236 SHA CKLE TONS "FAR THEST SO UTH" 



Ascended Mount Erebus, the southernmost volcano of the world, 13,200 

 feet high, this feat being in the face of a terrific blizzard. 



The expedition on leaving New Zealand sailed to a point from which 

 sledge journeys would be favorable, and there split up into investigating 

 parties, one of which, under Shackelton, went south; and the other, with 

 Prof. Edworth Davis at its head, went northward. It was Shackelton's pur- 

 pose to dash direct to the pole. For this attempt he had as an aid something 

 new in the field of polar effort — automobile sledges. The good old dogs that 

 had tried the souls — and saved the lives — of so many travelers in the ice' 

 realms, were discounted by gasoline. For what the sledges could not do, 

 the explorers had ponies. These proved of chief value as food. 



Lieut. Shackleton says in his description of his final dasJh toward the 

 South Pole : 



"The southern party, Adams, Marshall, Wild and I, with four ponies and 

 a supporting party consisting of Sir Philip Brocklehurst and Messrs. Joyce, 

 Marson, Armytage and Priestly, left Cape Royd on October 29, 1908. We 

 left Hutpoint November 3 with ninety-one days' provisions. We were held 

 up at White Island from November 5 for four days by a blizzard. The 

 supporting party returned November 7. 



"Owing to the bad light among the ice crevasses, Adams' pony was nearly 

 lost. We reached November 13 the depot laid out in September in latitude 

 79:36, longitude 168 east. We took on the pony maize, and provisions pre- 

 viously left there and commenced reducing our daily rations. We traveled 

 south along meridian 168 over a varying surface of high ridges and mounds 

 of snow alternating with soft snow. The ponies often sank to their bellies. 

 In latitude 81 we shot the pony, Chinaman, and made a depot for oil, biscuit 

 and pony meat. The remainder of the pony meat we took on to eke out 

 our dried rations. 



"On November 26 we reached the Discovery expedition's southernmost 

 latitude. The surface now was extremely soft with large undulations. The 

 ponies were attacked with snow blindness. On November 28 the pony, Christ 

 was shot. We made a depot in latitude 82:45, longitude 170. Pony Quan 

 was shot on November 30. 



"Steering south southeast, we now were approaching a high range of new 

 mountains trending to the southeast. We found on December 2 a barrier 

 that, influenced by great pressure and ridges of snow and ice, had turned 

 into land. We discovered a glacier 120 miles long and approximately forty 

 miles wide, running in a south southwesterly direction. 



