A Capable Crew—A Modern Franklin—Early Discoveries—Frozen in—An Historic Journey—The Record of "Farthest South"—How the Record was Won—Speedy Travelling—Receding Ice Limits—A Dying Glacier—The Secret of the Barrier—A Fatal Gale—Lost in the Snow—An Antarctic Chute—Prolonged Slumber—Antarctic Coal—Home with Honour.

The British Expedition, despatched under the international agreement, was destined, not only to surpass the achievements of the other two, but also to establish a series of records superior to anything that has yet been accomplished in Polar exploration, either in the northern or southern hemispheres.

The members of the expedition, consisting of Naval officers and men, officers of the Mercantile Marine (Royal Naval Reserve), and civilian scientists, sailed from Cowes on August 6, 1901, on board the Discovery, a vessel specially built for the purpose. The ship proceeded to New Zealand, and left there on November 28, 1901, for Victoria Land. They arrived there December 24.

MAP OF SOUTH POLAR REGIONS.

The black line marks the voyage of the Discovery; the dotted line the course of the record-making Southern sledge journey. On the right of the map are seen the winter quarters of the German Expedition under Prof. von Drygalski.

In selecting the members of the expedition, great care had been exercised, and the excellent results of the voyage may, in a great measure, be attributed to this. No other qualification than fitness was allowed to rank with the selecting committee, so that every one on board the Discovery knew what he had to do and was capable of doing it. This is particularly true in regard to the commander, Captain Robert F. Scott, R.N., of whom the President of the Royal Geographical Society justly said: "the skilful and bold navigator, the ideal director of a scientific staff, the organiser of measures securing the health and good spirits of his people, and the beloved commander of the chosen band of explorers who are ready to face hardships and dangers to secure his approval." Throughout the entire period the expedition was away, the attitude of the commander was entirely in keeping with the grandest traditions of the service to which he belonged, and would serve to place his name in the brilliant list of Polar heroes quite apart from the splendid feats he personally performed while in the Antarctic. Prominent amongst these stands the record of "farthest South," achieved by Scott and two comrades, in September 1902, when the flag was carried to 82° 17' S., or some 250 miles nearer the Pole than it had yet been.

THE DISCOVERY LYING IN WINTER QUARTERS, FROZEN IN.

The large hut could accommodate the whole crew, and was built in case of a disaster to the ship. The smaller huts in the foreground were used for magnetic and astronomical observations.

The first point touched by the Discovery on her voyage along the coast of Victoria Land was Cape Adare, where the Newnes expedition, under Borchegrevinck, passed the winter of 1899. Here a brief landing was effected, a collection made of the rocks in the neighbourhood, and a cairn built to hold a record for the information of the relief ship, which was to be sent out in the following year. Continuing the voyage to the South, the explorers visited Wood Bay, and, subsequently, discovered an excellent harbour as far south as 76° 31' S.

Landing at Cape Crozier on January 22, and leaving another record there for the information of the relief ship, the Discovery went east along the ice barrier until the 165th meridian of longitude was passed, when the barrier was found to trend to the north, the sea becoming rapidly more shoal. The coast line was followed to 76° S., or 150 miles further than the expeditions before had gone. The ship was then turned, and, in 174° E. longitude, a place was seen where an inlet ran into the barrier. A sledge party went on the ice and penetrated as far as 78° 50' S., the point reached by Borchegrevinck in his sledge trip.

By this time it was realised that winter quarters must be selected, and the Discovery sailed to that part of the sea where Mount Erebus and Mount Terror reared their lofty heads on the land. Examining the land for a suitable site for the camp, it was learned that both Erebus and Terror are situated on an island, and not, as was formerly believed, on the mainland. At the opposite end of the island another smaller volcanic mount was seen, with a still smaller one between it and the two giants. The larger of these was named Mount Discovery, and, near its base, the site of the camp was chosen. The ship was worked in as close to the shore as was possible before the heavy frost set in, and, as she was well constructed to withstand the pressure of ice, she remained in this position until, after the second winter had been passed, the relief ship arrived with sufficient explosives to blast a way out of the ice.

As soon as the members of the expedition had settled down and all was made snug, trips were taken in all directions along the coast and over the ice. The longest trip, taken in the following September, was arranged for, food depÔts being established as far to the south as the stores could be conveyed.

On this trip, the historic one of the expedition, only three went. These were Captain Scott, Lieutenant Shackleton, and Dr. Wilson. They had dogs with them at the start, but the animals grew sick and weak, and were, at last, quite useless in dragging the sledges. The three harnessed themselves to the sledges in place of the dogs, and, handicapped with this weight of 240 lbs. each, they pushed on until they reached 82° 17' S. From the position they then occupied they were able to see as far as 83° 20' S., and would have gone as far, if not farther, but for an insuperable obstacle that confronted them. The route they followed was over rough ice, often yawning with deep crevasses, down which the sledges had to be lowered and then hauled up on the other side. Some of them were veritable chasms, but they faded into insignificance when compared with the one which opened before the explorers at the end of the march. For a time they examined this mighty ice ravine to see if it were not possible, one way or another, to get across. The descent might have been possible, and there was no great difficulty in crossing the floor of it, but the far side rose in an unbroken precipice, and they recognised it as insurmountable, even to such daring and intrepid climbers as themselves.

From the latitude they had attained they were able to learn that Victoria Land is traversed by a range of high mountains, which, in 82° S., were from 10,000 to 14,000 feet high. A line of foot-hills, closely resembling Admiralty Mountains in appearance, rose in longitude 160° E. The route gradually ascended, as the party progressed, until a level unbroken plain was reached, the altitude of which was 9000 feet. The coast line could be seen stretching away due south to the 83rd parallel.

On the way back Lieutenant Shackleton unfortunately ruptured a blood-vessel during an unusually heavy strain at the sledges. The strength of all the party was severely taxed by the hardships of the journey, and the sudden incapacitating of one of the three was a matter of grave anxiety. He was relieved of the weight of his sledge, but they all realised that if they were to get back alive to the ship, Lieutenant Shackleton would have to walk, as the other two were utterly unable to drag the sledges, with the food and supplies, and his weight as well. With heroic determination he followed them on foot, only complaining that his injury effectively prevented him from doing his share in the hard work. So they journeyed, arriving at the ship after an absence of ninety-four days, during which they must have covered quite a thousand miles. The speed at which they travelled, when the ice conditions would allow them to proceed, was as high as thirty-two miles a day, a speed far greater than has been attained by other explorers, with one exception, even when the sledges have been drawn by dog-teams.

THE "FARTHEST SOUTH" SLEDGE PARTY IN A BLIZZARD.

Drawn by Stanley L. Wood.

The exception was the record set by another party of the Discovery explorers, who, without dogs, and with heavy sledges (240 lbs. a man), covered thirty-three miles a day over the inland ice. This party went out in a westerly direction and passed over the interior of Victoria Land, which they found covered with an ice-cap forming a great plain 9000 feet above the sea-level. They were fifty-three days absent, and, at their farthest, were 142 miles from the ship. When they turned back, the plain on the horizon seemed to be higher than where they stood, and rocks occasionally showed. Between this plain and the coast they had several magnificent views of glaciers. In following one down they had an interesting evidence of the fact that the ice in these regions is receding, though at a rate that will require many centuries to pass before it is all melted and the land made available for human settlement.

They had followed down the glacier for a day, and the ice became so very rough they were obliged to leave their sledges behind them and proceed with the greatest care. As they continued to descend, the glacier gradually dwindled and then suddenly ended in a low wall of ice. In the valley beyond were some frozen lakes, beyond which the valley changed into a series of deep, narrow gorges, filled with long lines and confused heaps of stones and other dÉbris, shed from the glacier as it melted. Perhaps in this valley, more than anywhere else, lay the evidences of what was happening and what had been. There lay the glacier, inert and dead, while the summer sun was gradually wasting its huge mass. On either side its shrinking tributaries had already severed their connection with it, and receded up the mountain sides. Everything pointed to receding glaciation. Not only were the gorges filled with the stones and dÉbris of the moraines, but thousands of feet up the hill-sides they lay in clear-cut lines, showing how vast the proportions of the glacier had once been.

Other glaciers observed gave the same indications. One of these, named the Ferrar Glacier, after the discoverer, was described as containing probably as much ice as any hitherto known in the world. Two others, the Barnes and the Shackleton Glaciers, each contained a great deal more; but all were greatly shrunk from the tremendous proportions they must once have had, and which could be traced by the lines of moraines. It was from observing these glaciers and speculating upon the immeasurable quantity of ice that once must have slowly flowed along them to the sea, that a theory was formed as to the real significance of the great ice barrier lying to the south of the Antarctic Circle. The opinion was generally entertained that the ice in this barrier is afloat. It had receded from the time when Ross first discovered it. Even while the expedition was in the neighbourhood it receded. In September 1902, a depÔt was established on the ice at a line drawn between a volcanic peak at the extreme end of Minna Bluff and the top of Mount Discovery. In November 1903, this spot was found to have moved 608 yards out of the alignment, moving east of north. On the sides of Mount Terror, 800 feet above the existing surface of the barrier, moraines marked its original height. From these facts it was reasoned that at one time the ice forming the cap over the Antarctic continent was enormously deeper than it is to-day, and that it then extended out into the Antarctic Ocean for probably hundreds of miles further than it now reaches. The slow but steady flow of the great ice stream had absolutely filled the sea off the coast of Victoria Land, and the barrier, now existing, was the remains of this once mighty mass.

It was on one of these exploring journeys that a curious experience befell one party, a member of which, unfortunately, lost his life in consequence. The party were out with sledges and had halted for the midday meal when a violent gale sprang up. As usual, the wind set the snow in motion, and soon the men found themselves in a whirling cloud of finely powdered snow which entirely shut out their view in all directions. Believing themselves to be in the vicinity of the ship, they left the sledges and set out to march to the vessel. Soon they found themselves on a slope which they fancied they recognised as the one that led down to where the ship lay in the ice. As they cautiously advanced, one of the men missed his footing. What with the force of the wind, the insecure foothold on the moving snow, and the declivity of the slope, he was unable to stop himself, and slipped past his comrades and out of sight in the whirling snow with the speed of lightning.

The officer in charge halted the other men, and all crouched down, expecting their comrade to rejoin them as soon as he secured his footing. After waiting some time without his appearing, the officer advanced to find him. With the first step he also went out of sight as though he had been shot from a gun. Then a third went forward, and was at once lost to the sight of the others in the same way. The remainder of the men, after waiting for some time, concluded the three had reached the ship, and determined to set out after them. One man, a young New Zealander named Hare, set off to reach the sledges and recover his mittens. In the confusion of the whirling snow his absence was not noted, and the rest of the party set out for the ship, which they were satisfied was quite near. As a matter of fact, they were entirely out of their bearings. The man who took the lead walked very cautiously down the slope. He had heavy tacks in the boots he was wearing, and was thus enabled to get a firm hold of the snow. To this he owed his life, for, through the drifting snow, he suddenly saw an open chasm yawn at his feet. He threw himself back and shouted to those behind to stop. All tried to do so, but the man next to the leader was unable to pull up. His feet shot from under him, and he was seen to dash past them like a flash.

Out of the nine who had originally formed the party, four now remained together. Warned by the sudden disappearance of the man Vince, who had shot past them over the precipice, the four moved with the greatest deliberation and caution. At length they were able to reach the shore and locate the ship, whither they hastened with the news.

A DRIFTING ICE FLOE ATTACHED TO THE DISCOVERY BY A ROPE, WHILE THE CREW ARE DIGGING SUFFICIENT ICE TO REPLENISH THE FRESH WATER SUPPLY OF THE SHIP.

The alarm was at once given, steam was got up, the siren was set to work, and its shrill notes penetrated far and wide, while relief parties were organised and despatched. Knowing the route the men were to have taken, no difficulty was experienced in tracking down the abandoned sledges. But on arrival there the relief party was astounded to find the officer and the two men who had vanished from the others while descending the snow slope. The astonishment was increased when not one of the three could explain how they had succeeded in returning to the sledges. They remembered their experiences as they were hurled down the snow slope, and each one told the same tale. Immediately they had stood up against the gale they felt their feet go from under them, they rushed forward with incredible speed, so fast, indeed, as to have absolutely no control over themselves, and then they plunged into a mass of soft snow. There they found themselves and one another. They were still dazed when found. Subsequent examination showed that the slope down which they had been hurled extended for a distance of five hundred yards and terminated with the bank of snow, into which they had plunged. The bank was within fifteen feet of a cliff which had a clear drop of two hundred feet to the shore-ice below.

It was over this cliff that Vince had gone, and no trace of the unfortunate fellow was ever found. Nor were the relief parties successful in discovering Hare, the New Zealander. When all had returned to the ship he was also given up as lost, but to the amazement of every one he was seen returning to the ship on the second day after the gale. He explained that on his way back to the sledges he had fallen in the snow and had lost consciousness, returning to his senses some time after to find himself completely buried in a snow-drift. He had struggled out and made his way to the ship. It was his turn to be amazed when he was told he had been searched for during the whole of the previous day. It was some time before he would believe that what he referred to as to-day was in reality yesterday. He had lain in the snow for a period of thirty-six hours. When he fell, the heavy snow had apparently covered him, and so kept the heat of his body from leaving him. He had thus sunk into a heavy snow-sleep, and his physical stamina had done the rest in helping him towards recovery. His escape, without even a frost-bite, is unique in the annals of Polar experiences.

During the second year of their stay, a discovery was made, which, from a geological point of view, exceeded in value all the others put together. It was in October that a sledge party set out to penetrate into the interior of Victoria Land. They travelled over the ice plain at an average altitude of 9000 feet until, in 78° S. and 146° 30' E., they were at a distance of 270 miles from the ship. The interior of the land seemed to stretch in a vast continental plateau continuously at a height of 9000 feet. In one of the many ravines examined, sandstone strata were discovered, in one of which there was a narrow seam of fossil plants. The "coal measure" was only one-eighth of an inch in thickness, but within it were found specimens of plants belonging to the Miocene period.

In February 1904 the relief ship Morning arrived at the station, and, with the explosives she brought with her, the Discovery was freed from the ice and commenced her homeward journey. She had completed a stay of two winters in a latitude 500 miles further South than any other ship had wintered, while the expedition had reaped a success such as no other expedition has ever achieved in either Arctic or Antarctic regions.

THE END

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