48 PLAN AND PREPARATIONS 



it offered a specially favourable site for an investigation 

 of the meteorological conditions, since here one would be 

 unobstructed by land on all sides. It would be possible 

 to study the character of the Barrier by daily observa- 

 tions on the very spot better than anywhere else. Such 

 interesting phenomena as the movement, feeding, and 

 calving of this immense mass of ice could, of course, be 

 studied very fully at this spot. 



Last, but not least, there was the enormous advantage 

 that it was comparatively easy to reach in the vessel. 

 No expedition had yet been prevented from coming in 

 here. 



I knew that this plan of wintering on the Barrier 

 itself would be exposed to severe criticism as reckless- 

 ness, foolhardiness, and so forth, for it was generally 

 assumed that the Barrier was afloat here, as in other 

 places. Indeed, it was thought to be so even by those 

 who had themselves seen it. Shackleton's description 

 of the conditions at the time of his visit did not seem 

 very promising. Mile after mile had broken away, and 

 he thanked God he had not made his camp there. 

 Although I have a great regard for Shackelton, his 

 work and his experience, I believe that in this case his 

 conclusion was too hasty fortunately, I must add. 

 For if, when Shackleton passed the Bay of Whales on 

 January 24, 1908, and saw the ice of the bay in process of 

 breaking up and drifting out, he had waited a few hours, 

 or at the most a couple of days, the problem of the South 



