The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1912-05-10

party had reached the barrier, where
the ice, breaking under foot, forced
us to retreat hurriedly, with the grav-
est anxiety for our companions. My
fears we're confirmed when Wilson,
who had travelled out over land, re-
ported having seen, with glasses, pom
les adrift on sea ice. An hour later
Cream was seen approaching, and,
learning his news, Oates, Cream and
sea off Immediately to the west. Work
ing around the bay, we approached
the barrier edge, and at p. m. by
good fortune discovered the missing
party on a pack which had been drift,
ing slowly northwest and had temper
arily stopped owing to the swell sub
siding.
Missing Party Rescued.
With Alpine ropes the men were
rescued with difficulty. Working on
through the night, we succeeded in
salving the sledges and their loads,
but could do nothing for the ponies,
which were only thirty yards away
At 4 a. m. the pack began to move
again. We left the ponies with full
nose bags and rested till a. m. when
the pack was again stationary. We
marched north, found the ponies and
made desperate efforts to save them.
Bowers and Oates risked a long de,
tour over the pack and led the animals
over many jumps, while the remain
der of us dug trench to the lower part
of the barrier. The edges of the foes
were high above water and very un-
even. Killer whales hung about with
in few yards. The ponies, failing
at the jump, were irretrievably lost.
One pony only won through, The pack
was moving again as we left it and
drifted clear to the north.
Loss of Ponies Severe Blow.
March we ascended hills east of
Castle Rock, and on the 9Th the party,
with the two remaining ponies and the
dog teams, was safely housed at Hut
point BY this incident we lost three
of our strongest ponies. This. was a
severe blow to the expedition, but not
enough to wreck it's plans if the re-
naming animals could be preserved.
The heavy swell which caused this
dilaster broke more than ten miles
of fast sea ice, large fragments OF
the barrier, and two miles of glacier
tongue, feature which had remained
otherwise unchanged since discovery
in 1902. The hut was found almost
completely filled with hard snow, the
windows broken and the door unhing.
ed. With much labor we cleared and
repaired it. 1t then afforded good
shelter.
Lived on Seal Meat.
While forced to wait for the sea
breeze to blow over we sett ed down
to very primitive life.
With old tins and discarded frag-
ments of metal we constructed en- ex-
cellent blubbef stove and several blub-
Der LAMPS We fed almost entirely
on seal meat. Seals could only be OBJ
tanned at a distance over hills, and
were sometimes scarce, but the in
genuity shown by my companions in
improvising arrangements with the
slenderest resources. With splendid
health we were quite comfortable and
enjoyed the discovery of box of old
magazines.
March Is the western geological
party returned, bringing our total to
sixteen persons. This party had
spent six weeks making a close sur
vey of the Dry Valley, Lower Merrar
and Koettlitz glacier regions, thus
completing an important part of our
plans for the geological survey of the
coast.
March II Lieut. Evans led party to
Corner Camp, completing the depot ar
rangements for the coming season.
The temperature at the barrier had
already fallen to minus 4O degrees
Throughout the month ice continual y
formed over the sea. but strong winds
quickly drove 1t north.
Return to Camp Evans.
After March 25 the ice remained
fast in the sheltered bays, but con-
tinued to drive out of the sound. Huge
land-ice falls on the southwest slopes
of Mount Erebus prevented any pos
tibility of returning to Cape Evans
by land, but with the freezing OF the
bays l decided to make an attempt
to reach the station, partly by land
and partly by sea ice.
With eight companions I started
April II and, though caught by a
storm on sea ice, we reached Cape
Evans early the 18th. We found the
station, which had been left in Simp-
sons charge, in excellent order, and
arrangements for comfort remarkably
perfect. Numerous self-recording in
Continued on page twelve.)