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Title: The Home of the Blizzard

Author: Sir Douglas Mawson

Release date: July 1, 2004 [eBook #6137]
Most recently updated: March 20, 2013

Language: English

Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6137

Credits: Produced by Geoffrey Cowling, and David Widger

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOME OF
THE BLIZZARD ***

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

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS

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
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
COLOUR PLATES

CHAPTER I. THE PROBLEM AND PREPARATIONS

CHAPTER II. THE LAST DAYS AT HOBART AND THE
VOYAGE TO MACQUARIE ISLAND

CHAPTER III. FROM MACQUARIE ISLAND TO ADELIE
LAND

CHAPTER IV. NEW LANDS

CHAPTER V. FIRST DAYS IN ADELIE LAND

CHAPTER VI. AUTUMN PROSPECTS

CHAPTER VII. THE BLIZZARD

CHAPTER VIII. DOMESTIC LIFE

CHAPTER IX. MIDWINTER AND ITS WORK;

CHAPTER X. THE PREPARATION OF SLEDGING
EQUIPMENT

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

CHAPTER XVII. WITH STILLWELL'S AND
BICKERTON'S PARTIES

CHAPTER XVIII. THE SHIP'S STORY

CHAPTER XIX. THE WESTERN BASE—
ESTABLISHMENT AND EARLY ADVENTURES

CHAPTER XX. THE WESTERN BASE—WINTER AND
SPRING

CHAPTER XXI. THE WESTERN BASE—BLOCKED ON
THE SHELF-ICE

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

CHAPTER XXVI. A LAND OF STORM AND MIST

CHAPTER XXVII. THROUGH ANOTHER YEAR

CHAPTER XXVIII. THE HOMEWARD CRUISE

APPENDIX.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PG Editor's Note: Only a few of the illustrations
have been included in this eBook. They are grouped
at the end of the text.

Sir Douglas Mawson (Photogravure)

In Memoriam cross at Cape Denison (Photogravure)

COLOUR PLATES
Virgin solitudes

A weather-worn snow-berg
A grottoed iceberg
The Mertz Glacier Tongue, at a point 50 miles from the land
The Grey Rock Hills at Cape Denison
Winter quarters, Adelie Land
The Alpine-glow
"Antarctica is a world of colour, brilliant and intensely pure..."
Sledging in Adelie Land
[Volume II]
Islets fringing the mainland: view looking west from Stillwell Island
Rafts of floe-ice
Before sunrise: camped near the Hippo Nunatak
Avalanche rocks
Delay Point
The great "Bergschrund" of the Denman Glacier
Tussock slopes and misty highlands
The shack and its vicinity
A Victoria penguin on the nest
A growth of lichen on red sandstone
Antarctic marine life
Brought up in the deep-sea trawl
PLATES
Professor T. W. Edgeworth David
Professor Orme Masson
Captain John King Davis

The wall of the Antarctic Continent
Finner whales of the South
The 'Aurora' crossing the equator, August 1911
Frank Wild
Ginger and her family on the voyage from London
Queen's Wharf, Hobart, an hour before sailing, December 2, 1911
The last view of Hobart nestling below Mt. Wellington
A big, following sea
McLean walking aft in rough weather
Cruising along the west coast of Macquarie Island
A Giant Petrel on the nest
A Young Giant Petrel on the nest. Caroline Cove
The wreck of the "Clyde"
The boat harbour—Hassleborough Bay
The North End of Macquarie Island showing Wireless Hill. The living
hut is at the north end of the isthmus, with North-East Bay on the right and
Hassleborough Bay on the left side
The 'Aurora' anchored in Hassleborough Bay. In the foreground giant
seaweed is swinging in the wash of the surge
A Wanderer Albatross at rest on the water
Hunter tickles a sleeping baby Sea Elephant
A typical Table-Topped neve berg originating from floating Shelf Ice
An Antarctic iceberg with a reticulation of crevasses on its tilted surface.
This berg had no doubt taken its origin from the ice of the coastal cliffs of
Adelie Land
In Pack-Ice
A cavern in the wall (120 feet) of the shelf ice of the Mertz Glacier-
Tongue
A glimpse from within the cavern (shown in the preceding illustration)
The 'Aurora' in Commonwealth Bay; the rising plateau of Adelie Land in
the distance

The invaluable motor-launch; left to right, Hamilton, Bickerton, and
Blake
The whale-boat with passengers for the shore; Wild at the steering oar
First steps in the formation of the Main Base Station; landing of stores
and equipment at the head of the Boat Harbour, Cape Denison. In the
distance men are to be seen sledging the materials to the site selected for the
erection of the hut
A view of a rocky stretch of the Adelie Land Coast west of
Commonwealth Bay
A panorama looking west from winter quarters. On the left and in the
distance are the rising slopes of the inland ice. The moraine is in the
foreground
A panorama of the sea front looking eastward from winter quarters. The
plateau slopes are visible to a height of l500 feet
In open pack-ice
The face of the Shackleton Ice-Shelf 100 miles north of the mainland.
Each strongly-marked horizontal band on the sheer wall represents a year's
snowfall
The 'Aurora' anchored to thick floe-ice 100 miles north of the western
base, Queen Mary Land. In this region the annual snowfall is very heavy, so
that it is possible that the great thickness of floe is due to the accumulation
of one year
A berg with inclusions of mud and rock. Long. 10 degrees E.
The 'Flying-Fox' viewed from the floe-ice below the brink of the shelf ice
on which the western party wintered
Summer at the boat harbour, Cape Denison
An Adelie penguin on the nest defending her eggs
The living-hut, nearing completion. The tents and shelter built of benzine
cases used as temporary quarters are shown
The completion of the hut—cheering the Union Jack as it was hoisted on
the flag pole
Adelie penguins at home, Cape Denison
A view of the main base hut in February 1912, just prior to its
completion. Within a few days of the taking of this picture the hut became

so buried in packed snow that ever afterwards little beyond the roof was to
be seen
Weddell seals asleep on pancake ice
Adelie penguin after weathering a severe blizzard. observe the lumps of
ice adhering to it
A Panoramic view looking south from near the hut. In the distance are
the slopes of the inland ice-sheet. In the foreground is the terminal moraine.
Between the rocks and the figure is a zone where rapid thawing takes place
in the summer owing to the amount of dirt contained in the ice
A panoramic view looking north towards the sea. In the middle of the
picture is Round Lake. The hut is towards the left-hand side and the
anemograph is on the hill. The men are practising ski running
An evening view from Cape Denison
The head of a Weddell seal
A Weddell seal scratching himself. "Drat those fleas!"
The meteorologist with an ice-mask
Where the plateau descends to Commonwealth Bay
MacCormick Skua gull on the nest with egg
Chick of MacCormick Skua gull on the nest
Protection—Adelie penguin and chick
The lower moraine, composed of water worn boulders, Cape Denison
An ice-polished surface, Cape Denison
The boat harbour in March. The hut is seen dimly through light drift
"Race of the Spray Smoke's Hurtling Sheet"
Walking against a strong wind
Picking ice for domestic purposes in a hurricane wind. Note the high
angle at which Webb is leaning on the wind
Leaning upon the wind; Madigan near the meteorological screen
Stillwell collecting geological specimens in the wind
In the blizzard; getting ice for domestic purposes from the glacier
adjacent to the hut

An incident in March soon after the completion of the hut: Hodgeman,
the night watchman, returning from his rounds outside, pushes his way into
the veranda through the rapidly accumulating drift snow
Mertz in the snow tunnels on his way to the interior of the hut with a box
of ice for the melters
Mertz emerging from the trap-door in the roof
Working in the hurricane wind, Adelie Land
Getting ice for domestic purposes. Whetter picking; Madigan with the
ice-box
The ice-cliff coastline east of winter quarters
Madigan's frostbitten face
Correll, Bage, McLean, Hodgeman, Hunter, and Bickerton
A winter afternoon scene in the hut. From the left: Mertz, McLean,
Madigan, Hunter, Hodgeman. High on the left is the acetylene generator
Taking a turn in the kitchen department. Hunter, Hodgeman, Bage. The
doorway on the right is the entrance to the workroom
A corner of the hut—Bage mending his sleeping bag. The bunks in two
tiers around the wall are almost hidden by the clothing hanging from the
ceiling
A winter evening at the hut. Standing up: Mawson, Madigan, Ninnis, and
Correll. Sitting round the table from left to right: Stillwell, Close, McLean,
Hunter, Hannam, Hodgeman, Murphy, Lasebon, Bickerton, Mertz, and
Bage
A morning in the workshop. From left to right: Hodgeman, Hunter,
Lasebon, Correll, and Hannam. The petrol engine part of the wireless plant
on the right
Welding by thermit in the workroom, Adelie Land. Bickerton, Correll,
Hannam and Mawson
In the catacombs. Ninnis on the right
Bage and his tide gauge which was erected on the frozen bay ice
Raising the lower section of the northern wireless mast
The weathered cliffs of a glacier sheet pushing out into the frozen sea
east of Cape Denison

Bage at the door of his astronomical transit House
Webb and his magnetograph house
At work on the air-tractor sledge in the hangar; Bage, Ninnis, and
Bickerton
Webb adjusting the instruments in the magnetograph house a calm noon
in winter, Cape Denison
The ridged surface of a lake frozen during a blizzard
A lively scene in the vicinity of an Antarctic Petrel rookery, Cape Hunter
A Weddell seal swimming below the ice-foot
A rascally Sea Leopard casting a wicked eye over the broken floe at
Land's End. Main Base
A Crab-Eater seal; common amongst the pack-ice
The rare Ross seal
One of McLean's cultures; bacteria and moulds; illustrating micro-
organisms in the hut
Ice flowers on the newly formed sea-ice
Madigan visiting the anemograph screen in a high wind
The Puffometer, designed to record maximum gust velocities
An enormous cone of snow piled up by the blizzards under the coastal
cliffs
The cliffs at Land's End, Cape Denison. On the brow of the cliff in front
of the figure (Mertz) is a good example of a snow cornice
On the frozen sea in a cavern eaten out by the waves under the coastal
ice-cliffs
Ice stalactites draping the foreshores
A grotto of "mysteries"
The relief of Wild's party. The "Aurora" approaching the floe at the
western base, February 1913
Pacing the deck: Capt. John King Davis and Capt. James Davis
An Adelie penguin feeding its young
"Amundsen", one of the sledge dogs sent down to us from Amundsen's
South Polar Expedition

At the foot of a snow ramp beneath the coastal ice-cliffs, Commonwealth
Bay
At Aladdin's Cave. The vertical passage leading down into the cave itself
is situated immediately behind the figure on the right
Beneath the surface of the plateau. Bage preparing a meal in Aladdin's
Cave in August
Laseron and Hunter using the collapsible steel handcart in preparing for
dredging on the frozen sea
Greenland Sledging Dogs—"John Bull" and "Ginger"—tethered on the
rocks adjacent to the hut
The Mackellar islets viewed from an elevation of 800 feet on the
mainland
Snow Petrels preparing to nest, Cape Denison
A Snow Petrel on the nest
Adelie penguins diving into the sea in quest of food
Adelie penguins jumping on to the floe
Mertz in an icy ravine
Mertz and Ninnis arrive with the dogs at Aladdin's Cave
Mertz emerging from Aladdin's Cave
A team of dogs eagerly following Ninnis
The dogs enjoy their work
Speeding east
A distant view of Aurora Peak from the west
Lieutenant B. E. S. Ninnis, R.F.
Mertz, Ninnis, and Mawson erecting the tent in a high wind
A later stage in erection of the tent in a wind (one man is inside)
Dr. Xavier Mertz
Pages from Dr. Mertz' diary
Mawson emerging from his makeshift tent
The half-sledge used in the last stage of Mawson's journey
"...The long journey was at an end—a terrible chapter of my life was
finished!"

The southern supporting party on the plateau. Hunter, Murphy and
Laseron
The southern and supporting parties building a depot on the plateau
Depot made by the southern and supporting parties at a point 67 miles
south of Commonwealth Bay. Murphy, Laseron, and Hunter packing sledge
in the foreground; Bage in the distance
A rough sledging surface of high Sastrugi encountered by the southern
party 200 miles S.S.E. of the hut
Farthest south camp of southern party, 17 "minutes" (about 50 miles)
from the South Magnetic Pole. Bage near sledge; Webb taking set of
magnetic observations behind snow barricade
Sastrugi furrowed by the mighty winds of the plateau, 250 miles S.S.E.
of winter quarters, Adelie Land
Under reefed sail. Southern party 290 miles S.S.E. of winter quarters,
Adelie Land
Hurley in sledging gear
Correll on the edge of a ravine in the ice sheet
Madigan's, Murphy's, and Stillwell's parties breaking camp at Aladdin's
Cave at the commencement of the summer journeys
The surface of the continental ice sheet in the coastal region where it is
badly crevassed
Working the sledge through broken sea ice, 46 miles off King George V
Land. Madigan, Correll and McLean
The "Organ-Pipes" of Horn Bluff (1000 feet in height) pushing out from
the mainland
Madigan, Correll and McLean camped below the cliffs of Horn Bluff
(1000 FEET IN height). Columnar Dolerite is seen surmounting a
sedimentary series partly buried in the talus-slope
An outcrop of a sedimentary formation containing bands of coal
projecting through the talus slope below the columnar dolerite at Horn Bluff
The face of a granite outcrop near penguin point. At its base is a tide
crack and ice foot
The granite cliffs at Penguin Point where Cape Pigeon and Silver Petrel
rookeries were found; the site of New Year's Camp

[VOLUME II]
Madigan Nunatak—Close and Laseron standing by the sledge
A desolate camp on the plateau
Sledging rations for three men for three months
Stillwell Island—a haunt of the Silver-Grey petrel
"The Bus", the air-tractor sledge
Bickerton and his sledge with detachable wheels
Amongst the splintered ice where the ice-sheet descends to the sea near
Cape Denison
The big winding-drum for the deep-sea dredging cable
Fletcher with the driver loaded ready to take a sounding
At the provision depot for castaways provided by the New Zealand
Government, Camp Cove, Carnley Harbour, Auckland Island. Primmer on
the right
The brick pier erected at Port Ross, Auckland Islands, by the
magneticians of Sir James Clarke Ross's Expedition
The "Aurora" at anchor in Port Ross, Auckland Islands
The Monagasque trawl hoisted on the derrick: Gray standing by
A remarkable berg, two cusps standing on a single basement. Note that it
has risen considerably out of the sea, exposing old water lines
A portal worn through a berg by the waves
A turreted berg
A Midsummer view of the hut and its neighbourhood, looking S.E.
Forging through pack-ice
Members of the main base party homeward bound, January 1913. From
left to right: back row, Whetter, Hurley, Webb, Hannam, Laseron, Close;
front row, Stillwell, Hunter, Correll, Murphy
"Wireless" Corner in the workshop. Our link with civilization
The "Aurora" anchored to the floe off the western base
The establishment of the western base. Hauling stores to the top of the
ice-shelf

The western base hut in winter. Note the entrance; a vertical hole in the
snow in the foreground
The western base hut—The Grottoes—in summer
An evening camp, Queen Mary Land
A man-hauled sledge
In the veranda of the western base hut—The "Grottoes"—looking
towards the entrance dug vertically down through the snow drift
The wind-weathered igloo built for magnetic observations—western base
Nunatak—Queen Mary Land: showing remarkable moat on windward
side and ramp on lee
Midwinter's dinner in Queen Mary Land, 1912. From left to right:
Behind—Hoadley, Dovers, Watson, Harrisson, Wild. In Front—Jones,
Moyes, Kennedy
A bevy of Emperor penguins on the floe
A yawning crevasse
Wild's party making slow progress in dangerous country
Wild, Kennedy, and Harrisson amongst the abysses of the Denman
glacier
"The whole was the wildest, maddest and yet the grandest thing
imaginable"
Wild's party working their sledges through the crushed ice at the foot of
Denman glacier
The Hippo Nunatak
Dog-sledging
Where the floe-ice meets the Shackleton Shelf
The hummocky floe on the southern margin of the Davis Sea
View showing the young birds massed together at the Emperor penguins'
rookery at Haswell Island
Antarctic petrels on the nest
A Snow petrel chick on the nest
A Silver-Grey petrel on the nest

The symmetrically domed outline of Drygalski Island, low on the
horizon. The island is 1200 feet high and 9 miles in diameter
The main western party on their return to the "Grottoes." from the left:
Hoadley, Jones and Dovers
Blizzard-harassed penguins, after many days buried in the snow
The pancake ice under the cliffs at Land's End
A wonderful canopy of ice
Sastrugi sculptured by the incessant blizzards
The terminal moraine, near the hut, Cape Denison
Disappearing in the drift
The hut looming through the drift
A wall of solid gneiss near winter quarters
An erratic on the moraine. Cape Denison
Frozen spray built up by the blizzards along the shore
A view of the mainland from the Mackellar Islets: ice-capped islets in the
foreground: the rock visible on the mainland is Cape Denison
A Wilson petrel on the nest, Mackellar Islets
The "Aurora" lying at anchor, Commonwealth Bay; in the distance the
ice-slopes of the mainland are visible rising to a height of 3500 feet. In the
foreground is a striking formation originating by the freezing of spray
dashed up by the hurricane wind
The shack: showing the natural rocky protection on the windward side
The interior of the operating hut on Wireless Hill
Weka pecking on the beach
Chicks of the Dominican gull
Macquarie Island Skuas feeding
Bull Sea Elephants fighting
The thermometer screen, Macquarie Island
The wind-recording instruments, Macquarie Island
"Feather bed" terrace near Eagle Point, Macquarie Island
A glacial lake (Major Lake) on Macquarie Island, 600 feet above sea
level

Victoria penguins
View of the wireless station on the summit of Wireless Hill
The wireless operating hut
The wireless engine hut
Panoramic view of Macquarie Island, as seen from Wireless Hill at the
north extremity of the island. The shack is near the bottom of the picture on
the left-hand side: the sealers' hut at the far end of the isthmus: the distant
left-hand point of the coast is the Nuggets: north-east bay on the left:
Hasselborough Bay on the right
A view of the shore at The Nuggets: the sealers' shed on the right. the
bare patches far inland high on the hills above the shed are Royal penguins'
rookeries, from which they travel to the beach in a long procession
Sooty albatrosses nesting
A white Giant Petrel on the nest
A Giant Petrel rookery
The Macquarie Island party. From left to right: Sandell, Ainsworth,
Sawyer, Hamilton, Blake
King penguins
The head of a Sea Leopard, showing fight
A precocious Victoria penguin
Young male Sea Elephants at play
A large Sea Leopard on the beach
A Sea Elephant
A cormorant rookery, Hasselborough Bay
A young King penguin
A Sclater penguin
Royal penguins on the nest
Gentoo penguin and young
A cow Sea Elephant and pup
The head of a bull Sea Elephant
A rookery of Sea Elephants near the shore at the Nelson reef, chiefly
cows and pups

A bull Sea Elephant in a fighting attitude
A cormorant and young on nest
The wild West Coast of Macquarie Island
A Royal penguins rookery
The wreck of the "Gratitude" on the Nuggets beach
Kerguelen Cabbage
Flowering plant
Darby and Joan. Two rare examples of penguins which visited the shack,
Macquarie Island. On the left a Sclater penguin, on the right an albino
Royal penguin
Large erratics and other glacial debris on the summit of Macquarie Island
Pillow-form lava on the highlands of Macquarie Island
Waterfall Lake, of glacial origin
On the plateau-like summit of Macquarie Island; a panorama near the
north end. Glacial lakes and tarns in the foreground
The King penguins rookery, Lusitania Bay
The head of a bull Sea Elephant photographed in the act of roaring
The rookery of Royal penguins at the south end, viewed from a cliff
several hundred feet above it
Young Sea Elephants asleep amongst Royal penguins, south end rookery
Hamilton inspecting a good catch of fish at Lusitania Bay
Hamilton obtaining the blubber of a Sea Elephant for fuel
An illustration of the life on the Mackellar Islets
An ice mushroom amongst the Mackellar Islets
View looking out of a shallow ravine at the eastern extremity of the rocks
at Cape Denison
"Hurley had before him a picture in perfect proportion...."
Antarctic petrels resting on the snow
Silver-grey petrels making love
Looking towards the mainland from Stillwell Island: Silver-grey petrels
nesting in the foreground

Antarctic petrels nesting on the rocky ledges of the cliffs near Cape
Hunter
Icing ship in the pack north of Termination Ice-tongue
Emperor penguins follow the leader into the sea
Emperor penguins jumping on to the floe
Cape Hunter, composed of ancient sedimentary rocks (Phyllites)
Examples of Antarctic marine crustaceans
TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS
Antarctic discoveries preceding the year 1910
Plan and section of the S.Y. 'Aurora"
Map of Macquarie Island by L. R. BLAKE
Ships' tracks in the vicinity of Totten's Land and North's Land
Ships' tracks in the vicinity of Knox Land and Budd Land
Plan of the hut, Adelie Land
Sections across the hut, Adelie Land
The vicinity of the main base, Adelie Land
A section of the coastal slope of the continental ice-sheet inland from
winter quarters, Adelie Land
Wind velocity and wind direction charts for a period of twenty-four
hours, Adelie Land
A comparison of wind velocities and temperatures prevailing at Cape
Royds, McMurdo Sound, and at winter quarters, Adelie Land, during the
months of May and June
The drift-gauge
The wind velocity and wind direction charts for midwinter day
The tide-gauge
Midwinter Day menu at the main base, Adelie Land, 1912
Section through a Nansen sledging cooker mounted on the Primus
Map showing the track of the southern sledging party from the main base
[VOLUME II]
Map showing the remarkable distribution of islets fringing the coast-line
of Adelie Land in the vicinity of Cape Gray

Map showing the tracks of the western sledging party, Adelie Land
Plan illustrating the arrangements for deep-sea trawling on board the
"Aurora"
Map of the Auckland Islands
The "Contents" page of the first number of the "Adelie Blizzard"
The meteorological chart for April 12, 1913, compiled by the
Commonwealth Meteorological Bureau
A diagrammatic sketch illustrating the meteorological conditions at the
main base, noon, September 6, 1913
Plan of the hut, Macquarie Island
Map of the north end of Macquarie Island by L. R. Blake
A section across Macquarie Island through Mt. Elder, by L. R. Blake
A sketch illustrating the distribution of the Mackellar Islets
A section illustrating the moat in the Antarctic continental shelf
Signatures of members of the land parties
A section of the Antarctic plateau from the coast to a point 300 miles
inland, along the route followed by the southern sledging party
A section across a part of the Antarctic continent through the South
Magnetic Pole
A section of the floor of the Southern Ocean between Tasmania and King
George V Land
A section of the floor of the Southern Ocean between Western Australia
and Queen Mary Land
A map showing Antarctic land discoveries preceding 1838
A map showing Antarctic land discoveries preceding 1896
A map of the Antarctic regions as known at the present day
FOLDING MAPS
Regional map showing the area covered by the Australasian Antarctic
Expedition, 1911-1914
King George V Land, showing tracks of the eastern sledging parties from
the main base

Queen Mary Land, showing tracks of the sledging party from the main
base

CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM AND
PREPARATIONS
Notwithstanding the fact that it has been repeatedly stated in the public
press that the Australasian Antarctic expedition had no intention of making
the South Geographical Pole its objective, it is evident that our aims were
not properly realized by a large section of the British public, considering
that many references have appeared in print attributing that purpose to the
undertaking. With three other Antarctic expeditions already in the field, it
appeared to many, therefore, that the venture was entirely superfluous.
The Expedition had a problem sketched in unmistakable feature, and the
following pages will shortly set forth its historical origin and rationale.
The Antarctic problem** assumed its modern aspect after Captain Cook's
circumnavigation of the globe in high southern latitudes, accomplished
between 1772 and 1775. Fact replaced the fiction and surmise of former
times, and maps appeared showing a large blank area at the southern
extremity of the earth, where speculative cartographers had affirmed the
existence of habitable land extending far towards the Equator. Cook's
voyage made it clear that if there were any considerable mass of Antarctic
land, it must indubitably lie within the Antarctic Circle, and be subjected to
such stringent climatic conditions as to render it an unlikely habitation for
man.

** Dr. H. R. Mill has compiled a complete account of Antarctic
exploration in his "Siege of the South Pole." Refer also to the
Historical Appendix for an abridged statement.

Cook's reports of seals on the island of South Georgia initiated in the
Antarctic seas south of America a commercial enterprise, which is still
carried on, and has incidentally thrown much light upon the geography of
the South Polar regions. Indeed, almost the whole of such information, prior
to the year 1839, was the outcome of sealing and whaling projects.
About the year 1840, a wave of scientific enthusiasm resulted in the
dispatch of three national expeditions by France, the United States, and
Great Britain; part at least of whose programmes was Antarctic exploration.

Russia had previously sent out an expedition which had made notable
discoveries.
The contributions to knowledge gained at this period were considerable.
Those carried back to civilization by the British expedition under Ross, are
so well known that they need not be described. The French under Dumont
D'Urville and the Americans under Wilkes visited the region to the
southward of Australia—the arena of our own efforts—and frequent
references will be made to their work throughout this story.
What has been termed the period of averted interest now intervened,
before the modern movement set in with overpowering insistence. It was
not till 1897 that it had commenced in earnest. Since then many adventurers
have gone forth; most of the prominent civilized nations taking their share
in exploration. By their joint efforts some, at least, of the mystery of
Antarctica has been dispelled.
It is now a commonplace, largely in the world of geographical concerns,
that the earth has still another continent, unique in character, whose ultimate
bounds are merely pieced together from a fragmentary outline. The
Continent itself appears to have been sighted for the first time in the year
1820, but no human being actually set foot on it until 1895. The Belgian
expedition under de Gerlache was the first to experience the Antarctic
winter, spending the year 1898 drifting helplessly, frozen in the pack-ice, to
the southward of America. In the following year a British expedition under
Borchgrevinck, wintering at Cape Adare, passed a year upon the Antarctic
mainland.
The main efforts of recent years have been centred upon the two more
accessible areas, namely, that in the American Quadrant** which is
prolonged as a tongue of land outside the Antarctic Circle, being
consequently less beset by ice; secondly, the vicinity of the Ross Sea in the
Australian Quadrant. It is because these two favoured domains have for
special reasons attracted the stream of exploration that the major portion of
Antarctica is unknown. Nevertheless, one is in a position to sketch broad
features which will probably not be radically altered by any future
expeditions.

** For convenience, the Antarctic regions may be referred to in four
main divisions, corresponding with the quadrants of the hemisphere. Of
the several suggestions thrown out by previous writers, the one adopted
here is that based on the meridian of Greenwich, referring the quadrants

to an adjacent continent or ocean. Thus the American Quadrant lies
between 0 degrees and 90 degrees W., the African Quadrant between
0 degrees and 90 degrees E., and the Australian Quadrant between 90
degrees and 180 degrees E. The fourth division is called the Pacific
Quadrant, since ocean alone lies to the north of it.

Certain it is that a continent approaching the combined areas of Australia
and Europe lies more or less buried beneath the South Polar snows; though
any statement of the precise area is insufficient for a proper appreciation of
the magnitude, unless its elevated plateau-like character be also taken into
consideration. It appears to be highest over a wide central crown rising to
more than ten thousand feet. Of the remainder, there is little doubt that the
major portion stands as high as six thousand feet. The average elevation
must far exceed that of any other continent, for, with peaks nineteen
thousand feet above sea-level, its mountainous topography is remarkable.
Along the coast of Victoria Land, in the Australian Quadrant, are some of
the most majestic vistas of alpine scenery that the world affords. Rock
exposures are rare, ice appearing everywhere except in the most favoured
places.
Regarding plant and animal life upon the land there is little to say. The
vegetable kingdom is represented by plants of low organization such as
mosses, lichens, diatoms and algae. The animal world, so far as true land-
forms are concerned, is limited to types like the protozoa (lowest in the
organic scale), rotifera and minute insect-like mites which lurk hidden away
amongst the tufts of moss or on the under side of loose stones. Bacteria,
most fundamental of all, at the basis, so to speak, of animal and vegetable
life, have a manifold distribution.
It is a very different matter when we turn to the life of the neighbouring
seas, for that vies in abundance with the warmer waters of lower latitudes.
There are innumerable seals, many sea-birds and millions of penguins. As
all these breed on Antarctic shores, the coastal margin of the continent is not
so desolate.
In view of the fact that life, including land-mammals, is abundant in the
North Polar regions, it may be asked why analogous forms are not better
represented in corresponding southern latitudes. Without going too deeply
into the question, it may be briefly stated, firstly, that a more widespread
glaciation than at present prevails invested the great southern continent and
its environing seas, within recent geological times, effectually
exterminating any pre-existing land life. Secondly, since that period the

continent has been isolated by a wide belt of ocean from other lands, from
which restocking might have taken place after the manner of the North
Polar regions. Finally, climatic conditions in the Antarctic are, latitude for
latitude, much more severe than in the Arctic.
With regard to climate in general, Antarctica has the lowest mean
temperature and the highest wind-velocity of any land existing. This
naturally follows from the fact that it is a lofty expanse of ice-clad land
circumscribing the Pole, and that the Antarctic summer occurs when the
earth is farther from the sun than is the case during the Arctic summer.
There are those who would impatiently ask, "What is the use of it all?"
The answer is brief.
[TEXT ILLUSTRATION]
Antarctic Land discoveries preceding the year 1910
The polar regions, like any other part of the globe, may be said to be
paved with facts, the essence of which it is necessary to acquire before
knowledge of this special zone can be brought to even a provisional
exactitude. On the face of it, polar research may seem to be specific and
discriminating, but it must be remembered that an advance in any one of the
departments into which, for convenience, science is artificially divided,
conduces to the advantage of all. Science is a homogeneous whole. If we
ignore the facts contained in one part of the world, surely we are hampering
scientific advance. It is obvious to every one that, given only a fraction of
the pieces, it is a much more difficult task to put together a jig-saw puzzle
and obtain an idea of the finished pattern than were all the pieces at hand.
The pieces of the jig-saw puzzle are the data of science.
Though it is not sufficiently recognized, the advance of science is
attended by a corresponding increase in the creature comforts of man.
Again, from an economic aspect, the frozen South may not attract
immediate attention. But who can say what a train of enterprise the future
may bring?
Captain James Cook, on his return to London after the circumnavigation
of Antarctica, held that the far-southern lands had no future. Yet, a few
years later, great profits were being returned to Great Britain and the United
States from sealing-stations established as a result of Cook's own
observations. At the present day, several whaling companies have
flourishing industries in the Antarctic waters within the American Quadrant.

Even now much can be said in regard to the possibilities offered by the
Antarctic regions for economic development, but, year by year, the outlook
will widen, since man is constantly resorting to subtler and more ingenious
artifice in applying Nature's resources. It will be remembered that Charles
Darwin, when in Australia, predicted a very limited commercial future for
New South Wales. But the mastery of man overcame the difficulties which
Darwin's too penetrating mind foresaw.
What will be the role of the South in the progress of civilization and in
the development of the arts and sciences, is not now obvious. As sure as
there is here a vast mass of land with potentialities, strictly limited at
present, so surely will it be cemented some day within the universal plinth
of things.
An unknown coast-line lay before the door of Australia. Following on the
general advance of exploration, and as a sequel to several important
discoveries, the time arrived when a complete elucidation of the Antarctic
problem was more than ever desirable. In the Australian Quadrant, the
broad geographical features of the Ross Sea area were well known, but of
the remainder and greater portion of the tract only vague and imperfect
reports could be supplied.
Before submitting our plans in outline, it will be as well to review the
stage at which discovery had arrived when our Expedition came upon the
scene.
The coast-line of the eastern extremity of the Australian Quadrant,
including the outline of the Ross Sea and the coast west-north-west of Cape
Adare as far as Cape North, was charted by Ross and has been amplified by
seven later expeditions. In the region west of Cape North, recent explorers
had done little up till 1911. Scott in the 'Discovery' had disproved the
existence of some of Wilkes's land; Shackleton in the 'Nimrod' had viewed
some forty miles of high land beyond Cape North; lastly, on the eve of our
departure, Scott's 'Terra Nova' had met two patches of new land—Oates
Land—still farther west, making it evident that the continent ranged at least
two hundred and eighty miles in a west-north-west direction from Cape
Adare.
Just outside the western limit of the Australian Quadrant lies Gaussberg,
discovered by a German expedition under Drygalski in 1902. Between the
most westerly point sighted by the 'Terra Nova' and Gaussberg, there is a

circuit of two thousand miles, bordering the Antarctic Circle, which no
vessel had navigated previous to 1840.
This was the arena of our activities and, therefore, a synopsis of the
voyages of early mariners will be enlightening.
Balleny, a whaling-master, with the schooner 'Eliza Scott' of one hundred
and fifty-four tons, and a cutter, the 'Sabrina' of fifty-four tons, was the first
to meet with success in these waters. Proceeding southward from New
Zealand in 1839, he located the Balleny Islands, a group containing active
volcanoes, lying about two hundred miles off the nearest part of the
mainland and to the north-west of Cape Adare. Leaving these islands,
Balleny sailed westward keeping a look-out for new land. During a gale the
vessels became separated and the 'Sabrina' was lost with all hands. Balleny
in the 'Eliza Scott' arrived safely in England and reported doubtful land in
122 degrees E. longitude, approximately. Dr. H. R. Mill says: "Although the
name of the cutter 'Sabrina' has been given to an appearance of land at this
point, we cannot look upon its discovery as proved by the vague reference
made by the explorers."
On January 1, 1840, Dumont D'Urville sailed southward from Hobart in
command of two corvettes, the 'Astrolabe' and the 'Zelee'. Without much
obstruction from floating ice, he came within sight of the Antarctic coast,
thenceforth known as Adelie Land. The expedition did not set foot on the
mainland, but on an adjacent island. They remained in the vicinity of the
coast for a few days, when a gale sprang up which was hazardously
weathered on the windward side of the pack-ice. The ships then cruised
along the face of flat-topped ice-cliffs, of the type known as barrier-ice or
shelf-ice, which were taken to be connected with land and named Cote
Clarie. As will be seen later, Cote Clarie does not exist.
Dr. H. R. Mill sums up the work done by the French expedition during its
eleven days' sojourn in the vicinity of the Antarctic coast:
"D'Urville's discoveries of land were of but little account. He twice
traced out considerable stretches of a solid barrier of ice, and at one point
saw and landed upon rocks in front of it; but he could only give the vaguest
account of what lay behind the barrier."
Wilkes of the American expedition proceeded south from Sydney at the
close of 1839. His vessels were the 'Vincennes', a sloop of war of seven
hundred and eighty tons, the 'Peacock', another sloop of six hundred and

fifty tons, the 'Porpoise', a gun-brig of two hundred and thirty tons and a
tender, the 'Flying Fish' of ninety-six tons. The scientists of the expedition
were precluded from joining in this part of the programme, and were left
behind in Sydney. Wilkes himself was loud in his denunciation both of the
ships and of the stores, though they had been specially assembled by the
naval department. The ships were in Antarctic waters for a period of forty-
two days, most of the time separated by gales, during which the crews
showed great skill in navigating their ill-fitted crafts and suffered great
hardships.
Land was reported almost daily, but, unfortunately, subsequent
exploration has shown that most of the landfalls do not exist. Several
soundings made by Wilkes were indicative of the approach to land, but he
must have frequently mistaken for it distant ice-masses frozen in the pack.
Experience has proved what deceptive light-effects may be observed amid
the ice and how easily a mirage may simulate reality.
Whatever the cause of Wilkes's errors, the truth remains that Ross sailed
over land indicated in a rough chart which had been forwarded to him by
Wilkes, just before the British expedition set out. More recently, Captain
Scott in the 'Discovery' erased many of the landfalls of Wilkes, and now we
have still further reduced their number. The 'Challenger' approached within
fifteen miles of the western extremity of Wilkes's Termination Land, but
saw no sign of it. The 'Gauss' in the same waters charted Kaiser Wilhelm II
Land well to the south of Termination Land, and the eastward continuation
of the former could not have been visible from Wilkes's ship. After the
voyage of the 'Discovery', the landfalls, the existence of which had not been
disproved, might well have been regarded as requiring confirmation before
their validity could be recognised.
The only spot where rocks were reported in situ was in Adelie Land,
where the French had anticipated the Americans by seven days. Farther
west, earth and stones had been collected by Wilkes from material
embedded in floating masses of ice off the coast of his Knox Land. These
facts lend credence to Wilkes's claims of land in that vicinity. His
expedition did not once set foot on Antarctic shores, and, possibly on
account of the absence of the scientific staff, his descriptions tend to be
inexact and obscure. The soundings made by Wilkes were sufficient to
show that he was probably in some places at no great distance from the

coast, and, considering that his work was carried out in the days of sailing-
ships, in unsuitable craft, under the most adverse weather conditions, with
crews scurvy-stricken and discontented, it is wonderful how much was
achieved. We may amply testify that he did more than open the field for
future expeditions.
After we had taken into account the valuable soundings of the
'Challenger' (1872), the above comprised our knowledge concerning some
two thousand miles of prospective coast lying to the southward of Australia,
at a time when the plans of the Australasian expedition were being
formulated.
The original plans for the expedition were somewhat modified upon my
return from Europe. Briefly stated, it was decided that a party of five men
should be stationed at Macquarie Island, a sub-antarctic possession of the
Commonwealth. They were to be provided with a hut, stores and a complete
wireless plant, and were to prosecute general scientific investigations, co-
operating with the Antarctic bases in meteorological and other work. After
disembarking the party at Macquarie Island, the 'Aurora' was to proceed
south on a meridian of 158 degrees E. longitude, to the westward of which
the Antarctic programme was to be conducted.
Twelve men, provisioned and equipped for a year's campaign and
provided with wireless apparatus, were to be landed in Antarctica on the
first possible opportunity at what would constitute a main base. Thereafter,
proceeding westward, it was hoped that a second and a third party,
consisting of six and eight men respectively, would be successively
established on the continent at considerable distances apart. Of course we
were well aware of the difficulties of landing even one party, but, as
division of our forces would under normal conditions secure more scientific
data, it was deemed advisable to be prepared for exceptionally favourable
circumstances.
Macquarie Island, a busy station in the days of the early sealers, had
become almost neglected. Little accurate information was to be had
regarding it, and no reliable map existed. A few isolated facts had been
gathered of its geology, and the anomalous fauna and flora sui generis had
been but partially described. Its position, eight hundred and fifty miles
south-south-east of Hobart, gave promise of valuable meteorological data

relative to the atmospheric circulation of the Southern Hemisphere and of
vital interest to the shipping of Australia and New Zealand.
As to the Antarctic sphere of work, it has been seen that very little was
known of the vast region which was our goal. It is sufficient to say that
almost every observation would be fresh material added to the sum of
human knowledge.
In addition to the work to be conducted from the land bases, it was
intended that oceanographic investigations should be carried on by the
'Aurora' as far as funds would allow. With this object in view, provision was
made for the necessary apparatus which would enable the ship's party to
make extensive investigations of the ocean and its floor over the broad belt
between Australia and the Antarctic Continent. This was an important
branch of study, for science is just as much interested in the greatest depths
of the ocean as with the corresponding elevations of the land. Indeed, at the
present day, the former is perhaps the greater field.
The scope of our intentions was regarded by some as over-ambitious, but
knowing

How far high failure overleaps the bound
Of low successes,

and seeing nothing impossible in these arrangements, we continued to
adhere to them as closely as possible, with what fortune remains to be told.
To secure a suitable vessel was a matter of fundamental importance.
There was no question of having a ship built to our design, for the requisite
expenditure might well have exceeded the whole cost of our Expedition.
Accordingly the best obtainable vessel was purchased, and modified to
fulfil our requirements. Such craft are not to be had in southern waters; they
are only to be found engaged in Arctic whaling and sealing.
The primary consideration in the design of a vessel built to navigate amid
the ice is that the hull be very staunch, capable of driving into the pack and
of resisting lateral pressure, if the ice should close in around it.
So a thick-walled timber vessel, with adequate stiffening in the
framework, would meet the case. The construction being of wood imparts a
certain elasticity, which is of great advantage in easing the shock of impacts
with floating ice. As has been tragically illustrated in a recent disaster, the
ordinary steel ship would be ripped on its first contact with the ice. Another

device, to obviate the shock and to assist in forging a way through the floe-
ice, is to have the bow cut away below the water-line. Thus, instead of
presenting to the ice a vertical face, which would immediately arrest the
ship and possibly cause considerable damage on account of the sudden
stress of the blow, a sloping, overhanging bow is adopted. This arrangement
enables the bow to rise over the impediment, with a gradual slackening of
speed. The immense weight put upon the ice crushes it and the ship settles
down, moving ahead and gathering speed to meet the next obstacle.
[TEXT ILLUSTRATION]
Plan and Section of S.Y. 'Aurora'
Of importance second only to a strong hull is the possession of sails in
addition to engines. The latter are a sine qua non in polar navigation, whilst
sails allow of economy in the consumption of coal, and always remain as a
last resort should the coal-supply be exhausted or the propeller damaged.
The 'Aurora', of the Newfoundland sealing fleet, was ultimately
purchased and underwent necessary alterations. She was built in Dundee in
1876, but though by no means young was still in good condition and
capable of buffeting with the pack for many a year. Also, she was not
without a history, for in the earlier days she was amongst those vessels
which hurried to the relief of the unfortunate Greely expedition.
The hull was made of stout oak planks, sheathed with greenheart and
lined with fir. The bow, fashioned on cutaway lines, was a mass of solid
wood, armoured with steel plates. The heavy side-frames were braced and
stiffened by two tiers of horizontal oak beams, upon which were built the
'tween decks and the main deck. Three bulkheads isolated the fore-peak, the
main hold, the engine-room and the after living-quarters respectively.
A hull of such strength would resist a heavy strain, and, should it be
subjected to lateral pressure, would in all probability rise out of harm's way.
However, to be quite certain of this and to ensure safety in the most extreme
case it is necessary that the hull be modelled after the design adopted by
Nansen in the 'Fram'.
The principal dimensions were, length one hundred and sixty-five feet,
breadth thirty feet, and depth eighteen feet.
The registered tonnage was three hundred and eighty-six, but the actual
carrying capacity we found to be about six hundred tons.

The engines, situated aft, were compound, supplied with steam from a
single boiler. The normal power registered was ninety-eight horse-power,
working a four-bladed propeller, driving it at the rate of sixty or seventy
revolutions per minute (six to ten knots per hour).
Steam was also laid on to a winch, aft, for handling cargo in the main
hold, and to a forward steam-windlass. The latter was mainly used for
raising the anchor and manipulating the deep-sea dredging-cable.
The ship was square on the foremast and schooner-rigged on the main
and mizen masts.
Between the engine-room bulkhead and the chain and sail locker was a
spacious hold. Six large steel tanks built into the bottom of the hold served
for the storage of fresh water and at any time when empty could be filled
with seawater, offering a ready means of securing emergency ballast.
On the deck, just forward of the main hatch, was a deckhouse,
comprising cook's galley, steward's pantry and two laboratories. Still farther
forward was a small lamp-room for the storage of kerosene, lamps and
other necessaries. A lofty fo'c'sle-head gave much accommodation for
carpenters', shipwrights' and other stores. Below it, a capacious fo'c'sle
served as quarters for a crew of sixteen men.
Aft, the chart-room, captain's cabin and photographic dark-room formed
a block leading up to the bridge, situated immediately in front of the funnel.
Farther aft, behind the engine-room and below the poop deck, was the
ward-room(,) a central space sixteen feet by eight feet, filled by the dining-
table and surrounded by cabins with bunks for twenty persons.
From the time the 'Aurora' arrived in London to her departure from
Australia, she was a scene of busy activity, as alterations and replacements
were necessary to fit her for future work.
In the meantime, stores and gear were being assembled. Purchases were
made and valuable donations received both in Europe and Australia. Many
and varied were the requirements, and some idea of their great multiplicity
will be gained by referring to the appendices dealing with stores, clothing
and instruments.
Finally, reference may be made in this chapter to the staff. In no
department can a leader spend time more profitably than in the selection of
the men who are to accomplish the work. Even when the expedition has a

scientific basis, academic distinction becomes secondary in the choice of
men. Fiala, as a result of his Arctic experience, truly says, "Many a man
who is a jolly good fellow in congenial surroundings will become
impatient, selfish and mean when obliged to sacrifice his comfort, curb his
desires and work hard in what seems a losing fight. The first consideration
in the choice of men for a polar campaign should be the moral quality. Next
should come mental and physical powers."
For polar work the great desideratum is tempered youth. Although one
man at the age of fifty may be as strong physically as another at the age of
twenty, it is certain that the exceptional man of fifty was also an exceptional
man at twenty. On the average, after about thirty years of age, the elasticity
of the body to rise to the strain of emergency diminishes, and, when forty
years is reached, a man, medically speaking, reaches his acme. After that,
degeneration of the fabric of the body slowly and maybe imperceptibly sets
in. As the difficulties of exploration in cold regions approximate to the limit
of human endurance and often enough exceed it, it is obvious that the above
generalizations must receive due weight.
But though age and with it the whole question of physical fitness must
ever receive primary regard, yet these alone in no wise fit a man for such an
undertaking. The qualifications of mental ability, acquaintance with the
work and sound moral quality have to be essentially borne in mind. The
man of fifty might then be placed on a higher plane than his younger
companion.
With regard to alcohol and tobacco, it may be maintained on theoretical
grounds that a man is better without them, but, on the other hand, his
behaviour in respect to such habits is often an index to his self-control.
Perfection is attained when every man individually works with the
determination to sacrifice all personal predispositions to the welfare of the
whole.
Ours proved to be a very happy selection. The majority of the men
chosen as members of the land parties were young graduates of the
Commonwealth and New Zealand Universities, and almost all were
representative of Australasia. Among the exceptions was Mr. Frank Wild,
who was appointed leader of one of the Antarctic parties. Wild had
distinguished himself in the South on two previous occasions, and now is in
the unique position of being, as it were, the oldest resident of Antarctica.

Our sojourn together at Cape Royds with Shackleton had acquainted me
with Wild's high merits as an explorer and leader.
Lieutenant B. E. S. Ninnis of the Royal Fusiliers, Dr. X. Mertz, an expert
ski-runner and mountaineer, and Mr. F. H. Bickerton in charge of the air-
tractor sledge, were appointed in London. Reference has already been made
to Captain Davis: to him were left all arrangements regarding the ship's
complement.
A "Who's who" of the staff appears as an appendix.

CHAPTER II THE LAST DAYS AT HOBART
AND THE VOYAGE TO MACQUARIE ISLAND
"Let us probe the silent places, let us seek what luck betide us;
Let us journey to a lonely land I know.
There's a whisper on the night-wind, there's a star agleam to
guide us.
And the Wild is calling, calling—Let us go."—SERVICE.

It will be convenient to pick up the thread of our story upon the point of
the arrival of the 'Aurora' in Hobart, after her long voyage from London
during the latter part of the year 1911.
Captain Davis had written from Cape Town stating that he expected to
reach Hobart on November 4. In company with Mr. C. C. Eitel, secretary of
the Expedition, I proceeded to Hobart, arriving on November 2.
Early in the morning of November 4 the Harbour Board received news
that a wooden vessel, barquentine-rigged, with a crow's-nest on the
mainmast, was steaming up the D'Entrecasteaux Channel. This left no doubt
as to her identity and so, later in the day, we joined Mr. Martelli, the
assistant harbour-master, and proceeded down the river, meeting the
'Aurora' below the quarantine ground.
We heard that they had had a very rough passage after leaving the Cape.
This was expected, for several liners, travelling by the same route, and
arriving in Australian waters a few days before, had reported exceptionally
heavy weather.
Before the ship had reached Queen's Wharf, the berth generously
provided by the Harbour Board, the Greenland dogs were transferred to the
quarantine ground, and with them went Dr. Mertz and Lieutenant Ninnis,
who gave up all their time during the stay in Hobart to the care of those
important animals. A feeling of relief spread over the whole ship's company
as the last dog passed over the side, for travelling with a deck cargo of dogs
is not the most enviable thing from a sailor's point of view. Especially is this
the case in a sailing-vessel where room is limited, and consequently dogs
and ropes are mixed indiscriminately.

Evening was just coming on when we reached the wharf, and, as we
ranged alongside, the Premier, Sir Elliot Lewis, came on board and bade us
welcome to Tasmania.
Captain Davis had much to tell, for more than four months had elapsed
since my departure from London, when he had been left in charge of the
ship and of the final arrangements.
At the docks there had been delays and difficulties in the execution of the
necessary alterations to the ship, in consequence of strikes and the
Coronation festivities. It was so urgent to reach Australia in time for the
ensuing Antarctic summer, that the recaulking of the decks and other
improvements were postponed, to be executed on the voyage or upon
arrival in Australia.
Captain Davis seized the earliest possible opportunity of departure, and
the 'Aurora' dropped down the Thames at midnight on July 27, 1911. As she
threaded her way through the crowded traffic by the dim light of a thousand
flickering flames gleaming through the foggy atmosphere, the dogs entered
a protest peculiar to their "husky" kind. After a short preliminary excursion
through a considerable range of the scale, they picked up a note apparently
suitable to all and settled down to many hours of incessant and monotonous
howling, as is the custom of these dogs when the fit takes them. It was quite
evident that they were not looking forward to another sea voyage. The
pandemonium made it all but impossible to hear the orders given for
working the ship, and a collision was narrowly averted. During those rare
lulls, when the dogs' repertoire temporarily gave out, innumerable sailors on
neighbouring craft, wakened from their sleep, made the most of such
opportunities to hurl imprecations in a thoroughly nautical fashion upon the
ship, her officers, and each and every one of the crew.
On the way to Cardiff, where a full supply of coal was to be shipped, a
gale was encountered, and much water came on board, resulting in damage
to the stores. Some water leaked into the living quarters and, on the whole,
several very uncomfortable days were spent. Such inconvenience at the
outset undoubtedly did good, for many of the crew, evidently not prepared
for emergency conditions, left at Cardiff. The scratch crew with which the
'Aurora'journeyed to Hobart composed for the most part of replacements
made at Cardiff, resulted in some permanent appointments of unexpected
value to the Expedition.

At Cardiff the coal strike caused delay, but eventually some five hundred
tons of the Crown Fuel Company's briquettes were got on board, and a final
leave taken of English shores on August 4.
Cape Town, the only intermediate port of call, was reached on September
24, after a comparatively rapid and uneventful voyage. A couple of days
sufficed to load coal, water and fresh provisions, and the course was then
laid for Hobart.
Rough weather soon intervened, and Lieutenant Ninnis and Dr. Mertz,
who travelled out by the 'Aurora' in charge of the sledging-dogs, had their
time fully occupied, for the wet conditions began to tell on their charges.
On leaving London there were forty-nine of these Greenland, Esquimaux
sledging-dogs of which the purchase and selection had been made through
the offices of the Danish Geographical Society. From Greenland they were
taken to Copenhagen, and from thence transhipped to London, where
Messrs. Spratt took charge of them at their dog-farm until the date of
departure. During the voyage they were fed on the finest dog-cakes, but
they undoubtedly felt the need of fresh meat and fish to withstand the cold
and wet. In the rough weather of the latter part of the voyage water broke
continually over the deck, so lowering their vitality that a number died from
seizures, not properly understood at the time. In each case death was
sudden, and preceded by similar symptoms. An apparently healthy dog
would drop down in a fit, dying in a few minutes, or during another fit
within a few days. Epidemics, accompanied by similar symptoms, are said
to be common amongst these dogs in the Arctic regions, but no explanation
is given as to the nature of the disease. During a later stage of the
Expedition, when nearing Antarctica, several more of the dogs were
similarly stricken. These were examined by Drs. McLean and Jones, and the
results of post-mortems showed that in one case death was due to
gangrenous appendicitis, in two others to acute gastritis and colitis.
The dog first affected caused some consternation amongst the crew, for,
after being prostrated on the deck by a fit, it rose and rushed about snapping
to right and left. The cry of "mad dog" was raised. Not many seconds had
elapsed before all the deck hands were safely in the rigging, displaying
more than ordinary agility in the act. At short intervals, other men, roused
from watch below appeared at the fo'c'sle companion-way. To these the
situation at first appeared comic, and called forth jeers upon their faint-

hearted shipmates. The next moment, on the dog dashing into view, they
found a common cause with their fellows and sprang aloft. Ere many
minutes had elapsed the entire crew were in the rigging, much to the
amusement of the officers. By this time the dog had disappeared beneath
the fo'c'sle head, and Mertz and Ninnis entered, intending to dispatch it. A
shot was fired and word passed that the deed was done: thereupon the crew
descended, pressing forward to share in the laurels. Then it was that Ninnis,
in the uncertain light, spying a dog of similar markings wedged in between
some barrels, was filled with doubt and called out to Mertz that he had shot
the wrong dog. In a flash the crew had once more climbed to safety. It was
some time after the confirmation of the first execution that they could be
prevailed upon to descend.
Several litters of puppies were born on the voyage, but all except one
succumbed to the hardships of the passage.
The voyage from Cardiff to Hobart occupied eighty-eight days.
The date of departure south was fixed for 4 P.M. of Saturday, December
2, and a truly appalling amount of work had to be done before then.
Most of the staff had been preparing themselves for special duties; in this
the Expedition was assisted by many friends.
A complete, detailed acknowledgment of all the kind help received would
occupy much space. We must needs pass on with the assurance that our best
thanks are extended to one and all.
Throughout the month of November, the staff continued to arrive in
contingents at Hobart, immediately busying themselves in their own
departments, and in sorting over the many thousands of packages in the
great Queen's Wharf shed. Wild was placed in charge, and all entered
heartily into the work. The exertion of it was just what was wanted to make
us fit, and prepared for the sudden and arduous work of discharging cargo at
the various bases. It also gave the opportunity of personally gauging certain
qualities of the men, which are not usually evoked by a university
curriculum.
Some five thousand two hundred packages were in the shed, to be sorted
over and checked. The requirements of three Antarctic bases, and one at
Macquarie Island were being provided for, and consequently the most
careful supervision was necessary to prevent mistakes, especially as the
omission of a single article might fundamentally affect the work of a whole

party. To assist in discriminating the impedimenta, coloured bands were
painted round the packages, distinctive of the various bases.
It had been arranged that, wherever possible, everything should be
packed in cases of a handy size, to facilitate unloading and transportation;
each about fifty to seventy pounds in weight.
In addition to other distinguishing marks, every package bore a different
number, and the detailed contents were listed in a schedule for reference.
Concurrently with the progress of this work, the ship was again
overhauled, repairs effected, and many deficiencies made good. The labours
of the shipwrights did not interfere with the loading, which went ahead
steadily during the last fortnight in November.
The tanks in the hold not used for our supply of fresh water were packed
with reserve stores for the ship. The remainder of the lower hold and the
bunkers were filled with coal. Slowly the contents of the shed diminished as
they were transfered to the 'tween decks. Then came the overflow.
Eventually, every available space in the ship was flooded with a
complicated assemblage of gear, ranging from the comparatively
undamageable wireless masts occupying a portion of the deck amidships, to
a selection of prime Australian cheeses which filled one of the cabins, and
pervaded the ward-room with an odour which remained one of its
permanent associations.
Yet, heterogeneous and ill-assorted as our cargo may have appeared to
the crowds of curious onlookers, Captain Davis had arranged for the
stowage of everything with a nicety which did him credit. The complete
effects of the four bases were thus kept separate, and available in whatever
order was required. Furthermore, the removal of one unit would not break
the stowage of the remainder, nor disturb the trim of the ship.
At a late date the air-tractor sledge arrived. The body was contained in
one huge case which, though awkward, was comparatively light, the case
weighing much more than the contents. This was securely lashed above the
maindeck, resting on the fo'c'sle and two boat-skids.
As erroneous ideas have been circulated regarding the "aeroplane
sledge," or more correctly "air-tractor sledge," a few words in explanation
will not be out of place.

This machine was originally an R.E.P. monoplane, constructed by
Messrs. Vickers and Co., but supplied with a special detachable, sledge-
runner undercarriage for use in the Antarctic, converting it into a tractor for
hauling sledges. It was intended that so far as its role as a flier was
concerned, it would be chiefly exercised for the purpose of drawing public
attention to the Expedition in Australia, where aviation was then almost
unknown. With this object in view, it arrived in Adelaide at an early date
accompanied by the aviator, Lieutenant Watkins, assisted by Bickerton.
There it unfortunately came to grief, and Watkins and Wild narrowly
escaped death in the accident. It was then decided to make no attempt to fly
in the Antarctic; the wings were left in Australia and Lieutenant Watkins
returned to England. In the meantime, the machine was repaired and
forwarded to Hobart.
Air-tractors are great consumers of petrol of the highest quality. This
demand, in addition to the requirements of two wireless plants and a motor-
launch, made it necessary to take larger quantities than we liked of this
dangerous cargo. Four thousand gallons of "Shell" benzine and one
thousand three hundred gallons of "Shell" kerosene, packed in the usual
four-gallon export tins, were carried as a deck cargo, monopolizing the
whole of the poop-deck.
For the transport of the requirements of the Macquarie Island Base, the
s.s. 'Toroa', a small steam-packet of one hundred and twenty tons, trading
between Melbourne and Tasmanian ports, was chartered. It was arranged
that this auxiliary should leave Hobart several days after the 'Aurora', so as
to allow us time, before her arrival, to inspect the island, and to select a
suitable spot for the location of the base. As she was well provided with
passenger accommodation, it was arranged that the majority of the land
party should journey by her as far as Macquarie Island.
The Governor of Tasmania, Sir Harry Barron, the Premier, Sir Elliot
Lewis, and the citizens of Hobart extended to us the greatest hospitality
during our stay, and, when the time came, gave us a hearty send-off.
Saturday, December 2 arrived, and final preparations were made. All the
staff were united for the space of an hour at luncheon. Then began the final
leave-taking. "God speed" messages were received from far and wide, and
intercessory services were held in the Cathedrals of Sydney and Hobart.

We were greatly honoured at this time by the reception of kind wishes
from Queen Alexandra and, at an earlier date, from his Majesty the King.
Proud of such universal sympathy and interest, we felt stimulated to
greater exertions.
On arrival on board, I found Mr. Martelli, who was to pilot us down the
river, already on the bridge. A vast crowd blockaded the wharf to give us a
parting cheer.
At 4 P.M. sharp, the telegraph was rung for the engines, and, with a final
expression of good wishes from the Governor and Lady Barron, we glided
out into the channel, where our supply of dynamite and cartridges was taken
on board. Captain G. S. Nares, whose kindness we had previously known,
had the H.M.S. 'Fantome' dressed in our honour, and lusty cheering reached
us from across the water.
As we proceeded down the river to the Quarantine Station where the
dogs were to be taken off, Hobart looked its best, with the glancing sails of
pleasure craft skimming near the foreshores, and backed by the stately,
sombre mass of Mount Wellington. The "land of strawberries and cream",
as the younger members of the Expedition had come to regard it, was for
ever to live pleasantly in our memories, to be recalled a thousand times
during the adventurous months which followed. Mr. E. Joyce, whose name
is familiar in connexion with previous Antarctic expeditions, and who had
travelled out from London on business of the Expedition, was waiting in
mid-stream with thirty-eight dogs, delivering them from a ketch. These
were passed over the side and secured at intervals on top of the deck cargo.
The engines again began to throb, not to cease until the arrival at
Macquarie Island. A few miles lower down the channel, the Premier, and a
number of other friends and well-wishers who had followed in a small
steamer, bade us a final adieu.
Behind lay a sparkling seascape and the Tasmanian littoral; before, the
blue southern ocean heaving with an ominous swell. A glance at the
barograph showed a continuous fall, and a telegram from Mr. Hunt, Head of
the Commonwealth Weather Bureau, received a few hours previously,
informed us of a storm-centre south of New Zealand, and the expectation of
fresh south-westerly winds.
The piles of loose gear presented an indescribable scene of chaos, and,
even as we rolled lazily in the increasing swell, the water commenced to

run about the decks. There was no time to be lost in securing movable
articles and preparing the ship for heavy weather. All hands set to work.
On the main deck the cargo was brought up flush with the top of the
bulwarks, and consisted of the wireless masts, two huts, a large motor-
launch, cases of dog biscuits and many other sundries. Butter to the extent
of a couple of tons was accommodated chiefly on the roof of the main deck-
house, where it was out of the way of the dogs. The roof of the chart-house,
which formed an extension of the bridge proper, did not escape, for the
railing offered facilities for lashing sledges; besides, there was room for
tide-gauges, meteorological screens, and cases of fresh eggs and apples.
Somebody happened to think of space unoccupied in the meteorological
screens, and a few fowls were housed therein.
On the poop-deck there were the benzine, sledges, and the chief magnetic
observatory. An agglomeration of instruments and private gear rendered the
ward-room well nigh impossible of access, and it was some days before
everything was jammed away into corners. An unoccupied five-berth cabin
was filled with loose instruments, while other packages were stowed into
the occupied cabins, so as to almost defeat the purpose for which they were
intended.
The deck was so encumbered that only at rare intervals was it visible.
However, by our united efforts everything was well secured by 8 P.M.
It was dusk, and the distant highlands were limned in silhouette against
the twilight sky. A tiny, sparkling lamp glimmered from Signal Hill its
warm farewell. From the swaying poop we flashed back, "Good-bye, all
snug on board."
Onward with a dogged plunge our laden ship would press. If 'Fram' were
"Forward," she was to be hereafter our 'Aurora' of "Hope"—the Dawn of
undiscovered lands.
Home and the past were effaced in the shroud of darkness, and thought
leapt to the beckoning South—the "land of the midnight sun."
During the night the wind and sea rose steadily, developing into a full
gale. In order to make Macquarie Island, it was important not to allow the
ship to drive too far to the east, as at all times the prevailing winds in this
region are from the west. Partly on this account, and partly because of the
extreme severity of the gale, the ship was hove to with head to wind,
wallowing in mountainous seas. Such a storm, witnessed from a large

vessel, would be an inspiring sight, but was doubly so in a small craft,
especially where the natural buoyancy had been largely impaired by
overloading. With an unprecedented quantity of deck cargo, amongst which
were six thousand gallons of benzine, kerosene and spirit, in tins which
were none too strong, we might well have been excused a lively anxiety
during those days. It seemed as if no power on earth could save the loss of
at least part of the deck cargo. Would it be the indispensable huts amidships,
or would a sea break on the benzine aft and flood us with inflammable
liquid and gas?
By dint of strenuous efforts and good seamanship, Captain Davis with his
officers and crew held their own. The land parties assisted in the general
work, constantly tightening up the lashings and lending "beef," a sailor's
term for man-power, wherever required. For this purpose the members of
the land parties were divided into watches, so that there were always a
number patrolling the decks.
Most of us passed through a stage of sea-sickness, but, except in the case
of two or three, it soon passed off. Seas deluged all parts of the ship. A
quantity of ashes was carried down into the bilge-water pump and
obstructed the steam-pump. Whilst this was being cleared, the emergency
deck pumps had to be requisitioned. The latter were available for working
either by hand-power or by chain-gearing from the after-winch.
The deck-plug of one of the fresh-water tanks was carried away and,
before it was noticed, sea-water had entered to such an extent as to render
our supply unfit for drinking. Thus we were, henceforth, on a strictly
limited water ration.
The wind increased from bad to worse, and great seas continued to rise
until their culmination on the morning of December 5, when one came
aboard on the starboard quarter, smashed half the bridge and carried it
away. Toucher was the officer on watch, and no doubt thought himself
lucky in being, at the time, on the other half of the bridge.
The deck-rings holding the motor-launch drew, the launch itself was
sprung and its decking stove-in.
On the morning of December 8 we found ourselves in latitude 49 degrees
56 minutes S. and longitude 152 degrees 28' E., with the weather so far
abated that we were able to steer a course for Macquarie Island.

During the heavy weather, food had been prepared only with the greatest
difficulty. The galley was deluged time and again. It was enough to
dishearten any cook, repeatedly finding himself amongst kitchen debris of
all kinds, including pots and pans full and empty. Nor did the difficulties
end in the galley, for food which survived until its arrival on the table,
though not allowed much time for further mishap, often ended in a
disagreeable mass on the floor or, tossed by a lurch of more than usual
suddenness, entered an adjoining cabin. From such localities the elusive
piece de resistance was often rescued.
As we approached our rendezvous, whale-birds** appeared. During the
heavy weather, Mother Carey's chickens only were seen, but, as the wind
abated, the majestic wandering albatross, the sooty albatross and the
mollymawk followed in our wake.

** For the specific names refer to Appendix which is a glossary of
special and unfamiliar terms.

Whales were observed spouting, but at too great a distance to be
definitely recognized.
At daybreak on December 11 land began to show up, and by 6 A.M. we
were some sixteen miles off the west coast of Macquarie Island, bearing on
about the centre of its length.
In general shape it is long and narrow, the length over all being twenty-
one miles. A reef runs out for several miles at both extremities of the main
island, reappearing again some miles beyond in isolated rocky islets: the
Bishop and Clerk nineteen miles to the southward and the Judge and Clerk
eight miles to the north.
The land everywhere rises abruptly from the sea or from an exaggerated
beach to an undulating plateau-like interior, reaching a maximum elevation
of one thousand four hundred and twenty-five feet. Nowhere is there a
harbour in the proper sense of the word, though six or seven anchorages are
recognized.
The island is situated in about 55 degrees S. latitude, and the climate is
comparatively cold, but it is the prevalence of strong winds that is the least
desirable feature of its weather.
Sealing, so prosperous in the early days, is now carried on in a small way
only, by a New Zealander, who keeps a few men stationed at the island

during part of the year for the purpose of rendering down sea elephant and
penguin blubber. Their establishment was known to be at the north end of
the island near the best of the anchorages.
Captain Davis had visited the island in the 'Nimrod', and was acquainted
with the three anchorages, which are all on the east side and sheltered from
the prevailing westerlies. One of the old-time sealers had reported a cove
suitable for small craft at the south-western corner, but the information was
scanty, and recent mariners had avoided that side of the island. On the
morning of our approach the breeze was from the south-east, and, being
favourable, Captain Davis proposed a visit.
By noon, Caroline Cove, as it is called, was abreast of us. Its small
dimensions, and the fact that a rocky islet for the most part blocks the
entrance, at first caused some misgivings as to its identity.
A boat was lowered, and a party of us rowed in towards the entrance,
sounding at intervals to ascertain whether the 'Aurora' could make use of it,
should our inspection prove it a suitable locality for the land station.
We passed through a channel not more than eighty yards wide, but with
deep water almost to the rocks on either side. A beautiful inlet now opened
to view. Thick tussock-grass matted the steep hillsides, and the rocky
shores, between the tide-marks as well as in the depths below, sprouted with
a profuse growth of brown kelp. Leaping out of the water in scores around
us were penguins of several varieties, in their actions reminding us of
nothing so much as shoals of fish chased by sharks. Penguins were in
thousands on the uprising cliffs, and from rookeries near and far came an
incessant din. At intervals along the shore sea elephants disported their
ungainly masses in the sunlight. Circling above us in anxious haste, sea-
birds of many varieties gave warning of our near approach to their nests. It
was the invasion by man of an exquisite scene of primitive nature.
[TEXT ILLUSTRATION]
Macquarie Island
After the severe weather experienced, the relaxation made us all feel like
a band of schoolboys out on a long vacation.
A small sandy beach barred the inlet, and the whaleboat was directed
towards it. We were soon grating on the sand amidst an army of Royal
penguins; picturesque little fellows, with a crest and eyebrows of long

golden-yellow feathers. A few yards from the massed ranks of the penguins
was a mottled sea-leopard, which woke up and slid into the sea as we
approached.
Several hours were spent examining the neighbourhood. Webb and
Kennedy took a set of magnetic observations, while others hoisted some
cases of stores on to a rocky knob to form a provision depot, as it was
quickly decided that the northern end of the island was likely to be more
suitable for a permanent station.
The Royal penguins were almost as petulant as the Adelie penguins
which we were to meet further South. They surrounded us, pecked at our
legs and chattered with an audacity which defies description. It was
discovered that they resented any attempt to drive them into the sea, and it
was only after long persuasion that a bevy took to the water. This was a sign
of a general capitulation, and some hundreds immediately followed, jostling
each other in their haste, squawking, whirring their flippers, splashing and
churning the water, reminding one of a crowd of miniature surf-bathers. We
followed the files of birds marching inland, along the course of a tumbling
stream, until at an elevation of some five hundred feet, on a flattish piece of
ground, a huge rookery opened out—acres and acres of birds and eggs.
In one corner of the bay were nests of giant petrels in which sat huge
downy young, about the size of a barn-door fowl, resembling the grotesque,
fluffy toys which might be expected to hang on a Christmas-tree.
Here and there on the beach and on the grass wandered bright-coloured
Maori hens. On the south side of the bay, in a low, peaty area overgrown
with tussock-grass, were scores of sea elephants, wallowing in bog-holes or
sleeping at their ease.
Sea elephants, at one time found in immense numbers on all sub-antarctic
islands, are now comparatively rare, even to the degree of extinction, in
many of their old haunts. This is the result of ruthless slaughter prosecuted
especially bY sealers in the early days. At the present time Macquarie
Island is more favoured by them than probably any other known locality.
The name by which they are popularly known refers to their elephantine
proportions and to the fact that, in the case of the old males, the nasal
regions are enormously developed, expanding when in a state of excitement
to form a short, trunk-like appendage. They have been recorded up to
twenty feet in length, and such a specimen would weigh about four tons.

Arriving on the 'Aurora' in the evening, we learnt that the ship's company
had had an adventure which might have been most serious. It appeared that
after dropping us at the entrance to Caroline Cove, the ship was allowed to
drift out to sea under the influence of the off-shore wind. When about one-
third of a mile north-west of the entrance, a violent shock was felt, and she
slid over a rock which rose up out of deep water to within about fourteen
feet of high-water level; no sign of it appearing on the surface on account of
the tranquil state of the sea. Much apprehension was felt for the hull, but as
no serious leak started, the escape was considered a fortunate one. A few
soundings had been made proving a depth of four hundred fathoms within
one and a half miles of the land.
A course was now set for the northern end of the island. Dangerous-
looking reefs ran out from many headlands, and cascades of water could be
seen falling hundreds of feet from the highlands to the narrow coastal flats.
The anchorage most used is that known as North-East Bay, lying on the
eastern side of a low spit joining the main mass of the island, to an almost
isolated outpost in the form of a flat-topped hill—Wireless Hill—some
three-quarters of a mile farther north. It is practically an open roadstead,
but, as the prevailing winds blow on to the other side of the island, quiet
water can be nearly always expected.
However, when we arrived at North-East Bay on the morning following
our adventure; a stiff south-east breeze was blowing, and the wash on the
beach put landing out of the question. Captain Davis ran in as near the coast
as he could safely venture and dropped anchor, pending the moderation of
the wind.
On the leeward slopes of a low ridge, pushing itself out on to the
southern extremity of the spit, could be seen two small huts, but no sign of
human life. This was not surprising as it was only seven o'clock. Below the
huts, upon low surf-covered rocks running out from the beach, lay a small
schooner partly broken up and evidently a recent victim. A mile to the
southward, fragments of another wreck protruded from the sand.
We were discussing wrecks and the grisly toll which is levied by these
dangerous and uncharted shores, when a human figure appeared in front of
one of the huts. After surveying us for a moment, he disappeared within to
reappear shortly afterwards, followed by a stream of others rushing hither

and thither; just as if he had disturbed a hornets' nest. After such an exciting
demonstration we awaited the next move with some expectancy.
Planks and barrels were brought on to the beach and a flagstaff was
hoisted. Then one of the party mounted on the barrel, and told us by flag
signals that the ship on the beach was the 'Clyde', which had recently been
wrecked, and that all hands were safely on shore, but requiring assistance.
Besides the shipwrecked crew, there were half a dozen men who resided on
the island during the summer months for the purpose of collecting blubber.
The sealers tried repeatedly to come out to us, but as often as it was
launched their boat was washed up again on the beach, capsizing them into
the water. At length they signalled that a landing could be made on the
opposite side of the spit, so the anchor was raised and the ship steamed
round the north end of the island, to what Captain Davis proposed should be
named Hasselborough Bay, in recognition of the discoverer of the island.
This proved an admirable anchorage, for the wind remained from the east
and south-east during the greater part of our stay.
The sealers pushed their boat across the spit, and, launching it in calmer
water, came out to us, meeting the 'Aurora' some three miles off the land.
The anchor was let go about one mile and a half from the head of the bay.
News was exchanged with the sealers. It appeared that there had been
much speculation as to what sort of a craft we were; visits of ships, other
than those sent down specially to convey their oil to New Zealand, being
practically unknown. For a while they suspected the 'Aurora' of being an
alien sealer, and had prepared to defend their rights to the local fishery.
All was well now, however, and information and assistance were freely
volunteered. They were greatly relieved to hear that our auxiliary vessel, the
'Toroa' was expected immediately, and would be available for taking the
ship-wrecked crew back to civilization.
Owing to the loss of the 'Clyde', a large shipment of oil in barrels lay
piled upon the beach with every prospect of destruction, just at a time when
the realization of its value would be most desirable, to make good the loss
sustained by the wreck. I decided, therefore, in view of their hospitality, to
make arrangements with the captain of the 'Toroa' to take back a load of the
oil, upon terms only sufficient to recoup us for the extension of the charter.
In company with Ainsworth, Hannam and others, I went ashore to select
a site for the station. As strong westerly winds were to be expected during

the greater part of the year, it was necessary to erect buildings in the lee of
substantial break-winds. Several sites for a hut convenient to a serviceable
landing-place were inspected at the north end of the beach. The hut was
eventually erected in the lee of a large mass of rock, rising out of the grass-
covered sandy flat at the north end of the spit.
It would have been much handier in every way, both in assembling the
engines and masts and subsequently in operating the wireless station, had
the wireless plant been erected on the beach adjacent to the living-hut. On
the other hand, a position on top of the hill had the advantage of a free
outlook and of increased electrical potential, allowing of a shorter length of
mast. In addition the ground in this situation proved to be peaty and sodden,
and therefore a good conductor, thus presenting an excellent "earth" from
the wireless standpoint. In short, the advantages of the hill-site outweighed
its disadvantages. Of the latter the most obvious was the difficult
transportation of the heavy masts, petrol-engine, dynamo, induction-
generator and other miscellaneous gear, from the beach to the summit—a
vertical height of three hundred feet.
To facilitate this latter work the sealers placed at our disposal a "flying
fox" which ran from sea-level to the top of Wireless Hill, and which they
had erected for the carriage of blubber. On inspecting it, Wild reported that
it was serviceable, but would first require to be strengthened. He
immediately set about effecting this with the help of a party.
Hurley now discovered that he had accidentally left one of his
cinematograph lenses on a rock where he had been working in Caroline
Cove. As it was indispensable, and there was little prospect of the weather
allowing of another visit by the ship, it was decided that he should go on a
journey overland to recover it. One of the sealers, Hutchinson by name,
who had been to Caroline Cove and knew the best route to take, kindly
volunteered to accompany Hurley. The party was eventually increased by
the addition of Harrisson, who was to keep a look-out for matters of
biological interest. They started off at noon on December 13.
Although the greater part of the stores for the Macquarie Island party
were to arrive by the Toroa there were a few tons on board the 'Aurora'.
These and the dogs were landed as quickly as possible. How glad the poor
animals were to be once more on solid earth! It was out of the question to
let them loose, so they were tethered at intervals along a heavy cable,

anchored at both ends amongst the tussock-grass. Ninnis took up his abode
in the sealers' hut so that he might the better look after their wants, which
centred chiefly on sea elephant meat, and that in large quantities. Webb
joined Ninnis, as he intended to take full sets of magnetic observations at
several stations in the vicinity.
Bickerton and Gillies got the motor-launch into good working order, and
by means of it the rest of us conveyed ashore several tons of coal briquettes,
the benzine, kerosene, instruments and the wireless masts, by noon on
December 13.
Everything but the requirements of the wireless station was landed on the
spit, as near the north-east corner as the surf would allow. Fortunately, reefs
ran out from the shore at intervals, and calmer water could be found in their
lee. All gear for the wireless station was taken to a spot about half a mile to
the north-west at the foot of Wireless Hill, where the "flying fox" was
situated. Just at that spot there was a landing-place at the head of a
charming little boat harbour, formed by numerous kelp-covered rocky reefs
rising at intervals above the level of high water. These broke the swell, so
that in most weathers calm water was assured at the landing-place.
This boat harbour was a fascinating spot. The western side was peopled
by a rookery of blue-eyed cormorants; scattered nests of white gulls
relieved the sombre appearance of the reefs on the opposite side: whilst
gentoo penguins in numbers were busy hatching their eggs on the sloping
ground beyond. Skua-gulls and giant petrels were perched here and there
amongst the rocks, watching for an opportunity of marauding the nests of
the non-predacious birds. Sea elephants raised their massive, dripping heads
in shoal and channel. The dark reefs, running out into the pellucid water,
supported a vast growth of a snake-like form of kelp, whose octopus-like
tentacles, many yards in length, writhed yellow and brown to the swing of
the surge, and gave the foreground an indescribable weirdness. I stood
looking out to sea from here one evening, soon after sunset, the launch
lazily rolling in the swell, and the 'Aurora' in the offing, while the rich tints
of the afterglow paled in the south-west.
I envied Wild and his party, whose occupation in connexion with the
"flying fox" kept them permanently camped at this spot.
The 'Toroa' made her appearance on the afternoon of December 13, and
came to anchor about half a mile inside the 'Aurora'. Her departure had been

delayed by the bad weather. Leaving Hobart late on December 7, she had
anchored off Bruni Island awaiting the moderation of the sea. The journey
was resumed on the morning of the 9th, and the passage made in fine
weather. She proved a handy craft for work of the kind, and Captain
Holliman, the master, was well used to the dangers of uncharted coastal
waters.
Within a few minutes of her arrival, a five-ton motor-boat of shallow
draught was launched and unloading commenced.
Those of the staff arriving by the 'Toroa' were housed ashore with the
sealers, as, when everybody was on board, the 'Aurora' was uncomfortably
congested. Fifty sheep were taken on shore to feed on the rank grass until
our departure. A large part of the cargo consisted of coal for the 'Aurora'.
This was already partly bagged, and in that form was loaded into the
launches and whale-boats; the former towing the latter to their destination.
Thus a continuous stream of coal and stores was passing from ship to ship,
and from the ships to the several landing-places on shore. As soon as the
after-hold on the 'Toroa' was cleared, barrels of sea elephant oil were
brought off in rafts and loaded aft, simultaneously with the unloading
forward.
We kept at the work as long as possible—about sixteen hours a day
including a short interval for lunch. There were twenty-five of the land
party available for general work, and with some assistance from the ship's
crew the work went forward at a rapid rate.
On the morning of the 15th, after giving final instructions to Eitel, who
had come thus far and was returning as arranged, the 'Toroa' weighed
anchor and we parted with a cheer.
The transportation of the wireless equipment to the top of the hill had
been going on simultaneously with the un-loading of the ships. Now,
however, all were able to concentrate upon it, and the work went forward
very rapidly.
All the wireless instruments, and much of the other paraphernalia of the
Macquarie Island party had been packed in the barrels, as it was expected
that they would have to be rafted ashore through the surf. Fortunately, the
weather continued to "hold" from an easterly direction, and everything was
able to be landed in the comparatively calm waters of Hasselborough Bay; a
circumstance which the islanders assured us was quite a rare thing. The

wireless masts were rafted ashore. These were of oregon pine, each
composed of four sections.
Digging the pits for bedding the heavy, wooden "dead men," and erecting
the wireless masts, the engine-hut and the operating-hut provided plenty of
work for all. Here was as busy a scene as one could witness anywhere—
some with the picks and shovels, others with hammers and nails, sailors
splicing ropes and fitting masts, and a stream of men hauling the loads up
from the sea-shore to their destination on the summit.
Some details of the working of the "flying fox" will be of interest. The
distance between the lower and upper terminals was some eight hundred
feet. This was spanned by two steel-wire carrying cables, secured above by
"dead men" sunk in the soil, and below by a turn around a huge rock which
outcropped amongst the tussock-grass on the flat, some fifty yards from the
head of the boat harbour. For hauling up the loads, a thin wire line, with a
pulley-block at either extremity, rolling one on each of the carrying wires,
passed round a snatch-block at the upper station. It was of such a length that
when the loading end was at the lower station, the counterpoise end was in
position to descend at the other. Thus a freight was dispatched to the top of
the hill by filling a bag, acting as counterpoise, with earth, until slightly in
excess of the weight of the top load; then off it would start gathering speed
as it went.
Several devices were developed for arresting the pace as the freight
neared the end of its journey, but accidents were always liable to occur if
the counterpoise were unduly loaded. Wild was injured by one of these
brake-devices, which consisted of a bar of iron lying on the ground about
thirty yards in front of the terminus, and attached by a rope with a loose-
running noose to the down-carrying wire. On the arrival of the counterpoise
at that point on the wire, its speed would be checked owing to the drag
exerted. On the occasion referred to, the rope was struck with such velocity
that the iron bar was jerked into the air and struck Wild a solid blow on the
thigh. Though incapacitated for a few days, he continued to supervise at the
lower terminal.
The larger sections of the wireless masts gave the greatest trouble, as
they were not only heavy but awkward. A special arrangement was
necessary for all loads exceeding one hundredweight, as the single wire
carrier-cables were not sufficiently strong. In such cases both carrier-cables

were lashed together making a single support, the hauling being done by a
straight pull on the top of the hill. The hauling was carried out to the
accompaniment of chanties, and these helped to relieve the strain of the
Work. It was a familiar sight to see a string of twenty men on the hauling-
line scaring the skua-gulls with popular choruses like "A' roving" and "Ho,
boys, pull her along." In calm weather the parties at either terminal could
communicate by shouting but were much assisted by megaphones
improvised from a pair of leggings.
Considering the heavy weights handled and the speed at which the work
was done, we were fortunate in suffering only one breakage, and that might
have been more serious than it proved. The mishap in question occurred to
the generator. In order to lighten the load, the rotor had been taken out.
When almost at the summit of the hill, the ascending weight, causing the
carrying-wires to sag unusually low, struck a rock, unhitched the lashing
and fell, striking the steep rubble slope, to go bounding in great leaps out
amongst the grass to the flat below. Marvellous to relate, it was found to
have suffered no damage other than a double fracture of the end-plate
casting, which could be repaired. And so it was decided to exchange the
generators in the two equipments, as there would be greater facilities for
engineering work at the Main Base, Adelie Land. Fortunately, the other
generator was almost at the top of the ship's hold, and therefore accessible.
The three pieces into which the casting had been broken were found to be
sprung, and would not fit together. However, after our arrival at Adelie
Land, Hannam found, curiously enough, that the pieces fitted into place
perfectly—apparently an effect of contraction due to the cold—and with the
aid of a few plates and belts the generator was made as serviceable as ever.
In the meantime, Hurley, Harrisson, and the sealer, Hutchinson, had
returned from their trip to Caroline Cove, after a most interesting though
arduous journey. They had camped the first evening at The Nuggets, a
rocky point on the east coast some four miles to the south of North-East
Bay. From The Nuggets, the trail struck inland up the steep hillsides until
the summit of the island was reached; then over pebble-strewn, undulating
ground with occasional small lakes, arriving at the west coast near its
southern extremity. Owing to rain and fog they overshot the mark and had
to spend the night close to a bay at the south-end. There Hurley obtained
some good photographs of sea elephants and of the penguin rookeries.

The next morning, December 15, they set off again, this time finding
Caroline Cove without further difficulty. Harrisson remained on the brow of
the hill overlooking the cove, and there captured some prions and their
eggs. Hurley and his companion found the lost lens and returned to
Harrisson securing a fine albatross on the way. This solitary bird was
descried sitting on the hill side, several hundreds of feet above sea-level. Its
plumage was in such good condition that they could not resist the impulse
to secure it for our collection, for the moment not considering the enormous
weight to be carried. They had neither firearms nor an Ancient Mariner's
cross-bow, and no stones were to be had in the vicinity—when the
resourceful Hurley suddenly bethought himself of a small tin of meat in his
haversack, and, with a fortunate throw, hit the bird on the head, killing the
majestic creature on the spot.
Shouldering their prize, they trudged on to Lusitania Bay, camping there
that night in an old dilapidated hut; a remnant of the sealing days. Close by
there was known to be a large rookery of King penguins; a variety of
penguin with richly tinted plumage on the head and shoulders, and next in
size to the Emperor—the sovereign bird of the Antarctic Regions. The
breeding season was at its height, so Harrisson secured and preserved a
great number of their eggs. Hutchinson kindly volunteered to carry the
albatross in addition to his original load. If they had skinned the bird, the
weight would have been materially reduced, but with the meagre appliances
at hand, it would undoubtedly have been spoiled as a specimen. Hurley,
very ambitiously, had taken a heavy camera, in addition to a blanket and
other sundries. During the rough and wet walking of the previous day, his
boots had worn out and caused him to twist a tendon in the right foot, so
that he was not up to his usual form, while Harrisson was hampered with a
bulky cargo of eggs and specimens.
Saddled with these heavy burdens, the party found the return journey
very laborious. Hurley's leg set the pace, and so, later in the day, Harrisson
decided to push on ahead in order to give us news, as they had orders to be
back as soon as possible and were then overdue. When darkness came on,
Harrisson was near The Nuggets, where he passed the night amongst the
tussock-grass. Hurley and Hutchinson, who were five miles behind, also
slept by the wayside. When dawn appeared, Harrisson moved on, reaching
the north-end huts at about 9 A.M. Mertz and Whetter immediately set out
and came to the relief of the other two men a few hours later.

Fatigue and the lame leg subdued Hurley for the rest of the day, but the
next morning he was off to get pictures of the "flying fox" in action. It was
practically impossible for him to walk to the top of the hill, but not to be
baffled, he sent the cinematograph machine up by the "flying fox," and then
followed himself. Long before reaching the top he realized how much his
integrity depended on the strength of the hauling-line and the care of those
on Wireless Hill.
During the latter part of our stay at the island, the wind veered to the
north and north-north-east. We took advantage of this change to steam
round to the east side, intending to increase our supply of fresh water at The
Nuggets, where a stream comes down the hillside on to the beach. In this,
however, we were disappointed, for the sea was breaking too heavily on the
beach, and so we steamed back to North-East Bay and dropped anchor.
Wild went off in the launch to search for a landing-place but found the sea
everywhere too formidable.
Signals were made to those on shore, instructing them to finish off the
work on the wireless plant, and to kill a dozen sheep—enough for our needs
for some days.
The ship was now found to be drifting, and, as the wind was blowing
inshore, the anchor was raised, and with the launch in tow we steamed
round to the calmer waters of Hasselborough Bay. At the north end of the
island, for several miles out to sea along the line of a submerged reef, the
northerly swell was found to be piling up in an ugly manner, and
occasioned considerable damage to the launch. This happened as the
'Aurora' swung around; a sea catching the launch and rushing it forward so
that it struck the stern of the ship bow-on, notwithstanding the fact that
several of the men exerted themselves to their utmost to prevent a collision.
On arrival at the anchorage, the launch was noticeably settling down, as
water had entered at several seams which had been started.
After being partly bailed out, it was left in the water with Hodgeman and
Close aboard, as we wished to run ashore as soon as the weather improved.
Contrary to expectation the wind increased, and it was discovered that the
'Aurora' was drifting rapidly, although ninety fathoms of chain had been
paid out. Before a steam-winch** was installed, the anchor could be raised
only by means of an antiquated man-power lever-windlass. In this type, a
see-saw-like lever is worked by a gang of men at each extremity, and it

takes a long time to get in any considerable length of chain. The chorus and
chanty came to our aid once more, and the long hours of heaving on the
fo'c'sle head were a bright if strenuous spot in our memories of Macquarie
Island. In course of time, during which the ship steamed slowly ahead, the
end came in sight—'Vast heaving!—but the anchor was missing. This put us
in an awkward situation, for the stock of our other heavy anchor had
already been lost. There was no other course but to steam up and down
waiting for the weather to moderate. In the meantime, we had been too busy
to relieve Close and Hodgeman, who had been doing duty in the launch,
bailing for five hours, and were thoroughly soaked with spray. All hands
now helped with the tackle, and we soon had the launch on board in its old
position near the main hatch.

** Fitted on return to Sydney after the first Antarctic cruise.

These operations were unusually protracted for we were short handed;
the boatswain, some of the sailors and most of the land party being
marooned on shore. We were now anxious to get everybody on board and to
be off. The completion of their quarters was to be left to the Macquarie
Island party, and it was important that we should make the most of the
southern season. The wind blew so strongly, however, that there was no
immediate prospect of departure.
The ship continued to steam up and down. On the morning of December
23 it was found possible to lower the whale-boat, and Wild went off with a
complement of sturdy oarsmen, including Madigan, Moyes, Watson and
Kennedy, and succeeded in bringing off the dogs. Several trips were made
with difficulty during the day, but at last all the men, dogs and sheep were
brought off.
Both Wild and I went with the whale-boat on its last trip at dusk on the
evening of December 23. The only possible landing-place, with the sea then
running, was at the extreme north-eastern corner of the beach. No time was
lost in getting the men and the remainder of the cargo into the boat, though
in the darkness this was not easily managed. The final parting with our
Macquarie Island party took place on the beach, their cheers echoing to ours
as we breasted the surf and "gave way" for the ship.

CHAPTER III FROM MACQUARIE ISLAND
TO ADELIE LAND
The morning following our farewell to Ainsworth and party at the north
end of the island found us steaming down the west coast, southward bound.
Our supply of fresh water was scanty, and the only resource was to touch
at Caroline Cove. As a matter of fact, there were several suitable localities
on the east coast, but the strong easterly weather then prevailing made a
landing impossible.
On the ship nearing the south end, the wind subsided. She then crept into
the lee of the cliffs, a boat was dropped and soundings disclosed a deep
passage at the mouth of Caroline Cove and ample water within. There was,
however, limited space for manoeuvring the vessel if a change should occur
in the direction of the wind. The risk was taken; the 'Aurora' felt her way in,
and, to provide against accident, was anchored by Captain Davis with her
bow toward the entrance. Wild then ran out a kedge anchor to secure the
stern.
During the cruise down the coast the missing stock of our only anchor
had been replaced by Gillies and Hannam. Two oregon "dead men", bolted
together on the shank, made a clumsy but efficient makeshift.
Two large barrels were taken ashore, repeatedly filled and towed off to
the ship. It was difficult at first to find good water, for the main stream
flowing down from the head of the bay was contaminated by the penguins
which made it their highway to a rookery. After a search, an almost dry
gulley bed was found to yield water when a pit was dug in its bed. This spot
was some eighty yards from the beach and to reach it one traversed an area
of tussocks between which sea elephants wallowed in soft mire.
A cordon of men was made and buckets were interchanged, the full ones
descending and the empty ones ascending. The barrels on the beach were
thus speedily filled and taken off by a boat's crew. At 11 P.M. darkness
came, and it was decided to complete the work on the following day.
As we rowed to the ship, the water was serenely placid. From the dark
environing hills came the weird cries of strange birds. There was a hint of

wildness, soon to be forgotten in the chorus of a 'Varsity song and the hearty
shouts of the rowers.
About 2 A.M. the officer on watch came down to report to Captain Davis
a slight change in the direction of the breeze. At 3 A.M. I was again
awakened by hearing Captain Davis hasten on deck, and by a gentle
bumping of the ship, undoubtedly against rock. It appeared that the officer
on watch had left the bridge for a few minutes, while the wind freshened
and was blowing at the time nearly broadside-on from the north. This
caused the ship to sag to leeward, stretching the bow and stern cables, until
she came in contact with the kelp-covered, steep, rocky bank on the south
side. The narrow limits of the anchorage were responsible for this
dangerous situation.
All hands were immediately called on deck and set to work hauling on
the stern cable. In a few minutes the propeller and rudder were out of
danger. The engines were then started slowly ahead, and, as we came up to
the bower anchor, the cable was taken in. The wind was blowing across the
narrow entrance to the Cove, so that it was advisable to get quickly under
way. The kedge anchor was abandoned, and we steamed straight out to sea
with the bower hanging below the bows. The wind increased, and there was
no other course open but to continue the southward voyage.
The day so inauspiciously begun turned out beautifully sunny. There was
additional verve in our Christmas celebration, as Macquarie Island and the
Bishop and Clerk, in turn, sank below the northern horizon.
During the stay at the island little attention had been given to scientific
matters. All our energies had been concentrated on speedily landing the
party which was to carry out such special work, so as to allow us to get
away south as soon as possible. Enough had been seen to indicate the wide
scientific possibilities of the place.
For some days we were favoured by exceptional weather; a moderate
breeze from the north-east and a long, lazy swell combining to make our
progress rapid.
The sum of the experiences of earlier expeditions had shown that the
prevailing winds south of 60 degrees S. latitude were mainly south-easterly,
causing a continuous streaming of the pack from east to west. Our obvious
expedient on encountering the ice was to steam in the same direction as this
drift. It had been decided before setting out that we would confine ourselves

to the region west of the meridian of 158 degrees E. longitude. So it was
intended to reach the pack, approximately in that meridian, and, should we
be repulsed, to work steadily to the west in expectation of breaking through
to the land.
Regarding the ice conditions over the whole segment of the unknown
tract upon which our attack was directed, very little was known. Critically
examined, the reports of the American squadron under the command of
Wilkes were highly discouraging. D'Urville appeared to have reached his
landfall without much hindrance by ice, but that was a fortunate
circumstance in view of the difficulties Wilkes had met. At the western limit
of the area we were to explore, the Germans in the 'Gauss' had been
irrevocably trapped in the ice as early as the month of February. At the
eastern limit, only the year before, the 'Terra Nova' of Scott's expedition,
making a sally into unexplored waters, had sighted new land almost on the
158th meridian, but even though it was then the end of summer, and the sea
was almost free from the previous season's ice, they were not able to reach
the land on account of the dense pack.
In the early southern summer, at the time of our arrival, the ice conditions
were expected to be at their worst. This followed from the fact that not only
would local floes be encountered, but also a vast expanse of pack fed by the
disintegrating floes of the Ross Sea, since, between Cape Adare and the
Balleny Islands, the ice drifting to the north-west under the influence of the
south-east winds is arrested in an extensive sheet. On the other hand, were
we to wait for the later season, no time would remain for the
accomplishment of the programme which had been arranged. So we were
forced to accept things as we found them, being also prepared to make the
most of any chance opportunity.
In planning the Expedition, the probability of meeting unusually heavy
pack had been borne in mind, and the three units into which the land parties
and equipment were divided had been disposed so as to facilitate the
landing of a base with despatch, and, maybe, under difficult circumstances.
Further, in case the ship were frozen in, "wireless" could be installed and
the news immediately communicated through Macquarie Island to
Australia.
At noon on December 27 whales were spouting all round us, and
appeared to be travelling from west to east. Albatrosses of several species

constantly hovered about, and swallow-like Wilson petrels—those nervous
rangers of the high seas—would sail along the troughs and flit over the
crests of the waves, to vanish into sombre distance.
Already we were steaming through untravelled waters, and new
discoveries might be expected at any moment. A keen interest spread
throughout the ship. On several occasions, fantastic clouds on the horizon
gave hope of land, only to be abandoned on further advance. On December
28 and 29 large masses of floating kelp were seen, and, like the flotsam met
with by Columbus, still further raised our hopes.
The possibility of undiscovered islands existing in the Southern Ocean,
south of Australia and outside the ice-bound region, kept us vigilant. So few
ships had ever navigated the waters south of latitude 55 degrees, that some
one and a quarter million square miles lay open to exploration. As an
instance of such a discovery in the seas south of New Zealand may be
mentioned Scott Island, first observed by the 'Morning', one of the relief
ships of the British Expedition of 1902.
The weather remained favourable for sounding and other
oceanographical work, but as it was uncertain how long these conditions
would last, and in view of the anxiety arising from overloaded decks and
the probability of gales which are chronic in these latitudes, it was resolved
to land one of the bases as soon as possible, and thus rid the ship of
superfluous cargo. The interesting but time-absorbing study of the ocean-
depths was therefore postponed for a while.
With regard to the Antarctic land to be expected ahead, many of Wilkes's
landfalls, where they had been investigated by later expeditions, had been
disproved. It seemed as if he had regarded the northern margin of the solid
floe and shelf-ice as land; perhaps also mistaking bergs, frozen in the floe
and distorted by mirage, for ice-covered land. Nevertheless, his soundings,
and the light thrown upon the subject by the Scott and Shackleton
expeditions, left no doubt in my mind that land would be found within a
reasonable distance south of the position assigned by Wilkes. Some
authorities had held that any land existing in this region would be found to
be of the nature of isolated islands. Those familiar with the adjacent land,
however, were all in favour of it being continental—a continuation of the
Victoria Land plateau. The land lay to the south beyond doubt; the problem

was to reach it through the belt of ice-bound sea. Still, navigable pack-ice
might be ahead, obviating the need of driving too far to the west.
"Ice on the starboard bow!" At 4 P.M. on December 29 the cry was
raised, and shortly after we passed alongside a small caverned berg whose
bluish-green tints called forth general admiration. In the distance others
could be seen. One larger than the average stood almost in our path. It was
of the flat-topped, sheer-walled type, so characteristic of the Antarctic
regions; three-quarters of a mile long and half a mile wide, rising eighty
feet above the sea.
It has been stated that tabular bergs are typical of the Antarctic as
opposed to the Arctic. This diversity is explained by a difference in the
glacial conditions. In the north, glaciation is not so marked and, as a rule,
coastal areas are free from ice, except for valley-glaciers which transport
ice from the high interior down to sea-level. There, the summer temperature
is so warm that the lower parts of the glaciers become much decayed, and,
reaching the sea, break up readily into numerous irregular, pinnacled bergs
of clear ice. In the south, the tabular forms result from the fact that the
average annual temperature is colder than that prevailing at the northern
axis of the earth. They are so formed because, even at sea-level, no
appreciable amount of thawing takes place in midsummer. The inland ice
pushes out to sea in enormous masses, and remains floating long before it
"calves" to form bergs. Even though its surface has been thrown into ridges
as it was creeping over the uneven land, all are reduced to a dead level or
slightly undulating plain, in the free-floating condition, and are still further
effaced by dense drifts and repeated falls of snow descending upon them.
The upper portion of a table-topped berg consists, therefore, of consolidated
snow; neither temperature nor pressure having been sufficient to
metamorphose it into clear ice. Such a berg in old age becomes worn into
an irregular shape by the action of waves and weather, and often completely
capsizes, exposing its corroded basement.
A light fog obscured the surrounding sea and distant bergs glided by like
spectres. A monstrous block on the starboard side had not been long adrift,
for it showed but slight signs of weathering.
The fog thickened over a grey swell that shimmered with an oily lustre.
At 7 P.M. pack-ice came suddenly to view, and towards it we steered, vainly
peering through the mists ahead in search of a passage. The ice was closely

packed, the pieces being small and wellworn. On the outskirts was a light
brash which steadily gave place to a heavier variety, composed of larger and
more angular fragments. A swishing murmur like the wind in the tree-tops
came from the great expanse. It was alabaster-white and through the small,
separate chips was diffused a pale lilac coloration. The larger chunks, by
their motion and exposure to wind and current, had a circle of clear water;
the deep sea-blue hovering round their water-worn niches. Here and there
appeared the ochreous-yellow colour of adhering films of diatoms.
As we could not see what lay beyond, and the pack was becoming
heavier, the ship was swung round and headed out.
Steering to the west through open water and patches of trailing brash, we
were encouraged to find the pack trending towards the south. By pushing
through bars of jammed floes and dodging numerous bergs, twenty miles
were gained due southwards before the conditions had changed. The fog
cleared, and right ahead massive bergs rose out of an ice-strewn sea. We
neared one which was a mile in length and one hundred feet in height. The
heaving ocean, dashing against its mighty, glistening walls, rushed with a
hollow boom into caverns of ethereal blue; gothic portals to a cathedral of
resplendent purity.
The smaller bergs and fragments of floe crowded closer together, and the
two men at the wheel had little time for reverie. Orders came in quick
succession—"Starboard! Steady!" and in a flash—"Hard-a-port!" Then
repeated all over again, while the rudder-chains scraped and rattled in their
channels.
Gradually the swell subsided, smoothed by the weight of ice. The
tranquillity of the water heightened the superb effects of this glacial world.
Majestic tabular bergs whose crevices exhaled a vaporous azure; lofty
spires, radiant turrets and splendid castles; honeycombed masses illumined
by pale green light within whose fairy labyrinths the water washed and
gurgled. Seals and penguins on magic gondolas were the silent denizens of
this dreamy Venice. In the soft glamour of the midsummer midnight sun, we
were possessed by a rapturous wonder—the rare thrill of unreality.
The ice closed in, and shock after shock made the ship vibrate as she
struck the smaller pieces full and fair, followed by a crunching and grinding
as they scraped past the sides. The dense pack had come, and hardly a
square foot of space showed amongst the blocks; smaller ones packing in

between the larger, until the sea was covered with a continuous armour of
ice. The ominous sound arising from thousands of faces rubbing together as
they gently oscillated in the swell was impressive. It spoke of a force all-
powerful, in whose grip puny ships might be locked for years and the less
fortunate receive their last embrace.
The pack grew heavier and the bergs more numerous, embattled in a
formidable array. If an ideal picture, from our point of view it was
impenetrable. No "water sky" showed as a distant beacon; over all was
reflected the pitiless, white glare of the ice. The 'Aurora' retreated to the
open sea, and headed to the west in search of a break in the ice-front. The
wind blew from the south-east, and, with sails set to assist the engines,
rapid progress was made.
The southern prospect was disappointing, for the heavy pack was ranged
in a continuous bar. The over-arching sky invariably shone with that
yellowish-white effulgence known as "ice blink," indicative of continuous
ice, in contrast with the dark water sky, a sign of open water, or a mottled
sky proceeding from an ice-strewn but navigable sea.
Though progress can be made in dense pack, provided it is not too heavy,
advance is necessarily very slow—a few miles a day, and that at the
expense of much coal. Without a well-defined "water sky" it would have
been foolish to have entered. Further, everything pointed to heavier ice-
conditions in the south, and, indeed, in several places we reconnoitred, and
such was proved to be the case. Large bergs were numerous, which, on
account of being almost unaffected by surface currents because of their
ponderous bulk and stupendous draught, helped to compact the shallow
surface-ice under the free influence of currents and winds. In our westerly
course we were sometimes able to edge a little to the south, but were always
reduced to our old position within a few hours. Long projecting "tongues"
were met at intervals and, when narrow or open, we pushed through them.
Whales were frequently seen, both rorquals and killers. On the pack, sea-
leopards and crab-eater seals sometimes appeared. At one time as many as a
hundred would be counted from the bridge and at other moments not a
single one could be sighted. They were not alarmed, unless the ship
happened to bump against ice-masses within a short distance of them. A
small sea-leopard, shot from the fo'c'sle by a well-directed bullet from Wild,

was taken on board as a specimen; the meat serving as a great treat for the
dogs.
On January 2, when driving through a tongue of pack, a halt was made to
"ice ship." A number of men scrambled over the side on to a large piece of
floe and handed up the ice. It was soon discovered, however, that the swell
was too great, for masses of ice ten tons or more in weight swayed about
under the stern, endangering the propeller and rudder—the vulnerable parts
of the vessel. So we moved on, having secured enough fresh-water ice to
supply a pleasant change after the somewhat discoloured tank-water then
being served out. The ice still remained compact and forbidding, but each
day we hoped to discover a weak spot through which we might probe to the
land itself.
On the evening of January 2 we saw a high, pinnacled berg, a few miles
within the edge of the pack, closely resembling a rocky peak; the
transparent ice of which it was composed appeared, in the dull light, of a
much darker hue than the surrounding bergs. Another adjacent block
exhibited a large black patch on its northern face, the exact nature of which
could not be ascertained at a distance. Examples of rock debris embedded in
bergs had already been observed, and it was presumed that this was a
similar case. These were all hopeful signs, for the earthy matter must, of
course, have been picked up by the ice during its repose upon some
adjacent land.
At this same spot, large flocks of silver-grey petrels were seen resting on
the ice and skimming the water in search of food. As soon as we had
entered the ice-zone, most of our old companions, such as the albatross, had
deserted, while a new suite of Antarctic birds had taken their place. These
included the beautiful snow petrel, the Antarctic petrel, and the small,
lissome Wilson petrel—a link with the bird-life of more temperate seas.
On the evening of January 3 the wind was blowing fresh from the south-
east and falling snow obscured the horizon. The pack took a decided turn to
the north, which fact was particularly disappointing in view of the distance
we had already traversed to the west. We were now approaching the
longitude of D'Urville's landfall, and still the pack showed no signs of
slackening. I was beginning to feel very anxious, and had decided not to
pass that longitude without resorting to desperate measures.

The change in our fortunes occurred at five o'clock next morning, when
the Chief Officer, Toucher, came down from the bridge to report that the
atmosphere was clearing and that there appeared to be land-ice near by.
Sure enough, on the port side, within a quarter of a mile, rose a massive
barrier of ice extending far into the mist and separated from the ship by a
little loose pack-ice. The problem to be solved was, whether it was the
seaward face of an ice-covered continent, the ice-capping of a low island or
only a flat-topped iceberg of immense proportions.
By 7 A.M. a corner was reached where the ice-wall trended southward,
limned on the horizon in a series of bays and headlands. An El Dorado had
opened before us, for the winds coming from the east of south had cleared
the pack away from the lee of the ice-wall, so that in the distance a
comparatively clear sea was visible, closed by a bar of ice, a few miles in
extent. Into this we steered, hugging the ice-wall, and were soon in the
open, speeding along in glorious sunshine, bringing new sights into view
every moment.
The wall, along the northern face, was low—from thirty to seventy feet
in height—but the face along which we were now progressing gradually
rose in altitude to the south. It was obviously a shelf-ice formation (or a
glacier-tongue projection of it), exactly similar in build, for instance, to the
Great Ross Barrier so well described by Ross, Scott, and others. At the
north-west corner, at half a dozen places within a few miles of each other,
the wall was puckered up and surmounted by semi-conical eminences, half
as high as the face itself. These peculiar elevations were unlike anything
previously recorded and remained unexplained for a while, until closer
inspection showed them to be the result of impact with other ice-masses—a
curious but conceivable cause.
On pieces of broken floe Weddell seals were noted. They were the first
seen on the voyage and a sure indication of land, for their habitat ranges
over the coastal waters of Antarctic lands.
A large, low, dome-topped elevation, about one mile in diameter, was
passed on the starboard side, at a distance of two miles from the long ice-
cliff. This corresponded in shape with what Ross frequently referred to as
an "ice island," uncertain whether it was a berg or ice-covered land. A
sounding close by gave two hundred and eight fathoms, showing that we

were on the continental shelf, and increasing the probability that the "ice
island" was aground.
Birds innumerable appeared on every hand: snow petrels, silver petrels,
Cape pigeons and Antarctic petrels. They fluttered in hundreds about our
bows. Cape pigeons are well known in lower latitudes, and it was
interesting to find them so far south. As they have chessboard-like markings
on the back when seen in flight, there is no mistaking them.
The ice-wall or glacier-tongue now took a turn to the south-east. At this
point it had risen to a great height, about two hundred feet sheer. A fresh
wind was blowing in our teeth from the south-south-east, and beyond this
point would be driving us on to the cliffs. We put the ship about, therefore,
and made for the lee side of the "ice island."
In isolated coveys on the inclined top of the "island" were several flocks,
each containing hundreds of Antarctic petrels. At intervals they would rise
into the air in clouds, shortly afterwards to settle down again on the snow.
Captain Davis moved the ship carefully against the lee wall of the
"island," with a view of replenishing our water supply, but it was
unscalable, and we were forced to withdraw. Crouched on a small
projection near the water's edge was a seal, trying to evade the eyes of a
dozen large grampuses which were playing about near our stern. These
monsters appeared to be about twenty-five feet in length. They are the most
formidable predacious mammals of the Antarctic seas, and annually account
for large numbers of seals, penguins, and other cetaceans. The sea-leopard
is its competitor, though not nearly so ferocious as the grampus, of whom it
lives in terror.
The midnight hours were spent off the "ice island" while we wafted for a
decrease in the wind. Bars of cirrus clouds covered the whole sky—the
presage of a coming storm. The wind arose, and distant objects were blotted
out by driving snow. An attempt was made to keep the ship in shelter by
steaming into the wind, but as "ice island" and glacier-tongue were lost in
clouds of snow, we were fortunate to make the lee of the latter, about
fourteen miles to the north. There we steamed up and down until the
afternoon of January 5, when the weather improved. A sounding was taken
and the course was once more set for the south.
The sky remained overcast, the atmosphere foggy, and a south-south-east
wind was blowing as we came abreast of the "ice island," which, by the

way, was discovered to have drifted several miles to the north, thus proving
itself to be a free-floating berg. The glacier-tongue on the port side took a
sharp turn to the east-south-east, disappearing on the horizon. As there was
no pack in sight and the water was merely littered with fragments of ice, it
appeared most likely that the turn in the glacier-tongue was part of a great
sweeping curve ultimately joining with the southward land. On our south-
south-east course we soon lost sight of the ice-cliffs in a gathering fog.
On the afternoon of January 6 the wind abated and the fog began to clear.
At 5 P.M. a line of ice confronted us and, an hour later, the 'Aurora' was in
calm water under another mighty ice face trending across our course. This
wall was precisely similar to the one seen on the previous evening, and
might well have been a continuation of it. It is scarcely credible that when
the 'Aurora' came south the following year, the glacier-tongue first
discovered had entirely disappeared. It was apparently nothing more than a
huge iceberg measuring forty miles in length. Specially valuable, as
clearing up any doubt that may have remained, was its re-discovery the
following year some fifty miles to the north-west. Close to the face of the
new ice-wall, which proved to be a true glacier-tongue, a mud bottom was
found at a depth of three hundred and ninety-five fathoms.
While we were steaming in calm water to the south-west, the massive
front, serrated by shallow bays and capes, passed in magnificent review. Its
height attained a maximum of one hundred and fifty feet. In places the sea
had eaten out enormous blue grottoes. At one spot, several of these had
broken into each other to form a huge domed cavern, the roof of which
hung one hundred feet above the sea. The noble portico was flanked by
giant pillars.
The glacier-tongue bore all the characters of shelf-ice, by which is meant
a floating extension of the land-ice.** A table-topped berg in the act of
formation was seen, separated from the parent body of shelf-ice by a deep
fissure several yards in width.

** Subsequently this shelf-ice formation was found to be a floating
glacier-tongue sixty miles in length, the seaward extension of a large
glacier which we named the Mertz Glacier.

At 11 P.M. the 'Aurora' entered a bay, ten miles wide, bounded on the east
by the shelf-ice wall and on the west by a steep snow-covered promontory
rising approximately two thousand feet in height, as yet seen dimly in hazy

outline through the mist. No rock was visible, but the contour of the ridge
was clearly that of ice-capped land.
There was much jubilation among the watchers on deck at the prospect.
Every available field-glass and telescope was brought to bear upon it. It was
almost certainly the Antarctic continent, though, at that time, its extension
to the east, west and south remained to be proved. The shelf-ice was seen to
be securely attached to it and, near its point of junction with the undulating
land-ice, we beheld the mountains of this mysterious land haloed in ghostly
mist.
While passing the extremity of the western promontory, we observed an
exposure of rock, jutting out of the ice near sea-level, in the face of a scar
left by an avalanche. Later, when passing within half a cable's length of
several berg-like masses of ice lying off the coast, rock was again visible in
black relief against the water's edge, forming a pedestal for the ice. The ship
was kept farther offshore, after this warning, for though she was designed to
buffet with the ice, we had no desire to test her resistance to rock.
The bottom was very irregular, and as an extra precaution, soundings
were taken every few minutes. Through a light fog all that could be seen
landwards was a steep, sloping, icy surface descending from the interior,
and terminating abruptly in a seaward cliff fifty to two hundred feet in
height.
The ice-sheet terminating in this wall presented a more broken surface
than the floating shelf-ice. It was riven and distorted by gaping crevasses;
an indication of the rough bed over which it had travelled.
Towards midnight another bay was entered and many rocky islets
appeared on its western side. The engines were stopped for a few hours, and
the voyage was resumed in clearer weather on the following morning.
All day we threaded our way between islands and bergs. Seals and
penguins swam around, the latter squawking and diving in a most amusing
manner.
Cautiously we glided by an iceberg, at least one hundred and fifty feet
high, rising with a faceted, perpendicular face chased with soft, snowy
traceries and ornamented with stalactites. Splits and rents broke into the
margin, and from each streamed the evanescent, azure vapour. Each
puncture and tiny grotto was filled with it, and a sloping cap of shimmering
snow spread over the summit. The profile-view was an exact replica of a

battleship, grounded astern. The bold contour of the bow was perfect, and
the massive flank had been torn and shattered by shell-fire in a desperate
naval battle. This berg had heeled over considerably, and the original water-
line ran as a definite rim, thirty feet above the green water. From this rim
shelved down a smooth and polished base, marked with fine vertical striae.
Soundings varied from twenty to two hundred fathoms, and, accordingly,
the navigation was particularly anxious work.
Extending along about fifteen miles of coast, where the inland ice came
down steeply to the sea, was a marginal belt of sea, about two or three miles
in width, thickly strewn with rocky islets. Of these some were flat and
others peaked, but all were thickly populated by penguins, petrels and seals.
The rocks appeared all to be gneisses and schists.
Later that night we lay off a possible landing-place for one of our bases,
but, on more closely inspecting it in the morning, we decided to proceed
farther west into a wide sweeping bay which opened ahead. About fifty
miles ahead, on the far side of Commonwealth Bay, as we named it, was a
cape which roughly represented in position Cape Decouverte, the most
easterly extension of Adelie Land seen by D'Urville in 1840. Though
Commonwealth Bay and the land already seen had never before been
sighted, all was placed under the territorial name of Adelie Land.
The land was so overwhelmed with ice that, even at sea-level, the rock
was all but entirely hidden. Here was an ice age in all earnestness; a picture
of Northern Europe during the Great Ice Age some fifty thousand years ago.
It was evident that the glaciation of Adelie Land was much more severe
than that in higher Antarctic latitudes, as exampled on the borders of the
Ross Sea; the arena of Scott's, Shackleton's and other expeditions. The
temperature could not be colder, so we were led to surmise that the snowfall
must be excessive. The full truth was to be ascertained by bitter experience,
after spending a year on the spot.
I had hoped to find the Antarctic continent in these latitudes bounded by
a rocky and attractive coast like that in the vicinity of Cape Adare; the
nearest well-explored region. It had proved otherwise, only too well
endorsing the scanty information supplied by D'Urville and Wilkes of the
coastline seen by them. A glance at the austere plateau and the ice-fettered
coast was evidence of a rigid, inhospitable climate. It was apparent, too,

that only a short summer could be expected in these latitudes, thus placing
limitations upon our operations.
If three bases were to be landed it was important that they should be
spread at sufficiently wide intervals. If one were placed in Adelie Land, the
ship would probably have to break through the pack in establishing each of
the other two ba ses. Judging by our previous experience there was no
certain prospect of this being effected. The successful landing of three bases
in suitable positions, sufficiently far apart for advantageous co-operation in
geographical, meteorological and other observations, had now become
problematical. In addition, one of the parties was not as strong as I would
have liked, considering what would be undoubtedly its strenuous future.
For some days the various phases of the situation had occupied my mind,
and I now determined to risk two bases, combining the smallest of the three
parties with the Main Base. Alterations in the personnel of the third party
were also made, by which the Main Base would be increased in strength for
scientific work, and the other party under the leadership of Wild would be
composed of men of specially good sledging calibre, besides being
representative of the leading branches of our scientific programme.
We had a splendid lot of men, and I had no difficulty in choosing for
Wild seven companions who could be relied upon to give a good account of
themselves. It was only by assuring myself of their high efficiency that I
could expect to rest from undue anxiety throughout the year of our
separation. The composition of the two parties was as follows:
Main Base: R. Bage, F. H. Bickerton, J. H. Close, P. E. Correll, W. H.
Hannam, A. J. Hodgeman, J. G. Hunter, J. F. Hurley, C. F. Laseron, C. T.
Madigan, A. L. McLean, X. Mertz, H. D. Murphy, B. E. S. Ninnis, F. L.
Stillwell, E. N. Webb, L. H. Whetter and myself.
Western Party: G. Dovers, C. T. Harrisson, C. A. Hoadley, S. E. Jones, A.
L. Kennedy, M. H. Moyes, A. D. Watson, and F. Wild (leader).
I was now anxious to find a suitable location for our Main Base; two
reasons making it an urgent matter. The first was, that as we advanced to the
west we were leaving the South Magnetic Pole, and I was anxious to have
our magnetographs running as near the latter as possible. Secondly, we
would be daily increasing our distance from Macquarie Island, making
wireless communication more uncertain.

At noon on January 8, while I was weighing the pros and cons with
Captain Davis, Wild came in to say that there was a rocky exposure about
fifteen miles off on the port side, and suggested altering our course to obtain
a better view of it.
Just after 4 P.M., when the ship was about one mile from the nearest
rocks, the whale-boat was lowered and manned. We rowed in with the
object of making a closer investigation. From the ship's deck, even when
within a mile, the outcrop had appeared to project directly from under the
inland ice-sheet. Now, however, we were surprised to find ourselves
amongst an archipelago of islets. These were named the Mackellar Islets, in
remembrance of one who had proved a staunch friend of the Expedition.
Weddell seals and Adelie penguins in thousands rested upon the rocks;
the latter chiefly congregated upon a long, low, bare islet situated in the
centre. This was the largest of the group, measuring about half a mile in
length; others were not above twenty yards in diameter. As we came
inshore, the main body of the archipelago was found to be separated by a
mile and a half from the mainland. A point which struck us at the time was
that the islets situated on the southern side of the group were capped by
unique masses of ice; resembling iced cakes. Later we were able to see
them in process of formation. In the violent southerly hurricanes prevalent
in Adelie Land, the spray breaks right over them. Part of it is deposited and
frozen, and by increments the icing of these monstrous "cakes" is built up.
The amount contributed in winter makes up for loss by thawing in
midsummer. As the islets to windward shelter those in their lee, the latter
are destitute of these natural canopies.
Soundings were taken at frequent intervals with a hand lead-line,
manipulated by Madigan. The water was on the whole shallow, varying
from a few to twenty fathoms. The bottom was clothed by dense, luxuriant
seaweed. This rank growth along the littoral was unexpected, for nothing of
the kind exists on the Ross Sea coasts within five or six fathoms of the
surface.
Advancing towards the mainland, we observed a small islet amongst the
rocks, and towards it the boat was directed. We were soon inside a
beautiful, miniature harbour completely land-locked. The sun shone
gloriously in a blue sky as we stepped ashore on a charming ice-quay—the

first to set foot on the Antarctic continent between Cape Adare and
Gaussberg, a distance of one thousand eight hundred miles.
Wild and I proceeded to make a tour of exploration. The rocky area at
Cape Denison, as it was named, was found to be about one mile in length
and half a mile in extreme width. Behind it rose the inland ice, ascending in
a regular slope and apparently free of crevasses—an outlet for our sledging
parties in the event of the sea not firmly freezing over. To right and left of
this oasis, as the visitor to Adelie Land must regard the welcome rock, the
ice was heavily crevassed and fell sheer to the sea in cliffs, sixty to one
hundred and fifty feet in height. Two small dark patches in the distance
were the only evidences of rock to relieve the white monotony of the coast.
In landing cargo on Antarctic shores, advantage is generally taken of the
floe-ice on to which the materials can be unloaded and at once sledged
away to their destination. Here, on the other hand, there was open water, too
shallow for the 'Aurora' to be moored alongside the ice-foot. The only
alternative was to anchor the ship at a distance and discharge the cargo by
boats running to the ideal harbour we had discovered. Close to the boat
harbour was suitable ground for the erection of a hut, so that the various
impedimenta would have to be carried only a short distance. For supplies of
fresh meat, in the emergency of being marooned for a number of years,
there were many Weddell seals at hand, and on almost all the neighbouring
ridges colonies of penguins were busy rearing their young.64
As a station for scientific investigations, it offered a wider field than the
casual observer would have imagined. So it came about that the Main Base
was finally settled at Cape Denison, Commonwealth Bay.
We arrived on board at 8 P.M., taking a seal as food for the dogs. Without
delay, the motor-launch was dropped into the water, and both it and the
whale-boat loaded with frozen carcasses of mutton, cases of eggs and other
perishable goods.
While some of us went ashore in the motor-launch, with the whale-boat
in tow, the 'Aurora' steamed round the Mackellar Islets seeking for a good
anchorage under the icy barrier, immediately to the west of the boat
harbour. The day had been perfect, vibrant with summer and life, but
towards evening a chill breeze sprang up, and we in the motor-launch had to
beat against it. By the time we had reached the head of the harbour,
Hoadley had several fingers frost-bitten and all were feeling the cold, for

we were wearing light garments in anticipation of fine weather. The wind
strengthened every minute, and showers of fine snow were soon whistling
down the glacier. No time was lost in landing the cargo, and, with a rising
blizzard at our backs, we drove out to meet the 'Aurora'. On reaching the
ship a small gale was blowing and our boats were taken in tow.
The first thing to be considered was the mooring of the 'Aurora' under the
lee of the ice-wall, so as to give us an opportunity of getting the boats
aboard. In the meantime they were passed astern, each manned by several
hands to keep them bailed out; the rest of us having scrambled up the side.
Bringing the ship to anchor in such a wind in uncharted, shoal water was
difficult to do in a cool and methodical manner. The sounding machine was
kept running with rather dramatic results; depths jumping from five to thirty
fathoms in the ship's length, and back again to the original figure in the
same distance. A feeling of relief passed round when, after much
manoeuvring, the anchor was successfully bedded five hundred yards from
the face of the cliff.
Just at this time the motor-launch broke adrift. Away it swept before a
wind of forty-five miles per hour. On account of the cold, and because the
engine was drenched with sea-water, some difficulty was found in starting
the motor. From the ship's deck we could see Bickerton busily engaged with
it. The rudder had been unshipped, and there was no chance of replacing it,
for the boat was bobbing about on the waves in a most extraordinary
manner. However, Whetter managed to make a jury-rudder which served
the purpose, while Hunter, the other occupant, was kept laboriously active
with the pump.
They had drifted half a mile, and were approaching the rocks of an islet
on which the sea was breaking heavily. Just as every one was becoming
very apprehensive, the launch began to forge ahead, and the men had soon
escaped from their dangerous predicament. By the united efforts of all
hands the boats were hoisted on board and everything was made as "snug"
as possible.
The wind steadily increased, and it seemed impossible for the anchor to
hold. The strain on the cable straightened out a steel hook two inches in
diameter. This caused some embarrassment, as the hook was part of the
cable attachment under the fo'c'sle-head. It is remarkable, however, that

after this was adjusted the ship did not lose her position up to the time of
departure from Adelie Land.
Though we were so close under the shelter of a lofty wall, the waves
around us were at least four feet in height and when the wind increased to
sixty-five and seventy miles per hour, their crests were cut off and the
surface was hidden by a sheet of racing spindrift.
Everything was securely lashed in readiness for going to sea, in case the
cable should part. Final arrangements were then made to discharge the
cargo quickly as soon as the wind moderated.
Two days had elapsed before the wind showed any signs of abatement. It
was 8 P.M. on January 10 when the first boat ventured off with a small
cargo, but it was not till the following morning that a serious start was
made. In good weather, every trip between the ship and the boat harbour, a
distance of a mile, meant that five or six tons had been landed. It was usual
for the loaded launch to tow both whale-boats heavily laden and, in
addition, a raft of hut timbers or wireless masts. Some of the sailors, while
engaged in building rafts alongside the ship, were capsized into the water
and after that the occupation was not a popular one.
Ashore, Wild had rigged a derrick, using for its construction two of the
wireless royal masts. It was thus possible to cope with the heavier packages
at the landing-place. Of the last-named the air-tractor sledge was by far the
most troublesome. With plenty of manual labour, under Wild's skilful
direction, this heavy machine was hoisted from the motor-launch, and then
carefully swung on to the solid ice-foot.
Captain Davis superintended the discharging operations on the ship,
effected by the crew and some of the land party under the direction of the
ship's officers. Wild supervised conveyance ashore, and the landing,
classification, and safe storage of the various boat-loads. Gillies and
Bickerton took alternate shifts in driving the motor-launch. The launch
proved invaluable, and we were very glad that it had been included in the
equipment, for it did a remarkable amount of work in a minimum of time.
In view of the difficulty of embarking the boats, if another hurricane
should arise, tents were erected ashore, so that a party could remain there
with the boats moored in a sheltered harbour.
Everything went well until just before midnight on January 12, when the
wind again swept down. Wild, four of the men and I were forced to remain

ashore. We spent the time constructing a temporary hut of benzine cases,
roofed with planks; the walls of which were made massive to resist the
winds. This structure was henceforth known as the "Benzine Hut".
The barometer dropped to 28.5 inches and the wind remained high. We
were struck with the singular fact that, even in the height of some of these
hurricanes, the sky remained serene and the sun shone brightly. It had been
very different when the ship was amongst the pack a few miles to the north,
for, there, cloudy and foggy conditions had been the rule. The wind coming
to us from the south was dry; obviously an argument for the continental
extension of the land in that direction.
At 2 A.M. on January 15 a pre-arranged whistle was sounded from the
'Aurora', advising those of us ashore that the sea had moderated sufficiently
to continue unloading. Wild sped away in the launch, but before he had
reached the ship the wind renewed its activity. At last, after 2 P.M. on the
same day it ceased, and we were able to carry on work until midnight, when
the wind descended on us once more. This time, eighteen men remained
ashore. After twelve hours there was another lull, and unloading was then
continued with only a few intermissions from 1 P.M. on January 16 until the
afternoon of January 19.
Never was landing so hampered by adverse conditions, and yet, thanks to
the assiduous application of all, a great assortment of materials was safely
embarked. Comprised among them were the following: twenty-three tons of
coal briquettes, two complete living-huts, a magnetic observatory, the
whole of the wireless equipment, including masts, and more than two
thousand packages of general supplies containing sufficient food for two
years, utensils, instruments, benzine, kerosene, lubricating oils an air-tractor
and other sledges.
Then came the time for parting. There was a great field before Wild's
party to the west, and it was important that they should be able to make the
most of the remainder of the season. My great regret was that I could not be
with them. I knew that I had men of experience and ability in Davis and
Wild, and felt that the work entrusted to them was in the best of hands.
Through the medium of wireless telegraphy I hoped to keep in touch with
the Macquarie Island party, the Western Base,** and the ship itself, when in
Australian waters.

** They were supplied with masts and a receiving set sufficiently
sensitive to pick up messages from a distance of five or six hundred
miles.

It was my idea that Wild's party should proceed west and attempt to
effect a landing and establish a western wintering station at some place not
less than four hundred miles west of Adelie Land. On the way, whenever
opportunity presented itself, they were to cache provisions at intervals along
the coast in places liable to be visited by sledging parties.
The location of such caches and of the Western Base, it was hoped,
would be communicated to us at the Main Base, through the medium of
wireless telegraphy from Hobart.
All members of the land parties and the ship's officers met in the ward-
room. There were mutual good wishes expressed all round, and then we
celebrated previous Antarctic explorers, more especially D'Urville and
Wilkes. The toast was drunk in excellent Madeira presented to us by Mr. J.
T. Buchanan, who had carried this sample round the world with him when a
member of the celebrated 'Challenger' expedition.
The motor-launch was hoisted and the anchor raised. Then at 8.45 P.M.
on January 19 we clambered over the side into one of the whale-boats and
pushed off for Cape Denison, shouting farewells back to the 'Aurora'.
Several hours later she had disappeared below the north-western horizon,
and we had set to work to carve out a home in Adelie Land.

CHAPTER IV NEW LANDS
Leaving the land party under my charge at Commonwealth Bay on the
evening of January 19, the 'Aurora' set her course to round a headland
visible on the north-western horizon. At midnight the ship came abreast of
this point and continued steaming west, keeping within a distance of five
miles of the coast. A break in the icy monotony came with a short tract of
islets fronting a background of dark rocky coastline similar to that at Cape
Denison but more extensive.
Some six miles east of D'Urville's Cape Discovery, a dangerous reef was
sighted extending at right angles across the course. The ship steamed along
it and her soundings demonstrated a submerged ridge continuing some
twelve miles out to sea. Captain Davis's narrative proceeds:
"Having cleared this obstacle we followed the coastline to the west from
point to point. Twelve miles away we could see the snow-covered slopes
rising from the seaward cliffs to an elevation of one thousand five hundred
feet. Several small islands were visible close to a shore fringed by
numerous large bergs.
"At 10 P.M. on January 20, our progress to the west was stopped by a
fleet of bergs off the mainland and an extensive field of berg-laden pack-
ice, trending to the north and north-east. Adelie Land could be traced
continuing to the west. Where it disappeared from view there was the
appearance of a barrier-formation, suggestive of shelf-ice, running in a
northerly direction. Skirting the pack-ice on a north and north-west course,
we observed the same appearance from the crow's-nest on January 21 and
22."
The stretch of open, navigable, coastal water to the north of Adelie Land,
barred by the Mertz Glacier on the east and delimited on the west by more
or less compact ice, has been named the D'Urville Sea. We found
subsequently that its freedom from obstruction by ice is due to the
persistent gales which set off the land in that locality. To the north, pack-ice
in variable amount is encountered before reaching the wide open ocean.

The existence of such a "barrier-formation,"** as indicated above,
probably resting on a line of reef similar to the one near Cape Discovery,
would account for the presence of this ice-field in practically the same
position as it was seen by D'Urville in 1840.

** An analysis of the data derived from the later voyages of the
'Aurora' makes it practically certain that there is a permanent obstacle
to the westerly drift of the pack-ice in longitude 137 degrees E. There
is, however, some uncertainty as to the cause of this blockage. An
alternative explanation is advanced, namely, that within the area
of comparatively shallow water, large bergs are entrapped, and these
entangle the drifting pack-ice.

At a distance, large bergs would be undistinguishable from shelf-ice,
appearances of which were reported above.
Quoting further: "We were unable to see any trace of the high land
reported by the United States Squadron (1840) as lying to the west and
south beyond the compact ice.
"At 1.30 A.M. on the 23rd the pack-ice was seen to trend to the south-
west. After steaming west for twenty-five miles, we stood south in
longitude 182 degrees 30' E, shortly afterwards passing over the charted
position of Cote Clarie. The water here was clear of pack-ice, but studded
with bergs of immense size. The great barrier which the French ships
followed in 1840 had vanished. A collection of huge bergs was the sole
remnant to mark its former position.
"At 10 A.M., having passed to the south of the charted position of
D'Urville's Cote Clarie, we altered course to S. 10 degrees E. true. Good
observations placed us at noon in latitude 65 degrees 2' S. and 132 degrees
26' E. A sounding on sand and small stones was taken in one hundred and
sixty fathoms. We sailed over the charted position of land east of Wilkes's
Cape Carr in clear weather.
"At 5.30 P.M. land was sighted to the southward—snowy highlands
similar to those of Adelie Land but greater in elevation.
"After sounding in one hundred and fifty-six fathoms on mud, the ship
stood directly towards the land until 9 P.M. The distance to the nearest point
was estimated at twenty miles; heavy floe-ice extending from our position,
latitude 65 degrees 45' S. and longitude 132 degrees 40' E., right up to the
shore. Another sounding realized two hundred and thirty fathoms, on sand

and small stones. Some open water was seen to the south-east, but an
attempt to force a passage in that direction was frustrated.
"At 3 A.M. on the 24th we were about twelve miles from the nearest
point of the coast, and further progress became impossible. The southern
slopes were seamed with numerous crevasses, but at a distance the precise
nature of the shores could not be accurately determined."
To this country, which had never before been seen, was given the name
of Wilkes's Land; as it is only just to commemorate the American Exploring
Expedition on the Continent which its leader believed he had discovered in
these seas and which he would have found had Fortune favoured him with a
fair return for his heroic endeavours.
"We steered round on a north-westerly course, and at noon on January 24
were slightly to the north of our position at 5.30 A.M. on the 23rd. A
sounding reached one hundred and seventy fathoms and a muddy bottom.
Environing us were enormous bergs of every kind, one hundred and eighty
to two hundred feet in height. During the afternoon a westerly course was
maintained in clear water until 4 P.M., when the course was altered to S. 30
degrees W., in the hope of winning through to the land visible on the
southern horizon."
[TEXT ILLUSTRATION]
Ship's tracks in the vicinity of Totten's Land and North's Land
At 8 P.M. the sky was very clear to the southward, and the land could be
traced to a great distance until it faded in the south-west. But the ship had
come up with the solid floe-ice once more, and had to give way and steam
along its edge. This floating breakwater held us off and frustrated all
attempts to reach the goal which we sought.
"The next four days was a period of violent gales and heavy seas which
drove the ship some distance to the north. Nothing was visible through
swirling clouds of snow. The 'Aurora' behaved admirably, as she invariably
does in heavy weather. The main pack was encountered on January 29, but
foggy weather prevailed. It was not until noon on January 31 that the
atmosphere was sufficiently clear to obtain good observations. The ship was
by this time in the midst of heavy floe in the vicinity of longitude 119
degrees E., and again the course had swung round to south. We had soon
passed to the south of Balleny's Sabrina Land without any indication of its

existence. Considering the doubtful character of the statements justifying its
appearance on the chart, it is not surprising that we did not verify them.
"At 11 A.M. the floes were found too heavy for further advance. The ship
was made fast to a big one and a large quantity of ice was taken on board to
replenish the fresh-water supply. A tank of two hundred gallons' capacity,
heated within by a steam coil from the engineroom, stood on the poop deck.
Into this ice was continuously fed, flowing away as it melted into the main
tanks in the bottom of the ship.
"At noon the weather was clear, but nothing could be discerned in the
south except a faint blue line on the horizon. It may have been a 'lead' of
water, an effect of mirage, or even land-ice—in any case we could not
approach it."
The position as indicated by the noon observations placed the ship within
seven miles of a portion of Totten's High Land in Wilkes's charts. As high
land would have been visible at a great distance, it is clear that Totten's
High Land either does not exist or is situated a considerable distance from
its charted location. A sounding was made in three hundred and forty
fathoms.
[TEXT ILLUSTRATION]
Ship's track in the vicinity of Knox Land and Budd Land
Towards evening the 'Aurora' turned back to open water and cruised
along the pack-ice. A sounding next day showed nine hundred and twenty-
seven fathoms.
It was about this time that a marked improvement was noted in the
compass. Ever since the first approach to Adelie Land it had been found
unreliable, for, on account of the proximity to the magnetic pole, the
directive force of the needle was so slight that very large local variations
were experienced.
The longitude of Wilkes's Knox Land was now approaching. With the
exception of Adelie Land, the account by Wilkes concerning Knox Land is
more convincing than any other of his statements relating to new Antarctic
land. If they had not already disembarked, we had hoped to land the western
party in that neighbourhood. It was, therefore, most disappointing when
impenetrable ice blocked the way, before Wilkes's "farthest south" in that
locality had been reached. Three determined efforts were made to find a

weak spot, but each time the 'Aurora' was forced to retreat, and the third
time was extricated only with great difficulty. In latitude 65 degrees 5' S.
longitude 107 degrees 20' E., a sounding of three hundred fathoms was
made on a rocky bottom. This sounding pointed to the probability of land
within sixty miles.
Repulsed from his attack on the pack, Captain Davis set out westward
towards the charted position of Termination Land, and in following the
trend of the ice was forced a long way to the north.
At 7.40 A.M., February 8, in foggy weather, the ice-cliff of floating shelf-
ice was met. This was disposed so as to point in a north-westerly direction
and it was late in the day before the ship doubled its northern end. Here the
sounding wire ran out for eight hundred and fifty fathoms without reaching
bottom. Following the wall towards the south-south-east, it was interesting
at 5.30 P.M. to find a sounding of one hundred and ten fathoms in latitude
64 degrees 45'. A line of large grounded bergs and massive floe-ice was
observed ahead trailing away from the ice-wall towards the north-west.
On plotting the observations, it became apparent that the shelf-ice was in
the form of a prolonged tongue some seven miles in breadth. As it occupied
the position of the "Termination Land" which has appeared on some charts,
(after Wilkes) it was named Termination Ice-Tongue.
A blizzard sprang up, and, after it had been safely weathered in the lee of
some grounded bergs, the 'Aurora' moved off on the afternoon of February
11. The horizon was obscured by mist, as she pursued a tortuous track
amongst bergs and scattered lumps of heavy floe. Gradually the sea became
more open, and by noon on February 12 the water had deepened to two
hundred and thirty-five fathoms. Good progress was made to the south; the
vessel dodging icebergs and detached floes.
The discovery of a comparatively open sea southward of the main pack
was a matter of some moment. As later voyages and the observations of the
Western Party showed, this tract of sea is a permanent feature of the
neighbourhood. I have called it the Davis Sea, after the captain of the
'Aurora', in appreciation of the fact that he placed it on the chart.
At noon, on February 13, in latitude 65 degrees 54 1/2' S. longitude 94
degrees 25' E., the western face of a long, floating ice-tongue loomed into
view. There were five hundred fathoms of water off its extremity, and the
cliffs rose vertically to one hundred feet. Soon afterwards land was clearly

defined low in the south extending to east and west. This was thenceforth
known as Queen Mary Land.
The sphere of operations of the German expedition of 1902 was near at
hand, for its vessel, the 'Gauss', had wintered, frozen in the pack, one
hundred and twenty-five miles to the west. It appeared probable that Queen
Mary Land would be found to be continuous** with Kaiser Wilhelm II
Land, which the Germans had reached by a sledging journey from their ship
across the intervening sea-ice.

** Such was eventually proved to be the case.

The 'Aurora' followed the western side of the ice-tongue for about twenty
miles in a southerly direction, at which point there was a white expanse of
floe extending right up to the land. Wild and Kennedy, walking several
miles towards the land, estimated that it was about twenty-five miles
distant. As the surface over which they travelled was traversed by cracks
and liable to drift away to sea, all projects of landing there had to be
abandoned; furthermore, it was discovered that the ice-tongue, alongside of
which the ship lay, was a huge iceberg. A landing on it had been
contemplated, but was now out of question.
The main difficulty which arose at this juncture was the failing coal-
supply. It was high time to return to Hobart, and, if a western base was to be
formed at all, Wild's party would have to be landed without further delay.
After a consultation, Davis and Wild decided that under the circumstances
an attempt should be made to gain a footing on the adjacent shelf-ice, if
nothing better presented itself.
The night was passed anchored to the floe, on the edge of which were
numerous Emperor penguins and Weddell seals. A fresh south-easterly wind
blew on February 14, and the ship was kept in the shelter of the iceberg.
During the day enormous pieces were observed to be continually breaking
away from the berg and drifting to leeward.
Captain Davis continues: "At midnight there was a strong swell from the
north-east and the temperature went down to 18 degrees F. At 4 A.M.,
February 15, we reached the northern end of the berg and stood first of all
to the east, and then later to the south-east.
"At 8.45 A.M., shelf-ice was observed from aloft, trending approximately
north and south in a long wall. At noon we came up with the floe-ice again,

in about the same latitude as on the western side of the long iceberg. Land
could be seen to the southward. At 1 P.M. the ship stopped at the junction of
the floe and the shelf-ice."
Wild, Harrison and Hoadley went to examine the shelf-ice with a view to
its suitability for a wintering station. The cliff was eighty to one hundred
feet in height, so that the ice in total thickness must have attained at least as
much as six hundred feet. Assisted by snow-ramps slanting down on to the
floe, the ascent with ice-axes and alpine rope was fairly easy.
Two hundred yards from the brink, the shelf-ice was thrown into
pressure-undulations and fissured by crevasses, but beyond that was
apparently sound and unbroken. About seventeen miles to the south the
rising slopes of ice-mantled land were visible, fading away to the far east
and west.
The ice-shelf was proved later on to extend for two hundred miles from
east to west, ostensibly fusing with the Termination Ice-Tongue, whose
extremity is one hundred and eighty miles to the north. The whole has been
called the Shackleton Ice-Shelf.
Wild and his party unanimously agreed to seize upon this last
opportunity, and to winter on the floating ice.
The work of discharging stores was at once commenced. To raise the
packages from the floe to the top of the ice-shelf, a "flying-fox" was rigged.
"A kedge-anchor was buried in the sea-ice, and from this a two-and-a-
half-inch wire-hawser was led upwards over a pair of sheer-legs on top of
the cliff to another anchor buried some distance back. The whole was set
taut by a tackle. The stores were then slung to a travelling pulley on the
wire, and hauled on to the glacier by means of a rope led through a second
pulley on the sheer-legs. The ship's company broke stores out of the hold
and sledged them three hundred yards to the foot of an aerial, where they
were hooked on to the travelling-block by which the shore party, under
Wild, raised them to their destination."
"It was most important to accelerate the landing as much as possible, not
only on account of the lateness of the season—the 'Gauss' had been frozen
in on February 22 at a spot only one hundred and seventy miles away—but
because the floe was gradually breaking up and floating away. When the
last load was hoisted, the water was lapping within ten yards of the 'flying-
fox'".

A fresh west-north-west wind on February 17 caused some trouble.
Captain Davis writes:
"February 19. The floe to which we have been attached is covered by a
foot of water. The ship has been bumping a good deal to-day.
Notwithstanding the keen wind and driving snow, every one has worked
well. Twelve tons of coal were the last item to go up the cliff."
In all, thirty-six tons of stores were raised on to the shelf-ice, one
hundred feet above sea-level, in four days.
"February 20. The weather is very fine and quite a contrast to yesterday.
We did not get the coal ashore a moment too soon, as this morning the ice
marked by our sledge tracks went to sea in a north-westerly direction, and
this afternoon it is drifting back as if under the influence of a tide or current.
We sail at 7 A.M. to-morrow.
"I went on to the glacier with Wild during the afternoon. It is somewhat
crevassed for about two hundred yards inland, and then a flat surface
stretches away as far as the eye can see. I wished the party 'God-speed' this
evening, as we sail early to-morrow."
Early on February 21, the ship's company gave their hearty farewell
cheers, and the 'Aurora' sailed north, leaving Wild and his seven
companions on the floating ice.
The bright weather of the immediate coastal region was soon exchanged
for the foggy gloom of the pack.
"February 21, 11 P.M. We are now passing a line of grounded bergs and
some heavy floe-ice. Fortunately it is calm, but in the darkness it is difficult
to see an opening. The weather is getting thick, and I expect we shall have
trouble in working through this line of bergs.
"February 22. I cannot explain how we managed to clear some of the
bergs between 11 P.M. last night and 3 A.M. this morning. At first stopping
and lying-to was tried, but it was soon evident that the big bergs were
moving and would soon hem us in: probably in a position from which we
should be unable to extricate ourselves this season.
"So we pushed this way and that, endeavouring to retain freedom at any
cost. For instance, about midnight I was 'starboarding' to clear what
appeared to be the loom of a berg on the starboard bow, when, suddenly, out
of the haze a wall seemed to stretch across our course. There was no room

to turn, so 'full speed astern' was the only alternative. The engines
responded immediately, or we must have crashed right into a huge berg.
Until daylight it was ice ahead, to port and to starboard—ice everywhere all
the time. The absence of wind saved us from disaster. It was a great relief
when day broke, showing clearer water to the northward."
On February 23, the 'Aurora' left the shelter of Termination Ice-Tongue,
and a course was set nearly true north. There was a fresh breeze from the
north-east and a high sea. The ship was desperately short of ballast and the
coal had to be carefully husbanded. All movable gear was placed in the
bottom of the ship, while the ashes were saved, wetted and put below. The
ballast-tanks were found to be leaking and Gillies had considerable trouble
in making them watertight.
The distance from the Western Base in Queen Mary Land to Hobart was
two thousand three hundred miles, through the turbulent seas of the fifties
and forties. It was the end of a perilous voyage when the 'Aurora' arrived in
Hobart with nine tons of coal.
On March 12, the captain's log records:
"The 'Aurora' has done splendidly, beating all attempts of the weather to
turn her over. We had two heavy gales during the first week of March, but
reached Hobart safely to-day, passing on our way up the Derwent the
famous Polar ship, 'Fram', at anchor in Sandy Bay. Flags were dipped and a
hearty cheer given for Captain Amundsen and his gallant comrades who had
raised the siege of the South Pole."

CHAPTER V FIRST DAYS IN ADELIE LAND
The overcrowded whale-boat disgorged its cargo at 10 P.M. on the ice-
quay at Cape Denison. The only shelter was a cluster of four tents and the
Benzine Hut, so the first consideration was the erection of a commodious
living-hut.
While the majority retired to rest to be ready for a fresh burst of work on
the morrow, a few of us discussed the preliminary details, and struck the
first blows in the laying of the foundations.
A site for the living-hut was finally approved. This was a nearly flat piece
of rocky ground of just sufficient size, partially sheltered on the southern
side by a large upstanding rock. Other points to recommend it were,
proximity to the boat harbour and to a good sledging surface; the ice of the
glacier extending to the "front door" on the western side. Several large
rocks had to be shifted, and difficulty was anticipated in the firm setting of
the stumps. The latter were blocks of wood, three feet in length, embedded
in the ground, forming the foundation of the structure. Unfortunately, no
such thing as earth or gravel existed in which to sink these posts, and the
rock being of the variety known as gneiss, was more than ordinarily tough.
Since two parties had combined, there were two huts available, and these
were to be erected so that the smaller adjoined and was in the lee of the
larger. The latter was to be the living-room; the former serving as a
vestibule, a workshop and an engine-room for the wireless plant. Slight
modifications were made in the construction of both huts, but these did not
affect the framework. After the completion of the living-hut, regular
scientific observations were to commence, and the smaller hut was then to
be built as opportunity offered.
Nothing has so far been said about the type of hut adopted by our
Antarctic stations. As the subject is important, and we had expended much
thought thereon before coming to a final decision, a few remarks will not be
out of place.
Strength to resist hurricanes, simplicity of construction, portability and
resistance to external cold were fundamental. My first idea was to have the

huts in the form of pyramids on a square base, to ensure stability in heavy
winds and with a large floor-area to reduce the amount of timber used. The
final type was designed at the expense of floor-space, which would have
been of little use because of the low roof in the parts thus eliminated. In this
form, the pyramid extended to within five feet of the ground on the three
windward sides so as to include an outside veranda. That veranda, like the
motor-launch, was a wonderful convenience, and another of the many
things of which we made full use. It lent stability to the structure, assisted to
keep the hut warm, served as a store-house, physical laboratory and a
dogshelter.
Round the outside of the three veranda walls boxes of stores were
stacked, so as to continue the roof-slope to the ground. Thus, the wind
striking the hut met no vertical face, but was partly deflected; the other
force-component tending to pin the building to the ground.
All three huts were essentially of the same construction. The largest, on
account of its breadth, had four special supporting posts, symmetrically
placed near the centre, stretching from the ground to the roof framework.
The only subdivisions inside were a small vestibule, a photographic
darkroom and my own room. This rough idea I had handed over to
Hodgeman, leaving him to complete the details and to draw up the plans.
The frame timbers he employed were stronger than usual in a building of
the size, and were all securely bolted together. The walls and roof, both
inside and outside, were of tongued and grooved pine-boards, made extra
wind-proof by two courses of tarred paper. As rain was not expected, this
roofing was sufficient. There were four windows in the roof, one on each
side of the pyramid. We should thereby get light even though almost buried
in snow.
[TEXT ILLUSTRATION]
Plan of the hut, Adelie Land
The largest hut was presented by the timber merchants of Sydney, and
proved its astonishing strength during the winter hurricanes. The smallest
was purchased in Adelaide, the third was built and presented by Messrs.
Anthony of Melbourne.
On the morning of January 20 all were at work betimes. As we were
securely isolated from a trades hall, our hours of labour ranged from 7 A.M.
till 11 P.M.

Dynamite was to be used for blasting out the holes for the reception of
the stumps, and so the steel rock-drills were unpacked and boring
commenced. This was easier than it appeared, because the rock was much
traversed by cracks. By the end of the day a good deal of damage had been
done to the rock, at the expense of a few sore fingers and wrists caused by
the sledge-hammers missing the drills. The work was tedious, for water
introduced into the holes had a habit of freezing. The metal drills, too,
tended to be brittle in the cold and required to be tempered softer than
usual. Hannam operated the forge, and picks and drills were sent along for
pointing; an outcrop of gneiss serving as an anvil.
Among other things it was found difficult to fire the charges, for, when
frozen, dynamite is not readily exploded. This was overcome by carrying
the sticks inside one's pocket until the last moment. In the absence of earth
or clay, we had no tamping material until some one suggested guano from
the penguin rookeries, which proved a great success.
Next day the stumps were in place; most of them being fixed by wedges
and other devices. Cement was tried, but it is doubtful if any good came of
it, for the low temperature did not encourage it to set well. By the evening,
the bottom plates were laid on and bolted to the tops of the stumps, and
everything was ready for the superstructure.
On January 22, while some were busy with the floor-joists and wall-
frames, others carried boulders from the neighbouring moraine, filling in
the whole space between the stumps. These were eventually embedded in a
mass of boulders, as much as three feet deep in places. By the time both
huts were erected, nearly fifty tons of stones had been used in the
foundations—a circumstance we did not regret at a later date.
Hodgeman was appointed clerk of works on the construction, and was
kept unusually busy selecting timber, patrolling among the workmen, and
searching for his foot-rule which had an unaccountable trick of vanishing in
thin air.
Hannam had various occupations, but one was to attend to the needs of
the inner man, until the completion of the hut. There is no doubt that he was
regarded at this time as the most important and popular member of the
party, for our appetites were abnormally good. About an hour before meals
he was to be seen rummaging amongst the cases of provisions, selecting
tins of various brands and hues from the great confusion. However remote

their source or diverse their colour, experience taught us that only one
preparation would emerge from the tent-kitchen. It was a multifarious stew.
Its good quality was undoubted, for a few minutes after the "dinner-bell
rang" there was not a particle left. The "dinner-bell" was a lusty shout from
the master cook, which was re-echoed by the brawny mob who rushed
madly to the Benzine Hut. Plates and mugs were seized and portions
measured out, while the diners distributed themselves on odd boxes lying
about on the ice. Many who were accustomed to restaurants built tables of
kerosene cases and dined al fresco. After the limited stew, the company
fared on cocoa, biscuits—"hard tack"—and jam, all ad libitum.
On those rare summer days, the sun blazed down on the blue ice; skua
gulls nestled in groups on the snow; sly penguins waddled along to inspect
the building operations; seals basked in torpid slumber on the shore; out on
the sapphire bay the milk-white bergs floated in the swell. We can all paint
our own picture of the good times round the Benzine Hut. We worked hard,
ate heartily and enjoyed life.
By the evening of January 24 the floor and outside walls were finished,
and the roof-frame was in position. Work on the roof was the coldest job of
all, for now there was rarely an hour free from a cold breeze, at times
reaching the velocity of a gale. This came directly down from the plateau,
and to sit with exposed fingers handling hammer and nails was not an
enviable job. To add to our troubles, the boards were all badly warped from
being continually wet with sea-water on the voyage. However, by judicious
"gadgetting," as the phrase went, they were got into place.
[TEXT ILLUSTRATION]
Sections across the hut, Adelie Land
The windward roof was up on January 25, and several of us camped in
sleeping-bags under its shelter. Already Hannam had unpacked the large
range and put the parts together in the kitchen. Henceforth the cooking
operations were simplified, for previously a sledging-cooker had been used.
Mention of the stove recalls a very cold episode. It happened that while
our goods were being lifted from the boats to the landing-stage, a case had
fallen into the harbour. When the parts of the stove were being assembled,
several important items were found to be missing, and it was thought that
they might compose the contents of the unknown case lying in the kelp at
the bottom of the bay.

Laseron and I went on board the whale-boat one day at low water, and
located the box with a pole, but though we used several devices with hooks,
we were unable to get hold of it. At last I went in, and, standing on tip-toe,
could just reach it and keep my head above water. It took some time to
extricate from the kelp, following which I established a new record for
myself in dressing. The case turned out to be full of jam, and we had to
make a new search for the missing parts. I do not think I looked very
exhilarated after that bath, but strange to say, a few days later Correll tried
an early morning swim which was the last voluntary dip attempted by any
one.
The enthusiasm of the builders rose to its highest pitch as the roof neared
completion, and we came in sight of a firm and solid habitation, secure
from the winds which harassed us daily. A dozen hammers worked at once,
each concentrated upon a specific job. The ardour with which those
engaged upon the ceiling inside the hut plied their nails resulted in several
minor casualties to those sitting on the roof, deeply intent on the outer
lining. A climax was reached when McLean, working on the steeply
inclined roof, lost his footing and, in passing, seized hold of the wire-stay of
the chimney as a last hope. Alas, that was the only stay, and as he proceeded
over the end of the roof into a bank of snow, Ninnis, within the hut,
convinced that nothing less than a cyclone had struck the building, gallantly
held on to the lower hot section amidst a shower of soot.
Everybody was in the best of spirits, and things went ahead merrily. On
January 30 the main building was almost completed, and all slept under its
roof. Bunks had been constructed, forming a double tier around three sides
of the room. For the first time since coming ashore we retired to sleep in
blankets; fur sleeping-bags had been previously used. That night the sky
which had been clear for a fortnight banked up with nimbus cloud, and
Murphy, who was sleeping under a gap in the roof, woke up next morning
to find over him a fine counterpane of snow. He received hearty
congratulations all round.
Regular meteorological observations began on February 1. The various
instruments had been unpacked as soon as the outer shell of the Hut was
completed. The barometer and barograph were kept running inside. Outside
there were two large screens for the reception of a number of the
instruments. It was important to erect these as near the Hut as possible. The

standard thermometer, thermograph and hygrograph were to occupy one of
the screens, a convenient site for which was chosen about twenty yards to
the east. Close by there was also a nephoscope for determining the motion
of clouds. The immediate vicinity of the Hut, being a gully-like depression,
was unsuitable for the wind and sunshine recorders. A more distant site, on
a rocky ridge to the east, was chosen for these. There were set up a
recording anemometer (wind-velocity meter), a sunshine-meter and the
second screen containing the anemograph (wind-direction recorder).
Madigan was to take charge of the meteorological observations and he,
assisted by Ninnis and Mertz, erected the two screens and mounted the
instruments. Special care was taken to secure the screens against violent
winds. Phosphor-bronze wire-stays, with a breaking strength of one ton,
were used, attached to billets of wood driven into fissures in the rock.
Strong as these wires were, several breakages had to be replaced during the
year.
Webb was busy with the magnetic work. For this two huts were to be
erected; the first for "absolute" determinations, the second for housing the
recording instruments—the magnetographs. Distant sites, away from the
magnetic disturbances of the Hut, were chosen. Webb and Stillwell
immediately set to work as soon as they could be spared from the main
building. For the "absolute hut" there were only scrap materials available;
the "magnetograph house," alone, had been brought complete. They had a
chilly job, for as the days went by the weather steadily became worse. Yet
in a little over a week there were only the finishing touches to make, and
the first observations were started.
It was now necessary to institute a routine of nightwatchmen, cooks and
messmen. The night-watchman's duties included periodic meteorological
observations, attention to the fire in the range, and other miscellaneous
duties arising between the hours of 8 P.M. and 8 A. M. The cook prepared
the meals, and the messman of the day rendered any assistance necessary. A
rotation was adopted, so arranged that those most actively engaged in
scientific observations were least saddled with domestic duties. Thus each
contributed his equivalent share of work.
Whilst others were occupied finishing off the interior of the hut, Whetter
and Close sledged the cases of stores across from the landing-stage,
classified them and stacked them against the veranda walls. An additional

barricade was constructed of flour cases, in the form of a wall, which
increased the breadth of the rocky break-wind on the southern side.
Murphy, who was in charge of all the stores, saw that a good stock of
food was accessible in the veranda. Here he put up shelves and unpacked
cases, so that samples of everything were at hand on the shortest notice.
Liquids liable to freeze and burst their bottles were taken into the Hut.
[TEXT ILLUSTRATION]
The vicinity of the main base, Adelie Land
Already we had several times seized the opportunity of a calm hour to
take out the whale-boat and assist Hunter to set traps and make a few hauls
with the hand-dredge. Even in five fathoms, bright red and brown star-fish
had been caught in the trap, as well as numerous specimens of a common
Antarctic fish known as 'Notothenia'. In ten fathoms and over the results
were better, though in no case was the catch so abundant as one would
expect from the amount of life in the water. The luxuriant kelp probably
interfered with the proper working of the traps. Fish of the same species as
the above were caught on a hand-line.
Hunter, our biologist, was very unfortunate in crushing some of his
fingers while carrying a heavy case. This accident came at a time when he
had just recovered from a severe strain of the knee-joint which he suffered
during our activities in the Queen's Wharf shed at Hobart. Several of us
were just going out to the traps one afternoon when the casualty occurred.
Hunter was very anxious to go, so we waited until McLean had sewn up a
couple of his fingertips.
Weddell, and with them occasional crab-eater seals, were at this time
always to be found in numbers sleeping on the ice-foot around the boat
harbour. It appeared as if we would have plenty of meat throughout the
year, so I waited until the building was completed before laying in a stock.
The penguins, however, were diminishing in numbers fast and the young
birds in the rookeries had grown very large and were beginning to migrate
to warmer regions. Several parties, therefore, raided them and secured some
hundreds for the winter.
Giant petrels and skua gulls swarmed in flocks round the seals' and
penguins' carcases. These scavengers demolish an incredible amount of
meat and blubber in a short time. It is a diabolical sight to witness a group

of birds tearing out the viscera of a seal, dancing the while with wings
outspread.
During the afternoon of February 11 Webb came in with the news that a
sea elephant was making its way over the rocks near the shore. We rushed
out in time to see it standing over Johnson, one of the dogs, who, true to his
name, did not look abashed. Attracted by more formidable antagonists, the
monster left Johnson and came towards us. He was a fair-sized male with a
good skin, so we shot him before he had time to get back into the sea. His
measurements were seventeen feet six inches in length and twelve feet in
maximum circumference.
With the temperature well below freezing-point, skinning is cold work in
the wind, and must be done before the animal has time to freeze stiff. A
number of us set to work flaying. In order to move the mountain of flesh a
Westing purchase and a "handy-billy" (rope and block purchase) had to be
rigged. It was several hours before everything was disposed of; the skin and
skull for the biological collection and the meat and blubber for the dogs.
Ninnis and Mertz, who were the wardens of the dogs, cut up about one ton
of meat and blubber, and stored it as a winter reserve for their charges.
It may be mentioned that sea elephants are sub-antarctic in distribution,
and only rarely have these animals been observed on the shores of the
Antarctic continent. As far as I am aware, the only other occasion of such
an occurrence was noted by Captain Scott in MacMurdo Sound. Wilkes
reported many of them on the pack-ice to the north of the Balleny Islands,
so possibly they have a stronghold in that vicinity.
The dogs, ever since their arrival ashore, had been chained up on the
rocks below the Hut. The continuous wind worried them a good deal, but
they had a substantial offset to the cold in a plentiful supply of seal-meat.
On the whole, they were in a much better condition then when they left the
'Aurora'. Nineteen in all, they had an odd assemblage of names, which
seemed to grow into them until nothing else was so suitable: Basilisk, Betli,
Caruso, Castor, Franklin, Fusilier, Gadget, George, Ginger, Ginger Bitch,
Grandmother, Haldane, Jappy, John Bull, Johnson, Mary, Pavlova, Scott
and Shackleton. Grandmother would have been better known as
Grandfather. He was said to have a grandmotherly appearance; that is why
he received the former name. The head dog was Basilisk, and next to him
came Shackleton.

Early in February, after having experienced nothing but a succession of
gales for nearly a month, I was driven to conclude that the average local
weather must be much more windy than in any other part of Antarctica. The
conditions were not at all favourable for sledging, which I had hoped to
commence as soon as the Hut was completed. Now that the time had
arrived and the weather was still adverse, it seemed clear that our first duty
was to see everything snug for the winter before making an attempt.
Hannam, assisted by Bickerton, Madigan and others, had laid heavy and
firm foundations for the petrol-motor and generator. The floor of the smaller
room was then built around these bed-plates, and last of all came the walls
and roof. Murphy, Bage and Hodgeman were chiefly responsible for the
last-named, which was practically completed by February 10. Minor
additions and modifications were added after that date. Meanwhile,
Hannam continued to unpack and mount the instruments forming the
wireless plants. Along one wall and portion of another, in the outer hut, a
bench was built for mechanical work and for scientific purposes. This was
in future to be the work-room.
Our home had attained to a stage of complex perfection. To penetrate to
the inside hut, the stranger reverently steps through a hole in the snow to the
veranda, then by way of a vestibule with an inner and outer door he has
invaded the privacy of the work-room, from which with fear and trembling
he passes by a third door into the sanctum sanctorum. Later, when the
snow-tunnel system came into vogue, the place became another Labyrinth
of Minos.
The three doors were fitted with springs to keep them shut unless they
were jammed open for ventilation, which was at once obtained by opening
an aperture in the cooking-range flue. A current of air would then circulate
through the open doors. The roof windows were immovable and sealed on
the inside by a thick accumulation of ice. An officer of public health,
unacquainted with the climate of Adelie Land, would be inclined to regard
the absence of more adequate ventilation as a serious omission. It would
enlighten him to know that much of our spare time, for a month after the
completion of the building, was spent in plugging off draughts which found
their way through most unexpected places, urged by a wind-pressure from
without of many pounds to the square foot.

Excepting the small portion used as an entrance-porch, the verandas were
left without any better flooring than well-trodden snow. In the boarded floor
of the porch was a trap-door which led down into a shallow cellar extending
under a portion of the work-room. The cellar was a refrigerating chamber
for fresh meat and contained fifteen carcases of mutton, besides piles of
seal-meat and penguins.
In preparation for our contemplated sledging, masts, spars and sails were
fitted to some of the sledges, rations were prepared and alterations made to
harness and clothing. Soon a sledge stood packed, ready to set out on the
first fine day.
For several days in succession, about the middle of February, the
otherwise continuous wind fell off to a calm for several hours in the
evening. On those occasions Mertz gave us some fine exhibitions of skiing,
of which art he was a consummate master. Skis had been provided for every
one, in case we should have to traverse a country where the snow lay soft
and deep. From the outset, there was little chance of that being the case in
wind-scoured Adelie Land. Nevertheless, most of the men seized the few
opportunities we had to become more practiced in their use. My final
opinion, however, was that if we had all been experts like Mertz, we could
have used them with advantage from time to time.
The end of February approached. We were fully prepared for sledging,
and were looking forward to it with great expectation. The wind still
continued, often rising to the force of a hurricane, and was mostly
accompanied by snow.
One evening, when we were all at dinner, there was a sudden noise which
drowned the rush of the blizzard. It was found that several sledges had been
blown away from their position to the south of the Hut, striking the building
as they passed. They were all rescued except one, which had already
reached the sea and was travelling rapidly toward Australia.
Mertz, Bage and I had taken advantage of a lull to ascend the ice-slope to
the south, and to erect a flag-pole at a distance of two miles. Besides being
a beacon for sledging parties, it was used for ablation measurements. These
were determinations of the annual wasting of the ice-surface, whether by
evaporation, melting, or wind-abrasion.
Webb and Stillwell, assisted by others, had commenced to build the
Magnetograph House. Dr. Chree, of the British National Physical

Laboratory, had arranged that the German Antarctic Expedition, several
observatories in low latitudes and our own Expedition, should take special
"quick runs," synchronously, twice each month. A "quick run" was a
continuous, careful observation made over a period of two hours, on a more
searching time-scale then usual. Until the Magnetograph House was
established this could not be done efficiently, and so the construction of this
hut was pushed on as quickly as possible.
Many other schemes required our attention, and there was not a spare
moment for any one. Though we chafed at the delay in sledging, there was
some consolation in the fact that the scientific programme was daily
becoming more and more complete.

CHAPTER VI AUTUMN PROSPECTS
As far as we could see, the inland ice was an unbroken plateau with no
natural landmarks. From the hinterland in a vast solid stream the ice flowed,
with heavily crevassed downfalls near the coast. Traversing this from north
to south was a narrow belt, reasonably free from pitfalls, running as a spur
down to the sea. To reach the Hut in safety it would be necessary for
sledging parties returning from the interior to descend by this highway. The
problem was to locate the path. Determinations of latitude and longitude
would guide them to the neighbourhood of Commonwealth Bay, but the
coastline in the vicinity of Winter Quarters, with the rocks and islets, would
not come into view until within two miles, as above that point the icy slopes
filled the foreground up to the distant berg-studded horizon. Delays in
reaching the Hut owing to the difficult descent might have serious
consequences, for provisions are usually short near the conclusion of a
sledging journey.
The necessity of making artificial landmarks was, therefore, most
obvious. Already we had a flagstaff two miles to the south. It was now my
intention to run a line of similar marks backwards to the plateau.
Bage, Madigan and I were to form a reconnoitring party to plant these
flags, and to make a journey of a few days' duration into the hinterland, to
see its possibilities, and with a view to an extended sledging campaign to
commence as soon as possible after our return. It was decided not to make
use of the dogs until later in the year, when they would be in better form.
The wind continued, accompanied by more or less drift-snow. This
appeared to be the settled state of the weather. We decided to move out as
soon as a moderate phase should occur.
On the afternoon of February 28 the weather cleared up for several hours,
and we decided to leave on the following day. The wind resumed operations
once more, but fell off late on February 29, when we made a start. We
intended to get the packed sledge up the first steep slope, there to leave it
until the morrow. The drift was slight and low, flowing along like a stream
below our knees. Bickerton, Hurley and Mertz assisted us with the hauling.

At a distance of a little more than a mile, at an elevation of five hundred
feet, the sledge was anchored and we returned to the Hut for the night.
Next morning the weather cleared still more, and we left just before
noon. Three miles out, a mast and flag were erected, when our companions
of the day before, who had again assisted us, turned back. At five and a half
miles the brow of the main rise was reached, and the gradient became much
flatter beyond it. The elevation was found to be one thousand five hundred
feet.
To the south nothing was visible but a great, wan, icy wilderness. To the
north a headland appeared on either hand, each about twenty-five miles
away, and between them lay an expanse of sea dotted with many bergs. The
nearer portions of the coast, together with the Mackellar Islets, were lost to
view on account of the curvature of the foreground.
During most of the day we had travelled over a surface of clear ice,
marked by occasional scars where fissuring, now healed, had at some time
taken place. Beyond the three-mile flag, however, the ice was gashed at
frequent intervals, producing irregular crevasses, usually a few yards in
length and, for the most part, choked with snow. At five and a half miles we
were on the edge of a strip of snow, half a mile across, whose whiteness
was thrown in dazzling contrast against the foil of transparent, dark ice.
It was dusk, and light drift commenced to scud by, so, as this was a
suitable place to erect a flag, we decided to camp for the night. Some hours
later I woke up to hear a blizzard blowing outside, and to find Madigan
fumbling amongst some gear at the head-end of the tent. From inside my
bag I called out to inquire if there was anything wrong, and received a reply
that he was looking for the primus-pricker. Then he slipped back into his
sleeping-bag, and all became quiet, except for the snow beating against the
tent. So I presumed that he had found it. Revolving the incident in my mind,
and dimly wondering what use he could have for a primus-pricker in the
middle of the night, I again fell asleep. In the morning the blizzard was still
blowing, accompanied by a good deal of drift. On inquiry I found that
Madigan knew nothing of his midnight escapade. It was a touch of
somnambulism.
It would serve no useful purpose to go on in thick drift, for the main
object of our journey was to define the best route through the crevassed
zone; and that could only be done on a clear day. I decided, accordingly,

that if the weather did not improve by noon to leave the sledge with the gear
and walk back to the Hut, intending to make another attempt when
conditions became more settled.
Whilst the others erected a flagstaff and froze the legs of a drift-proof
box (containing a thermograph) into the ice, I made lunch and prepared for
our departure. The tent was taken down and everything lashed securely on
the sledge.
It was nearly 3 P.M. when we set out in thick drift, and in two hours we
were at the Hut; the weather having steadily improved as we descended. On
comparing notes with those at home it appeared that we, at the fifteen
hundred feet level, had experienced much more wind and drift than they at
sea-level.
Webb and his assistants were beginning to make quite a display at the
Magnetograph House. The framework, which had already been erected
once, to be demolished by the wind, was now strongly rebuilt and was
ready for the outside covering of boards.
From the night of our return to March 8 there was a high wind
accompanied by much drift; for some hours it continued at eighty miles per
hour, the mean temperature being about 15 degrees F., with a minimum of 5
degrees F.
Up to this date the dogs had been kept on the chain, on account of their
depredations amongst the seals and penguins. The severe weather now
made it necessary to release them. Thenceforth, their abode for part of the
day was inside the veranda, where a section was barricaded-off for their
exclusive use. Outside in heavy drift their habit was to take up a position in
the lee of some large object, such as the Hut. In such a position they were
soon completely buried and oblivious to the outside elements. Thus one
would sometimes tread on a dog, hidden beneath the snow; and the dog
often showed less surprise than the offending man. What the dogs detested
most of all during the blizzard-spells was the drift-snow filling their eyes
until they were forced to stop and brush it away frantically with their paws.
Other inconveniences were the icy casing which formed from the thawing
snow on their thick coats, and the fact that when they lay in one position,
especially on ice, for any length of time they become frozen down, and only
freed themselves at the expense of tufts of hair. In high winds, accompanied

by a low temperature, they were certainly very miserable, unless in some
kind of shelter.
Several families were born at this time, but although we did everything
possible for them they all perished, except one; the offspring of Gadget.
This puppy was called "Blizzard." It was housed for a while in the veranda
and, later on, in the Hangar. Needless to say, Blizzard was a great favourite
and much in demand as a pet.
On the night of March 7, Caruso, who had been in poor condition for
some time, was found to have a gaping wound around the neck. It was a
clean cut, an inch deep and almost a foot in length. The cause was never
satisfactorily explained, though a piece of strong string embedded in the
wound evidently made the incision. Caruso was brought inside, and, whilst
Whetter administered chloroform, McLean sewed up the wound. After
careful attention for some days, it healed fairly well, but as the dog's general
health was worse, it was deemed advisable to shoot him.
The outer shell of the Magnetograph House was nearly completed,
affording a protection for those who worked on the interior linings. When
completed, the walls and roof consisted of two coverings of tongued and
grooved pine boards and three layers of thick tarred paper.
While there still remained a breach in the wall, Hurley repaired there
with his cinematograph camera and took a film showing the clouds of drift-
snow whirling past. In those days we were not educated in methods of
progression against heavy winds; so, in order to get Hurley and his bulky
camera back to the Hut, we formed a scrum on the windward side and with
a strong "forward" rush beat our formidable opponent.
On March 8 the blizzard died away and a good day followed. All hands
joined in building a solid stone outside of the Magnetograph House. This
piece of work, in which thirty tons of rock were utilized, was completed on
the following day. The wall reached almost to the roof on every side. The
unprotected roof was lagged with sacks and sheep-skins and, after this had
been effected, the hut became practically windtight. The external covering
controlled the influx of cold from the penetrating winds, and, on the other
hand, the conduction of the sun's warmth in summer. Thus a steady
temperature was maintained; a most desirable feature in a magnetograph
house. Webb had the instruments set up in a few days, and they were
working before the end of the month.

After the calm of March 8, the wind steadily increased and became worse
than ever. Madigan, who was in charge of the whale-boat, kept it moored in
the boat-harbour under shelter of the ice-foot. An excursion was made to the
fish traps, buoyed half a mile off shore, on February 8, and it was found that
one had been carried away in the hurricane. The other was brought in very
much battered. That night it was decided at the first opportunity to haul up
the boat and house it for the winter. Alas! the wind came down again too
quickly, increasing in force, with dense drift. It was still in full career on the
12th, when Madigan came in with the news that the boat had disappeared. It
was no fault of the rope-attachments for they were securely made and so we
were left to conclude that a great mass of ice had broken away from the
overhanging shelf and carried everything before it.
The regularity of the high-velocity winds was already recognized as one
of the most remarkable features of Adelie Land. By itself such wind would
have been bad enough, but, accompanied by dense volumes of drifting
snow, it effectually put a stop to most outdoor occupations.
The roof and walls of the veranda being covered with a single layer of
tongued and grooved boards, the snow drove through every chink. The
cases outside were a partial protection, but the cracks were innumerable,
and in the course of twenty-four hours the snow inside had collected in deep
drifts. This required to be shovelled out each day or the veranda would have
been entirely blocked.
Much time was spent endeavouring to make it drift-tight; but as the
materials at our disposal were very limited, the result was never absolutely
satisfactory. The small veranda serving as an entrance-porch was deluged
with snow which drove in past the canvas doorway. The only way to get
over this trouble was to shovel out the accumulations every morning. On
one occasion, when Close was nightwatchman, the drift poured through in
such volume that each time he wished to go outside it took him half an hour
to dig his way out. On account of this periodic influx, the vestibule doorway
to the workroom was moved to the other end of the wall, where the
invading snow had farther to travel and was consequently less obstructive.
One advantage of the deposit of snow around the Hut was that all
draughts were sealed off. Before this happened it was found very difficult to
keep the inside temperature up to 40° 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 of settled weather was a
more marked regularity in the winds. Nothing like it had been reported from
any part of the world. Any trace of elation we may have felt at this
meteorological discovery could not compensate for the ever-present
discomforts of life. Day after day the wind fluctuated between a gale and a
hurricane. Overcast skies of heavy nimbus cloud were the rule and the air
was continually charged with drifting snow.
Lulls of a singular nature occasionally relieved the monotony. During
these visitations the sequence of events could almost be predicted; indeed,
they would often occur at the same time on several succeeding days.
On March 19 the first well-marked lull intervened at the height of a gale.
On that day the wind, which had been blowing with great force during the
morning, commenced to subside rapidly just after noon. Towards evening,
the air about the Hut was quite still except for gusts from the north and
rather frequent "whirlies."
This was the name adopted for whirlwinds of a few yards to a hundred
yards or more in diameter which came to be regarded as peculiar to the
country. Similar disturbances have been observed in every part of the world,
but seldom possessed of the same violence and regularity as is the case in
Adelie Land.
The whirlies tracked about in a most irregular manner and woe betide
any light object which came in their path. The velocity of the wind in the
rotating column being very great, a corresponding lifting power was
imparted to it. As an illustration of this force, it may be mentioned that the
lid of the air-tractor case had been left lying on the snow near the Hut. It
weighed more than three hundredweights, yet it was whisked into the air
one morning and dropped fifty yards away in a north-easterly direction. An
hour afterwards it was picked up again and returned near its original
position, this time striking the rocks with such force that part of it was
shivered to pieces. Webb and Stillwell watched the last proceeding at a
respectful distance.

Again, the radius of activity of these whirlies was strictly limited; objects
directly in their path only being disturbed. For instance, Laseron one day
was skinning at one end of a seal and remained in perfect calm, while
McLean, at the other extremity, was on the edge of a furious vortex.
Travelling over the sea the whirlies displayed fresh capabilities. Columns
of brash-ice, frozen spray and water-vapour were frequently seen lifted to
heights of from two hundred to four hundred feet, simulating water spouts.
Reverting to the afternoon of March 19. Beyond the strange stillness of
the immediate vicinity, broken occasionally by the tumult of a passing,
wandering whirly, an incessant, seething roar could be heard. One could not
be certain from whence it came, but it seemed to proceed either from the
south or overhead. Away on the icy promontories to the east and west,
where the slopes were visible, mounting to an altitude of several thousand
feet, clouds of drift-snow blotted out the details of the surface above a level
of about six hundred feet. It certainly appeared as if the gale, for some
reason, had lifted and was still raging overhead. At 7.30 P.M. the sound we
had heard, like the distant lashing of ocean waves, became louder. Soon
gusts swept the tops of the rocky ridges, gradually descending to throw up
the snow at a lower level. Then a volley raked the Hut, and within a few
minutes we were once more enveloped in a sea of drifting snow, and the
wind blew stronger than ever.
The duration of the lulls was ordinarily from a few minutes to several
hours; that of March 19 was longer than usual. In the course of time, after
repeated observations, much light was thrown on this phenomenon. On one
occasion, a party ascending the ice slopes to the south met the wind
blowing at an elevation of four hundred feet. At the same time snow could
be seen pouring over the "Barrier" to the west of the Winter Quarters, and
across a foaming turmoil of water. This was evidently the main cause of the
seething roar, but it was mingled with an undernote of deeper tone from the
upland plateau—like the wind in a million tree-tops.
In the early spring, while we were transporting provisions to the south,
frequent journeys were made to higher elevations. It was then established
that even when whole days of calm prevailed at the Hut, the wind almost
without exception blew above a level of one thousand feet. On such
occasions it appeared that the gale was impelled to blow straight out from
the plateau slopes over a lower stratum of dead-air. An explanation was

thereby afforded of the movement of condensation clouds which appeared
in the zenith at these times. A formation of delicate, gauzy clouds developed
at a low altitude, apparently in still air, but doubtless at the base of a
hurricane stratum. Whirling round rapidly in eddying flocculi, they quickly
tailed away to the north, evaporating and disappearing.
The auditory sense was strangely affected by these lulls. The contrast was
so severe when the racking gusts of an abating wind suddenly gave way to
intense, eerie silence, that the habitual droning of many weeks would still
reverberate in the ears. At night one would involuntarily wake up if the
wind died away, and be loth to sleep "for the hunger of a sound." In the
open air the stillness conveyed to the brain an impression of audibility,
interpreted as a vibratory murmur.
During one hour on March 22 it blew eighty-six miles. On the morning
of that day there was not much snow in the air and the raging sea was a
fearful sight. Even the nearest of the islands, only half a mile off the land,
was partially hidden in the clouds of spray. What an impossible coast this
would be for the wintering of a ship!
Everybody knows that the pressure exerted by a wind against an object in
its path mounts up in much greater proportion than the velocity of the wind.
Thus may be realized the stupendous force of the winds of Adelie Land in
comparison with those of half the velocity which fall within one's ordinary
experience. As this subject was ever before us, the following figures quoted
from a work of reference will be instructive. The classification of winds,
here stated, is that known as the "Beaufort scale." The corresponding
velocities in each case are those measured by the "Robinson patent"
anemometer; our instrument being of a similar pattern

___________________________________________________________________
Beaufort scale |Velocities|Pressures | Apparent effect |
| in miles | in lbs. | |
| per hour | square | |
| foot | |
| | area | |
__________________|__________| _________|_________________________|
0|Calm | 2 | 0.02 |May cause smoke to |
| | | | move form vertical |
1|Light air | 4 | 0.06 |Moves the leaves of trees|
2|Light breeze | 7 | 0.19 |Moves small branches of |
3|Gentle breeze | 10 | 0.37 | trees and blows up dust |
4|Moderate breeze| 14 | 0.67 | |
5|Fresh breeze | 19 | 1.16 |Good sailing breeze and |
6|Strong breeze | 25 | 1.90 | makes white caps |
7|Moderate gale | 31 | 2.81 |Sways trees and breaks |

8|Fresh gale | 37 | 3.87 | small branches |
9|Strong gale | 44 | 5.27 |Dangerous for sailing |
10|Whole gale | 53 | 7.40 | vessels |
11|Storm | 64 | 10.40 |Prostrates exposed trees |
12|Hurricane | 77 | 14.40 | and frail houses |
___________________________________________________________________

Beyond the limits of this scale, the pressures exerted rise very rapidly. A
wind recorded as blowing at the rate of a hundred miles per hour exerts a
pressure of about twenty-three pounds per square foot of surface exposed to
it. Wind above eighty miles per hour is stated to "prostrate everything."
The mileages registered by our anemometer were the mean for a whole
hour, neglecting individual gusts, whose velocity much exceeded the
average and which were always the potent factors in destructive work.
Obviously the greatest care had to be taken to secure everything. Still,
articles of value were occasionally missed. They were usually recovered,
caught in crevices of rock or amongst the broken ice. Northward from the
Hut there was a trail of miscellaneous objects scattered among the
hummocks and pressure-ridges out towards Penguin Hill on the eastern side
of the boat harbour: tins of all kinds and sizes, timber in small scraps, cases
and boards, paper, ashes, dirt, worn-out finnesko, ragged mitts and all the
other details of a rubbish heap. One of the losses was a heavy case which
formed the packing of part of the magnetometer. Weighted-down by stones
this had stood for a long time in what was regarded as a safe place. One
morning it was discovered to be missing. It was surmised that a hurricane
had started it on an ocean voyage during the previous day. Boxes in which
Whetter used to carry ice for domestic requirements were as a rule short-
lived. His problem was to fill the boxes without losing hold of them, and
the wind often gained the ascendancy before a sufficient ballast had been
added. We sometimes wondered whether any of the flotsam thus cast upon
the waters ever reached the civilized world.
Whatever has been said relative to the wind-pressure exerted on
inanimate objects, the same applied, with even more point, to our persons;
so that progression in a hurricane became a fine art. The first difficulty to be
encountered was a smooth, slippery surface offering no grip for the feet.
Stepping out of the shelter of the Hut, one was apt to be immediately hurled
at full length down wind. No amount of exertion was of any avail unless a
firm foothold had been secured. The strongest man, stepping on to ice or
hard snow in plain leather or fur boots, would start sliding away with

gradually increasing velocity; in the space of a few seconds, or earlier,
exchanging the vertical for the horizontal position. He would then either
stop suddenly against a jutting point of ice, or glide along for twenty or
thirty yards till he reached a patch of rocks or some rough sastrugi.
Of course we soon learned never to go about without crampons on the
feet. Many experiments in the manufacture of crampons were tried with the
limited materials at our disposal. Those designed for normal Antarctic
conditions had been found unserviceable. A few detachable pairs made of
wrought iron with spikes about one and a half inches in length, purchased in
Switzerland, gave a secure foothold. Some of the men covered the soles of
their boots with long, bristling spikes and these served their purpose well.
Ice-nails, screwed into the soles without being riveted on plates, were liable
to tear out when put to a severe test, besides being too short. Spikes of less
than an inch in length were inadequate in hurricanes. Nothing devised by us
gave the grip of the Swiss crampons, but, to affix them, one had to wear
leather boots, which, though padded to increase their warmth, had to be
tightly bound by lashings compressing the feet and increasing the liability
to frost-bite.
Shod with good spikes, in a steady wind, one had only to push hard to
keep a sure footing. It would not be true to say "to keep erect," for
equilibrium was maintained by leaning against the wind. In course of time,
those whose duties habitually took them out of doors became thorough
masters of the art of walking in hurricanes—an accomplishment
comparable to skating or skiing. Ensconced in the lee of a substantial break-
wind, one could leisurely observe the unnatural appearance of others
walking about, apparently in imminent peril of falling on their faces.
Experiments were tried in the steady winds; firmly planting the feet on
the ground, keeping the body rigid and leaning over on the invisible
support. This "lying on the wind," at equilibrium, was a unique experience.
As a rule the velocity remained uniform; when it fluctuated in a series of
gusts, all our experience was likely to fail, for no sooner had the correct
angle for the maximum velocity been assumed than a lull intervened—with
the obvious result.
[TEXT ILLUSTRATION]
A copy of the wind-velocity (anenometer) and the wind direction
(anemograph) for a period of twenty-four hours, Adelie Land

This particular record illustrates a day of constant high velocity wind. In
the case of the upper chart each rise of the pen from the bottom to the top of
the paper indicates that another 100 miles of wind has passed the
instrument. The regularity of these curves shows the steadiness of the wind.
It will be observed that the average velocity for twenty-four hours was 90.1
miles, and the maximum of the average hourly velocities throughout that
period was ninety-seven miles. The lower chart, the record of the direction
from which the wind blew, is marked only by a single broad bar in the
position of South-by-East, the wind not having veered in the slightest
degree.
Before the art of "hurricane-walking" was learnt, and in the primitive
days of ice-nails and finnesko, progression in high winds degenerated into
crawling on hands and knees. Many of the more conservative persisted in
this method, and, as a compensation, became the first exponents of the
popular art of "board-sliding." A small piece of board, a wide ice flat and a
hurricane were the three essentials for this new sport.
Wind alone would not have been so bad; drift snow accompanied it in
overwhelming amount. In the autumn overcast weather with heavy falls of
snow prevailed, with the result that the air for several months was seldom
free from drift. Indeed, during that time, there were not many days when
objects a hundred yards away could be seen distinctly. Whatever else
happened, the wind never abated, and so, even when the snow had ceased
falling and the sky was clear, the drift continued until all the loose
accumulations on the hinterland, for hundreds of miles back, had been
swept out to sea. Day after day deluges of drift streamed past the Hut, at
times so dense as to obscure objects three feet away, until it seemed as if the
atmosphere were almost solid snow.
[TEXT ILLUSTRATION]
A comparison of wind-velocities and temperatures prevailing at Cape
Royds, Mcmurdo Sound, and at winter quarters, Adelie Land, during the
months of May and June
At the time of plotting only the above two months were available, but
they are enough to illustrate the unusually severe winter conditions of
Adelie Land. The data for Cape Royds is that supplied by the Shackleton
Expedition. The solid black line refers to Adelie Land, the broken line to
Cape Royds. It will be noted that whereas the average temperature

conditions are closely similar at both stations, only on three days during the
period did the average wind velocity at Cape Royds reach that of the lowest
daily value of Adelie Land.
Picture drift so dense that daylight comes through dully, though, maybe,
the sun shines in a cloudless sky; the drift is hurled, screaming through
space at a hundred miles an hour, and the temperature is below zero,
Fahrenheit.** You have then the bare, rough facts concerning the worst
blizzards of Adelie Land. The actual experience of them is another thing.

** Temperatures as low as -28 degrees F.
(60 degrees below freezing-point) were experienced in hurricane winds,
which blew at a velocity occasionally exceeding one hundred miles per
hour. Still air and low temperatures, or high winds and moderate
temperatures, are well enough; but the combination of high winds and low
temperatures is difficult to bear.

Shroud the infuriated elements in the darkness of a polar night, and the
blizzard is presented in a severer aspect. A plunge into the writhing storm-
whirl stamps upon the senses an indelible and awful impression seldom
equalled in the whole gamut of natural experience. The world a void, grisly,
fierce and appalling. We stumble and struggle through the Stygian gloom;
the merciless blast—an incubus of vengeance—stabs, buffets and freezes;
the stinging drift blinds and chokes. In a ruthless grip we realize that we are

poor windlestraws
On the great, sullen, roaring pool of Time.

It may well be imagined that none of us went out on these occasions for
the pleasure of it. The scientific work required all too frequent journeys to
the instruments at a distance from the Hut, and, in addition, supplies of ice
and stores had to be brought in, while the dogs needed constant attention.
Every morning, Madigan visited all the meteorological instruments and
changed the daily charts; at times having to feel his way from one place to
the other. Attending to the exposed instruments in a high wind with low
temperature was bad enough, but with suffocating drift difficulties were
increased tenfold.
Around the Hut there was a small fraternity who chose the outside
veranda as a rendezvous. Here the latest gossip was exchanged, and the
weather invariably discussed in forcible terms. There was Whetter, who
replenished the water-supply from the unfailing fountain-head of the

glacier. For cooking, washing clothes and for photographic and other
purposes, eighteen men consumed a good deal of water, and, to keep up
with the demand, Whetter piled up many hardly-won boxes of ice in the
veranda. Close unearthed coal briquettes from the heap outside, shovelled
tons of snow from the veranda and made himself useful and amiable to
every one. Murphy, our stand-by in small talk, travel, history, literature and
what not, was the versatile storeman. The store in the veranda was
continually invaded by similar snow to that which covered the provision
boxes outside. To keep the veranda cleared, renew the supplies and satisfy
the demands of the kitchen required no other than Murphy. Ninnis and
Mertz completed the "Veranda Club," to which honorary members from
within the Hut were constantly being added.
The meteorological instruments, carefully nursed and housed though they
were, were bound to suffer in such a climate. Correll, who was well fitted
out with a lathe and all the requirements for instrument-making, attended to
repairs, doing splendid service. The anemometer gave the greatest trouble,
and, before Correll had finished with it, most of the working parts had been
replaced in stronger metal.
When the recording sheets of the instruments had been successfully
changed, the meteorologist packed them in a leather bag, strapped on his
shoulders, so that they would not be lost on the way to the Hut. As soon as
he arrived indoors the bag was opened and emptied; the papers being
picked out from a small heap of snow.
It was a fortunate thing that no one was lost through failing to discover
the Hut during the denser drifts. Hodgeman on one occasion caused every
one a good deal of anxiety. Among other things, he regularly assisted
Madigan by relieving him of outdoor duties on the day after his nightwatch,
when the chief meteorologist was due for a "watch below." It was in the
early autumn—few of us, then, were adepts at finding our way by instinct—
that Hodgeman and Madigan set out, one morning, for the anemometer.
Leaving the door of the Hut, they lost sight of each other at once, but
anticipated meeting at the instrument. Madigan reached his destination,
changed the records, waited for a while and then returned, expecting to see
his companion at the Hut. He did not appear, so, after a reasonable interval,
search parties set off in different directions.

The wind was blowing at eighty miles per hour, making it tedious work
groping about and hallooing in the drift. The sea was close at hand and we
realized that, as the wind was directly off shore, a man without crampons
was in a dangerous situation. Two men, therefore, roped together and
carefully searched round the head of the boat harbour; one anchoring
himself with an ice-axe, whilst the other, at the end of the rope, worked
along the edge of the sea. Meanwhile Hodgeman returned to the Hut,
unaided, having spent a very unpleasant two hours struggling from one
landmark to another, his outer garments filled with snow.
The fact that the wind came steadily from the same direction made it
possible to steer, otherwise outdoor operations would not have been
conducted so successfully. For instance, Webb, who visited the
Magnetograph House, a quarter of a mile distant, at least once a day, made
his way between various "beacons" by preserving a definite bearing on the
wind. His journeys were rendered all the more difficult because they were
frequently undertaken at night.
In struggling along through very dense drifts one would be inclined to
think that the presence of the sun was a matter of small concern. As a matter
of fact there was, during the day, a good deal of reflected white light and a
dark object looms up within a yard or two. In darkness there was nothing to
recognize. So Webb would often run by dead reckoning on to the roof of the
Hut, and would then feel his way round it till he caught the glimmer of a
hurricane lantern coming through the veranda entrance.
I had always the greatest admiration for the unfailing manner in which
those responsible for the tidal, magnetic and meteorological work carried
out their duties.
As a measure of the enormous amount of drift, we set about constructing
a gauge, which, it was hoped, would give us a rough estimate of the
quantity passing the Hut in a year. Hannam, following the approved design,
produced a very satisfactory contrivance. It consisted of a large drift-tight
box, fitted on the windward side with a long metal cone, tapering to an
aperture three-quarters of an inch in diameter. The drift-laden air entered the
aperture, its speed was checked on entering the capacious body of the gauge
and consequently the snow fell to the bottom of the box and the air passed
out behind through a trap-door. The catch was taken out periodically

through a bolted lid, the snow was melted, the resulting water measured and
its weight calculated.
[TEXT ILLUSTRATION]
The drift gauge
In thick drifts, one's face inside the funnel of the burberry helmet became
rapidly packed with snow, which, by the warmth of the skin and breath, was
changed into a mask of ice. This adhered firmly to the rim of the helmet and
to the beard and face. The mask became so complete that one had to clear
away obstructions continually from the eyes. It was not easy to remove the
casing of ice, outside in the wind, because this could only be done slowly,
with bare fingers exposed. An experienced man, once inside the Hut, would
first see that the ice was broken along the rim of the helmet; otherwise,
when it came to be hastily dragged off, the hairs of the beard would follow
as well. As soon as the helmet was off the head, the icicles hanging on the
beard and glazing the eyelashes were gradually thawed by the fingers and
removed. The above treatment was learned by experience.
The abrasion-effects produced by the impact of the snow particles were
astonishing. Pillars of ice were cut through in a few days, rope was frayed,
wood etched and metal polished. Some rusty dog-chains were exposed to it,
and, in a few days, they had a definite sheen. A deal box, facing the wind,
lost all its painted bands and in a fortnight was handsomely marked; the
hard, knotty fibres being only slightly attacked, whilst the softer, pithy
laminae were corroded to a depth of one-eighth of an inch.
The effect of constant abrasion upon the snow's surface is to harden it,
and, finally, to carve ridges known as sastrugi. Of these much will be said
when recounting our sledging adventures, because they increase so much
the difficulties of travelling.
Even hard, blue ice may become channelled and pitted by the action of
drift. Again, both neve and ice may receive a wind-polish which makes
them very slippery.
Of the effect of wind and drift upon rock, there was ample evidence
around Winter Quarters. Regarded from the north, the aspect of the rocks
was quite different from that on the southern side. The southern, windward
faces were on the whole smooth and rounded, but there was no definite
polish, because the surface was partly attacked by the chipping and splitting
action of frost. The leeward faces were rougher and more disintegrated.

More remarkable still were the etchings of the non-homogeneous banded
rocks. The harder portions of these were raised in relief, producing quite an
artistic pattern.
In regard to the drift, a point which struck me was the enormous amount
of cold communicated to the sea by billions of tons of low-temperature
snow thrown upon its surface. The effect upon the water, already at
freezing-point, would be to congeal the surface at once. Whilst the wind
continued, however, there was no opportunity for a crust to form, the
uppermost layers being converted into a pea-soup-like film which streamed
away to the north.
A description of the drifts of Adelie Land would not be complete without
mentioning the startling electrical effects which were sometimes observed.
The first record of these was made by McLean, when on night-watch on
March 22. While taking the observations at midnight, he noticed St. Elmo's
fire, a "brush discharge" of electricity, on the points of the nephoscope. As
the weather became colder this curious phenomenon increased in intensity.
At any time in the drift, an electroscope exposed outside became rapidly
charged. A spark gap in a vacuum, connected with a free end of wire, gave a
continuous discharge. At times, when the effects were strong, the night-
watchman would find the edges and wire stays of the screen outlined in a
fashion reminiscent of a pyrotechnic display or an electric street-
advertisement. The corners of boxes and points of rock glowed with a pale
blue light. The same appeared over points on the clothing, on the mitts and
round the funnel of the helmet. No sensation was transmitted to the body
from these points of fire, at least nothing sufficiently acute to be felt, with
the drift and wind lashing on the body outside. However, the anemograph
several times discharged a continuous stream of sparks into Madigan's
fingers while he was changing the records. Once these sparks reached half
an inch in length, and, as his fingers were bared for the work, there was no
mistaking the feeling.
For regular observations on the subject, Correll fixed a pointed collector
—a miniature lightning-conductor—above the flagpole on the summit of
the roof. A wire was led through an insulator, so that the stream of
electricity could be subjected to experiment in the Hut. Here a "brush" of
blue light radiated outwards to a distance of one inch. When a conductor
was held close to it, a rattling volley of sparks immediately crossed the

interval and the air was pervaded with a strong smell of ozone. Of course
sparks were not always being emitted by the collector, and it was important
to determine the periods of activity. To ensure this, Hurley devised an
automatic arrangement, so that an electric bell was set ringing whenever a
current was passing; the night-watchman would then note the fact in the
log-book. However, the bell responded so often and so vigorously that it
was soon dismantled for the benefit of sleepers. It was singular that the
"brush discharge" was sometimes most copious when the atmosphere was
filled with very fine drift, and not necessarily during dense drift.
After what has been said, it will be obvious that the drift-laden hurricanes
of the country were more than ordinarily formidable. They scarcely seemed
to provide a subject for poetic inspiration; still the following effusion
appeared by McLean, Editor of the 'Adelie Blizzard':—

THE BLIZZARD

A snow-hush brooding o'er the grey rock-hills!
A wold of silence, ominous, that fills
The wide seascape of ice-roofed islands, rolls
To ether-zones that gird the frigid Poles!

Realm of purest alabaster-white,
Wreathed in a vast infinitude of light;
The royal orb swings to thy summer gaze
A glitt'ring azure world of crystal days.

The lorn bird-voices of an unseen land-
No hue of forest, gleam of ocean sand-
Rise in a ceaseless plaint of raucous din,
On northern tides the bergs come floating in.

The wind-sprites murmuring in hinter-snow-
The pent heart-throbbings of the wan plateau-
Wing through the pulsing spell thrown o'er the sea,
In wild and shrieking blizzard minstrelsy.

Swirl of the drift-cloud's shimm'ring sleet;
Race of the spray-smoke's hurtling sheet
Swelling trail of the streaming, sunbright foam,
Wafting sinuous brash to an ice-field home.

Eddy-wraiths o'er the splintered schist-
Torrent spume down the glacier hissed!
Throbbing surge of the ebbing seaward gust,
Raping stillness vast in its madd'ning lust.

Lotus-floe 'neath the Barrier brink,
Starting sheer—a marble blink-
Pelting shafts from the show'ring arrow-blast
Strike—ill the blackened flood seethe riven past.

Glow of the vibrant, yellow west

Pallid fades in the dread unrest.
Low'ring shades through the fury-stricken night
Rack the screaming void in shudd'ring might.

Requiem peace from the hinter-snows
Soft as river music flows.
Dawn in a flushing glamour tints the sea;
Serene her thrill of rhythmic ecstasy.

Sledging was out of the question. Indeed, we recognized how fortunate
we were not to have pushed farther south in March. Had we advanced, it is
more than likely that provisions would have been exhausted before we
could have located the Hut in the sea of drift. Our hopes were now centred
on midwinter calms.
Looking through my diary, I notice that on March 24, "we experienced a
rise in spirits because of the improved weather." I find the average velocity
of the wind for that day to have been forty-five miles per hour,
corresponding to a "strong gale" on the Beaufort scale. This tells its own
story.
When the high wind blew off shore, there was no backswell, on account
of the pack-ice to the north quelling the sea. The arrival of a true ocean
swell meant that the pack had been dispersed. On March 24 such appears to
have been the case, for then, during the day, a big northerly swell set in,
dashing over the ice-foot and scattering seaweed on the rocks.
After the equinox, the temperatures remained in the vicinity of zero,
Fahrenheit. The penguins took to the sea, and, save for the glimpse of an
occasional petrel on the wing, the landscape was desolate.
It was high time that our programme of construction was completed, but,
however much we tried, it was impossible to do a great deal in winds
exceeding fifty miles an hour. By taking advantage of days freest from drift,
the exterior of the Hangar was completed by April 6. After the air-tractor
sledge had been moved inside, the snow was piled so high on the leeward
face, that the shelter became naturally blocked with a rampart of snow
which served admirably in place of the wall of tarpaulin which we
originally intended to use.
Bickerton could now proceed at leisure to make any necessary
alterations. The Hangar was also used as a store for many articles which had
been crowded into odd corners or rescued from the snow outside. To
increase its size, tunnels were afterwards driven into the bank of snow and
timber was stowed in these so as to be safe from burial and loss.

The building was finished just in the nick of time. Snow came down so
thickly that had the falls occurred a few days earlier, the cases from which
the place was constructed would have been effectually buried and the
construction made an impossibility.
But for the wind, the Hut would have been lost to sight. Still, it was
completely surrounded by massive drifts, and the snow was driven by the
wind past the canvas flap and through the entrance, until the veranda
became choked.
Close, who was night-watchman during the early morning hours of April
7, had the greatest difficulty in getting outside to attend to his duties. To dig
his way through the entrance, reach the instruments and to return occupied a
whole hour.
We were inundated with snow; even a portion of the roof was buried. The
situation required immediate attention; so it was decided to make a tunnel
connecting the entrance veranda with the store veranda. From the north-
western end of the latter, an out-draught had established itself, preserving a
vertical funnel-like opening in the snow bank, always free for entrance or
exit. This proved a fortunate accident.
Further, a second tunnel, over twenty feet in length, was driven out from
the original entrance with a view to reaching the surface at a point beyond
the lee of the Hut. It was thought that the scouring effect of the wind, there,
would keep the opening of the tunnel free of drift. But when completed, it
filled rapidly with snow and had to be sealed. It was then used to receive
slop-water. While the fever for excavation was at its height, Whetter drove,
as an off-shoot to the first, another tunnel which came to be used as a
nursery for the pups.
At this stage, to leave the Hut, it was necessary to crawl through a low
trap-door in the wall of the inside or entrance veranda; the way then led to
the connecting tunnel and onwards to the store veranda; finally one climbed
through a manhole in the snow into the elements without. From the store
veranda there was access to the Hangar by a hinged door in the common
wall, and, as an additional convenience, a trap-door was made in the roof of
the inner veranda to be used during spells of clear weather or in light drift.
The old landmarks became smothered in snow, making the Hut's position
a matter of greater uncertainty. A journey by night to the magnetic huts was
an outing with a spice of adventure.

Climbing out of the veranda, one was immediately swallowed in the
chaos of hurtling drift, the darkness sinister and menacing. The shrill wind
fled by—

...the noise of a drive of the Dead,
Striving before the irresistible will
Through the strange dusk of this, the Debatable land
Between their place and ours.

Unseen wizard hands clutched with insane fury, hacked and harried. It
was "the raw-ribbed Wild that abhors all life, the Wild that would crush and
rend."
Cowering blindly, pushing fiercely through the turmoil, one strove to
keep a course to reach the rocks in which the huts were hidden—such and
such a bearing on the wind—so far. When the rocks came in sight, the
position of the final destination was only deduced by recognising a few
surrounding objects.
On the return journey, the vicinity of the Hut would be heralded by such
accidents as tripping over the "wireless" ground wires or kicking against a
box or a heap of coal briquettes. These clues, properly followed up, would
lead to the Hut itself, or at least to its shelving roof. In the very thick drifts
it was even possible to stand on portions of the roof without any notion of
the fact. Fossicking about, one kept on the alert for the feel of woodwork.
When found and proved to be too extensive to be a partially buried box, it
might safely be concluded to be some part of the roof, and only required to
be skirted in order to reach the vertical entrance. The lost man often
discovered this pitfall by dropping suddenly through into the veranda.
At the entrance to the tunnel, the roar of the tempest died away into a
rumble, the trap-door opened and perhaps the strains of the gramophone
would come in a kind of flippant defiance from the interior. Passing through
the vestibule and work-room one beheld a scene in utter variance with the
outer hell. Here were warm bunks, rest, food, light and companionship—for
the time being, heaven! Outside, the crude and naked elements of a
primitive and desolate world flowed in writhing torrents.
The night-watchman's duty of taking the meteorological observations at
the screen adjacent to the Hut was a small matter compared with the
foregoing. First of all, it was necessary for him to don a complete outfit of
protective clothing. Dressing and undressing were tedious, and absorbed a

good deal of time. At the screen, he would spend a lively few minutes
wrestling in order to hold his ground, forcing the door back against the
pressure of wind, endeavouring to make the light shine on the instruments,
and, finally, clearing them of snow and reading them. For illumination a
hurricane lantern wrapped in a calico wind-shield was first used, to be
displaced later by an electrical signalling-lamp and, while the batteries
lasted, by a light permanently fixed by Hannam in the screen itself. To
assist in finding the manhole on his return, the night-watchman was in the
habit of leaving a light burning in the outer veranda.
I remember waking up early one morning to find the Hut unusually cold.
On rising, I discovered Hurley also awake, busy lighting the fire which had
died out. There was no sign of Correll, the night-watchman, and we found
that the last entry in the log-book had been made several hours previously.
Hurley dressed in full burberrys and went out to make a search, in which he
was soon successful.
It appeared that Correll, running short of coal during the early morning
hours, had gone out to procure some from the stack. While he was returning
to the entrance, the wind rolled him over a few times, causing him to lose
his bearings. It was blowing a hurricane, the temperature was -70 F., and the
drift-snow was so thick as to be wall-like in opacity. He abandoned his load
of coal, and, after searching about fruitlessly for some time in the darkness,
he decided to wait for dawn. Hurley found him about twenty yards from the
back of the Hut.
The suppression of outdoor occupations reacted in an outburst of indoor
work. The smaller room had been well fitted up as a workshop, and all
kinds of schemes were in progress for adapting our sledging-gear and
instruments to the severe conditions. Correll worked long hours to keep up
with the demands made upon him. Nobody was idle during the day, for,
when there was nothing else to be done, there always remained the
manufacture and alteration of garments and crampons.
As soon as the wind abated to a reasonable velocity, there was a rush to
the outside jobs. Lulls would come unexpectedly, activity inside ceased, and
the Hut, as seen by a spectator, resembled an ants' nest upon which a
strange foot had trodden: eighteen men swarming through the manhole in
rapid succession, hurrying hither and thither.

The neighbouring sea still remained free from an ice-crust. This, of
course, did not mean that freezing was not going on continuously. On the
contrary, the chilling was no doubt accelerated, but the bulk of the ice was
carried off to the north as fast as it was formed. Quantities, however,
remained as ground-ice, anchored to the kelp and stones on the bottom.
Gazing down through the clear waters one saw a white, mamillated sheath
covering the jungle of giant seaweed, recalling a forest after a heavy
snowfall. The ice, instead of being a dead weight bearing down the
branches, tended to float, and, when accumulated in large masses,
sometimes succeeded in rising to the surface, uprooting and lifting great
lengths of seaweed with it. One branching stem, found floating in the
harbour, measured eighteen feet in length.
Whenever a temporary calm intervened, a skin of ice quickly appeared
over the whole surface of the water. In the early stages, this formation
consisted of loose, blade-like crystals, previously floating freely below the
surface and rising by their own buoyancy. At the surface, if undisturbed,
they soon became cemented together. For example, during a calm interval
on April 6, within the interval of an hour, an even crust, one inch thick,
covered the sea. But the wind returned before the ice was sufficiently strong
to resist it, and it all broke up and drifted away to the north, except a piece
which remained wedged firmly between the sides of the boat harbour.
In the calm weather, abundant "worms" freely swimming, jelly-fish,
pteropods and small fish were observed. Traps were lowered along the edge
of the harbour-ice and dredgings were made in every possible situation. The
bulk of the biological collecting was effected under circumstances in which
Hunter and Laseron might well have given up work in disgust. For instance,
I noted in my diary that on May 16, with an off shore wind of forty-three
miles per hour, they and several others were dredging from the edge of the
slippery bay-ice. The temperature at the time was -2 degrees F.
During April the head of the boat harbour froze over permanently, the ice
reaching a thickness of eighteen inches in ten days. By that time it was
strong enough to be suitable for a tide-gauge. This was one of Bage's
charges, destined to take him out for many months in fair and foul weather.
There were several occasions in April when the velocity of the wind
exceeded ninety miles an hour. On the evening of the 26th, the wind
slackened, and for part of the 27th had almost fallen to a calm. This brought

the optimists to the fore, once again, with the theory that the worst was
over. The prediction was far from being fulfilled, for, as the days passed, the
average velocity steadily rose. On May 11 the average for the twenty-four
hours was eighty miles per hour. By that time the Hut had been further
protected by a crescent of cases, erected behind the first break-wind. In
height this erection stood above the Hangar, and, when the snow became
piled in a solid ramp on the leeward side, it was more compact than ever.
Inside the Hut extra struts were introduced, stiffening the principal rafters
on the southern side. It was reassuring to know that these precautions had
been taken, for, on May 15, the wind blew at an average velocity of ninety
miles per hour throughout the whole twenty-four hours.
Having failed to demolish us by dogged persistence, the hurricane tried
new tactics on the evening of May 24, in the form of a terrific series of
Herculean gusts. As we learned afterwards, the momentary velocity of these
doubtless approached two hundred miles per hour. At 11.30 P.M. the
situation was cheerfully discussed, though every one was tuned up to a
nervous pitch as the Hut creaked and shuddered under successive blows. It
seemed very doubtful whether the roof would resist the gusts, and the
feasibility of the meat cellar as a last haven of refuge was discussed. After
the passage of each gust, the barometer dropped, rising again immediately
afterwards. Similar pulsations of the barometer were observed many times
later in the year. The maximum sudden movement noted was one-fifth inch.
Had the interior of the Hut been more freely in communication with the
outside air, instead of resembling a hermetically sealed box, the "kicks"
would undoubtedly have been much greater.
Cyclonic gusts were repeated a few days after, when the upper tiers of
boxes composing the break-wind were thrown down and pebbles from the
moraine were hurled on the roof. The average velocity of the wind for each
of the three autumn months was as follows: March, 49 miles per hour;
April, 51.5 miles per hour, and May 60.7 miles per hour.
On May 1 the temperatures became lower, so that it was difficult to move
about in the gales without the face getting frost-bitten. Our usual remedy
when this occurred was to hold a mitt over the part affected; thus sheltered,
its circulation of blood was soon re-established, unless the cold were very
intense. In the extremities—the fingers and toes—warmth was not so easily
restored.

Returning from attending the instruments at noon on May 22, Madigan,
according to the usual habit, before taking off his wind-proof clothes,
commenced clearing away the ice adhering to his helmet and face. One
white patch refused to leave the side of his face, until some one observed
that it was a frost-bite, and acquainted him of the fact. Frost-bites that day
were excusable enough, for the wind was blowing between ninety-five and
hundred miles per hour, there was dense drifting snow and a temperature of
-28 degrees F.
We had found an accursed country. On the fringe of an unspanned
continent along whose gelid coast our comrades had made their home—we
knew not where—we dwelt where the chill breath of a vast, Polar
wilderness, quickening to the rushing might of eternal blizzards, surged to
the northern seas. Already, and for long months we were beneath "frost-
fettered Winter's frown."

CHAPTER VIII DOMESTIC LIFE
Our hearth and home was the living Hut and its focus was the stove.
Kitchen and stove were indissolubly linked, and beyond their pale was a
wilderness of hanging clothes, boots, finnesko, mitts and what not, bounded
by tiers of bunks and blankets, more hanging clothes and dim photographs
between the frost-rimed cracks of the wooden walls.
One might see as much in the first flicker of the acetylene through a
maze of hurrying figures, but as his eyes grew accustomed to the light, the
plot would thicken: books orderly and disorderly, on bracketed shelves,
cameras great and small in motley confusion, guns and a gramophone-horn,
serpentine yards of gas-tubing, sewing machines, a microscope, rows of
pint-mugs, until—thud! he has obstructed a wild-eyed messman staggering
into the kitchen with a box of ice.
The wilderness was always inhabited, so much so that it often became a
bear-garden in which raucous good humour prevailed over everything.
Noise was a necessary evil, and it commenced at 7.30 A.M., with the
subdued melodies of the gramophone, mingled with the stirring of the
porridge-pot and the clang of plates deposited none too gently on the table.
At 7.50 A.M. came the stentorian: "Rise and shine!" of the night-watchman,
and a curious assortment of cat-calls, beating on pots and pans and
fragmentary chaff. At the background, so to speak, of all these sounds was
the swishing rush of the wind and the creaking strain of the roof, but these
had become neglected. In fact, if there were a calm, every one was restless
and uneasy.
The seasoned sleeper who survived the ten minutes' bombardment before
8 o'clock was an unusual person, and he was often the Astronomer Royal.
Besides his dignified name he possessed a wrist-watch, and there was never
a movement in his mountain of blankets until 7.59 A.M., unless the jocular
night-watchman chose to make a heap of them on the floor. To calls like
"Breakfast all ready! Porridge on the table getting cold!" seventeen persons
in varying stages of wakefulness responded. No one was guilty of an
elaborate toilet, water being a scarce commodity. There were adherents of

the snow-wash theory, but these belonged to an earlier and warmer epoch of
our history.
For downright, tantalizing cheerfulness there was no one to equal the
night-watchman. While others strove to collect their befuddled senses, this
individual prated of "wind eighty miles per hour with moderate drift and
brilliant St. Elmo's fire." He boasted of the number of garments he had
washed, expanded vigorously on bread making—his brown, appetizing
specimens in full public view—told of the latest escapade among the dogs,
spoke of the fitful gleams of the aurora between 1.30 and 2 A.M., of his
many adventures on the way to the meteorological screen and so forth; until
from being a mere night-watchman he had raised himself to the status of a
public hero. For a time he was most objectionable, but under the solid
influence of porridge, tinned fruit, fresh bread, butter and tea and the
soothing aroma of innumerable pipes, other public heroes arose and ousted
this upstart of the night. Meanwhile, the latter began to show signs of
abating energy after twelve hours' work. Soon some wag had caught him
having a private nap, a whispered signal was passed round and the
unfortunate hero was startled into life with a rousing "Rise and shine!" in
which all past scores were paid off.
Every one was at last awake and the day began in earnest. The first hint
of this came from the messman and cook who commenced to make a
Herculean sweep of the pint-mugs and tin plates. The former deferentially
proceeded to scrape the plates, the master-cook presiding over a tub of
boiling water in which he vigorously scoured knives, forks and spoons,
transferring them in dripping handfuls to the cleanest part of the kitchen-
table. Cooks of lyric inclination would enliven the company with the score
of the latest gramophone opera, and the messman and company would often
feel impelled to join in the choruses.
The night-watchman had sunk into log-like slumber, and the
meteorologist and his merry men were making preparations to go abroad.
The merry men included the ice-carrier, the magnetician, the two wardens
of the dogs, the snow-shoveller and coal-carrier and the storeman. The rest
subdivided themselves between the living Hut at 45 degrees F. and the outer
Hut below freezing-point, taking up their endless series of jobs.
The merry men began to make an organized raid on the kitchen. Around
and above the stove hung oddments like wolf-skin mitts, finnesko, socks,

stockings and helmets, which had passed from icy rigidity through sodden
limpness to a state of parchment dryness. The problem was to recover one's
own property and at the same time to avoid the cook scraping the porridge
saucepan and the messman scrubbing the table.
The urbane storeman saved the situation by inquiring of the cook: "What
will you have for lunch?" Then followed a heated colloquy, the former, like
a Cingalese vendor, having previously made up his mind. The argument
finally crystallized down to lambs' tongues and beetroot, through herrings
and tomato sauce, fresh herrings, kippered herrings, sardines and corn beef.
The second question was a preliminary to more serious business; "What
would you like for dinner?"
Although much trouble might have been saved by reference to the
regulation programme, which was composed to provide variety in diet and
to eliminate any remote chance of scurvy, most cooks adopted an attitude of
surly independence, counting it no mean thing to have wheedled from the
storeman a few more ounces of "glaxo," another tin of peas or an extra
ration of penguin meat. All this chaffering took place in the open market-
place, so to speak, and there was no lack of frank criticism from bystanders,
onlookers and distant eavesdroppers. In case the cook was worsted, the
messman sturdily upheld his opinions, and in case the weight of public
opinion was too much for the storeman, he slipped on his felt mitts,
shouldered a Venesta box and made for the tunnel which led to the store.
He reaches an overhead vent admitting a cool torrent of snow, and with
the inseparable box plunges ahead into darkness. An hour later his ruddy
face reappears in the Hut, and a load of frosted tins is soon
unceremoniously dumped on to the kitchen table. The cook in a swift
survey notes the absence of penguin meat. "That'll take two hours to dig
out!" is the storeman's rejoinder, and to make good his word, proceeds to
pull off blouse and helmet. By careful inquiry in the outer Hut he finds an
ice-axe, crowbar and hurricane lantern. The next move is to the outer
veranda, where a few loose boards are soon removed, and the storeman,
with a lithe twist, is out of sight.
We have pushed the tools down and, following the storeman, painfully
squeezed into an Arcadia of starry mounds of snow and glistening plaques
of ice, through which project a few boulders and several carcases of mutton.
The storeman rummages in the snow and discloses a pile of penguins,

crusted hard together in a homogeneous lump. Dislodging a couple of
penguins appears an easy proposition, but we are soon disillusioned. The
storeman seizes the head of one bird, wrenches hard, and off it breaks as
brittle as a stalactite. The same distracting thing happens to both legs, and
the only remedy is to chip laboriously an icy channel around it.
In a crouching or lying posture, within a confined space, this means the
expenditure of much patience, not to mention the exhaustion of all
invective. A crowbar decides the question. One part of the channel is
undermined, into this the end of the crowbar is thrust and the penguin
shoots up and hits the floor of the Hut.
The storeman, plastered with snow, reappears hot and triumphant before
the cook, but this dignitary is awkwardly kneading the dough of wholemeal
scones, and the messman is feeding the fire with seal-blubber to ensure a
"quick" oven. Every one is too busy to notice the storeman, for, like the
night-watchman, his day is over and he must find another job.
Jobs in the Hut were the elixir of life, and a day's cooking was no
exception to the rule. It began at 7 A.M., and, with a brief intermission
between lunch and afternoon tea, continued strenuously till 8.30 P.M.
Cooks were broadly classified as "Crook Cooks" and "Unconventional
Cooks" by the eating public. Such flattering titles as "Assistant Grand Past
Master of the Crook Cooks' Association" or "Associate of the Society of
Muddling Messmen" were not empty inanities; they were founded on solid
fact—on actual achievement. If there were no constitutional affiliation,
strong sympathy undoubtedly existed between the "Crook Cooks'
Association" and "The Society of Muddling Messmen." Both contained
members who had committed "championships."
"Championship" was a term evolved from the local dialect, applying to a
slight mishap, careless accident or unintentional disaster in any department
of Hut life. The fall of a dozen plates from the shelf to the floor, the fracture
of a table-knife in frozen honey, the burning of the porridge or the
explosion of a tin thawing in the oven brought down on the unfortunate
cook a storm of derisive applause and shouts of "Championship!
Championship!"
Thawing-out tinned foods by the heroic aid of a red-hot stove was a
common practice. One day a tin of baked beans was shattered in the "port"
oven, and fragments of dried beans were visible on the walls and door for

weeks. Our military cook would often facetiously refer to "platoon-firing in
the starboard oven."
One junior member of the "Crook Cooks' Association" had the hardihood
to omit baking powder in a loaf of soda-bread, trusting that prolonged
baking would repair the omission. The result was a "championship" of a
very superior order. Being somewhat modest, he committed it through the
trap-door to the mercy of the wind, and for a time it was lost in the
straggling rubbish which tailed away to the north. Even the prowling dogs
in their wolfish hunger could not overcome a certain prejudice. Of course
some one found it, and the public hailed it with delight. A searching inquiry
was made, but the perpetrator was never discovered. That loaf, however,
like the proverbial bad penny, turned up for months. When the intricate
system of snow-tunnels was being perfected, it was excavated. In the early
summer, when the aeroplane was dug out of the Hangar, that loaf appeared
once more, and almost the last thing we saw when leaving the Hut, nearly
two years after, was this petrifaction on an icy pedestal near the Boat
Harbour.
No one ever forgot the roly-poly pudding made without suet; synthetic
rubber was its scientific name. And the muddling messman could never be
surpassed who lost the cutter of the sausage machine and put salt-water ice
in the melting-pots.
There appeared in the columns of 'The Adelie Blizzard' an article by the
meteorologist descriptive of an occasion when two members of the "Crook
Cooks' Association" officiated in the kitchen:
TEREBUS AND ERROR IN ERUPTION An 'Orrible Affair in One Act
BY A SURVIVOR
Dramatis Personae
TEREBUS | | Crook Cooks ERROR |
Other Expedition Members
Scene: Kitchen, Winter Quarters.
Time: 5.30 P.M.
ERROR. Now, Terebus, just bring me a nice clean pot, will you?
TEREBUS [from his bunk]. Go on, do something yourself!

ERROR. Do something? I've done everything that has been done this
afternoon.
TEREBUS. Well, you ought to feel pretty fresh.
ERROR. And all the melting-pots are empty and I'm not going to fill
them. Besides, it's not in the regulations.
Voices. Who's going crook? Error!
[TEREBUS climbs from his bunk and exit for ice. ERROR attempts to
extricate a pot from the nails in the shelves. Loud alarums.
Voices. Champ-ion-ship!
[Alarums without. Loud cries of "Door!" Enter TEREBUS with box of
ice; fills all the pots on the stove.
ERROR. Good heavens, man, you've filled up the tea water with ice.
TEREBUS [with hoarse laugh]. Never mind, they won't want so much
glaxo to cool it.
ERROR [who has meanwhile been mixing bread]. What shall we bake
the bread in? I believe it is considered that a square tin is more suitable for
ordinary ovens, but, on the other hand, Nansen in his 'Farthest North' used
flat dishes.
TEREBUS. Use a tin. There'll be less surface exposed to the cold oven.
ERROR. What's all this water on the floor? I thought my feet seemed
cold. Some one must have upset a bucket.
TEREBUS. Oh, it's one of the taps turned on. Never mind, there's plenty
more ice where that came from. Get your sea-boots.
[Enter METEOROLOGICAL STAFF and others with snow-covered
burberrys, mitts, etc., crowd kitchen and hang impedimenta round the stove.
Great tumult.
TEREBUS. Here, out of the kitchen. This isn't the time to worry the
cooks.
ERROR. Take those burberrys away, please, old man. They're dripping
into the soup.
TEREBUS. Give it some flavour at least.
[Great activity in the crater of ERROR while TEREBUS clears the
kitchen. ERROR continues stirring Soup and tapioca custard on the stove.

Strong smell of burning.
VOICES [in peculiarly joyful chorus]. Something burning!
ERROR [aside to TEREBUS]. It's all right. It will taste all right. Say it's
cloth on the stove.
TEREBUS. Somebody's burberrys burning against the stove!!
[General rush to the stove.
TEREBUS. It's all right, I've taken them away.
[Interval, during which much sotto voce discussion is heard in the
kitchen.
ERROR. We haven't put the spinach on to thaw and it's after six o'clock.
TEREBUS. Warm it up and put it on the table with the tin-openers.
ERROR. I'm afraid that's against the regulations. Put it in the oven and
shut the door.
[TEREBUS does so. Later, terrific explosion, followed by strong smell of
spinach.
VOICES. What's the matter? Terebus in eruption!
TEREBUS [wiping spinach off his face]. Nothing wrong. Only a tin of
spinach opened automatically.
ERROR. It's plastered all over the oven and on everything.
TEREBUS. Don't worry, it will be served up with the baked penguin.
[Period of partial quiescence of TEREBUS and ERROR, which is
regarded as an evil omen.
ERROR [in persuasive tone]. Have you made the tea, old boy? It's nearly
half-past six.
[TEREBUS takes off the lid of the tea-boiler, peers inside, making a
scoop with his hand.
ERROR. Here, don't do that. Mind your hands.
TEREBUS. It's all right, it's not hot.
ERROR. What shall we do, then? We'll never keep them quiet if we are
late with the tea.
TEREBUS. Put the tea in now. It will be warmed up by the second
course.

[TEREBUS puts the infusers in the pot and stirs them round.
ERROR. Taste it.
[BOTH taste with a dirty spoon.
TEREBUS. Tastes like your soup—'orrible!
ERROR. There's nothing wrong with the soup. You attend to the tea.
TEREBUS. I think we'll have coffee. Pass the coffee and I'll put that in
and bring it to the boil. The coffee will kill the taste of the tea.
ERROR. Hope you make it stronger than that.
[During quiescent stage while each is thinking of a retort, 6.30 P.M.
arrives, and the soup is put on the table. Interval elapses during which the
victims are expected to eat the soup.
VOICES [in loud chant from the table]. How did you do it, Error?
TEREBUS [after a suitable period]. Any one like any more soup?
A VOICE. Couldn't risk it, Governor. TEREBUS. Bowls up! Lick
spoons!
[Bowls are cleared away and baked penguin is put on the table.
ERROR. Cooks have got their penguin, gentlemen.
[Suspicious glances exchanged at table. Later, monotonous chant goes
up, preceded by a soft "One, two, three." "Didn't scrape the blubber off,
Error."
[Plates cleared away and scraped into dogs' bucket. ERROR takes tapioca
custard from oven in two dishes.
ERROR [aside to TEREBUS]. Take some out of this one for us and don't
forget to put that dish in front of the Doctor, because I spilled soda in the
other.
[TEREBUS takes two large helpings out and puts rest on table as
directed.
TEREBUS. You need not remember the cooks, gentlemen.
A VOICE. Don't want to, if I can manage it.
ERROR [aside to TEREBUS]. Put on the Algerian sweets, and then we
can have ours.
TEREBUS [taking several handfuls]. We'll put these aside for perks.

[The sweets on the table, TEREBUS and ERROR retire to kitchen to
have their dinner.
ERROR. Is this my pudding? It's only an ordinary share.
[TEREBUS is too busy to reply, and further eruption is prevented by the
temporary plugging of ERROR.
Cooking, under the inspiration of Mrs. Beeton, became a fine art:

On bones we leave no meat on,
For we study Mrs. Beeton.

So said the song. On birthdays and other auspicious occasions dishes
appeared which would tempt a gourmet. Puff-pastry, steam-puddings, jellies
and blancmanges, original potages and consommes, seal curried and spiced,
penguin delicately fried, vegetables reflavoured, trimmed and adorned were
received without comment as the culinary standard rose.
Birthdays were always greeted with special enthusiasm. Speeches were
made, toasts were drunk, the supple boards of the table creaked with good
things, cook and messman vied with each other in lavish hospitality, the Hut
was ornate with flags, every man was spruce in his snowiest cardigan and
neck-cloth, the gramophone sang of music-hall days, the wind roared its
appreciation through the stove-pipe, and rollicking merriment was supreme.
On such occasions the photographer and the biologist made a genial
combination.
The dark-room was the nursery of the topical song. There, by lantern or
candle-stump, wit Rabelaisian, Aristophanic or Antarctic was cradled into
rhyme. From there, behind the scenes, the comedian in full dress could step
before the footlights into salvoes of savage applause. "A Pair of
Unconventional Cooks are we, are we," and the famous refrain, "There he
is, that's him," were long unrivalled in our musical annals.
Celebrations were carried on into the night, but no one forgot the cook
and the messman. The table was cleared by many willing hands, some
brought in ice and coal or swept the floor, others scraped plates or rinsed
out mugs and bowls. Soon, everything had passed through the cauldron of
water, soap and soda to the drying-towels and on to the shelves. The main
crowd then repaired with pipes and cigars to "Hyde Park Corner," where the
storeman, our raconteur par excellence, entertained the smokers' club. A
mixed concert brought the evening to the grand finale—"Auld Lang Syne."

After events of this character, the higher shelves of the kitchen, in the
interstices between thermographs, photographic plates ink bottles, and
Russian stout, abounded with titbits of pie crust, blancmange, jelly, Vienna
rusks, preserved figs, and other "perks." Such "perks," or perquisites, were
the property of the presiding cook or night-watchman and rarely survived
for more than a day.
The mania for celebration became so great that reference was frequently
made to the almanac. During one featureless interval, the anniversary of the
First Lighting of London by Gas was observed with extraordinary eclat.
The great medium of monetary exchange in the Hut was chocolate. A
ration of thirty squares was distributed by the storeman every Saturday
night, and for purposes of betting, games of chance, "Calcutta sweeps" on
the monthly wind-velocity and general barter, chocolate held the premier
place.
At the "sweeps," the meteorologist stood with a wooden hammer behind
the table, and the gaming public swarmed on the other side. Numbers
ranging from "low field" and forty-five to sixty-five and "high field" were
sold by auction to the highest bidder. Excitement was intense while the
cartographer in clerical glasses worked out the unknown number.
As a consequence of wild speculation, there were several cases of
bankruptcy, which was redeemed in the ordinary way by a sale of the
debtor's effects.
Two financiers, indifferent to the charms of chocolate, established a
corner or "Bank" in the commodity. "The Bank," by barter and usurious
methods, amassed a great heap of well-thumbed squares, and, when accused
of rapacity, invented a scheme for the common good known as
"Huntoylette." This was a game of chance similar to roulette, and for a
while it completely gulfed the trusting public. In the reaction which
followed, there was a rush on "The Bank," and the concern was wound up,
but the promoters escaped with a large profit in candles and chocolate.
Throughout the winter months, work went on steadily even after dinner,
and hours of leisure were easy to fill. Some wrote up their diaries, played
games, or smoked and yarned; others read, developed photos, or imitated
the weary cook and went to bed. The MacKellar Library, so called after the
donor, was a boon to all, and the literature of polar exploration was keenly
followed and discussed. Taste in literature varied, but among a throng of

eighteen, the majority of whom were given to expressing their opinions in
no uncertain terms—there were no rigid conventions in Adelie Land—every
book had a value in accordance with a common standard.
There was not a dissenting voice to the charm of 'Lady Betty across the
Water', and the reason for this was a special one. The sudden breath of a
world of warmth and colour, richness and vivacity and astute, American
freshness amid the somewhat grim attractions of an Antarctic winter was
too much for every one. Lady Betty, in the realm of bright images, had a
host of devoted admirers. Her influence spread beyond the Hut to the
plateau itself. Three men went sledging, and to shelter themselves from the
rude wind fashioned an ice-cavern, which, on account of its magical hues
and rare lustre, could be none other than "Aladdin's Cave." Lady Betty
found her hero in a fairy grotto of the same name.
'Lorna Doone', on the other hand, was liked by many. Still there were
those who thought that John Ridd was a fool, a slow, obtuse rustic, and so
on, while Lorna was too divine and angelic for this life.
'The War of the Carolinas' took the Hut by storm, but it was a "nine days'
wonder" and left no permanent impression on the thinking community.
Mostly, the story was voted delightfully funny, but very foolish and farcical
after all. A few exclusive critics predicted for it a future.
Then there was 'The Trail of '98'. For power and blunt realism there was
nothing like it, but the character of the hero was torn in the shreds of debate.
There was general agreement on two points: that the portrayal of the
desolate Alaskan wild had a touch of "home," and that the heroine was a
"true sport."
All those who had ever hauled on the main braces, sung the topsail-
halliard chanty, learned the intricate Matty Walker, the bowline-and-a-bite
and a crowd of kindred knots, had a warm spot for any yarn by Jacobs.
Night after night, the storeman held the audience with the humorous
escapades of 'Ginger Dick', 'Sam' and 'Peter Russet'.
And lastly, there was a more serious, if divided interest in 'Virginibus
Puerisque', 'Marcus Aurelius', 'The Unveiling of Lhassa'—but the list is
rather interminable.
The whole world is asleep except the night-watchman, and he, having
made the bread, washed a tubful of clothes, kept the fire going, observed
and made notes on the aurora every fifteen minutes and the weather every

half-hour, and, finally, having had a bath, indulges in buttered toast and a
cup of coffee.
The Hut is dark, and a shaded burner hangs by a canvas chair in the
kitchen. The wind is booming in gusts, the dogs howl occasionally in the
veranda, but the night-watchman and his pipe are at peace with all men. He
has discarded a heavy folio for a light romance, while the hours scud by,
broken only by the observations. The romance is closed, and he steals to his
bunk with a hurricane lamp and finds a bundle of letters. He knows them
well, but he reads them—again!
Pearly light rises in the north-east through the lessening drift, and another
day has come.

CHAPTER IX MIDWINTER AND ITS WORK;
With the advent of the fateful Ides of March, winter ii had practically set
in, and work outside had a chequered career. When a few calm hours
intervened between two blizzards a general rush was made to continue
some long-standing job. Often all that could be done was to clear the field
for action, that is, dig away large accumulations of snow. Then the furies
would break loose again, and once more we would play the waiting game,
meanwhile concerning ourselves with more sedentary occupations.
There was a familiar cry when, for some meteorological reason, the wind
would relapse into fierce gusts and then suddenly stop, to be succeeded by
intense stillness. "Dead calm, up with the wireless masts!" Every one
hastily dashed for his burberrys, and soon a crowd of muffled figures would
emerge through the veranda exit, dragging ropes, blocks, picks, and
shovels. There was no time to be lost.
So the erection of the wireless masts began in earnest on April 4,
continued feverishly till the end of the month, suffered a long period of
partial cessation during May and June, was revived in July and August, and,
by September 1, two masts, each consisting of a lower-mast and top-mast,
had been raised and stayed, while between them stretched the aerial. For
four weeks messages were sent out, and many of them were caught by
Macquarie Island. Nothing was heard in Adelie Land, although, between
certain hours, regular watches were kept at the receiver. The aerial was
about sixty-five feet from the ground, and it was resolved to increase its
height by erecting the top-gallant masts; but before anything considerable
could be done, a terrific gust of wind on October 13 broke three wire-stays,
and down came the mast, broken and splintered by the fall. That is a brief
resume of the fortunes of the "wireless" during the first year.
During February and March there were various other operations of more
immediate importance which prevented concentration of our workers on the
erection of the masts. There were many odd jobs to finish about the Hut, the
Magnetograph House and Absolute Hut were "under way," the air-tractor
sledge had to be efficiently housed, and all these and many other things
could be done in weather during which it was out of question to hoist a mast

into position. At first we were fastidious and waited for a calm, but later, as
we grew more impatient, a top-mast was actually hauled up in a wind of
thirty miles per hour, with gusts of higher velocity. Such work would
sometimes be interrupted by a more furious outbreak, when all ropes would
be secured and everything made as ship-shape as possible.
On March 15 the following note was made: "The wind was on the cool
side just after breakfast. A few loads of wireless equipment were sledged up
to the rocks at the back of the Hut, and by the time several masts were
carried to the same place we began to warm to the work. One of Hannam's
coils of frozen rope (one hundred and twenty fathoms) had become kinked
and tangled, so we dragged it up the ice-slope, straightened it out and coiled
it up again. Several 'dead men' to hold the stays were sunk into ice-holes,
and, during the afternoon, one mast was dragged into position by a willing
crowd. Rocks were sledged to and packed around the 'dead men' in the
holes to make them compact. Towards sundown snow clouds filled the
northern sky and a blizzard sprang up which is now doing sixty miles per
hour. We philosophically expect another week cooped up in the Hut."
It took a long time to establish the twenty good anchorages necessary for
the masts. Within a radius of eighty yards from the centre, ice-holes were
dug, cairns of heavy boulders were built and rocky prominences dynamited
off to secure an efficient holding for the stout "strops" of rope. April 24 was
a typical day: "We spent the morning fixing up 'strops' for the wireless
masts. The wind was blowing strongly in fifty- to sixty-mile gusts with
drift, but most of the fellows 'stuck at it' all day. It was cold work on the
hands and feet. Handling picks and shovels predisposes to frost-bite.
Several charges of dynamite were fired in one hole wherein a mast will be
stepped."
Each mast, of oregon timber, was in four sections. The lowest section
was ten inches square and tapered upwards to the small royal mast at a
prospective height of one hundred and twenty feet. At an early stage it was
realized that we could not expect to erect more than three sections. Round
the steel caps at each doubling a good deal of fitting had to be done, and
Bickerton, in such occupation, spent many hours aloft throughout the year.
Fumbling with bulky mitts, handling hammers and spanners, and
manipulating nuts and bolts with bare hands, while suspended in a
boatswain's chair in the wind, the man up the mast had a difficult and

miserable task. Bickerton was the hero of all such endeavours. Hannam
directed the other workers who steadied the stays, cleared or made fast the
ropes, pulled and stood by the hauling tackle and so forth.
One day the man on the top-mast dislodged a heavy engineering hammer
which he thought secure. No warning was given, as he did not notice that it
had fallen. It whizzed down and buried itself in the snow, just grazing the
heads of Close and Hodgeman.
The ropes securing the aerial and running through various blocks were in
constant danger of chafing during the frequent hurricanes, from their
proximity to the mast and stays, or from friction on the sharp edges of the
blocks. Unknown to us, this had happened to a strong, new manilla rope by
which Murphy was being hauled to the top of the lower-mast. It gave way,
and, but for another rope close by, which he seized to break his fall, an
accident might have ensued.
Frost-bites were common. There were so many occasions when one had
to stand for a long time gripping a rope, pulling or maintaining a steady
strain, that fingers would promptly become numb and feet unbearably cold.
The usual restorative was to stamp about and beat the chest with the hands
—an old sailor's trick. Attempting to climb to a block on the top-gallant
mast one day, McLean had all his fingers frost-bitten at the same time.
In May the weather was atrocious, and in June building the Astronomical
Hut and digging ice-shafts on the glacier absorbed a good many hands. In
July, despite the enthusiasm and preparation for sledging, much was done.
On August 10 the long looked-for top-mast of the southern mast became a
reality:
"We were early astir—about 7 A.M.—while the pink coloration of dawn
was stealing over the peaceful Barrier. For once, after months, it was
perfectly still. We hurried about making preparations—hauled Bickerton up
to the cross-trees and awaited the moment when we should raise the top-
mast. We pulled it up half-way and Bickerton affixed a pin in its centre,
above which two stays were to be attached. Suddenly, down came the wind
in terrific gusts and, after securing the stays, the job had to be given up....
We were just about to have lunch when the wind ceased as suddenly as it
had begun. We all sallied out once more, and, this time, completed the job,
though for a while the top-mast was in imminent peril of being blown away
by a sharp northerly gust."

Next day the aerial was hoisted in a wind of sixty miles per hour, but the
strain was so severe on the block, upwind, that it carried away. Fortunately
the insulators of the aerial were entangled by the stays in their fall to
ground, otherwise some one may have been hurt, as there were a dozen men
almost directly below.
Six days after this accident, August 17, the top-mast halliard of the down-
wind mast frayed through, and as a stronger block was to be affixed for the
aerial, some one had to climb up to wire it in position. Bickerton
improvized a pair of climbing irons, and, after some preliminary practice,
ascended in fine style.
Finally, by September 30, the aerial was at such a height as to give hope
that long-distance messages might be despatched. There was a certain
amount of suppressed excitement on the evening of that day when the
engine started and gradually got up speed in the dynamo. The sharp note of
the spark rose in accompanying crescendo and, when it had reached its
highest pitch, Hannam struck off a message to the world at large. No
response came after several nights of signalling, and, since sledging had
usurped every other interest, the novelty soon wore off.
"Atmospherics"—discharges of atmospheric electricity—and discharges
from the drift-snow were heard in the wireless receiver.
While messages were being sent, induction effects were noted in metallic
objects around the Hut. A cook at the stove was the first to discover this
phenomenon, and then every one conceived a mania for "drawing" sparks.
A rather stimulating experience—the more so as it usually happened
unexpectedly and accidentally—was to brush one's head against one of the
numerous coils of flexible metal gas-piping festooned about the place.
Sparks immediately jumped the interval with startling effect.
October 13, the day when the mast blew down, was known in wireless
circles as Black Sunday. All had worked keenly to make the "wireless" a
success, and the final event was considered to be a public misfortune.
However, the honours were to be retrieved during the following year.
It fell to the lot of most of the Staff that they developed an interest in
terrestrial magnetism. For one thing every man had carried boulders to the
great stockade surrounding the Magnetograph House. Then, too, recorders
were regularly needed to assist the magnetician in the absolute Hut. There,
if the temperature were not too low and the observations not too lengthy,

the recorder stepped out into the blizzard with the conviction that he had
learned something of value, and, when he sat down to dinner that night, it
was with a genial sense of his own altruism. In his diary he would write it
all up for his own edification.
It would be on this wise: The Earth's magnetic force, which is the active
agent in maintaining the compass-needle in the magnetic meridian** at any
particular spot, acts, not as is popularly supposed, in a horizontal plane, but
at a certain angle of inclination with the Earth's surface. The nearer the
magnetic poles the more nearly vertical does the freely suspended needle
become. At the South Magnetic Pole it assumes a vertical position with the
south end downwards; at the North Magnetic Pole it stands on its other end.
At the intermediate positions near the equator the whole force is exerted,
swinging the needle in the horizontal plane, and in such regions ordinary
ships' compasses pivoted to move freely only in a horizontal plane give the
greatest satisfaction. On approaching the magnetic poles, compasses
become sluggish, for the horizontal deflecting force falls off rapidly. The
force, acting in a vertical direction, tending to make the needle dip,
correspondingly increases, but is of no value for navigation purposes.
However, in the scientific discussion of terrestrial magnetism, both the
horizontal and vertical components as well as the absolute value of the total
force are important, and the determination of these "elements" is the work
of the magnetician. Affecting the average values of the "magnetic elements"
at any one spot on the Earth's surface are regular diurnal oscillations,
apparent only by the application of very delicate methods of observation:
also there are sudden large irregular movements referred to as magnetic
storms; the latter are always specially noticeable when unusually bright
auroral phenomena are in progress.

** The magnetic meridian is the straight line joining the North
and South Magnetic Poles and passing through the spot in question.

The observations made in the "Absolute Hut", carried out at frequent
intervals and on each occasion occupying two men for several hours
together, are necessary to obtain standard values as a check upon the
graphic record of the self-recording instruments which run day and night in
the "Magnetograph House".
But this is another story. Three hours, sitting writing figures in a
temperature of -15 degrees F., is no joke. The magnetician is not so badly

off, because he is moving about, though he often has to stop and warm his
fingers, handling the cold metal.
The Magnetograph House had by far the most formidable name. The Hut,
though it symbolized our all in all, sounded very insignificant unless it were
repeated with just the right intonation. The Absolute Hut had a superadded
dignity. The Hangar, in passing, scarcely seemed to have a right to a capital
H. The Transit House, on the and other hand, was the only dangerous rival
to the first mentioned. But what's in a name?
If the Magnetograph House had been advertised, it would have been
described as "two minutes from the Hut." This can easily be understood, for
the magnetician after leaving home is speedily blown over a few hillocks
and sastrugi, and, coming to an ice-flat about one hundred and fifty yards
wide, swiftly slides over it, alighting at the snow-packed door of his house.
The outside porch is just roomy enough for a man to slip off burberrys and
crampons. The latter are full of steel spikes, and being capable of upsetting
magnetic equilibrium, are left outside. Walking in soft finnesko, the
magnetician opens an inner door, to be at once accosted by darkness, made
more intense after the white glare of the snow. His eyes grow accustomed to
the blackness, and he gropes his way to a large box almost concealing the
feeble glimmer of a lamp. The lamp is the source of the light, projected on
to small mirrors attached to the magnetic needles of three variometers. A
ray of light is reflected from the mirrors for several feet on to a slit, past
which revolves sensitized photographic paper folded on a drum moving by
clockwork. The slightest movements of the suspended needles are greatly
magnified, and, when the paper is removed and developed in a dark-room, a
series of intricate curves denoting declination, horizontal intensity and
vertical force, are exquisitely traced. Every day the magnetician attends to
the lamp and changes papers; also at prearranged times he tests his "scale
values" or takes a "quick run."
To obtain results as free as possible from the local attraction of the rocks
in the neighbourhood, Webb resolved to take several sets of observations on
the ice-sheet. In order to make the determinations it was necessary to
excavate a cave in the glacier. This was done about three-quarters of a mile
south of the Hut in working shifts of two men. A fine cavern was hewn out,
and there full sets of magnetic observations were taken under ideal
conditions.

On sledging journeys the "dip" and declination were both ascertained at
many stations, around and up to within less than half a degree of the South
Magnetic Pole.
While the wind rushed by at a maddening pace and stars flashed like
jewels in a black sky, a glow of pale yellow light overspread the north-east
horizon—the aurora. A rim of dark, stratus cloud was often visible below
the light which brightened and diffused till it curved as a low arc across the
sky. It was eerie to watch the contour of the arc break, die away into a
delicate pallor and reillumine in a travelling riband. Soon a long ray, as
from a searchlight, flashed above one end, and then a row of vertical
streamers ran out from the arc, probing upwards into the outer darkness.
The streamers waxed and waned, died away to be replaced and then faded
into the starlight. The arc lost its radiance, divided in patchy fragments, and
all was dark once more.
This would be repeated again in a few hours and irregularly throughout
the night, but with scenic changes behind the great sombre pall of the sky.
North-west, northeast, and south-east it would elusively appear in nebulous
blotches, flitting about to end finally in long bright strands in the zenith,
crossing the path of the "milky way."
By the observer, who wrote down his exact observations in the
meteorological log, this was called a "quiet night."
At times the light was nimble, flinging itself about in rich waves,
warming to dazzling yellow-green and rose. These were the nights when
"curtains" hung festooned in the heavens, alive, rippling, dancing to the lilt
of lightning music. Up from the horizon they would mount, forming a
vortex overhead, soundless within the silence of the ether.
A "brilliant display," we would say, and the observer would be kept busy
following the track of the evanescent rays.
Powerless, one was in the spell of an all-enfolding wonder. The vast,
solitary snow-land, cold-white under the sparkling star-gems; lustrous in the
radiance of the southern lights; furrowed beneath the icy sweep of the wind.
We had come to probe its mystery, we had hoped to reduce it to terms of
science, but there was always the "indefinable" which held aloof, yet
riveted our souls.
The aurora was always with us, and almost without exception could be
seen on a dark, driftless night. The nature of the aurora polaris has not yet

been finally demonstrated, though it is generally agreed to be a discharge of
electricity occurring in the upper, more rarefied atmosphere. The luminous
phenomena are very similar to those seen when a current of electricity is
passed through a vacuum tube.
One receives a distinct impression of nearness, watching the shimmering
edges of the "curtains" in the zenith, but all measurements indicate that they
never descend nearer than a few miles above the land-surface.
Careful records were taken to establish a relation between magnetic
storms and aurorae, and a good deal of evidence was amassed to support the
fact that auroral exhibitions correspond with periods of great magnetic
disturbance. The displays in Adelie Land were found to be more active than
those which occur in higher latitudes in the Ross Sea.
An occupation which helped to introduce variety in our life was the
digging of ice-shafts. For the purpose of making observations upon its
structure and temperature various excavations were made in the sea-ice, in
the ice of the glacier, and in that of the freshwater lakes. The work was
always popular. Even a whole day's labour with a pick and shovel at the
bottom of an ice-hole never seemed laborious. It was all so novel.
A calm morning in June, the sky is clear and the north ablaze with the
colours of sunrise—or is it sunset? The air is delicious, and a cool waft
comes down the glacier. A deep ultramarine, shading up into a soft purple
hue, blends in a colour-scheme with the lilac plateau. Two men crunch
along in spiked boots over snow mounds and polished sastrugi to the
harbour-ice. The sea to the north is glazed with freezing spicules, and over
it sweep the petrels—our only living companions of the winter. It is all an
inspiration; while hewing out chunks of ice and shovelling them away is the
acute pleasure of movement, exercise.
The men measure out an area six feet by three feet, and take a
preliminary temperature of the surface-ice by inserting a thermometer in a
drilled hole. Then the ice begins to fly, and it is not long before they are
down one foot. Nevertheless it would surprise those acquainted only with
fresh water ice to find how tough, sticky and intractable is sea-ice. It is
always well to work on a definite plan, channelling in various directions,
and then removing the intervening lumps by a few rough sweeps of the
pick. At a depth of one foot, another temperature is taken, and some large
samples of the ice laid by for the examination of their crystalline structure.

This is repeated at two feet, and so on, until the whole thickness is pierced
to the sea-water beneath. At three feet brine may begin to trickle into the
hole, and this increases in amount until the worker is in a puddle. The
leakage takes place, if not along cracks, through capillary channels, which
are everywhere present in sea-ice.
It is interesting to note the temperature gradually rise during the descent.
At the surface the ice is chilled to the air-temperature, say -10 degrees F.,
and it rises in a steep gradient to approximately 28 degrees F.; close to the
freezing-point of sea water. The sea-ice in the boat-harbour varied in
thickness during the winter between five and seven feet.
In contrast with sea-ice, the ice of a glacier is a marvel of prismatic
colour and glassy brilliance. This is more noticeable near the surface when
the sun is shining. Deep down in a shaft, or in an ice-cavern, the sapphire
reflection gives to the human face quite a ghastly pallor.
During the high winds it was always easy to dispose of the fragments of
ice in the earlier stages of sinking a shaft. To be rid of them, all that was
necessary was to throw a shovelful vertically upwards towards the lee-side
of the hole, the wind then did the rest. Away the chips would scatter,
tinkling over the surface of the glacier. Of course, when two men were at
work, each took it in turns to go below, and the one above, to keep warm,
would impatiently pace up and down. Nevertheless, so cold would he
become at times that a heated colloquy would arise between them on the
subject of working overtime. When the shaft had attained depth, both were
kept busy. The man at the pit's mouth lowered a bucket on a rope to receive
the ice and, in hauling it up, handicapped with clumsy mitts, he had to be
careful not to drop it on his companion's head.
The structural composition of ice is a study in itself. To the cursory
glance a piece of glacier-ice appears homogeneous, but when dissected in
detail it is found to be formed of many crystalline, interlocking grains,
ranging in size from a fraction of an inch to several inches in diameter. A
grain-size of a half to one inch is perhaps commonest in Antarctic glacier-
ice.
The history of Antarctic glacier-ice commences with the showers of snow
that fall upon the plateau. The snow particles may be blown for hundreds of
miles before they finally come to rest and consolidate. The consolidated
snow is called neve, the grains of which are one-twenty-fifth to one

hundredth of an inch in diameter, and, en masse, present a dazzling white
appearance on account of the air spaces which occupy one-third to one-half
of the whole. In time, under the influence of a heavy load of accumulated
layers of neve, the grains run together and the air spaces are eliminated. The
final result is clear, transparent ice, of a more or less sapphire-blue colour
when seen in large blocks. It contains only occasional air-bubbles, and the
size of the grains is much increased.
Lake-ice, freezing from the surface downwards, is built up of long
parallel prisms, like the cells of a honey-comb on a large scale. In a lakelet
near the Hut this was beautifully demonstrated. In some places cracks and
fissures filled with snow-dust traversed the body of the ice, and in other
places long strings of beaded air-bubbles had become entangled in the
process of freezing. To lie down on the clear surface and gaze "through the
looking-glass" to the rocky bottom, twenty feet below, was a glimpse into
"Wonderland."
In the case of sea-ice, the simple prismatic structure is complicated
owing to the presence of saline matter dissolved in the sea water. The saline
tracts between the prisms produce a milky or opalescent appearance. The
prisms are of fresh water ice, for in freezing the brine is rejected and forced
to occupy the interstices of the prisms. Water of good drinking quality can
be obtained by allowing sea water ice to thaw partially. The brine, of lower
freezing-point, flows away, leaving only fresh water ice behind. In this way
blocks of sea-ice exposed to the sun's rays are relieved of their salty
constituents, and crumble into pellucid gravel when disturbed.
A popular subject commanding general interest, apart from the devoted
attention of specialists, was zoological collecting. Seals and birds were
made the prey of every one, and dredging through the sea-ice in winter and
spring was always a possible diversion.
It was a splendid sight to watch the birds sailing in the high winds of
Adelie Land. In winds of fifty to seventy miles per hour, when with good
crampons one had to stagger warily along the ice-foot, the snow petrels and
Antarctic petrels were in their element. Wheeling, swinging, sinking,
planing and soaring, they were radiant with life—the wild spirits of the
tempest. Even in moderate drift, when through swirling snow the vistas of
sea whitened under the flail of the wind, one suddenly caught the silver
flash of wings and a snow petrel glided past.

But most memorable of all were certain winter mornings of unexpected
calm, when ruddy clouds tessellated the northern sky and were mirrored in
the freezing sea. Then the petrels would be en fete, flying over from the east
following the line of the Barrier, winding round the icy coves, darting
across the jutting points and ever onward in their long migration. In the
summer they flew for weeks from the west—a never-ending string of snow,
silver-grey and Antarctic petrels, and Cape pigeons. The silver-grey petrels
and Cape pigeons were only abroad during that season and were
accompanied by skua gulls, giant petrels, Wilson petrels, and penguins. The
penguins remained in Adelie Land for the longest period—almost six
months, the skua gulls and giant petrels for five months, and the rest for a
shorter period—the tolerable season of midsummer.
Birds that haunt the wide oceans all make use of the soaring principle in
flight, some much more than others. The beautiful sliding sweep of the
albatross is the most familiar example. With wings outspread, it is a
miniature aeroplane requiring no engines, for the wind itself supplies the
power. A slight movement of the tail-feathers and wing-tips controls its
balance with nice precision. Birds employing this method of flight find their
home in the zone of continuous steady winds which blow across the broad
wastes of the southern seas.
Many petrels on the wing were shot during the winter. Laseron, who
prepared the skins of our Adelie Land collection, determined, in the case of
a number of specimens, the ratio of weight to horizontal area exposed to the
wind. This subject is one which has lately exercised the curiosity of
aviators. The ratios are those evolved by nature, and, as such, should be
wellnigh perfect. Below is appended a table of the results obtained.
WEIGHT OF CERTAIN ANTARCTIC BIRDS IN RELATION TO
WING AREAS
(Stated in pounds per square foot of wing surface)
Each is the mean of several determinations by Laseron

Giant petrel........... 3.5
Albatross ........... 2.4
Antarctic petrel......... 2.1
Skua gull ........... 1.6
Snow petrel ........... 1.1
Wilson petrel........... 0.6

Values from a book of reference quoted for comparison

Bat ........... 0.1
Sparrow ........... 0.4
Wild goose ........... 1.7

During the winter, for a long period, no seals ventured ashore, though a
few were seen swimming in the bay. The force of the wind was so
formidable that even a heavy seal, exposed in the open, broadside-on,
would be literally blown into the water. This fact was actually observed out
on the harbour-ice. A Weddell seal made twelve attempts to land on a low
projecting shelf—an easy feat under ordinary circumstances. The wind was
in the region of eighty-five miles per hour, and every time the clumsy,
ponderous creature secured its first hold, back it would be tumbled. Once it
managed to raise itself on to the flat surface, and, after a breathing spell,
commenced to shuffle towards the shelter of some pinnacles on one side of
the harbour. Immediately its broad flank was turned to the wind it was
rolled over, hung for a few seconds on the brink, and then splashed into the
sea. On the other hand, during the spring, a few more ambitious seals won
their way ashore in high winds; but they did not remain long in the piercing
cold, moving uneasily from place to place in search of protecting
hummocks and finally taking to the water in despair. Often a few hours of
calm weather was the signal for half a dozen animals to land. The wind
sooner or later sprang up and drove them back to their warmer element.
Under the generic name, seal, are included the true or hair seals and the
sea-bears or fur seals. Of these the fur seals are sub-polar in distribution,
inhabiting the cold temperate waters of both hemispheres, but never living
amongst the polar ice. The southern coast of Australia and the sub-antarctic
islands were their favourite haunts, but the ruthless slaughter of the early
days practically exterminated them. From Macquarie Island, for example,
several hundred thousand skins were taken in a few years, and of late not a
single specimen has been seen.
Closely related to the fur seals are the much larger animals popularly
known as sea-lions. These still exist in great numbers in south temperate
waters. Both are distinguished from the hair seals by one obvious
characteristic: their method of propulsion on land is by a "lolloping"
motion, in which the front and hind flippers are used alternately. The hair
seals move by a caterpillar-like shuffle, making little or no use of their
flippers; and so, the terminal parts of their flippers are not bent outwards as
they are in the fur seals and sea-lions.

Of the hair seals there are five varieties to be recognized in the far South.
The Weddell seals, with their mottled-grey coats, are the commonest. They
haunt the coasts of Antarctica and are seldom found at any distance from
them. Large specimens of this species reach nine and a half feet in length.
The crab-eater seal, a smaller animal, lives mostly on the pack-ice. Lying
on a piece of floe in the sunshine it has a glistening, silver-grey skin—
another distinguishing mark being its small, handsome head and short, thin
neck. Small crustaceans form its principal food.
The Ross seal, another inhabitant of the pack-ice, is short and bulky,
varying from a pale yellowish-green on the under side to a dark greenish-
brown on the back. Its neck is ample and bloated, and when distended in
excitement reminds one of a pouter-pigeon. This rare seal appears to subsist
mainly on squid and jelly-fish.
The sea-leopard, the only predacious member of the seal family, has an
elongated agile body and a large head with massive jaws. In general it has a
mottled skin, darker towards the back. It lives on fish, penguins and seals.
Early in April, Hurley and McLean were the first to obtain proof that the
sea-leopard preyed on other seals. Among the broken floe-ice close beneath
the ice-cliffs to the west of Winter Quarters, the wind was driving the dead
body of a Weddell seal which swept past them, a few yards distant, to the
open water. Then it was that a sea-leopard was observed tearing off and
swallowing great pieces of flesh and blubber from the carcase.
The last variety of hair seal, the sea elephant, varies considerably from
the preceding. Reference has already been made to the species earlier in the
narrative. The habitat of these monstrous animals ranges over the cold,
south-temperate seas; sea elephants are but occasional visitors to the ice-
bound regions. Although they have been exterminated in many other places,
one of their most populous resorts at the present day is Macquarie Island.
In the case of all the hair seals a layer of blubber several inches in
thickness invests the body beneath the skin and acts as a conserver of
warmth. They are largely of value for the oil produced by rendering down
the blubber. The pelts are used for leather.
The operation of skinning seals for specimens, in low temperatures and
in the inevitable wind, was never unduly protracted. We were satisfied
merely to strip off the skin, leaving much blubber still adhering to it. In this
rough condition it was taken into the work-room of the Hut to be cleaned.

The blubber froze, and then had the consistency of hard soap and was
readily severed from the pelt. It was found that there exuded amongst the
frozen blubber a thin oil which remained liquid when collected and exposed
to low temperatures. This oil was used to lubricate the anemometer and
other instruments exposed outside.
The main part of the biological work lay in the marine collections.
Hunter with the small hand-dredge brought up abundant samples of life
from depths ranging to fifty fathoms. In water shallower than ten fathoms
the variety of specimens was not great, including seaweeds up to eighteen
or more feet in length, a couple of forms of starfish, various small mollusca,
two or three varieties of fish, several sea-spiders, hydroids and lace corals,
and, in great profusion, worms and small crustaceans. In deeper waters the
life became much richer, so that examples of almost every known class of
marine animals were represented.
Early in June the sea bottom in depths less than ten fathoms had become
so coated with ice that dredging in shallow water was suspended.
Floating or swimming freely were examples of pteropods, worms,
crustaceans, ostracods, and jelly-fish. These were easily taken in the hand-
net.
In those regions where ice and water are intermingled, the temperature of
the water varies very slightly in summer and winter, remaining
approximately at freezing-point. In summer the tendency to heating is
neutralized by a solution of some of the ice, and in winter the cold is
absorbed in the production of a surface layer of ice. This constancy of the
sea's temperature is favourable to organic life. On land there is a wide range
in temperature, and only the meagre mosses and lichens, and the forms of
insect life which live among them can exist, because they have developed
the capacity of suspending animation during the winter. The fresh-water
lakelets were found to be inhabited by low forms of life, mainly
microscopic. Among these were diatoms, algae, protozoa, rotifera, and
bacteria.
The last-named were investigated by McLean and were found to be
manifold in distribution. Besides those from the intestines of animals and
birds, cultures were successfully made from the following natural sources:
lichen soil, moss soil, morainic mud, guano, ice and snow. The results may
open some new problems in bacteriology.

Of recent years much attention has been given to the study of parasites—
parasitology. Parasites may be external, on the skin; internal, in the
alimentary canal; or resident, in the corpuscles of the blood. In tropical
countries, where there is great promiscuity of life, one is led to expect their
almost universal presence. But in polar regions, where infection and
intimate co-habitation for long periods are not the rule, while the climate is
not favourable to organic existence, one would be surprised to find them in
any great number. The fact remains that internal parasites were found in the
intestine of every animal and fish examined, and in all the birds except the
Wilson petrel. External parasites were present on every species of bird and
seal, though individuals were often free of them. This was so in the case of
the Adelie penguins. It is a demonstration of the protective warmth of the
feathers that Emperor penguins may harbour insect parasites in great
numbers. It is only less wonderful than the fact that they are able to rear
their young during the Antarctic winter. A large number of blood-slides
were prepared and stained for examination for blood-parasites.
Searching for "fleas" amongst the feathers of birds and the hair of seals,
or examining the viscera for "worms" is neither of them a pleasant
occupation. To be really successful, the enthusiasm of the specialist is
necessary. Hunter allowed no opportunities to pass and secured a fine
collection of parasites.
Amongst other work, McLean carried out monthly observations on six
men, determining the colour-index and haemoglobin value of their blood
over a period of ten months. The results showed a distinct and upward rise
above the normal.
Among societies privileged to see the daily paper and to whom diversity
and change are as the breath of life, the weather is apt to be tabooed as a
subject of conversation. But even the most versatile may suddenly find
themselves stripped of ideas, ignominiously reduced to the obvious topic.
To us, instead of being a mere prelude to more serious matters, or the last
resort of a feeble intellect, it was the all-engrossing theme. The man with
the latest hare-brained theory of the causation of the wind was accorded a
full hearing. The lightning calculator who estimated the annual tonnage of
drift-snow sweeping off Adelie Land was received as a futurist and thinker.
Discussion was always free, and the subject was never thrashed out.
Evidence on the great topic accumulated day by day and month by month;

yet there was no one without an innate hope that winter would bring calm
weather or that spring-time, at least, must be propitious.
Meanwhile the meteorologist accepted things as he found them, supplied
the daily facts of wind-mileage and direction, amount of drift, temperature
and so forth, which were immediately seized by more vivacious minds and
made the basis of daring speculations.
The daily facts were increased by the construction of a new instrument
known as the puffometer. It was entirely a home-made contrivance,
designed to measure the speed of heavy gusts of wind. A small aluminium
sphere was arranged to blow out at the end of a light cord exerting tension
on a calibrated spring. The pull was transferred to a lever carrying a pencil,
which travelled across a disk of carbonized paper. The disk, moving by
clockwork, made a complete revolution every hour. The recording parts of
the instrument were enclosed in a snow-proof box in which there was a
small aperture on the leeward side, through which ran the cord attachment
of the sphere. This may give a rough idea of the apparatus employed to
measure the momentary velocity of the cyclonic gusts. The idea is not an
original one, having been previously applied for use on kites.
It was not always possible to use the puffometer in the strongest gusts
because these were often transient, occurring unexpectedly or during the
night; while it took a little time to get the instrument into running order.
Even in daylight, with the landscape clear of drift, it was a time-absorbing
and difficult task to secure a record.
Two men start from the Hut with iron crampons and a full complement of
clothes and mitts. Outside they find themselves in a rushing torrent of air,
pulsating with mighty gust-waves. Lowered from the estate of upright
manhood, they humbly crawl, or make a series of crouching sprints between
the gusts. Over the scattered boulders to the east of the Hut, across a patch
of polished snow they push to the first low ridge, and there they stop for
breath. Up on the side of "Annie Hill," in the local phrase, the tide sweeps
by with fiendish strength, and among the jagged rocks the man clutching
the puffometer-box has a few desperate falls. At last both clamber slowly to
an eminence where a long steel pipe has been erected. To the top of this the
puffometer is hauled by means of a pulley and line. At the same time the
aluminium sphere is released, and out it floats in the wind tugging at the
spring.

The puffometer was left out for an hour at a time, and separate gusts up
to one hundred and fifty and one hundred and eighty miles per hour were
commonly indicated. I remember the final fate of this invention. While
helping to mount it one day, the wind picked me up clear of the ground and
dashed myself and the instrument on some rocks several yards away. The
latter was badly damaged, but thick clothing saved me from serious injury.
[TEXT ILLUSTRATION]
The wind velocity and wind direction charts for Midwinter's Day, when
the steady south-by-east gale was broken after noon by a welcome lull—the
wind veering the while all round the compass.
The average velocity for the day 66.9 miles per hour, and the maximum
of the average hourly velocities, ninety-six miles.
The steadiness of the temperature was a subject for debate. The stronger
the wind blew, the less variation did the thermometer show. Over a period
of several days there might be a range of only four or five degrees.
Ordinarily, this might be expected of an insular climate, but in our case it
depended upon the fact that the wind remained steady from the interior of
the vast frigid continent. The air which flowed over the Hut had all passed
through the same temperature-cycle. The atmosphere of the interior, where
the plateau stood at an elevation of, say, eight thousand feet, might have a
temperature -45 degrees F. As the air flowed northwards over Adelie Land
to the sea, it would rise slowly in temperature owing to the increased
barometric pressure consequent on the descending gradient of the plateau.
At sea-level the temperature of the river of air would be, approximately, -20
degrees F.
Such a rise in temperature due to compression is a well-known
phenomenon, referred to as the Foehn effect.
The compression of the atmosphere during the gusts affected the air
temperature so considerably that, coincident with their passage, the mercury
column could often be seen rising and falling through several degrees. The
uniform conditions experienced during steady high winds were not only
expressed by the slight variation in the temperature, but often in a
remarkably even barometric curve. Thus on July 11 the wind-velocity for
twenty-four hours was, throughout, seventy miles per hour; the temperature
remaining within a few degrees of-21 degrees F., and the barometric curve
did not show as much range as one-twentieth of an inch.

In attending to the many instruments and in gathering the voluminous
meteorological data, Madigan had his hands very full. Throughout two
years he carried on the work capably and thoroughly. It was difficult to keep
the instruments free from the penetrating snow and in good running order.
The Robinson anemometer was perhaps the greatest source of worry.
Repairs and readjustments were unavoidable, as the instrument was
constantly working at high pressure. In order that these might be carried out
efficiently, the whole apparatus had to be carried down to the Hut. Here,
Bickerton and Correll were continually in consultation with the
meteorologist on the latest breakdown. Cups were blown off several times,
and one was lost and replaced with difficulty. Most aggravating of all was a
habit the clocks developed of stopping during the colder spells. The old-
fashioned method of boiling them was found of assistance, but it was
discovered that the best treatment was to put them through successive baths
of benzene and alcohol.
The most chronic sufferer throughout the vicissitudes of temperature was
the clock belonging to Bage's tide-gauge. Every sleeper in the Hut who was
sensitive to ticking knew and reviled that clock. So often was it subjected to
warm, curative treatment in various resting-places that it was hunted from
pillar to post. A radical operation by Correll—the insertion of an extra
spring—became necessary at last. Correll, when not engaged designing
electroscopes, improving sledge-meters and perfecting theodolites, was
something of a specialist in clocks. His advice on the subject of refractory
time-pieces was freely asked and cheerfully given. By perseverance and
unlimited patience, the tide-gauge down on the harbour-ice was induced to
supply a good series of unbroken records.
[TEXT ILLUSTRATION]
The tide-gauge
The rise and fall of the tide is coincident with the movements of a
perpendicular wire to which the Float is attached. The Wheel is revolved,
and through wire connections (indicated above) displaces vertically the Pen.
This traces a record on paper folded on the drum which is driven by
clockwork. In all weathers, the box was enveloped in drift-proof canvas.
Antarctica is a world of colour, brilliant and intensely pure. The chaste
whiteness of the snow and the velvet blackness of the rocks belong to days
of snowy nimbus enshrouding the horizon. When the sky has broken into

cloudlets of fleece, their edges are painted pale orange, fading or richly
glowing if the sun is low. In the high sun they are rainbow-rimmed.
The clouds have opened into rifts and the sun is setting in the north-west.
The widening spaces in the zenith are azure, and low in the north they are
emerald. Scenic changes are swift. Above the mounting plateau a lofty arch
of clear sky has risen, flanked by roseate clouds. Far down in the south it is
tinged with indigo and ultramarine, washed with royal purple paling
onwards into cold violet and greyish-blue.
Soon the north is unveiled. The liquid globe of sun has departed, but his
glory still remains. Down from the zenith his colours descend through
greenish-blue, yellowish-green, straw-yellow, light terra-cotta to a diffuse
brick-red; each reflected in the dull sheen of freezing sea. Out on the
infinite horizon float icebergs in a mirage of mobile gold. The Barrier,
curving to east and west, is a wall of delicate pink overlaid with a wondrous
mauve—the rising plateau. A cold picture—yet it awakens the throb of
inborn divinity.
Despite contrary predictions, there were some enjoyable days in June.
Occupation had to be strenuous, making the blood run hot, otherwise the
wind was apt to be chill. So the Transit House was founded, and there were
many volunteers to assist Bage in carrying the tons of stones which formed
its permanent base. The nearest large collection of boulders was twenty
yards away, on the edge of a moraine, but these after a while became
exhausted. Plenty of rocks actually showed above the surface, but the
majority were frozen-in, and, when of suitable size, could only be moved by
a heavy crowbar. Some of the men, therefore, dislodged the rocks, while
others carried them.
When Bage was wondering how long the supply would last, Ninnis and
Mertz came to the rescue with sledges and dog-teams. Boxes were piled on
to the sledges and away the teams went, careering across the ice-flat
towards the Magnetograph House close to which there were many heaps of
stones, wind-swept and easily displaced. Soon a regular service was plying
to the foundations, and, at the same time, the dogs were being trained. This
occupation was continued, weather permitting, for several weeks before
Midwinter's Day. Thus the drivers gained experience, while the animals,
with a wholesome dread of the whip, became more responsive to
commands. Eagerly the huskies strained at their traces with excited yelps.

The heavily laden sledges would break out and start off with increasing
speed over the rough ice. The drivers, running at full speed, jumped on the
racing loads—Mertz in the lead shouting some quaint yodel song; Ninnis,
perhaps, just behind upbraiding a laggard dog.
Midwinter's Day! For once, the weather rose to the occasion and calmed
during the few hours of the twilight-day. It was a jovial occasion, and we
celebrated it with the uproarious delight of a community of eighteen young
men unfettered by small conventions. The sun was returning, and we were
glad of it. Already we were dreaming of spring and sledging, summer and
sledging, the ship and home. It was the turn of the tide, and the future
seemed to be sketched in firm, sure outline. While the rest explored all the
ice-caves and the whole extent of our small rocky "selection," Hannam and
Bickerton shouldered the domestic responsibilities. Their menu du diner to
us was a marvel of gorgeous delicacies. After the toasts and speeches came
a musical and dramatic programme, punctuated by choice gramophone
records and rowdy student choruses. The washing-up was completed by all
hands at midnight. Outside, the wind was not to be outdone; it surpassed
itself with an unusual burst of ninety-five miles per hour.

Menu du Diner

Escoffier potage a la Reine

Noisettes de Phoque | Claret
Haricot Verts | Tintara
Champignons en Sauce Antarctique |

Pingouin a la Terre Adelie | Burgundy
Petits Pois a la Menthe | Chauvenet
Pommes Nouvelle | 1898
|
Asperges au Beurre Fondu |

Plum Pudding Union Jack | Port
Pate de Groseilles | Kopke
|
Desserts |

Cafe

———————-0——————

During dinner the Blizzard will render the usual accompaniment—the
Tempest. For Ever and Ever etc.
[TEXT ILLUSTRATION] MIDWINTER'S DAY MENU AT THE MAIN
BASE, ADELIE LAND, 1912

CHAPTER X THE PREPARATION OF
SLEDGING EQUIPMENT
The world of fashion insists on its minute vagaries in dress not always
with an eye to utility and an explorer in the polar regions is a very fastidious
person, expending a vast amount of care on his attire, but with the sole idea
of comfort, warmth, and usefulness. The clothes he wears are many and
often cumbersome, but they have gradually been perfected to meet the
demands of the local weather conditions. After a sojourn in the ice-lands, he
returns to civilization with a new concept of the value of dress. At last he
can stand still without being reminded that his feet are chilly; he
experiences the peculiar sensation of walking about in an airily light suit, in
glove-tight boots, without helmet or mitts. It gives him such a delicious
feeling of freedom that his energy is unbounded and life is a very pleasant
and easy thing. Then it is that he can turn in retrospect to the time in exile,
appreciate his altered circumstances and recall the many ingenuities which
were evolved to make him master of his environment.
It is sufficient to say that we found the proposition of clothing one of
unusual interest. Any one who was not a practised needleman and machinist
was handicapped for a time, until he fell into the ways of the through-and-
through and blanket-stitch, thimbles, shuttles, spools and many other things
he had once affected to despise as belonging to the sphere of women's
work. It was not long before he was an enthusiast in many arts attaining to a
stage of independence, in which he patented new ideas and maintained
them in hot opposition to the whole community of the Hut. On some
fundamental points all were in agreement, and one of them was that Adelie
Land was the country par excellence for the wind-proof, drift-tight burberry.
Outside all other garments the burberry gabardine was worn. The
material was light and loosely fitting, but in wind and drift it had to be
hermetically sealed, so to speak, for the snow crept in wherever there was
an aperture. The trousers were of double thickness, as they were exposed to
the greatest wear. Attached by large buttons, toggles or lampwick braces,
they reached as high as the lower part of the chest. Below, they had lamp-

wick lashings which were securely bound round the uppers of boots or
finnesko. In walking, the trousers would often work off the leather boots,
especially if they were cut to a tailor's length, and snow would then pour up
the leg and down into the boots in a remarkably short time. To counteract
this, Ninnis initiated the very satisfactory plan of sewing a short length of
canvas on to the boots to increase the length of the upper.
The burberry helmet and blouse were either in one piece or separate. For
use round the Hut, in thick drifts, the combination of helmet and blouse was
handy and time-saving. For sledging, when low temperatures and strong
winds might be expected all the time, it met the conditions well; there being
no necessity to worry about keeping the neck drift-tight. Under ordinary
circumstances it was very convenient to have a blouse and helmet detached,
as one so often could wear the former with a well-padded woollen helmet
and be reduced only as a last resource to wearing the burberry helmet.
The blouse was roomy, giving great freedom of movement. Around the
neck was a draw-string, which bunched in the jacket tightly over the lower
part of the helmet. There was also a draw-string round the waist. It was here
that we had the greatest difficulty in making the garment fit snow-tight. If
simply tied, the blouse would soon slip up from below, especially if one
were working with pick and shovel, carrying cases or blocks of ice. To
obviate this, some of the men sewed loops or tags of lamp-wick on to the
sides of the trousers, to connect with corresponding attachments on the
blouse. As an additional security, others wore an outside belt which was,
even if the blouse slipped up for some distance, a line of defence against the
drift-snow.
The burberry helmet completely enclosed the head except for the face,
which remained uncovered at the bottom of a funnel stiffened by several
rings of copper-wire. Lampwick, the universal polar "cord," was sewn in
short strips in front of the ears and tied at the back of the head, firmly
securing the helmet. Since the voyage of the 'Discovery' (1901-1904) lamp-
wick had been used widely in sledging on account of its width, softness,
comparative warmth and because of the fact that ordinary cord is not so
easy to manipulate in cold weather. Large buttons of leather or bone were
not nearly so popular as small, smooth lengths of stick engaging cross-wise
with loops of cord—known as toggles, which became quite a mania with
some members of the Expedition. Whetter, for instance, was known as the

"Toggle King," because of the multitude of these stick-and-cord appendages
which hung from every part of his clothing.
Under the burberrys thick, but light, suits of Jaeger fleece were worn.
They combined trousers and a sleeveless coat, over which a woollen jersey
was worn. In calm weather these with underclothing were all-sufficient, but
in the average fifty-mile wind at any temperature in the neighbourhood of
zero Fahrenheit, they felt distinctly porous.
In less windy weather the luxury of discarding burberrys, either partly or
wholly, was an indulgence which gave great satisfaction.
Finnesko were the favourite foot-gear—soft and commodious reindeer-
skin fur boots. Once these were stuffed with Lapp saennegras or manilla
fibre, and the feet covered with several pairs of socks, cold could be
despised unless one were stationary for some time or the socks or padding
became damp. Even though the padding were wet, violent exercise kept the
temperature "balance" in the warm direction, especially if one were also
under the stimulus of a recent hot meal.
Of course, on smooth ice or polished snow in even moderate winds it was
useless to try and keep one's feet in finnesko, although practice gave great
agility in calmer weather. As already indicated, spiked crampons on
approved models, tested on the glacier-slopes in a hurricane wind, were
almost always worn encasing the finnesko. With so many coverings the feet
often became uncomfortably hot, and for odd jobs about the Hut and not far
abroad spiked leather boots gave most satisfaction.
There were various coverings for the hands: felt mitts, mittens,
instrument-gloves and wolfskin mitts.
The first were used in conjunction with fingerless mittens. The wear and
tear on these was greater than on any other item of clothing. It was a
common sight to see them ragged, canvas-covered, patched, repatched and
again repatched, to be at last reluctantly thrown away. There were two
compartments in a single glove, one for the thumb and the other for the
fingers. It is much easier to keep the fingers warm when in contact with one
another than by having them in separate stalls.
Instrument-gloves of wool were used for delicate manipulations, as a
partial protection, since they reduced the stinging chill of cold metal at low
temperatures.

Wolfskin mitts are unexcelled for use in cold windy weather. Their
shaggy external hair entangles the drift-snow, which thaws, soaks the skin
and refreezes until the mitt is stiff as buckram. This is their main
disadvantage. These mitts or rather gauntlets were made longer in the arms
than usual so as to overlap the burberry sleeves and keep the wrists warm.
Lambskin mitts with the wool facing inwards were very useful and wore
well for occupations like hauling on ropes and lifting cases.
Like every other movable thing, mitts had to be made fast to prevent
them blowing away. So they were slung round the neck by a yoke of lamp-
wick. The mittened hand could then be removed with the assurance that the
outer mitt would not be far away when it was wanted, no matter how hard
the wind blew.
There has been much discussion as to the relative merits of fur and
woollen clothing. After all the question has resolved itself into one of
personal predilection. It has been claimed that furs are warmer and lighter.
The warmth follows from the wind-proof quality of the hide which,
unfortunately, also tends to retain moist exhalations from the body. In
Adelie Land, the only furs we used were finnesko, wolfskin mitts and
sleeping-bags of reindeer skins.
As in every part of the equipment, modifications had to be made in the
circular Willesden-drill tents. To facilitate their erection in the perpetual
winds they were sewn permanently on to the five bamboo poles, instead of
being thrown over the latter previously set in position. Thus the tents
opened like large conical umbrellas. A rawhide loop was fixed to the middle
one of the three windward legs and, when raising a tent during a high wind,
it was the usual thing for a man to be inside gripping the loop to pin down
the windward legs and at the same time, kicking out the two leeward legs.
On hard surfaces, holes were dug to receive the ends of the poles; at other
times they were pressed home into the snow by the man inside the tent.
When pitched, the tent was held down by blocks of snow or ice, helped
by spare food-bags, which were all piled round on a broad flounce.
Ventilators, originally supplied with the tents, had to be dispensed with on
account of the incessant drift. The door of the tent was an oval funnel of
burberry material just large enough to admit a man and secured by a draw-
string.

Strips of calico and webbing were sewn over the insides of the light tents
to strengthen them for sledging in the summer. For heavy weather we also
had japara sail-cloth tents with Willesden canvas flounces. These gave one a
feeling of greater security and were much more wind-proof, but
unfortunately twice as heavy as the first-mentioned.
A floor-cloth of light Willesden canvas covered the surface of snow or ice
in the interior of the tent; performing when sledging the alternative office of
a sail.
In order to cut snow, neve or ice to pile on the flounce, a pick and spade
had to be included in the sledging equip meet. As a rule, a strong, pointed
shovel weighing about six pounds answers very well; but in Adelie Land,
the surface was so often wind-swept ice, polished porcelain-snow, or hard
neve that a pick was necessary to make any impression upon it. It was
found that a four-pound spade, carefully handled, and a four-pound miner's
pick provided against all emergencies.
Our sledges were similar to those of other British Antarctic expeditions;
of eleven- and twelve-foot lengths. The best were Norwegian, made of ash
and hickory. Others built in Sydney, of Australian woods, were admirably
suited for special work. Those made of mountain-ash had the advantage of
being extremely light, but the runners wore out quickly on ice and hard
neve. Sledges of powellized spotted gum were very strong and stood plenty
of rough usage, but were heavier than those procured in Norway. A decking
of bamboo slats secured by copper-wire to the crossbars was usually
employed.
A light bamboo mast and spar were fitted to each sledge. Immediately in
front of the mast came the "cooker-box," containing in respective
compartments the primus and a bottle of spirit for lighting it, as well as
spare prickers, openers and fillers for the kerosene tins, repair outfits and
other odd articles. The cooker-boxes were of Venesta board, with hinged
lids secured by chocks and overlapped by japara cloth to exclude as much
drift-snow as possible. An instrument-box was secured to the sledge near
the rear and just forward of a Venesta or aluminium tray on which the
kerosene contained in one-gallon tins was carried. In several cases the tray
was widened to receive as well a case containing a dip-circle. Rearmost of
all was a wooden crosspiece to which the shaft of the sledge-meter was
attached through a universal joint. On the middle section of the sledge

between the cooker-box and instrument-box, sleeping-bags, food-bags,
clothes-bags, tent, alpine rope, theodolite legs, and other articles, were
arranged, packed and immovably stiffened by buckled straps passing from
side to side.
Sledging harness for both men and dogs was constructed of canvas. In
the former case, a wide belt of triple thickness encircled the body at the
hips, sewn to braces of narrower strips passing over the shoulders, while
hauling-rope was attached to the belt behind. The strength of the whole
depended on the care bestowed in sewing the parts together, and, since his
life might depend upon it, no one made anything else but a thorough job of
his harness.
Ninnis and Mertz ran a tailoring business for the dogs, who were brought
one by one into the outer Hut to be measured for harness. After many
lengths had been cut with scissors the canvas bands were put through and
sewn together on the large sewing-machine and then each dog was fitted
and the final alterations were made. The huskies looked quite smart in their
"suits".
Upon the primus heater, alone, did we rely for cooking the meals on
sledging journeys. First used for purposes of sledging by Dr. Nansen in his
journey across Greenland, the primus is only economically managed after
some practice. To light a primus in a draughty tent at a low temperature
calls for some forbearance before one is a thorough master of the art. A
sledging cook will often make a disagreeable faux pas by extinguishing the
primus in the preparation of hoosh. This is most readily done by lowering
too quickly the outside cover over the rest of the cooker. Fumes of
vaporizing kerosene soon fill the tent and when matches are found, the
cooker pulled to pieces, the primus relighted and the choking vapours have
cleared, one is apt to think that all is well. The hoosh is quite as successful
as usual, but the cocoa, made from water in the annulus, has a tincture of
kerosene which cannot be concealed.
In the "Nansen Cooker," which we used, a maximum result is secured
from the heat of the primus. The hot gases from the combustion of the
kerosene, before they escape into the outside air, have to circulate along a
tortuous path, passing from the hot interior to the colder exterior
compartments, losing heat all the time. Thus a hot hoosh is preparing in the
central vessel side by side with the melting of snow for cocoa or tea in the

annulus. By the combination of "Nansen Cooker" and primus stove one
gallon of kerosene oil properly husbanded is made to last for twelve days in
the preparation of the ordinary ration for three men.
[TEXT ILLUSTRATION]

Section through a Nansen Sledging Cooker
mounted on the primus
The subject of food is one which requires peculiar consideration and
study. It is assumed that a polar expedition must carry all its food-stuffs in
that variety and quantity which may approximately satisfy normal demands.
Fortunately, the advance of science has been such that necessaries like
vegetables, fruit, meats and milk are now preserved so that the chances of
bacterial contamination are reduced to a minimum. A cold climate is an
additional security towards the same end.
Speaking generally, while living for months in an Antarctic hut, it is a
splendid thing to have more than the mere necessaries of life. Since one is
cut off from the ordinary amenities of social existence, it is particularly
necessary that equipment and food should be of the very best; in some
measure to replace a lack which sooner or later makes itself keenly felt.
Explorers, after all, are only mortal.
Luxuries, then, are good in moderation, and mainly for their
psychological effect. After a spell of routine, a celebration is the natural
sequel, and if there are delicacies which in civilization are more palatable
than usual, why not take them to where they will receive a still fuller and
heartier appreciation? There is a corresponding rise in the "tide of life" and
the ennui of the same task, in the same place, in the same wind, is not so
noticeable. So we did not forget our asparagus and jugged hare.
In the matter of sledging foods, one comes down to a solid basis of
dietetics. But even dietetics as a science has to stand aside when actual
experience speaks. Dietetics deals with proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and
calories: all terms which need definition and comprehension before the
value of a sledging ration can be fundamentally understood. When the
subject was first introduced into table conversation at the Hut, it was
regarded somewhat suspiciously as "shop." But it gradually won interest
simply because it was of such vital concern.
In sledging there is undoubtedly a critical allowance which will yield the
best results. Circumstances alter cases, and the correct ration under one set

of conditions cannot be expected to coincide with that in another situation.
Thus, the journey may be conducted under conditions of great cold or of
comparative warmth, by man-hauling or auxiliary power, at sea-level or on
an altitude, through regions where there is a reasonable hope of securing
additions of meat by the way, or across barren tracts devoid of game. In
each instance particular demands must be supplied.
In selecting the articles of diet, idiosyncrasies of individuals should be
consulted in reason, and under no consideration should anything be taken
which bears the slightest stigma of contamination. It remains, then, to
discriminate those foods which contribute the greatest amount of nutriment
for a given weight, and which, inter se, preserve a proper dietetic balance.
Variety is very desirable, provided that there is no important sacrifice in
nutrient value. The proof of a wisely selected ration is to find at the end of a
long sledge journey that the sole craving is for an increase in the ration. Of
course, such would be the ideal result of a perfect ration, which does not
exist.
Considering that an ordinary individual in civilization may only satisfy
the choice demands of his appetite by selecting from the multifarious bill of
fare of a modern restaurant, it will be evident that the same person, though
already on the restricted diet of an explorer, cannot be suddenly subjected to
a sledging ration for any considerable period without a certain exercise of
discipline.
For example, the Eastern Coastal Party, sledging at fairly high
temperatures over the sea-ice, noted that the full ration of hoosh produced at
times a mild indigestion, they drank much liquid to satisfy an intense thirst
and on returning to the Hut found their appetites inclined to tinned fruit and
penguins' eggs. Bickerton's and Bage's parties, though working at a much
higher altitude, had a similar experience. The former, for instance, could not
at first drink the whole allowance of thick, rich cocoa without a slight
nausea. The latter saved rations during the first two weeks of their journey,
and only when they rose to greater heights and were in fine condition did
they appreciate the ration to the full. Again, even when one becomes used to
the ration, the sensation of full satisfaction does not last for more than an
hour. The imagination reaches forward to the next meal, perhaps partly on
account of the fact that marching is often monotonous and the scenery
uninspiring. Still, even after a good evening hoosh, the subconscious self

may assert itself in food-dreams. The reaction from even a short sledging
trip, where food has been plentiful, is to eat a good deal, astonishing in
amount to those who for the time being have lived at the Hut.
It may appear that a serious case is being made against the polar sledging
ration. On the whole, it was found to be excellent and the best that
experience had been able to devise. Entering the polar zones, one must not
be over-fastidious, but take it as a matter of course that there will be self-
denial and deprivation of small luxuries.
The energy exerted by man, and the requirements of tissue-building are
derived from the organic compounds known as proteins,** fats and
carbohydrates, though in a slight degree from other substances, most
important of which are minute quantities of mineral matter.
A calorie as used in dietetics is the amount of heat required to raise the
temperature of one kilogramme of water at 0 degrees C. to 1 degree C. The
heat-value of food-stuffs, stated in calories, can be quickly reckoned when
chemical analyses stating their protein, fat and carbohydrate contents are
available. It has been ascertained that one gramme of protein or
carbohydrate yields 4.1 calories, whilst the same amount of fat produces 9.3
calories. Thus the value of fat-containing foods in a sledging ration is at
once apparent.

** The proteins are complex nitrogenous compounds which are preeminent
in fulfilling the two functions of a food: to form tissue and to produce
work and heat. As examples may be quoted, myosin the chief protein of
ordinary meat or muscle, ovalbumin one of the proteins of egg-white,
casein belonging to milk and cheese, and gluten a protein-mixture in
flour.

Fats are organic non-nitrogenous substances obtained from both animal
and vegetable sources, e.g. butter and olive oil.
The carbohydrates are compounds of carbon with hydrogen and oxygen
in a certain proportion, e.g. cane-sugar and starch.
Mineral matters are inorganic, being chlorides, carbonates or phosphates
of calcium, sodium and potassium.
Theoretically, any of the three classes of foods mentioned might be
thought to supply adequate energy, if taken in sufficient amount. Practically,
however, protein and carbohydrate are essential, and it is better to have a
mixture of all three. So, in concentrating foods for sledging, the largest

possible proportion of fat, compatible with other considerations, is
included.
Ordinarily, a normal man consumes some four or five pounds weight of
solid food per diem, of which 50 per cent., it is rather surprising to learn, is
water. When sledging, one has the satisfaction of knowing that all but the
smallest quantity of the food dragged is solid nutriment. The water is added
when the meals are cooked. It is just in this artificial addition that the
sledging ration is not perfect, though as a synthesis it satisfies the demands
of dietetics. Food containing water, as cooked meat oozing with its own
gravy is a more palatable thing than dried meat-powder to which boiling
water has been added. In the same way, a dry, hard biscuit plus liquid is a
different thing from a spongy loaf of yeast bread with its high percentage of
water. One must reckon with the psychic factor in eating. When sledging,
one does not look for food well served as long as the food is hot, nourishing
and filling. So the usage of weeks and a wolfish appetite make hoosh a most
delicious preparation; but when the days of an enforced ration are over, the
desire for appetizing well-served food reasserts itself. The body refuses to
be treated merely as an engine.
The daily polar sledging ration for one man has been concentrated to a
figure just above two pounds in weight, For instance, in recent Antarctic
expeditions, Scott, in 1903, used 34.7 ozs., Shackleton in 1908 used 34.82
ozs. and our own amounted to 34.25 ozs. Exclusive of tea, pepper and salt,
Shackleton's ration and that adopted by Wild at the Western Base and
ourselves in Adelie Land were identical—34 ozs. Reverting to earlier
explorers, for the sake of comparisons, McClintock in 1850 brought his
minimum down to 42 ozs., Nares in 1875 to 40 ozs., Greely in 1882 to
41.75 ozs., and Abruzzi in 1900 to 43.5 ozs.
Our allowance was made up as follows, the relative amounts in the daily
sledging ration for one man being stated: plasmon biscuit, 12 ozs.;
pemmican, 8 ozs.; butter, 2 ozs.; plasmon chocolate, 2 ozs.; glaxo (dried
milk), 5 ozs.; sugar, 4 ozs.; cocoa, 1 oz.; tea,.25 oz. It will be instructive to
make a short note on each item.
Plasmon biscuit was made of the best flour mixed with 30 per cent. of
plasmon powder. Each biscuit weighed 2.25 ozs., and was made specially
thick and hard to resist shaking and bumping in transit as well as the rough
usage of a sledging journey. The effect of the high percentage of plasmon,

apart from its nutritive value, was to impart additional toughness to the
biscuit, which tested our teeth so severely that we should have preferred
something less like a geological specimen and more like ordinary "hard
tack," The favourite method of dealing with these biscuits was to smash
them with an ice-axe or nibble them into small pieces and treat the
fragments for a while to the solvent action of hot cocoa. Two important
proteins were present in this food: plasmon, a trade-name for casein, the
chief protein of milk, and gluten, a mixture of proteins in flour.
The pemmican we used consisted of powdered dried beef (containing the
important protein, myosin) and 50 per cent. of pure fat in the form of lard.
The large content of fat contributes to its high caloric value, so that it is
regularly included in sledging diets. Hoosh is a stodgy, porridge-like
mixture of pemmican, dried biscuit and water, brought to the boil and
served hot. Some men prefer it cooler and more dilute, and to this end dig
up snow from the floor of the tent with their spoons, and mix it in until the
hoosh is "to taste," Eating hoosh is a heightened form of bliss which no
sledger can ever forget.
Glaxo is a proprietary food preparation of dried milk, manufactured in
New Zealand. It is without doubt an ideal food for any climate where
concentration is desirable and asepsis cannot be neglected. The value of
milk as an all-round food is well known. It contains protein as casein, fat as
cream and in fine globules, carbohydrate as lactose (milk sugar) and
mineral substances whose importance is becoming more recognized. At the
Western Base, Wild's party invented glaxo biscuits; an unbaked mixture of
flour and dried milk, which were in themselves a big inducement to go
sledging. At the Hut, making milk from the dried powder required some
little experience. Cold water was added to the dried powder, a paste was
made and warm or hot water poured in until the milk was at the required
strength. One of the professional "touches" was to aerate the milk, after
mixing, by pouring it from jug to jug.
Butter, although it contains nearly 20 per cent. of water is a food of high
heat-value and is certainly more easily digested than fat, such as dripping,
with a higher melting-point. Ours was fresh Victorian butter, packed in the
ordinary export boxes, and carried to the Antarctic on the open bridge of the
Aurora. With a sheath-knife, the sledging cook cut off three small chunks of
two ounces each from the frozen butter every day at lunch. To show how

the appetite is affected by extreme cold, one feels that butter is a wholesome
thing just in itself, being more inclined to eat a pound than two ounces.
Sugar—the carbohydrate, sucrose—has special qualities as a food since it
is quickly assimilated, imparting within a few minutes fresh energy for
muscular exertion. Athletes will support this; in fact, a strong solution of
sugar in water is used as a stimulant in long-distance running and other
feats of endurance. Wild, for instance, found as a matter of experience that
chocolate was preferable to cheese as a sledging food, even though similar
weights had approximately the same food-value.
Cocoa and tea were the two sledging beverages. The cocoa was used for
two meals, the first and the last in the day, and the tea for lunch. Both
contain stimulating alkaloids, theobromine and caffeine, and fat is a notable
constituent of cocoa. Of course, their chief nourishing value, as far as we
were concerned, lay in the glaxo and sugar added.
Lastly, plasmon chocolate is a preparation of pure chocolate (a mixture of
ground cocoa, white sugar and starch) with the addition of 10 per cent. of
plasmon.
As food for the dogs, there was nothing better than dried seal-steaks with
the addition of a little blubber. Ordinary pemmican is readily eaten, but not
appreciated by the dogs in the same way as seal meat. To save weight, the
meat was dried over the stove without heating it sufficiently to cook it. By
this measure, almost 50 per cent. in weight was saved.
The Hut was all agog with movement and bustle on the days when
rations were being made up and packed. Starting from the earliest stage in
the process, there would be two men in the outer Hut grinding plasmon
biscuit into powder. One would turn away for dear life and the other smash
the biscuit with a hammer on a metal slab and feed continuously into the
grinder. The atmosphere would be full of the nauseous vapours of blubber
arising from dishes on the stove where seal meat was drying for the dogs.
Ninnis and Mertz superintended in this department, in careless moments
allowing the blubber to frizzle and diffuse its aroma through the Hut.
Inside, spread along the eighteen-foot table would be the weighers, the
bag-makers or machinists, and the packers. The first made up a compound
of cocoa, glaxo and sugar—cocoa compound; mixed glaxo and sugar and
stirred together, pemmican and biscuit—pemmican compound. These were
weighed and run into calico bags, rapidly supplied by several machinists

farther along the table. In spare moments the weighers stowed chocolate,
whole biscuits, butter and tea into 190 sacks of various sizes. Lastly, the
packers had strong canvas tanks, as they were called, designed to hold food
for a week and a fortnight respectively. Into these the rations were carefully
distributed, butter in the centre, whole biscuits near the top. Then the tanks
were tightly closed, and one man operated with palm and sail-needle,
sewing them up with twine. At the same time, a side-line was run in
pemmican which was removed semi-frozen from the air-tight tins, and
shaved into small pieces with a strong sheath-knife. Butter, too, arrived
from the refrigerator-store and was subdivided into two-ounce or pound
lumps.
Meanwhile, other occupations were in full swing. An amateur cobbler,
his crampon on a last, studded its spiked surface with clouts, hammering
away in complete disregard of the night-watchman's uneasy slumbers. The
big sewing-machine raced at top-speed round the flounce of a tent, and in
odd corners among the bunks were groups mending mitts, strengthening
sleeping-bags and patching burberrys. The cartographer at his table beneath
a shaded acetylene light drew maps and sketched, the magnetician was busy
on calculations close by. The cook and messman often made their presence
felt and heard. In the outer Hut, the lathe spun round, its whirr and click
drowned in the noisy rasp of the grinder and the blast of the big blow-lamp.
The last-named, Bickerton, "bus-driver" and air-tractor expert, had
converted, with the aid of a few pieces of covering tin, into a forge. A piece
of red-hot metal was lifted out and thrust into the vice; Hannam was striker
and Bickerton holder. General conversation was conducted in shouts,
Hannam's being easily predominant.
The sum total of sounds was sufficient for a while to make every one
oblivious to the clamour of the restless wind.

CHAPTER XI SPRING EXPLOITS
If the "winter calms" were a delusion, there were at least several
beautifully clear, moderately calm days in June. The expectation of colder
weather had been realized, and by the end of the month it was a perceptible
fact that the sun had definitely turned, describing a longer arc when
skimming the distant fleets of bergs along the northern horizon. Thus on
June 28 the refracted image of the sun rose into visibility about eleven
o'clock, heralded by a vivid green sky and damask cloud and by one o'clock
had disappeared.
On the same day every one was abroad, advancing the wireless masts
another stage and digging ice-shafts. Stillwell commenced a contoured
plane-table survey of the neighbourhood of Winter Quarters. He continued
this with many breaks during the next few months and eventually
completed an accurate and valuable map, undeterred by the usual series of
frost-bites.
There was much anticipated of July, but the wind soughed on and the
temperature decreased. Just to demonstrate its resource, the wind
maintained ninety-seven miles per hour for six hours on July 19, while the
puff-anemometer indicated several "breaks" of one hundred and fifty miles
per hour.
July 21 was cold, calm and clear. For the first time after many weeks the
sun was mildly warm, and all felt with a spring of optimism that a new era
had begun. The sea which had been kept open by the wind was immediately
overspread with thin, dark ice, which in a few hours was dotted with many
ice-flowers aggregates of fern-like, sprouting fronds similar to small
bouquets or rosettes. Soon the surface had whitened and thickened and by
next morning was firm enough to hold a man out beyond the nearest island.
The wind did not allow this state of affairs to last for long, for by lunch-
time it had hurried away the wide floes and raged across a foaming sea.
We still considered the question of sledging, and I decided that if there
were the slightest prospect of accomplishing anything, several of us would

start before the end of July on a short journey. The month, however, closed
with nothing to commend it. The night-watchman for July 29 says:
"The moon was wonderfully bright to-night, encircled by a complete
halo. It appeared to hang suspended like a silver globe in the dark blue sky.
The stars flash and sparkle and seem much nearer here than in Australia. At
midnight the wind blew at ninety miles per hour, so that it was no easy job
getting to the screen in slippery finnesko. Away in the north there was a
dense cloud of spray and sea-smoke, and the wind screamed past the Hut.
The 'St. Elmoscope' was buzzing merrily in the roof all the time."
Ninnis and Mertz with a team of dogs managed, on the morning of the
29th, to get several loads of forty pounds over the first steep rise of the
glacier to Webb's magnetic ice-cave against a "blow" of seventy miles per
hour.
August 1 was marked by a hurricane, and the celebration in the evening
of Swiss Confederation Day. Mertz was the hero of the occasion as well as
cook and master of ceremonies. From a mysterious box he produced all
kinds of quaint conserves, and the menu soared to unknown delicacies like
"Potage a la Suisse, Choucroute garnie aux saucission de Berne, Puree de
foie gras trufee, and Leckerley de Bale." Hanging above the buoyant
assembly were the Cross of Helvetia and the Jack of Britannia.
It was not till August 8 that there was any indication of improvement.
The sun was bright, the barometer was steady, the wind fell to forty miles
an hour and a fine radiant of cirrus cloud spread out fan-like from the north;
the first from that direction for months.
On the afternoon of August 9, Ninnis, Madigan and I set off with a team
of dogs against a forty-mile wind in an attempt to push to the south.
Darkness was coming on when we sighted a bamboo pole, three and a
quarter miles south of the Hut, and camped. The dogs pulled well up the
steep slopes, but the feet of several were cut by the sharp edges of the wind-
worn ice.
Very heavy gusts swept by in the early morning hours of the 10th. and
when the time came to get out of our sleeping-bags it fell calm for a short
space. We had taken down the tent and had started to move away, when
back rushed the wind, strong and steady. Still we pushed on with our
willing team and by a piece of good fortune reached the sledge which had

been abandoned in the autumn, five and a half miles from the Hut, and of
whose fate in the winter's hurricanes we had made all kind of conjectures.
On its leeward side there was a ramp of very hard snow slanting down
from the top of the sledge. To windward the low pedestal of ice on which
the runners stood was hollowed out, and the wood of the rails and cross-
bars, the leather straps, tent, floor-cloth and canvas food-tanks were all
bleached and worn. The aluminium cooker, strapped on its box, was
brightly polished on the weather side by the dry, drifting snow impelled by
the furious winds. A thermograph, left behind in the autumn, was found to
be intact and indicated a temperature of -35 degrees F.—the lowest for the
eight days during which it had run. The remains of Madigan's plum-
pudding of the autumn were unearthed and found in splendid condition.
That evening it was thawed out over the primus and we demolished it, after
a pause of over five months since having the first cut.
At this spot the steepest grades of the ascent to the plateau were left
behind, and it appeared to be a strategic point from which to extend our
sledging efforts. The main difficulty was that of pitching camp in the
prevailing winds on a surface of ice. To obviate this, the only expedient was
to excavate a shelter beneath the ice itself; and there was the further
consideration that all sledging parties would be able to make use of such a
haven and save extra wear on their tents.
On the morning of August 11 Madigan and Ninnis commenced to sink a
deep vertical trench, at one end of which a room was hewn out large enough
to accommodate three men. The job was finished on the following day, and
we struck the tent and moved to our new abode. The tent was spread over
the vertical shaft which served as the entrance.
It was a great relief to be in a strong room, with solid walls of ice, in
place of the cramped tent flapping violently in the wind. Inside, the silence
was profound; the blizzard was banished. Aladdin's Cave it was dubbed—a
truly magical world of glassy facets and scintillating crystals.
Shelves were chipped out at a moment's notice for primus stove, spirit
bottle, matches, kerosene and other oddments. At one side a small hole was
cut to communicate with a narrow fissure which provided ventilation
without allowing the entrance of drift snow. Whatever daylight there was
filtered through the roof and walls without hindrance. A small crevasse
opened near at hand and was a natural receptacle for rubbish. The purest ice

for cooking could be immediately hacked from the walls without the
inconvenience of having to don one's burberrys and go outside for it.
Finally, one neatly disposed of spare clothes by moistening the corner of
each garment and pressing it against the wall for a few seconds, where it
would remain hanging until required. The place, in fact, was simply replete
with conveniences. We thoroughly enjoyed the night's rest in Aladdin's
Cave, notwithstanding alarming cracks proceeding occasionally from the
crevasses around.
Madigan and Ninnis dug a shelter for the dogs, which spent their time
curled up so as to expose as little surface as possible to the biting wind.
Their thick coats did not adhere to a snow surface, but readily became
frozen down to ice, so that an ice-axe would have to be used to chip them
free.
On August 13, though there was a steady, strong wind blowing, we
continued our advance to the south. The dogs hated to face wind, but, on the
whole, did better than expected. In the afternoon, when only eight miles
south of Winter Quarters and at an altitude of two thousand feet, dark and
lowering clouds formed overhead, and I decided to give up any idea of
going farther out, for the time being. We had provisions for a few days only,
and there was every indication of thick, drifting weather, during which, in
the crevassed ice of that vicinity, it would not be advisable to travel.
After depoting a pick, shovel and some pemmican, we started back,
thinking it might be possible to reach the Hut the same night. However,
driven by a strong wind over a polished, slippery surface split into small
crevasses, down a grade which steepened quickly, we required to have all
our senses vigilant. Two of the dogs remained in harness and the rest were
allowed to run loose ahead. These two strained every effort to catch up to
their companions.
We retarded the sledge as much as possible and all went well for a few
minutes. Then the wind slewed the sledge, the runners struck an irregularity
in the surface and the whole capsized. This happened repeatedly, until there
was nothing to do but loose the two remaining dogs and drag the sledge
ourselves. The dogs were soon lost to sight, except Pavlova, who remained
with us all the time. As the hours of light were short in August, darkness
had come before Aladdin's Cave was reached, and it was with some relief
that we saw the sledge, flag-pole and the expectant dogs suddenly loom up

in front. The sleeping-bags and other gear were passed down into the Cave
and the dogs were fed.
When the doorway was opened in the morning, August 14, a blizzard
with dense drifting snow was in full progress. As it was not possible to see
any distance, and as our quarters were very comfortable, we decided to wait
for another day. Madigan and Ninnis went out and fed the dogs, who were
all snugly curled up in beds of snow.
The weather was no better on the 15th, but, as we were only five and a
half miles from the Hut, which was more comfortable and where there was
much work to be done, it seemed a shame to remain cooped up in idleness.
Madigan and Ninnis were both strongly in favour of making a dash for the
Hut, so we set off.
The sledge having been dug out, one man went in front to keep the
course and two men brought up the rear, holding back the load. With long-
spiked Swiss crampons we could hold up very well on the ice. In dense drift
it was not a simple matter to steer a correct course for the Hut and it was
essential not to deviate, as the rocky foreshores near which it stood
extended only for a mile east and west; on either side abutting on vertical
ice-cliffs. With a compelling force like a prance at our backs, it was not a
nice thing to contemplate finding ourselves on the brink of a precipice.
The wind, however, was steady, and we knew at what angle to steer to
keep a rough course; and we were also helped by a number of small
crevasses between three and five and a half miles which ran approximately
north and south.
Half a mile had been covered before we remarked the absence of the
dogs which had been left to follow. We had taken for granted that they
would follow us, and were so fully occupied after starting that their absence
had passed unnoticed. It would be difficult to locate them if we returned;
the weather would improve in a few days; if they felt hungry they would
come down of their own accord. So we decided to go on without them.
At two miles from the Hut the drift thinned out and the wind became
more gusty. Between the gusts the view ahead opened out for a considerable
distance, and the rocks soon showed black below the last steep fall.
Back at the Hut it was arranged that if the dogs did not return in a
reasonable time, Bage, Mertz and Hurley should go up to Aladdin's Cave in
search of them.

They made a great effort to get away next morning. The sledge was
hauled for one thousand one hundred yards up to the magnetic ice-cave
against a bitter torrent of air rushing by at eighty-two miles an hour. Here
they retreated exhausted.
On the 17th the wind was gauged at eighty-four miles an hour, and
nothing could be done. Dense drift and ferocious wind continued until the
morning of August 21, and still none of the dogs had come home.
Bage, Hurley and Mertz took advantage of a slight lull to start off at 6.30
A.M. As they did not return that night we presumed they were making good
headway.
The drift was thick and the wind high for four days, and it was not until
the morning of the 25th that the weather showed clearer and more
promising. At 2 P.M. Bage and his companions arrived at the Hut bringing
all the dogs except Grandmother, who had died of exhaustion. Aladdin's
Cave had been difficult to find in the driving snow, which had thickened
after the first few miles. They actually passed close to it when Mertz,
between the gusts, sighted Castor jumping about, fully alive to the
approaching relief. The other dogs were found curled up in the snow, in a
listless, apathetic state; apparently in the same positions when left seven
days before. They had made no attempt to break into several bags of
provisions lying close at hand, preferring to starve rather than expose their
faces to the pelting drift. All were frozen down except Basilisk and Castor.
Pavlova was in the best condition, possibly because her last meal had been
an extra full one; a reward for remaining with us when the others had
bolted. Grandmother was in the worst condition, and, despite all efforts at
revival, died four hours after. As the poor brutes were very weak after their
long fast and exposure, they were taken into the Cave and fed on warm
hoosh. Everything possible was done for them, and in return the party
passed a very miserable time cramped in such a small space with six dogs.
The accommodation was slightly increased by enlarging the Cave.
Five days of calm weather! It could scarcely be credited, yet September
came with such a spell. They gave us great opportunities, and, for once, a
vision of what perfect Antarctic days might be. The sea speedily froze over
and extended our territory to the north. Every day we dredged among the
tide-cracks, until Hunter and Laseron had material enough to sort and bottle
for weeks. Seals came up everywhere, and the dogs gorged on much-needed

meat and blubber. Three large Weddells were shot near the "Eastern
Barrier" on September 1, and hauled up an ice-cliff eighty feet high to the
rocks above. Work on the wireless masts went on apace, and the geologist
was abroad with his plane-table every day. Webb and Bage, after a
protracted interval, were able to take star observations for time, in order to
check the chronometers.
Mertz, Ninnis, Whetter and Laseron, with a team of dogs sledged a big
load of food-stuffs to Aladdin's Cave on September 1. At the Cave the dogs
were let loose, but instead of running back to the Hut, lingered about and
finally had to be led down the slope. On being loosed again, several rushed
back to the Cave and were only brought along by force. That night, Scott
and Franklin, two kindred spirits, were not present at "roll-call".
On September 3, McLean, Whetter and Close took more provisions to
Aladdin's Cave. They reported light drift and wind on the highlands, while
at sea-level it was clear and calm.
The sea-ice was by then thick and safe. About half a mile off shore a very
successful dredging was made in fifty fathoms; the bottom at this depth
simply teemed with life. At first, the dredge, rope-coils, tub, picks and other
necessary implements were dragged about on a sledge, but the sledge was
hauled only with great difficulty and much exertion over the sticky, new
sea-ice. As a substitute a portable, steel handcart was advantageously
employed, although, owing to its weight, tide-cracks and rotten areas had to
be crossed at a run. On one occasion a flimsy surface collapsed under it,
and Hunter had a wetting before it was hauled on to firmer ice.
On September 4 there was a cloud radiant from the northwest, indicative
of a change in the weather. Ninnis, Mertz and Murphy transported more
food-bags and kerosene to Aladdin's Cave. They found Franklin one and a
half miles south of the Hut lying on the ice quite well, but there was no sign
of Scott. Both dogs were seen on the 1st of the month, when they were in a
locality south-east of the Hut, where crevasses were numerous. It seemed
most probable that Scott had lost his life in one of them. The party visiting
the Cave reported a considerable amount of snow drifting above a level of
one thousand feet.
There was another day of successful dredging, and, about four o'clock,
while several men were still out on the ice, whirlies with great columns of
drift came steadily down the glacier, pouring over the seaward cliffs. In a

few minutes the snow-clouds were round the Hut and the wind was not long
in working up to eighty miles per hour. The dredging party reached the land
just in time; and the sea-ice drifted away to the north. Thus ended one of the
most remarkable periods of fine weather experienced by us in Adelie Land,
only to be excelled in the height of summer.
The possibility of such a spell being repeated fired us with the hope that
after all a reasonable amount of sledging could be accomplished in the
spring. Three parties were chosen to reconnoitre in different directions and
to test the sledging gear. As we were far from being confident in the
weather, I made it clear that no party should penetrate farther than fifty
miles from the Hut, nor remain away longer than a fortnight.
Webb, McLean and Stillwell, the southern reconnoitring party, were the
first to set off, leaving on September 7 against a wind of fifty-six miles per
hour. Between them they had only one pair of good spiked crampons, and it
was a hard, five hours' drag up to Aladdin's Cave. A tent which had been
spread over the entrance to keep out snow was picked up here. It had
suffered punctures and small tears from crampons, and, as the next day was
one of boisterous wind, the party spent it repairing the tent and
endeavouring to take magnetic observations. The latter had to be abandoned
owing to the instrument becoming iced up.
Next afternoon the wind fell to the forties, and the party struggled on to
the south for three miles two hundred yards and camped, as it was
necessary to make a search for a small depot of pemmican tins, a pick and a
shovel left by us in the vicinity in August. The drift cleared at noon on the
11th, and the bamboo pole marking the depot appeared a quarter of a mile
away on the right. The pick, shovel and flag were secured and another
afternoon's march against a fifty-mile wind with a temperature at -20
degrees F. brought the party three and a quarter miles further, to a point
eleven and three-quarter miles south of the Hut. The wind rose to the
eighties during the night, and there were many small holes in the tent which
provided more ventilation than was agreeable. As the wind was too strong
for travelling on the 12th, it was decided to make a cave in case of accident
to the tent.
A tunnel was driven into the sloping surface of the ice towards a crevasse
about a foot wide. It was a good ten hours' job in tough ice before the
crevasse was reached. Into the fissure all the hewn ice was thrown instead

of being laboriously shovelled up through the tunnel. The "Cathedral
Grotto" was soon finished, the tent was struck and the party made
themselves comfortable inside. The cavern was found to be a very draughty
place with a crevasse along one wall, and it was difficult to keep warm in
one-man sleeping-bags. The crevasse was accordingly closed with ice and
snow. That evening and on several subsequent occasions McLean took
blood-pressure observations.
During the next three days the wind was so strong that Webb's were the
only crampons in which any efficient marching could be done. The time
was spent in building a high break-wind of ice-blocks, a pit being excavated
on the windward side in which Webb took a full set of magnetic
observations. Within the "Grotto" the instrument rapidly became coated
with ice-crystals; in the open air this difficulty did not arise, but others had
to be overcome. It was exceedingly cold work at -20 degrees F. in a sixty-
mile wind, both for Webb and his recorder Stillwell.
There seemed no hope of going forward, so the depot flag was hoisted
and a fortnight's provisions and kerosene stowed in the lee of the break-
wind. It was a furious race back to the Hut via Aladdin's Cave with a gusty,
seventy-five-mile wind in the rear. McLean and Stillwell actually skied
along on their short blunt crampons, while Webb did his best to brake
behind.
The second party comprised Ninnis, Mertz, and Murphy, who went to the
south-east, leaving on September 11. After a hard fight to Aladdin's Cave,
the wind approaching fifty miles an hour, they diverged to the south-east.
On the 12th they made steady progress up the slope of the glacier, delayed
by many small crevasses. The surface was so rough that the nuts on the
sledge-meter soon became loose and it was necessary to stop every quarter
of a mile to adjust them. The day's march was a solid five and three quarter
miles against a fifty-mile wind.
On the 13th Ninnis's record proceeds as follows:
"The sky was still clear but the wind had increased to sixty-five miles per
hour, the temperature standing at -17 degrees F.
"We kept on the same course; the glacier's slope being steeper. Mertz was
as usual wearing leather boots and mountaineering crampons, otherwise
progress would have been practically impossible; the finnesko crampons
worn by Murphy and myself giving very little foothold. Travelling was very

slow indeed, and when we camped at 4 P.M., two and a half miles was all
that had been covered.
"At 9.15 A.M. (September 14) the wind practically dropped, and we
advanced under perfect conditions."
They had not gone far, however, before the wind suddenly increased so
that only about four and a half miles were completed in the day. That
evening, curiously enough, it fell calm for a time; then there was a period of
alternating violent winds and calm.
On Sunday, September 15, it was impossible for them to move, as a
hurricane raged outside. The tent was very much damaged by the wind, but
in that state it managed to stand up till next morning. In the meantime all
three fully dressed themselves and lay in their three-man sleeping-bag ready
to take to the road at a moment's notice.
The next morning, at a distance of eighteen miles southeast of the Hut,
there was nothing for it but to make for Aladdin's Cave, which was safely
reached by a forced march of twelve and three-quarter miles, with a furious
wind partly abeam. On the way the sledge was blown sideways on to the
lids of many wide crevasses, which, fortunately for the party, were strong at
that season of the year.
From the realistic reports of the two parties which had returned it was
evident that Madigan and his companions, Close and Whetter who had set
out on the 12th to the west were having a bad time. But it was not till the
23rd, after a week of clear skies, low temperatures and unceasing drift-free
wind that we began to feel apprehensive about them.
September 24 and 25 were punctuated by several intervals of calm during
which it was judged the party would have been able to travel.
On the morning of September 26 Ninnis and Mertz, with a team of dogs,
set off up the hill to Aladdin's Cave to deposit some provisions and to scan
the horizon for any sign of the sledgers. On the way they fell in with them
descending the slopes, very worn and frost-bitten.
They had a thrilling story to tell, and, when it was known that the party
had reached fifty miles to the west, everybody crowded round to listen.
The wind average at the Hut during their fortnight of absence was fifty-
eight miles per hour, implying worse conditions on the plateau. Madigan
gave the facts:

"After leaving Aladdin's Cave on the 12th we continued due south,
lunching at 2 P.M. on the site of Webb's first camp. Our troubles had
already begun; the wind averaging sixty miles an hour all day with a
temperature at noon of -14 degrees F.
"As a few tears appeared in the tent during the night, we saw that it
would not be advisable to put it up next day for lunch, so we had a cold
meal, crouched in the lee of the sledge. This custom was found to
economize time, as we became so cold eating our fare of biscuit, chocolate
and butter that we got moving again as soon as possible. The great
disadvantage was that there was nothing to drink between the morning and
evening meals.
"We sewed up the rents in the tent during the halt, having to use bare
fingers in the open. About four stitches at a time were as much as one man
could manage, and then the other two took their turns.
"The next day was the only comparatively calm period of the two weeks
of travelling. The wind was in the vicinity of thirty miles per hour, and,
going west, we reached a spot, twenty miles 'out,' on a snow-covered
surface, by nightfall.
"A steady seventy-five-mile wind blew all day on the 15th at right angles
to our course, accompanied by a thick, low drift. The surface was partially
consolidated snow, very hard and smooth. Sometimes the sledge would grip
and we could pull straight ahead. Then, suddenly, it would slide away
sideways down wind and often pull us off our feet with a sudden vicious
jerk. Most of the time we were dragging in a south-westerly direction to
make the sledge run west, stumbling through the drift with the sledge now
behind us, now sliding away to leeward, often capsizing and requiring to be
laboriously righted and sometimes repacked.
"After many experiments, we found the best device was to have two men
on the bow-rope, about twenty feet long, and one with about ten feet of rope
attached to the rear of the sledge. The man on the tail-rope, usually Whetter,
found it very difficult to keep his feet, and, after a score of falls in stinging
drift with incidental frost-bites on fingers and cheeks, he did not feel
exactly cheerful.
"By 4 P.M. on the 15th we had reached twenty-five miles and were
exhausted. We pitched camp at an early hour, partly influenced by the fact
that it was a special occasion—Close's birthday! Some port wine had been

slipped in to provide against that 'emergency.' On taking the precious bottle
from the instrument-box, I found that the cork was out, and, for one awful
moment, thought the bottle was empty. Then I realized that the wine had
frozen solid and had pushed the cork out by its expansion on solidification.
"At last, the tent safely pitched and hoosh and cocoa finished, the
moment came to drink to Close's health and happiness. The bottle had stood
on the top of the cooker while the meal was being prepared, but the wine
was still as solid as ever. After being shaken and held over the primus for a
good half-hour it began to issue in lumps. Once the lumps were secured in
mugs the rest of the thawing was easy. Finally, we toasted Close and his
wife (in far Australia) in what we voted to be the finest draught it had ever
been our good fortune to drink. In the morning a cairn was made of the
snow-blocks which were taken from the tent-skirt, and it was surmounted
with the bottle, being called 'Birthday Camp.'
"During September 16 my right eyelid became frostbitten. I noticed that
it was hard and refused to shut, so I rubbed vigorously to bring it round.
However, it swelled and blistered badly and the eye remained closed for
two days.
"From twenty to fifty miles 'out', the surface was neve with areas of
sastrugi up to three feet in height. No crevasses were noticed. At twenty-
eight miles out, we lost sight of the sea, and at forty miles an altitude of
four thousand five hundred feet was reached.
"We turned out at 6 A.M. every morning and were on the move by 9
A.M. Lunch only took half an hour and was a most uncomfortable meal. As
we sat in the lee of the sledge, the surface-drift swirled up in our faces like
fine sand. We never camped before 6 P.M. and were obliged to consider five
miles a good day's run.
"Pitching camp took nearly an hour. Blocks of snow were cut and
arranged in a semicircle, within which the tent was laid with its peak
upwind. It sounds simple enough, but, as we had to take off crampons so as
not to tread on the tent, our difficulties were enormously increased by
having to move about wearing finnesko on a smooth surface in a high wind.
One man crawled into the tent, and, at a given signal, the other two raised
the peak while the former held on to the upwind leg and kicked the other
legs into place with his feet. The others then quickly piled food-tanks and
blocks of snow on to the skirt, calling out as soon as there was enough to

hold it down, as the man gripping the bamboo leg inside would soon have
'deadly cold' fingers. It was always a great relief when the tent was up.
"Almost every night there was some sewing to do, and it was not long
before every one's fingers were in a bad state. They became, especially near
the tips, as hard as wood and devoid of sensation. Manipulating toggles and
buttons on one's clothing gave an immense amount of trouble, and it always
seemed an interminable time before we got away in the morning. Our
lowest temperature was -35 degrees F., early on September 18.
"We were fifty miles 'out' on September 19 on a white, featureless plain.
Through low drift we had seen very little of our surroundings on the march.
A bamboo pole with a black flag was raised, a mound was built, and a
week's provisions for three men and two gallons of kerosene were cached.
"In the morning there was a howling eighty-mile blizzard with dense
drift, and our hopes of an early start homeward were dispelled. We feared
for the safety of the tent, knowing that if it had gone during that 'blow' our
hopes of getting back to the Hut would have been small.
"The wind continued all day and the next night, but, to our joy, abated on
the 21st to fifty miles an hour, permitting us to travel.
"Through a seventy-five-miler on the 22nd and a quieter day on the 23rd,
we picked up our half-way mound at Birthday Camp on September 24. On
the same night the long-suffering sledge-meter, much battered, gave up
recording.
"At 3 A.M. I was awakened by something striking me on the head. I
looked out of the sleeping-bag and found that the tent had fallen in on us.
The lashing at the apex had carried away and the poles upwind were almost
flat. The cap was gone, and one side of the tent was split from top to
bottom. I awakened the others, and Whetter and I got out, leaving Close
inside to hang on to the bag. Luckily we had kept on our burberrys in case
of accidents. For once the entrance had not to be unfastened, as there was a
ready-made exit. The poles were roughly bound together with an alpine
rope and anchored to a pick on the windward side. It was blowing about
eighty miles an hour, but fortunately there was no drift. When daylight
came the tent was found to be hopelessly ruined, and to light the primus
was impossible, though the wind had abated to thirty-five miles an hour.
"We ate some frozen food and pushed on, hoping to find Aladdin's Cave
before dark, so that we should not have to spend a night without a tent.

After a struggle of thirteen miles over rough ice we came, footsore and
worn out, to Aladdin's Cave. Close's feet were badly blistered, and both my
big toes had become frost-bitten at the fifty-mile camp, giving me a good
deal of trouble on the way back.
"Never was the Cave a more luxurious place. The cooker was kept busy
far into the night, while we drank and smoked and felt happy."
The successful conclusion of this journey in the face of the most adverse
weather conditions was something upon which Madigan, Whetter and Close
could well feel proud, for in its way it must be a record in the sledging
world. They were indeed badly frost-bitten; Madigan's great toes having
suffered most of all. Whetter's chief injury was a wound under the chin
occasioned by a pair of scissors handled by Madigan to free Whetter's
helmet on an occasion when it was firmly frozen to his face.
On October 1, Mertz, Hurley and Ninnis made a gallant attempt to rescue
two dogs, Basilisk and Franklin, which had remained at Aladdin's Cave on
September 26, after accompanying them there with a load of provisions. At
the Hut there was no drift, but during the ascent it became thicker, and the
wind stronger, forcing them at last to turn back.
Two days later another attempt was made by Ninnis and Mertz, and, in
dense drift, after wandering about for a long time they happened on the
Cave, to find that the dogs were not there, though spots were discovered
where they had evidently been sleeping in the snow. Coming back
disconsolately, they found that the dogs had reached the Hut not long before
them. Apparently the two vagrants, hearing Ninnis and Mertz blundering
about in the drift in search of the depot, had decided that it was time to
return home. We concluded that the ways of these Greenland dogs were past
finding out.
October came with a deluge of snow and transient hours of bright
sunlight, during which the seals would make a temporary landing and retire
again to the water when their endurance was exhausted. Snow petrels flew
in great numbers about the rocks in the evening, seeking out their old nest-
crevices. Seeing these signs of returning life, every one was in great
expectation of the arrival of the penguins.
On the night of the 11th, Hurley, Laseron, Hunter and Correll made an
innovation by presenting a small farce to an audience which had been

starved of dramatic entertainment for a long time, and consequently showed
tremendous appreciation.
The first penguin came waddling up the ice-foot against a seventy-mile
wind late on the afternoon of October 12. McLean brought the bird back to
the Hut and the newcomer received a great ovation. Stimulated by their
success on the previous night and the appearance of the first penguin, the
theatrical company added to their number, and, dispensing with a rehearsal,
produced an opera, "The Washerwoman's Secret" (Laseron). Part of the Hut
was curtained off as a combined green-room and dressing-room; the kitchen
was the stage; footlights twinkled on the floor; the acetylene limelight
beamed down from the rafters, while the audience crowded on a form
behind the dining-table, making tactless remarks and steadily eating
chocolate.
The typed programmes advertised the following:
THE WASHERWOMAN'S SECRET
(Opera in Five Acts)
DRAMATIS PERSONAE

DR. STAKANHOISER (Tenor) "Hoyle" Hurley
CHEVALIER DE TINTAIL (Fiver) "Johnny" Hunter
BARON DE BRENT (Basso) "Joe" Laseron
COUNT HOOPENKOFF (Barrowtone) "Little Willie" Correll
MADAM FUCLOSE (Don't Sing) "Also Joe" Laseron
JEMIMA FUCLOSE (Soprano) "Dad" McLean
DR. STAKANHOISER'S Dog " Monkey" Greenland Pup
VILLAGE IDIOT "Bick" Bickerton
ORCHESTRA "Stillwater Willie" StillWell

ACT I
SCENE: Room in poorer part of Berlin: MADAM FUCLOSE in bed
dying: JEMIMA at table washing clothes
Song "When Sparrows Build" JEMIMA

[Knock at door. Enter Dr. STAKANHOISER.

Song: "I vas a Doctor"
[Attends MADAM FUCLOSE, who, when dying, tells him that
JEMIMA is not her daughter, but the Princess of Adeliana, whom she has
rescued in Paris during the Revolution.
Death Scene and Chorus: "Who Killed my Mother?"

ACT II
SCENE: Beneath JEMIMA'S window
[Enter Dr. STAKANHOISER disguised as organ grinder.
Song: "Vurds der Likum" Dr. S.
[JEMIMA opens window and throws flour on DOCTOR.
[Enter BARON DE BRENT, kicks DOCTOR out.
Song: "Baron of Brent"
[BARON makes love to JEMIMA, who laughs at him.
Duet: "Wilt love me" JEMIMA and BARON
[Enter CHEVALIER DE TINTAIL, who denounces the BARON as
already having four wives. The BARON goes off, muttering revenge.
Song: "I'm in love with a wonderful lady" CHEVALIER
[The CHEVALIER makes love to JEMIMA, who loves him in return.
Chorus: "Jemima"
ACT III
SCENE: Conspirators' Chamber
[Enter DOCTOR, who hides behind a barrel.
[Enter COUNT HOOPENKOFF, who amuses himself playing a piccolo.
[Enter BARON. They discuss plot to kidnap Princess, which is overheard
by DOCTOR.
[Enter Ghost, who frightens conspirators away.
Chorus: "Little Willie Smith"
ACT IV
SCENE: JEMIMA's room

[The CHEVALIER DE TINTAIL is waiting.

Song: "I want you to see my Girl" CHEVALIER

[Enter JEMIMA. Love scene.

[Enter DOCTOR, who discloses the plot he has heard and tells JEMIMA
of her high descent. The CHEVALIER and the DOCTOR hide, and the two

villains, by means of a ladder, enter the room. The heroes spring from their
hiding-place and the villains are ejected.
Chorus: "There is a Wash-House"
ACT V
SCENE: Conspirators' Chamber
[The BARON and COUNT enter by different doors. They accuse each
other of having betrayed the plot. Duel follows in which both are killed.
Duet: "Mort de Botheo" COUNT and BARON
[All the others rush in. The two lovers come together and the DOCTOR
says, "God bless you, my children."

Chorus: "Auld Lang Syne" COMPANY and AUDIENCE
And
GOD SAVE THE KING

Played by the Society for the Prevention of the Blues.
Saturday, October 12, 1912.
ADELIE HALL

Admission Free. Children Half Price.
October 13 was known as Black Sunday. We were all seated at dinner
and the Hut was quivering in the tornado-like gusts which followed a heavy
"blow" reaching a maximum hourly average of ninety-one miles. One
mighty blast was followed by a crack and the sound of a heavy falling body.
For a moment it was thought that something had happened to the Hut. Then
the messman ran out to the trap-door and saw that the northern wireless
mast had disappeared.
The weather showed but meagre signs of improvement, but the penguins
came up in great numbers. They were in groups all along the ice-foot in the
lee of rocks and icy pinnacles. They climbed up to their old resorts, and in a
few days commenced to build nests of small pebbles. Skua gulls
mysteriously appeared, snow petrels hovered along the rocky ridges and
odd seals landed on the wind-raked harbour ice. Silver-grey and Antarctic
petrels flew along the shore with occasional Cape pigeons. If the weather
were indifferent to the fact, the birds did not forget that spring had come.
A Weddell seal calved on the bay-ice on October 18. For a week the pup
had a miserable time in winds ranging mostly about the seventies, with the
temperature below zero Fahrenheit. At last it became so weak that it thawed

a hole in the soft, sludgy ice and could not extricate itself. Both it and the
mother were killed and skinned for the biological collection.
On all but the worst days a gang of men worked with picks and shovels
digging out the Hangar, so that Bickerton could test the air-tractor sledge.
The attack was concentrated upon a solid bank of snow and ice into which
heaps of tins and rubbish had been compactly frozen. In soft snow
enormous headway can be made in a short space of time, but in that species
of conglomerate, progress is slow. Eventually, a cutting was made by which
the machine could pass out. The rampart of snow was broken through at the
northern end of the Hangar, and the sledge with its long curved runners was
hauled forth triumphantly on the 25th. From that time onwards Bickerton
continued to experiment and to improve the contrivance.
On October 21 there was a marked thaw inside the Hut. The frost along
all the cracks dissolved into water and ran down the walls over pictures, on
to book-shelves and bunks. The thick caking of ice on the windows dripped
continually, coming away in layers at lunch-time and scattering among the
diners at both ends of the table. Every available bucket and tub was in use,
and small tin-gutters hooked under each window had to be emptied at
frequent intervals.
Stillwell came in during the afternoon bearing an albino penguin with a
prettily mottled head; a curious freak of which the biologists immediately
took possession. The penguins now swarmed along the foreshores, those not
settling down in the rookeries wandering about in small crowds,
occasionally visiting the Hut and exploring among the rocks or up the
slippery glacier. Murphy was heard, at this time, to advance a theory
accounting for the fact that Adelie penguins never made their nests on a
scale more elaborate than a collection of stones. He submitted that anything
else would be blown away. To support the contention, he stated that as soon
as the female lays her egg, she places a stone on top to weight it down. The
biologists kept a dignified silence during the discussion.
On the 21st an Emperor penguin landed on the harbour ice, and, early in
November, two more were captured. These imperial birds are very rare on
the coasts of Adelie Land, owing to the fact that their winter breeding-
grounds in Antarctica are selected in spots where climatic conditions are
comparatively good.

October closed with an average wind velocity of 56.9 miles per hour. Yet
the possibility of summer sledging was no longer remote. The sun was high,
spells of calm were longer and more frequent, and, with the certain
knowledge that we should be on the plateau in November, the sledging
parties were chosen, schemes of exploration were discussed, and the last
details for an extensive campaign completed.

CHAPTER XII ACROSS KING GEORGE V
LAND
We yearned beyond the skyline.—Kipling

October had passed without offering any opportunities for sledging, and
we resolved that in defiance of all but the worst weather a start would be
made in November. The 'Aurora' was due to arrive early in January 1913
and the time at our disposal for exploration was slipping away rapidly.
The investigation by sledging journeys of the coastline to the eastward
was regarded as of prime importance, for our experience in the 'Aurora'
when in those longitudes during the previous year was such as to give little
promise of its ever being accomplished from the sea.
Westward, the coast was accessible from the sea; at least for some
distance in that direction. Madigan's journey in the springtime had
demonstrated that, if anything, the land to the west was steeper, and
consequently more windy conditions might be expected there. Further, it
was judged that information concerning this region would be forthcoming
from the ship, which had cruised westward after leaving Adelie Land in
January 1912. The field in that direction was therefore not so promising as
that to the east.
On this account the air-tractor sledge, of somewhat doubtful utility, was
detailed for use to the westward of Winter Quarters, and, as it was obvious
that the engine could only be operated in moderately good weather, its final
departure was postponed until December.
The following is a list of the parties which had been arranged and which,
now fully equipped, were on the tiptoe of expectation to depart.
(1) A Southern Party composed of Bage (leader), Webb and Hurley. The
special feature of their work was to be magnetic observations in the vicinity
of the South Magnetic Pole.
(2) A Southern Supporting Party, including Murphy (leader), Hunter and
Laseron, who were to accompany the Southern Party as far as possible,
returning to Winter Quarters by the end of November.

(3) A Western Party of three men—Bickerton (leader), Hodgeman and
Whetter—who were to traverse the coastal highlands west of the Hut. Their
intention was to make use of the air-tractor sledge and the departure of the
party was fixed for early December.
(4) Stillwell, in charge of a Near Eastern Party, was to map the coastline
between Cape Denison and the Mertz Glacier-Tongue, dividing the work
into two stages. In the first instance, Close and Hodgeman were to assist
him; all three acting partly as supports to the other eastern parties working
further afield. After returning to the Hut at the end of November for a
further supply of stores, he was to set out again with Close and Laseron in
order to complete the work.
(5) An Eastern Coastal Party composed of Madigan (leader), McLean and
Correll was to start in early November with the object of investigating the
coastline beyond the Mertz Glacier.
(6) Finally, a Far-Eastern Party, assisted by the dogs, was to push out
rapidly overland to the southward of Madigan's party, mapping more distant
sections of the coastline, beyond the limit to which the latter party would be
likely to reach.
As the plans for the execution of such a journey had of necessity to be
more provisional than in the case of the others, I determined to undertake it,
accompanied by Ninnis and Mertz, both of whom had so ably acquitted
themselves throughout the Expedition and, moreover, had always been in
charge of the dogs.
November opened with more moderate weather, auguring still better
conditions for midsummer. Accordingly November 6 was fixed as the date
of final departure for several of the parties. The evening of November 5 was
made a special occasion: a farewell dinner, into which everybody entered
very heartily.
On the morning of the 6th, however, we found a strong blizzard raging
and the landscape blotted out by drift-snow, which did not clear until the
afternoon of the following day.
At the first opportunity, Murphy, Hunter and Laseron (supporting the
Southern Party) got away, but found the wind so strong at a level of one
thousand feet on the glacier that they anchored their sledge and returned to
the Hut for the night.

The next morning saw them off finally and, later in the day, the Near-
Eastern Party (Stillwell, Close and Hodgeman) and the Eastern Coastal
Party (Madigan, McLean and Correll) got under way, though there was still
considerable wind.
My own party was to leave on the 9th for, assisted by the dogs, we could
easily catch up to the other eastern parties, and it was our intention not to
part company with them until all were some distance out on the road
together.
The wind increased on the 9th and the air became charged with drift, so
we felt sure that those who preceded us would still be camped at Aladdin's
Cave, and that the best course was to wait.
At this date the penguin rookeries were full of new-laid eggs, and the
popular taste inclined towards omelettes, in the production of which Mertz
was a past master. I can recall the clamouring throng who pressed round for
the final omelette as Mertz officiated at the stove just before we left on the
10th.
It was a beautiful calm afternoon as the sledge mounted up the long icy
slopes. The Southern Party (Bage, Webb and Hurley) were a short distance
in advance, but by the help of the dogs we were soon abreast of them. Then
Bickerton, who had given Bage's party a pull as far as the three-mile post,
bade us good-bye and returned to the Hut where he was to remain in charge
with Whetter and Hannam until the return of Murphy's party.
At Aladdin's Cave, while some prepared supper, others selected tanks of
food from the depot and packed the sledges. After the meal, the Southern
Party bade us farewell and set off at a rapid rate, intending to overhaul their
supporting party on the same evening at the Cathedral Grotto, eleven and
three-quarter miles from the Hut. Many finishing touches had to be put to
our three sledges and two teams of dogs, so that the departure was delayed
till next morning.
We were up betimes and a good start was made before anything came of
the overcast sky which had formed during the night. The rendezvous
appointed for meeting the others, in case we had not previously caught them
up, was eighteen miles south-east of Aladdin's Cave. But, with a view to
avoiding crevasses as much as possible, a southerly course was followed for
several miles, after which it was directed well to the east. In the meantime
the wind had arisen and snow commenced to fall soon after noon. In such

weather it was impossible to locate the other parties, so a halt was made and
the tent pitched after eight miles.
Five days of wind and drift followed, and for the next two days we
remained in camp. Then, on the afternoon of the 13th, the drift became less
dense, enabling us to move forward on an approximate course to what was
judged to be the vicinity of the rendezvous, where we camped again for
three days.
Comfortably ensconced in the sleeping-bags, we ate only a small ration
of food; the savings being carefully put away for a future "rainy day."
Outside, the dogs had at first an unpleasant time until they were buried in
snow which sheltered them from the stinging wind. Ninnis and Mertz took
turns day by day attending to their needs.
The monotony and disappointment of delay were just becoming acute
when the wind fell off, and the afternoon of November 16 turned out
gloriously fine.
Several excursions were immediately made in the neighbourhood to seek
for the whereabouts of the other parties, but all were unsuccessful. At length
it occurred to us that something serious might have happened, so we left our
loads and started back at a gallop for Aladdin's Cave with two empty
sledges, Mertz careering ahead on skis over the sastrugi field.
Shortly afterwards two black specks were seen away in the north; a
glance with the binoculars leaving no doubt as to the identity of the parties.
We returned to the loads, and, having picked them up, made a course to the
east to intercept the other men.
It was a happy camp that evening!with the three tents pitched together,
while we compared our experiences of the previous six days and made
plans for the outward journey.
Our sledge-meter had already suffered through bumping over rough ice
and sastrugi, and an exchange was made with the stronger one on Stillwell's
sledge. A quantity of food was also taken over from him and the loads were
finally adjusted.
The details and weights of the equipment on the three sledges belonging
to my party are sufficiently interesting to be set out at length below. Most of
the items were included in the impedimenta of all our parties, but slight

variations were necessary to meet particular stances or to satisfy the whim
of an individual.
TOTAL LOAD

The Principal Sledge, 11ft. long, 45 lb.

Fittings for Same: Instrument-box 7 lb. 5 oz.; cooker-box, 7 lb.
6 oz.; kerosene-tray, 3 lb.; mast-attachment, 2 lb. 8 oz.; mast, 1 lb.
16 oz.; spar, 1 lb. 8 oz.; decking (canvas and bamboo), 3 lb. 5 oz.;
rigging, 7.5 oz.; 5 leather straps, 5 lb..... 77 lb. 6.5 oz.

Drill Tent, strengthened and attached to poles, also floor-cloth,
33 lb. Spare drill cover, 11 lb. 8 oz........ 44 lb. 8 oz.

Sleeping-bags, 3 one-man bags............ 30 lb. 0 oz.

Cooking gear: Nansen cooker, 11 lb. 3 oz.; 3 mugs, 1 lb. 8 oz., 2 tins,
10 oz.; scales, 0.5 oz.; 3 spoons, 1.5 oz.; matches, 13.5 oz., and
damp-proof tin to hold same, 3.7 oz.; "Primus" heater, full, 3 lb.
10 oz.; "Primus" prickers, 2.5 oz.; "Primus" repair outfit, 2 oz.;
kerosene tin openers and pourers, 4.5 oz.; spirit for "Primus" in
tin, 5 lb. 14 oz., also a ready bottle, full, 1 lb. 5 oz.
........................... 25 lb. 14.2 oz.

Repair Outfit: Spare copper wire, rivets, needles, thread, etc.,
1 lb. 14.5 oz.; set of 12 tools, 15.5 oz.; requirements for repairing
dog-harness and medically treating the dogs, 3 lb. 8 oz
........................ 6 lb. 6 oz.

Medical Outfit: 6 "Burroughs & Wellcome" first field dressings;
absorbent cotton wool; boric wool; pleated lint; pleated bandages,
roll bandages; adhesive tape; liquid collodion; "tabloid" ophthalmic
drugs for treating snow-blindness; an assortment of "tabloid" drugs
for general treatment; canvas case containing scissors, forceps,
artery-forceps, scalpel, surgical needles and silk, etc.
........................... 2 lb. 12.3 oz. Photographic outfit:
A 1/4-plate, long, extension-camera in a case,
with special stiffening board and 36 cut films, 4 lb. 4.5 oz.;
adaptor to accommodate camera to theodolite legs, 2 oz.; a water-tight
tin with 14 packets, each containing 12 cut films, 3 lb.10 oz.
............................8 lb. 0.5 oz.

Surveying Requirements: A 3" transit theodolite in case, 5 lb. 14 oz.;
legs for the same, 3 lb. 6 oz.; sledge-meter, 8 lb.; Tables from
Nautical Almanack and book of Logarithmic Tables, 1 lb. 3 oz.;
2 note books, 1 lb. 6 oz.; angle-books, 5 oz.; map-tube, 10 oz.;
maps, 6.5 oz.; pencils, 1.5 oz.; dividers and rubber, 1.5 oz.;
protractor and set-square, 0.5 oz.; prismatic compass and clinometer,
8.5 oz.; sun-compass (Bage's), 1.5 oz......... 22 lb. 0 oz.

Other Instruments: Zeiss prismatic binoculars X.12, 1 lb. 13.5 oz.;
hypsometer, 2 lb. 1 oz.; 2 ordinary and 2 small minimum thermometers,
10 oz.; specimen labels, l oz............. 4 lb. 9.5 oz.

Rifle, 22-bore with cover and cleaner, 3 lb. 3.7 oz.; ammunition,
1 lb. 6 oz.; sheath knife, 5.5 oz.; sharpening stone, 1.5 oz.;
fishing line and hooks, 3.5 oz............. 4 lb. 14.7 oz.

Waterproof Clothe-bag, 4 lb. 8 oz., containing 9 pairs of finnesko
stuffed with saennegrass, 21 lb.; extra saennegrass, 3 lb.; 3 private
kit-bags containing spare clothing, etc., 39 lb.; 4 extra rolls of
lampwick for lashings, 1 lb. 3.5 oz.......... 64 lb. 3.5 oz.

Odd gear: Pick, 4 lb. 5 oz.; 2 spades, 8 lb. 4 oz.; ice-axe, 2 lb.
4 oz.; alpine rope (20 metros) 3 lb.; skis (1 pair), 11 lb.;
ski-stick, 1 lb. 1 oz.; ski-boots (2 pairs), 6 lb.; attachable
crampons for the same, 4 lb.; finnesko-crampons (3 pairs), 9 lb.;
3 man-harnesses, 6 lb. 8 oz.; man-hauling tow-rope, 1 lb. 1 oz.;
flags, 9.5 oz.; a water-proof bag to hold oddments, 4 lb. 8 oz.
............................ 61 lb. 8.5 oz.

Beacons: A depot-flag and bamboo pole, 5 lb.; a special metal
depot-beacon, mast, flag and stays, 16 lb.; 2 damp-proof tins for
depositing records at depots, 7.5 oz.......... 21 lb. 7.5 oz.

Other Sledges: A second sledge decked with Venesta boarding and
fitted with straps.................. 55 lb. 0 oz.
A third sledge, 12 ft. long and strong rope lashings (spare spars
mentioned elsewhere acting as decking)........ 60 lb. 0 oz.

Fuel: Kerosene, 6 gallons in one-gallon tins..... 60 lb. 0 oz.

Food: Man Food: 9 weeks' supplies for 3 men on the ration scale;
also 25 lb. weight of special foods—'perks'..... 475 lb. 0 oz.

Dog Food: Dried seal meat, blubber and pemmican; also the weight of
the tin and bag-containers.............. 700 lb. 0 oz.

Total........................ 1723 lb. 11.3 oz.

Madigan's and Stillwell's parties broke trail to the east on the morning of
the 17th while we were still attending to the sledges and dogs preparatory to
departure. It was decided that Gadget, a rather miserable animal, who had
shown herself useless as a puller thus far, should be killed. The following
dogs then remained:—Basilisk, Shackleton, Ginger Bitch, Franklin, John
Bull, Mary, Haldane, Pavlova, Fusilier, Jappy, Ginger, George, Johnson,
Castor, Betli and Blizzard.
We went in pursuit of the other six men over a surface of rough sastrugi.
The dogs, who were in fine fettle, rushed the sledges along, making frantic
efforts to catch up to the parties ahead, who showed as black specks across
the white undulating plain.
At noon all lunched together, after which we separated, shaking hands
warmly all round and interchanging the sledgers' "Good luck!" Our dogs
drew away rapidly to the east, travelling on a slight down grade; the other
two parties with their man-hauled sledges following in the same direction.
The surface was splendid, the weather conditions were ideal, the pace, if
anything, too rapid, for capsizes were apt to occur in racing over high

sastrugi. Any doubts as to the capability of the dogs to pull the loads were
dispelled; in fact, on this and on many subsequent occasions, two of us were
able to sit, each one on a sledge, while the third broke trail ahead.
In sledging over wide, monotonous wastes with dogs as the motive
power, it is necessary to have a forerunner, that is, somebody to go ahead
and point the way, otherwise the dogs will run aimlessly about. Returning
over old tracks, they will pull along steadily and keep a course. In Adelie
Land we had no opportunity of verifying this, as the continuous winds soon
obliterated the impression of the runners.
If the weather is reasonably good and food is ample, sledging dogs enjoy
their work. Their desire to pull is doubtless inborn, implanted in a long line
of ancestors who have faithfully served the Esquimaux. We found that the
dogs were glad to get their harnesses on and to be led away to the sledge.
Really, it was often a case of the dog leading the man, for, as soon as its
harness was in place, the impatient animal strained to drag whatever might
be attached to the other end of the rope. Before attaching a team of dogs to
a sledge, it was necessary to anchor the latter firmly, otherwise in their
ardour they would make off with it before everything was ready.
There can be no question as to the value of dogs as a means of traction in
the Polar regions, except when travelling continuously over very rugged
country, over heavily crevassed areas, or during unusually bad weather. It is
in such special stances that the superiority of man-hauling has been proved.
Further, in an enterprise where human life is always at stake, it is only fair
to put forward the consideration that the dogs represent a reserve of food in
case of extreme emergency.
We continued due eastwards until five o'clock on the afternoon of the
17th at an altitude of two thousand six hundred feet. On the crest of a ridge,
which bore away in distinct outline, on our left, a fine panorama of coastal
scenery was visible. Far off on the eastern horizon the Mertz Glacier
Tongue discovered itself in a long wall touched in luminous bands by the
south-western sun. A wide valley fell away in front, and beyond it was a
deep indentation of the coastline, which would make it necessary for us to
follow a more southerly course in order to round its head.
I determined to convey to the other parties my intentions, which had
become more defined on seeing this view; and, in the meantime, we halted
and treated ourselves to afternoon tea. This innovation in the ordinary

routine was extended to a custom by saving a portion of the lunch ration for
a "snack" at 5 P.M. on all days when the weather was moderately good. As
latitude sights were required at midday and longitude shots at 5 P.M., the
arrangement was very convenient, for, while one of us made tea, the other
two took the observations.
About 6 P.M. the two man-hauled sledges came up with us, our plans for
the future were reviewed and the final instructions were given. We bade our
comrades adieu and, turning to the south-east, descended quickly down a
long slope leading into the valley. The sky was overcast and it was almost
impossible to see the irregularities of the surface. Only a dull-white glare
met the eyes, and the first indication of a hillock was to stub one's toes
against it, or of a depression to fall into it. We pulled up the dogs at 7.30
P.M. after covering thirteen and a quarter miles in the day.
At 9.45 A.M. on November 18 everything was ready for a fresh start. The
other parties could be seen rapidly bearing down on us under full sail, but
our willing teams had soon dragged the three sledges over an eminence and
out of their sight.
It was a lovely day; almost like a dream after the lengthy months of
harassing blizzards. A venturesome skua gull appeared at lunch time, just as
an observation for latitude was being taken. By the time Ninnis had
unpacked the rifle the bird had flown away.
The direction of the sastrugi was found to vary from that which obtained
farther west, owing to a slight swing in the direction of the prevailing wind.
The irregularities in the coastline account for this; the wind tending to flow
down to sea-level by the nearest route.
To the north-west, behind us, a projecting ridge of rock—Madigan
Nunatak—came into sight. From the camp of the previous evening it had
evidently been hidden from view by an undulation in the surface.
During the afternoon it was noted that the surface had become very
deeply eroded by the wind, troughs three feet in depth being common, into
which the sledges frequently capsized. Each of us took it in turn to run
ahead, jumping from one sastruga to another. As these were firm and
polished by the constant wind, one often slipped with a sudden shock to the
ground. Our bodies were well padded with clothing and we were beginning
to get into good form, so that these habitual tumbles were taken with the
best grace we could muster. I surprised myself during the afternoon, when

my turn came as forerunner, by covering two and a half miles at a jog-trot
without a break. The grade was slightly downhill and the sledges moved
along of their own accord, accelerated by jerks from the dogs, gliding at
right angles to the knife-edge crests of the snow-waves.
The roughness of the surface was not without its effect on the sledge-
meter, which had to be repaired temporarily. It was a matter of some
inconvenience that after this date its records were erroneous and
approximate distances were only obtained by checking the readings against
absolute observations made for latitude and longitude.
At 5.30 P.M. a dark object stood in salient relief above the white contour
of the snowy sky-line on the right. Suppressing our excitement, we pressed
on eagerly, changing course so as to approach it. At nine o'clock it resolved
itself into the summit of an imposing mountain rising up from a mysterious
valley. Aurora Peak, as it was named, was to be a prominent landmark for
several days to come.
All were ready to be on the move at 8.45 A.M. on November 19. While
Mertz and Ninnis built a cairn of snow, I wrote a note to be left on it in a
tin, containing instructions to Stillwell in case he should happen on the
locality.
The weather was good and the temperatures were high, ranging at this
time (one month from midsummer) between zero and 18 degrees F. When
we camped for lunch the air was quite calm and the sun's rays were
extremely warm.
The surface became softer and smoother as the afternoon lengthened
until Mertz was tempted to put on his skis. He then became forerunner for
the remainder of the day.
Mertz, who was skilled in the use of skis, found them of great service on
this and on many future occasions. At such times he would relieve Ninnis
and myself in the van. On the other hand, over deeply furrowed sastrugi or
blue ice, or during a strong wind, unless it were at our backs, skiing was
impossible.
Owing to a steeper down grade, the sledges were now commencing to
run more freely and improvised brakes were tried, all of which were
ineffectual in restraining the dogs. The pace became so hot that a small
obstacle would capsize the sledge, causing it to roll over and over down the
slope. The dogs, frantically pulling in various directions to keep ahead of

the load, became hopelessly entangled in their traces and were dragged
along unresistingly until the sledge stopped of its own accord or was
arrested by one of us. At length, most of the dogs were allowed to run loose,
and, with a man holding on behind and a couple of dogs pulling ahead, the
loads were piloted down a steep slope for several miles.
The evening camp was situated at the crest of the last but steepest fall
into a wide glacial valley which was clearly seen to sweep northwards past
the eastern side of Aurora Peak. Looking back we could define our track
winding down in the bed of a long shallow valley, while, uprising on either
hand near the rim of the plateau were crevassed bluffs where the ice of the
tableland streamed abruptly over the underlying crags.
Ninnis had a touch of snow-blindness which rapidly improved under
treatment. The stock cure for this very irritating and painful affection is to
place first of all tiny "tabloids" of zinc sulphate and cocaine hydrochloride
under the eyelids where they quickly dissolve in the tears, alleviating the
smarting, "gritty" sensation which is usually described by the sufferer. He
then bandages the eyes and escapes, if he is lucky, into the darkness of his
sleeping-bag.
In certain lights one is sure to be attacked more or less severely, and
coloured glasses should be worn continually. Unfortunately, goggles are
sometimes impracticable on account of the moisture from the breath
covering the glasses with an icy film or driving snow clogging them and
obscuring the view. For such contingencies narrow slots of various shapes
are cut in plates or discs of wood or bone in the Esquimaux fashion. The
amount of light reaching the eye can thus be reduced to the limit of
moderately clear vision.
The morning of the 20th broke with wind and drift which persisted until
after noon. Already everything had been packed up, but, as there was a
steep fall in front and crevasses were not far distant, we decided not to start
until the air was clear of snow.
When at last a move was possible, it became evident that the dogs could
not be trusted to pull the sledges down to the edge of the glacier. So they
were tethered to ice-axes while we lowered the sledges one by one, all three
checking their speed, assisted by rope brakes round the runners. Finally, the
impatient dogs were brought down and harnessed in their accustomed
places.

Rapid travelling now commenced over a perfectly smooth surface,
sloping gently to the bed of the glacier. Mertz shot ahead on skis, and our
column of dogs and sledges followed quickly in his trail.
From this day forward our "order of procession" was as follows:—
Behind the forerunner came a team of dogs dragging two sledges joined
together by a short length of alpine rope. Bringing up the rear were the rest
of the dogs dragging the third sledge. Each team pulled approximately
equal weights; the front load being divided between two sledges. Except
when taking my turn ahead, I looked after the leading team, Ninnis or
Mertz, as the case might be, driving the one behind.
We skirted Aurora Peak on its south-eastern side. The mountain rose to a
height of about seventeen hundred feet on our left, its steep sides being
almost completely snow-clad.
The wide depression of the Mertz Glacier lay ahead, and on its far side
the dim outline of uprising icy slopes was visible, though at the time we
could not be certain as to their precise nature.
As the sledges passed Aurora Peak, Blizzard and Ginger Bitch ran
alongside. The former had hurt one of her forefeet on the previous day
during the "rough-and-tumble" descending into the valley. Ginger Bitch was
allowed to go free because she was daily expected to give birth to pups. As
she was such a good sledge-dog we could not have afforded to leave her
behind at the Hut, and later events proved that the work seemed actually to
benefit her, for she was at all times the best puller and the strongest of the
pack. However, in permitting both dogs to run loose that afternoon, there
was an element of danger which we had not sufficiently appreciated.
Suddenly, without any warning, half of my dogs dropped out of sight,
swinging on their harness ropes in a crevasse. Next moment I realized that
the sledges were in the centre of a bridge covering a crevasse, twenty-five
feet wide, along the edge of which part of the team had broken through.
We spent many anxious moments before they were all hauled to the
daylight and the sledge rested on solid ground. There were other crevasses
about and almost immediately afterwards Ginger Bitch and Blizzard had
broken through into a fissure and were frantically struggling to maintain
their hold on the edge. They were speedily rescued; following which Ginger
Bitch gave birth to the first of a large litter of pups. After this second
accident we decided to camp.

During the morning of November 21 there was a good deal of wind and
drift which made travelling rather miserable. Occasionally open crevasses
would break the surface of the snow.
When the light at last improved, a nunatak was observed some fifteen
miles or more to the south rising out of the glacier—Correll Nunatak.
Ahead of us was a glittering line of broken ice, stretching at right angles to
our path. Studded about on the icy plain were immense cauldrons, like
small craters in appearance. Then an area dotted over with ice mounds
approached and crevasses became correspondingly more numerous. The
dogs frequently broke through them but were easily extricated in every
instance.
Camp was pitched for lunch in the vicinity of many gaping holes leading
down into darkness, places where the bridges over large crevasses had
fallen in. Mertz prepared the lunch and Ninnis and I went to photograph an
open crevasse near by. Returning, we diverged on reaching the back of the
tent, he passing round on one side and I on the other. The next instant I
heard a bang on the ice and, swinging round, could see nothing of my
companion but his head and arms. He had broken through the lid of a
crevasse fifteen feet wide and was hanging on to its edge close to where the
camera lay damaged on the ice. He was soon dragged into safety. Looking
down into the black depths we realized how narrowly he had escaped. As
the tent was found to encroach partly on the same crevasse, it may be
imagined that we did not dally long over the meal.
In the afternoon the weather became clear and fine, but, as if to offset
this, the broken surface became impassable. The region was one of serac
where the glacier was puckered up, folded and crushed. After several
repulses in what seemed to be promising directions, we were finally forced
to camp, having ten miles to our credit.
Whilst Mertz fed the dogs and prepared hoosh, Ninnis and I roped up and
went off to search for a passage.
All around, the glacier was pressed up into great folds, two hundred feet
in height and between one quarter and a third of a mile from crest to crest.
The ridges of the folds were either domes or open rifts partly choked with
snow. Precipitous ice-falls and deep cauldrons were encountered
everywhere. To the north the glacier flattened out; to the south it was more
rugged.

In this chaos we wandered for some miles until a favourable line of
advance had been discovered for the march on the following day.
The first three miles, on the 22nd, were over a piece of very dangerous
country, after which our prospects improved and we came to the border of a
level plain.
There Mertz slipped on his skis, went ahead and set a good pace.
Although the sky had become overcast and snow fell fitfully, our progress
was rapid towards the rising slopes of the land on the eastern side of the
glacier. Over the last three miles of the day's journey the surface was raised
in large, pimply masses surrounded by wide fissures. Into one of the
fissures, bridged by snow, Ninnis's sledge fell, but fortunately jammed itself
just below the surface. As it was, we had a long job getting it up again,
having to unpack the sledge in the crevasse until it was light enough to be
easily manipulated. Despite the delay, our day's run was sixteen and a half
miles.
At 8 A.M. on the 23rd everything was in readiness for a fresh start.
Moderate drift and wind descended from the hills and there were yet three
miles of hidden perils to be passed. With the object of making our advance
less dangerous, various devices were employed.
First of all the towing rope of the rear sledge was secured to the back of
the preceding sledge. This arrangement had to be abandoned because the
dogs of Ninnis's team persisted in entangling themselves and working
independently of the dogs in front. Next, all the sledges were joined
together with all the dogs pulling in front. The procession was then so long
that it was quite unmanageable on account of the tortuous nature of our
track through the labyrinth. In the long run, it was decided that our original
method was the best, provided that special precautions were taken over the
more hazardous crossings.
The usual procedure was, that the forerunner selected the best crossing of
a crevasse, testing it with a ski-stick. The dog teams were then brought up
to the spot and the forerunner went over the snow-bridge and stood on the
other side, sufficiently far away to allow the first team to cross to him and
to clear the crevasse. Then the second team was piloted to safety before the
forerunner had resumed his position in front. This precaution was very
necessary, for otherwise the dogs in the rear would make a course direct for
wherever the front dogs happened to be, cutting across corners and most

probably dragging their sledge sideways into a crevasse; the likeliest way to
lose it altogether.
Often enough the dogs broke through the snow-bridges on the morning of
the 23rd, but only once were matters serious, when Ninnis's sledge,
doubtless on account of its extra weight, again broke through a lid of snow
and was securely jammed in a crevasse just below the surface.
On this occasion we were in a serious predicament, for the sledge was in
such a position that an unskilful movement would have sent it hurling into
the chasm below. So the unpacking of the load was a tedious and delicate
operation. The freight consisted chiefly of large, soldered tins, packed
tightly with dried seal meat. Each of these weighed about ninety pounds and
all were most securely roped to the sledge. The sledge was got up and
reloaded without the loss of a single tin, and once more we breathed freely.
A valley almost free of crevasses was chosen as the upward track to the
plateau. We threw in our weight hauling with the dogs, and had a long,
steep drag over furrowed neve, pitching the tent after a day's journey of
twelve miles.
On waking up on November 24 I found that my watch had stopped. I had
been so tired on the previous evening that I had fallen asleep without
remembering to wind it. The penalty of this accident was paid in my being
forced to take an extra set of observations in order to start the watch again
at correct time relative to the Hut.
Besides the observations for position, necessary for navigation, sets of
angles were taken from time to time to fix the positions of objects of
interest appearing within the field of view, while the magnetic variation was
obtained at intervals. In this work Ninnis always assisted me. Mertz boiled
the hypsometer when necessary to ascertain our elevation above sea-level.
The meteorological conditions were carefully noted several times each day
for future comparison with those of other parties and of Winter Quarters.
The day's work on November 24 brought us high up on the slopes. Away
to the north-west Aurora Peak was still visible, standing up like a mighty
beacon pointing the way back to the Hut. Below lay the Mertz Glacier
extending out to sea as a floating tongue beyond the horizon. Inland, some
twenty miles to the south, it mounted up in seamed and riven "cataracts" to
a smooth, broad and shallow groove which wound into the ice-cap. Ahead,
on our south-east course, the ground still rose, but to the north-east the ice-

sheet fell away in long wide valleys, at the extremity of some of which
icebergs were visible frozen into distant sea-ice.
The tent was raised at 10 P.M. in a forty-mile wind with light drift;
temperature 10 degrees F. The altitude of this camp was two thousand three
hundred and fifty feet.
One of the worst features of drift overnight is that sledges and dogs
become buried in snow and have to be dug out in the morning. Thus on the
25th it was 10 A.M. before we got away in a strong wind, with flying snow,
across fields of sastrugi.
The dogs detested the wind and, as their heads were so near the ground,
they must have found the incessant stream of thick drift very tantalizing.
The snow became caked over their eyes so that every few minutes they had
to scrape it away with their paws or rub their faces on the ground.
We stopped at 6 P.M. after a miserable day, covering sixteen miles in all.
November 26 broke overcast, the light being bad for travelling and the
wind still strong. Nevertheless we set out at 10 A.M. through falling snow.
As the day progressed the wind subsided and Mertz was able to put on
his skis over a surface which sloped gradually away to the east. The light
was diffused uniformly over the irregularities of snow and ice so that
depressions only a few feet away were invisible. Black objects, on the other
hand, stood out with startling distinctness, and our attention was soon
arrested by a hazy, dark patch which appeared in front and to the left. At
first there was much doubt as to its nature, but it was soon clear that it must
be a group of rocks, apparently situated at a considerable distance. They
were subsequently found to be sixty miles away (Organ Pipe Cliffs, near
Cape Blake).
Presently our course ended abruptly at the edge of a precipitous fall. We
skirted round this for a while, but were ultimately forced to camp owing to
the uncertainty of the light and the proximity of several large crevasses.
At 11 P.M. the sky cleared and a better idea could be gained of what lay
ahead. In a line between our elevated position and the distant rocky
outcrops the ice fell in a steep descent to a broad, glacial valley, undulating
and in places traversed by torn masses of serac-ice. We examined the
country to the east very carefully with a view to selecting a track for the
journey next day and finally resolved to pass to the south of a large ice-

capped island—Dixson Island, which was only about ten miles to the north-
east, set within Ninnis Glacier near its western border
On the 27th Mertz and I roped up, reconnoitred for a while and returned
to the sledges. We then spent several hours in advancing a mile over badly
broken ground, arriving at a slope covered with sastrugi and descending
steeply for one thousand feet into the bed of the glacier.
In order the more safely to negotiate this, the dogs were all let loose
excepting two in each sledge. Even then the sledges were often
uncontrollable, rolling over and over many times before the bottom was
reached.
When the dogs were re-harnessed it was found that Betli was missing and
was not to be seen when we scanned the slopes in our rear with binoculars.
It was expected that unless she had fallen into a crevasse she would turn up
at the camp that night. However, she did not reappear, and we saw no more
of her. Two other dogs, Jappy and Fusilier, had been previously killed, as
neither was of any use as a puller. Blizzard, who had been always a great
favourite with us, had to be shot next day.
When it had reached the edge of the glacier, our path led over a solid
ocean rising and faring in billows, two hundred and fifty feet in height; no
doubt caused by the glacier in its northward movement being compressed
against the southern side of Dixson Island. Still, the "caravan" made
considerable progress, ending with a day's journey of sixteen miles.
During the small hours of November 28 the wind rose to a velocity of
sixty miles per hour, but gradually diminished to a twenty-knot breeze as
the day advanced. Light snow fell from a sky which was densely clouded.
We still pursued a devious track amid rolling waves of ice, encountering
beds of soft snow through which the sledges moved slowly. By 6 P.M.
pinnacles and hummocks stood around on every side, and the light was such
that one could not distinguish crevasses until he was on top of them. We had
to camp and be satisfied with seven miles "to the good." By this time the
dogs were in good training and grew noticeably ravenous. In the evening,
before they were properly tethered, Shackleton seized a one-week provision
bag, ripped it open and ate a block of butter weighing more than two and a
half pounds. This was a loss to us, as butter was regarded as a particular
delicacy.

The sun was shining brightly next day and it was at once evident that we
were in a zone of tumbled and disrupted ice.
For many hours a way was won through a mighty turmoil of serac and
over innumerable crevasses with varied fortune. Just before lunch my two
sledges were nearly lost through the dogs swinging sharply to one side
before the second sledge had cleared a rather rotten snow-bridge. I was up
with the dogs at the time, and the first intimation I received of an accident
was on seeing the dogs and front sledge being dragged backwards; the rear
sledge was hanging vertically in a crevasse. Exerting all my strength I held
back the front sledge, and in a few moments was joined by Ninnis and
Mertz, who soon drove a pick and ice-axe down between the runners and
ran out an anchoring rope.
It was a ticklish business recovering the sledge which hung suspended in
the crevasse. It could not be lifted vertically as its bow was caught in a V-
shaped cornice formed by an overhanging mass of snow. To add to our
troubles the ground all about the place was precarious and unsafe.
Mertz and Ninnis therefore lowered me down and I attached a rope to the
tail-end of the sledge. The bow-rope and tail-rope were then manipulated
alternately until the bow of the sledge was manoeuvred slowly through the
gaping hole in the snow-lid and was finally hauled up on to level ground.
No more remarkable test of the efficiency of the sledge straps and the
compactness of the load could have been made.
After lunch Mertz ascended a high point and was able to trace out a route
which conducted us in a few hours to a better surface.
We were now at an elevation of from four hundred to five hundred feet
above sea-level, running across a beam-wind on our right which increased
during the afternoon. A rising blizzard made it necessary to camp after a
day's run of ten and one-third miles.
The wind blew up to seventy miles an hour during the night, but eased in
strength early on November 30. At 10 A.M. we tried to make a start, but the
dogs refused to face the drift. On the wind becoming gusty in the afternoon,
it was once more possible to travel, and we set out.
Dense drift was still to be seen pouring over the highlands to the south-
east. Above the glacier ahead whirlies, out-lined in high revolving columns
of snow, "stalked about" in their wayward courses.

The sledges ran through a sea of crevassed, blue ice, over ridges and past
open chasms. Seven miles brought us to the "foot-hills" on the eastern
border of the Ninnis Glacier, where we pitched camp.
The first day of December was still and hot, with brilliant sunshine. The
shade temperature reached 34 degrees F. and the snow became so sticky
that it was as much as we and the dogs could do to move the sledges up the
slopes. As the evening lengthened and the sun sank lower the surface froze
hard and our toil was lightened. At midnight we reached an altitude of nine
hundred feet.
December 2 was another warm, bright day. The surface was atrociously
bad; hard, sharp sastrugi, never less than two feet high and in many
instances three feet six inches from crest to trough. The dogs were not able
to exert a united pull for there were never more than half of them in action
at a time.
Once more we were at a comparatively high altitude and a fine view
presented itself to the north. One could look back to the mainland slopes
descending on the western side of the Ninnis Glacier. Then the glacier,
tumultuous and broken, was seen to extend far out into the frozen sea and,
sweeping round to the north-east, the eye ranged over a great expanse of
floe-ice dotted with bergs. To the east there was a precipitous coastline of
dark rock which for a while we thought of visiting. But then it seemed
likely that Madigan's party would reach as far east, so we set our faces once
more to the rising plateau in the south-east.
At midnight the sun was peering over the southern sky-line, and we
halted at an elevation of one thousand five hundred and fifty feet, having
covered eight and a half miles in the day. The temperature was 5 degrees F.
"December 3.—We were not long on the way before the sky became
overcast and light snow fell. The surface was becoming flatter. Camp was
pitched at 11 P.M. after eleven and two-thirds miles.
"December 4.—Another day of bad light but the surface improved and
good headway was made on an easterly course at an elevation of between
two thousand and two thousand eight hundred feet. The crevasses were
practically past. The day's march was fifteen miles.
"December 5.—A bad day; overcast, snowing and a gale of wind from
the east-south-east. However, we plugged on blindly into it until 7.30 P.M.
and then camped, having done eleven and a half miles.

"December 6, 7 and 8.—During these days a dense blizzard raged, the
wind reaching seventy miles per hour. There was nothing to do but lie in
our bags and think out plans for the future. Each morning Ninnis and Mertz
took it in turns to go out and feed their charges, who were snugly buried in
the deep snow.
"One day in the sleeping-bag does not come amiss after long marches,
but three days on end is enough to bore any one thoroughly.
"Ninnis was not so badly off with a volume of Thackeray, but Mertz had
come to the end of a small edition of 'Sherlock Holmes' when blizzard-
bound near Aladdin's Cave, and his only diversion on these days was to
recite passages from memory for our mutual benefit."
I was troubled with an inflammation in the face just at this time, while
Ninnis suffered pain owing to a "whitlow" on one of his fingers.
As usual the food ration was reduced. This caused us to have more than
ordinarily vivid dreams. I happened to be awake one night when Ninnis was
sledging in imagination, vociferously shouting, "Hike, hike," to the dogs;
our equivalent of the usual "Mush, mush."
Despite considerable wind and drift we got away at 8 A.M. on December
9. The sky was overcast and there was nothing to be seen except a soft
carpet of newly fallen snow into which we sank half-way to the knees. The
sledges ran deeply and heavily so that the dogs had to be assisted. Ahead
Mertz glided along triumphant, for it was on such occasions that skis were
of the greatest assistance to him.
During the day a snow petrel circled above us for a while and then
returned to the north.
The course was due east at an elevation of two thousand three hundred
feet and the total distance we threw behind during the day was sixteen and a
half miles.
On the 10th light wind and low drift were the order of things. Our spirits
rose when the sky cleared and a slight down grade commenced.
During the morning Ninnis drew our attention to what appeared to be
small ice-capped islets fringing the coast, but the distance was too great for
us to be sure of their exact nature. Out near the verge of the horizon a tract
of frozen sea with scattered bergs could be seen.

Next day more features were distinguishable. The coast was seen to run
in a north-easterly direction as a long peninsula ending in a sharp cape—
Cape Freshfield. The north appeared to be filled with frozen sea though we
could not be certain that it was not dense pack-ice. Little did we know that
Madigan's party, about a week later, would be marching over the frozen sea
towards Cape Freshfield in the north-east.
At 10 P.M. on the 11th, at an altitude of one thousand eight hundred feet,
the highland we were traversing fell away rapidly and sea-ice opened up
directly in front of us. The coastal downfalls to the south-east fell in rugged
masses to a vertical barrier, off the seaward face of which large, tabular
bergs were grouped within environing floe.
Throughout December 12 a somewhat irregular course was made to the
south-east and south to avoid the broken area ahead. We had had enough of
crevasses and wished to be clear of serac-ice in the future.
For some days Ninnis had been enduring the throbbing pain of a whitlow
and had not been having sufficient sleep. He always did his share of the
work and had undoubtedly borne a great deal of pain without showing it.
On several nights I noticed that he sat up in his sleeping-bag for hours
puffing away at a pipe or reading. At last the pain became so acute that he
asked me to lance his finger. This was successfully accomplished after
breakfast on the 13th and during the day he had much relief.
While Ninnis rested before we made a start, Mertz and I re-arranged the
sledges and their loads. A third sledge was no longer necessary, so the one
usually driven by Ninnis, which had been damaged, was discarded and all
the gear was divided between the other two sledges in nearly equal
amounts. When the work was completed, the rear sledge carried an extra
weight of fifty pounds. As, however, both food for men and dogs were to
come from it, we reckoned that this superadded load would soon diminish.
On we went, during the afternoon, up a steep ascent. Crevasses were so
numerous that we took measures to vent them. Some were as much as a
hundred feet in width, filled with snow; others were great open holes or like
huge cauldrons. Close to the windward edge of some of the latter high
ramps of neve with bluff faces on the windward side stood up like
monoliths reaching twenty-five feet in maximum height.
In the evening a field of neve was reached and we felt more placid after
the anxiety of the preceding hours.

During the passage of a snow-filled valley a dull, booming sound like the
noise of far-distant cannon was heard. It was evidently connected with the
subsidence of large areas of the surface crust. Apparently large cavities had
formed beneath the snow and the weight of ourselves and the sledges
caused the crust to sink and the air to be expelled.
The sun appeared late in the day and, as it was almost calm, the last few
hours of marching were very pleasant. At midnight we camped at an
altitude of one thousand nine hundred feet.
A light east-south-east wind was blowing as the sledges started away
eastward on the morning of December 14. The weather was sunny and the
temperature registered 21 degrees F.
Mertz and I were happy to know that Ninnis had slept well and was
feeling much better.
Our march was interrupted at noon by a latitude observation, after which
Mertz went ahead on skis singing his student songs. The dogs rose to the
occasion and pulled eagerly and well. Everything was for once in harmony
and the time was at hand when we should turn our faces homewards.
Mertz was well in advance of us when I noticed him hold up his ski-stick
and then go on. This was a signal for something unusual so, as I approached
the vicinity, I looked out for crevasses or some other explanation of his
action. As a matter of fact crevasses were not expected, since we were on a
smooth surface of neve well to the southward of the broken coastal slopes.
On reaching the spot where Mertz had signalled and seeing no sign of any
irregularity, I jumped on to the sledge, got out the book of tables and
commenced to figure out the latitude observation taken on that day.
Glancing at the ground a moment after, I noticed the faint indication of a
crevasse. It was but one of many hundred similar ones we had crossed and
had no specially dangerous appearance, but still I turned quickly round,
called out a warning word to Ninnis and then dismissed it from my
thoughts.
Ninnis, who was walking along by the side of his sledge, close behind
my own, heard the warning, for in my backward glance I noticed that he
immediately swung the leading dogs so as to cross the crevasse squarely
instead of diagonally as I had done. I then went on with my work.
There was no sound from behind except a faint, plaintive whine from one
of the dogs which I imagined was in reply to a touch from Ninnis's whip. I