# 1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Antarctic Regions

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​ANTARCTIC REGIONS (see 21.960). The expedition planned by Dr. W. S. Bruce for crossing the Antarctic continent in 1911–2, from Coats Land on the Weddell Sea to McMurdo Sound in the Ross Sea, was not proceeded with, and two American expeditions which were contemplated at the same time did not advance beyond the stage of projects.
Shirase (1910–2). A Japanese expedition to Edward VII. Land was fitted out under the command of Lt. Shirase in 1910 and left Japan in that year on board the “Kainan Maru.” It entered the Ross Sea too late to make a landing, and after wintering in Sydney returned in 1911–2, when a landing was effected on the Barrier in the Bay of Whales on Jan. 16, but no discoveries were reported and no account appears to have been published in any European language.
Amundsen (1910–2). Capt. Roald Amundsen sailed from Norway in the “Fram” (which had been fitted with internal combustion engines) in Aug. 1910 with the avowed intention of carrying out oceanographical work in the South Atlantic and of proceeding round Cape Horn to Bering Strait, where he proposed to repeat Nansen's drift across the Arctic sea from a more easterly starting-place. The announcement of Peary's attainment of the North Pole in 1909 convinced Amundsen that he could not raise sufficient funds for his proposed five years' absence, and he determined to make a dash for the South Pole in order to raise money for the greater project. His change of plan was announced to the world at Madeira in Sept., and on Jan. 14 1911 the “Fram” was alongside the Barrier in the Bay of Whales, lat. 78 40′ S. long. 164 W. The 116 Eskimo dogs were landed and a hut, “Framheim,” erected on the Barrier 2¼ m. inland, the point of departure for the Pole being that originally proposed by Shackleton in 1907. On Feb. 15 1911 the “Fram,” under Lt. Thorvald Nilsen with nine men, sailed for an oceanographical circumnavigation, with Buenos Aires as the first port of call. Amundsen started on his first depot-laying journey on Feb. 10, and by April 11 had moved 3 tons of provisions to three ​
depots in 80, 81 and 82 S. respectively. A start for the main south journey was made on Sept. 8 but the cold proved too severe (-58 to -75 F.) for the dogs and the party returned to winter quarters for a month. On Oct. 20 1911 (with temp. -5 to -23 F.) Amundsen left again with four companions, Helmer Hansen, Oscar Wisting, Sverre Hassel and Olav Bjaa- land, four sledges and 52 dogs. At each original depot they rested a day and gave the dogs a full feed from the stores; but on Nov. 8 they left the depot in lat. 82 S., carrying four months' provisions and travelling about 30 m. a day over the smooth Barrier surface, the men using ski. At every degree of latitude the sledges were lightened by fornu'ng a depot of provisions for the return journey. On Nov. 9 the mountains of South Victoria Land were sighted, and on the nth another range of mountains was seen joining the Victoria Land range from the direction of Edward VII. Land, and thus forming the southern boundary of the great flat Barrier surface, which apparently did not extend far beyond lat. 85 S. On Nov. 17 a large depot was left in lat. 85 S. at the base of the Queen Maud range which formed the continuation of the Victoria Land mountains, at a point 200 m. S. of the Beardmore glacier. From this point the climb to the Plateau began through magnificent scenery of glaciers and peaks, the heights of which were estimated as 10,000, 15,000 and even 19,000 feet. A way was found to the summit of the Plateau by the Axel Heiberg glacier which was negotiated by the dogs with much difficulty. Four days were occupied in the ascent to a level stretch at 7,000 ft.; and severe weather compelled a halt at this point for four days more. Here 24 dogs were killed, leaving 18 to work the three sledges. A start due S. was made on Nov. 26 and for two days severe blizzards made it impossible to see the surroundings, but the course lay on a descending gradient. On Nov. 29 a depot with six days' provisions was made at the foot of the Devil's glacier in lat. 86 21' S. On Dec. i at a height of about 9,000 ft. the way led over a smooth ice surface on which it was impossible to use ski, while under the tread it sounded like walking on empty barrels, and both men and dogs frequently broke through the thin crust of ice. This tract, called " The Devil's Ball Room," proved the worst travelling of the whole trip. Next day in lat. 88 S. the highest swell of the Plateau, estimated at 11,000 ft., was passed and in a few days the weather improved, travelling was easy, and on Dec. 14 1911 the position of the South Pole was reached. The total distance from Framheim of about 870 m. was accom- plished in 49 days of actual travelling, the average daily distance being 17 miles. After remaining two days at the Pole to secure sufficient observations to fix the position, Amundsen and his party returned to Framheim in 38 days, picking up the depots in succession and making an average of 23 m. per day in fine weather without any untoward incident. The health of the men and the ii surviving dogs was perfect throughout the 96 days of the double journey. During the absence of the southern party Lt. K. Prestrud with Frederik H. Johansen and Jorgen Stubberud made a journey to Edward VII. Land with two sledges and 14 dogs. They were absent from Framheim (where Lindstrom the cook was left in charge) from Nov. 8 to Dec. 16 1911 and reached Scott's Nunatak, which was found to reach a height of 1,700 ft. and was covered with thick moss. The " Fram " returned to the Bay of Whales on Jan. n 1912 and the whole party sailed for home on Jan. 30, after the shortest and most successful expedi- tion which ever wintered in the Antarctic. The one object, the attainment of the Pole, had been accomplished quickly and easily and the meteorological observations were of great value in extending the conclusions of other investigators.
Scott (1910-2). Capt. Robert F. Scott's expedition, planned with the double purpose of reaching the South Pole and complet- ing the scientific study of the Ross Sea area, reached McMurdo Sound in the " Terra Nova " on Jan. 4 1911 (after seeking in vain for a safe position near Cape Crozier), and erected a com- modious wooden house for the main base at Cape Evans on Ross I. about half way between Shackleton's base at Cape Royds and the Old " Discovery " headquarters at Hut Point. No polar expedition had been fitted out with greater care for the purpose of scientific research in'meteorology, geolbgy, glaciology and biology.
After landing the stores for the main base at Cape Evans the
Terra Nova," under Comm. Harry Pennell, left on Jan. 25 1911, proceeded eastward along the Barrier and, after failing to land on Edward VII. Land, encountered the " Fram " in the Bay of Whales on Feb. 3.
Scott's Northern Party (1911-2). The eastern party decided to return with news of the Norwegian expedition to Cape Evans, and then to proceed as a northern party to some point beyond Cape North, but this also proved unattainable, and a landing had to be made at Cape Adare on Feb. 18 1911. Here a hut was erected and the northern party, under Comm. Victor L. A. Campbell and including Surg. Gen. Murray Levick, Raymond E. Priestley (geologist and meteorologist) petty-officers G. P. Ab- bott, F. V. Browning and H. Dickason, were landed with stores and sledges but no dogs. One of Borchgrevink's huts built in 1 899 was in good order, the other had been unroofed by a storm but both were serviceable. They passed a stormy winter and con- firmed Borchgrevink's conclusion that it was impossible to make any extensive journeys either on the sea-ice, which frequently blew out to sea, or by land from this base. On Jan. 4 1912 the " Terra Nova " returned and took off the party, landing them with six weeks' provisions a few days later in Terra Nova Bay, just S. of Mt. Melbourne, on the lower slopes of which much geological work was done. The ship failed to return in Feb. as ex- pected, and the winter of 1912 had to be passed in an ice cave on Inexpressible I. (about lat. 75 S.), the party subsisting mainly on seal meat cooked over blubber lamps devised with much ingenuity. This winter, spent almost without stores, was a triumph of adaptability to the hardest possible conditions, and although there was much illness the whole party was able to march when a start for Cape Evans was possible on Sept. 30 1912. The Drygalski glacier tongue was crossed and the party made its way southward along the sea-ice close to shore. On Oct. 28 Gran- ite Harbour was reached and stores left there by Griffith Taylor allowed of full rations of good food for the first time for nine months. The remainder of the 7o-m. march to Cape Evans was assisted by several depots, and they all arrived at Hut Point on Nov. 6 1912, after triumphing over the most difficult condi- tions ever yet surmounted in the Antarctic.
Scott's Western Party (1911-2). During Jan., Feb. and March 1911 Griffith Taylor, with Frank Debenham, Charles S. Wright and P. O. Edgar Evans, made an extensive geological survey and study of the ice phenomenon of the lower valleys of the Western Mountains, from Butter Point southward to the Koettlitz glacier in lat. 78 20' S., and after the winter at Cape Evans, Griffith Taylor made a second western trip with Debenham, Lt. Tryggve Gran and P. O. Forde, completing the geological survey of the lower mountain slopes W. of McMurdo Sound from Butter Point northward to Granite Harbour in lat. 76 50' S. This journey lasted from Nov. 1911 to Feb. 1912 and was rich in scientific results.
Wilson's Winter Journey (1911). The finest adventure of the first winter at Cape Evans was the daring journey in solstitial darkness via Hut Point to Cape Crozier and back by Dr. Edward A. Wilson, Lt. H. R. Bowers and Mr. Apsley Cherry-Garrard. It lasted for 36 days from June 27 to Aug. i 1911, and the total distance traversed by man-hauled sledges was over 100 m., giving an average of about 4 m. per day out and 7 m. a day home. During a stay of ten days an effort was made to study the nesting habits of the emperor penguin. This journey was made in the lowest temperature ever experienced in the Antarctic: many days had readings below -60 -F. and the worst was as low as -77 F. The snow in places was as granular and hard to pull through as sand, and only one sledge could be moved at a time, so that on some days many hours' work only made 2 m. in distance.
Scott's Journey to the South Pole (1911-2). The main object of Capt. Scott's expedition being the great southern journey, steps were taken at the earliest date to lay out depots for the main expedition of the following year. The vital point being transport, means had been taken to provide three alternatives to man-haulage. There were landed at Cape Evans 17 Siberian ​
ponies, 33 Siberian sledge dogs and three motor sledges on the design of which Scott had taken immense pains. The motors were practically useless on account of mechanical defects and were abandoned early in the great march. The health of the animals was a source of unending anxiety and much trouble was ex- perienced in driving them.
The route selected was at first about a day's march to the E. of that taken by Shackleton and consequently far to the E. of that followed by Scott on the " Discovery " expedition, the reason being to get the smooth Barrier ice beyond the influence of the great pressure ridges which disturb the surface near the mountains. But the Plateau was to be reached by Shackleton's way up the Beardmore glacier at which point the tracks converged.
Depots were laid out by Scott in Jan. and Feb. 1911 at Corner Camp in lat. 78 S., Bluff Camp nearly in lat. 79 S. and at One Ton depot which he had hoped to plant in lat. 80 S., but was obliged by circumstances to place in lat. 79 29' S. only a necessity which contributed to the greatest Antarctic disaster on record. In Sept. 1911, when the temperature was usually below -40 F., Scott's second-in-command, Lt. Edward R. A. R. Evans, took additional stores to Corner Camp; but no more distant depots were supplemented before the main southern journey started.
The two motor sledges left Cape Evans on Oct. 24 1911, got over the sea-ice to Hut Point, safely ascended to the Barrier and broke down hopelessly, the first a few miles N. of Corner Camp, the second a few miles S. of Corner Camp on Nov. 3. Thence- forward the southern advance was made by 16 people in three parties of four each, reinforced by two from the motor sledges and two with the dogs, one party ahead breaking the trail, the others following at intervals. Bad weather was experienced, frequent blizzards making the advance difficult. Depots with stores were provided for the returning parties at Mount Hooper in lat. 80 35' S. on Nov. 21 (Day and Hooper of the motor party, who had dragged a sledge so far, left to return three days later), at the Mid Barrier in lat. 81 35' S., at the South Barrier depot in lat. 82 47' S. on Dec. i and at the entrance to the Beardmore glacier in lat. 83 30' S. on Dec. 10. The last of the ponies had broken down and been shot, and from this point Meares and the dog- teams returned northward. The party of 12 pushed on up the Beardmore glacier with three man-hauled sledges, and after leaving a depot in the middle of the glacier, reached the Plateau at 8,000 ft. on Dec. 21 1911 and left the Upper Glacier depot in lat. 85 7' S. Here Dr. Atkinson, Mr. Wright, Mr. Cherry- Garrard and P. O. Keohane returned, and the party of eight went on with two sledges. Ten days later Three Degree depot waa formed in lat. 86 56' S. and at this point Lt. Evans with Crean and Lashley returned. This party was attacked by scurvy as on the southern march from the " Discovery " in 1902, and Lt. Evans broke down on the Barrier and was only rescued by the heroic exertions of his companions. The southern party now consisting of five men: Scott, E. A. Wilson, H. R. Bowers, L. E. G. Dates and P. O. E. Evans made one more depot in lat. 88 29' S. and reached the South Pole on Jan. 18 1912, having made 69 marches averaging over 12 m. per day. His diary shows that in the outward journey Scott's mind was full of care and anxiety, while the disappointment of finding by Amundsen's record that he was not first to reach the Pole was a shock from which his spirits seemed never to recover.
The return journey was commenced without delay, but without any help from animal traction it proved too much for the men. Edgar Evans fell ill first and after causing fatal delay, he died on Feb. 17 on the Beardmore glacier. Dates, feeling his strength exhausted, had the heroism to sacrifice himself rather than cause further delay, and he left the tent on March 17 in 79 50' S. never to return. The last camp was made in lat. 79 40' S., only ii m. from One Ton depot on March 19, and here during a blizzard which raged for several days Scott, Wilson and Bowers met their fate with heroism, Scott writing to the end. The immediate cause of collapse seems to have been^cold, due to the deficiency of oil fuel in the Mount Hooper depot, the reason for which was stated to be evaporation through defective stoppers.
The Winter of 1912 at Cape Evans. During the absence of the southern party the " Terra Nova " had reached Cape Evans in Feb. 1912 and stores were landed, including seven mules from India and 14 dogs. Dr. Atkinson's party, sent back by Scott from the Beardmore glacier, arrived on Jan. 28, and after seeing to matters at the base, Dr. Atkinson went south with the dog- teams in time to rescue Lt. Evans near Corner Camp on Feb. 22, and as the latter was in a serious condition Atkinson stayed with him until he got him on board the " Terra Nova." Cherry- Garrard and Dimitri took 'the dog-teams back to One Ton depot to meet Scott, reaching that point on March 4 and remaining until March 10 in weather that made a further advance S. im- possible, and they got back to Hut Point on the i6th with great difficulty and in a very bad state. The ship left on March 8 to make a final attempt to relieve Campbell's northern party and did not return, so the base party did not know what had happened either to the northern or southern parties. On March 26 Atkinson with P. O. Keohane set out from Hut Point and got as far as Corner Camp, where he turned, being satisfied that Scott's party must have perished. He made one more journey, though it was now very late in the season, and left two weeks' provisions at Butter Point for the northern party, returning to Hut Point on April 23, the day the sun disappeared for the winter. There were 13 souls in the Cape Evans hut that winter, with Dr. Atkinson in charge, Lt. Evans having returned ill to New Zealand and Dr. G. C. Simpson, whose meteorological work had been of unique value, having gone back to his duties in India. On Oct. 30 1912 the whole party, under Dr. Atkinson, with Mr. C. S. Wright as guide, with seven mules and the dogs, set out from Hut Point, an d on Nov. 12 the tent with the bodies of Scott, Wilson and Bowers was discovered in lat. 79 50' S., and the records and collections brought back.
During Dec. 1912 a party of six climbed Mt. Erebus, reaching the summit on the nth, the second occasion of its ascent.
The " Terra Nova " returned on Jan. 18 1913 and a few days later took off the entire party, reaching New Zealand on Feb. 12. The sensation produced by the tragedy of the expedition was profound and a large fund was subscribed for the benefit of the relatives of the dead explorers and for the pro- motion of polar research. The scientific results of the expedition have been worked up and are of the highest value in all depart- ments.
Australian Expedition (iQii4).^An Australian expedition was fitted out under the command of Dr. (later Sir) Douglas Mawson, with Capt. John King Davis as commander of the ship and second-in-command of the expedition, for the purpose of exploring the coast of Antarctica S. of Australia. The expedition left Hobart in the " Aurora " on Dec. 2 1911, and after landing a party with a wireless installation on Macquarie I. (lat. 55 S.) the ship reached Adelie Land, discovered by D'Urville in 1840, and effected a landing in Commonwealth Bay, the position of which was subsequently fixed by wireless time-signals as lat. 67 S., long. 142 40' E. Dr. Mawson with 17 companions was landed here in Jan. 1912. The " Aurora " proceeded westward close along the Antarctic circle. Balleny's Sabrina Land, D'Ur- ville 's Cote Clarie and most of the land reported by Wilkes were found not to exist, 'though an enormous ice-tongue which might well have been taken for part of the continent occupied the position of Termination Land. Just beyond this point Mr. Frank Wild was landed on a new coast called Queen Mary Land in lat. 66 S., long. 94 E., and left with seven companions on Feb. 20 1912, the actual position being on a solid ice-shelf about 17 m. from the high land. The " Aurora " returned to Hobart.
At the main base in Adelie Land autumn sledging proved impossible, and throughout the winter there was a continuous succession of terrific blizzards, wind with an average velocity of 50 m.p.h. for the year, and sometimes with average hourly velocity of over 100 m.p.h. poured torrents of drift snow from the interior into the sea. Only the fact that the hut was buried in the snowdrifts saved it from being carried away. No such weather has been recorded from any other part of the world. In the spring two caverns were excavated in the ice at distances ​
of about 5 and 12 m. respectively from the hut towards the high inland plateau and were stored with provisions for summer sledg- ing; the use of surface depots like those on the Ross Barrier was impossible owing to the wind. Five sledge parties started simul- taneously in Nov. 1912, their paths diverging so as to cover the greatest possible area. The eastern sledging parties under Mr. F. L. Stilwell and C. T. Madigan with Dr. A. L. Maclean and others, mapped the coast and huge glacier tongues as far east as long. 150 20' E., reaching the farthest point on Dec. 18. The land, with a surface rising to 3,000 ft. above the sea, extended far to the east and was named George V. Land. It stretched towards Gates Land sighted by the " Terra Nova " of Scott's expedition. Good rock exposures were found containing coal and fossils. The magnetic pole party from the main base, under Lt. R. Bage with E. N. Webb and J. F. Hurley, travelled out 300 m. with man-hauled sledges and reached 6,500 ft. above sea-level at a point only a few miles from that reached by Sir Douglas Mawson and Sir Edgeworth David from McMurdo Sound on Sir Ernest Shackleton's expedition. The western party from the main base under Mr. F. H. Bickerton, with A. J. Hodgeman and Dr. L. A. Whetter, reached a point on the Antarctic circle in long. 138 E. on Christmas Day, travelling over the Plateau at a height of about 4,000 ft. An air tractor sledge started with this party but broke down after 10 miles.
Dr. Mawson, with Dr. X. Mertz and Lt. B. E. S. Ninnis, using dog sledges, set out for a long journey to the S. E. well inland of Madigan 's party, and had very difficult ground to cover, includ- ing many rises to over 3,000 ft. with intermediate descents to near sea-level, where there were heavily crevassed glaciers. They had got out about 310 m. to nearly long. 152 E. when on Dec. 14 1912 Ninnis, with his sledge and dogs, broke through the snow covering of a crevasse of enormous depth and was instantly killed. Many essential parts of the equipment were lost with the sledge, and only six dogs in poor condition were left. From this point the homeward track was laid farther S. than the outward so as to avoid the great ups and downs, and the travellers pushed on in frequent bad weather on short rations supplemented by the flesh of the dogs. Both suffered severely from the insufficient and loathsome food, and Mertz collapsed on Jan. 6 1913 and died the following day, leaving Mawson alone 100 m. from the hut. After three days spent in cutting down the sledge and rearranging its load Mawson started on his lonely tramp, and after appalling difficulties, when nearly exhausted, he stumbled on a food depot laid out by a search party 20 m. from the hut on Jan. 29 1913. It was Feb. 8 when he reached the hut and saw the " Aurora," but she was outward bound. A fresh relief party had come S. in the ship, and a second winter had to be spent in the hut, the isolation somewhat mitigated by wireless intercourse with Australia via Macquarie Island.
Capt. Davis, after landing the relief party and taking off all the others, waited for the return of Mawson as long as he dared, having in view the necessity of relieving Wild's party in Queen Mary Land, and the fact that every anchor on the ship had been lost in the fight with blizzards in Commonwealth Bay. He reached Wild's base just in time, got the party safely on board and returned to Hobart. From their base in long. 98 E. Wild's party had travelled W. to the Gaussberg in long. 89 E., and E. as far as long. 101 E., mapping the glaciers which descended from a plateau rising above 3,000 ft., as well as several islands off the coast. The " Aurora " returned to Commonwealth Bay on Dec. 13 1913, and after taking the base party on board made another voyage to Queen Mary Land and carried out valuable oceanographical work on the way back to Hobart.
W. Filchner (ign-2). Lt. Wilhelm Filchner organized a German expedition to the Weddell Sea in 1911, and sailed from South Georgia in the " Deutschland " (Capt. Vahsel) on Dec. ii in that year and entered the pack seven days later in lat. 61 S. The ship went S. approximately on the meridian of 30 W. and sighted land on Jan. 29 1912 in lat. 76 S.; about 2 S. and 8 W. of Bruce's Coats Land. The " Deutschland " pro- ceeded along the new coast, named Luitpold Land, to lat. 77 48' S., long. 35 W. on Feb. 2 1912, where an indentation in the
Barrier ice formed Vahsel Bay, whence the land rose to the S. and three nunataks were observed piercing the snow. Efforts to get farther S. on a westerly course failed, and on Feb. 6 it was decided to erect the winter hut on an iceberg which appeared to be firmly frozen to the Barrier and to offer an easy passage for dog-sledges to the land. All stores were transferred to the iceberg, when on Feb. 18 it suddenly began to move and ponies, dogs, stores and as much of the wood as could be saved were hurriedly reembarked. Two small depots of provisions were afterwards laid out on the Barrier ice as a base for land parties while the ship sought for winter quarters; but Capt. Vahsel feared the destruction of the vessel, and induced the leader to change his plans and return to South Georgia for the winter in order to try again next year. The return journey was commenced on March 4 1912, but four days later the ship was beset by young ice in lat. 74 S., long. 31 W., and remained fast, drifting with the winds and currents of the Weddell Sea all winter, on the whole westward and northward until the middle of August, when she was in lat. 66 S. and long. 44 W. Thereafter the drift was eastward and northward until she broke out of the pack in lat. 63 40' S. and long. 36 W. on Nov. 27 1912 and proceeded for home. The drift lasted for 264 days and no land was sighted, although a sledge journey was made westward to long. 45 W. in search of Morrell Land. Capt. Vahsel died during the drift, and the expedition broke up at South Georgia.
Shackleton's Weddell Sea Party (1914-6). Sir Ernest Shackle- ton had completed his preparations for an attempt to cross the Antarctic regions from Weddell Sea to Ross Sea before the outbreak of the World War, and carried out his expedition at the direct order of the Admiralty, which declined his offer of the ships and men for war service. He left England on Aug. 8 1914 in the " Endurance " and sailed from South Georgia on Dec. 5, with the intention of landing in Vahsel Bay and proceeding thence to the South Pole after wintering on the land. The pack was entered in lat. 57 S. and the ship worked her way S. between long. 15 and 20 W. until on Jan. n 1915 she sighted Coats Land, and followed new land named the Caird Coast to Luitpold Land. Here the " Endurance " was beset in the ice on Jan. 18 in lat. 76 34' S., long. 31 30' W. and the voyage was at an end. The " Endurance " drifted in the pack as the " Deutschland " had done three years before, and on a nearly parallel track, moving N. about 10 farther W. and at almost exactly the same rate in the same latitudes. The ice was however much heavier, and in the terrific pressures which occurred the " Endurance " was crushed on Oct. 27, when the expedition of 28 men with 49 dogs abandoned her and camped on the floe. This was in lat. 69 5' S.,. long. 51 30' W., and three weeks later the shattered wreck sank through the ice. The attempt to sledge over the ice westward towards the E. coast of Graham Land was unavailing, as the ship's boats could not be left behind and were too heavy to drag. The party therefore camped on the drifting floe, keeping up scientific observations and maintaining their health and spirits though in continual danger from the floes ridging up or cracking asunder. The drift went on until April 9 1916 when the floe, reduced to a triangle 100 yds. in the side, drifted into the open sea in lat. 62 S., long. 54 W., and the party had to take to their boats, after drifting 292 days in the ship and 165 on the bare ice, 457 days in all. North of lat. 66 S. the drift of the " Deutsch- land " had turned sharp to the E., but that of Sir Ernest Shackle- ton's floe continued in the main due N. ; the difference may have been due to the opposite seasons or to other causes. The three boats safely reached Elephant I. in the South Shetlands, and a shelter was rigged up of two boats, where 22 of the party were left under the capable leadership of Mr. Frank Wild, while Shackleton and five companions set out in the third boat, the " James Caird," for the almost desperate attempt to reach South Georgia. The effort succeeded in great measure through the fine seamanship of Capt. Worsley, and the island was reached in 16 days on May 10 after a voyage of over 800 m., but on the side farthest from the whaling stations. After a four-days rest Shackleton, with two companions, had recovered sufficiently to cross the unknown snow-covered mountains, which had never ​been climbed before, and a steamer was sent round for the others. Sir Ernest Shackleton made strenuous efforts to rescue the Elephant I. party first in a small steamer from South Georgia, then in a trawler from Montevideo, then in a little motor schooner from Punta Arenas, all of which were driven back by the ice floes near the South Shetlands, and finally in the “Yelcho,” a tug from Punta Arenas, in which he reached the island on Aug. 30 1916 and brought back the whole party without a casualty. Shackleton’s Ross Sea Party (1914–7). On the Ross Sea side the “Aurora,” under command of Capt. Aeneas Mackintosh, brought an auxiliary expedition to lay out depots on the Barrier to facilitate the latter part of Shackleton’s march from the Weddell Sea via the South Pole. The “Aurora” reached Cape Evans on Jan. 16 1915, and, while she remained there with the hope of wintering, Mackintosh and a sledge party laid out depots as far as lat. 80 S. by Feb. 20. This was a better record than in Scott’s autumn journey of 1911 ; but it was midwinter before Mackintosh found the ice strong enough to permit of his return to Cape Evans. Early next summer he started S. again; was at the 80 depot on Jan. 6 1916 and with five companions reached Mt. Hope at the mouth of the Beardmore glacier in lat. 83 30′ S. on Jan. 20 where he left a depot. The return journey was one of terrible hardship aggravated by scurvy, and the party narrowly escaped Scott’s fate. Mr. Spencer Smith died, but the rest reached Hut Point on March 18 1916. In their anxiety to get back to the Cape Evans party, Mackintosh and Hayward attempted the journey on the sea-ice on May 8, but the ice was not strong enough and they were lost. It was July before the rest of the southern party reached Cape Evans.
On May 6 1915 the “Aurora,” which had been frozen in and made fast by many cables to the shore at Cape Evans, was blown out to sea with all the ice and was held fast for 315 days, during which time she drifted northward through Ross Sea nearly in the same direction and at nearly the same rate as the “Endurance” was drifting at the same time in the Weddell Sea. She had been severely damaged by ice pressure; but Lt. J. R. Stenhouse, who was in command, rigged a new rudder, and when she was released on March 16 1916 in lat. 62 27′ S., long. 157 30′ E., he brought the disabled vessel safely to New Zealand. The ship was repaired by the New Zealand Government and dispatched under the command of Capt. J. King Davis with Sir Ernest Shackleton on board, and on Jan. 7 1917 she reached Cape Royds and rescued the seven survivors who had come safely through their two winters in spite of shortage of supplies, the winter stores not having all been landed when the ship was blown away. All of the 53 men who returned from the expeditions of the " Endurance " and “Aurora” served in the navy, army or air force during the World War, three being killed and five wounded.
Scientific Results. The scientific results of the expeditions described above could not yet in 1921 be adequately summarized, for the war had retarded the investigation of the collections and the discussion of statistics. It would be impracticable to draw general conclusions as to the physical and biological conditions of the Antarctic regions until the researches of all the expeditions had been published in a comparable form.
All the inferences from earlier work required revision, but specialists of different expeditions had already committed themselves to views which could not be reconciled in the absence of full information from all explorers. This observation applies in particular to the general theory of the meteorology of the South Polar area, as expounded for the Gauss expedition by Prof. Meinardus and for Scott’s last expedition by Dr. G. C. Simpson. The results of the Australian and German expeditions, which were for a great part of the time synchronous with those of Scott and Amundsen, required to be taken into consideration before a general theory of the atmospheric circulation within the Antarctic circle could be established. This is also the case as to geology, and the bearings of geological evidence on the probable nature and extent of the Antarctic continent, and the relations of that land mass to the other continents.
See, in addition to the books referred to in the 11th ed., R. Amundsen, The South Pole (two vols. 1912); L. Huxley, Scott's Last Expedition (two vols. 1913); R. E. Priestley, Antarctic Adventure, Scott’s Northern Party (1914) ; G. Taylor, With Scott, the Silver Lining (1916) ; Sir D. Mawson, The Home of the Blizzard (two vols. 1915); J. K. Davis, With the “Aurora” in the Antarctic (1920) ; Sir E. Shackleton, South (1919). (H. R. M.)