SHACKLETON'S FARTHEST SOUTH 



ALL records for South Polar ex- 



Z\ ploration have been surpassed 

 XJL by Lieut. E. H. Shackleton, R. 

 N., who is now returning to England after 

 fourteen months spent within the Ant- 

 arctic Circle. Shackleton, on January 9, 

 1909, gained a point within 111 miles 

 from the South Geographical Pole, while 

 another of his parties actually reached 

 the South Magnetic Pole on January 16, 

 1909, according to press dispatches from 

 New Zealand. He has shown that the 

 Geographical Pole is situated on a high 

 plateau about 10,000 feet above sealevel, 

 and that the remarkable floating ice-bar- 

 rier stretching for 500 miles between 

 King William VII Land and Victoria 

 Land, and justly called one of the won- 

 ders of the world, does not apparently 

 reach beyond the eighty-third degree. 

 But to Americans his most interesting 

 discovery is new land and mountain 

 ranges extending from South Victoria 

 Land, which once more confirms the 

 great discoveries of the American 

 Wilkes, made nearly seventy years ago. 

 (See page 402). 



Lieutenant Shackleton, with a party of 

 about 15 men, dogs, Siberian ponies, mo- 

 tor cars, and other equipment, was landed 

 from the Nimrod in January, 1908, at 

 Cape Royds, near the base of the smoking 

 volcano, Mount Erebus. Here he made 

 his headquarters for the year at the same 

 base used by the previous British Ant- 

 arctic Expedition (1 901 -1904), led by 

 Captain Scott, whose splendid achieve- 

 ments were described in this Magazine 

 in February, 1907. The motor cars 

 proved apparently of little value during 

 the ensuing year's work, owing to the 

 crevasses in the ice, but the Siberian 

 ponies showed remarkable endurance of 

 cold and great pulling power. 



Campaigning against the Pole in some 

 respects is easier in the south than in the 

 north. The weather is much harsher and 

 more boisterous in the south, but the 

 working season is longer. The North 

 Pole is surrounded by an ice-covered 

 ocean, which must be crossed in spring 

 before the ice breaks apart under the 



summer sun. The South Pole, on the 

 other hand, is situated on a great ice 

 plateau, which may be traversed during 

 almost the entire period of daylight. 

 Thus, while Peary must complete his 

 dash from the most northern land to the 

 Pole and back in a period of about sixty 

 days, the South Polar explorer has more 

 than one hundred and twenty days at his 

 disposal. 



Lieutenant Shackleton not only won 

 the record for farthest south, but he has 

 reached a point nearer the South Pole 

 than any explorer has been able to ap- 

 proach to the North Pole. The story of 

 his year's work, as given in the cable 

 dispatches from New Zealand, follows: 



The southern party — Adams, Mar- 

 shall, Wild, and I — with four ponies and 

 a supporting party, consisting of Sir 

 Philip Brocklehurst and Messrs. Joyce, 

 Marson, Armytage, and Priestly, left 

 Cape Royds on October 29, 1908, with 

 ninety-one days' provisions. The sup- 

 porting party returned on November 7. 



Owing to the bad light among the ice 

 crevasses, Adams and a pony were nearly 

 lost. We reached on November 13 the 

 depot laid out in September in latitude 

 79 0 36', longitude 168 0 east. We took 

 on a pony the maize and provisions pre- 

 viously left there and commenced reduc- 

 ing our daily rations. 



We traveled south along meridian 168 

 over a varying surface, high ridges and 

 mounds of snow alternating with soft 

 snow. The ponies often sank to their 

 bellies. In latitude 81 0 4' we shot the 

 pony Chinaman and made a depot of 

 oil, biscuit, and pony meat. The re- 

 mainder of the pony meat we took on 

 to eke out our dried rations. 



On November 26 we reached the Dis- 

 covery expedition's southernmost latitude. 

 The surface was now extremely soft, 

 with large undulations. The ponies were 

 attacked with snow blindness. On No- 

 vember 28 the pony Grisi was shot. We 

 made a depot in latitude 82 0 45', longi- 

 tude 170 0 . The pony Quan was shot on 

 November 30. We had now traveled 

 400 miles across the ice barrier. 



