SHACKLETON'S ACHIEVEMENT 39 



reached the ice-pack on the 15th, and arrived in the 

 open Ross Sea in lat. 70 43' S., long. 178 58' E. 

 The Ross Barrier was sighted on January 23. The 

 original intention was to follow this, and try to land 

 the shore party in Barrier Inlet, which was practically 

 the beginning of King Edward VII. Land; but it was 

 found that Barrier Inlet had disappeared, owing to 

 miles of the Barrier having calved away. In its place 

 was a long, wide bay, which Shackleton named the 

 Bay of Whales. This discovery determined him not to 



' 



attempt to winter on the Barrier, but on solid land. 

 At this part of the voyage the course of the Nimrod 

 coincided very nearly with that of the Fram on her 

 second outward trip. 



After an unsuccessful attempt to reach King 

 Edward VII. Land, Shackleton turned to the west 

 and took up his winter quarters on Ross Island in 

 McMurdo Sound. 



The southern party, composed of Shackleton, Adams, 

 Marshall, and Wild, started on October 29, 1908, 

 with four sledges, four ponies, and provisions for ninety- 

 one days. On November 26 Scott's farthest south, 

 82 17' S. was passed. By the time lat. 84 was reached 

 all the ponies were dead, and the men had to draw the 

 sledges themselves. They were then faced by the long 

 and difficult ascent of Beardmore Glacier, and it was 

 not until seventeen days later that they came out on 

 the high plateati surrounding the Pole. At last, on 



