ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION 



in a specially designed hut made of cork. In March, 1908, 

 a party of six ascended Mount Erebus to its summit, 13,500 

 feet above sea level. 



On October 5, 1908, a party of five started on its jour- 

 ney to the South Magnetic Pole, which was reached on 

 January 16, 1909. The position of the magnetic pole was 

 determined to be 72 ° 25' S., 1 5 5 ° 16' E. The south point 

 of the compass always turns towards this point. Therefore, 

 between the South Magnetic Pole and the South Geo- 

 graphic Pole the south point of the compass is directed due 

 north. This party, returning to the coast February 3, was 

 picked up by the Nimrod and taken to Cape Royds. 



On October 29, 1908, Shackleton and three others — 

 with a supporting party of five, which turned back Novem- 

 ber 7 — set out for the South Geographic Pole. They 

 followed, roughly, the 1 68th meridian east until in late 

 November they reached Scott's farthest south — 82 ° 1 7' S. 

 Christmas day found them at 85 ° 55 S., and by 9:00 a.m., 

 January 9, 1909, they had reached 88° 23' S. Beyond this 

 point they could not go on account of the hard traveling 

 and the exhaustion of their food supply. No mountains 

 were visible beyond, and it is probable that the South Pole 

 is situated on a level plateau 10,000 to 11,000 feet above 

 sea level. After an extremely hard return journey on 

 short rations, Cape Royds was reached March 4, 1909. 

 The Nimrod and the supporting and relief parties were 

 there waiting, and the next day all started for home. 



In addition to discovering the South Magnetic Pole and 

 reaching a point within no miles of the South Geographic 

 Pole, the main results of the journey were the finding of 

 coal (showing that in the past this region enjoyed a mild 

 climate), the procuring of a complete meteorological record 

 and the discovery of eight distinct mountain ranges varying 

 from 3,000 to 12,000 feet in altitude. 



27 



