238 SHACKLETONS "FARTHEST SOUTH" 



"We returned to pick up our depot on the plateau, guided by our outward 

 tracks, for the flags attached to the tent poles had been blown away. The 

 less violent blizzards blowing on our backs helped us to travel from twenty 

 to twenty-nine miles daily. We reached the upper glacier depot January 19. 



"The snow had been blown from the glacier surface, leaving a slippery 

 blue ice. The descent was slow work in the heavy gale. The sledge was 

 lowered by stages by an Alpine rope. On the morning of January 26 our 

 food was finished. It was slow going. Sixteen miles were covered in twenty- 

 two hours' march. The snow was two feet deep, concealing the crevasses. 

 We reached the lower glacier depot in latitude 83 45 on the afternoon of 

 January 2y. There we obtained food, and proceeding, reached the Grisi 

 depot, named after a dead pony, on February 2. There was no food remaining. 



"The entire party were prostrated on February 4 and were unable to move. 

 This lasted eight days, but helped by strong southerly blizzards we reached 

 the Chinaman depot on February 13. The food had again run out." 



By this time the situation so calmly recounted by Shackleton was some- 

 what alarming. Many men in a similar pinch would have considered it des- 

 perate. But these Britons, true to the tradition of their predecessors in brav- 

 ing polar hardships, pushed on. 



"The blizzards continued, with fifty degrees of frost. We discarded every- 

 thing except our camp outfit and geological specimens, and on February 20 

 reached the next depot, all our food being finished. Helped by a southerly 

 blizzard which was accompanied by sixty-seven degrees of frost, we reached 

 on February 23, the depot at Minna Bluff, which had been laid by the Joyce 

 party in January. 



"Here we received news from our ship. Marshall had a relapse and re- 

 turn of illness. We made a forced march of twenty-four miles February 26. 

 Marshall was suffering greatly. On February 27 Marshall was unable to 

 march. I left him in charge of Adams while Wild and I made a forced march 

 to the ship for relief. I returned March i with a relief party and reached the 

 ship at Hut Point March 4 in a blizzard. 



"The total distance of the journey, including relays, was 172 statute miles. 

 The time occupied was 126 days. The main result was a geological collection. 

 We also made a complete meteorological record. We discovered eight moun- 

 tain ranges and over 100 mountains. The geographical South Pole doutbless 

 is situated on a plateau from 10,000 to 11,000 feet above sea level. Violent 

 blizzards in latitude 88 show that if a 'polar calm' exists it must be in a small 

 area or not coincident with the geographical pole." 



