Transcriber Note: Text emphasis denoted as _Italics_.
[Illustration: The Commander of the Expedition]
SHACKLETON IN THE ANTARCTIC BEING THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ANTARCTIC
EXPEDITION, 1907-1909
BY SIR ERNEST SHACKLETON C.V.O.
[Illustration]
LONDON
WILLIAM HEINEMANN
MCMXI
SHACKLETON IN THE ANTARCTIC
ADAPTED FROM
THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC
_First published (Two Volumes) November 1909_ _Popular Edition ( One
Volume) November 1910_
_Copyright London 1909, by William Heinemann, and Washington, U.S.A.,
by J. B. Lippincott Company_
CONTENTS
CHAP PAGE
I. The Expedition 11
II. Supplies and Equipment 15
III. The Ship, the Hut, and Other Necessities 18
IV. The Staff and the Royal Visit 23
V. We Leave Lyttelton 26
VI. The Antarctic Circle 31
VII. The Attempt to Reach King Edward VII Land 36
VIII. Landing of Stores and Equipment 46
IX. The "Nimrod" Leaves Us 52
X. Winter Quarters at Cape Royds Outside 58
XI. Winter Quarters--Inside 63
XII. Sledging Equipment 68
XIII. Our Ponies and Dogs 74
XIV. Mount Erebus 78
XV. Attacking Mount Erebus 80
XVI. The Conquest of Mount Erebus 87
XVII. Preparations for the Winter Months 95
XVIII. Still in the Hut 98
XIX. Preliminary Journeys 104
XX. Arrangements and Instructions 108
XXI. The Start to the South Pole 112
XXII. Onward 117
XXIII. Beyond All Former Footsteps 122
XXIV. The Highway to the South 126
XXV. On the Great Glacier 130
XXVI. On the Plateau to the Farthest South 135
XXVII. Farthest South 142
XXVIII. The Return March 146
XXIX. Struggling Back 151
XXX. The Final Stage 158
XXXI. Notes on the Southern Journey 164
XXXII. The Return of the "Nimrod" 173
XXXIII. The Western Party 178
XXXIV. Instructions for the Northern Party 184
XXXV. The Narrative of Professor David. We Start for
the Magnetic Pole 187
XXXVI. Across the Ice Barrier 193
XXXVII. The Drygalski Glacier 199
XXXVIII. Crevasses 203
XXXIX. Upwards and Onwards 208
XL. The Magnetic Pole 212
XLI. Returning 216
XLII. Obstacles In Our Course 222
XLIII. Safe Aboard 226
XLIV. The Return to New Zealand 231
XLV. Penguins. (Some Notes by James Murray,
Biologist to the Expedition) 238
XLVI. The Adelies and Their Chicks 245
XLVII. Notes 254
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Section Showing Interior of _Nimrod_ 13
Seal Suckling Young and Taking no Notice of Motor-Car 17
Their Majesties King Edward and Queen Alexandra
Inspecting the Equipment on the _Nimrod_ at Cowes 21
The Towing Steamer _Koonya_ as Seen from the
_Nimrod_ in a Heavy Sea. This Particular Wave Came
Aboard the _Nimrod_ and Did Considerable Damage 25
View of the Great Ice Barrier 29
Pushing Through Heavy Floes in the Ross Sea. The
Dark Line on the Horizon is a "Water Sky" and
Indicates the Existence of Open Sea 33
Flight of Antarctic Petrels 37
_Nimrod_ Moored Off Tabular Bergs 41
Adelie Penguins at Cape Royds 45
The _Nimrod_ Lying Off the Penguin Rookery, Cape Royds 49
The Ponies Transporting Coal on Sledges at Back Door Bay 53
Digging Out Stores After the Cases Had Been Buried in
Ice During a Blizzard 57
Winter Quarters 61
The First Slopes of Erebus 65
Marston in His Bed 69
Plan of the Hut at Winter Quarters 73
A Group of the Shore Party at the Winter Quarters 77
Ice Flowers on Newly-Formed Sea Ice Early in the Winter 81
One Thousand Feet Below the Active Cone 85
The "Lion" of Erebus 89
The Crater of Erebus, 900 Feet Deep and Half a Mile wide.
Steam is Seen Rising on the Left. The Photograph
was Taken from the Lower Part of the Crater Edge 93
The Type Case and Printing Press for the Production of
the "Aurora Australis" in Joyce's and Wild's Cubicle
known as "The Rogues' Retreat" 99
Preparing a Sledge During the Winter 103
The Leader of the Expedition in Winter Garb 107
The Motor-Car in the Garage, Maize-Crusher on the Right 111
The Southern Party Marching into the White Unknown 115
Cape Barne and Inaccessible Island by Moonlight 119
New Land. The Party Ascended Mount Hope and Sighted
the Great Glacier, up which They Marched Through the
Gap. The Main Body of the Glacier Joins the Barrier
Further to the Left 129
Lower Glacier Depot. The Stores Were Buried in the
Snow Near the Rock in the Foreground 133
The Camp below "The Cloud Maker" 137
Facsimile of Page of Shackleton's Diary 141
The Farthest South Camp After Sixty Hours' Blizzard 145
Farthest South, January 9, 1909 149
The Camp Under the Granite Pillar, Half a Mile from the
Lower Glacier Depot, Where the Party Camped on
January 27 153
Shackleton Standing by the Broken Southern Sledge,
Which was Replaced by Another at Grisi Depot 157
Return Journey of the Southern Party: At the Bluff Depot 161
The Southern Party on Board the _Nimrod_ 165
The _Nimrod_ Pushing Through Heavy Pack Ice On Her
Way South 171
The _Nimrod_ Held Up in the Ice 177
The Bluff Depot 181
The Motor Hauling Stores for a Depot 185
Loaded Sledge Showing the Distance Recorder or Sledge-meter 191
The Northern Party on the Plateau, New Year's Day 201
The Northern Party at the South Magnetic Pole 209
Ready to Start Home 217
A View of the Hut in Summer 227
Emperor Penguins 237
An Adelie Calling for a Mate after Commencing the Nest 243
Adelie Trying to Mother a Couple of Well-Grown Strangers 247
Penguins Listening to the Gramophone During the Summer 251
CHAPTER I
THE EXPEDITION
Men go out into the void spaces of the world for various
reasons. Some are incited simply by a love of adventure, some have
a keen thirst for scientific knowledge, and others are drawn away
from trodden paths by the mysterious fascination of the unknown. I
think that in my own case it was a combination of these factors that
determined me to try my fortune once again in the frozen south.
I had been invalided home before the conclusion of the _Discovery_
expedition, and I had the keenest desire to see more of the vast
continent that lies amid the Antarctic snows and glaciers. Indeed the
stark polar lands grip the hearts of men who have lived on them in
a manner that can hardly be understood by people who have never got
outside the pale of civilisation. I was convinced, moreover, that an
expedition on the lines I had in view could justify itself by the
results of its scientific work.
The _Discovery_ expedition had performed splendid service in several
important branches of science, and I believed that a second expedition
could carry the work still further. For instance, the southern limits
of the Great Ice Barrier had not been defined, and it was important to
the scientific world that information should be gained regarding the
movement of the ice-sheet that forms the barrier. I also wanted to
discover what lay beyond the mountains to the south of latitude 82° 17′
and whether the Antarctic continent rose to a plateau similar to the
one found by Captain Scott beyond the western mountains.
There was much also to be done in the fields of meteorology, zoology,
biology, mineralogy and general geology, so much in fact that apart
from the wish to gain a higher latitude the expedition seemed to be
justified on scientific grounds alone.
The difficulty that confronts most men who wish to undertake
exploration work is that of finance, and for some time I was faced
by financial problems; but when the governments of Australia and New
Zealand came to my assistance, the position became more satisfactory.
In the _Geographical Journal_ for March 1907, I outlined my plan of
campaign, but this had materially to be changed later on owing to
circumstances. "The shore-party of nine or twelve men will winter with
sufficient equipment to enable three separate parties to start out in
the spring," I announced. "One party will go east, and, if possible,
across the Barrier to the new land known as King Edward VII Land, the
second party will proceed south over the same route as that of the
southern sledge-party of the _Discovery_, the third party will possibly
proceed westward over the mountains, and, instead of crossing in a line
due west, will strike towards the magnetic pole. The main changes in
equipment will be that Siberian ponies will be taken for the sledge
journeys both east and south, and also a specially designed motor-car
for the southern journey. I do not intend to sacrifice the scientific
utility of the expedition to a mere record-breaking journey, but say
frankly, all the same, that one of my great efforts will be to reach
the southern geographical pole."
[Illustration: Section, showing Interior of "Nimrod"
1. Forecastle. 2. Stores. 3. Chain locker. 4. Fore hold. 5. Lower hold.
6. Stoke hold. 7. Carpenters' shop. 8. Cook's Galley. 9. Engine room.
10. Engine room. 11. Boiler. 12. After hold. 13. Lower hold. 14. After
bridge. 15. Officer's quarters. 16 Captain's quarters. 17. Oyster
alley. (_See page 19._)]
My intention was that the expedition should leave New Zealand at the
beginning of 1908, and proceed to winter quarters on the Antarctic
continent, the ship to land men and stores and then return. By
avoiding the ship being frozen in, the use of a relief ship would be
unnecessary, as the same vessel could come south again the following
summer and take us off.
Before we finally left England I had decided that if possible I would
establish my base on King Edward VII Land instead of at the _Discovery_
winter quarters in McMurdo Sound, so that we might break entirely new
ground. The narrative will show how, as far as this particular matter
was concerned, my plans were upset by the demands of the situation.
Owing largely to the unexpected loss of ponies before the winter, the
journey to King Edward VII Land over the Barrier was not attempted.
As the expedition was entirely my own venture I decided that I would
have no committee, and thus I avoided delays that are inevitable when a
group of men have to arrive at a decision on points of detail. The aim
of one who undertakes to organise such an expedition must be to provide
for every contingency, and in dealing with this Work I was fortunate
enough to secure the assistance of Mr. Alfred Reid, who had already
gained considerable experience in connection with previous polar
ventures, and who--as manager of the expedition--was invaluable to me.