesting me to take them to Macquarie island. They were housed in one +of the meteorological screens, but on the third day from Hobart a heavy +sea broke on board, upset the temporary fowl-house and crushed the +rooster's head. The three hens were landed safely and appeared to be +thoroughly reconciled to their strange surroundings, though the presence +of so many large birds soaring about overhead had a terrifying effect on +them for several days. They did not appear to pick up much food amongst +the grass, but scratched away industriously all the same. I must say +that they were very friendly and gave the place quite a homely aspect. +One of them was christened "Ma" on account of her maternal and somewhat +fussy disposition. + +On the first Sunday in the new year all except myself went along +the coast towards West Point. The party reported immense numbers of +sea-elephants, especially young ones. They also saw many wekas and three +ducks, shooting nine of the former for the kitchen. + +The wekas or Maori hens are small, flightless birds, averaging when +full grown about two and three-quarter pounds. They were introduced +twenty-five years ago by Mr. Elder, of New Zealand, a former lessee of +the island, and multiplied so fast that they are now very numerous. They +live among the tussocks, and subsist for the most part upon the larvae +of the kelp-fly, small fish and other marine life which they catch under +the stones along the rocky shores at low tide. They are exceedingly +inquisitive and pugnacious and may easily be caught by hand. + +Usually, when disturbed, they will pop under a rock, and on being seized +immediately commence to squeak. This is sufficient to bring every weka +within a quarter of a mile hurrying to the spot, and, in a few minutes, +heads may be seen poking out of the grass in every direction. The man +holding the bird then crouches down, preferably just on the border of +the tussock, holding the protesting bird in one hand. Soon there will be +a rustle, then a rush, and another furious weka will attack the decoy. +The newcomer is grabbed and, if the birds are plentiful, five or six of +them may be taken in one spot. + +Their call is peculiarly plaintive and wild and may be heard night and +day. Though we saw and caught innumerable young ones of all sizes, we +were never able to find the nests of these Maori hens. + +A depot of stores had been laid by the 'Aurora' at Caroline Cove, twenty +miles from the Shack at the south end of the island, and it was deemed +advisable to lay several more intermediate food-depots along the east +coast. + +The sealers had a motor-launch which they kindly placed at our disposal, +and a supply of stores was put on board for transport. At 8 A.M., +January 9, Sandell, Blake, Sawyer and Hamilton started out accompanied +by two sealers who offered to point out the positions of several old +huts along the coast. These huts had been built by sealing gangs many +years ago and were in a sad state of disrepair. + +The first call was made at Sandy Bay, about five miles from the Shack. +Stores were landed and placed in the hut, and the party proceeded to +Lusitania Bay, eleven miles farther on, where they stayed for the night. +At this place (named after an old sealing craft, the 'Lusitania') there +were two huts, one being a work-hut and the other a living-hut. They had +not been used for sixteen years and, as a result, were found to be much +dilapidated. In the locality is a large King penguin rookery, the only +one on the island, and two dozen eggs were obtained on this visit, some +fresh and some otherwise. + +As the next morning was squally, it was decided that the stores should +be deposited in the hut at the south end; a distance of five miles +across country. Through bog and tussock it took the party four hours to +accomplish this journey. The hut was found in the same condition as the +others and a rather miserable night was spent. A short distance from +this spot is situated the largest penguin rookery on the island. On +returning to the launch, the six men had a quick run of three hours back +to the north end. + +During the absence of the party I had been busy erecting a stand for the +anemo-biagraph. Ordinarily, such an instrument is kept in a house, the +upper section only being exposed through the roof. The Shack was in +a position too sheltered for my purpose, so I built a place for the +anemo-biagraph behind a low rock well out on the isthmus. + +Sandell and Sawyer reported on the 16th that the wireless station was +ready for testing. Therefore, on the following day, the three of us +erected a small set on the farthest point of the peninsula--North Head. +The set had been made in order to test the large station. Sawyer then +returned to the operating-hut and received signals sent from North Head +by Sandell, who in return received Sawyer's signals, thus showing that +so far everything was satisfactory. It was thought, after the tests, +that the "earth" was not by any means good and Sawyer erected a +counterpoise, which, however, failed to give anything like the "earth" +results. More "earths" (connexions by wire with the ground) were now +put in from day to day, and on the 27th Sawyer noted an improvement. +Successful tests were again made on the 30th. The wireless men now +expected communication with Australia. + +Blake and Hamilton were soon making inroads, each on his own particular +sphere of work. On the 17th a baseline was laid down on the plateau, and +Blake was able to commence his survey of the island. He had already made +some geological investigations in the vicinity of North Head and West +Point, as well as for a short distance along the east coast. Hamilton +had visited nearly all the penguin rookeries in the vicinity, and +already had several fine specimens. Marine collecting occupied part of +his time and plant life promised to provide an interesting field. + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +The north end of Macquarie Island + + +From the intermediate position that Macquarie Island occupies relative +to Australasia and the Antarctic continent, it was highly important that +its biology should be fully determined. Investigation of the marine and +terrestrial fauna and flora shows several facts indicating the part this +island has played in the supposed connexion of the great land masses of +the southern hemispheres. It is an established fact that the flora of +New Zealand has strong sub-antarctic and South American affinities and +the problem is to account for this distribution. Many forms of plant and +animal life are circumaustral, being found in all suitable sub-antarctic +situations. To account for this fact two theories have been advanced, +namely, the Relict theory (Dahl, Schenck and others) and the Antarctic +theory. + +The first theory supposes that the inhabitants of the sub-antarctic +islands are the remnants of groups of animals developed in some northern +land-mass, and driven south by more highly developed forms. Again, that +these sub-antarctic islands have always been separated from continents, +and that the distribution of life on the former must have proceeded over +wide stretches of sea. + +The Antarctic theory accounts for the distribution and similarity of +sub-antarctic fauna and flora by establishing a connexion between the +sub-antarctic islands and the Antarctic continent. At the same period, +the Antarctic continent was assumed to be connected by land with South +America, South Africa and Australia, and the similar life forms now +found in these continents were driven northward by a subsequent colder +period. This theory is strengthened by several facts, chief of +which are, (1) the existence of an Antarctic continent, and (2) the +comparatively shallow waters between it, South Africa, Australia and +South America. + +Whichever theory is adopted, it is evident that our scientific +opportunities were unique. + +On the 28th, Sandell, Sawyer and I decided to climb on to the main ridge +or plateau of the island. We had already discovered that the easiest +way to get on to the hills was to follow up one of the many ravines or +gullies which run down to the sea. This necessitates walking in water +most of the way, but one soon gets accustomed to wet feet on Macquarie +Island. + +The slopes rise in a series of terraces which are generally soggy and +covered with tussock (pleurophyllum) and with scattered cushions of +Azorella. The summit of the ridge is a barren waste, over which loose +rocks are scattered in every direction, while a wavy effect due to the +action of wind is plainly visible over the surface of the ground. The +steep, descending sides are very soft and sodden, supporting a scanty +growth of vegetation, including the small burr known as the "biddy-bid." + +Hundreds of tarns and lakes are visible along the plateau-like ridge +which extends throughout the length of the island. Several of the lakes +are half a mile long and very deep. The tarns are, for the most part, +shallow with hard stony bottoms. The water is beautifully fresh and +apparently contains no life. + +Skua gulls were plentiful and washed themselves, with a great flapping +of wings, in the shallow waters at the edge of the lakes. They paid +particular attention to our dog "Mac," swooping down and attempting to +strike her with their wings. A yelp at intervals came from Mac if they +were successful, though the former, if she were quick enough, would +spring at the bird and retaliate by getting a mouthful of feathers. + +We eventually came out on to a point about seven hundred feet high, +overlooking the west coast, and it could be seen that the space between +the base of the hills and the ocean was occupied by a plain which sloped +very gradually to the beach. Here and there across its surface were huge +mounds of earth and rock and, occasionally, a small lakelet fringed with +a dense growth of tussock and Maori cabbage. + +A descent was made to explore the place. A fairly large volume of water +flowed rapidly downward by several deep gullies and, coming to the +terrace, cut narrow, sinuous channels which were soon lost to view in +the tussocks. Examination of the watercourses revealed that this tract +was simply a raised beach covered with sodden peat and carrying a rather +coarse vegetation. The ground was decidedly springy and shook to +our tread; moreover, one sank down over the ankles at each step. +Occasionally a more insecure area was encountered, where one of us would +go down to the thighs in the boggy ground. + +As the shore approached we came to thick tussock and Maori cabbage, and +the travelling became much rougher. A group of earthy mounds and rock +was sighted some distance away and we decided to reach them and have +our lunch. A nearer view showed us a large opening in one of these +prominences and we scrambled up to examine it. + +Inside there was a small cave, high in front but sloping sharply towards +the back for a distance of thirty-five feet. The roof and walls were +blackened by smoke, and spikes and nails driven into crevices were +evidences that the place had once been occupied. Eagle Cave it is called +and its story was afterwards related to us. + +Between thirty and forty years ago the schooner 'Eagle', in attempting +to make the island, had been caught in a gale and wrecked on the +rock-bound western coast. As far as can be learned, there were nine men +and a woman on board, all of whom were saved. They lived in this cave +for almost two years, subsisting upon what they could catch. Decayed +tussock grass, a foot in depth, now covers the floor, showing that some +attempt had been made to improve the comfort of the place, while bones +lying strewn about in all directions indicate that gulls, penguins and +cormorants must have supplied a good deal of their food. It is presumed +that some of them made a journey to North Head periodically to look out +for relief, as a well-defined track to that point is still visible in +places. + +The tale, however, has its tragic side, for the woman died on the very +day when the rescuing ship called at the island. She was buried on the +isthmus, not far from our Shack. One would think that death was rather +a relief from such an existence as this unfortunate woman must have +endured, but, at the same time, it seems hard that she did not live to +participate in the joy of deliverance. + +We ate our lunch and had a smoke, after which we decided to walk +homewards along "Feather Bed" terrace. A few minutes after leaving the +cave, Sawyer and Sandell caught three young ducks, which they carried +back, intending to rear them, but they died several days later. A weary +tramp brought us, thoroughly tired, to the Shack, where Hamilton had an +excellent meal awaiting us. + +The weather during January was rather trying. Precipitation in the +form of either rain, hail, sleet or snow occurred on twenty-six days, +sometimes all forms being experienced on the same day. As a result, the +supply of water was well maintained; in fact, the amount caught exceeded +the consumption and we finished the month with the tank almost full. +Gales were experienced on eight days, the maximum wind-force being +forty-two miles an hour. The sky was mostly heavily clouded or +absolutely overcast and on many days the sun was not seen. Fog hung +about the hills almost continuously, and driving mist accompanied the +northerly winds. + +January 24 was a glorious day, calm and sunny, with a maximum +temperature of 51.3 degrees F. The habit of former days induced Sandell +and myself to have a dip in the surf, but as the temperature of the +water was about 42 degrees F., we stayed in as many seconds. The mean +temperature for the month was 44.9 degrees F.; the minimum being 35.5 +degrees F. + +My first view of the island when the 'Aurora' arrived in December 1911 +left rather an agreeable impression. The day of our approach was marked +by fine calm weather and the dark-green tussock-clad hillsides were +rather attractive. On the other hand, one was immediately struck with +the entire absence of trees, the steep precipices, cliffs and the +exceedingly rugged nature of the coastline. + +Closer scrutiny shows that the tussock grass radiates closely from a +semi-decayed mass of leaf-sheaths, with the blades of grass shooting +upwards and outwards as high as three or four feet. Scattered through it +are patches of Stilbocarpa polaris, locally known as Maori cabbage. It +is of a more vivid green than the tussock and is edible, though somewhat +stringy and insipid. Our sheep ate it readily, even nibbling the roots +after the plant had been cropped down. + +There were several Victoria penguin colonies round about the rocky faces +of the hills in the vicinity of the Shack, and their hubbub and cackling +uproar were something to remember. The rearing of the young appeared to +be rather a busy process. The young ones look like bundles of down and +seem to grow at a remarkable rate, while the attempt of the parent to +shelter the usual two chicks is a very ludicrous thing to watch. + +The material for the nest made by these birds seems to depend almost +entirely on its immediate surroundings. The rookery is established on a +broken rocky face close to the water's edge and the nests are made under +rocks, in niches and passages, as well as amongst the tussock growing on +the rocks. Those under the rocks are constructed of small stones and +a few blades of grass, while those in the passages and fissures are +usually depressions in soft mud. Amongst the tussock a hole is first +made in the soft earth and then neatly lined with blades of grass. + +The birds lay two or three eggs of a white or greenish-white colour, but +I have never seen three chicks hatched. The eggs are edible, and we used +many dozens of them during our stay. + +The period of incubation is about five weeks, and male and female take +turns at sitting. A young one is fed by placing its beak within that +of the parent bird where the food--mainly crustaceans--is taken as it +regurgitates from the stomach of the latter. + +Although the smallest species on the island, the Victoria penguins are +the most spiteful, and a scramble through the rookery invites many pecks +and much disturbance. They have a black head and back, white breast and +yellow crest, the feathers of which spread out laterally. During the +moulting season they sit in the rookery or perched on surrounding rocks, +living apparently on their fat, which is found to have disappeared +when at last they take to the sea. They come and go with remarkable +regularity, being first seen about the middle of October, and leaving +during the first week of May. The same rookeries are occupied year after +year, and the departure of the birds adds to the general desolation +during the winter months. + +Their destination on leaving the land is still a mystery. Although they +are never seen, it is conjectured that they spend the winter at +sea. Their natural enemy in the waters round Macquarie Island is the +sea-leopard, and the stomachs of all specimens of this animal taken by +us during the penguin season contained feathers. + +The presence of numerous bones just at the rear of the Shack pointed to +the fact that here must have been at one time the site of a King penguin +rookery. As many of our potatoes and onions were sprouting in the +bags, I determined to dig a portion of this area and plant the most +"progressive" of these vegetables. The sandy soil did not appear to +contain much nutriment, but I thought that something might be gained by +giving it a trial. + +On the night of February 2, Sawyer reported that he had heard the +Wellington wireless operator calling Suva station, but, as no further +signals were heard from anywhere, he was inclined to the idea that it +was the experience of a "freak night." In explanation of this term, I +may say that it is used in reference to nights on which the atmospheric +conditions are abnormally favourable for wireless work. + +The news was particularly encouraging, and for the next few days we were +on the tip-toe of expectation. + +In the early morning of the 5th a howling gale sprang up and, increasing +in force as the day wore on, rendered work impossible. A tremendous sea +worked up, and the ocean for a distance of a mile from shore was simply +a seething boil of foam. Huge waves dashed on shore, running yards +beyond the usual marks, and threatening to sweep across the isthmus. +Masses of tangled kelp, torn from the outlying rocks, washed backwards +and forwards in the surf or were carried high up among the tussocks. The +configuration of the shingly beach changed while one looked at it. The +tops of the waves could be seen flying over Anchor Rock, seventy feet +high, and spray was blowing right across the isthmus. + +On the advice of the sealers we had shifted our stores farther back from +the beach and it was just as well we did so, as the waves reached to +within a few feet of the nearest box. Meanwhile I began to wonder how +our benzine and lubricating oil were faring. Both had been stacked in +cases among the tussock and rocks, well back from the waters of Aerial +Cove on the western side of Wireless Hill. + +Accordingly, Hamilton, Sandell and I went round in that direction the +following morning, while Sawyer made his way up to the wireless station +to see if there were any damages there. We worked along round the +cliff-front through a cave rejoicing in the name of "Catch Me," from the +fact that the waves rushed into it, frequently catching and thoroughly +wetting any unfortunate taken off his guard. A massive rock, evidently +broken from the roof, lay right across its centre, while on either side +of the obstruction were masses of greasy decaying kelp. We were "caught" +and floundered about in the kelp while the water surged around us. +Arriving at the Cove, we found that several cases were missing. One +was discovered buried in kelp, and a little later we came upon a tin +battered almost out of recognition. The loss was not serious, but the +precaution was taken to shift the oil still farther back. + +While we were engaged on this task, Sawyer appeared on the front of the +hill above and signalled to us that the aerial had been blown down. +The three-inch rope keeping the aerial taut had broken off close to the +bridle and torn the halyard with it. It meant that some one would have +to climb the mast to pass a rope through the block, and the wind was at +this time too strong for anything to be done. + +On February 7, Blake and Hamilton, who had been making preparations for +several days past, set out for Sandy Bay, intending to do some work in +that locality. Their blankets, sleeping-bag, instruments and other gear +made rather heavy swags, but they shouldered them in true Murrumbidgee +style and tramped away. + +Sandell, Sawyer and I went up Wireless Hill to fix the aerial. Sandell, +the lightest of the three, was being hoisted up the first section of the +mast with some one-and-a-half-inch rope when the hauling-line gave way. +Fortunately, he had a strap securing him to the mast, otherwise his fall +would have been from twenty feet. This was the only rope we had, so +we had to think of some other means of reaching the top. After a short +discussion, I suggested that decking-spikes should be secured from the +wreck of the Clyde and driven into the mast at intervals. The idea was +followed with great success, and Sandell was able to run the halyard +through the block at the top (ninety feet). The aerial was then hauled +into position, the stay-wires were tightened, an extra "dead man" was +put in and the station was once more ready for work. + +Hamilton returned from Sandy Bay on the 11th laden with botanical +trophies and four specimens of a small land bird which we had never +before seen. He and Blake, who remained behind, had fixed up the hut +there so that it afforded decent shelter. + +On the night of the 13th what we had long expected happened. Wireless +communication was established for the first time, with a ship--s.s. +'Ulimaroa'. Sandell and Sawyer were complimented on their success. + +On the following night communication was held with Sydney, s.s. +'Westralia', s.s. 'Ulimaroa' and H.M.S. 'Drake'; the latter very +courteously sending us time-signals. We heard that a wireless station +had just been established in Melbourne, and that the Hobart station +would be working in about one month. It was with the latter station that +we expected to do most of our business. There was great joy in the camp +now that this stage of practical efficiency was reached and because we +were no longer isolated from the world. + +Blake came back from Sandy Bay on the 16th with news that he had almost +finished the survey of that section. Foggy or misty weather gave him +a good deal of trouble in getting sights with the theodolite, and it +became part of his future programme to devote the "impossible" days +to plotting data, writing up field-notes, and making geological +collections. + +The afternoon of the 17th was fine, and I went along the beach +towards West Point and found it very rough travelling. Hundreds of sea +elephants, mostly of the season's young, lay about in the tussock or +amongst the rocks. The young, silver-grey in colour, looked very sleek +and fat. The adults consorted in groups of from eight to ten, packed +closely and fast asleep. They seemed to fairly luxuriate in a soft, +swampy place and were packed like sardines in some of the wallows. + +Large numbers of skua gulls, creating a dreadful din, drew my attention +to a spot amongst the rocks, and, on nearing it, I found them squabbling +around the carcase of a xiphoid whale, about sixteen feet long, which +had been cast up apparently only a few hours before. + +The skuas, as they are commonly called, are large brown birds which +resort to the island in great numbers for the purpose of breeding. +They stay longer than any other migrant, being absent only three months +during the depth of winter. Returning early in August, they do not start +nesting until the beginning of October. The nests, nicely made of grass +and plant leaves, are generally built on the terraces and slopes amongst +the hills. The ideal site, however, is a pleurophyllum flat adjoining a +penguin rookery. Two or three eggs of a brown or greenish-brown colour +with darker spots or blotches are laid about the end of October, and, +from this time till the chicks are reared, the parent exhibits much +annoyance at the presence of any person in the vicinity. They utter +shrill cries and swoop down continuously in an attempt to strike the +invader with their wings. Several of our party received black eyes as a +result of attacks by skuas. + +The young grow rather quickly, and not much time elapses before they +leave the nest to stagger round and hide amongst the vegetation. The +parents fly down and disgorge food, which is immediately devoured by +the young ones. The skuas are bare-faced robbers and most rapacious, +harassing the penguins in particular. They steal the eggs and young of +the latter and devour a great number of prions--small birds which live +in holes in the ground. The skuas are web-footed, but are very rarely +seen in the water. + +Towards the end of the month, Blake spent two days at Sandy Bay and then +returned to work up his results. + +Hamilton, in order to get into close touch with another species of +penguin, stayed several days at "The Nuggets," two and a half miles down +the eastern coast. A creek flows into the sea at this point, and many +Royal penguin rookeries are established along its course. + +Meanwhile, many improvements had been effected in the interior of the +Shack. Shelves lined the walls wherever it was convenient to have them, +and many perishable foodstuffs had been brought inside. Comfort, after +all, is but a relative matter, and, as far as we were concerned, it was +sufficient. + +Our clothing was all that could be desired, with the exception, perhaps, +of the boots. In the equipment were included one pair of sea-boots, one +pair of raw hide kneeboots and two pairs of rawhide hunting boots. The +latter were not heavy enough, and soon showed the effect of travelling +from a water-logged surface to one of rock and vice versa. In fact, our +boots were very rarely dry on Macquarie Island. + +An event of some moment occurred on the 28th. The fowls, in order to +justify our confidence in them and as a return for our constant care, +commenced to lay and, strange to say, all began to lay at the same time. +Ma, who was greatly concerned during the turn of affairs, suffered from +prolonged attacks of cackling. + +During the opening days of March, Blake and Hamilton were engaged in +field work down the island. They went as far as "The Brothers," a rocky +promontory about two miles south of Sandy Bay. Wekas were so plentiful +that they lived almost entirely on them. Blake, on returning to the +Shack, had a badly blistered heel which kept him indoors for a few days. +Hamilton, who had secured a goodly number of specimens, had to attend +immediately to their preservation. + +There were many rats on the island and we frequently heard them +scuttling about on the ceiling of the Shack and slithering down between +the lining and the wall. Hitherto they had contented themselves by doing +this, but on the night of the 7th several of them flopped one after +another into the hut, awakening the inmates. On getting out to +investigate I found a hole through the lining, about seven feet from the +floor, and two or three were rustling about on the shelves. After much +shifting of boxes and searching behind tins, the intruders were killed. + +On March 10 our station held communication with Suva at a distance +of two thousand four hundred miles; a remarkable performance for a +one-and-a-half-kilowatt wireless set. + +Hamilton and I set out for West Point and Eagle Cave on the 11th with +the object of examining the flora of the locality and, incidentally, to +shoot ducks which frequent the pools on the "Feather Bed" terrace. The +weather was dull and misty and the walk very uncomfortable. We made our +way across this treacherous tract, often sinking kneedeep. As we neared +the first pool a duck rose and immediately paid the penalty. Although +we saw at least two hundred, only one was shot, owing to the fact that +there is no cover about and the ducks are too easily scared. + +Close to Eagle Cave Hamilton gathered some plant specimens and, after +lunching, we set off home. Light, steady rain set in about 3 P.M. +and wet us thoroughly. We travelled back along the coast, finding it +fearfully rough but not so tiring as walking on the terrace. + +Heavy snow fell during the night of the 11th. Among other things we +learnt by wireless that Amundsen had returned to Hobart with the news +that he had reached the South Pole. + +Blake had just recovered from his blistered heel when he had the +misfortune to meet with a slight accident. He and Hamilton were engaged +cutting a track through the tussock from the Shack to the beach, when +the spade wielded by Hamilton struck Blake's foot, cutting through +the boot and inflicting a wound on the great toe. It was treated +antiseptically and bound up; Blake being laid up for a few days. + +Cooking was still on the up grade. Everybody, as his turn arrived, +embarked on something new. Blake turned out a magnificent meat pudding +during his week, and Sawyer manufactured a salmon kedgeree. Sandell's +treacle pudding and Hamilton's soda rolls and date pudding were all +equally good, while I fairly surpassed myself with a roly-poly and some +pancakes. + +Hitherto, Sawyer and Sandell had been coming down to the Shack each +night after finishing the wireless work, but on account of the bad +weather they determined to sleep up there and, with that end in view, +each built a bunk for himself; Sawyer, in the operating-hut, had +ample room for the improvement, but Sandell had more difficulty in +the engine-hut, finding it necessary to add a small structure to the +original one. + +Good wireless work was now being done, and almost every ship trading +to eastern Australian ports gave us a "call up." Much difficulty was +experienced with the mast's stays, which frequently required tightening +on account of the "deadmen" working loose in the yielding peaty soil. +There were seven stays required for each mast, and Sandell spent much +time in attending to them. + +Hamilton had found, some weeks previously, several nests of the sooty +albatross along the cliff-front on the eastern side of Wireless Hill, +and on the 21st he visited them for the purpose of photographing the +young in the nest. They were still in the downy stage, and vomited +vigorously on being approached. + +These birds build their nests on ledges along the face of a steep cliff +and always betray the whereabouts of their nesting-place by wheeling +and soaring around the vicinity. When sitting, the bird utters piercing +calls for its mate and is thereby easily located. They make a nest of +grass, generally at the root of a tussock growing on the cliff-front, +and when the building is in progress the two birds sit side by side +entwining their necks, rubbing beaks and at intervals uttering their +harsh cries. One can approach and catch them quite easily, either at +this time or when sitting. The female lays one large white egg, which +has a peculiar and rather disagreeable odour. They have beautiful slaty +or bluish-gray plumage with a dark soot-black head, while encircling +the eye is a white ring which stands out conspicuously from the dark +feathers surrounding it. Like most other sea-birds they have the rather +revolting habit of vomiting quantities of partly digested food and fluid +when an attempt is made to get close to them. In this respect old and +young are alike. Their food is procured at sea, and consists of the +small forms of marine life. + +Sandell and Hamilton went round to Aerial Cove on the 25th to collect +shells and to search for the missing lubricating oil. When coming home, +after a successful day, they discovered a cave quite close to Catch Me. +A lantern was secured from the Shack and they went back to examine it. +It penetrated for a considerable distance and opened out on the hill +side about eighty feet above sea-level. Many rocks hung down from +overhead, and altogether it appeared a very unsafe place. Blake went +along later and collected specimens from its floor. + +We built a kind of annex to the Shack out of the cases of provisions; +each case being numbered and a list being drawn out setting forth the +contents of the case. This list was nailed on to the wall inside, and +besides being convenient for procuring the provisions, gave the cook, in +a coup-d'oeil, exact information and afforded him a glorious scope. + +With regard to the coal-supply, our allowance at Macquarie Island had +been reduced by one-half, on account of the large amount of wreckage +lying on the beach. The weekly cook limited himself to three briquettes, +and these he supplemented with sea elephant blubber and wood, which he +gathered and cut up for use. + +Each man commenced his cooking week on Saturday morning, and continued +until the following Friday night, when, after having cleared up, washed +the towels and cleaned the stove, he retired. The incoming cook, who for +half an hour had been prowling about keenly observant of "overlooked" +dirty "things" and betraying every sign of impatience to make a start, +proceeded at once to set a batch of bread, sufficient for one week, +which was baked early on Saturday morning. Five loaves had to be baked, +and as only two could be dealt with at a time, the chance of producing +at least one doughy loaf was reasonably high until every one became a +master baker. + +For a time we had been rather hard put to it in the matter of having +baths, but the disability had been overcome by means of sawing a cask in +two; an expedient which answered very well. The bath was also used as +a wash-tub, each man taking charge as his cooking week came round. The +clothes were dried inside the Shack along a number of strings arranged +at the back of the stove. Darning and mending took a little time, and +our experiences in this direction were such as to demonstrate the wisdom +of putting in "a stitch in time." + +In going over to the meteorological screen one morning I saw a giant +petrel flapping about in the tussock, gorged to such an extent that it +could not rise. I killed the loathsome bird with the rib-bone of a sea +elephant, and Hamilton made a fine specimen of it later on. + +These birds, properly called giant petrels, are usually known as +"nellies" or "stinkers"; the latter title being thoroughly justified +on account of the disagreeable smell which comes from them. As may be +inferred from the name, they are the largest of all the petrels, and +measure about seven feet from tip to tip when on the wing. The +colour ranges through various shades from almost pure white to a dark +greyish-brown; some even appearing almost black. Very large and ungainly +when on the ground, they become most graceful when in the air, and soar +about without the slightest effort even on the stormiest days. I have +seen them flying into a forty-mile wind with absolute ease, never +moving a wing, but occasionally adjusting their balance. They are gross +scavengers, and eat apparently for the sake of eating. A carcase on the +rocks or beach attracts them in large numbers, and very soon they can be +seen pulling and tearing at it until thoroughly gorged, when they waddle +away into the water and sit there wholly unable to rise till digestion +takes place. If disturbed, they immediately disgorge and fly off. They +nest on the ground and lay one large white egg. When sitting, they +are reluctant to leave the nest and will squat there, vomiting +evil-smelling, partly digested food and fluid at any intruder. The +young, even in the downy stage, have the same habit. + +When mating they go on with a queer kind of performance, which consists +of running around each other on the shore with wings outspread as if +displaying their charms, finally flying off or waddling into the water. + +The persistently windy weather during March had an effect on everything +exposed to its force. Sandell discovered on the 29th that the rope +holding the wireless aerial had cut through, leaving only one strand, +which now bore all the strain. It was just a matter of days before it +would part, and, with a view to preventing a repetition of February's +happening, we went up to lower the aerial, but the frayed portion of the +rope would not pass through the block, so we had to leave it as it was +and wait for the inevitable. + +Exceptionally low tides at the end of the month gave Hamilton a fine +opportunity of collecting marine specimens, and he secured amongst many +other things some striking anemones. Some difficulty was experienced in +preserving them, as they lost colour and shrivelled up. But a special +line of treatment was attended by fairly successful results. They were +put in shallow dishes into which sea-water was poured. Very soon they +attached themselves to the bottom and began to expand, finally opening +out to the fullest extent. With a view to narcotizing them while in this +condition, menthol was applied to the water but did not seem to have +much effect. Chloral hydrate was found to give the best results. +It killed them all, but, before dying, they elongated and detached +themselves from the bottom of the dish; after which they were taken out +and placed in formalin for preservation. + +Blake had very little opportunity of doing much survey work during the +month, as he was hampered by a sore foot and the weather was wretched. +He therefore spent most of his time plotting data, making geological +investigations and collecting and naming specimens. + +He and Hamilton had so far confined their attention to the northern +half of the island, and had resolved to complete the study of this area +before tackling the southern half. + +The weather throughout the month was rather severe, and only two days +were really appreciated. Precipitation occurred on twenty-five days, but +the worst feature was the continuity of strong winds, which however did +not reach gale-force on more than three occasions. Much snow and hail +fell, the former accompanying winds with a southerly component, while +with the north-westers came the depressing mist or misty rain which is +such a characteristic of the place. Temperatures, as might have been +expected, were beginning to go down, and we experienced several very +cold days. The average temperature for March was 41.8 degrees, while the +highest was 46.9 degrees and the lowest 35.3 degrees F. on the 24th. + +At 10 P.M. on April 1 the rope supporting the aerial parted. Sawyer and +Sandell were on duty at the time, but of course suspended operations +immediately. As before, the halyard also carried away and Sandell +henceforth resolved to shackle one end of the aerial to the mast, using +a short length of chain instead of the rope. The wreck of the Clyde was +once more our standby, providing a suitable length of chain and four +shackles. After completing this job, they had very little subsequent +trouble with the aerial. + +Hamilton and Sawyer caught several three-pound fish on April 2, +and Sandell served them in good style. They were good eating, but, +unfortunately, were very much worm-infested. These parasitical worms +are about an inch and a half long and taper to a point at each end. They +penetrate right through the flesh and are plainly noticeable after the +fish is cooked. One has to dodge the worms as the meal proceeds: either +that or persuade oneself that they do not matter. + +The flowing contours of the land in the vicinity of "The Nuggets" +suggested glacial action to Blake, and on the 4th, while making +geological investigations in that locality, he lit upon a well-defined +basal moraine. Needless to say he was very interested in the discovery, +and brought home a number of polished, striated boulders as convincing +evidence of his theory. + +It was rather disappointing to find that the vegetables we had planted +were making little progress. They would shoot up at first very strongly, +like the "seed which fell on stony ground," but, as soon as a gale +arose, the tops turned black and shortly afterwards withered away. It +was apparently an effect of the salt spray which, in rough weather, +used to blow across the isthmus. Hamilton planted some willows and other +cuttings, which shared the same fate. + +The winter had now arrived in real earnest, and the months which +followed were punctuated by a succession of gales, while we came +to recognize that it was an exceptional day when the hills were not +shrouded in mist. The only thing to do was to brace oneself up for the +ordeal and to put a good foot forward. + + + +CHAPTER XXVI A LAND OF STORM AND MIST + +by G. F. Ainsworth + + +A Heavy north-west gale was experienced on April 12, the wind attaining +a force of over fifty miles an hour. + +As usual, a tremendous sea worked up very quickly, and sheets of spray +shredded across the isthmus. About 2 P.M. the wind shifted to west and +later to south-west; these changes being accompanied by fierce hail and +squalls of snow. During the night the wind moderated, heavy snow fell +and, when morning dawned, all the pools were frozen over and the island +was draped in white. It was the heaviest fall we had so far experienced. + +On the 15th Hamilton and I shot several gulls for specimens. + +The Dominican or black-backed gulls are very numerous and remain on the +island all the year round. They are rather pretty, being snow-white, +except on the upper part of the wings and back. Ordinarily their food +is obtained from the water, but at Macquarie Island they live almost +entirely upon the carcases left by the sealers, and are usually seen +defending their rights against skuas and giant petrels. They build nests +of tussock on rocks close to the water or maybe on the ground. Three +eggs, much like those of the skua in colour, but with a greener tint and +smaller, are laid, but generally only two are hatched. The young leave +the nest early and hide amongst the rocks, whither the old ones come to +feed them. + +We now considered it advisable to prepare for the winter, and with that +end in view papered the inside of the Shack in various places. As the +cold winds were particularly searching, all faulty joints in the lining +were pasted over with any kind of paper we could find. A leak down the +outside of the stove-pipe was remedied, after a good deal of trouble, +by soldering a collar round the pipe where it passed through the roof. +Firing was an important consideration, so each man now brought home +several loads of driftwood every day, until we had enough to keep us +going for some months. There was a complete boot-mending outfit which +was put to a good deal of use, for the weathered rocks cut the soles of +our boots and knocked out the hobnails. Our supply of the last-named +did not last long, and several of the party used strips of hoop-iron in +their stead. + +Blake found it necessary to make a kind of work-desk in his section, and +accordingly had a thorough rearrangement. He shifted his bunk up to a +height of about five and a half feet, very close to the ceiling; a fact +which necessitated some wriggling and squirming on his part to get into +the sleeping-bag. There was a fine open space left underneath, and he +managed to fix up his table very neatly. + +Although they had intended to leave the work on the southern half of the +island until the spring, Hamilton and Blake set out for Lusitania Bay on +April 28 to make a short reconnoitring trip. It was thought advisable to +spend a few days down there, to improve the hut and generally speaking +to have a look-round. Both men had already visited the place and depoted +some provisions there. At 8 A.M. they started off, carrying their +blankets, sleeping-bags and a few other articles. Their proposal was +to go along the coast as far as Sandy Bay and from thence along the +hill-tops for the remaining ten miles. + +Hail and snow-squalls succeeded each other at frequent intervals, and +by the time they reached Sandy Bay, all hope of proceeding along the +hill-tops was dissipated. They therefore kept near the coast. The going +was frightfully rough and the weather was very bad, so on making Green +Valley they camped in a small cave for the night. The floor was covered +with tussock, and, by searching amongst the rocks, enough pieces of +wreckage were found to keep the fire going. On the whole they passed a +fairly comfortable night. Mac proved a bit troublesome by persisting in +her attempts to curl up on or between the sleeping-bags, and by finally +eating the jam which had been saved for breakfast. The weather was quite +as bad next morning, but, after a meal of dry biscuit and cocoa, they +pushed on, taking four and a half hours to do the six miles. The next +day was spent making the hut weather-proof and fixing up a couple of +bunks. The provisions which had been cached were in good order and +abundance of firewood lay around, in the shape of old barrel-staves. +Just close to the living-hut was a works-hut containing boilers and +digestors which years ago had been used for procuring penguin oil, while +there was a rookery a few yards away from which the victims had come. + +This rookery was the resort of King penguins, the largest of the four +species which are to be found on the island. They are magnificently +coloured birds, being bluish-grey on the back while the head is +greenish-black and on each side of the neck there is a brilliant yellow +band, shading to a greenish-yellow on the upper part of the breast, and +gradually merging into the glossy white of the lower part of the body. +They attain to a height of about three feet and weigh thirty pounds +approximately. The site of their rookery is a stony flat about a hundred +yards from the water, and here are collected between five and six +thousand--all that remain on the island. + +They make no nest, the single egg laid being supported on the feet, and +kept in position and incubated in a kind of skin pouch which conceals +it from view. One would never guess the egg was there, for, on being +disturbed, the bird shuffles along, carrying it in the manner described. +The egg is large, tapering very much at one end and resembling a pear in +shape. They lay during December and January, and the young are hatched +in about six weeks. A peculiar feature about the young birds is that +the parents feed them for two seasons. They are covered with a coarse, +greyish-brown furry growth, and a year-old chick looks bigger than the +old bird. This furry growth is lost during the second year and the adult +plumage replaces it. The young utter a peculiar sound, something between +a squeak and a whistle. It is probable that the King penguins were never +so numerous as the Royal or Victoria penguins, but the fact remains that +they have not yet recovered from the wholesale slaughter to which they +must have been subjected over sixteen years ago. + +Down on a strip of shingly beach the birds parade, when not in the +rookery or at sea getting food. Their proceedings strike one as being +extraordinarily human, while the dignity and gravity of the participants +are beyond description. On one occasion, a large number marching along +the beach were seen to halt suddenly and talk excitedly. Three birds +then left the main body, consulted together for a short time, and then +separated. The other birds immediately separated into three companies, +and each company stood behind one of the three already mentioned, who +were now some distance apart. The individuals of each party then talked +among themselves for several minutes, after which two parties joined +forces and marched off, leaving the third party staring after them. + +I have lost myself for the time being amongst the penguins and shall +now return to Blake and Hamilton, who climbed on to the hill-tops the +following morning to spy out the land. The island is generally speaking +higher, and all the more elevated peaks are on the southern half. + +They saw numerous rabbits, of which many were black, and Mac had the day +of her life amongst them. These animals were introduced to the island +about twenty-five years ago, and have gradually withdrawn to the +lonelier southern part, though occasionally odd ones are seen about the +northern end. They are very tame and live in holes amongst the rocks or +make burrows in the gully banks and broken hill sides. + +Many lakes, frozen over, were seen, several of which were fairly large. +Altogether, the topography is similar to that of the northern end. + +In an endeavour to improve the evening fare, a sweet broth consisting +of biscuit, milk, jam and sugar was tried but it was not a success; +Hamilton remarking that "even Blake had only one helping." On the +following morning they started for the Shack and chose the route on the +hilltops, as the ground was frozen hard; and, though there were frequent +snow-drifts into which they floundered occasionally, the surface for +travelling was much better than along the coast. + +Hamilton slipped and hurt his ankle on the trip, and the boots of both +were just about worn out. They apprehended no difficulty in completing +their prospective work. Blake pointed out that the chart of the island +shows Lusitania Bay as being rather a large indentation, whereas in +reality it is almost a straight stretch of coast. + +An earthquake shock was felt at 9.15 P.M. on the 27th. I was sitting in +the Shack writing up records at the time, and it seemed as if somebody +had struck the south-west end of the place a severe blow with a bag of +sand. Immediately afterwards a crashing sound, apparently some distance +away on the eastern side, indicated that some rocks on the cliff-front +had been dislodged. + +Much rough weather was experienced during the month, and it rained, +hailed and snowed on twenty-five days. The wind attained moderate to +fresh gale-force on six days, and fog and mist were almost invariable. +The lowest temperature recorded was 32.7 degrees F. + +The average relative humidity for the four months ending April 30 was 93 +per cent., leading to copious condensation on the instruments exposed +to the air. It was necessary, therefore, constantly to attend and +frequently clean the thermographs, hygrometers and the wireless plant. +In the case of the latter, loss of power occurred in the form of "brush +discharge," and Sawyer had to take great care in order to guard against +this accident. He shellacked the condensers and other exposed parts and +found the proceeding rather effective. I noticed that the drifting snow +and misty rain managed to get down the opening leading to the liquid +surface of the anemobiagraph, thus altering the zero of the recording +apparatus. When this happened the instrument had to be dismantled and +set right. + +We found it necessary to use sea elephant blubber in the stove in order +to warm the Shack, and a very small piece put on the fire at intervals +always ensured a good heat. Sea elephants had become scarce, so, in +order to lay in a supply of fuel for the next few weeks, we went round +to Aerial Cove on the 3rd and killed the largest animal we could find, +afterwards carrying the blubber round to the Shack. We came through +Catch Me and had the same old experience. Hamilton examined the contents +of the stomach of the sea elephant and found gravel, stones, cuttlefish, +beaks and "worms" in abundance. + +A violent north-west gale during the early morning hours of the 4th +reached a maximum velocity of fifty-two miles an hour at 5.20 A.M., but +at 8 A.M. it began to weaken rapidly and an hour later had shifted to +west-south-west, coming from that point as a moderate gale for the rest +of the day. As was usual with winds having any southerly component, snow +and squalls of soft hail were experienced. With the exception of the +wind-vane, which was blown a few yards into the tussock, nothing was +damaged. + +In the afternoon Blake and I had a trip down to the moraine which he had +found a few days previously. After a heavy one and a half hours' walk, +the last half-mile of which was along a creek bed, with water ankle-deep +all the way, we reached the spot: the site of one of the large penguin +rookeries up on the hills at the back of "The Nuggets." The sun showed +between squalls, and Blake took some interesting photographs of rocks +showing striae and other glacial characteristics. We battled with +one enormous boulder for some time before getting it into a suitable +position for the camera, and afterwards walked right through the glacial +area. The U-shaped character of the valleys was very pronounced, while +boulder-clay obtruded itself everywhere on our notice. + +Hobart wireless station was by this time in working order, a fact which +greatly facilitated wireless business. Sandell took the engine to pieces +early in the month and gave it, as well as the fittings, a thorough +overhaul and cleaning. We received a message on the 7th, saying that the +'Aurora' was leaving Hobart on the 13th for a sub-antarctic cruise and +would call at the island. At the same time I was requested to send a +list of articles required. I found, after going through the stock +and consulting each member, that we needed nothing but strong boots, +cartridges, dungaree trousers, coarse salt, cigarettes and fresh +vegetables. + +A persistent area of high pressure affected the weather conditions of +the island to the extent of shrouding us in fog from the 6th to the 10th +inclusive, and we did not catch a glimpse of the sun during that period. +The average daily temperature-range during this time was only 2.3 +degrees. Such conditions have a rather depressing effect on the spirits, +but the cheering news we received on the 7th made some amends for the +lack of sunshine. + +The sun appeared at last on the 11th and shone strongly, so Blake and +I went up to Wireless Hill to take some "shots" with the theodolite. I +noticed four of our sheep on the front of the hill, and, as there should +have been nine, Sandell and I, after finishing with Blake, walked out +to North Head to see if the others were all right. We found them on the +north-east side of the hill and drove them up to the rest of the flock. + +From the hill-top we could see Hamilton engaged in skinning a large +sea leopard on the coast, so we climbed down to render any necessary +assistance. It was a beautifully marked animal, about eleven feet long, +and made a fine specimen. + +Sea leopards frequent Macquarie Island in great numbers from the late +winter to the early summer, and may be seen lying about, sleeping close +to the water and apparently always very tired. They do not give birth to +the young there, and from observations I concluded that they were born +at sea. We had taken female specimens on several occasions, apparently +within a few hours of parturition, and as none had been seen with newly +born young, and no islands lay within several hundred miles, it was +presumed that the birth took place in the water. Until the young one is +weaned, its habitat is evidently in the water as we never saw an adult +suckling its offspring. + +Sea leopards--long, lithe creatures with a reptilian cast of head--are +remarkably quick in the water. If one is disturbed on shore it opens its +mouth very wide, revealing a wicked-looking row of teeth in each jaw; +the canine teeth or tusks being very long and slightly curved. + +Unlike sea elephants and seals they are solitary animals, and should +several of them be found on a small gravelly patch of beach they are +seen to be as far as possible from one another. We have never seen them +attempt to fight on the shore, but the gaping wounds and scars with +which they are frequently covered indicate that they treat each other +very severely in the water. They live on penguins, gulls, shags and +fish. + +I saw several shags on one occasion very busy fishing, and between +diving intervals they would sit on the water. Suddenly one disappeared +under the water and the rest flew off; but in a few seconds the one +which had disappeared was thrown into the air and caught by a sea +leopard, who played in this fashion with the maimed bird for several +minutes before devouring it. + +A few days previously we had received a request from Mr. D. C. Bates, +the New Zealand Meteorologist, for a daily weather report, and from the +12th onwards a message was sent nightly to Wellington, a distance +of about eleven hundred miles. In acknowledging these reports, +subsequently, the office referred to their immediate value in the issue +of daily forecasts, and expressed indebtedness to the Expedition. + +The two species of penguins which leave the island during the winter +months had disappeared, and silence now reigned where formerly were +busy, noisy colonies. The departure of the migrants made the place seem +lonelier and, during the depths of winter when snow covers the ground +and the birds and animals are few in number, a more dreary spot would be +difficult to find. + +The weather conditions were now rather severe, and as Sawyer and +Sandell worked from 8 P.M. till 2 or 3 A.M. every night and slept at the +wireless station, they were exempted from the necessity of coming down +to get breakfast during their cooking weeks. They now rested till about +noon, and arrived at the Shack every day in time for lunch. Hamilton, +Blake and I, each outside his own cooking week, took it in turns to +prepare breakfast. + +Blake's fieldwork at the north end, more particularly in the vicinity of +West Point and North Head, was just about finished. West Point proved to +be an area of gabbro, a coarse-grained eruptive rock representative of +basic rocks, while North Head was composed of basic agglomerate, and +volcanic bombs were numerous. + +Hamilton had got together a good collection of bird specimens, and was +now in quest of skeletons. + +On the night of the 13th we witnessed a rather pretty auroral +manifestation. It assumed the appearance of a Noah's ark cloud, that is, +stretching from opposite points on the horizon and appearing to converge +at each one of these points. The light was a pale yellow, no other tint +being visible. In addition, a nebulous glow appeared at intervals in the +south. + +We heard on the 16th that the 'Aurora' had sailed on that day from +Hobart and would arrive at Macquarie Island in about three weeks; +oceanographical work being carried out on the trip down. This was indeed +cheerful news, and we began to look forward to her arrival. + +A fresh west-south-west gale during the early morning hours of the 17th +was accompanied by soft hail and snow-squalls, and the temperature at +9 A.M. was 31.2 degrees F. The ground was covered with snow and all the +pools were frozen over, but at 9 P.M. there was a rapid shift of the +wind to the north-west and the snow almost disappeared. Soft hail, +generally a little larger than tapioca and of the same shape, frequently +fell. These little pellets are formed of compressed snow and are +commonly supposed to be frozen cloud-particles mixed with raindrops +compacted by a high wind. + +On the following night, Blake and I went up to wireless Hill to take +star observations. It was very dark and the hill-front was slippery, +frequent falls being the rule. Just after setting up the instrument, the +wind freshened to such an extent that it was impossible to do anything, +so we descended very wet and muddy to the Shack, having had a rough +passage. The reason for this was that I fell on the lantern and +extinguished the light. + +We were supplied with two hurricane lamps which do not by any means +deserve their title as they blow out in even a moderately strong wind. +Sandell made a lantern for his own use, declaring that it was impossible +for any wind to blow it out. I firmly believed him, as it was a little +binnacle lamp placed inside a small oatmeal tin into which a cleaned +photographic plate had been fixed and with holes punched in the bottom +and top of the tin for ventilation. It was thus a lamp with two covers, +and frequent demonstrations of its ability to survive heavy blows were +made by the inventor. + +During the next three days a forty-mile wind accompanied by snow, hail +and sleet was experienced and the maximum temperature on the 25th +did not reach freezing-point, the ground being firmly frozen and +snow-covered. During the evening of the last-named date the wind shifted +to north-west, and by noon on the 26th no snow remained, except on the +hills. + +In anticipation of the 'Aurora's arrival, Blake and Hamilton collected +some stores together in the hope that Captain Davis would transport them +down to Lusitania Bay, thus obviating the necessity of carrying them +down on foot. As Blake reckoned that he would remain there fully three +months and Hamilton about two months, it was thought that such another +opportunity might not present itself. + +Through the courtesy of the naval officials, H.M.S. Drake sent us +time-signals twice a week, and though we had so far heard no sound from +Adelie Land, there was a possibility that they could receive messages +from us. Sawyer therefore sent out time-signals as a matter of routine. + +Hamilton made a trip to the west coast on the 28th and returned with +thirteen wekas. Sawyer did not care for these birds, but each of the +others could account for one at a meal. They seem to be better eating if +plucked like a fowl and roasted, but the plucking takes too long and +we generally skinned and boiled them. It is advisable to hang them for +several days before cooking as it certainly makes them tender. + +Rough, stormy weather prevailed during the greater part of the month and +the wind reached the force of a gale on nine days. Much snow, soft hail +and sleet fell and some very cold days were experienced. The average +temperature was 40 degrees, the maximum being 44.7 degrees and the +minimum 27.8 degrees F. + +A heavy snowfall occurred during the early morning hours of June 3, and +the temperature was below freezing-point all day. In the afternoon we +had rather an enjoyable time tobogganing down a steep talus-slope on the +east coast. A considerable struggle was necessary in order to get the +sledge to the top, but the lightning slide to the bottom more than +compensated for the labour. + +We made wireless inquiries concerning the 'Aurora' at night, and were +informed by Hobart that a search for the Royal Company Islands was +included in her programme. It was therefore presumed that she was +engaged in prosecuting this search and would probably not reach us for +some days. + +Hamilton killed a very fine sea leopard on the 5th and the skin, apart +from being unscarred, was handsomely marked. It should make a splendid +specimen. The stomach contained more than the usual number of worms and +one specimen of tape-worm, seven inches long and three-eighths of an +inch wide, was preserved. + +Everything was going along in the usual placid manner on the 7th, when, +as we were just taking our seats for lunch, some one rushed in with +the information that the 'Aurora' was in sight. There was a scramble to +various points of vantage and she was soon observed coming up the east +coast very slowly. At 2.30 P.M. she dropped anchor in North-East Bay, +but, as it was blowing strongly and a nasty sea was running, no boat +was launched, though one may imagine how anxiously we watched for some +movement in that direction. As soon as it became dark a message was +"Morsed" to us to the effect that a boat would bring mails and goods +ashore in the morning if the weather moderated, and with that we had +to be content. Needless to say, business ashore was for the time being +paralysed, but a message was sent to the Secretary in Hobart advising +him of the Ship's arrival. + +True to his intimation of the previous night, Captain Davis brought a +boat ashore at 9.30 A.M. and with him came several visitors who were to +be our guests for some days. They were Mr. E. R. Waite, Curator of +the Canterbury Museum and his taxidermist, and Mr. Primmer, a +cinematographer. Conspicuous in the boat was a well-laden mail bag and +no time was lost in distributing the contents. Letters, papers, and +magazines were received by every member of the party, and all the news +was "good." Some stores were brought along and, after getting these +ashore, we took the visitors across to the Shack and invited them to +make themselves at home. + +Captain Davis also came along to the Shack and afterwards looked over +the wireless station. He returned to the ship just after lunch, and +Sandell, Sawyer and Blake took the opportunity of going on board. +Hamilton, in the meantime, piloted the visitors on a short trip round +to Aerial Cove, introducing them to Catch Me, where they were duly +baptized. They afterwards climbed up Wireless Hill and had a look at the +station, returning to the Shack much impressed with the rough nature of +the country. + +Blake went off to the ship again, taking the stores which had been got +ready for transport to Lusitania Bay, as the captain had agreed to land +them when he visited there in a few days' time. + +Amongst the cases which were landed was one containing the recording +apparatus for the tide-gauge. The other parts of this instrument had +been left on the island in December, but for some reason the clock and +charts had gone astray and were not found till the vessel was being +unloaded in Adelie Land. Some thermometers and a Robinson anemometer +had also been overcarried and, when they came to light, the latter was +immediately placed in commission. + +Captain Davis sent a boat ashore on the morning of the 12th with an +invitation to come on board and lunch. I accordingly went out to the +vessel and, after lunching, had a thorough look over her, mentally +contrasting her spick-and-span appearance at the time with what it had +been when I left her in December. I went ashore again in the afternoon +and assisted the visitors to get their loads down to the boat, as they +were returning to the ship, which was leaving next morning on a sounding +trip down the island. + +On the 14th we started to carry the stores across to the Shack on our +backs. We soon realized that seventy or eighty pounds was not a light +load over a half-mile stretch of rough, shingly beach, but succeeded in +transporting the onions, apples and potatoes before finishing for +the night. The other articles were brought over during the next two +afternoons. + +The tide-gauge pipe, weighing about six hundredweights, and the box for +the housing of the recording gear had been landed in December round in +Aerial Cove, where a site had been chosen for the erection of the gauge. +Experience showed me that the place was unsuitable, so I took Hamilton, +Sandell and Sawyer round to the cove on the 15th and we decided, as we +had no boat, that it was impossible to carry the pipe round to the east +coast. + +I had been making some tidal observations on an upright, fixed in a +comparatively quiet spot on the east coast, and it was here that I +contemplated erecting the gauge. Two snow-gauges, eight inches each in +diameter, were amongst the meteorological equipment and it appeared +that if these two were soldered together a suitable pipe could be made. +Further, the pipe was to be protected from the violence of the seas by +planks fixed round it. Sandell agreed with the idea and forthwith set +about soldering the two together and making a suitable float, the one +supplied being too wide. All that now remained was to erect the gauge. + +The two following afternoons were devoted to stowing the new stores. We +carried everything across and stacked them at the south-west end of the +Shack. Unfortunately, the boots which we had ordered did not come, but +Captain Davis let us have five pairs of light bluchers out of the ship's +stores, and we reckoned that these with extra soles and a few hobnails +would hold out till August or September, when a sealing vessel was +expected. + +The 'Aurora' returned from the south of the island on the 19th and +reported having had a rough experience in the north-east to south gale +which blew on the two previous days. The wind came out of the +north-east very suddenly on the 17th, and some very strong squalls were +experienced. A calm prevailed for several hours in the evening, but a +south-east gale then sprang up and blew all day on the 18th, gradually +working into the south and dying away during the night. + +Early on the 20th the 'Aurora' steamed out of the bay, bound north as we +thought, but she returned again in the evening, and we signalled to know +if anything were wrong. They replied, "All well, but weather very bad +outside." She lay at anchor in the bay all next day as it was snowing +and blowing very hard from the south-west, but at 8.45 A.M. on the +22nd she disappeared in the north and we did not see her again for some +months. A few hours after her departure the wind increased in force, and +a continuous gale raged for the next five days. + +Sandell and I now made a start at erecting the tide-gauge, and after the +lapse of five days got the instrument into position. We could work on it +only at low tide, for much rock had to be chipped away and numerous wire +stays fixed. The work was therefore of a disagreeable character. Its +appearance when finished did not by any means suggest the amount of +trouble we experienced in setting it up, but the fact that it stood the +heavy seas for the following eighteen months without suffering material +damage was a sufficient guarantee that the work had been well done. + +A tremendous sea was running on the 25th as a result of the previous +two days' "blow" and a heavy gale still persisting. Spray was scudding +across the isthmus, and the sea for a mile from the shore was just a +seething cauldron. The wind moderated somewhat on the 26th, but strong +squalls were experienced at intervals throughout the day, and on the +27th a strong wind from the south-west brought rather heavy snow. + +On the following day a westerly gale sprang up which shifted suddenly +to south-south-west and south-west in the evening and was accompanied by +fierce hail and snow-squalls throughout the night. Without moderating +to any extent the gale continued to blow on the 29th and passed through +west to west-north-west, finally lasting till the end of the month. + +Something in the nature of a "tidal" wave occurred during the night +of the 28th, for, on rising the following morning, I was considerably +astonished to see that the sea-water had been almost across the +isthmus. To effect this, a rise of twenty or twenty-five feet above +mean sea-level must have taken place and such a rise appeared abnormally +high. Our coal heap, which we had hitherto regarded as perfectly safe +from the sea, was submerged, as shown by the kelp and sand lying on top +of it, and the fact that seven or eight briquettes were found fifteen +feet away from the heap. + +Nothing at the wireless station was damaged and work went on as usual. +The wind used to make a terrific noise in the aerial wires, but this did +not affect the transmission of messages. The howling of the wind round +the operating-hut interfered with the receiving, at times making +it extremely difficult to hear signals; particularly on nights not +favourable for wireless work. + +Hamilton was at this time concentrating his attention on shags or +cormorants. This species of cormorant is peculiar to the island, being +found nowhere else. They are blue-black, with a white breast, and on the +head they have a small black crest. At the top of the beak are golden +lobes, while the skin immediately round the eye is pale blue. They +remain on the shores of the island all the year and nest on the rocks +in or very close to the water. They form rookeries and build nests +of grass, laying three eggs about the end of November. The period +of incubation is six weeks. They live entirely on fish, and, on that +account, neither the birds nor the eggs are palatable. They are very +stupid, staring curiously till one gets almost within reach of them, +when they flap heavily into the water. They are easily caught when +sitting on the nest, but a shag rookery, like most other rookeries, is +by no means a pleasant place in which to linger. + +I had the satisfaction of getting the first record from the tide-gauge +on the first day of July, but the clock worked erratically, requiring +some attention. + +Hamilton had a lobster-pot set some distance from the shore and anchored +to a float, but unfortunately the pot was lost in the rough seas at the +end of June. He had a couple of fish-traps also, but, in view of this +disaster, he decided to set these in Aerial Cove, where the water was +quieter. Having a couple of sea leopard heads which required macerating, +he baited the trap with them and lowered it into the water, securing it +to the rock with a steel wire. + +Taking advantage of a bright sun on the following day, Blake and +Hamilton went to "The Nuggets" and took some geological and biological +photographs, which on being developed turned out well. They had occasion +to enter one of the unoccupied huts down there and found a wild cat a +little more than half grown, which they caught and carried home with +them. He was of the usual tabby colour and by no means fierce, quickly +yielding to the coaxing treatment of his captors. He made himself quite +at home in the Shack, and we looked forward to a display of his prowess +as a rat-catcher. + +A bright display of the aurora occurred on the night of July 4, the +ribbons and streamers of light being well defined and occasionally +slightly coloured. We could establish no connexion between this +extraordinary outburst and the fact that it occurred on American +Independence night, but it was certainly the most energetic +manifestation of the phenomenon we had so far witnessed. Many "glows" +had been seen, and also a few displays of the arch-shaped form, but none +had shown much activity or rapid movement. + +The operator was requested by the Pennant Hills high-power wireless +station at Sydney to listen for signals tapped out during the daytime, +and Sawyer spent a couple of hours on certain mornings assisting in +these tests, which were attended with some success. We occasionally +received press news from land stations or from ships passing across the +Tasman Sea, but it was only a brief summary of the cable news: enough to +whet one's curiosity, rarely ever satisfying it. + +Very cold, rough weather was experienced on the 6th and 7th and a +temperature of 26 degrees F. occurred on the latter date, while the +maximum did not reach freezing-point. Much snow and soft hail fell, +and the ground set hard. The weather interfered to some extent with +the tide-gauge clock, and it became so unsatisfactory that I took it to +pieces on the 9th and gave it a thorough cleaning, after which it had a +new lease of life. + +We received a message on the 11th saying that the 'Aurora' had arrived +in Dunedin, "all well," but had experienced a very rough voyage which +greatly interfered with the dredging and sounding programme. + +Our tank water gave out for the first time on the 12th. The +precipitation for a fortnight had been in the form of dry powdery snow +and soft hail, the wind blowing it off the roof before it had a chance +to thaw, thus robbing us of our usual water-supply. For a while we had +to use swamp water, which contained a good many insects of various kinds +and had a distinctly peaty flavour. Finding good water running from the +hill-tops down a deep gully on the east coast, three-quarters of a mile +away, we carried drinking water from there, using the other for washing +up. + +The 13th was a most delightful day--bright sun, very little wind +and fresh exhilarating air. Blake and Hamilton went out early on a +photographing excursion, and, later on, the latter shot and skinned a +white giant petrel. + +During the third week of July a very low tide exposed rocks, ordinarily +submerged, and Hamilton was occupied all the week in collecting marine +organisms, worms and plants and then preserving, bottling and labelling +them. + +A most peculiar sight was witnessed on the 17th. Aerial Cove is a +favourite nesting-place for shags, and they may be seen in twos and +threes flying round in that direction almost any time during the day; +but on this particular day a kind of wholesale exodus from the cove +took place, and large flocks of them followed each other for a couple of +hours. They congregated on the rocks along the east coast, or settled in +the water in scores; the latter fact suggesting that the probable reason +for this extraordinary behaviour was the presence of unusual shoals of +fish. + +We used to relax and have a game of cards occasionally, while our small +organ became a medium of much enjoyment. All the members except one +played well enough to enjoy themselves and to give pleasure to the +others. There was a distinct predilection in favour of "ragtime" and I +must say I liked to hear that music at frequent intervals. Any one +who plays a musical instrument knows that the mood of the player is +generally reflected in the character of the music, particularly when he +sits down and plays in a casual way. + +The pursuit and killing of a sheep had now become something in the +nature of an experience, and when Sandell and I went hunting for one +on the 20th, we realized it before we reached home. The flock was +very timid, and when disturbed on North Head invariably came past the +wireless station close to the engine-hut. Sandell concealed himself +there with a gun, while I went out to startle the animals. They did not +fail to do their part, but Sandell missed and the shot frightened them. +He then rushed out and fired another shot as they were running, managing +to hit one, which immediately dropped behind and ran to the edge of the +cliff. We did not want to shoot the sheep at this moment, as it would +have fallen about two hundred feet, so we cautiously approached to drive +it away. The poor creature simply took a leap out into space and +landed on the talus below, down which it rolled to the water's edge. +We scrambled down and skinned it, having to carry the carcase along the +rocks at the base of the cliffs, and getting many duckings on the way. + +On July 26 I went round to Aerial Cove with Hamilton to have a look +at the fish-trap, but it had disappeared, the wire having broken, +apparently through the continual friction against rock. He had +previously caught some fish in it, and it was rather a misfortune to +lose it so soon. + +During the last week of the month we all had our hair cut. On arrival +at the island, several of us had it shorn very closely with the clippers +and had not trimmed it since then, growth being very slow. We had a +proper hair-cutting outfit and either Blake, Hamilton or Sandell acted +as barber. + +Blake was an expert with the needle and did some really neat mending, +while with the aid of some woollen thread and a mug he darned holes in +his socks most artistically. He was the authority on how, when and +where to place a patch or on the only method of washing clothes. The +appearance of his articles when washed, compared with mine, made me +wonder. + +Hamilton was busy, about this time, dredging in swamp pools and securing +specimens of the rockhopper or gentoo penguin. + +The small gentoo penguins, like the King penguins, do not migrate and +are few in numbers. They form diminutive colonies, which are always +established on mounds amongst the tussock, or on the hill sides not far +from the water. Their eggs, which are globular in shape, are about the +best of the penguin eggs for eating, and if their nests are robbed the +birds will generally lay again, although I think they could not lay more +than four eggs. They build their nests of grass and plant leaves, and +occasionally have been known to establish a fresh rookery after their +first one has been robbed. They are more timid than any other species +of penguin, and leave the nests in a body when one ventures into the +rookery. The skuas take advantage of this peculiarity to the length of +waiting about till a chance presents itself, when they swoop down, pick +up an egg with their beak and fly off. The penguin makes a great fuss on +returning to find that the eggs are gone, but generally finishes up by +sitting on the empty nest. We have frequently put ten or a dozen eggs +into one nest and watched the proprietress on her return look about +very doubtfully and then squat down and try to tuck the whole lot under +herself with her beak. + +Weather conditions were rough enough during July, but occasionally a +fairly quiet day would occur. High winds were experienced on ten days, +the greatest hourly average for any twenty-four hours being thirty-two +miles, but no day averaged less than ten miles. Precipitation occurred +on twenty-one days, mostly in the form of snow and soft hail. The mean +temperature was 37.7 degrees, with extremes of 43.3 degrees and 26 +degrees F. The average percentage of cloud was 78; somewhat less than +usual and due to the greater frequency of south-west winds, which almost +always bring a broken sky. + +Now that our life was one of smooth routine I devoted a good deal of +time to reducing the meteorological observations. Hourly pressure and +temperature readings as well as descriptive remarks, averages and other +details required to be summarized, and this occupied a considerable +amount of time, so I made a practice of spending a couple of hours +each day on the work, whenever possible, hoping thereby to pick up the +"leeway." I did not take too kindly to inactive writing in the Shack, +but the weather conditions were such that I was glad to stay indoors, +though that meant enduring the inevitable cold feet. The floor of the +Shack was never warm, and of course there were no carpets. + +Mac developed a great animosity against the rats and thoroughly enjoyed +rooting them out on all occasions. The only explanation of their +presence on the island is that they had arrived in the ships which were +wrecked along the coasts. They got into the Shack several times, and we +simply brought in Mac and shifted things about till she caught them. + +Rough weather occurred during the first week of August, and with +occasional temporary weakenings a gale blew throughout, reaching fifty +miles an hour at different times. Snow, hail and sleet fell every day, +and on the 3rd the temperature was below freezing-point all day. The +Shack, which always shook a little in exceptionally heavy gales, now +vibrated a good deal in a forty-mile wind, no doubt feeling the effects +of the beating it had undergone. + +Blake found a cave running through North Head and went round, on the +5th, to examine it. He proved it to be about sixty yards from opening to +opening, and to widen out very much inside; the roof being about fifteen +feet above the floor. + +Hamilton and Sandell went along the coast on the 6th and brought home a +dozen Maori hens for the pot. Hamilton secured some spiders, parasites +on birds and many beetles under the moss and stones on the site of a +penguin rookery, besides shooting a few terns. + +The tern is a very pretty bird with light grey plumage, a black head and +red beak and feet. We found no nests on the island, though the fact that +the birds remain throughout the year implies that they breed there. They +fly very fast while not appearing to do so, but their movements are by +no means graceful. They flit about over the water close to the shore, +every now and then dipping down picking up morsels and keeping up a +constant, shrill squeaking. + +The sea was so high on the 7th that it reached the weight of the +tide-gauge and, lifting it up, unshipped the recording gear, as the +steel wire flew off the wheel before the latter could take up the slack. +I deemed it advisable to use stout cord instead of wire in the future +and made a protective slot for the weight. I had blocked up the seaward +side of the pipe with rocks, but found that these caused a deposit of +silt so I had to get into the water at low tide and shift them all out +again to clean away the accumulation of sand. + +Very heavy snow fell during the afternoon, the flakes being the size of +half a crown. A fresh north-north-west wind dropped to a calm at 4 P.M. +and almost immediately it began to snow, the island being quite white by +5.30 P.M. + +Bright sunny intervals alternated with light snow-squalls on the 10th, +and the temperature was below freezing-point all day. It was pleasant +to be out of doors, and I walked along to the west coast to see if there +were any signs of activity amongst the sea elephants. + +An unmistakable sign of the near approach of the breeding season was the +presence of an enormous old bull, almost too fat to move, lying on the +beach. Very few small ones were seen, as, on the arrival of the adult +males and females for the breeding season, the young ones leave for +a while, presumably in order to get fat for the moulting period, or +because they are afraid of the bulls, who are particularly savage at +this time. The full-grown bulls attain to a length of twenty feet, and +have a fleshy proboscis about eight or ten inches in length hanging over +the mouth, suggesting the trunk of an elephant. It is from this fact +that they derive the name of sea elephant. + +There is a considerable disparity in size between the adult male and +female, the latter very rarely exceeding eleven feet, though we have +seen a few twelve and thirteen feet long. The females have no snout +development and some of them facially very much resemble a bull terrier. +The adults are called bulls and cows, while, curiously enough, in the +sealers' phrase, the offspring are referred to as pups. The places where +large numbers of them gather together during the breeding season are +known as rookeries! "Rookery" appears to me to be inapplicable to a +herd of sea elephants, though "pup" supplies a more apt description of +the young. + +The pups, born during September or early October, are covered with a +long, black, wavy fur, which they lose when about two months old, and in +its place comes a growth of silver-grey hair, which changes later into +the ordinary brown colour of the full-grown animal. + +The old males and females leave the island about the end of January, and +are not seen again (except a few stray ones) till August in the case of +the males, and until September in the case of the females. + +The fact that the bulls arrive first leads one to the conclusion that +their feeding-grounds must lie at a considerable distance and, in the +journey therefrom, the males, being the stronger, should arrive before +the females, who are heavy with young and probably make a somewhat +leisurely progress, feeding by the way. + +The rookeries vary in size, containing from half a dozen to four or +five hundred cows; in the last case, of course, being an aggregation +of smaller rookeries, each with its proprietor, in the shape of an old +bull, lying in or somewhere near the centre. The normal rookery, as far +as I could judge, seemed to be one that contained about forty cows, but +once the nucleus was formed, it was hard to say how many cows would be +there before the season ended, as females keep arriving for a period of +about three weeks. + +The young vary in length from three and a half to four and a half feet, +are born within a few days of arrival and suckled for about a month, +becoming enormously fat. The cow, who has not eaten during the whole of +this time and has become very thin, then leaves the pup, but remains +in the rookery for about two days, after which she escapes to sea, +remaining there till the beginning of January, when she returns to +the island to moult. The pups when weaned get such rough usage in the +rookery that they soon make off into the tussock and sleep for about a +month, living on their fat and acquiring a new coat. The noise in one of +the large rookeries is something to remember--the barking of the pups, +the whimpering and yelping of the mothers and the roaring of the bulls. + +Another feature in connexion with the rookery is the presence of what +may be called unattached bulls, which lie around at a little distance +from the cows, and well apart, forming a regular ring through which any +cow wishing to desert her pup or leave the rookery before the proper +time has very little chance of passing, as one of these grips her firmly +with his powerful flipper and stays her progress. The lord of the harem, +in the meantime, hastens to the scene of the disturbance, whereupon the +other bull decamps. + +The sea immediately in the vicinity of a large rookery is generally +swarming with unattached bulls, who may be seen with their heads out of +the water eyeing each other and keeping a bright look out for escaping +cows. Now and again one may see a bull in the water gripping a cow with +his flipper, despite her struggles, and roaring at a couple of others +who show up menacingly quite close to him. + +It may be remarked that towards the end of the season changes in the +proprietorship of a rookery are rather rapid, as continuous raids are +made by individuals from the outside. The need of continuous vigilance +and the results of many encounters eventually lead to the defeat and +discomfiture of the once proud proprietor. + +I have never seen two bulls fight without first indulging in the usual +preliminaries, that is, roaring and advancing a few yards and repeating +the performance till within striking distance. Then both animals rear +high up, supporting themselves on the lower part of the body, and lunge +savagely with their whole weight each at his opponent's head or neck, +tearing the thick skin with their teeth and causing the blood to flow +copiously. Several lunges of this kind generally finish the battle, +whereupon the beaten one drops to his flippers and makes all haste +towards the water, glancing fearfully behind him on the way. We have +seen bulls with their snouts partly torn off and otherwise injured, but +worse injuries must occur in the rare, desperate battles which sometimes +take place between two very much enraged animals. + +When a bull in the centre of a rookery has occasion to rush at an +interloper, he does so without regard to anything in his way, going over +cows and pups alike and very often crushing some of the latter to death. +Again, it seems as if all the outlying bulls recognize the noise of the +rookery bull, because each time he roars they all lift up their heads +and take notice, whereas others who have just been roaring have not +the slightest regard paid to them, except perhaps by one immediately +concerned. + +The bull, during the breeding season, will on provocation attack a man, +and it is surprising how quickly the former covers the ground. But on +the whole he is an inoffensive animal. It is, of course, impossible to +venture into a rookery, as the cows are very savage when they have the +pups with them, but one can approach within a few yards of its outskirts +without danger. Their food consists of cuttlefish, crabs and fish, +and it is probable that they frequent the ocean where this food is +plentiful, when they are absent from the island. + +It has been stated that these animals are nearly extinct, but a visit to +Macquarie Island during the breeding season would be enough to convince +anybody to the contrary. There are thousands of them, and though about +seven hundred are killed during a season, the increase in numbers each +year, on Macquarie Island alone, must be very great. + +The skuas were now returning to the island and their numbers and +corresponding clamour were daily increasing. They were the noisiest and +most quarrelsome birds we had, but their advent, we hoped, marked the +return of less rigorous weather. + +Blake left for Lusitania Bay on the 17th, intending to spend several +months there in order to survey and geologically examine the southern +end, so we gave him a send-off dinner. He had a very rough trip to the +place, having to spend two nights in a cave about six miles from his +destination, as a result of getting lost in a dense fog. + +Hamilton made a wire fish-trap to replace the one which he had lost, and +succeeded in getting a few fish on lowering it for the first time. He +discovered parasitical mites all over them on the outside, and the flesh +contained many worms. + +A heavy north-north-west gale was experienced on the 26th, but the +weather during the last three days of August was very quiet, either +calms or light winds prevailing, and we took the opportunity to do some +work on Wireless Hill. All the wire stays were tightened, and various +ropes which appeared to require attention were renewed, while, as a +final improvement, the aerial was hauled as tight as we could make it. + +We heard on July 31 that the 'Rachel Cohen', a sealing-vessel, had +sailed for Macquarie Island and was bringing a few articles for us, +so there was something to which we could look forward in the immediate +future. + +The most remarkable feature of the month's weather was the wind, as +gales blew on eleven days, and on seven other days the velocity reached +twenty-five miles per hour. Precipitation occurred on twenty-seven +days, and the average percentage of cloud was eighty-four. The mean +temperature was 38.1 degrees with extremes of 45.3 degrees and 26 +degrees F. A prolonged display of auroral light occurred on the night +of the 17th, though no colours other than the light lemon-yellow of the +arch and streamers could be seen. + +Bull elephants were now arriving in great numbers, and these monsters +could be seen lying everywhere on the isthmus, both up in the tussock, +on the beaches, and among the heaps of kelp. Now and again one would +lazily lift a flipper to scratch itself or heave its great bulk into a +more comfortable position. + +The island is the habitat of two kinds of night-birds, one kind--a +species of petrel (Lesson's)--being much larger than the other, both +living in holes in the ground. They fly about in the darkness, their +cries resembling those made by a beaten puppy. The smaller bird +(apparently indigenous and a new species) was occasionally seen flying +over the water during the day, but the larger ones come out almost +exclusively at night. A light attracts them and Hamilton, with the aid +of a lantern and a butterfly-net, tried to catch some. Others swooped +about, well out of range, shrieking the while in an uncanny way. Numbers +of them were secured afterwards by being dug out of their holes, Mac +being just as keen to locate them as Hamilton was to secure them. They +cannot see well during the day, and seem to have almost lost the use of +their feet. They lay two small, white, thin-shelled eggs at the end of +their burrow; and in certain parts of the island, where the burrows are +numerous, the sound made by hundreds of them at once, during the nesting +season, somewhat resembles that made by a high-power Marconi wireless +set at close range. + +Before Blake left Lusitania Bay, I promised to see that the hut on Sandy +Bay was re-stocked with provisions by the middle of the month, so, on +the 8th, Hamilton, Sandell and I carried a supply of stores down there, +leaving a note which informed him that we expected the 'Rachel Cohen' to +arrive any day, and asking him to return to the Shack. On the way down +we came upon a vast quantity of wreckage piled up on the beach, midway +between "The Nuggets" and Sandy Bay. This was all that remained of the +sealing schooner, 'Jessie Nichol', which had been wrecked on December +21, 1910. Three men were drowned, their bodies being interred among the +tussock, each marked by a life belt and a small board on which the name +was roughly carved. + +On our homeward trip we caught some wekas for the pot and duly arrived +at the Shack, tired, wet and hungry. + +Next day, while sitting in the Shack reducing records, I heard a yell +from Hamilton to the effect that the 'Rachel Cohen' was in sight, and +about an hour later she dropped anchor in North-East Bay. + +The sea was fairly smooth and no time was lost in bringing a boat ashore +with the mails, of which each man received a share. A gang of sealers +was landed with a view to obtaining sea elephant and penguin oil. I +had wirelessed asking for a dinghy to be sent down, which would enable +Hamilton to do more marine work; and it now came to hand. Further, we +received an additional supply of photographic material and some rubber +tubing for the anemometer, but the much needed boots did not arrive. + +On the 18th a strong southerly gale sprang up and compelled the 'Rachel +Cohen' to seek safety in flight; so she slipped her cable and put to +sea. She had not yet landed all the sealers' stores and was forced to +hang about the island till the weather moderated sufficiently for her to +return to an anchorage. + +The gentoo penguins, which had been observed at the beginning of the +month building their nests, commenced to lay, and the first ten eggs +were collected by us on September 18. Many sea elephant rookeries were +now well-formed as the cows began to arrive about the 11th and were soon +landing in large numbers. The first pups were heard on the 20th, and +Bauer and I walked along to the rookery from which the barking came and +had a look at the newcomers. There were only four, none of which was +more than a few hours old, but they yapped their displeasure, and the +mothers made frantic lunges at us when we approached to get a close view +of them. + +The sealers always gave the animals time to form their rookeries and +then killed the bulls for oil. A well-conditioned full-grown animal +yields about half a tun of oil, and as the commodity when refined has +a market value of from L20 to L25 per tun, it will be seen that the +industry is a profitable one. The cows being small never have a very +thick coating of blubber, but I have seen bulls with blubber to a depth +of eight inches, and some of them yield nearly two thousand pounds, +though I should estimate the average yield at about one thousand one +hundred pounds. The sealers in the early days used to obtain the oil +by cutting the blubber up into very small pieces and melting it down +in "try " pots. These pots, many of which may be still seen about the +island, were made of very thick iron and the fuel used was the refuse +taken from the pot itself. In the present method steam digestors are +used, and the oil from the melted blubber is drawn off, after steam +has been passing for twelve hours. Coal is brought down by the +sealing-vessel to be used as fuel. The "elephant season" lasts only +about three months, and within about four weeks of its conclusion, the +"penguin season" begins; the same gang of men being employed as a rule. +The most difficult operation in connexion with both of these industries +is undoubtedly the loading and unloading of the vessel. If auxiliary +power were used, the ship could then steam to within half a mile of the +shore, but as it is, a sailing-vessel has to anchor about two miles off +and the oil is towed in rafts over that distance. + +We heard sounds from Adelie Land wireless station for the first time +on September 25, 1912, but the signals were very faint and all that we +could receive was: "Please inform Pennant Hills." Sawyer called them +repeatedly for several hours, but heard no acknowledgment. Every effort +was made to get in touch with them from this time forward, Sawyer +remaining at the instrument until daylight every morning. + +The Royal penguins returned to the island on the 27th and immediately +commenced to make their way to the rookeries. They had been absent since +April and were very fat after their long migration. + +On the 28th Blake and Hamilton started out in the dinghy for Lusitania +Bay. They had already made a step and sprit, and, with a calico sail +hoisted, the frail craft ran before a light breeze. Having a fair wind +they made good headway along the coast, dropping in at a gentoo penguin +rookery en route, and collecting about two hundred and twenty eggs. Mac +was a passenger and was a very sick dog all the trip. + +Shortly after their departure, the 'Rachel Cohen', which had been blown +away on the 18th, reappeared and again anchored. The captain reported +having seen numerous icebergs, some of which were very large, about +thirty miles to the eastward of the island. The sealers immediately +commenced to get away the rest of their stores and coal and also to put +some oil aboard the vessel, but on the following day the wind increased +to such an extent that, in attempting to reach the ship with a raft of +oil, they were blown down the coast and had to beach the boat several +miles away. + +On the night of the 29th Adelie Land wireless station was again heard +tapping out a message apparently with the hope that some station would +receive it. All we got was: "Having a hell of a time waiting for calm +weather to put up more masts." Sawyer again repeatedly called, but they +evidently could not hear him as no reply was received, and the above +message was repeated time after time. + +The weather during September was not quite so rough as that of the +previous two or three months, but misty days were very frequent. Gales +were experienced on six days and strong winds on nine days, but several +quiet periods occurred. The average temperature was 38.6 degrees, with +extremes of 44.7 degrees and 26 degrees F. + +October was ushered in by a strong gale and rather heavy rain-squalls. +The 'Rachel Cohen' had a severe buffeting, though she was lying on the +lee side of the island. + +Just about three-quarters of a mile to the west of the Shack were two +large sea elephant rookeries, very close to each other, and on the 3rd +Sandell and I went along to see what was happening there. We found about +two hundred and fifty cows in the nearer one, and, as closely as we +could count, about five hundred in the adjacent colony. The babel of +sounds made one feel thankful that these noisy creatures were some +distance from the Shack. Nearly all the cows had pups, some of which +had reached a fair size, while others were only a few hours old. We saw +several dead ones, crushed out almost flat, and some skuas were busily +engaged gorging themselves on the carcases. These birds are indeed +professional plunderers, and will venture almost anywhere in pursuit of +food. + +During the evening we again heard Adelie Land station working, and the +burden of their message to an apparently chance audience was: "We do not +seem able to get Macquarie Island, all is well, though bad weather has +so far prevented any attempt at sledging." + +Sawyer again called them at regular intervals for the rest of the night, +but, as before, got no response. + +Hamilton and Blake were busy at Lusitania Bay during the first two weeks +of October securing sea elephant specimens and collecting eggs. They +visited Caroline Cove where is established a giant petrel rookery +containing about four hundred birds, and gathered a large number of +eggs--purely specimens, as they are no use otherwise. + +The 'Rachel Cohen' finally left us on the 8th, expecting to pay another +visit in December for the purpose of taking off the sea elephant oil +procured by the sealers. Sandell and I visited the gentoo penguin colony +in Aerial Cove during the afternoon, for the purpose of getting a few +eggs. We found plenty there and collected as many as we required. On +returning to the empty nests, the birds would first of all peer round +to assure themselves that the eggs were really missing, and then throw +their heads back, swaying them from side to side to the accompaniment of +loud, discordant cries. + +Several of us started out on the 10th to visit the west coast for +the purpose of getting some wekas and, incidentally, to make any +observations possible. We saw thousands of sea elephants along the coast +and passed many rookeries of various sizes. There were a large number of +wekas about, but after shooting fourteen we were satisfied with our bag. + +A westerly gale during the night proved too much for the aerial, and +down it came. Blake and Hamilton were away, so Sawyer, Sandell and I +went up, and after much battling and frequent use of the "handy billy" +succeeded in fixing things. We also re-tightened the wire stays and +thoroughly overhauled the ropes. Snow and sleet fell all the time, +making the task most disagreeable. + +About the middle of the month the Royal penguins commenced to lay, and +on the 17th Sandell and I went to their rookeries at "The Nuggets" and +collected about fifteen dozen eggs, which we buried in a hole in the +bank of the creek for preservation. This species of penguin is the one +which is killed for oil, not because it is any fatter than the others, +but because it lives in such large colonies. There is one rookery of +these birds on the south end of the island which covers an area of +sixteen and a half acres, whilst at "The Nuggets" there are numbers +of them scattered along the banks of a creek which reaches the sea, +aggregating ten acres. At the latter place are situated the oil works +belonging to the sealers. + +From careful observation I should say that the number of birds killed +during the season would not total one hundred and fifty thousand. The +method of killing--by blows from a heavy club--is about as humane as any +that could be adopted, and the yearly increase in numbers in the only +rookeries that are being worked is certainly greater than the decrease +due to the depredations of the sealers. Apart from this, there are acres +of rookeries on the island from which not a single bird is taken, and +they go on year after year adding thousands upon thousands to their +already vast numbers. + +This species resembles the others in habits, and I shall not describe +them at any length. They are of the same colour as the Victoria +penguins, but have a more orderly crest. Their rookeries are always on +or very close to a running stream which forms the highway along +which they travel to and fro. There is no policeman on duty, but a +well-ordered procession is somehow arranged whereby those going up keep +to one side and those coming down keep to the other. Once they are in +the rookery, however, different conditions obtain. Here are fights, +squabbles and riots, arising from various causes, the chief of which +appears to be a disposition on the part of some birds to loiter about. +During the nesting time much disorder prevails, and fights, in which +beaks and flippers are energetically used, may be seen in progress +at various places throughout the rookery. The nests are made of small +stones, and occasionally, a bone or two from the skeleton of some +long-dead relative forms part of the bulwarks. The attempt on the part +of some birds to steal stones from surrounding nests is about the most +fruitful cause of a riot, and the thief generally gets soundly thrashed, +besides which all have a peck at him as he makes his way with as much +haste as possible from the danger-zone. As the season advances, these +rookeries become covered with filthy slush, but it seems to make no +difference to the eggs, as the chicks appear in due course. When the +moulting process is in full swing the rookeries are very crowded, and +feathers and slush then become mixed together, making the place anything +but fragrant. + +A fifty-four mile gale from the west-north-west blew down on us on the +20th, but shortly after noon it weakened, and, towards evening, with the +shifting of the wind to southwest, came squalls of sleet and snow and a +drop in temperature. Hamilton returned from Lusitania Bay in the dinghy +on the 21st, but Blake stopped there as he had not yet finished his work +in that locality. The dinghy was well laden with specimens of various +kinds and, on the way up, some wood and pickets were left at Green +Valley for future requirements. + +On the 25th Sandell and I visited the west coast, but, instead of going +the usual way, we walked down the east coast and went up the creek at +"The Nuggets" with a view to having a look at the penguin colonies along +its course, finally crossing over the hills and getting into another +creek, which we followed all the way down to the west coast. Along this +creek were numerous waterfalls, one of which was quite sixty feet in +height with wind-blown spray frozen white on the rocks on either side. +We came across several giant petrel rookeries, and were treated to a +display of the "stinker's" ability to make himself objectionable. A pair +of sooty albatrosses were seen nesting on the front of a rocky steep, +but on climbing up we found that they had not yet laid. After catching +some wekas and taking a few photographs we returned to the Shack. + +On the last day of the month several of us crossed the hills to the west +coast in search of plants and birds' eggs. We secured a number of plant +specimens--a further sign of the arrival of spring--including two which +bore a very small flower, and were most successful in obtaining skuas', +giant petrels' and sooty albatrosses' eggs. + +During the evening I received a message from Captain Davis stating that +the 'Aurora' would visit us in about three weeks' time and inquiring if +we needed any supplies. This was entirely unexpected, as we thought that +no more would be seen of the Ship until she came to take us home at the +end of March 1913. + +Earthquake shocks were felt at 1.55 A.M. and 9.35 A.M. on October 28, +but did no damage other than to bring down some loose rock. Auroral +displays were rather frequent but not very pronounced, and in most cases +could only be classed as "glows." + +A bright sunny morning on the 3rd induced Hamilton and me to make a +photographic excursion along the coast. Hitherto only still-life photos +had been taken, but with the sunlight we were then having, any work was +possible, so we determined to have some "shots" at the sea elephants. +They were rather difficult subjects, strange to say, but we spent some +time amongst them and did famously, till a snow-squall made us suspend +operations. + +We heard the discordant but mournful cry of a sooty albatross coming +from the cliff-front, so Hamilton climbed up and, after scrambling about +for a while, succeeded in finding a nest, which contained one egg. This +led him to look along the cliffs fronting the east coast, and on the +following morning he found several nests and caught two birds, both of +which were taken by hand while on the nest. They had beautiful plumage +and made very fine specimens. + +Blake returned from Lusitania Bay during the afternoon of the 4th and +reported that he required only four or five days to complete the survey. +The configuration of the island at the southern end is vastly different +to that shown in the published charts, and this became more apparent as +Blake's figures were plotted. + +The news that Piastre had won the Melbourne Cup was flashed about all +over the southern ocean during the evening, and we picked it up; but +as this was the first we had heard of the animal, nobody seemed much +interested. It certainly gave a turn to the conversation, and quite +a sporting tone permeated the discussions of the ensuing two or three +days. + +The subjects of discussion were usually those of environment, and +most of our talk centred round sea elephants, sea-leopards, penguins, +temperatures, wind, wireless telegraphy, fish, aurorae, exploration, +ships, Queensland and New Zealand. Sea elephants and penguins do offer +scope for a considerable amount of conversation, as one observes them +under such different circumstances, and they are so odd that something +remarkable is always associated with the sight of them. The weather, +being practically the bete noire of our existence, came in for a good +deal of abuse. Wireless telegraphy is a mighty interesting subject +at all times, and we passed many hours of our stay in discussing its +future. All the members were, allegedly, fishermen of some calibre, and +when I have said that, anybody with a knowledge of the man who claims +ability as an angler will know what all the others, in turn, had to +receive with restrained and respectful admiration. The advantages of +settlement in Queensland were so apparent to at least one member of +the party that he simply could not understand why thousands were not +annually killed in the rush to get to this, "the greatest of all the +Australian States." Good old silky oak! + +The scenery of New Zealand was almost as well known to us as to anybody +who has lived in the country all his life, and three of us had never +been there. We have sat round the Shack sometimes and only the roar of a +sea elephant outside reminded us that we were not, as we imagined, at a +Maori "tangi." The wages to be earned there, the delights of travelling, +the legislators, Rotorua, kauri pine, and the moon they've got in +Auckland--we've heard of all these and marvelled at them. "Kapai te +Maori!" + +Blake and Hamilton went to Sandy Bay in the dinghy on the 6th in order +to complete some work. They improved the hut there, to the extent of +making a fire-place and laying barrel-staves on the floor, afterwards +bringing a boat-load of timber from the 'Jessie Nichol' wreck and +rigging up a board bunk sufficiently large to accommodate both of them. + +While walking down to the 'Clyde' wreck for some wood on the 7th I saw +a strange bird on the beach, and, returning to the Shack for the gun, +I got him at the second shot. He was a land bird and had evidently been +blown out of his course, as none of his kind had been seen before on the +island. + +On getting up on the following morning I found poor old Ma lying dead, +and the feathers which lay about indicated that she had been the victim +of a savage assault, but whether at the teeth of a dog or the beak of a +skua I was unable to determine. This was most unfortunate, as the hens +had all started to lay again two days previously; but apart from this +she was a funny old creature and one could almost hold a conversation +with her, so we regretted her loss. However, to make amends for this +disaster the Victoria penguins started to lay on the same day, and as +several of their rookeries were only a few minutes' walk from the Shack, +the position was much the same as if we owned a poultry farm. + +Hamilton returned from Sandy Bay on the 17th and immediately set about +collecting shags' eggs. He visited Aerial Cove for the purpose but did +not get enough, and was compelled to go to West Point, where he gathered +twenty-four dozen for specimens. He now had a collection of eggs of all +birds which nest on the island, with the exception of the weka and the +tern. + +At 6.30 P.M. on November 22 the 'Aurora' steamed into North-East Bay +and dropped anchor. Hamilton, Blake and Sawyer launched the dinghy +and pulled out to receive the mails, which they brought ashore for +distribution. All on board were well and Captain Davis sent word to +say he would land in the morning, bringing our goods and some +visitors--Professor Flynn of Hobart and Mr. Denny. + +The 'Aurora' next day steamed round North Head and took a series of +soundings between the main island and the Judge and Clerk. These latter +islets lie about eight miles to the north of North Head, and are merely +rocks about eighty feet high upon which thousands of shags and other +birds have established rookeries. On the following morning we said +good-bye to the Ship, which weighed anchor and steamed away, leaving us +once more to our own devices. + +All the flowering plants were now showing their extremely modest blooms, +and the tussock looked like a field of wheat, each stem having a decided +ear. The gentoo penguins, as well as the giant petrels, had hatched +their eggs, and the parent birds were shouldering full responsibilities. + +Blake and Hamilton were now prepared for another visit to the southern +end. Blake had almost completed the chart of the island, and the +difference between it and the published chart was very striking. In the +latter case the south end was shown as being six miles wide, whereas it +is in reality only a little more than two miles across, and the width +of the island is nowhere more than three and a half miles. About twenty +miles from the southern end lie two islets known as the Bishop and +Clerk. The former, which is the larger, is covered with a growth of +tussock, while the latter is mainly bare rock. + +A distinct rise in temperature was noticeable during November and the +mean worked out at 41.6 degrees, while the extremes were 49 degrees +and 82 degrees F. Strong winds were recorded on thirteen days and six +short-lived gales occurred. We had less precipitation than during any +previous month, as thirteen dry days were experienced. The average +cloudiness was 93 per cent.; largely due to the frequent foggy or misty +weather. + +On December 2, at 10 A.M., Blake and I packed our sleeping-bags and +blankets and started for Sandy Bay. The swags weighed only thirty-five +pounds each and we made a rather quick trip. + +After repairing the dilapidated shack, we sallied out for the purpose +of catching our evening meal, and with the aid of Mac soon succeeded in +getting eight wekas. A sea elephant was then killed, and the blubber, +heart and tongue taken; the first-named for use as fuel and the others +for food. We cleaned the wekas and put them in the pot, cooking the +whole lot together, a proceeding which enabled us to forgo cooking +a breakfast in the morning. The beach was swarming with young sea +elephants and many could be seen playing about in a small, shallow +lagoon. + +Just south of the hut there is a sandy spit and one of the only +stretches of beach on the island, where thousands of penguins from +the adjacent rookeries were congregated, amongst them being three King +penguins, which were easily distinguishable on account of their great +size. + +Feeling a little weary, I sought the hut about 9 P.M. and turned into +the sleeping-bag, which was placed on a board bottom covered with +tussock, which was by no means uncomfortable. The old place smoked so +much that we decided to let the fire die down, and as soon as the smoke +had cleared away, the imperfections of the hut became apparent; rays of +moonlight streaming through countless openings in the walls and roof. + +We rose at 6.30 A.M. While Blake lit the fire, I went out to fill the +billy at a small stream running out of the hills about sixty yards away. +After breakfast we set out for Green Valley, but had not gone very far +when it began to blow very hard from the south, straight in our faces, +and we scrambled on towards our destination amidst squalls of snow, hail +and sleet. Eventually we reached the valley and had a somewhat meagre +lunch in a small cave. The title "cave" rather dignifies this hole +in the rock, but it was the only friendly spot in a most inhospitable +locality, and we were inclined to be generous, + +On the whole, the length of coast we had traversed was found to be as +rough as any on the island. There is not a stretch of one hundred yards +anywhere that can be termed "good going." In many places we found that +the steep cliffs approached very close to the water, and the mournful +cry of the sooty albatross could be heard coming from points high on the +face of the cliffs, while the wekas were so tame that one could almost +walk up and catch them. + +A large creek whose banks are overhung with a coarse growth of fern +makes its way out of the hills and runs into Sandy Bay. Just a little +to the south of this creek Blake discovered a terminal moraine about two +hundred yards in length and fifty feet wide. It rests on sandstone about +fifteen feet above the present sea-level and the boulders consist of +polished and sub-angular blocks of sandstone and porphyry of various +sizes. It evidently belongs to the valley or to a later stage of +glaciation. The rocks along the coast are all a volcanic series, and +basic dykes are visible in many places. + +We arose at 7 A.M. next day and breakfasted on porridge, weka, fried +heart, "hard-tack" and cocoa. Leaving the hut shortly afterwards we +climbed on to the hills and travelled south for several miles in order +to fix the position of some lakes and creeks. There was one lake in the +vicinity about half a mile long and to all appearances very deep. It lay +between two steep hills, and the grassy bank at one end and the small +sloping approach at the other gave it an artificial appearance, while +the water was beautifully clear and perfectly fresh. At the sloping end, +dozens of skuas were busily engaged washing themselves and the flapping +of their wings in the water made a remarkable noise, audible at a +considerable distance on the hill-tops. On returning to the hut at Sandy +Bay several rabbits secured by Mac were cleaned and put on to boil. + +Next morning a dense mist shrouded the island till about 11 A.M., but +the weather becoming fine and bright, we started for the west coast +about noon. During our progress along the bed of a creek, Blake +discovered what was believed to be a glacial deposit containing fossil +bones, and considerable time was spent in examining this and attempting +to extract whole specimens, thereby making it too late to proceed to the +west. On returning to the hut we decided to pack the swags. We reached +home just in time for tea, finding that nothing unusual had occurred +during our four days' absence. + +Hamilton and Blake went out fishing in the dinghy on the 9th and made +a remarkable haul of fish, sixty in number, ranging in size from a few +ounces to twelve and a half pounds. They were all of the same species, +somewhat resembling rock cod, but as usual they were covered with +external parasites, and their flesh was full of worm-cysts. Hamilton +preserved a number of them and the rest were cooked, but we did not +relish them very much and the one meal was enough. + +On December 11 we had a hard gale all day, the anemometer recording +"bursts" of over fifty miles an hour frequently, while the average +exceeded forty miles an hour throughout. Twelve months ago on that +day we had made our first landing on the island from the 'Aurora', but +vastly different weather conditions prevailed at the time. + +Christmas Day was now very close at hand, and as Blake and Hamilton were +going to celebrate at the other end of the island, whence they had +gone on the 10th, Sawyer, Sandell and I arranged a little "spread" for +ourselves. Sawyer produced a cake which he had received in the recent +mail, and some friend had forwarded a plum pudding to Sandell, so on +Christmas Day these, with a boiled ham, some walnuts, mince rolls and a +bottle of stout were spread on the table, which had been decorated +with tussock stuck in sea elephants' tusks. The highest temperature +registered on the island during our stay--51.8 degrees F.--was recorded +on Christmas Day, and the sun seemed so warm that Sandell and I ventured +into the sea for a dip, but the temperature of the water was not high +enough to make it an agreeable experience. + +During the evening of the 26th we received a message saying that the +'Aurora' had left Hobart on her trip south to bring back the two parties +from Antarctica, but no mention of picking us up on the return journey +was made. + +The King penguins and "night birds" had laid by this time, and Hamilton +added more eggs to his collection. He found for the first time a colony +of mutton birds near the south end. He also came upon a mollymawk +rookery on the south-western point of the island, and managed to take +one of the birds by hand. + +Blake and he had an accident in the dinghy on the 29th, fortunately +attended by no serious results. They had gone from Lusitania Bay to +the south end, and, while attempting to land through the surf, the boat +struck a rock and capsized, throwing them into the water. They had many +things in the boat but lost only two billies, two pannikins, a sounding +line and Hamilton's hat, knife and pipe. Their blankets floated ashore +in a few minutes, and the oars came floating in later in the day. After +the capsize Hamilton managed to reach the boat and turn her over, and +Blake made for a kelp-hung rock, but, after pulling himself up on to +it, was immediately washed off and had to swim ashore. The boat was +afterwards found to be stove-in in two places, though the breaks were +easily patched up subsequently. + +New Year's Eve came and with keen anticipations we welcomed the advent +of 1913. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII THROUGH ANOTHER YEAR + +by G. F. Ainsworth + + +We had now thrown a year behind and the work we set out to accomplish +was almost finished; so it was with pleasurable feelings that we took up +the burden of completion, looking forward to the arrival of April 1913 +which should bring us final relief and the prospects of civilisation. I +shall deal with the first three months of the year as one period, since +almost all the field-work, except photography, had been done, and, after +the return of Blake and Hamilton from Lusitania Bay on January 8, +our life was one of routine; much time being devoted to packing and +labelling specimens in anticipation of departure. + +The first business of the year was to overhaul the wireless station, and +on the 6th, Sawyer, Sandell and I spent the day laying in a supply of +benzine from Aerial Cove, changing worn ropes, tightening stay-wires, +straightening the southern masts and finally hauling the aerial taut. +These duties necessitated much use of the "handy billy," and one has +but to form an acquaintance with this desirable "person" to thoroughly +appreciate his value. + +Blake and Hamilton returned on January 8 and reported that their work +was finished at the southern end. Thenceforth they intended to devote +their time to finishing what remained to be done at the northern end and +in adding to their collections. Blake, for instance, resolved to finish +his chart of the island, and, if time permitted, to make a topographical +survey of the locality, as it was of great geological interest. Hamilton +made the discovery that a number of bird specimens he had packed away +were mildewed, and as a result he was compelled to overhaul the whole +lot and attend to them. He found another colony of mutton birds on North +Head, the existence of which was quite unexpected till he dug one out of +a burrow thought to contain "night-birds." + +About the middle of January I endeavoured to do a little meteorological +work with the aid of some box-kites manufactured by Sandell. But though +a number of them were induced to fly, we had no success in getting +them up with the instruments attached. They all had a habit of suddenly +losing equilibrium and then indulging in a series of rapid dives and +plunges which usually ended in total wreckage. + +The 'Rachel Cohen' again visited the island on January 26, but this time +she anchored off "The Nuggets," whither the sealers had gone to live +during the penguin season. We could see the ship lying about a mile +offshore, and walked down to get our mails and anything else she had +brought along for us. I received a letter from the Secretary of the +Expedition saying that he had made arrangements for us to return by the +'Rachel Cohen' early in April, and the news caused a little excitement, +being the only definite information we had had concerning relief. + +The end of the first month found Blake and Hamilton both very busy in +making suitable boxes for specimens. Many of the larger birds could not +be packed in ordinary cases, so Hamilton had to make specially large +ones to accommodate them, and Blake's rock specimens being very heavy, +extra strong boxes had to be made, always keeping in view the fact +that each was to weigh not more than eighty pounds, so as to ensure +convenient handling. + +After a silence of about four months, we again heard Adelie Land on +February 3, but the same old trouble existed, that is, they could not +hear us. Sawyer called them again and again, getting no reply, but we +reckoned that conditions would improve in a few weeks, as the hours of +darkness increased. + +Hamilton and I made a trip to the hill-tops on the 4th for the purpose +of taking a series of plant and earth temperatures which were of +interest biologically, and while there I took the opportunity of +obtaining temperatures in all the lakes we saw. Hamilton also took some +panoramic photographs from the various eminences and all of them turned +out well. + +During the evening Adelie Land sent out a message saying that Dr. Mawson +had not yet returned to the Base from his sledging trip and Sawyer +received it without difficulty, but though he "pounded away" in return +for a considerable time, he was not heard, as no reply or acknowledgment +was made. + +The 'Rachel Cohen' remained till the 5th, when a northerly gale arose +and drove her away. As she had a good cargo of oil on board no one +expected her to return. We had sent our mail on board several days +previously as experience had shown us that the sailing date of ships +visiting the island was very uncertain. + +Sandell met with a slight though painful accident on the 7th. He was +starting the engine, when it "backfired" and the handle flying off with +great force struck him on the face, inflicting a couple of nasty cuts, +loosening several teeth, and lacerating the inside of his cheek. A black +eye appeared in a day or two and his face swelled considerably, but +nothing serious supervened. In a few days the swelling had subsided and +any anxiety we felt was at an end. + +We now had only two sheep left, and on the 8th Blake and I went to kill +one. Mac accompanied us. Seeing the sheep running away, she immediately +set off after them, notwithstanding our threats, yells and curses. They +disappeared over a spur, but shortly afterwards Mac returned, and, being +severely thrashed, immediately left for home. We looked for the sheep +during the rest of the day but could find no trace of them, and though +we searched for many days it was not till five weeks had elapsed that we +discovered them on a small "landing" about half-way down the face of the +cliff. They had apparently rushed over the edge and, rolling down, had +finally come to a stop on the ledge where they were found later, alive +and well. + +On the 8th Adelie Land was heard by us calling the 'Aurora' to return +at once and pick up the rest of the party, stating also that Lieutenant +Ninnis and Dr. Mertz were dead. All of us were shocked at the grievous +intelligence and every effort was made by Sawyer to call up Adelie Land, +but without success. + +On the following day we received news from Australia of the disaster to +Captain Scott's party. + +Blake, who was now geologizing and doing topographical work, discovered +several lignite seams in the hills on the east coast; he had finished +his chart of the island. The mainland is simply a range of mountains +which have been at some remote period partly submerged. The land meets +the sea in steep cliffs and bold headlands, whose general height is from +five hundred to seven hundred feet, with many peaks ranging from nine +hundred and fifty to one thousand four hundred and twenty feet, the +latter being the height of Mount Hamilton, which rears up just at the +back of Lusitania Bay. Evidence of extreme glaciation is everywhere +apparent, and numerous tarns and lakes are scattered amongst the hills, +the tops of which are barren, wind-swept and weather-worn. The hill +sides are deeply scored by ravines, down which tumble small streams, +forming cascades at intervals on their hurried journey towards the +ocean. Some of these streams do not reach the sea immediately, but +disappear in the loose shingly beaches of peaty swamps. The west coast +is particularly rugged, and throughout its length is strewn wreckage of +various kinds, some of which is now one hundred yards from the water's +edge. Very few stretches of what may be called "beach" occur on the +island; the foreshores consisting for the most part of huge water-worn +boulders or loose gravel and shingle, across which progress is slow and +difficult. + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +A Section across Macquarie Island through Mt. Elder + + +Apparently the ground shelves very rapidly under the water, as a +sounding of over two thousand fathoms was obtained by the 'Aurora' at a +distance of eight miles from the east coast. The trend of the island is +about eleven degrees from true north; the axis lying north by east to +south by west. At either end are the island-groups already referred to, +and their connexion with the mainland may be traced by the sunken rocks +indicated by the breaking seas on the line of reef. + +A very severe storm about the middle of the month worked up a tremendous +sea, which was responsible for piling hundreds of tons of kelp on the +shore, and for several days tangled masses could be seen drifting about +like small floating islands. + +On the 20th an event occurred to which we had long looked forward, and +which was now eagerly welcomed. Communication was established with the +Main Base in Adelie Land by wireless! A message was received from Dr. +Mawson confirming the deaths of Ninnis and Mertz, and stating that the +'Aurora' had not picked up the whole party. Sawyer had a short talk with +Jeffryes, the Adelie Land operator, and among other scraps of news told +him we were all well. + +Hamilton killed a sea elephant on the 22nd. The animal was a little over +seventeen feet long and thirteen and a half feet in girth just at the +back of the flippers, while the total weight was more than four tons. +It took Hamilton about a day to complete the skinning, and, during the +process, the huge brute had to be twice turned over, but such is the +value of the nautical handy-billy that two men managed it rather easily. +When the skin had been removed, five of us dragged it to the sealers' +blubber-shed, where it was salted, spread out, and left to cure. + +We had communication with Adelie Land again on the 26th, and messages +were sent and received by both stations. Dr. Mawson wirelessed to the +effect that the 'Aurora' would, after picking up Wild's party, make an +attempt to return to Adelie Land if conditions were at all favourable. + +Finding that provisions were running rather short on the last day of +February, we reduced ourselves to an allowance of one pound of sugar per +week each, which was weighed out every Thursday. Altogether there were +only forty-five pounds remaining. Thenceforth it was the custom for each +to bring his sugar-tin to the table every meal. The arrangement had its +drawbacks, inasmuch as no sugar was available for cooking unless a levy +were made. Thus puddings became rareties, because most of us preferred +to use the sugar in tea or coffee. + +March came blustering in, accompanied by a sixty-four-mile gale which +did damage to the extent of blowing down our annexe, tearing the +tarpaulin off the stores at the back and ripping the spouting off +the Shack. A high sea arose and the conformation of the beach on the +north-western side of the isthmus was completely changed. Numbers of sea +elephants' tusks and bones were revealed, which had remained buried in +the shingle probably for many years, and heaps of kelp were piled up +where before there had been clean, stony beach. Kelp is a very tough +weed, but after being washed up and exposed to the air for a few days, +begins to decay, giving forth a most disagreeable smell. + +At this time we caught numerous small fish amongst the rocks at the +water's edge with a hand line about four feet long. It was simply a +matter of dropping in the line, watching the victim trifle with destiny +and hauling him in at the precise moment. + +Wireless business was now being done nightly with Adelie Land, and on +the 7th I received a message from Dr. Mawson saying that the party would +in all probability be down there for another season, and stating the +necessity for keeping Macquarie Island station going till the end of the +year. This message I read out to the men, and gave them a week in which +to view the matter. The alternatives were to return in April or to +remain till the end of the year. + +I went through the whole of the stores on the 10th, and found that the +only commodities upon which we would have to draw sparingly were milk, +sugar, kerosene, meats and coal. The flour would last till May, but the +butter allowance would have to be reduced to three pounds per week. + +It was on the 12th that we found the lost sheep, but as we had some +wekas, sufficient to last us for several days, I did not kill one till +the 15th. On that day four of us went down towards the ledge where they +were standing, and shot one, which immediately toppled off and rolled +down some distance into the tussock, the other one leaping after it +without hesitation. While Blake and Hamilton skinned the dead sheep, +Sandell and I caught the other and tethered it at the bottom of the hill +amongst a patch of Maori cabbage, as we thought it would probably get +lost if left to roam loose. However, on going to the spot next day, the +sheep was nearly dead, having got tangled up in the rope. So we let it +go free, only to lose the animal a day or two later, for it fell into a +bog and perished. + +On March 22 a lunar eclipse occurred, contact lasting a little over +three hours from 9.45 P.M. till within a few minutes of 1 A.M. on the +23rd. The period of total eclipse was quite a lengthy one, and during +the time it lasted the darkness was intense. Cloud interfered for a +while with our observations in the total stage. No coronal effect was +noted, though a pulsating nebulous area appeared in front of the moon +just before contact. + +A message came on the 27th saying that the 'Rachel Cohen' was sailing +for Macquarie Island on May 2, and would bring supplies as well as take +back the men who wished to be relieved, and this was forwarded in turn +to Dr. Mawson. + +He replied, saying that the 'Aurora' would pick us up about the middle +of November and convey us to Antarctica, thence returning to Australia; +but if any member wished to return by the 'Rachel Cohen' he could do +so, though notification would have to be given, in order to allow of +substitutes being appointed. All the members of the party elected to +stay, and I asked each man to give an outline of the work he intended to +pursue during the extended period. + +During March strong winds were recorded on fourteen days, reaching +gale-force on six occasions. The gale at the beginning of the month was +the strongest we had experienced, the velocity at 5.40 A.M. on the 1st +reaching sixty-four miles per hour. Precipitation occurred on twenty-six +days and the average amount of cloud was 85 per cent. A bright auroral +display took place on the 6th, lasting from 11.20 till 11.45 P.M. +It assumed the usual arch-form stretching from the south-east to +south-west, and streamers and shafts of light could be observed +pulsating upwards towards the zenith. + +We now started on what might be called the second stage of our existence +on the island. In the preceding pages I have endeavoured to give some +idea of what happened during what was to have been our full period; +but unforeseen circumstances compelled us to extend our stay for eight +months more, until the 'Aurora' came to relieve us in November. As the +routine was similar in a good many respects to that which we had just +gone through, I shall now refer to only the more salient features of our +life. + +The loyalty of my fellows was undoubted, and though any of them could +have returned if he had felt so inclined, I am proud to say that they +all decided to see it through. When one has looked forward hopefully to +better social conditions, more comfortable surroundings and reunion +with friends, it gives him a slight shock to find that the door has been +slammed, so to speak, for another twelve months. Nevertheless, we all +found that a strain of philosophy smoothed out the rough realities, and +in a short time were facing the situation with composure, if not actual +contentment. + +We decided now to effect a few improvements round about our abode, and +all set to work carrying gravel from the beach to put down in front of +the Shack, installing a sink-system to carry any waste water, fixing the +leaking roof and finally closing up the space between the lining and the +wall to keep out the rats. + +We expected the 'Rachel Cohen' to leave Hobart with our stores on May 2, +and reckoned that the voyage would occupy two weeks. Thus, it would be +six weeks before she arrived. I was therefore compelled on the 10th to +reduce the sugar allowance to half a pound per week. We were now taking +it in turns to go once a week and get some wekas, and it was always +possible to secure about a dozen, which provided sufficient meat for +three dinners. Breakfast consisted generally of fish, which we caught, +or sea elephant in some form, whilst we had tinned fish for lunch. + +Sandell installed a telephone service between the Shack and the wireless +station about the middle of April, the parts all being made by himself; +and it was certainly an ingenious and valuable contrivance. I, in +particular, learned to appreciate the convenience of it as time went +on. The buzzer was fixed on the wall close to the head of my bunk and +I could be called any time during the night from the wireless station, +thus rendering it possible to reply to communications without loss of +time. Further, during the winter nights, when auroral observations had +to be made, I could retire if nothing showed during the early part of +the night, leaving it to Sandell, who worked till 2 or 3 A.M. to call me +if any manifestation occurred. + +We had heavy gales from the 12th to the 17th inclusive, the force of the +wind during the period frequently exceeding fifty miles per hour, and, +on the first-mentioned date, the barometer fell to 27.8 inches. The +usual terrific seas accompanied the outburst. + +Finding that there were only eight blocks of coal left, I reduced the +weekly allowance to one. We had a good supply of tapioca, but neither +rice nor sago, and as the sealers had some of the latter two, but none +of the former, we made an exchange to the extent of twelve pounds of +tapioca for eight pounds of rice and some sago. Only fifteen pounds of +butter remained on the 20th, and I divided this equally, as it was now +one of the luxuries, and each man could use his own discretion in eating +it. As it was nearing the end of April, and no further word concerning +the movements of the 'Rachel Cohen' had been received, I wirelessed +asking to be immediately advised of the exact date of the vessel's +departure. A reply came that the ship would definitely reach us within +two months. I answered, saying we could wait two months, but certainly +no longer. + +With a view to varying the menu a little, Blake and I took Mac up on the +hills on April 26 to get some rabbits and, after tramping for about six +hours, we returned with seven. In our wanderings we visited the penguin +rookeries at "The Nuggets," and one solitary bird sat in the centre +of the vast area which had so lately been a scene of much noise and +contention. + +On May 1 I took an inventory of the stores and found that they would +last for two months if economically used. Of course, I placed confidence +in the statement that the 'Rachel Cohen' would reach the island within +that time. + +With the coming of May wintry conditions set in, and at the end of the +first week the migrants had deserted our uninviting island. Life with us +went on much the same as usual, but the weather was rather more severe +than that during the previous year, and we were confined to the Shack a +good deal. + +The sealers who were still on the island had shifted back to the Hut +at the north end so that they were very close to us and frequently came +over with their dog in the evenings to have a yarn. The majority of them +were men who had "knocked about" the world and had known many rough, +adventurous years. One of them in particular was rather fluent, and we +were often entertained from his endless repertoire of stories. + +On the 23rd, finding that there were seventy-seven and a half pounds +of flour remaining, and ascertaining that the sealers could let us have +twenty-five pounds, if we ran short, I increased the allowance for bread +to twelve and a half pounds per week, and this, when made up, gave each +man two and three-quarter pounds of bread. Our supply of oatmeal was +very low, but in order to make it last we now started using a mixture of +oatmeal and sago for breakfast; of course, without any milk or sugar. + +Just about this time Mac gave birth to six pups and could not help us in +obtaining food. She had done valuable service in this connexion, and the +loss in the foraging strength of the party was severely felt for several +weeks. She was particularly deadly in hunting rabbits and wekas, and +though the first-named were very scarce within a few miles of the Shack, +she always managed to unearth one or two somewhere. Hut-slippers were +made out of the rabbit skins and they were found to be a great boon, one +being able to sit down for a while without his feet "going." + +June arrived and with it much rough, cold weather. A boat was expected +to come to our relief, at the very latest, by the 30th. We had a +very chilly period during the middle of the month, and it was only by +hand-feeding the "jacket" of the wireless motor that any work could be +done by the station, as the tank outside was almost frozen solid. + +The tide-gauge clock broke down towards the end of the month, and +though I tried for days to get it going I was not successful. One of the +springs had rusted very badly as a result of the frequent "duckings" the +clock had experienced, and had become practically useless. + +We had ascertained that the 'Rachel Cohen' was still in Hobart, so on +the 23rd I wirelessed asking when the boat was to sail. The reply came +that the 'Rachel Cohen' was leaving Hobart on Thursday, June 26. + +Our supply of kerosene oil was exhausted by the end of the month, +despite the fact that the rule of "lights out at 10 P.M." had been +observed for some time. Thus we were obliged to use sea elephant oil in +slush lamps. At first we simply filled a tin with the oil and passed +a rag through a cork floating on the top, but a little ingenuity soon +resulted in the production of a lamp with three burners and a handle. +This was made by Sandell out of an old tea-pot and one, two or three +burners could be lit as occasion demanded. During meal times the whole +three burners were used, but, as the oil smoked and smelt somewhat, we +generally blew out two as soon as the meal was finished. This was the +"general" lamp, but each man had, as well, one of his own invention. +Mine was scornfully referred to as the "house-boat," since it consisted +of a jam tin, which held the oil, standing in a herring tin which caught +the overflow. + +At the end of June, Blake and I surveyed all the penguin rookeries round +about "The Nuggets" and, allowing a bird to the square foot, found that +there must have been about half a million birds in the area. The sealers +kill birds from these rookeries to the number of about one hundred and +thirty thousand yearly, so that it would seem reasonable to suppose +that, despite this fact, there must be an annual increase of about one +hundred thousand birds. + +The end of the month arrived and, on making inquiries, we found that +there was no news of the 'Rachel Cohen' having left Hobart. We had +enough flour to last a fortnight, and could not get any from the sealers +as they possessed only three weeks' supply themselves. However, on July +8, Bauer came across and offered to let us have some wheatmeal biscuits +as they had a couple of hundredweights, so I readily accepted twenty +pounds of them. We now had soup twice a day, and managed to make it +fairly thick by adding sago and a few lentils. Cornflour and hot water +flavoured with cocoa made a makeshift blanc-mange, and this, with sago +and tapioca, constituted our efforts towards dessert. + +On the 12th I received a message stating that the 'Rachel Cohen' had +sailed on July 7; news which was joyfully received. We expected her to +appear in ten or twelve days. + +On the 18th we used the last ounce of flour in a small batch of bread, +having fully expected the ship to arrive before we had finished it. +Next day Bauer lent us ten pounds of oatmeal and showed us how to make +oatmeal cakes. We tried some and they were a complete success, though +they consisted largely of tapioca, and, according to the respective +amounts used, should rather have been called tapioca cakes. + +When the 22nd arrived and no ship showed up, I went across to see what +the sealers thought of the matter, and found that they all were of +opinion that she had been blown away to the eastward of the island, and +might take a considerable time to "make" back. + +On this date we came to the end of our meats, which I had been dealing +out in a very sparing manner, just to provide a change from sea elephant +and weka. We had now to subsist upon what we managed to catch. There +were still thirty-five tins of soup, of which only two tins a day +were used, so that there was sufficient for a few weeks. But we found +ourselves running short of some commodity each day, and after the 23rd +reckoned to be without bread and biscuit. + +At this juncture many heavy blows were experienced, and on the 24th a +fifty-mile gale accompanied by a tremendous sea beat down on us, giving +the 'Rachel Cohen' a very poor chance of "making" the island. Our last +tin of fruit was eaten; twelve tins having lasted us since March 31, and +I also shared the remaining ten biscuits amongst the men on the 24th. We +were short of bread, flour, biscuits, meats, fish, jam, sugar and milk, +but had twenty tins of French beans, thirty tins of cornflour, some +tapioca, and thirty tins of soup, as well as tea, coffee and cocoa in +abundance. We had not been able to catch any fish for some days as the +weather had been too rough, and, further, they appeared to leave the +coasts during the very cold weather. + +Sea elephants were very scarce, and we invariably had to walk some +distance in order to get one; each man taking it in turn to go out with +a companion and carry home enough meat for our requirements. We were +now eating sea elephant meat three times a day (all the penguins having +migrated) and our appetites were very keen. The routine work was carried +on, though a great deal of time was occupied in getting food. + +Bauer very generously offered to share his biscuits with us, but +we fellows, while appreciating the spirit which prompted the offer, +unanimously declined to accept them. We now concluded that something +had happened to the ship, as at the end of July she had been twenty-four +days out. + +On August 3 we had a sixty-three-mile gale and between 1 and 2 A.M. the +velocity of the wind frequently exceeded fifty miles per hour. Needless +to say there was a mountainous sea running, and the Rachel Cohen, if she +had been anywhere in the vicinity, would have had a perilous time. + +A message came to me on August 6 from the Secretary of the Expedition, +saying that the 'Rachel Cohen' had returned to New Zealand badly +damaged, and that he was endeavouring to send us relief as soon as +possible. I replied, telling him that our food-supply was done, but that +otherwise we were all right and no uneasiness need be felt, though we +wished to be relieved as soon as possible. + +Splendid news came along on the 9th to the effect that the New Zealand +Government's steamer 'Tutanekai' would tranship our stores from the +'Rachel Cohen' on the 15th and sail direct for the island. + +Sawyer now became ill and desired me to make arrangements for his +return. I accordingly wired to the Secretary, who replied asking if we +could manage without an operator. After consulting Sandell, I answered +that Sandell and I together could manage to run the wireless station. + +Everybody now looked forward eagerly to the arrival of the 'Tutanekai', +but things went on as before. We found ourselves with nothing but sea +elephant meat and sago, with a pound-tin of French beans once a week and +two ounces of oatmeal every morning. + +We heard that the Tutanekai did not leave as expected on the 15th, +but sailed on the afternoon of the 17th, and was coming straight to +Macquarie Island. She was equipped with a wireless telegraphy outfit, +which enabled us on the 18th to get in touch with her; the operator on +board stating that they would reach us early on the morning of the 20th. + +On the evening of the 19th we gave Sawyer a send-off dinner; surely the +poorest thing of its kind, as far as eatables were concerned, that has +ever been tendered to any one. The fare consisted of sea elephant's +tongue "straight," after which a bottle of claret was cracked and we +drank heartily to his future prosperity. + +At 7.30 A.M. on the 20th the 'Tutanekai' was observed coming up the east +coast, and as we had "elephanted" at 6 A.M. we were ready to face the +day. I went across to the sealers' hut and accompanied Bauer in the +launch to the ship, which lay at anchor about a mile from the shore. +We scrambled on board, where I met Captain Bollons. He received me most +courteously, and, after discussing several matters, suggested landing +the stores straight away. I got into the launch to return to the shore, +but the wind had freshened and was soon blowing a fresh gale. Still, +Bauer thought we should have no difficulty and we pushed off from the +ship. The engine of the launch failed after we had gone a few yards, the +boat was blown rapidly down the coast, and we were eventually thrown out +into the surf at "The Nuggets." The Captain, who witnessed our plight, +sent his launch in pursuit of us, but its engines also failed. It now +became necessary for the crew of the whale-boat to go to the assistance +of the launch. However, they could do nothing against the wind, and, in +the end, the ship herself got up anchor, gave the two boats a line +and towed them back to the former anchorage. The work of unloading now +commenced, though a fairly heavy surf was running. But the whaleboat of +the 'Tutanekai' was so dexterously handled by the boatswain that most of +our stores were landed during the day. + +Sawyer went on board the 'Tutanekai' in the afternoon, thus severing his +connexion with the Expedition, after having been with us on the island +since December 1911. On the following morning, some sheep, coal and +flour were landed, and, with a whistled good-bye, the 'Tutanekai' +started north on her visit to other islands. + +Our short period of stress was over and we all felt glad. From that time +onwards we ate no more elephant meat "straight." A sheep was killed just +as the 'Tutanekai' left, and we had roast mutton, scones, butter, jam, +fruit and rice for tea. It was a rare treat. + +All the stores were now brought up from the landing-place, and as I had +put up several extra shelves some weeks previously, plenty of room was +found for all the perishable commodities inside the Shack. + +The beginning of September found me fairly busy. In addition to the +meteorological work, the results of which were always kept reduced and +entered up, I had to work on Wireless Hill during the evening and make +auroral observations on any night during which there was a display, +attending to the stores and taking the week of cooking as it came along. + +Blake and Hamilton went down the island for several days on September +3, since they had some special observations to make in the vicinity of +Sandy Bay. + +The sea elephant season was now in progress, and many rookeries were +well formed by the middle of the month. The skuas had returned, and on +the 19th the advance-guard of the Royal penguins arrived. The gentoos +had established themselves in their old "claims," and since the 12th we +had been using their eggs for cooking. + +Early in September time-signals were received from Melbourne, and these +were transmitted through to Adelie Land. This practice was kept up +throughout the month and in many cases the signals were acknowledged. + +Blake and Hamilton returned to the Shack on the 24th, but left again on +the 30th, as they had some more photographic work to do in the vicinity +of Green Valley and Sandy Bay. + +Blake made a special trip to Sandy Bay on October 30 to bring back some +geological specimens and other things he had left there, but on +reaching the spot found that the old hut had been burned to the ground, +apparently only a few hours before, since it was still smouldering. Many +articles were destroyed, among which were two sleeping-bags, a sextant, +gun, blankets, photographic plates, bird specimens and articles of +clothing. It was presumed that rats had originated the fire from wax +matches which had been left lying on a small shelf. + +On November 9 we heard that the 'Aurora' would leave Hobart on the 19th +for Antarctica, picking us up on the way and landing three men on the +island to continue the wireless and meteorological work. + +We sighted the 'Rachel Cohen' bearing down on the island on November 18, +and at 5.15 P.M. she came to an anchorage in North-East Bay. She brought +down the remainder of our coal and some salt for Hamilton for the +preservation of specimens. + +On the next night it was learned that the 'Aurora' had left Hobart on +her way South, expecting to reach us about the 28th, as some sounding +and dredging were being done en route. + +Everybody now became very busy making preparations for departure. Time +passed very quickly, and November 28 dawned fine and bright. The 'Rachel +Cohen', which had been lying in the bay loading oil, had her full +complement on board by 10 A.M., and shortly afterwards we trooped across +to say good-bye to Bauer and the other sealers, who were all returning +to Hobart. It was something of a coincidence that they took their +departure on the very day our ship was to arrive. Their many acts of +kindness towards us will ever be recalled by the members of the party, +and we look upon our harmonious neighbourly association together with +feelings of great pleasure. + +A keen look-out was then kept for signs of our own ship, but it was not +until 8 P.M. that Blake, who was up on the hill side, called out, "Here +she comes," and we climbed up to take in the goodly sight. Just visible, +away in the north-west, there was a line of thin smoke, and in about +half an hour the 'Aurora' dropped anchor in Hasselborough Bay. + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII THE HOMEWARD CRUISE + + We bring no store of ingots, + Of spice or precious stones; + But what we have we gathered + With sweat and aching bones. + KIPLING. + + +As we sat in the wardroom of the 'Aurora' exchanging the news of months +long gone by, we heard from Captain Davis the story of his fair-weather +trip from Hobart. The ship had left Australian waters on November 19, +and, from the outset, the weather was quite ideal. Nothing of note +occurred on the run to Macquarie Island, where a party of three men were +landed and Ainsworth and his loyal comrades picked up. The former +party, sent by the Australian Government, were to maintain wireless +communication with Hobart and to send meteorological reports to the +Commonwealth Weather Bureau. A week was spent at the island and all the +collections were embarked, while Correll was enabled to secure some +good colour photographs and Hurley to make valuable additions to his +cinematograph film. + +The 'Aurora' had passed through the "fifties" without meeting the usual +gales, sighting the first ice in latitude 63 degrees 33' S., longitude +150 degrees 29' E. She stopped to take a sounding every twenty-four +hours, adding to the large number already accumulated during her cruises +over the vast basin of the Southern Ocean. + +All spoke of the clear and beautiful days amid the floating ice and of +the wonderful coloured sunsets; especially the photographers. The +pack was so loosely disposed, that the ship made a straight course for +Commonwealth Bay, steaming up to Cape Denison on the morning of December +14 to find us all eager to renew our claim on the big world up North. + +There was a twenty-five-knot wind and a small sea when we pulled off in +the whale-boat to the ship, but, as if conspiring to give us for once a +gala-day, the wind fell off, the bay became blue and placid and the sun +beat down in full thawing strength on the boundless ice and snow. The +Adelians, if that may be used as a distinctive title, sat on the warm +deck and read letters and papers in voracious haste, with snatches of +the latest intelligence from the Macquarie Islanders and the ship's +officers. No one could erase that day from the tablets of his memory. + +Late in the afternoon the motor-launch went ashore, and the first of the +cargo was sent off. The weather remained serene and calm, and for the +next six days, with the exception of a "sixty-miler" for a few hours and +a land breeze overnight, there was nothing to disturb the embarkation of +our bulky impedimenta which almost filled the outer Hut. Other work +went on apace. The skua gulls, snow and Wilson petrels were laying their +eggs, and Hamilton went ashore to secure specimens and to add to our +already considerable collection of bird skins. Hunter had a fish-trap +lowered from the forecastle, used a hand dredge from the ship, and did +tow-netting occasionally from the launch in its journeys to and from the +land. Hurley and Correll had bright sunshine to ensure good photographic +results. Bage and Hodgeman looked after the transport of stores from the +Hut, and Gillies, Bickerton and Madigan ran the motor-launch. McLean, +who was now in possession of an incubator and culture tubes, grew +bacteria from various sources--seals and birds, soils, ice and snow. +Ainsworth, Blake and Sandell, making their first acquaintance with +Adelie Land, were most often to be seen quarrying ice on the glacier or +pulling loaded sledges down to the harbour. + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +Mackellar Islets + + +On the 18th a party of us went off to the Mackellar Islets in the +motor-launch, taking a tent and provisions, intending to spend two days +there surveying and making scientific observations. + +These islets, over thirty in number, are clustered mainly in a group +about two miles off shore. The group is encircled by rocky "outposts," +and there are several "links" to the southern mainland. Under a +brilliant sun, across the pale blue water, heaving in a slow northerly +swell, the motor-launch threaded her way between the granite knobs, +capped with solid spray. The waves had undermined the white canopies +so that they stood immobile, perched on the dark, kelp-fringed rocks, +casting their pallid reflections in the turquoise sea. Steaming into a +natural harbour, bordered by a low ice-foot on which scores of Weddell +seals lay in listless slumber, we landed on the largest islet--a +succession of salt-encrusted ridges covered by straggling penguin +rookeries. The place just teemed with the sporadic life of an Antarctic +summer. + +It was calculated that the Adelie penguins exceeded one hundred and +fifty thousand in number over an area of approximately one hundred +acres. Near the landing-place there were at least sixty seals and snow +petrels; skua gulls and Wilson petrels soon betrayed their nests to the +biologists. + +The islets are flat, and afford evidence that at one time the +continental ice-cap has ridden over them. The rock is a hard grey +gneiss. A rough plane-table map of the group was made by Hodgeman and +myself. + +Our scheme of local exploration was now continued to the west. For two +years we had looked curiously at a patch of rocks protruding beneath +the ice-cap eight miles away, within Commonwealth Bay. It had been +inaccessible to sledging parties, and so we reserved Cape Hunter, as it +was ultimately called, for the coming of the Ship. + +The anchor was raised on the forenoon of the 22nd, and by midday the +'Aurora' steamed at half-speed along the ramparts of the glacier, +stopping about four miles from the Cape, after sounding in four hundred +and twenty-four fathoms. Through field-glasses much had already been +seen; enough to arouse an intense interest. + +One could not but respond to the idea that here was a new world, +flawless and unblemished, into which no human being had ever pried. Here +were open secrets to be read for the first time. It was not with the +cold eye of science alone that we gazed at these rocks--a tiny spur of +the great unseen continent; but it was with an indefinable wonder. + +In perfect weather a small party set off in the launch towards a large +grounded berg which appeared to lie under the ice-cliffs. Approaching it +closely, after covering two miles, we could see that it was still more +than a mile to the rocks. + +Penguins soon began to splash around; Wilson petrels came glancing +overhead and we could descry great flocks of Antarctic petrels wheeling +over cliff and sea. Reefs buried in frothing surge showed their +glistening mantles, and the boat swerved to avoid floating streamers of +brash-ice. + +The rocky cliffs, about eighty feet in height at the highest point, +were formed of vertically lying slate rocks--a very uniform series of +phyllite and sericite-schist. At their base lay great clinging blocks +of ice deeply excavated by the restless swell. One island was separated +from the parent mass by a channel cut sheer to the deep blue water. +Behind the main rocks and indenting the ice-cliff was a curving bay into +which we steered, finding at its head a beautiful cove fringed with a +heavy undermined ice-foot and swarming with Adelie penguins. Overhanging +the water was a cavern hollowed out of a bridge of ice thrown from the +glacier to the western limit of the rock outcrop. + +Hurley had before him a picture in perfect proportion. The steel-blue +water, paled by an icy reflection, a margin of brown rocks on which the +penguins leapt through the splashing surf, a curving canopy of ice-foot +and, filling the background, the cavern with pendent icicles along its +cornice. + +The swell was so great that an anchor had to be thrown from the stern to +keep the launch off shore, and two men remained on board to see that no +damage was done. + +At last we were free to roam and explore. Over the first ridge of rocks +we walked suddenly into the home of the Antarctic petrels! There had +always been much speculation as to where these birds nested. Jones' +party at our western base had the previous summer at Haswell Island +happened upon the first rookery of Antarctic petrels ever discovered. +Here was another spot in the great wilderness peopled by their +thousands. Every available nook and crevice was occupied along a wide +slope which shelved away until it met the vertical cliffs falling to the +ocean. One could sit down among the soft, mild birds who were fearless +at the approach of man. They rested in pairs close to their eggs laid on +the bare rock or among fragments of slate loosely arranged to resemble a +rest. Many eggs were collected, and the birds, losing confidence in us, +rose into the air in flocks, gaining in feathered volume as they circled +in fear above this domain of rock and snow which had been theirs for +generations. + +In adjoining rookeries the Adelie penguins, with their fat, downy +cheeks, were very plentiful and fiercer than usual. Skuas, snow and +Wilson petrels were all in their accustomed haunts. Down on the low +ice-foot at the mouth of a rocky ravine, a few seals had effected +a landing. Algae, mosses and lichens made quite a display in moist +localities. + +Before leaving for the ship, we "boiled the billy" on a platform of +slate near the cove where the launch was anchored and had a small +picnic, entertained by the penguins playing about in the surf or scaling +the ice-foot to join the birds which were laboriously climbing to the +rookeries on the ridge. The afternoon was so peaceful and the calm +hot weather such a novelty to us that we pushed off reluctantly to the +'Aurora' after an eventful day. + +Those on board had had a busy time dredging, and their results were just +as successful as ours. A haul was made in two hundred and fifty fathoms +of ascidians, sponges, crinoids, holothurians, fish and other forms of +life in such quantity that Hunter and Hamilton were occupied in sorting +the specimens until five o'clock next morning. Meanwhile the 'Aurora' +had returned to her old anchorage close to Cape Denison. + +The sky banked up from the south with nimbus, and early on the 23rd a +strong breeze ruffled the water. There were a few things to be brought +off from the shore, while Ainsworth, Sandell and Correll were still +at the Hut, so that, as the weather conditions pointed to a coming +blizzard, I decided to "cut the painter" with the land. + +An hour later the motor-launch, with Madigan and Bickerton, sped away +for the last load through falling snow and a rising sea. Hodgeman had +battened down the windows of the Hut, the chimney was stuffed with +bagging, the veranda-entrance closed with boards, and, inside, an +invitation was left for future visitors to occupy and make themselves +at home. After the remainder of the dogs and some miscellaneous gear had +been shipped, the launch put off and came alongside in a squally wind +through thick showers of snow. Willing hands soon unloaded the boat +and slung it in the davits. Every one was at last safe on board, and in +future all our operations were to be conducted from the ship. + +During the night the wind rose and the barometer fell, while the air was +filled with drifting snow. On the 24th--Christmas Eve--the velocity of +the wind gradually increased to the seventies until at noon it blew with +the strength of a hurricane. Chief Officer Blair, stationed with a few +men under the fo'c'sle-head, kept an anxious eye on the anchor chain and +windlass. + +About lunch time the anchor was found to be dragging and we commenced to +drift before the hurricane. All view of the land and lurking dangers in +the form of reefs and islets were cut off by driving snow. + +The wind twanged the rigging to a burring drone that rose to a shriek in +the shuddering gusts. The crests of the waves were cut off and sprayed +in fine spindrift. With full steam on we felt our way out, we hoped to +the open sea; meanwhile the chain cable and damaged anchor were slowly +being hauled in. The ship's chances looked very small indeed, but, owing +to the good seamanship of Captain Davis and a certain amount of luck, +disaster was averted. Soon we were in a bounding sea. Each time we were +lifted on a huge roller the motor-launch, swinging in the davits, would +rise and then descend with a crash on the water, to be violently bumped +against the bulwarks. Everything possible was done to save the launch, +but our efforts proved fruitless. As it was being converted into a +battering ram against the ship itself it had to be cut away, and was +soon swept astern and we saw no more of it. + +Most unexpectedly there came a lull in the wind, so that it was almost +calm, though the ship still laboured in the seas. A clearance in the +atmosphere was also noticeable for Cape Hunter became discernible to the +west, towards which we were rapidly drifting. This sight of the coast +was a great satisfaction to us, for we then knew our approximate +position ** and the direction of the wind, which had veered +considerably. + + + ** It should be borne in mind that compasses are unreliable in the +vicinity of the magnetic pole. + +The lull lasted scarcely five minutes when the wind came back from a +somewhat different quarter, north of east, as violent as ever. The +"eye" of the storm had passed over us, and the gale continued steady for +several days. That night the struggle with the elements was kept up by +officers and crew, assisted by members of the shore party who took the +lee-wheel or stood by in case of emergency. + +"December 25. Christmas Day on the high seas off Adelie Land, everything +wet and fairly miserable; incipient mal de mer, wind 55-60; snowing! +When Davis came down to breakfast and wished us a Merry Christmas, with +a smile at the irony of it, the ward-room was swaying about in a most +bewildering fashion." + +Towards evening, after the 'Aurora' had battled for hours slowly to the +east, the sea went down somewhat and some drifting ice was sighted. We +continued under full steam, pushing forward to gain the shelter of the +Mertz glacier-tongue. It was now discovered that the fluke of the anchor +had broken off short, so great had been the strain imposed upon it +during the height of the hurricane. + +On Boxing Day the ship was in calmer water heading in a more southerly +direction so as to come up with the land. Fog, fine snow and an +overcast sky made a gloomy combination, but during the afternoon the fog +lightened sufficiently for us to perceive the mainland--a ghostly cliff +shrouded in diaphanous blink. By 10 P.M. the Mertz glacier was visible +on the port bow, and to starboard there was an enormous tilted berg +which appeared to be magnified in the dim light. + +Allowing a day for the weather to become clearer and more settled, +we got out the trawl on the 28th and did a dredging in three hundred +fathoms close to the glacier-tongue. Besides rocks and mud there were +abundant crinoids, holothurians, corals, crustaceans and "shells." +In addition, several pieces of fossilized wood and coaly matter were +discovered scattered through the "catch." + +Bage, under Davis's direction, took temperatures and collected water +samples at fifty, seventy-five, one hundred, two hundred and three +hundred fathoms, using the Lucas sounding-machine on the fo'c'sle. The +temperature gradient from the surface downwards appeared to give some +indication of the depth of ice submerged in the glacier-tongue alongside +which we were lying. + +On the 29th a cold south-easter blew off the ice-cliffs and the sun was +trying to pierce a gauzy alto-stratus. The 'Aurora' steamed north-east, +it being our intention to round the northern limit of the Mertz Glacier. +Gradually a distant line of pack, which had been visible for some time, +closed in and the ship ran into a cul-de-sac. Gray, who was up in the +crow's-nest, reported that the ice was very heavy, so we put about. + +Proceeding southward once more, we glided along within a stone's throw +of the great wall of ice whose chiselled headlands stood in profile +for miles. There was leisure to observe various features of this great +formation, and to make some valuable photographic records when the low +south-western sun emerged into a wide rift. Hunter trailed the tow-net +for surface plankton while the ship was going at half-speed. + +At ten o'clock the ship had come up with the land, and her course was +turned sharply to the north-west towards a flotilla of bergs lying to +the east of the Way Archipelago, which we intended to visit. + +On December 30, 1913, the 'Aurora' lay within a cordon of floating ice +about one mile distant from the nearest islet of a group scattered along +the coast off Cape Gray. + +Immediately after breakfast a party of eight men set off in the launch +to investigate Stillwell Island. The weather was gloriously sunny and +every one was eager at the prospect of fresh discoveries. Cape Hunter +had been the home of the Antarctic petrels, and on this occasion we +were singularly fortunate in finding a resort of the Southern Fulmar +or silver-grey petrels. During the previous summer, two of the eastern +sledging parties had for the first time observed the breeding habits of +these birds among isolated rocks outcropping on the edge of the coast. +But here there was a stronghold of hundreds of petrels, sitting with +their eggs in niches among the boulders or ensconced in bowers excavated +beneath the snow which lay deep over some parts of the island. + +The rock was a gneiss which varied in character from that which had been +examined at Cape Denison and in other localities. All the scientific +treasures were exhausted by midday, and the whale-boat was well laden +when we rowed back to the ship. + +Throughout a warm summer afternoon the 'Aurora' threaded her way between +majestic bergs and steamed west across the wide span of Commonwealth +Bay, some fifteen miles off the land. At eleven o'clock the sky was +perfectly clear and the sun hung like a luminous ball over the southern +plateau. The rocks near the Hut were just visible. Close to the +"Pianoforte Berg" and the Mackellar Islets tall jets of fine spray were +seen to shoot upward from schools of finner whales. All around us and +for miles shoreward, the ocean was calm and blue; but close to the +mainland there was a dark curving line of ruffled water, while through +glasses one could see trails of serpentine drift flowing down the slopes +of the glacier. Doubtless, it was blowing at the Hut; and the thought +was enough to make us thankful that we were on our good ship leaving +Adelie Land for ever. + +On the morning of December 31, 1913, Cape Alden was abeam, and a strong +wind swept down from the highlands. Bordering the coast there was a +linear group of islets and outcropping rocks at which we had hoped to +touch. The wind continued to blow so hard that the idea was abandoned +and our course was directed towards the north-west to clear a submerged +reef which had been discovered in January 1912. + +The wind and sea arose during the night, causing the ship to roll in a +reckless fashion. Yet the celebration of New Year's Eve was not marred, +and lusty choruses came up from the ward-room till long after midnight. +Next morning at breakfast our ranks had noticeably thinned through the +liveliness of the ship, but it is wonderful how large an assembly we +mustered for the New Year's dinner, and how cheerfully the toast was +drunk to "The best year we have ever had!" + +On January 2, 1914, fast ice and the mainland were sighted. The course +was changed to the south-west so as to bring the ship within a girdle +of loose ice disposed in big solid chunks and small pinnacled floes. +A sounding realized two hundred fathoms some ten miles off the coast, +which stretched like a lofty bank of yellow sand along the southern +horizon. On previous occasions we had not been able to see so much of +the coastline in this longitude owing to the compactness of the ice, and +so we were able to definitely chart a longer tract at the western limit +of Adelie Land. + +The ice became so thick and heavy as the 'Aurora' pressed southward that +she was forced at last to put about and steer for more open water. On +the way, a sounding was made in two hundred and fifty fathoms, but a +dredging was unsuccessful owing to the fact that insufficient cable was +paid out in going from two hundred and fifty fathoms to deeper water. + +Our north-westerly course ran among a great number of very long tabular +bergs, which suggested the possibility of a neighbouring glacier-tongue +as their origin. + +At ten o'clock on the evening of the 2nd, a mountain of ice with a high +encircling bastion passed to starboard. It rose to a peak, flanked by +fragments toppling in snowy ruin. The pyramidal summit was tinged the +palest lilac in the waning light; the mighty pallid walls were streaked +and blotched with deep azure; the green swell sucked and thundered in +the wave-worn caverns. Chaste snow-birds swam through the pure air, and +the whole scene was sacred. + +A tropical day in the pack-ice! Sunday January 4 was clear and perfectly +still, and the sun shone powerfully. On the previous day we had entered +a wide field of ice which had become so close and heavy that the ship +took till late in the evening to reach its northern fringe. + +From January 5 onwards for two weeks we steamed steadily towards the +west, repeatedly changing course to double great sheets of pack which +streamed away to the north, pushing through them in other places where +the welcome "water-sky showed strong" ahead, making "southing" for days +following the trend of the ice, then grappling with it in the hope of +winning through to the land and at last returning to the western track +along the margin of brash which breaks the first swell of the Southern +Ocean. + +The weather was mostly overcast with random showers of light snow and +mild variable winds on all but two days, when there was a "blow" of +forty miles per hour and a considerable sea in which the ship seemed +more active than usual. + +Many soundings were taken, and their value lay in broadly [...] Of +course, too, we were supplementing the ship's previous work in these +latitudes. + +[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + +Section Illustrating The Moat In The Antarctic Continental Shelf + + +One successful dredging in eighteen hundred fathoms brought up some +large erratics and coaly matter, besides a great variety of animal life. +It was instructive to find that the erratics were coated with a film of +manganese oxide derived from the sea-water. Several tow-nettings were +taken with large nets automatically closing at any desired depth through +the medium of a "messenger." Small crustaceans were plentiful on the +surface, but they were if anything more numerous at depths of fifty +to one hundred fathoms. Amongst the latter were some strongly +phosphorescent forms. The flying birds were "logged" daily by the +biologists. Emperor and Adelie penguins were occasionally seen, among +the floes as well as sea-leopards, crab-eater and Weddell seals. + +Friday January 16 deserves mention as being a day full of incident. In +the morning a thin, cold fog hung along the pack whose edge determined +our course. Many petrels flew around, and on the brash-ice there were +dark swarms of terns--small birds with black-capped heads, dove-grey +backs and silvery-white breasts. They were very nervous of the ship, +rising in great numbers when it had approached within a few hundred +yards. One startled bird would fly up, followed by several more; then +a whole covey would disturb the rest of the flock. Hamilton managed to +shoot two of them from the fo'c'sle, and, after much manoeuvring, we +secured one with a long hand-net. + +Soon after, there was a cry of "killer whales!" from the stern. Schools +of them were travelling from the west to the east along the edge of the +pack. The water was calm and leaden, and every few seconds a big +black triangular fin would project from the surface, there would be +a momentary glimpse of a dark yellow-blotched back and then all would +disappear. + +We pushed into the pack to "ice ship," as the water-supply was running +low. Just as the 'Aurora' was leaving the open water, a school of finner +whales went by, blowing high jets of spray in sudden blasts, wallowing +for a few seconds on the surface, and diving in swirls of foam. These +finners or rorquals are enormous mammals, and on one occasion we were +followed by one for several hours. It swam along with the ship, diving +regularly underneath from one side to another, and we wondered what +would happen if it had chosen to charge the vessel or to investigate the +propeller. + +Close to a big floe to which the ship was secured, two crab-eater +seals were shot and hauled aboard to be skinned and investigated by the +biologists and bacteriologist. When the scientists had finished their +work, the meat and blubber were cut up for the dogs, while the choicer +steaks were taken to the cook's galley. + +After lunch every one started to "ice ship" in earnest. The sky had +cleared and the sun was warm and brilliant by the time a party had +landed on the snow-covered floe with baskets, picks and shovels. When +the baskets had been filled, they were hoisted by hand-power on to a +derrick which had been fixed to the mizen mast, swung inboard and then +shovelled into a melting tank alongside the engine-room. The melter was +a small tank through which ran a coil of steam pipes. The ice came up in +such quantity that it was not melted in time to keep up with the demand, +so a large heap was made on the deck. + +Later in the afternoon it was found that holes chipped in the sea-ice to +a depth of six or eight inches filled quickly with fresh water, and soon +a gang of men had started a service with buckets and dippers between +these pools and the main hatch where the water was poured through +funnels into the ship's tanks. The bulwarks on the port side of the +main hatch had been taken down, and a long plank stretched across to +the floe. At nine o'clock work was stopped and we once more resumed our +western cruise. + +It was found that as the region of Queen Mary Land approached, heavy +pack extended to the north. While skirting this obstacle, we disclosed +by soundings a steep rise in the ocean's floor from a depth of about +fifteen hundred fathoms to within seven hundred fathoms of the surface, +south of which there was deep water. It was named "Bruce Rise" in +recognition of the oceanographical work of the Scottish Expedition in +Antarctic seas. + +On the 17th, in latitude 62 degrees 21' S., longitude 95 degrees 9' E., +the course ran due south for more than seven hours. For the two ensuing +days the ship was able to steer approximately south-west through +slackening ice, until on the 19th at midday we were in latitude 64 +degrees 59' S., longitude 90 degrees 8' E. At length it appeared that +land was approaching, after a westward run of more than twelve hundred +miles. Attempts to reach the charted position of Totten's Land, North's +Land, Budd Land and Knox Land had been successively abandoned when it +became evident that the pack occupied a more northerly situation than +that of the two previous years, and was in most instances thick and +impenetrable. + +At 10 P.M. on the 19th, the ice fields still remaining loose and +navigable, a dark line of open water was observed ahead. From the +crow's-nest it was seen to the south stretching east and west within +the belt of pack-ice--the Davis Sea. We had broken through the pack less +than twenty-five miles north of where the 'Gauss' (German Expedition, +1902) had wintered. + +All next day the 'Aurora' steamed into the eye of an easterly wind +towards a low white island, the higher positions of which had been seen +by the German Expedition of 1902, and charted as Drygalski's High Land. +Dr. Jones' party had, the year before, obtained a distant view of it +and regarded it as an island, which proved to be correct, so we named +it Drygalski Island. To the south there was the dim outline of the +mainland. Soundings varied between two hundred and three hundred +fathoms. + +On January 21, Drygalski Island was close at hand, and a series of +soundings which showed from sixty to seventy fathoms of water deepening +towards the mainland proved beyond doubt that it was an island. In shape +it is like a flattened dome about nine miles in diameter and twelve +hundred feet in height, bounded by perpendicular cliffs of ice, and with +no visible evidence of outcropping rock. + +The dredge was lowered in sixty fathoms, and a rich assortment of life +was captured for the biologists--Hunter and Hamilton. A course was then +made to the south amidst a sea of great bergs; the water deepening to +about four hundred fathoms. + +During the evening the crevassed slopes of the mainland rose clear to +the south, and many islets were observed near the coast, frozen in a +wide expanse of bay-ice. Haswell Island, visited by Jones, Dovers and +Hoadley of the Western Party, was sighted, and the ship was able to +approach within eight miles of it; at ten o'clock coming up to flat +bay-ice, where she anchored for the night. Before we retired to bunk, a +Ross seal was discovered and shot, three-quarters of a mile away. + +Next day, January 22, an unexpected find was made of five more of this +rare species of seal. Many Emperor penguins were also secured. It would +have been interesting to visit the great rookery of Emperor penguins +on Haswell Island, but, as the ship could only approach to within eight +miles of it, I did not think it advisable to allow a party to go so far. + +On the night of the 22nd, the 'Aurora' was headed northeast for the +Shackleton Ice-Shelf. In the early hours of the 28rd a strong gale +sprang up and rapidly increased in violence. A pall of nimbus overspread +the sky, and blinding snow commenced to fall. + +We had become used to blizzards, but on this occasion several factors +made us somewhat apprehensive. The ship was at least twenty-five miles +from shelter on an open sea, littered with bergs and fragments of ice. +The wind was very strong; the maximum velocity exceeding seventy miles +per hour, and the dense driving snow during the midnight hours of +semi-darkness reduced our chances of navigating with any certainty. + +The night of the 23rd had a touch of terror. The wind was so powerful +that, with a full head of steam and steering a few points off the eye of +the wind, the ship could just hold her own. But when heavy gusts swooped +down and the propeller raced on the crest of a mountainous wave, Davis +found it impossible to keep steerage-way. + +Drift and spray lash the faces of officer and helmsman, and through the +grey gloom misty bergs glide by on either hand. A long slow struggle +brings us to a passage between two huge masses of ice. There is a shock +as the vessel bumps and grinds along a great wall. The engine stops, +starts again, and stops once more. The yards on the foremast are swung +into the wind, the giant seas are broken by the stolid barriers of ice, +the engine commences to throb with its old rhythm, and the ship +slowly creeps out to meet the next peril. It comes with the onset of +a "bergy-bit" which smashes the martingale as it plunges into a deep +trough. The chain stay parts, dragging loose in the water, while a great +strain is put by the foremast on the bowsprit. + +Early on the 24th the ship was put about and ran with the wind, while +all hands assembled on the fo'c'sle. The crew, under the direction of +Blair, had the ticklish job of replacing the chain stay by two heavy +blocks, the lower of which was hooked on to the lug which secured +the end of the stay, and the upper to the bowsprit. The running ropes +connecting the blocks were tightened up by winding the hauling line +round the capstan. When the boatswain and two sailors had finished the +wet and chilly task of getting the tackle into position, the rest put +their weight on to the capstan bars and the strain on the bowsprit was +relieved. The fo'c'sle, plunging and swaying in the great waves, +was encased in frozen spray, and along all the ropes and stays were +continuous cylinders of ice. The 'Aurora' then resumed her easterly +course against the blizzard. + +Saturday January 24 was a day of high wind, rough seas, watery decks, +lively meals and general discomfort. At 11.30 P.M. the waves had +perceptibly decreased, and it was surmised that we were approaching +the berg, about thirty miles in length, which lay to the west of the +Shackleton Ice-Shelf. + +At 6 A.M. on the 25th the sun managed to glimmer through the low rack +flying from the east, lighting up the carven face of an ice-cliff +along which the 'Aurora' was coasting. Up and down we steamed until the +afternoon of the 26th, when the wind lulled away to nothing, and the +grey, even pall of cloud rose and broke into fleecy alto-cumulus. + +At the southern extremity of the long berg, fast bay-ice extended up to +the land and for twenty miles across to the shelf on which the Winter +Quarters of the Western Party had been situated. Further progress to +the south was blocked, so our course was directed to the north along the +western border of the berg. + +When not engaged in sounding, dredging, or tow-netting members of the +land party found endless diversion in trimming coal. Big inroads had +been made in the supply of more than five hundred tons, and it now +became necessary to shift many tons of it from the holds aft to the +bunkers where it was accessible to the firemen. The work was good +exercise, and every one enjoyed the shift below, "trucking"and +"heaving." Another undoubted advantage, in the opinion of each worker, +was that he could at least demand a wash from Chief Engineer Gillies, +who at other times was forced to be thrifty with hot fresh water. + +After supper on the 28th it was evident that we had reached a point +where the shelf-ice veered away to the eastward and a wide tract of +adhering sea-ice barred the way. The floe was exceedingly heavy and +covered with a deep layer of soft snow. Emperor and Adelie penguins, +crab-eater and Weddell seals were recognized through glasses along its +edge. As there was a light obscuring fog and dusk was approaching, the +'Aurora' "hung up" for the night. + +On January 29 the ship, after a preliminary trawling had been done in +three hundred and twenty fathoms, pushed into the floe and was made +fast with an ice-anchor. Emperor penguins were so plentiful in the +neighbourhood that many specimens were secured for skins. + +A sea-leopard was seen chasing a crab-eater seal quite close to the bow +of the ship. The latter, after several narrow escapes, took refuge on an +ice-foot projecting from the edge of the floe. + +Advantage was taken of a clearing in the weather to walk over the +sea-ice to a berg two and a half miles away, from the summit of which +it was hoped that some sign of land might be apparent. Away in the +distance, perhaps five miles further on, could be seen an immense +congregation of Emperor Penguins--evidently another rookery. No certain +land was visible. + +The cruise was now continued to the north-west in order to skirt a +collection of bergs and floe, with the ultimate object of proceeding +in an easterly direction towards Termination Ice-Tongue at the northern +limit of the Shackleton Shelf-Ice. + +A glance at the map which illustrates the work done by the Western Party +affords the best idea of the great ice-formation which stretches away +to the north of Queen Mary Land. It is very similar in character to the +well-known Ross Barrier over which lay part of Scott's and Amundsen's +journeys to the South Pole. Its height is remarkably uniform, ranging +from sixty to one hundred feet above the water-level. When allowance +has been made for average specific gravity, its average total thickness +should approximate to six hundred feet. From east to west the formation +was proved to be as much as two hundred miles, with one hundred and +eighty miles between its northern and southern limits. + +This vast block of ice originates fundamentally from the glacial +flow over the southern hinterland. Every year an additional layer of +consolidated snow is added to its surface by the frequent blizzards. +These annual additions are clearly marked in the section exposed on the +dazzling white face near the brink of the ice-cliff. There is a limit, +however, to the increase in thickness, for the whole mass is ever moving +slowly to the north, driven by the irresistible pressure of the land-ice +behind it. Thus the northern face crumbles down into brash or floats +away as part of a berg severed from the main body of the shelf-ice. + +On the morning of January 30 we had the unique experience of witnessing +this crumbling action at work--a cataclysm of snow, ice and water! The +ship was steaming along within three hundred yards of a cliff, when some +loose drifts slid off from its edge, followed by a slice of the face +extending for many hundreds of feet and weighing perhaps one million +tons. It plunged into the sea with a deep booming roar and then rose +majestically, shedding great masses of snow, to roll onwards exposing +its blue, swaying bulk shivering into lumpy masses which pushed towards +the ship in an ever-widening field of ice. It was a grand scene enacted +in the subdued limelight of an overcast day. + +During the afternoon the 'Aurora' changed her north-westerly course +round to north-east, winding through a wonderful sea of bergs grounded +in about one hundred and twenty fathoms of water. At times we would pass +through narrow lanes between towering walls and emerge into a straight +wide avenue along which these mountains of ice were ranged. Several were +rather remarkable; one for its exquisite series of stratification +lines, another for its facade in stucco, and a third for its overhanging +cornice fringed with slender icicles. + +On January 31 a trawling was made in one hundred and twelve fathoms. +Half a ton of life emptied on the deck gave the biologists occupation +for several days. Included in the catch were a large number of monstrous +gelatinous ascidians or "sea-squirts." Fragments of coal were once more +found; an indication that coaly strata must be very widely distributed +in the Antarctic. + +The pack was dense and in massive array at the extremity of Termination +Ice-Tongue. Davis drove the ship through some of it and entered an open +lead which ran like a dark streak away to the east amid ice which grew +heavier and more marked by the stress of pressure. + +Our time was now limited and it seemed to me that there was little +chance of reaching open water by forcing a passage either to the east or +north. We therefore turned on our tracks and broke south-west back into +the Davis Sea, intending to steam westward to the spot where we had so +easily entered two weeks previously. + +On February 4 the pack to the north was beginning to thin out and to +look navigable. Several short-cuts were taken across projecting "capes," +and then on February 5 the 'Aurora' entered a zone of bergs and broken +floe. No one slept well during that night as the ship bumped and ground +into the ice which crashed and grated along her stout sides. Davis was +on watch for long hours, directing in the crow's nest or down on the +bridge, and throughout the next day we pushed on northwards towards the +goal which now meant so much to us--Australia--Home! + +At four o'clock the sun was glittering on the great ocean outside the +pack-ice. Many of us climbed up in the rigging to see the fair sight--a +prevision of blue skies and the calm delights of a land of eternal +summer. Our work was finished, and the good ship was rising at last to +the long swell of the southern seas. + +On February 12, in latitude 55 degrees S, a strong south-wester drove +behind, and, with all sails set, the 'Aurora' made eight knots an hour. +The last iceberg was seen far away on the eastern horizon. Albatrosses +followed in our wake, accompanied by their smaller satellites--Cape +hens, priors, Lesson's and Wilson petrels. + +Before leaving the ice, Sandell and Bickerton had fixed an aerial +between the fore and mizen masts, while the former installed a wireless +receiving-apparatus within the narrow limits of his cabin. There was +no space on the ship to set up the motor-engine, dynamos and other +instruments necessary for transmitting messages over a long distance. + +As the nights began to darken, Sandell listened eagerly for distant +signals, until on February 16, in latitude 47 degrees S, the "calls" +of three ships in the vicinity of the Great Australian Bight were +recognized. After this date news was picked up every night, and all the +items were posted on a morning bulletin pinned up in the ward-room. + +The first real touch of civilization came unexpectedly early on the +morning of February 21. A full-rigged ship on the southern horizon! It +might have been an iceberg, the sails flashed so white in the morning +sun. But onward it came with a strong south-wester, overhauled and +passed us, signalling "'Archibald Russell', fifty-four days out from +Buenos Ayres, bound for Cape Borda." It was too magical to believe. + +On February 26 we gazed on distant cliffs of rock and earth--Kangaroo +Island--and the tiny cluster of dwellings round the lighthouse at +Cape Borda. Then we entered St. Vincent's Gulf on a clear, hot day, +marvelling at the sandy-blue water, the long, flat mainland with its +clumps of trees and the smoke of many steamers. + +The welcome home--the voices of innumerable strangers--the hand-grips of +many friend--it chokes one--it cannot be uttered! + + + + +APPENDIX I + + + THE STAFF + + The Ship's Officers + + J. K. Davis Master of S. Y. 'Aurora' and Second-in + Command of the Expedition. + J. H. Blair First Officer during the later stages of + the Expedition. + P. Gray Second Officer. + C. P. de la Motte Third Officer. + F. J. Gillies Chief Engineer. + + + Macquarie Island Party + + G. F. Ainsworth Leader: Meteorologist. + L. R. Blake Geologist and Cartographer. + H. Hamilton Biologist. + C. A. Sandell Wireless Operator and Mechanic. + A. J. Sawyer Wireless Operator. + + + Main Base Party + + Dr. D. Mawson Commander of the Expedition. + Lieut. R. Bage Astronomer, Assistant Magnetician and + Recorder of Tides. + C. T. Madigan Meteorologist. + Lieut. B. E. S. Ninnis In charge of Greenland dogs. + Dr. X. Mertz In charge of Greenland dogs. + Dr. A. L. McLean Chief Medical Officer, Bacteriologist. + F. H. Bickerton In charge of air-tractor sledge. + A. J. Hodgeman Cartographer and Sketch Artist. + J. F. Hurley Official Photographer. + E. N. Webb Chief Magnetician. + P. E. Correll Mechanic and Assistant Physicist. + J. G. Hunter Biologist. + C. F. Laseron Taxidermist and Biological Collector. + F. L. Stillwell Geologist. + H. D. Murphy In charge of Expedition stores. + W. H. Hannam Wireless Operator and Mechanic. + J. H. Close Assistant Collector. + Dr. L. A. Whetter Surgeon. + + + Western Base Party + + F. Wild Leader. + A. D. Watson Geologist. + Dr. S. E. Jones Medical Officer. + C. T. Harrisson Biologist. + M. H. Moyes Meteorologist. + A. L. Kennedy Magnetician. + C. A. Hoadley Geologist. + G. Dovers Cartographer. + + In addition to these were the following gentlemen who accompanied + the Expedition for a portion of the time only or who joined later. + + S. N. Jeffryes Wireless Operator, who relieved + W. H. Hannam during 1913. + E. R. Waite (Curator, Canterbury Museum, Christchurch), + Biologist, first Sub-Antarctic cruise of + 'Aurora'. + Professor T. T. Flynn (Hobart University), Biologist, second + Sub-Antarctic cruise of 'Aurora'. + J. van Waterschoot Marine Artist, second Antarctic cruise of + van der Gracht 'Aurora'. + Captain James Davis Whaling authority, second Antarctic cruise + of 'Aurora'. + C. C. Eitel Secretary, second Antarctic cruise of 'Aurora'. + N. C. Toucher, and later Served in the capacity of Chief Officer + F. D. Fletcher on the 'Aurora' during the earlier voyages. + + + [TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + + Signatures of members of the land parties in Antarctica and at + Macquarie Island + + + + [Accounts of the members of the expedition, in alphabetical order.] + + G. F. AINSWORTH, thirty** years of age, single, was born in Sydney, + New South Wales. His services were loaned to the expedition by the + Commonwealth Meteorological Bureau, Melbourne. For a period of two + years he acted as leader of the Macquarie Island Party, carrying out + the duties of Meteorologist. In the summer of 1913-1914 he visited + the Antarctic during the final cruise of the 'Aurora'. + + + ** The ages refer to the date of joining the Expedition and are but + approximate. + + R. BAGE, twenty-three years of age, single, was a graduate in + Engineering of Melbourne University and a lieutenant in the Royal + Australian Engineers. A member of the Main Base Party (Adelie Land) + and leader of the Southern Sledging Party, he remained in the + Antarctic for two years. During the first year he was in charge of + chronometers, astronomical observations and tidal records, and + throughout the second year continued the magnetic work and looked + after stores. + + F. H. BICKERTON, F.R.G.S., twenty-two years of age, single, was born + at Oxford, England. Had studied engineering: joined the Expedition + as Electrical Engineer and Motor Expert. A member of the Main Base + Party and leader of the Western Sledging Party, he remained in the + Antarctic for two years, during which time he was in charge of the + air-tractor sledge, and was engineer to the wireless station. For + a time, during the second year, he was in complete charge of the + wireless plant. + + J. H. BLAIR, twenty-four years of age, single, was born in Scotland. + For five years he served with the Loch Line of Glasgow as apprentice + and third mate. As second mate he joined A. Currie and Company, of + Melbourne, in the Australian-Indian trade, reaching the rank of first + mate, in which capacity he acted during the final Antarctic cruise of + the 'Aurora' in the summer of 1913-14. + + L. R. BLAKE, twenty-one years of age, single, was born in England, + but had lived for many years in Queensland previous to joining the + Expedition. Before accompanying the Macquarie Island Party as + Geologist and Cartographer, he obtained leave from the Geological + Survey Department, Brisbane. He visited the Antarctic during the + final cruise of the 'Aurora' in the summer of 1913-1914. + + J. H. Close, F.R.G.S., forty years of age, married, was born in + Sydney, New South Wales. During the South African War he saw active + service in Rhodesia, and at the time of the Expedition's departure was + a teacher of physical culture at Sydney. A member of the Main Base + Party (Adelie Land) and of several sledging parties, he spent two + summers and one winter in the Antarctic. + + P. E. CORRELL, nineteen years of age, single, was a student in + Science of the Adelaide University. He joined the Expedition + as Mechanician and Assistant Physicist. He was a member of the Main + Base Party accompanying the Eastern Coastal Party during their + sledging journey. He spent three summers and one winter in the + Antarctic, acting as colour photographer during the final cruise of + the 'Aurora'. + + J. E. DAVIS, twenty-eight years of age, single, was master of the + 'Aurora' and Second-in-Command of the Expedition. Born in Ireland and + educated in England, he served his apprenticeship on the Liverpool + owned sailing-ship, 'Celtic Chief', obtaining his certificate + as second mate before joining the barque 'Westland' trading between + England and New Zealand. His next post was that of second officer on + the training ship 'Port Jackson', following which he joined Sir Ernest + Shackleton's Expedition (1907-1909) as chief officer of the 'Nimrod', + acting subsequently as master. Throughout the whole period of the + Australasian Antarctic Expedition (1911-1914) Captain J. K. Davis + commanded the 'Aurora' during five cruises. + + G. DOVERS, twenty-one years of age, single, of Sydney, New South Wales, + was completing his term for Licensed Surveyor in the service of the + Commonwealth Government when he joined the Expedition. He was in + the Antarctic for two summers and one winter, being stationed with the + Western Party (Queen Mary Land). A member of several sledging parties, + he acted as Cartographer to the party which reached Gaussberg. + + F. J. GILLIES, thirty-five years of age, single, was born at Cardiff, + Wales. He served his apprenticeship as an engineer on the steamers of + John Shearman and Company and P. Baker and Company of Cardiff. For + six years previous to joining the Expedition he was in the Indian trade. + Throughout the five cruises of the 'Aurora' between 1911 and 1914 F. J. + Gillies was Chief Engineer. + + P. GRAY, twenty-two years of age, single, was born and educated in + England. He served on the 'Worcester' as cadet captain for eighteen + months and as apprentice on the 'Archibald Russell', of Glasgow, and + in the New Zealand Shipping Company. In 1909 he entered the Peninsula + and Oriental Company and reached the rank of third officer, joining + the Australasian Antarctic Expedition as second officer of the 'Aurora'. + Throughout five cruises, from 1911 to 1914, he served in this capacity. + + H. HAMILTON, twenty-six years of age, single, was born at Napier, New + Zealand. Graduate of the Otago University. Besides being employed on + the New Zealand Geological Survey, he acted as Entomological Collector + to the Dominion Museum at Wellington. A member of the Macquarie + Island Party, of which he was the Biologist for two years, H. Hamilton + visited the Antarctic during the final cruise of the 'Aurora' in the + summer of 1913-1914. + + W. H. HANNAM, twenty-six years of age, single, was of Sydney, New + South Wales, and joined the Expedition in charge of the arrangements + for a wireless telegraphic system. He was in the Antarctic at the + Main Base (Adelie Land) for two summers and a winter, and was + successful in transmitting wireless messages for a short time during + 1912 through Macquarie Island to Australia, assistant magnetician for + a time. + + C. T. HARRISSON, forty-three years of age, married, was born in + Hobart, Tasmania. For many years previous to joining the Expedition + he had done illustrative and artistic work and had been engaged on a + survey and in botanical and other scientific observations on the west + coast of Tasmania. Stationed with the Western Base (Queen Mary Land) + he acted as Biologist and Artist, accompanying F. Wild on his main + eastern journey and several other sledging parties. + + C. A. HOADLEY, twenty-four years of age, single, was a graduate in + Mining Engineering of Melbourne University. A member of F. Wild's + Western Party (Queen Mary Land), he took part in several sledging + journeys and was Geologist of the party who explored westwards to + Gaussberg. + + A. J. HODGEMAN, twenty-six years of age, single, was born at + Adelaide, South Australia. For four years he was an articled + architect, and for five years a draughtsman in the Works and Buildings + Department, Adelaide. A member of the Main Base Party (Adelie Land), + he took part in several sledging journeys, and throughout two years + in the Antarctic acted in the capacity of Cartographer and Sketch + Artist, as well as that of Assistant Meteorologist. + + J. G. HUNTER, twenty-three years of age, single, was a graduate in + Science of Sydney University, New South Wales. A member of the Main + Base Party (Adelie Land) he carried on the work of Biologist during + two summers and one winter; and in the same capacity accompanied + the 'Aurora' in her final summer cruise 1911-1914. + + J. F. HURLEY, twenty-four years of age, single, was of Sydney, New + South Wales. He had been the recipient of many amateur and professional + awards for photographic work before joining the Expedition. At the + Main Base he obtained excellent photographic and cinematographic records + and was one of the three members of the Southern Sledging Party. He + was also present on the final cruise of the 'Aurora'. + + S. N. JEFFRYES, twenty-seven years of age, single, of Towoomba, + Queensland, was a qualified operator of the Australasian Wireless + Company. During the second year (1913) he took W. H. Hannam's place + in charge of the wireless plant, wintering at the Main Base (Adelie + Land). + + S. E. JONES, twenty-four years of age, single, was a graduate in + Medicine of Sydney University, New South Wales. A member and Medical + Officer of F. Wild's Western Base (Queen Mary Land), he took part in + several sledging journeys during 1912 and was leader of the party who + explored westward to Gaussberg. + + A. L. KENNEDY, twenty-two years of age, single, was a student in + Science of Adelaide University, South Australia. Receiving special + tuition, he acted as Magnetician at the Western Base (Queen Mary + Land) during the year 1912. He was a member of several sledging + parties and accompanied F. Wild on his main eastern journey as + Cartographer. + + C. F. LASERON, twenty-five years of age, single, had gained a + Diploma in Geology at the Technical College, Sydney, New South Wales, + and for some years was Collector to the Technological Museum. At the + Main Base (Adelie Land), during 1912, he acted as Taxidermist and + general Collector, taking part, as well, in sledging journeys to the + south and east of Winter Quarters. + + C. T. MADIGAN, twenty-three years of age, single, was a graduate in + Science (Mining Engineering) of Adelaide University, South Australia. + Through the courtesy of the Trustees of the Rhodes Scholarship, the + necessary leave to accompany the Expedition was granted just as he + was on the eve of continuing his studies at Oxford University. A + member of the Main Base Party (Adelie Land) he acted as Meteorologist + for two years, and during the second year (1913) was also in charge of + the Greenland dogs. An important journey in the spring and one to + the east in the summer were made under his leadership, and the Party, + left in Adelie Land in 1913, was to have been under his charge, but + for my return. + + D. MAWSON, thirty years of age, single, was the Organiser and Leader + of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition and was, previous to it, a + member of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition of 1907-1909, + being one of the party under Professor David which reached the South + Magnetic Pole. A graduate in Science and Engineering of Sydney and + Adelaide Universities, he had filled for some time the post of + Lecturer in Mineralogy and Petrology at the Adelaide University. + The only survivor of a party sledging to the east from the Main Base + in the summer of 1912-1913. + + A. L. McLEAN, twenty-six years of age, single, was a graduate in Arts + and Medicine of Sydney University; New South Wales. He acted as + Chief Medical Officer at the Main Base (Adelie Land) and carried out + observations in Bacteriology and Physiology during the first year. + In 1913 (the second year) he was Biologist, Ice-Carrier and Editor of + the 'Adelie Blizzard'. He took part in a sledging journey along the + eastern coast in the summer of 1912-1913. + + X. MERTZ, twenty-eight years of age, single, of Basle, Switzerland, + was a graduate in Law of the Universities of Leipzig and Berne. Prior + to joining the Expedition he had gained the Ski-running Championship + of Switzerland and was an experienced mountaineer. At the Main Base + (Adelie Land) he was assisted by B. E. S. Ninnis in the care of + the Greenland dogs. On January 7, 1913, during a sledging journey, + he lost his life, one hundred miles south-east of Winter Quarters. + + C. P. DE LA MOTTE, nineteen years of age, single, of Bulli, New + South Wales, had early training at sea on the barque 'Northern Chief' + of New Zealand, obtaining his certificate as second mate in March + 1911. During the eight months prior to joining the Expedition he + served as fourth officer on the S.S. 'Warrimoo' of the Union Steamship + Company of New Zealand. Throughout the five cruises of the 'Aurora' + between 1911 and 1914, C. P. de la Motte was third officer with the + Ship's party. + + M. H. MOYES, twenty-five years of age, single, of Koolunga, South + Australia, was a graduate in Science of Adelaide University. With the + Western Base Party (Queen Mary Land) he acted as Meteorologist and + took part in several sledging journeys in the autumn and spring of + 1912. During the summer of 1912-1913, through an unavoidable + accident, he was left to carry on work alone at Winter Quarters for + a period of nine weeks. + + H. D. MURPHY, thirty-two years of age, single, of Melbourne, + one-time Scholar in History of Oxford University. At the outset he + was to have been leader of a third Antarctic Base which was eventually + amalgamated with the Main Base (Adelie Land). Here he had charge of + the stores and during the early summer of 1912 was leader of the + Southern Supporting Party. + + B. E. S. NINNIS, twenty-three years of age, single, was educated at + Dulwich, England, and entered His Majesty's Army, having a commission + as Lieutenant in the Royal Fusiliers prior to joining the Expedition + in London. At the Main Base (Adelie Land) he was assisted by X. Mertz + in the care of the Greenland dogs. On December 14, 1912, while on a + sledging journey, he lost his life by falling into a crevasse three + hundred miles east of Winter Quarters. + + C. A. SANDELL, twenty-five years of age, single, of Surrey, England, + studied electrical engineering for some years and then came to + Australia in 1909 and entered the Commonwealth Branch of Telephony. + Having a practical knowledge of wireless telegraphy he joined the + Expedition as a Wireless Operator and Mechanic and was stationed with + the Macquarie Island Party for two years. After the departure of A. + J. Sawyer in August 1913, he was in complete charge of the wireless + station. C. A. Sandell visited the Antarctic during the final + cruise of the 'Aurora' in the summer of 1913-1914. + + A. J. SAWYER, twenty-six years of age, single, was born in New + Zealand. Having had considerable experience in wireless telegraphy, + he joined the Expedition as an operator from the Australasian Wireless + Company. At the Macquarie Island Station he was chief wireless until + August 1913, when on account of illness he returned to New Zealand. + + F. L. STILLWELL, twenty-three years of age, single, was a graduate + in Science of Melbourne University, Victoria. A member of the Main + Base Party (Adelie Land) he acted as Geologist. F. L. Stillwell + was leader of two sledging parties who did detail work for about sixty + miles along the coast eastward of Winter Quarters. + + A. D. WATSON, twenty-four years of age, single, was a graduate in + Science of Sydney University, New South Wales. A member of the + Western Base Party (Queen Mary Land) he acted as Geologist. A. D. + Watson took part in several sledging journeys, accompanying F. Wild + in his main eastern trip during the summer of 1912-1913. + + E. N. WEBB, twenty-two years of age, single, was an Associate of + Civil Engineering of Canterbury University College, and, for the + five months previous to joining the Expedition, carried out magnetic + observations under the Carnegie Institute of Washington, U.S.A. At + the Main Base (Adelie Land) E. N. Webb was Chief Magnetician, + accompanying the Southern Sledging Party. + + L. A. WHETTER, twenty-nine years of age, single. He graduated at + Otago University, New Zealand, and joined the Expedition as Surgeon, + acting in that capacity at the Main Base (Adelie Land) during 1912. + He accompanied a sledging party which explored to the westward of + Winter Quarters. + + F. WILD, thirty-eight years of age, single, was Leader of the Western + Base Party (Queen Mary Land). He joined the Merchant Service in + 1889 and the Navy in 1900, served on an extended sledge journey + during the National Antarctic Expedition (Capt. R. F. Scott) of + 1901-1904, and was one of the Southern Party of Sir Ernest + Shackleton's Expedition from 1907-1909. During the Australasian + Expedition he opened up a new tract of country--Queen Mary Land. + + I desire to make special mention of the Ship's Party who faced the + rigorous conditions of Antarctica and the stormy Southern Ocean, + during five separate voyages, with a cheerfulness and devotion to duty + which will always stand to their lasting credit. In regions of heavy + pack-ice and sudden blizzard winds, Captain Davis piloted the Ship + safely through many situations of extreme danger. In a report to me + on the work of the Ship he writes an appreciative note:-- + + "I wish to draw particular attention to the loyal way in which the + officers and men of the 'Aurora' supported me. Messrs. Toucher, + Fletcher, Blair, Gray, de la Motte, and Gillies, in their respective + positions, carried out the duties assigned to them with ability and + cheerfulness, often under very trying conditions. + + "Mr. Gillies not only looked after the engines but assisted + materially in the deep-sea work by the invention of a new form of + sounding driver which was used successfully during the various + cruises of the 'Aurora'. + + "The Chief Officer was in charge of the stores and equipment of the + Expedition on board the vessel, in addition to his ordinary executive + duties. Messrs. Toucher, Fletcher and Blair served in this capacity + on different voyages. + + "Mr. P. Gray, as Second and Navigating Officer, and Mr. C. P. de + la Motte, as Third Officer, acted capably and thoroughly throughout + the Expedition." + APPENDIX II + + Scientific Work + + + It should be remarked that there is no intention of furnishing + anything more than a suggestion of the general trend of the scientific + observations of the Expedition. The brief statement made below + indicates the broad lines on which the work was conducted and in some + cases the ground which was actually covered. It may thus give the + general reader a clue to the nature of the scientific volumes which + will serve to record permanently the results amassed during a period + of more than two years. + + + Terrestrial Magnetism + + 1. Field Work. + + (a) Dip determinations were made at Macquarie Island, on the eastern + and southern journeys from the Main Base (Adelie Land) and on a + short journey from the Western Base (Queen Mary Land). + + (b) Declination by theodolite observations was determined at + Macquarie Island and at intervals on all sledging journeys in the + Antarctic. + + (c) Rough observations of magnetic variation were made daily on the + 'Aurora' during her five cruises. + + 2. Station Work. + + (a) Regular magnetograph records were kept at the Main Base (Adelie Land) + for a period of eighteen months. A system of term days for quick runs + was also followed; Melbourne, Christchurch, and other stations co + operating. In connexion with the magnetograph work, Webb conducted + regular, absolute observations throughout the year 1912. Bage continued + the magnetograph records for a further six months in 1913, observed + term days, and took absolute observations. + + (b) At the Western Base (Queen Mary Land) Kennedy kept term days in + the winter, using a magnetometer and dip-circle. + + + Biology + + 1. Station Collections. + + (a) At Macquarie Island, Hamilton worked for two years amongst a rich + fauna and a scanty but interesting flora. Amongst other discoveries + a finch indigenous to Macquarie Island was found. + + (b) In Adelie Land, Hunter, assisted by Laseron, secured a large + biological collection, notwithstanding the continuous bad weather. + Dredgings from depths down to fifty fathoms were made during the + winter. The eggs of practically all the flying birds known along + Antarctic shores were obtained, including those of the silver-grey + petrel and the Antarctic petrel, which were not previously known; + also a variety of prion, of an unrecorded species, together with its + eggs. + + (c) At the Western Base (Queen Mary Land) eggs of the Antarctic and + other petrels were found, and a large rookery of Emperor penguins was + located; the second on record. Harrisson, working under difficulties, + succeeded in trapping some interesting fish on the bottom in two + hundred and fifty fathoms of water. + + 2. Ship Collections. + + (a) A collection made by Mr. E. R. Waite, Curator of the Canterbury + Museum, on the first Sub-Antarctic cruise. + + (b) A collection made by Professor T. T. Flynn, of Hobart, on the + second Sub-Antarctic cruise. + + (c) A collection made by Hunter, assisted by Hamilton, in Antarctic + waters during the summer of 1913-1914. This comprised deep-sea + dredgings at eleven stations in depths down to one thousand eight + hundred fathoms and regular tow-nettings, frequently serial, to + depths of two hundred fathoms. Six specimens of the rare Ross seal + were secured. A large collection of external and internal parasites + was made from birds, seals and fish. + + + Geology + + (a) A geological examination of Macquarie Island was made by Blake. + The older rocks were found to be all igneous. The Island has been + overridden in comparatively recent times by an ice-cap travelling + from west to east. + + (b) Geological collections at the Main Base. In Adelie Land the rocky + outcrops are metamorphic sediments and gneisses. In King George V + Land there is a formation similar to the Beacon sandstones and dolerites + of the Ross Sea, with which carbonaceous shales and coaly strata are + associated. + + (c) Stillwell met with a great range of minerals and rocks in the + terminal moraine near Winter Quarters, Adelie Land. Amongst them was + red sandstone in abundance, suggesting that the Beacon sandstone + formation extends also throughout Adelie Land but is hidden by the + ice-cap. A solitary stony meteorite was found by a sledging party + lying on the ice of the plateau. + + (d) In the collections made by Watson and Hoadley at the Western + Base (Queen Mary Land) gneisses and schists were ascertained to be + the predominant types. + + (e) A collection of erratics was brought up by the deep-sea trawl in + the course of dredgings in Antarctic waters. + + + Glaciology + + (a) Observations of the pack-ice, coastal glaciers and shelf-ice from + the 'Aurora' during her three Antarctic cruises. + + (b) Observations of the niveous and glacial features met with on the + sledging journeys from both Antarctic bases. + + + Meteorology + + (a) Two years' observations at Macquarie Island by Ainsworth + + (b) Two years' observations in Adelie Land by Madigan. + + (c) One year's observations in Queen Mary Land by Moyes. + + (d) Observations by the Ship on each of her five voyages. + + (e) Observations during the many sledging journeys from both + Antarctic Bases. + + + Bacteriology, etc. + + In Adelie Land, McLean carried out many months of steady work in + Bacteriology, Haematology and Physiology. + + + Tides + + Self-recording instruments were run at Macquarie Island by Ainsworth + and at Adelie Land by Bage. + + + Wireless and Auroral Observations + + A very close watch was kept upon auroral phenomena with interesting + results, especially in their relation to the "permeability" of the + ether to wireless waves. + + + Geographical Results + + 1. The successful navigation by the 'Aurora' of the Antarctic pack + ice in a fresh sphere of action, where the conditions were practically + unknown, resulting in the discovery of new lands and islands. + + 2. Journeys were made over the sea-ice and on the coastal and upland + plateau in regions hitherto unsurveyed. At the Main Base (Adelie + Land) the journeys aggregated two thousand four hundred miles, and at + the Western Base (Queen Mary Land) the aggregate was eight hundred + miles. These figures do not include depot journeys, the journeys of + supporting parties, or the many miles of relay work. The land was + mapped in through 33 degrees of longitude, 27 degrees of which were + covered by sledging parties. + + 3. The employment of wireless telegraphy in the fixation of a + fundamental meridian in Adelie Land. + + 4. The mapping of Macquarie Island. + + + [TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS] + + A Section of the Antarctic Plateau from the Coast to a Point Three + Hundred Miles Inland, along the Route followed by the Southern + Sledging Party (Adelie Land) + + A Section across the Antarctic Continent through the South Magnetic + Pole from the D'Urville Sea to the Ross Sea; Compiled from Observations + made by the British Antarctic Expedition (1907-1909) and by the + Australian Antarctic Expedition (1911-1914) + + + Oceanography + + 1. By soundings the fringe of the Antarctic Continent as well as the + Continental Shelf has been indicated through 55 degrees of longitude. + + 2. The configuration of the floor of the ocean southward of Australia + and between Macquarie Island and the Auckland Islands has been broadly + ascertained. + + 3. Much has been done in the matter of sea-water temperatures and + salinities. + + + [TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS] + + A Section of the Floor of the Southern Ocean between Tasmania + and King George V Land + + A Section of the Floor of the Southern Ocean between Western + Australia and Queen Mary Land + + + APPENDIX Ill + + An Historical Summary** + + + ** For this compilation reference has been largely made to Dr. H. R. + Mill's "The Siege of the South Pole." Several doubtful voyages + during the early part of the nineteenth century have been omitted. + + 1775. James Cook circumnavigated the Globe in high southern + latitudes, discovering the sub-antarctic island of South Georgia. + He was the first to cross the Antarctic Circle. + + 1819. William Smith, the master of a merchant vessel trading between + Montevideo and Valparaiso, discovered the South Shetland Islands. + + 1819. Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, despatched in command of an + Expedition by the Emperor, Alexander I of Russia, with instructions + to supplement the voyage of Captain Cook, circumnavigated the + Antarctic continent in high southern latitudes. The first discovery + of land south of the Antarctic Circle was made, namely, Peter I Island + and Alexander I Land (also an island), in the American Quadrant of + Antarctica. + + 1820. Nathaniel Palmer, master of an American sealing-vessel, sighted + new land to the south of the South Shetland Islands. It seems clear + that he was the first to view what is now known as the Palmer + Archipelago (1820-21). + + 1823. James Weddell, a British sealer, sailing southward of the + Atlantic Ocean, reached 74 degrees 15' south latitude in the American + Quadrant, establishing a "farthest south" record. + + 1830. John Biscoe, a whaling master of the British firm of Enderby + Brothers, sailed on a voyage circumnavigating the Antarctic Regions. + Enderby Land was discovered south of the West Indian Ocean in the + African Quadrant of Antarctica. This was apparently a part of the + Antarctic continent. New land was also met with to the south of + America and charted as Graham's Land, Biscoe Island and Adelaide + Island. + + Kemp, a sailing master of Enderby Brothers, extended Biscoe's + discoveries shortly after by the report of land east of, and + adjacent to, Enderby Land. + + Neither of these discoveries has yet been proved, though Enderby Land + (Biscoe) undoubtedly exists. + + 1839. John Balleny, another of Enderby's whaling captains, discovered + the Balleny Islands within the Antarctic Circle, in the Australian + Quadrant of Antarctica, and gave a vague description of an appearance + of land to the westward. This has been charted on maps, without + adequate evidence, as Sabrina Land. + + + [TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + + Antarctic Land Discoveries Preceding 1838 + + Note. This and the two following maps of the series illustrate land + discoveries only. In cases where the existence of land once reported + has since been disproved no record at all is shown + + + 1837. Jules Sebastian Cesar Dumont D'Urville, was despatched by King + Louis Philippe of France for the prosecution of scientific researches + on a voyage round the World. His cruise in the Antarctic resulted in + the charting of Joinville Island and Louis Philippe Land to the south + of America (American Quadrant) and the discovery of a portion of the + Antarctic continent, named Adelie Land, southward of Australia + (Australian Quadrant). + + 1838. Charles Wilkes, United States Navy, in accordance with a bill + passed by Congress, set out on an exploring expedition to circumnavigate + the World. His programme included the investigation of the area of + the Antarctic to the south of Australia--the Australian Quadrant. + The squadron composing this American expedition first visited the + Antarctic regions in the American Quadrant, and then proceeded eastward + round to the Australian Quadrant from which, after a long cruise, they + returned, reporting land at frequent intervals in the vicinity of the + Antarctic Circle between longitudes 157 degrees 46' E. and 106 degrees + 19' E. He shares with D'Urville the full honour of the discovery of + Adelie Land. Some of the supposed landfalls known to be non-existent. + + 1839. James Clark Ross proceeded south in charge of a scientific + expedition fitted out by the Admiralty at the instance of the British + Association for the Advancement of Science and approved of by the Royal + Society. His aim was to circumnavigate the Antarctic regions and to + investigate the Weddell Sea. The geographical results were fruitful; + the Ross Sea, the Admiralty Range and the Great Ice Barrier were + discovered and some eight hundred miles of Antarctic coastline were + broadly delineated. + + 1844. T. E. L. Moore was detailed by the Admiralty to supplement + the magnetic work of Ross and to explore to the southward of Africa + and of the Indian Ocean, but no additions were made to geographical + knowledge. + + 1872. Eduard Dallmann, whilst engaged in whaling with a German + steamer to the southward of America, added some details to the map of + the Palmer Archipelago but did not go further south than 64 degrees + 45' S. Iatitude. + + 1874. The 'Challenger' scientific expedition, under the command of + George Strong Nares, in the course of their voyage from the Cape to + Australia during the circumnavigation of the World penetrated within + the Antarctic Circle in longitude 78 degrees 22' E. + + 1892. A fleet of four Scottish whalers cruised through the north + western part of the Weddell Sea. Scientific observations were made + by W. S. Bruce and others, but no geographical discoveries were + recorded. + + 1892. C. A. Larsen, master of a Hamburg whaler, added important + details to the geography of the American Quadrant of Antarctica on + the western side of the Weddell Sea. + + 1894. Evensen, master of another Hamburg whaler, brought back further + information of the American Quadrant on the Pacific Ocean side. + + 1895. H. J. Bull organized a whaling venture and with Leonard + Kristensen, master of the ship, revisited the Ross Sea area where + a landing was made at Cape Adare (Australian Quadrant). This was the + first occasion on which any human being had set foot on the Antarctic + continent. + + [TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + + Antarctic land Discoveries Preceding 1896 (A. J. Hodgeman) + + + 1897. Adrien de Gerlache sailed from Belgium on a scientific exploring + expedition to the American Quadrant. Important additions were made to + the map, but the ship became frozen into the pack-ice and drifted about + for a whole year south of the Antarctic Circle. The members of this + expedition were the first to experience an Antarctic winter. Antarctic + exploration now entered upon a new era. + + 1898. Carstens Egeberg Borchgrevink led an expedition, fitted out by + Sir George Newnes; its objective being the Ross Sea area. Further + details were added to the map, but the most notable fact was that the + expedition wintered at Cape Adare, on the mainland itself. The Great + Ross Barrier was determined to be thirty miles south of the position + assigned by Ross in 1839. + + 1898. Chun of Leipsig, in charge of the 'Valdivia' Expedition, carried + out oceanographical researches far to the south, in the vicinity of + Enderby Land (African Quadrant), though he did not come within sight + of the continent. + + 1901. Robert Falcon Scott, in command of the 'Discovery' Expedition, + organised by the Royal Geographical Society and Royal Society with + the co-operation of the Admiralty, in accordance with a scheme of + international endeavour, passed two winters at the southern extremity + of the Ross Sea and carried out many successful sledging journeys. + Their main geographical achievements were: the discovery of King + Edward VII Land; several hundred miles of new land on a "farthest + south" sledging journey to latitude 82 degrees 17' S.; the discovery + of the Antarctic plateau; additional details and original contributions + to the geography of the lands and islands of the Ross Sea. + + 1901. A German national expedition, led by Erich von Drygalski, set + out for the region south of the Indian Ocean. After a small party + had been stationed on Kerguelen Island, the main party proceeded + south close to the tracks of the Challenger. They came within sight + of Antarctic shores but were frozen into the pack-ice for a whole + year. Kaiser Wilhelm II Land was discovered close to the junction + between the Australian and African Quadrants. + + 1901. A Swedish national expedition, planned and led by Otto + Nordenskjold, wintered for two years on Snow Hill Island in the + American Quadrant, and did much valuable scientific work. + + 1902. William Speirs Bruce organized and led a Scottish expedition to + the Weddell Sea, southward of the Atlantic Ocean. The party effected + notable oceanographic researches and wintered at the South Orkney + Islands, but were foiled in their attempt to penetrate the pack-ice. + During the second season, conditions were more favourable and the ship + reached Coats Land in 74 degrees 1' S. Iatitude. + + 1903. Jean Charcot organized and led a French expedition to the + American Quadrant and there added many details to the existing chart. + + 1907. Ernest Henry Shackleton organized and led a British + expedition with the main object of reaching the South Geographical + Pole. His party wintered at Cape Royds, McMurdo Sound, and two main + sledging parties set out in the early summer. E. H. Shackleton's + party ascended the Antarctic plateau and penetrated to within ninety + seven geographical miles of the South Pole, discovering new land beyond + Scott's "farthest south." T. W. Edgeworth David's party reached the + South Magnetic Polar Area, filling in many details of the western coast + of McMurdo Sound. + + 1908. Jean Charcot organized and led a second French expedition to + extend the work accomplished in 1903 in the American Quadrant. He was + successful in discovering new land still further to the south. + Loubet, Fallieres and Charcot Lands, towards and beyond Alexander I + Land, were added to the map of Antarctica. + + 1910. Roald Amundsen organized an expedition for scientific research + in the vicinity of the North Pole but changed his plans, eventually + heading for the South Pole. The expedition wintered on the Ross + Barrier near King Edward VII Land, from which point he set out and + attained the South Geographical Pole, mapping in new land on the way. + Another party visited King Edward VII Land. + + 1910. Robert Falcon Scott led a second Antarctic expedition, the main + object of which was to reach the South Geographical Pole. The + principal party wintered near his old winter quarters at Hut Point, + McMurdo Sound. A second party was landed at Cape Adare. Scott + reached the Pole soon after the Norwegian Amundsen, but he and his + party perished on the return journey. Other parties added details to + the map of Victoria Land. Oates Land was sighted from the ship to the + westward of Cape Adare in the Australian Quadrant. + + 1910. A Japanese expedition sailed to the Ross Sea, but on account of + the lateness of the season was forced to turn back without landing. + The winter was spent at Sydney, New South Wales. Next year a summer + visit was made to the South, but no additional land discoveries were + made. + + 1911. A German expedition, led by Wilhelm Filchner, proceeded to the + Weddell Sea; the South Pole being its objective. The party + succeeded in reaching further south in that region than any previous + navigators and discovered new land, to be named Prince Luitpold Land. + They were driven northwards amongst the pack in a blizzard and spent + the winter frozen in south of Coats Land. + + [TEXT ILLUSTRATION] + + A Map of the Antarctic Regions as Known at the Present Day + [1915] + + + + APPENDIX IV + + Glossary + + Oceanography. The study of the ocean, including the shape and + character of its bed, the temperature and salinity of the water at + various depths, the force and set of its currents, and the nature of + the creatures and plants which haunt its successive zones. + + Neve. [n,e acute, v, e acute] The compacted snow of a snow-field; + a stage in the transition between soft, loose snow and glacier-ice. + + Sastrugi. The waves caused by continuous winds blowing across the + surface of an expanse of snow. These waves vary in size according to + the force and continuity of the wind and the compactness of the snow. + The word is of Russian derivation (from zastruga [sing.], zastrugi + [pl.] ), denoting snow-waves or the irregularities on the surface of + roughly-planed wood. + + Ice-foot. A sheath of ice adhering along the shores of polar lands. + The formation may be composed of attached remnants of floe-ice, + frozen sea-spray and drift-snow. + + Nunatak. An island-like outcrop of rock projecting through a sheet of + enveloping land-ice. + + Shelf-ice. A thick, floating, fresh water ice-formation pushing out + from the land and continuous with an extensive glacier. Narrow + prolongations or peninsulas of the shelf-ice may be referred to as + ice-tongues or glacier-tongues. + + Barrier is a term which has been rather loosely applied in the + literature of Antarctic Exploration. Formerly it was used to + describe a formation, which is mainly shelf-ice, known as the Great + Ross Barrier. Confusion arose when "Barrier" came to be applied to + the seaward ice-cliff (resting on rock) of an extensive sheet of + land-ice and when it was also employed to designate a line of + consolidated pack-ice. Spelt with a small "b" the term is a + convenient one, so long as it carries its ordinary meaning; it seems + unnecessary to give it a technical connotation. + + Blizzard. A high wind at a low temperature, accompanied by drifting, + not necessarily falling snow. + + Floe or Floe-ice. The comparatively flat, frozen surface of the sea + intersected by cracks and leads (channels of open water). + + Pack or Pack-ice is a field of loose ice originating in the main from + broken floe, to which may be added material from the disintegration + of bergs, and bergs themselves. + + Brash or Brash-ice. Small, floating fragments of ice--the debris of + larger pieces--usually observed bordering a tract of pack-ice. + + Bergschrund has been "freely rendered" in the description of the + great cleft between the lower part of the Denman Glacier and the + Shackleton Shelf-Ice (Queen Mary Land). In a typical glacier, "the + upper portion is hidden by neve and often by freshly fallen snow + and is smooth and unbroken. During the summer, when little snow + falls, the body of the glacier moves away from the snow-field and a + gaping crevasse of great depth is usually established, called a + 'Bergschrund', which is sometimes taken as the upper limit of the + glacier" ("Encyclopaedia Britannica"). + + Sub-Antarctica. A general term used to denote the area of ocean, + containing islands and encircling the Antarctic continent, between the + vicinity of the 50th parallel of south latitude and the confines of + the ice-covered sea. + + Seracs are wedged masses of icy pinnacles which are produced in the + surface of a glacier by dragging strains which operate on crevassed + areas. A field of such pinnacles, jammed together in broken + confusion, is called serac-ice + + The following colloquial words or phrases occurring in the narrative + were largely determined by general usage: + To depot = to cache or to place a stock of provisions in a depot; + drift = drift-snow; + fifty-mile wind = a wind of fifty miles an hour; + burberry = "Burberry gabardine" or specially prepared wind-proof + clothing; + whirly (pi. whirlies) = whirlwind carrying drift-snow and pursuing a + devious track; + night-watchman = night-watch; + glaxo = "Glaxo" (a powder of dried milk); + primus = primus stove used during sledging; + hoosh = pemmican and plasmon biscuit "porridge"; + tanks = canvas bags for holding sledging provisions; + boil-up = sledging meal; + ramp = bank of snow slanting away obliquely on the leeward side of an + obstacle; + radiant = an appearance noted in clouds (especially cirro-stratus) + which seem to radiate from a point on the horizon + + The following appended list may be of biological interest: + + Birds Aves + + Emperor penguin Aptenodytes forsteri + King penguin Aptenodytes patagonica + Adelie penguin Pygoscelis adeliae + Royal penguin Catarrhactes schlegeli + Victoria penguin Catarrhactes pachyrynchus + Gentoo or Rockhopper penguin Pygoscelis papua + + Wandering albatross Diomedea exulans + Mollymawk or Black-browed albatross Diomedea melanophrys + Sooty albatross Phoebetria fuliginosa + Giant petrel or nelly Ossifraga gigantea + MacCormick's skua gull Megalestris maccormicki + Southern skua gull Megalestris antarctica + Antarctic petrel Thalassoeca antarctica + Silver-grey petrel or southern fulmar Priocella glacialoides + Cape pigeon Daption capensis + Snow petrel Pagodroma nivea + Lesson's petrel Oestrelata lessoni + Wilson petrel Oceanites oceanicus + Storm petrel Fregetta melanogaster + Cape hen Majaqueus oequinoctialis + Small prion or whale bird Prion banksii + Crested tern Sterna sp. + Southern black-backed or Dominican gull Larus dominicanus + Macquarie Island shag Phalacrocorax traversi + Mutton bird Puffinus griseus + Maori hen or "weka" Ocydromus scotti + + + Seals Pinnipedia + + Sea elephant Macrorhinus leoninus + Sea-leopard Stenorhynchus leptonyax + Weddell seal Leptonychotes weddelli + Crab-eater seal Lobodon carcinophagus + Ross seal Ommatophoca rossi + + Whales and Dolphins Cetacea + + Rorqual, finner, or blue whale Balaenoptera sibbaldi + Killer whale Orca gladiator + + + + APPENDIX V + + Medical Reports + + + Western Base (Queen Mary Land) + + by S. E. Jones, M.B., CH.M. + + There was a very marked absence of serious illness during the whole + period of our stay at the Base. After the 'Aurora' left Adelie Land + on January 19, 1912, for her western cruise, an epidemic of influenza + broke out. It should be noted that one case occurred on the voyage + south from Hobart, and then an interval of almost a month occurred + before the infection spread. An interesting feature of the outbreak + was the fact that the recovery of those who were convalescing, when + we arrived at Queen Mary Land, was much more rapid than was the case + with those whose convalescence occurred on the Ship. + + By the careful use of snow-goggles during the summer, snow-blindness + was practically prevented, and such cases as occurred yielded quickly + when zinc and cocaine tablets were used and the eyes obtained rest. + An undoubted factor in the causation of snow-blindness is the strain + caused by the continual efforts at visual accommodation made + necessary on dull days when the sun is obscured, and there is a + complete absence of all light-and-shade contrast. + + Although frostbites were frequent during the winter months, immediate + attention to the restoration of circulation prevented the occurrence + of after-effects, so that no one suffered the loss of any more tissue + than the superficial epithelium. The nose, ears, fingers and toes + were the parts which suffered first. + + Our supplies of food were excellent in point of view of variety. Some + tinned onions were responsible for several mild attacks of poisoning, + but these were not used after our first experience. There was no sign + of scurvy in any form. + + Hoadley, on one occasion, had an unpleasant experience. He was alone + in the hut sleeping one night when he awoke to find the room filled + with smoke. On going outside he found that the chimney had become + blocked with snow; as the fire was banked, the hut was filled with the + gases from the imperfect combustion of the coal. It was three or four + days before Hoadley recovered from his experience, having marked + symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning. + + On my return from the Western Depot journey I found that Wild was + suffering from an attack of herpes zoster. The illness came on while + he was out sledging, and he suffered severely from the pain and + irritation. + + Beyond a few cases of minor illness, and one or two accidents, there + was nothing of serious moment to report. + + + Main Base (Adelie Land) + + by A. L. McLean, M.B., CH.M., B.A. + + Throughout the whole period of the Expedition--from December 2, 1911, + to February 26, 1914--the health of the expedition was remarkably + good. Undoubtedly Antarctica has a salubrious climate, and it is + simply because one returns in a measure to the primitive that such an + ideal result is obtained. + + The first thing to resist is the cold, and additional clothing is the + first and adequate means to such an end. No one needs to be specially + inured to a rigorous climate. If he has a normal circulation he + immediately reacts to a new set of temperature conditions, and in a + few weeks may claim to be acclimatized. Most of the members of the + expedition were Australians, so that the change of latitudes was + rather abrupt but none the less stimulating and healthful. + + Appetite for food had suddenly a new piquancy, hard manual work was + a pleasure in a novel and wonderful environment, the intellect and + imagination were quickened and the whole man embodied the mens sana + in corpore sano. That is why illness was practically unknown for more + than two years; and, further, it may be said with partial truth that + in the high sense of physical and mental fitness he possessed for a + time, lies the explanation of the proverbial desire of an explorer + to return to the ice-lands. + + Regular monthly examinations of the blood were made from the date of + leaving Hobart in December 1911 until October 1912, with an interval + of about nine weeks between the first and second examinations. The + haemoglobin or red colouring-matter went up with a leap and then very + steadily increased in amount during the winter months in Adelie Land. + The blood pressure became slightly more marked, the weight increased, + but as one might have expected, the resistance to ordinary civilized + germs was decreased. With regard to weight, the maximum amount gained + by a single individual during a period of eight weeks was almost two + stones, and every one became heavier by as much as ten pounds. As + clinical evidence of the loss in immunity may be quoted the epidemic + of influenza to which Dr. S. E. Jones referred. As well, it was noted + that several members had attacks of "boils" during the voyage + southward; in Adelie Land during 1912 there were two instances of acute + abscesses on the fingers (whitlows) and one jaw abscess. It appears as + if, with its new and unbounded energy of function, the body attempts to + throw oft its waste products. Then, too, experimental observations of + opsonic index pointed towards the lowering of resistance, and, by the + way, it was rather a remarkable fact that after a few months in Adelie + Land, staphylococcus pyogenes aureus--a common germ in civilization- + could not be cultivated artificially from the throat, nose or skin, of + six individuals from whom monthly bacteriological cultures were made. + + Within the Hut, at a temperature which ranged from 40 degrees to + 45 degrees F., the number of micro-organisms continuously increased, + if the exposure of agar plates at regular intervals (by night) gave + a true indication. The organisms were staphylocci albi, bacilli, yeasts, + and moulds; the latter overgrowing the plate after it had been for forty + eight hours in the incubator. + + Frostbites were common, but, perhaps for that reason, were not regarded + seriously. No one suffered permanent harm from being frost-bitten, + though in several cases rather extensive blisters formed and nails and + skin were lost. + + Whilst the Hut was being built, minor casualties often occurred; the + common remedy being to cover the injured part with a small piece of + gauze surrounded by adhesive tape; for open wounds will not heal + when exposed to the cold. The Greenland dogs had small accidents and + ailments which often required treatment. + + On sledging journeys snow-blindness was an affection which sooner or + later caught every one in an unguarded moment. That moment was when + he ceased to use goggles if the light were at all trying to his eyes. + Prevention came first, and then the "zinc and cocaine" cure. + + Adelie Land can only be regarded as an intolerable country in which + to live, owing to the never-ceasing winds. Usage and necessity + helped one to regard the weather in the best possible light; for the + sake of a few hours of calm which might be expected to occasionally + intervene between the long spells of the blizzards. It is, therefore, + with regret and some diffldence that I speak of the illness of Mr. S. + N. Jeffryes, who took up so conscientiously the duties of wireless + operator during the second year (1913); but upon whom the monotony + of a troglodytic winter life made itself felt. It is my hope that he + is fast recovering his former vigour and enthusiasm.** + + So many miles of sledging were done at both Antarctic Bases in a + climate which is surely without a parallel in the history of polar + travelling, the Ship was so often in jeopardy during her three main + cruises to the South, that we feel the meagre comment should be made + on our providential return to civilization with the loss of two + comrades whose memory will ever be imperishable to each one of us. + + + ** With the advent of summer, Jeffryes became normal, but unfortunately + suffered a temporary relapse upon his return to Australia.--D. M. + APPENDIX VI + + Finance + + A General reference was made to the finances of the expedition in the + Introduction. Here is an extended statement which, more fully amplified + with a detailed list of donations, will be again published when + additional funds have been raised to pay off the debit balance and + establish equilibrium. + + + GRANTS AND DONATIONS + + AUSTRALIA, January 1911: L + + Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, L1000; + R. Barr Smith (South Australia), L100; Hugh Denison (Sydney), + L1000; Samuel Hordern (Sydney), L1000 (subsequently increased + to L2500)........................... 4,000 + + + LONDON, June 1911: + + S. Hordern (Sydney), L1500 (second donation); Roderick Murchison + (Melbourne), L1000; W. A. Horn (South Australia), L1000; + Lord Strathcona, L1000; Eugene Sandow, L1050; Imperial Government, + L2000; Royal Geographical Society, L500; Lionel Robinson (Sydney), + L250; C. D. Mackellar, L150; G. P. Doolette, L150; G. Buckley, + L150; Lord Denman, L100; Madame Melba (Melbourne), L100; + S. Y. Buchanan, L100 (later increased to L200); Daily Mail,L100; + Messrs. Bullivants L100, &c., aggregating an additional L593.. 9,843 + + AUSTRALIA, October 1911: + + Sydney: Government grant, L7000; collected by L. + Professor David, L50; 'Sydney Morning Herald', + L100; Professor David's own donation and + lecture proceeds, L100............... 7,250 + + Melbourne: Government grant, L6000; collected by + Professor Masson, L70............... 6,070 + + Adelaide: Government grant, L5000; collected by + Mr. Piper, L250 (including Angus L100, Simpson L85, + Scarfe L50).................... 5,250 + + Hobart: Government grant, L500; collected, L55... 555 + Commonwealth grant 5,000 + ________ + 24,125 + + Carried forward...... 37,968 + + + LONDON, 1913: Brought forward...... 37,969 + + Sir Lucas Tooth, L1000 (Sydney); Imperial Treasury, L1000; + Royal Geographical Society, L100; S. Y. Buchanan, L100; + Lady Scott, L100; Commander Evans, L100; other members of + Scott Expedition and general subscriptions, L227....... 2,627 + + Australia, 1913: + + Commonwealth grant, L5000; collected by Professor David + (approximately), L50...................... 5,050 + + Australia, 1914: + + Collected by Professor Masson (approximately), L80; + G. J. R. Murray (Adelaide), L100; Sir Samuel Way, L50..... 230 + + Collected in London, 1914.................... 10 + + Total moneys donated L45,885 + + + Assets realized and added to the fund: + + Sale of photos and newspaper articles, L490; sale + of ship and materials, L3699; lectures, films, &c., L726..... 4,915 + + Bills Owing ...... 5,932 5,932 + + Assets to be realized: + L + + In hand.................. 560 + Owing .................. 340 + Anticipated sale of gear......... 570 + ---- + 1,470 + + Debit balance............. 4,462 + Total cost ** of Expedition........... 56,732 + + + There is therefore a deficit of L4462 to be made up by the royalty + on the sale of the book, lectures, donations, &c., and the cost of + the publication of the scientific results, which will be approximately + L8000, has yet to be defrayed. + + + ** An estimate of the cost of the expedition should also take + account of donations in kind, which, as can be gathered, were numerous. + Facilities offered by harbour boards and valuable assistance extended + in the matter of docking and repairing the 'Aurora', particularly in + the case of the State of Victoria, and to a less extent in New South + Wales. + + Then there were valuable contributions of coal, particularly by Mr. + J. Brown of Newcastle (N.S.W.), Mr. H. D. Murphy (Melbourne), + and the Lithgow Collieries Company. + APPENDIX VII + + + Equipment + + Clothing + + With regard to the clothing, the main bulk was of woollen material + as supplied by Jaeger of London. This firm is unexcelled in the + production of camel's-hair garments and has supplied most polar + expeditions of recent years with underclothing, gloves, caps, and + the like. From the same firm we also secured heavy ski-boots, + finnesko-crampons, and the blankets which were used at Winter Quarters + at both Antarctic Bases. Some of the Jaeger woollens were damaged + by sea water on the voyage from London to Australia and were replaced + by Eagley goods; an Australian brand, which proved very satisfactory. + The Ship's Party were outfitted with Kaipoi woollens (New Zealand). + + Outer garments were made up to our design from Jaeger fleece by + tailors in Hobart. The suit consisted of a single garment, to be worn + with combination underclothing, and was calculated to meet the + requirements of a severe climate. + + An over-suit of wind-proof material, which may be worn when required, + is a necessary adjunct to woollen clothing. Such a suit should have + the additional properties of being light, strong, not readily + absorbing moisture, and not affected by the cold. Burberry + gabardine was found to possess all these properties, and two complete + suits were made up for each man. One suit consisted of three pieces, + whilst the other was made of two; the blouse-jacket and helmet of the + latter being combined. + + Furs, which were obtained from Norway, were restricted to sleeping + bags, finnesko or fur-boots, and wolfskin mitts (Lapland). + + The outfit of clothing for the party at Macquarie Island and on the + Ship, respectively, differed from that used in the Antarctic. Warmer + temperatures and wet conditions had to be taken into account, and so + rubber boots, oilskins, and rubberized materials were provided as + outer coverings. + + Food + + The food-stuffs were selected with at least as much consideration as + was given to any of the other requisites. The successful work of an + expedition depends on the health of the men who form its members, and + good and suitable food reduces to a minimum the danger of scurvy; a + scourge which has marred many polar enterprises. Thus our + provisioning was arranged with care and as a result of my previous + experience in the Antarctic with Sir Ernest Shackleton's Expedition. + + A summary which may be of possible use to future expeditions is + appended below: + + In the matter of canned meats we had some six tons of the excellent + Australian article supplied by the Sydney Meat Preserving Company, + Ramornie Meat Company (N.S.W.), Baynes Brothers (Brisbane), and the + Border (rabbit) Preserving Company of South Australia. For use on + the Ship three tons of salt beef and pork served to replenish the + "harness cask," largely obtained in Melbourne from Cook and Sons. + + For a ton of sauces and pickles we were indebted to Brand and Company + (London) and to Mason and Company (London). + + Of course fresh meat was consumed as far as possible; a number of + live sheep being taken by the 'Aurora' on each cruise. Some of these + were killed and dressed after reaching 60 degrees south latitude and + supplied our two Antarctic Bases with the luxury of fresh mutton + about once a week throughout a year. + + One ton of preserved suet came from the firms of Hugon (Manchester) + and Conrad (Adelaide). + + Almost all our bacon and ham, amounting to well over one ton, was of + the Pineapple Brand (Sydney), and to the firm which supplied them we + are indebted alike for the quality of its goods and for its generosity. + + Soups in endless variety, totalling two tons, came chiefly from the + Flemington Meat Preserving Company (Melbourne). + + Fours tons of canned fish were supplied by C. & E. Morton (London). + + Variety in vegetables was considered important. We decided to reduce + the amount of dried vegetables in favour of canned vegetables. About + six and a half tons of the latter in addition to one ton of canned + potatoes were consumed; from Laver Brothers (Melbourne) and Heinz + (Pittsburgh). There were one and a half tons of dried vegetables. + In addition, large quantities of fresh potatoes and other vegetables + were regularly carried by the 'Aurora', and many bags of new and old + potatoes were landed at the Main Base. In the frozen condition, the + former kept satisfactorily, though they were somewhat sodden when + thawed. The old potatoes, on the other hand, became black and useless, + partly owing to the comparatively high temperature of the ship's hold, + and in part to the warmth of the sun during the first few weeks in + Adelie Land. + + Canned fruits, to the extent of five tons, were supplied by Jones + Brothers (Hobart) and Laver Brothers (Melbourne). This stock was eked + out by some two and a half tons of dried fruits, chiefly from South + Australia. + + The management of Hartley (London) presented us with two tons of jam, + and James Keiller and Son (London) with one ton of marmalade. + + Of the twelve tons of sugar and half a ton of syrup consumed, all were + generously donated by the Colonial Sugar Refining Company (Sydney). + + For milk we were provided with two tons of Glaxo (a dry powder) which + was used at the land bases, and a ton and a half of Nestle's condensed + variety for use on the ship. + + Three tons of cereal meals, largely from Parsons (Sydney), were + consumed. + + As one might have expected, the amount of flour used was enormous. + In the thirteen tons of this commodity from Colman (London) there were + three varieties, self-rising, plain, and wheatmeal flour, encased in + stout metal linings within strong, well-finished cases of a convenient + size. Until required, the cases of flour were used to solidify the + break-wind on the southern side of the Hut. + + Bird and Company (Birmingham) more than satisfied our needs in the + matter of baking powder, custard powder, jelly crystals, and the + like. + + There was over half a ton of fancy biscuits of excellent quality and + great variety, for which we were indebted to Jacob and Company + (Dublin), Arnott Brothers (Sydney), and Patria Biscuit Fabriek + (Amsterdam). "Hardtack," the name by which a plain wholemeal + biscuit of good quality, made by Swallow and Ariell (Melbourne) was + known, constituted the greater part of the remaining two and a half + tons of ordinary biscuits. "Hardtack" was much appreciated as a + change from the usual "staff of life"--soda bread. + + For sledging we had secured one ton of biscuits specially prepared + by the Plasmon Company (London) containing 30 per cent. of plasmon. + These, together with one ton of pemmican and half a ton of emergency + ration prepared by the Bovril Company (London), are specially referred + to in the chapter on sledging equipment. + + Butter was an important item; the large stock of two and a half tons + coming from the Colac Dairying Company (Melbourne). The butter was + taken fresh in fifty-six lb. blocks, packed in the usual export + cases. On the 'Aurora' it was carried as deck-cargo, and at the Main + Base was stacked in the open air on the southern side of the Hut. At + the end of the second year (1913) it was still quite good; a fact + which speaks well for the climate as a refrigerator. Of Australian + cheese we used half a ton, and this was supplied in forty-pound + blocks. + + The firm of Messrs. Cadbury, well known for their cocoa and eating + chocolate, supplied us with these commodities, and receive our + unqualified praise for the standard of the articles and the way in + which they were packed. The total consumption was one ton of cocoa + and half a ton of chocolate. + + The three-quarters of a ton of tea was donated by "Te Sol" + (Guernsey) and Griffiths Brothers (Melbourne). In both cases the + articles were well packed and much appreciated. Half a ton of coffee + was used, partly supplied from London and partly donated by + Griffiths Brothers. + + Rose's (London) lime juice, as an antiscorbutic, was mainly reserved + for consumption on the Ship. This lime juice was much in favour as a + beverage. + + Other supplies, taken in bulk, and for which we are indebted to the + manufacturers, are: one ton of Cerebos Salt, half a ton of Castle + salt, one ton of Sunlight Soap, our complete requirements in toilet + soap from Pears, candles from Price, matches from Bryant and May + including special sledging vestas, and dried milk from the Trufood + Company. + + Sweets, which were used for dessert and on special occasions, were + presented by the firms of Fuller and Batger of London, and by Farrah + of Harrogate, &c. There were also small quantities of aerated waters, + ales, wines, and whisky for each Base.** At the Main Base, at least, + there was no demand for whisky until penguin omelettes became + fashionable. + + + ** * Donated by Schweppes, Kopke, Burgoyne, and others. + + The smokers were well provided for by a generous donation of Capstan + tobaccos, cigarettes and cigars from the British American Tobacco + Company in London. At a later date, when our Macquarie Island party + was formed, the Sydney branch of the same firm met our added needs + with the same generosity. + + There are many other items which have not yet found a place in this + summary which cannot be acknowledged severally, but for which we are + none the less grateful. Mention is made of the following: Horlick's + Malted Milk, Neave's Health Diet, Brown and Polson's Cornflour, + International Plasmon Company's Plasmon chocolate and Plasmon powder, + Bovril and lime juice nodules manufactured by Bovril Limited, + Colman's Mustard and Groats, Flemington Meat Company's desiccated + soups, Seager's meats, Nestle's nut-milk chocolate, Escoffier's soups, + &c. + + The cooking range which served us well for two years in the Hut at + Adelie Land was from J. Smith and Wellstood (London); others were + presented by Metters (Adelaide). + + The total supply of foods purchased and donated aggregated quite one + hundred tons, exclusive of packing. Much of this was assembled in + London. In Australia the Government Produce Department of Adelaide + rendered valuable assistance. + + + TABLE OF FOOD-SUPPLIES FOR A TWELVE-MAN BASE + + The following are the food requirements for a party of twelve men + wintering in the Antarctic. It is our own store list, with slight + modifications where these are found desirable. The figures are based + on the supposition that unlimited quantities of seal and penguin meat + can be had on the spot, and, furthermore, are ample for a second + year's requirements should the party be unavoidably detained. The + fare during the second year might be somewhat less varied, but would + otherwise be sufficient. Health was, of course, the first + consideration in this selection, but economy was also studied. The + quantities are stated in pounds weight. + + lbs. + Meats, tinned--Corned beef, 216; roast beef, 72; roast mutton, 72; + boiled mutton, 72; Irish stew, 216; assorted meats, 168, including + mutton cutlets, haricot mutton, ox tail, ox tongue, sausages, and + brawn; sheep's tongues, 288; special meats, 192, including rabbit, + hare, duck, fowl, and turkey................... 1296 + + Live sheep--16 sheep to be dressed south of 60 degrees S. latitude + (weight not included) + + Suet, tinned--400......................... 400 + + Bacon and Ham--Bacon in sides, packed in salt, 250; ham, 250... 500 + + Fish, tinned--Salmon, 360; haddocks, 96; kippered herrings, 216; + herrings in tomato sauce, 72; fresh herrings, 72; sardines, 300; + cods' roe, curried prawns, &c., 72.............., 1188 + + Soups, assorted tinned, 1152.................. 1152 + + Vegetables, fresh, in wooden cases--new potatoes, 1200; onions, + 3601560 + Tinned--potatoes, 864; onions, 216; peas, 450; + French beans, 450; spinach, 360; cabbage, 144; beetroot, 288; + carrots, 288; parsnips, 144; turnips, 108; celery, 144; + leeks, 72; champignons, 144; Boston baked beans, 144; + tomatoes, 288..................... 3240 + + Cereals and Dried Vegetables, &c.--Split peas, 112; lentils, 56; + marrowfat peas, 56; haricot beans, 56; barley, 72; rice, 252; + tapioca, 144; semolina, 56; macaroni, 56; rolled oats, 648; + cornflour, 156........................ 1664 + + Flour, including plain, wholemeal, and self-rising...... 4480 + Biscuits, &c.--Plasmon wholemeal, 1344; plain wholemeal, 560; + assorted sweet, 560; cake tinned, 224; plum pudding, 224.... 1712 + + Fruit, tinned in syrup--peaches, 288; pears, 288; plums, 288; + apricots, 288; pineapples, 288; apples, 288; gooseberries, 216; + cherries, 216; mulberries, 48; strawberries, 48; red currants, 48; + black currants, 48; raspberries, 48............... 2400 + + Dried fruits--Prunes, 112; apples, 112; peaches, 56; nectarines, 56; + apricots, 56; raisins seeded, 224; currants, 112; figs, 224; + dates, 112; candied peel, 56.................. 1120 + + Sweets, &c.--Eating chocolate (chiefly for sledging) 504; assorted + sweets, 168; crystallized fruits, 56; assorted nuts, 84..... 812 + + Milk--as dried powder, 2400................... 2400 + + Butter--in 56 lb. export cases, 1456.............. 1456 + + Cheese--in original blocks or tins, 240............. 240 + + Cocoa, Tea, and Coffee--Cocoa, 576; tea, 288; coffee, 288.... 1152 + + Sugar, Jam, &c.--Sugar, 3584; jam, 1456; marmalade, 448; + honey, 576; syrup, 288..................... 6352 + + Sauces, Pickles, &c.--Tomato sauce, 180; Worcester sauce, 135; + sweet pickles, 162; mango chutney, 81; assorted pickles + (first quality) 216; vinegar, 210............... 984 + + Cooking requisites--Baking powder (in addition to that in + selfrising flour) 56; sodium bicarbonate, 1; ground mixed spice, 3; + ground ginger, 4; whole cloves, 1; nutmegs, 2; assorted essences, 10; + desiccated cocoanut, 12; mixed dried herbs, 2; dried mint, 6; dried + parsley, 1; onion powder, 9; curry powder, 30; mustard, 30; black + pepper, 12; white pepper, 12; table salt, 784.......... 975 + + Soap, &c.--Soap, 448; soda, 168................. 616 + + (16 tons approx.) 35,699 + + + Note. These weights are exclusive of packing. When high southern + latitudes can be reached within three weeks, fresh eggs may be taken + with advantage, preferably unfertilized, but care should be taken to + freeze them as soon as possible, and not to allow them to thaw again + until required for use. It is advisable to take small quantities + of whisky, ale, wines and lime juice. Matches, candles, soap, and + other toilet requirements, kerosene and fuel are not reckoned with + here, appearing in a more general stores' list. Certain medical + comforts, such as malted milk and plasmon, may also be included. + + Medical Equipment + + The medical equipment consisted of a complete outfit of Burroughs + and Wellcome's drug's, dressings, &c., and Allen and Hanbury's + surgical instruments. Sets, varying in character with particular + requirements, were made up for the Ship and for each of the land + parties. Contained within the fifty-five boxes was a wonderful + assortment of everything which could possibly have been required + on a polar expedition. There was in addition a set of Burroughs + and Wellcome's medicines for the treatment of dogs. + + + Scientific Equipment + + The scope of our projected scientific work necessitated extensive + purchases, and these were amplified by loans from many scientific + bodies and individuals. + + Instruments for surveying and navigation were loaned by the Royal + Geographical Society and by the Admiralty, while many theodolites, + chronometers, and half-chronometer watches were manufactured to order. + + An assortment of oceanographical gear was generously supplied through + H. S. H. The Prince of Monaco, from the Institut Oceanographique + of Monaco. Dr. W. S. Bruce made similar donations and supervised the + construction of our largest deep-sea dredge. The three-thousand + fathom tapered steel cables and mountings, designed to work the + deep-water dredges, were supplied by Messrs. Bullivant. Appliances + were also loaned by Mr. J. T. Buchanan of the 'Challenger' Expedition + and by the Commonwealth Fisheries Department. The self-recording + tide-gauges we employed were the property of the New South Wales + Government, obtained through Mr. G. Halligan. + + The taxidermists' requirements, and other necessaries for the + preservation of zoological specimens, were for the most part purchased, + but great assistance was rendered through Professor Baldwin-Spencer + by the National Museum of Melbourne and by the South Australian Museum, + through the offices of Professor Stirling. Articles of equipment for + botanical work were loaned by Mr. J. H. Maiden, Director of the + Botanical Gardens, Sydney. + + A supply of heavy cameras for base-station work and light cameras for + sledging was purchased; our stock being amplified by many private + cameras, especially those belonging to F. H. Hurley, photographer of + the Expedition. Special Lumiere plates and material for colour + photography were not omitted, and, during the final cruise of the + 'Aurora', P. E. Correll employed the more recent Paget process for + colour photography with good results. + + The programme of magnetic work was intended to be as extensive as + possible. In the matter of equipment we were very materially assisted + by the Carnegie Institute through Dr. L. A. Bauer. An instrument + was also loaned through Mr. H. F. Skey of the Christchurch Magnetic + Observatory. A full set of Eschenhagen self-recording instruments + was purchased, and in this and in other dispositions for the magnetic + work we have to thank Dr. C. Chree, Director of the National Physical + Laboratory, and Dr. C. C. Farr of University College, Christchurch. + Captain Chetwynd kindly assisted in arrangements for the Ship's + compasses. + + Two complete sets of Telefunken wireless apparatus were purchased from + the Australasian Wireless Company. The motors and dynamos were got + from Buzzacott, Sydney, and the masts were built by Saxton and Binns, + Sydney. Manilla and tarred-hemp ropes were supplied on generous terms + by Melbourne firms (chiefly Kinnear). + + The meteorological instruments were largely purchased from Negretti + and Zambra, but a great number were loaned by the Commonwealth + Meteorological Department (Director, Mr. H. A. Hunt) and by the + British Meteorological Office (Director, Dr. W. N. Shaw). + + For astronomical work the following instruments were loaned, besides + transit-theodolites and sextants: a four-inch telescope by the + Greenwich Observatory through the Astronomer Royal: a portable + transit-theodolite by the Melbourne Observatory through the + Director, Mr. P. Baracchi; two stellar sidereal chronometers by + the Adelaide Observatory through the Astronomer, Mr. P. Dodwell. + + The apparatus for bacteriological and physiological work were got in + Sydney, in arrangements and suggestions for which our thanks are due + to Dr. Tidswell (Microbiological Laboratory) and Professor Welsh, of + Sydney University. + + Artists' materials were supplied by Winsor and Newton, London, while + the stationery was partly donated by John Sands, Limited, Sydney + + Geological, chemical, and physical apparatus were all acquired at the + instance of the several workers. + + Adjuncts, such as a calculating machine, a typewriter, and duplicator + were not forgotten.** + + + ** Acceptable donations of various articles were made by the firms of + Ludowici, Sydney; Allen Taylor, Sydney; Sames and Company, Birmingham; + Gamage, London; Gramophone Company, London; the Acetylene Corporation, + London; Steel Trucks Ltd., &c. + + + **Through the offices of Mr. C. A. Bang we are indebted to "De + Forenede Dampskibsselskab," of Copenhagen, for the transport of the + dogs from Greenland. + + + Apart from the acquisition of the instruments, there were long + preparations to be made in the arrangement of the scientific programme + and in the training of the observers. In this department the + Expedition was assisted by many friends. + + Thus Professor W. A. Haswell (Biology), Professor T. W. Edgeworth + David (Geology), and Mr. H. A. Hunt (Meteorology), each drew up + instructions relating to his respective sphere. Training in + astronomical work at the Melbourne Observatory was supervised by + Mr. P. Baracchi, Director, and in magnetic work by the Department + of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institute (Director, Dr. L. A. + Bauer). Further, in the subject of magnetics, we have to thank + especially Mr. E. Kidston of the Carnegie Institute for field + tuition, and Mr. Baldwin of the Melbourne Observatory for + demonstrations in the working of the Eschenhagen magnetographs. + Professor J. A. Pollock gave us valuable advice on wireless and + other physical subjects. At the Australian Museum, Sydney, Mr. + Hedley rendered assistance in the zoological preparations. In the + conduct of affairs we were assisted on many occasions by Messrs. W. + S. Dun (Sydney), J. H. Maiden (Sydney), Robert Hall (Hobart), G. + H. Knibbs (Melbourne),and to the presidents and members of the + councils of the several Geographical Societies in Australia--as well, + of course, as to those of the Royal Geographical Society, London. + + In conclusion, the proffered, disinterested help, of all the above + and many other friends contrived to make our scientific equipment + well-nigh complete and eminently up-to-date. + INDEX + + Abrasion effects of drift snow, + Abruzzi expedition 1900, rations + Absolute Hut, the + Acetylene Corporation, London, (note) + Adare, Cape + Adelaide Island +.........University + 'Adelie Blizzard' +........Land; + the main base at; glaciation of; hurricanes of; Wilkes' + account of; the Hut; drifts; wireless installation at; + clothing for; Empire Day in; temperatures + Admiralty Range + Aerial Cove, depot + Aeroplane sledge. See Air-tractor sledge + Ainsworth, G F., + "Life on Macquarie Island;" "A Land of Storm and Mist," + "Through Another Year;" picked up by the 'Aurora', + the home journey; account of + Air-tractor sledge, the; + Aladdin's Cave; + Albatross + Alden, Cape, + Alexander I Island, + Alexandra, Queen + Allen and Hanbury, Messrs. + Alligator Nunatak. + 'Amakura', the + American expedition under Wilkes +........ Quadrant, the, accessibility; whaling industry in + Amundsen, Captain; sledging dogs presented by +..........dog + Anchor Rock + Anemobiagraph, the + Anemometers + Anemones, preservation of + Angas Mr. C. + "Annie Hill," + Antarctic theory of distribution of flora + Antarctica, history of discovery + 'Anthology of Australian Verse, An' + Anthony, Messrs., of Melbourne + 'Archibald Russell', the + Arnott Bros., Messrs. + Asia, Southern, wind velocities + 'Astrolabe', D'Urville's journey in the + Astronomer Royal, the + Astronomical Hut, the + "Atmospherics," + Auckland Islands + 'Aurora', the S.Y. plan and section; adaptation and fitting out; + from Macquarie Island to Adelie Land; the first ice; landing of + cargo at main base; new lands; food carried by the; return of the; + observations secured on the; deep-sea soundings; at Macquarie Island; + arrival at Port Lyttleton; at Melbourne; second deep-sea cruise; + departure from Hobart, Christmas; visit to the main base, Adelie Land; + reception by Wild; relief of Wild's party; arrival in Hobart; papers + brought by the; stores laid at Caroline Cove; visits to Macquarie + Island; at Dunedin; leaves Hobart on Southern trip to bring back the + two parties; wireless communication with; the Homeward Cruise; list + of ship's officers +.........Peak + Auroral phenomena + Australasian Association for Advancement of Science, + Australian ensign hoisted + Avalanche Rocks + Avalanches,~ + Azimuth Hill; + memorial cross on + + Bacteriology, work of the expedition, + Bage, R., at the main base; work at the hut; the tide-gauge; + transit house; food experiences; search for the dogs; + with the Southern Sledging Party; return to the hut; + on building a tent; snow-blindness; return to Aladdin's Cave; + note left by, at Cathedral Grotto; return from the south; + visit to the 'Aurora'; the relief expedition; winter work; + wireless work; magnetograph records; the home journey; + account of + Baldwin, Mr. + Baldwin-Spencer, Professor + Balleny Islands + John + Bang, C. A. (note) + Baracchi, Mr. P. + Barometer, movements of the + "Barrier," the, at the Winter Quarters + "Barrier-formations," + Barron, Lady +........Sir Harry + Barr-Smith, Mount +......Mr. Robert + Basilisk, dog + Bass Strait + Bates, Mr. D. C.; request for weather reports + Batger, Messrs. + Bauer, Dr. L. A. + Mr., Sealer at Macquarie Island + Baynes Bros., Messrs. + + "Beaufort scale" of wind-pressure + Belgian Antarctic expedition + Bellingshausen, expedition of 1821 + "Benzine Hut," + Bergschrund + Betli, dog + Bickerton, F. H., at main base; work at the hut; erection of the + wireless installation; food experiences; "bus driver"; + the air-tractor sledge; the Western sledging expedition; + on tent pitching; his birthday; the relief party; winter work + at the hut; wireless work; dredge constructed by; the home journey; + account of + Biology, work of the expedition + Bird & Coy, Messrs. + Birds, Antarctic, weight in relation to wing areas + Birthday Camp + Biscoe Island +........John, work + Bishop and Clerk, islet + Black Sunday + Blair, J. H., Chief Officer on the 'Aurora' + Blake, Cape +...... L R., work on Macquarie Island; visit to Sandy Bay; + accident to; visits to Lusitania Bay; photographs taken by + visits to the 'Aurora'; specimens obtained; sheepkilling; + the home journey; account of + Blizzard, puppy +.........the + 'Blizzard, The', poem + Blood-pressure, observations by McLean, + "Blue Billys," + "Board-sliding," + Bollons, Captain + Borchgrevinck + Borda, Cape + Border (Rabbit) Preserving Coy. + Bovril Coy., the + Brand & Coy., Messrs. + Bridge-playing at Western Base + Bristow, Captain + British Antarctic expedition + British Expedition + British Meteorological Office + "Brothers (The)," + Brown, Mr. John + Brown & Polson, Messrs. + Bruce, Dr. W. S. +........Rise + Bruni Island + Bryant & May, Messrs. + Buchanan, Mr. J. Y.; +..........S. Y. + Buckley, Mr. G. + Budd Land; + Buenos Ayres + Bull, H. J. + Bullivant, Messrs. + Burberry, the + Burroughs & Wellcome, Messrs. + Buzzacott, Messrs. + + Cadbury, Messrs. + Camp Cove + Campbell & Sons, Messrs. + Camping + "Cannonading," + Canterbury Museum, Christchurch + Cape Town + Carbohydrates, definition of the term (note) + Cardiff to Hobart, the journey + Carnegie Institute + Carnley Harbour + Caroline Cove, Macquarie Island + Carr, Cape + Caruso, dog + Castor, dog + Cat, wild + Catch Me Cave + Cathedral Grotto, the + 'Challenger' expedition + Charcot, Jean +.........Land + Chetwynd, Captain + Chocolate as barter + Chree, Dr. C., + Christchurch, New Zealand +...........Magnetic Observatory + 'Christmas Carol, A' +...........Day, Dr. Mawson's; with the Southern Sledging Party; + Madigan's account; with Bickerton's party; at Hobart; + with Wild's party; with S. E. Jones's party; + Ainsworth's account; on the homeward journey + Chun, Professor, of Leipsic + Close, J. H., at Main Base; at Aladdin's Cave; journey to the West; + and the Near Eastern Party; journey to Commonwealth Bay; + return from the East; back to Australia; account of + Clothing for the expedition + Clyde, wreck of the + Coal-supply, difficulties of + Coats Land + Cocoa, value of, + Colac Dairying Coy. + Colman, Messrs. + Colonel, dog + Colonial Sugar Refining Coy. + Commonwealth Bay +.............Fisheries Department +.............Meteorological Department +.............Weather Bureau, reports to + Cormorant. See Shag + Compass, variations of the; the bearing of the sun and the + magnetic needle compared + Conrad, Messrs. + Cook, Captain James + Copenhagen + Coronae, lunar + Correll, P. E., at Main Base; and the tide-gauge; + production of 'The Washerwoman's Secret; + the Eastern Coastal Party; at Horn Bluff, + the search party; return to Australia; + photographs taken by; the homeward journey; + account of +.........Nunatak + Cote Clarie + Crampons, use of + Crippen, dog + Crown Fuel Company, briquettes + + 'Daily Graphic' +.......'Mail' + Dallman, Eduard + Danish Geographical Society + Darwin, Charles + David Island +......Professor T. W. Edgeworth + Davis, Captain J. K., appointment; arrival at Hobart; work of stowage; + the journey to Macquarie Island; voyage in the Nimrod; + at Macquarie Island; events on board; narrative quoted; return + of the 'Aurora'; his decision regarding Wild's party; "The Ship's + Story"; mission to London; visits to Macquarie Island; + the homeward cruise; account of +.......Captain James, of Hobart, joins the 'Aurora'; efforts to recover + ship's lost chain; account of +.......Sea + "DeadBeat Gully," + Deakin, Hon. Alfred + Declination of the magnetic needle + Decouverte, Cape + Delay Point + Denison, Cape; +..........Mr. Hugh + Denman Glacier, the +........Lord, messages to Antarctica; Finance + Denny, Mr., visit to Macquarie + D'Entrecasteaux Channel + Depot Bay + Depots maintained by the New Zealand Government + Derwent River, the; + Dietetics + Disappointment Island + 'Discovery', voyage of the +...........Cape + Dixson Island + Mr. Hugh + Dodwell, Mr. P. + Dogs for the expedition, journey to Hobart; at the hut; harness for the; + food for the; at Aladdin's Cave; with the sledging parties; + the lost; used for food; presented to the 'Aurora' by Amundsen; + with the Western Party; pups; quarrels + Dolerite (note) + Dominion Meteorological Office + Doolette, Mr. G. P. + Dovers, G., member of Wild's party; depot-laying party formed; + surveying work; at Haswell Island; account of + 'Drake', H.M.S., wireless communication with + Drift gauge, a + Drift snow; abrasion effects of; electrical effects of + Drygalski Island (note) +..........Professor; + Ducks + Dun, W.S. + 'Dundonald', barque + Dunedin + D'Urville Sea; + + 'Eagle' Cave +........schooner, wreck + Earthquake shocks at Macquarie Island + Eastern Barrier +........Coastal Party, formation; account of, by Madigan; + instruments cached by + Eclipse, lunar, + Eitel, Mr. C. C. + Elder, Mr. +.......Mount + 'Eliza Scott', the + Empire Day, at the Western Base; on Adelie Land + 'Encyclopaedia Britannica', use of + 'Endeavour', the + Enderby Island +........Land + Equinox, effects of the + Equipment of the expedition + Erebus Cove + "Erratics," + Esperance, Port + Esquimaux, dogs of the; method with snow-blindness, + Euphausia + Evans, Commander + Evensen, work of + + Farr, Dr. C. C. + Fallieres Land + 'Fantome', H.M.S. + Far-Eastern Party, the; the return of + Farrah, Messrs. + Fats, definition of term, (note) + "Feather Bed" terrace + Fiala, quoted + Figure of Eight Island + Filchner, Wilhelm + Finance of the expedition + Finnesko footwear + Fisher, Hon. Andrew, +........wireless message to + Fishing + Fix, dog + Flag depot + Flagstaff Point, Carnley Harbour + Flemington Meat Preserving Coy. + Fletcher, F. D. + Flora, Antarctic, theories concerning + 'Flying Fish', the +........Fox, working of the + Flynn, Professor T. T. + Foehn effect + Food, for sledging journey, dietetics; rations; items; + table of supplies + Fram, dog +......voyage of the + Franklin, dog + Freshfield, Cape + Fuller, Messrs. + Fusilier, dog + + Gadget, dog + Gamage, Messrs (note) + 'Gauss', expedition of the + Gaussberg + Geographical results of the expedition + Geological work of the expedition + George, dog +........V, King, wireless message to, + Georgia, South; + Gerlache, Adrien de +..........Cape + German Scientific Expedition; expedition of 1902, see Gauss + Gillies, F., chief engineer of the 'Aurora' +.........Nunataks + Ginger, dog +......Bitch, dog, + Glacier, the continental, + Glacier-ice, structural composition + Glacier-tongues + Glaciology, work of the expedition + Glaxo + Gloves + Goggles for snow-blindness + Golf at Western Base + Gracht, Mr. Van Waterschoot van der + 'Grafton', wreck of the + Graham's Land + Gramophone Coy., London, (note) + Grampuses + Grandmother, dog + Gray, Cape +......P., second officer 'Aurora' + Great Australian Bight +.....Britain, Antarctic Expeditions +.....Ross Barrier; + Greely expedition of 1882 + Green Valley + Greenland, dogs from +..........pup + Greenwich Observatory + Griffiths Brothers, Messrs. + "Grottoes (The)," the hut at the Western Base, building; return + of the sledging party; entrance and tunnels; the igloo; + clearing the tunnels; return of the Western depot party; + preparations for the Eastern summer journey; return of Wild; + distances from; return of Jones's party; the flagstaff + Guano deposits + Gulls, Dominican or black backed +.......skua + + Haines, Mr., taxidermist + Haldane, dog + Hall, Robert + Halligan, Mr. G. + Hamilton, H., life at Macquarie Island; visits to Sandy Bay; + biological work; reception of the 'Aurora'; + erection of the tide gauge; a dinghy for; visits to + Lusitania Bay; photographs by; home journey; account of +.........Mount + Hangar + Hannan, W. H., at Main Base; work at the hut; wireless work; + the drift gauge; as magnetician; working of the air-tractor + sledge; the wireless at Winter Quarters; return to Australia; + account of + Harbour Board, Hobart + Harness, sledging, + Harrisson, C. T.; member of Wild's party; visit to the capsized berg, + account; Hippo depot; meteorological work at The Grottoes; + included in the Eastern summer journey; winch contrived by; + account + Hartley, Messrs. + Hasselborough Bay +..............Captain + Haswell Island +............Professor W. A. + Hedley, Mr. C. + Heinz, Messrs. + Helen Glacier + Henderson, Professor G. C.. + Henderson Island + Hens, Cape + 'Hinemoa', rescue by + 'Hints to Travellers' + Hippo Nunatak + Hoadley, C. A., member Wild's party; party to lay depot formed; + main western journey starting November; geological work; + at Haswell Island; account + Hobart + Hodgeman, A. J., at Main Base; work at hut; Near Eastern Party; + the cairn; return to the hut; journey of the Near Eastern + Party; trip to Aladdin's Cave; on tent-pitching; investigation + of snow ramp; the relief party; winter work at the hut; + journey to Mount Murchison; the home journey; map of Mackellar + Islets; account of + Holliman, Captain, + Holman, Hon., W. A. + Hoosh + Hordern, Mr. Samuel + Horlick, Messrs. + Horn Bluff + "Horn Bluff," by C. T. Madigan + Horn, Mr. W. A. + Hoyle, pup + Hugon, Messrs. + Hunt, Mount +......Mr. H. A. + Hunter, Cape +........J. G., at Main Base; biological work; parasitology; + sledging; production of 'The Washerwoman's Secret'; + the Southern Supporting Party; expansion of the cave; + return from the south; return to Australia; arrival + with the 'Aurora'; fishing;the homeward journey; + account of + " Huntoylette," + Hurley, J. F., Main Base; camera work; observations; rescue of the dogs; + production of 'The Washerwoman's Secret; the Southern + Party; the cairn;pitching tent; "Lot's Wife"; + the 'Christmas Carol'; snow-blindness; return from the + south; arrival with the 'Aurora'; sledging + Hurricane-walking + Hut, the Main Base, temperature; tunnels; the nightwatchman's duty +......Point, McMurdo Sound + Hutchinson, sealer of Macquarie Island + + Ice, Arctic and Antarctic compared; the first; pack-ice; bergs; + structural composition + "Ice floods," + "Ice islands," + Ice-shafts, digging of + "Icing-ship," + 'Illustrated London News' + Insect hunting + + Jack, dog + Jackson, Port + Jacob & Coy., Messrs. + Jaeger fleece + Japanese Antarctic expedition + Jappy, dog + Jeffreys Deep + Jeffryes, S. N., wireless operator + 'Jessie Nichol', wreck + John Bull, dog + Johnson, dog + Joinville Island + Jones, Dr. S. E., autopsy on the dogs; member of Wild's party; party + formed to lay a depot on September; Wild's instructions + to; main western journey starting November; "Linking + up with Kaiser Wilhelm Land," account by; discovery + of Antarctic petrels; view of Drygalski Island; account + of; medical report for Western Base +........Bros., Messrs. + Journalists' Association + Joyce, Mr. E., delivery of the dogs; + Judge and Clerk, islet of; soundings + Junction Corner + + Kaiser Wilhelm I Land, linking up with, account by Dr. S. E. Jones + Kangaroo Island + Keiller, Messrs. James & Son + Kelp + Kembla, Port + Kemp, work of + Kennedy, [A. L.] member of Wild's party; attempted trip with Wild for + the minimum thermometer; Eastern summer journey; blocked on + the ice-shelf with Wild; observations; account of + Kerguelen Island + Kidston, Mr. E. + King Edward V Land +.....George V Land, naming of; map + King' Birthday, at Western Base +................Island + Kinsey, Mr. J. J. + Kite, work with + Knibbs, G. H. + Knox Land + Kristensen, Leonard + + Lake-ice + Lamp, a non-magnetic + Lampwick, uses of + Larson, C. A. + Laseron, C. F., Main Base; biological work; collection of petrel + skin; at Aladdin's Cave; production of The 'Washerwoman's + Secret'; the Southern Supporting Party; recording + Webb's observations; expansion of the Cave; journey + to Commonwealth Bay December 9; collection of eggs + and birds; return from the east; back to Australia; + account of + Lassie, dog + Lever Brothers, Messrs. + Lewis, Sir Elliott + Lithgrow Colleries + "Lot's Wife," + Loubet Land + Louis Phillippe Land + Lucas Sounding-machine + Lucas-Tooth, Sir Robert + Ludowici, Messrs. (note) + Lusitania Bay; +..........the, sealing boat + Lyttleton, Port, arrival of the 'Aurora' + + "M. H. S. Championship, " the start + Mac, dog + McClintock, expedition of 1850; rations + Mackay, Dr. F. A. + Mackellar Islet + Mackellar Library +..........the Hon.C.D. + McLean, Dr. A. L., autopsy on the dogs; at Main Base; electrical + observations; lines on 'The Blizzard'; erection of + the wireless; observations regarding seals; at + Aladdin's Cave; blood-pressure, observations; + at Cathedral Grotto; expedition of the Eastern Coastal + Party; snow-blindness; at Horn Bluff; photographs taken + by; return of; the relief expedition; winter work at + the Hut; founding of 'The Adelie Blizzard'; on illness + of Jeffryes; a wind episode; dredging operations; + biological specimen; the home journey; account; + medical report for Main Base + McMurdo Sound, wind velocities, chart; the Scott expedition + Macquarie Island, the base at; "Life on Macquarie Island," by G. F. + Ainsworth; "A Land of Storm and Mist," by G. F. Ainsworth; + "Through Another Year," by G. F. Ainsworth; + Macquarie Island Party, list of + Madigan, C. T., at Main Base; meteorological observations; at the Hut; + electrical observation; spring exploits; journey to the + west, September 1912; sledging; the Eastern Coastal Party; + return to the Hut; his account of the expedition of the + Eastern Coastal Party; "Horn Bluff and Penguin Point" by; + depot of; visit to the 'Aurora'; care of the dogs; winter + work at the Hut; journey to Mount Murchison; the home + journey; account +...........Nunatak + Magnetic Flat, the +.........meridian +.........needle, use for steering purposes +.........Pole, North +.........Pole, South, observations regarding the; Bage's search for; + chart + Magnetograph House; work of the magnetician + Magnetometer, the + Maiden, Mr. J. H. + Main Base, Adelie Land, visit of the 'Aurora'; wireless installation at +...........Base Party, list of; return of members to Australia + Maori cabbage (Stilbocarpa polaris) +......hens, see Wekas + Martelli, Mr., assistant harbourmaster, Hobart + Mary, dog +......Queen, message to Antarctica + Mason Coy., Messrs. + Masson Island +.......Professor, efforts to raise funds, + Mawson, Dr., plans for the expedition; party of + Medical equipment for the expedition +........reports + Melba, Mme. + Melbourne, arrival of the 'Aurora'; wireless calls; time signals from +...........Observatory + Memorial cross on Azimuth Hill + Men, choice of, for a polar campaign + Mertz, Dr. Xavier, appointment; at Hobart, care of the dogs; at Main + Base; meteorological observations; skiing; cooking; + at Aladdin's Cave; journey to the southeast, September 11; + the Far Eastern Party; the return journey; illness and + death; Bage's parting from; meeting with the Eastward + Coastal Party; Captain Davis's inquiries after; message + to his relatives; account of +........Glacier +........Glacier-tongue + Meteorology, work of the expedition; meteorological chart for April + 1913 + Meteorite found + Midsummer Day, temperature + Midwinter Day at Western Base + Mikkel, dog + Mill, Dr. H. R., "Siege of the South Pole," +.........Rise + Minerals of Adelie Land + Mitts + Mollymawk rookery + Monaco, Prince of + Monagasque trawl + Monkey, dog + Moore, T. E. L. + 'Morning Herald', Sydney + Morton, Messrs. C. & E. + Motte, C. P de la + Moyes, M. H., member of Wild's party; account of + Moraine, terminal, Adelie Land + 'Morning', the, British expedition, + Murchison, Mount; +...........Mr. Roderick + Murphy, H. D., at Main Base; erection of the wireless installation; + at Aladdin's Cave; journey to the southeast September 11; + observations; formation of the Southern Supporting Party; + return to the Hut; composition of party at Cathedral + Grotto; return from the south; visit to the 'Aurora'; + return to Australia; account of + Murphy, H. D. (senior) + Murray, G. J. H. + Mutton birds + + Nansen, expedition in the 'Fram'; 'Farthest North'; use of the primus + stove, +........dog + Nares, Captain G. S. + National Museum, Melbourne +.........Physical Laboratory, London + Near Eastern Party + Neave, Messrs. + Negretti & Zambra, Messrs. + Nestle, Messrs. + Neve + New Zealand, depots maintained by; flora of, theories regarding + Newnes, Sir George + Nightbirds + 'Nimrod', the, voyages; + Ninnis Glacier +.......Lieut. B. E. S., appointment; care of the dogs; at the Main Base; + clothing artifices; spring exploits; journey + to the southeast, September 11; the Far Eastern + Party; his death in the crevasse; Bage's parting + from; flag planted by; Captain Davis's inquiries + after; message to his relatives; account of + "Nodules (The)," + Nordensyold, Otto + North, Cape +.......East Bay; +.......End +.......Head + Northcliffe Glacier + North's Land + Notothenia + "Nuggets (The)" + + Oates Land + Observation Point + Oceanography, results of expedition + Oil, seal, methods of the sealers + Organ Pipe Cliffs + + Pack-ice; + Palmer Archipelago +.......Nathaniel + Parisitology + Parsons, Messrs. + Parties for sledging, arrangement + Patria Biscuit Fabriek + Partridge & Twiss, Messrs. + Pavlova, dog + 'Peacock', the; + Peary, dog + Pemmican + Penguin Hill + "Penguin Point," by C. T. Madigan + Penguin rookeries; + Penguins +........Adelie +........an Albino Penguin +........Emperor +........Gentoo +........King +........Royal +........Victoria, + Pennant Hills + 'Perseverance', the + Peter I Island + Petrel Rookeries + Petrels +........Antaretic +........Giant +........Lesson's +........Silver-grey or Southern Fulmar +........Snow +........Wilson + Petrol, amount carried + Pianoforte Berg + "Piecrust" + Pigeons, Cape + Piper, Mr. + Plasmon + Pollock, Professor J. A. + 'Porpoise', the + Posadowsky Bay + Possession Nunataks + Primmer, Mr. + Primus heater, the + Prince Luitpold Land + Prion Banksii + Proteins, value of + "Puffometer," the + Punch + + Quarantine Station, Hobart + Queen Mary Land + Queen's Wharf, Hobart + + Rabbits + 'Rachel Cohen', the + Ramornie Meat Coy. + Rations, daily polar; for the Far Eastern Party; for the sledge journey + from the Western Base + Rats + Reid, Sir George, +......Glacier + Robinson, Lionel +......Bay +......anemometer, the + "Rock Flour," + Rocks, effect of wind and rain on +.......igneous + Rose Island +.....Messrs. + Ross Barrier +......dog +......Expedition +......Port +......Sea, the + Royal Company Island +......Geographical Society. + Royds, Cape + Russian Antarctic Expeditions + + Sabrina Land + 'Sabrina', the + Sails, value of + St. Elmo's fire + St. Vincent's Gulf + Sames & Coy. + Sandell, C. A., Wireless work at Macquarie Island; cooking; lantern + made by; visit to the 'Aurora'; erection of the + tide-gauge; sheepkilling; as barber; an accident to; + telephone installed by; lamp made by; the home journey; + account of + Sandow, dog +........Mr. Eugene + Sandy Bay, Hobart +...........Enderby Island +...........Macquarie Island + "Sarcophagus," the + Sastrugi + Sawyer, A. J., wireless operator at Macquarie Island; visits to the + 'Aurora'; erection of the tide-gauge; leaves Macquarie + Island; visit to the 'Tutanekai; account of + Saxton & Binns, Messrs. + Scarfe, Mr. + Scientific equipment for the expedition, +...........work of the expedition + 'Scotia', the + Scott, Captain, work of; voyage of the 'Discovery; voyage in the + 'Terra Nova'; rations allowed by; stay in Antarctica; + at McMurdo Sound; the disaster to; on Macquarie Island, +........Islands +........Lady +........the dog + Scott Expedition Staff + Scottish Antarctic Expedition + Sea, temperature, effect of snow on + Sea bears + Sea-elephants; rookeries of the + Seager, Messrs. + Sea-ice + Sea-leopards + Sealers of Macquarie Island; methods of the + Sea-lions + Seals +......Crabeater +......Fur +......Hair +......Ross +......Weddell + Sewing-machine, Wild's need of a + Shack, the + Shackleton Expedition +...........Ice-Shelf, the; establishment of the Western Base on; + winter and spring on; Western Party blocked on, + Wild's narrative; the 'Aurora' at +...........the dog + Shags + Shaw, Dr. W. N. + Shelf-ice + Shell Brand benzine and Shell kerosene + Shoe Island + " Shuteye," practice of + Signatures of members of land parties + Simpson, Mr. + Skeats, Professor E., examination of the meteorite + Skey, Mr. H. F. + Skiing + Sledge, the air-tractor + Sledging; preparation of equipment; wood for sledges; harness for; + a load; camping + Smith & Wellstood, Messrs. +.......William, work of + Snow, temperatures + Snow-blindness + Snow drift, electrical effects + Snow gauges +.....Hill Island + Soundings, Lucas automatic sounding machine + South Australian Museum +......Orkney Islands +......Shetland Islands + Southern Cross Depot, declination of the needle at +.........Ocean +.........Party; instruments cached by +.........Supporting Party, + 'Sphere', the + Spratt, Messrs., care of the dogs + Steel Trucks Ltd. + Stewart Island (New Zealand) + Stillwell, F. L., at Main Base; geological researches; map of Winter + Quarters; records; production of 'The Washerwoman's + Secret'; finding an albino penguin; the Near Eastern + Party; his sledge; pitching tent; journey of the Near + Eastern Party; the search party; return to Australia; + account of +...........Island + Stirling, Professor + Storm Bay + Strathcona, Lord +............Mount + Sun, the midnight; display of rings and arcs + Suva, wireless station + Swallow & Ariell, Messrs. + Sweep, dog + Swiss Confederation Day +.......the dog + Switzerland, the dog. + Sydney, Wilkes's expedition started from; Cathedral of; wood from; + the harbour; wireless communication with +........Meat Preserving Coy. + 'Sydney Morning Herald', donation + + Tasman Sea + Tasmania, hospitality of; soundings + Taylor, Mr. Allen + "Te Sol," + Tea + Temperature, Foehn effect; in Adelie Land + Tent-pitching; Bickerton on + 'Terebus and Error in Eruption' + Termination Ice Tongue +............Land + Terns + 'Terra Nova', Scott's voyage + Terrestrial magnetism, work of the expedition + "The Steps" + Theodolite, use of the + Tich, dog + Tide-gauge, Bage's; use on Macquarie Island + Tides, work of the expedition + Tidswell, Dr. + Tiger, dog + Tooth, Sir R. Lucas +.......Lady Helen--see Helen Glacier + 'Toroa', s.s. + Totten's Land + Toucher, N. C. + Transit House + Trawl, Monagasque + Trawling, experiences of the 'Aurora' + Tussock grass + 'Tutanekai', the, relief of Macquarie Island + + 'Ulimaroa', s.s., the + Umbrella aerial, use of the + Union Jack, hoisting the + University College, Christchurch + Urville, Dumont D', expedition under +.........the dog + + 'Valdivia' expedition + "Veranda Club" + Verran, Hon. J. + Vickers & Coy., Messrs. + Victoria Land + Vincennes, the + + Waite, Mr. E. R. + 'Washerwoman's Secret, The' + "Watersky," + Watkins, Lieut., aviator + Watson, A. D., at the Western Base; attempted trip with Wild for the + minimum thermometer; preparation for the Eastern summer + journey; blocked on the ice-shelf with Wild; fall into + a crevasse +..........Bluff + Watt, Hon. W. + Way Archipelago +..............map +......Sir Samuel + Weather, the, as a conversational subject + Webb, E. N., at Main Base; care of the dogs; work at the Magnetograph + House; photo-work; magnetic ice-cave of; his first camp; + formation of the Southern Sledging Party; observations of + the needle; use of the theodolite; building a break-wind; + the toasts on Christmas Day; sighting Aladdin's Cave; + return from the south; return to Australia; account of + Weddell, James, work +.........Sea + Wekas + Wellington, Mount +.............wireless communication with + Welsh, Professor + Western Base, the party at; winter and spring at the; establishment and + adventures by F. Wild; the geological shaft; "The Glacier + Tongue"; Wild's party blocked on the Ice Shelf; linking + up with Kaiser Wilhelm II Land, account by Dr. S. E. Jones; + medical reports from + West Point + Western Sledging Party + 'Westralia', s.s., + Whalebirds + Whales + Whetter, Dr. L. A., at Main Base; the "Toggle King"; journey to the west; + the Western Party; meteorological work; preparations for + the air-tractor sledge trip; his birthday; on tent + pitching; investigations of a snow ramp; return; return + to Australia; account of + "Whirlies," + Wild, Frank, the work at Hobart; working of the "flyingfox"; incidents + on board; leader of the Western Base; the winter station on + the ice shelf; rations for the expedition; arrangements with + the 'Aurora'; return to Aladdin's Cave; his party at Western + Base; relief of; reception of the 'Aurora'; winter and spring; + land mapped out by; blocked on the ice shelf, narrative + Wilkes, discoveries of; charts; Knox Land, + Wilkes's Land + Willesden-drill, tents + Williamstown, Victoria + Wind, velocities + Winds, Bay of + Winsor & Newton, Messrs. + Winter quarters, Adelie Land +.............Stillwell's map + Wireless Hill, establishment of the station; +.........installation range, in the Antarctic; report of Captain Davis; + messages received by Hannam on the 'Aurora'; messages from, + and to, Adelie Land; effect of ice on intensity of waves; + work of the expedition; telefunken apparatus + Worms, parasitical, in fish + + 'Zelee', the + Zip, the dog + Zoological investigations + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Home of the Blizzard, by Douglas Mawson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOME OF THE BLIZZARD *** + +***** This file should be named 6137.txt or 6137.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/6/1/3/6137/ + +Produced by Geoffrey Cowling + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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