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diff --git a/old/blizz10.txt b/old/blizz10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a9f5fc6 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/blizz10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,26233 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Home of the Blizzard, by Sir Douglas Mawson + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Home of the Blizzard + +Author: Sir Douglas Mawson + +Release Date: July, 2004 [EBook #6137] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on November 18, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE HOME OF THE BLIZZARD *** + + + + +Douglas Mawson The Home of the Blizzard + +Credits: Geoffrey Cowling (ifni_au@yahoo.com) +(Member: Australian Antarctic Research Expedition +to Macquarie Island, Geophysical Year 1958) + +Note: The Project Gutenberg .zip file of this eBook +includes 35 illustrations from the text. + +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 + +CHAPTERQ 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 fringlng 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 Tab1e-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. L0 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 l9l2, 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 l9l3 + +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, l7 ``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 l9l0 + +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, l9l2 + +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 + +Slgnatures 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 sledglng 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 alg£e. 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 o£ +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 offlcer 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 piice 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 Iying 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 accompanirrlcnt 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 svere 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 sllallow 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 sormewhat 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 +tile 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 watersupply, 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 he 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 exttension 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 com-pletely 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 +manceuvring, 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 fivc 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 ot 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 WiIkes) 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 1O 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 be]ow 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 {act 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° 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° 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 o£ 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 I,and. +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 -7O 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.'' + +[PIates 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 1n 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£e, 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 he]met 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 l5th, 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 haIf 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 FUC10SE, 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 1O 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°, 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°. 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 Island0--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 mi1es 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 1l, 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 he 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 1O 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 can~ons; 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 on]y 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.B0 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 nanufactured 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 1O 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 +impenetrabIe. + +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 l911-1914. + +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) Obscrvations 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 ofthe +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 THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE HOME OF THE BLIZZARD *** + +This file should be named blizz10.txt or blizz10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, blizz11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, blizz10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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