CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM AND PREPARATIONS
Notwithstanding the fact that it has been repeatedly stated
in the public press that the Australasian Antarctic expedition had no intention
of making the South Geographical Pole its objective, it is evident that
our aims were not properly realized by a large section of the British public,
considering that many references have appeared in print attributing that
purpose to the undertaking. With three other Antarctic expeditions already
in the field, it appeared to many, therefore, that the venture was entirely
superfluous.
The Expedition had a problem sketched in unmistakable feature, and the following
pages will shortly set forth its historical origin and rationale.
The Antarctic problem** assumed its modern aspect after Captain Cook's circumnavigation
of the globe in high southern latitudes, accomplished between 1772 and 1775.
Fact replaced the fiction and surmise of former times, and maps appeared
showing a large blank area at the southern extremity of the earth, where
speculative cartographers had affirmed the existence of habitable land extending
far towards the Equator. Cook's voyage made it clear that if there were
any considerable mass of Antarctic land, it must indubitably lie within
the Antarctic Circle, and be subjected to such stringent climatic conditions
as to render it an unlikely habitation for man.
** Dr. H. R. Mill has compiled a complete account of Antarctic
exploration in his ``Siege of the South Pole.''
Refer also to the Historical Appendix for an abridged statement. Cook's
reports of seals on the island of South Georgia initiated in the Antarctic
seas south of America a commercial enterprise, which is still carried on,
and has incidentally thrown much light upon the geography of the South Polar
regions. Indeed, almost the whole of such information, prior to the year
1839, was the outcome of sealing and whaling projects.
About the year 1840, a wave of scientific enthusiasm resulted in the dispatch
of three national expeditions by France, the United States, and Great Britain;
part at least of whose programmes was Antarctic exploration. Russia had
previously sent out an expedition which had made notable discoveries.
The contributions to knowledge gained at this period were considerable.
Those carried back to civilization by the British expedition under Ross,
are so well known that they need not be described. The French under Dumont
D'Urville and the Americans under Wilkes visited the region to the southward
of Australia--the arena of our own efforts--and frequent references will
be made to their work throughout this story.
What has been termed the period of averted interest now intervened, before
the modern movement set in with overpowering insistence. It was not till
1897 that it had commenced in earnest. Since then many adventurers have
gone forth; most of the prominent civilized nations taking their share in
exploration. By their joint efforts some, at least, of the mystery of Antarctica
has been dispelled.
It is now a commonplace, largely in the world of geographical concerns,
that the earth has still another continent, unique in character, whose ultimate
bounds are merely pieced together from a fragmentary outline. The Continent
itself appears to have been sighted for the first time in the year 1820,
but no human being actually set foot on it until 1895. The Belgian expedition
under de Gerlache was the first to experience the Antarctic winter, spending
the year 1898 drifting helplessly, frozen in the pack-ice, to the southward
of America. In the following year a British expedition under Borchgrevinck,
wintering at Cape Adare, passed a year upon the Antarctic mainland.
The main efforts of recent years have been centred upon the two more accessible
areas, namely, that in the American Quadrant** which is prolonged as a tongue
of land outside the Antarctic Circle, being consequently less beset by ice;
secondly, the vicinity of the Ross Sea in the Australian Quadrant. It is
because these two favoured domains have for special reasons attracted the
stream of exploration that the major portion of Antarctica is unknown. Nevertheless,
one is in a position to sketch broad features which will probably not be
radically altered by any future expeditions.
** For convenience, the Antarctic regions may be referred to in four main
divisions, corresponding with the quadrants of the hemisphere. Of the several
suggestions thrown out by previous writers, the one adopted here is that
based on the meridian of Greenwich, referring the quadrants to an adjacent
continent or ocean. Thus the American Quadrant lies between 0 degrees and
90 degrees W., the African Quadrant between 0 degrees and 90 degrees E.,
and the Australian Quadrant between 90 degrees and 180 degrees E. The fourth
division is called the Pacific Quadrant, since ocean alone lies to the north
of it.
Certain it is that a continent approaching the combined areas of Australia
and Europe lies more or less buried beneath the South Polar snows; though
any statement of the precise area is insufficient for a proper appreciation
of the magnitude, unless its elevated plateau-like character be also taken
into consideration. It appears to be highest over a wide central crown rising
to more than ten thousand feet. Of the remainder, there is little doubt
that the major portion stands as high as six thousand feet. The average
elevation must far exceed that of any other continent, for, with peaks nineteen
thousand feet above sea-level, its mountainous topography is remarkable.
Along the coast of Victoria Land, in the Australian Quadrant, are some of
the most majestic vistas of alpine scenery that the world affords. Rock
exposures are rare, ice appearing everywhere except in the most favoured
places.
Regarding plant and animal life upon the land there is little to say. The
vegetable kingdom is represented by plants of low organization such as mosses,
lichens, diatoms and alg£e. The animal world, so far as true land-forms
are concerned, is limited to types like the protozoa (lowest in the organic
scale), rotifera and minute insect-like mites which lurk hidden away amongst
the tufts of moss or on the under side of loose stones. Bacteria, most fundamental
of all, at the basis, so to speak, of animal and vegetable life, have a
manifold distribution.
It is a very different matter when we turn to the life of the neighbouring
seas, for that vies in abundance with the warmer waters of lower latitudes.
There are innumerable seals, many sea-birds and millions of penguins. As
all these breed on Antarctic shores, the coastal margin of the continent
is not so desolate.
In view of the fact that life, including land-mammals, is abundant in the
North Polar regions, it may be asked why analogous forms are not better
represented in corresponding southern latitudes. Without going too deeply
into the question, it may be briefly stated, firstly, that a more widespread
glaciation than at present prevails invested the great southern continent
and its environing seas, within recent geological times, effectually exterminating
any pre-existing land life. Secondly, since that period the continent has
been isolated by a wide belt of ocean from other lands, from which restocking
might have taken place after the manner of the North Polar regions. Finally,
climatic conditions in the Antarctic are, latitude for latitude, much more
severe than in the Arctic.
With regard to climate in general, Antarctica has the lowest mean temperature
and the highest wind-velocity of any land existing. This naturally follows
from the fact that it is a lofty expanse of ice-clad land circumscribing
the Pole, and that the Antarctic summer occurs when the earth is farther
from the sun than is the case during
the Arctic summer.
There are those who would impatiently ask, ``What is the use of it all?''
The answer is brief.
Antarctic Land discoveries preceding the
year 1910
The polar regions, like any other part of the globe, may
be said to be paved with facts, the essence of which it is necessary to
acquire before knowledge of this special zone can be brought to even a provisional
exactitude. On the face of it, polar research may seem to be specific and
discriminating, but it must be remembered that an advance in any one of
the departments into which, for convenience, science is artificially divided,
conduces to the advantage of all. Science is a homogeneous whole. If we
ignore the facts contained in one part of the world, surely we are hampering
scientific advance. It is obvious to every one that, given only a fraction
of the pieces, it is a much more difficult task to put together a jig-saw
puzzle and obtain an idea of the finished pattern than were all the pieces
at hand. The pieces of the jig-saw puzzle are the data of
science.
Though it is not sufficiently recognized, the advance of
science is attended by a corresponding increase in the creature comforts
of man. Again, from an economic aspect, the frozen South may not attract
immediate attention. But who can say what a train of enterprise the future
may bring?
Captain James Cook, on his return to London after the circumnavigation of
Antarctica, held that the far-southern lands had no future. Yet, a few years
later, great profits were being returned to Great Britain and the United
States from sealing-stations established as a result of Cook's own observations.
At the present day, several whaling companies have flourishing industries
in the Antarctic waters within the American Quadrant.
Even now much can be said in regard to the possibilities offered by the
Antarctic regions for economic development, but, year by year, the outlook
will widen, since man is constantly resorting to subtler and more ingenious
artifice in applying Nature's resources. It will be remembered that Charles
Darwin, when in Australia, predicted a very limited commercial future for
New South Wales. But the mastery of man overcame the difficulties which
Darwin's too penetrating mind foresaw.
What will be the role of the South in the progress of civilization and in
the development of the arts and sciences, is not now obvious. As sure as
there is here a vast mass of land with potentialities, strictly limited
at present, so surely will it be cemented some day within the universal
plinth of things.
An unknown coast-line lay before the door of Australia. Following on the
general advance of exploration, and as a sequel to several important discoveries,
the time arrived when a complete elucidation of the Antarctic problem was
more than ever desirable. In the Australian Quadrant, the broad geographical
features of the Ross Sea area were well known, but of the remainder and
greater portion of the tract only vague and imperfect reports could be supplied.
Before submitting our plans in outline, it will be as well to review the
stage at which discovery had arrived when our Expedition came upon the scene.
The coast-line of the eastern extremity of the Australian Quadrant, including
the outline of the Ross Sea and the coast west-north-west of Cape Adare
as far as Cape North, was charted by Ross and has been amplified by seven
later expeditions. In the region west of Cape North, recent explorers had
done little up till 1911. Scott in the `Discovery' had disproved the existence
of some of Wilkes's land; Shackleton in the `Nimrod' had viewed some forty
miles of high land beyond Cape North; lastly, on the eve of our departure,
Scott's `Terra
Nova' had met two patches of new land--Oates Land--still farther west, making
it evident that the continent ranged at least two hundred and eighty miles
in a west-north-west direction from Cape Adare.
Just outside the western limit of the Australian Quadrant lies Gaussberg,
discovered by a German expedition under Drygalski in 1902. Between the most
westerly point sighted by the `Terra Nova' and Gaussberg, there is a circuit
of two thousand miles, bordering the Antarctic Circle, which no vessel had
navigated previous to 1840.
This was the arena of our activities and, therefore, a synopsis of the voyages
of early mariners will be enlightening.
Balleny, a whaling-master, with the schooner `Eliza Scott' of one hundred
and fifty-four tons, and a cutter, the `Sabrina' of fifty-four tons, was
the first to meet with success in these waters. Proceeding southward from
New Zealand in 1839, he located the Balleny Islands, a group containing
active volcanoes, lying about two hundred miles off the nearest part of
the mainland and to the north-west of Cape Adare. Leaving these islands,
Balleny sailed westward keeping a look-out for new land. During a gale the
vessels became separated and the `Sabrina' was lost with all hands. Balleny
in the `Eliza Scott' arrived safely in England and reported doubtful land
in 122 degrees E. longitude, approximately. Dr. H. R. Mill says: ``Although
the name of the cutter `Sabrina' has been given to an appearance of land
at this point, we cannot look upon its discovery as proved by the vague
reference made by the explorers.''
On January 1, 1840, Dumont D'Urville sailed southward from Hobart in command
of two corvettes, the `Astrolabe' and the `Zelee'. Without much obstruction
from floating ice, he came within sight of the Antarctic coast, thenceforth
known as Adelie Land. The expedition did not set foot on the mainland, but
on an adjacent island. They remained in the vicinity of the coast for a
few days, when a gale sprang up which was hazardously weathered on the windward
side of the pack-ice. The ships then cruised along the face of flat-topped
ice-cliffs, of the type known as barrier-ice or shelf-ice, which were taken
to be connected with land and named Cote Clarie. As will be seen later,
Cote Clarie does not exist.
Dr. H. R. Mill sums up the work done by the French expedition during its
eleven days' sojourn in the vicinity of the Antarctic coast:
``D'Urville's discoveries of land were of but little account. He twice traced
out considerable stretches of a solid barrier of ice, and at one point saw
and landed upon rocks in front of it; but he could only give the vaguest
account of what lay behind the barrier.''
Wilkes of the American expedition proceeded south from Sydney at the close
of 1839. His vessels were the `Vincennes', a sloop of war of seven hundred
and eighty tons, the `Peacock', another sloop of six hundred and fifty tons,
the `Porpoise', a gun-brig of two hundred and thirty tons and a tender,
the `Flying Fish' of ninety-six tons. The scientists of the expedition were
precluded from joining in this part of the programme, and were left behind
in Sydney. Wilkes himself was loud in his denunciation both of the ships
and of the stores, though they had been specially assembled by the naval
department. The ships were in Antarctic waters for a period of forty-two
days, most of the time separated by gales, during which the crews showed
great skill in navigating their ill-fitted crafts and suffered great hardships.
Land was reported almost daily, but, unfortunately, subsequent exploration
has shown that most of the landfalls do not exist. Several soundings made
by Wilkes were indicative of the approach to land, but he must have frequently
mistaken for it distant ice-masses frozen in the pack. Experience has proved
what deceptive light- effects may be observed amid the ice and how easily
a mirage may simulate reality.
Whatever the cause of Wilkes's errors, the truth remains that Ross sailed
over land indicated in a rough chart which had been forwarded to him by
Wilkes, just before the British expedition set out. More recently, Captain
Scott in the `Discovery' erased many of the landfalls of Wilkes, and now
we have still further reduced their number. The `Challenger' approached
within fifteen miles of the western extremity of Wilkes's Termination Land,
but saw no sign of it. The `Gauss' in the same waters charted Kaiser Wilhelm
II Land well to the south of Termination Land, and the eastward continuation
of the former could not have been visible from Wilkes's ship. After the
voyage of the `Discovery', the landfalls, the existence of which had not
been disproved, might well have been regarded as requiring confirmation
before their validity could be recognised.
The only spot where rocks were reported in situ was in Adelie Land, where
the French had anticipated the Americans by seven days. Farther west, earth
and stones had been collected by Wilkes from material embedded in floating
masses of ice off the coast of his Knox Land. These facts lend credence
to Wilkes's claims of land in that vicinity. His expedition did not once
set foot on Antarctic shores, and, possibly on account of the absence of
the scientific staff, his descriptions tend to be inexact and obscure. The
soundings made by Wilkes were sufficient to show that he was probably in
some places at no great distance from the coast, and, considering that his
work was carried out in the days of sailing-ships, in unsuitable craft,
under the most adverse weather conditions, with crews scurvy-stricken and
discontented, it is wonderful how much was achieved. We may amply testify
that he did more than open the field for future expeditions.
After we had taken into account the valuable soundings of the `Challenger'
(1872), the above comprised our knowledge concerning some two thousand miles
of prospective coast lying to the southward of Australia, at a time when
the plans of the Australasian expedition were being formulated.
The original plans for the expedition were somewhat modified upon my return
from Europe. Briefly stated, it was decided that a party of five men should
be stationed at Macquarie Island, a sub-antarctic possession of the Commonwealth.
They were to be provided with a hut, stores and a complete wireless plant,
and were to prosecute general scientific investigations, co-operating with
the Antarctic bases in meteorological and other work. After disembarking
the party at Macquarie Island, the `Aurora' was to proceed south on a meridian
of 158 degrees E. longitude, to the westward of which the Antarctic programme
was to be conducted.
Twelve men, provisioned and equipped for a year's campaign and provided
with wireless apparatus, were to be landed in Antarctica on the first possible
opportunity at what would constitute a main base. Thereafter, proceeding
westward, it was hoped that a second and a third party, consisting of six
and eight men respectively, would be successively established on the continent
at considerable distances apart. Of course we were well aware of the difficulties
of landing even one party, but, as division of our forces would under normal
conditions secure more scientific data, it was deemed advisable to be prepared
for exceptionally favourable circumstances.
Macquarie Island, a busy station in the days of the early sealers, had become
almost neglected. Little accurate information was to be had regarding it,
and no reliable map existed. A few isolated facts had been gathered of its
geology, and the anomalous fauna and flora sui generis had been but partially
described. Its position, eight hundred and fifty miles south-south-east
of Hobart, gave promise of valuable meteorological data relative to the
atmospheric circulation of the Southern Hemisphere and of vital interest
to the shipping of
Australia and New Zealand.
As to the Antarctic sphere of work, it has been seen that very little was
known of the vast region which was our goal. It is sufficient to say that
almost every observation would be fresh material added to the sum of human
knowledge.
In addition to the work to be conducted from the land bases, it was intended
that oceanographic investigations should be carried on by the `Aurora' as
far as funds would allow. With this object in view, provision was made for
the necessary apparatus which would enable the ship's party to make extensive
investigations of the ocean and its floor over the broad belt between Australia
and the Antarctic Continent. This was an important branch of study, for
science is just as much interested in the greatest depths of the ocean as
with the corresponding elevations of the land. Indeed, at the present day,
the former is perhaps the greater field.
The scope of our intentions was regarded by some as over-ambitious, but
knowing How far high failure overleaps the bound Of low successes,
and seeing nothing impossible in these arrangements, we continued to adhere
to them as closely as possible, with what fortune remains to be told.
To secure a suitable vessel was a matter of fundamental importance. There
was no question of having a ship built to our design, for the requisite
expenditure might well have exceeded the whole cost of our
Expedition. Accordingly the best obtainable vessel was purchased, and modified
to fulfil our requirements. Such craft are not to be had in southern waters;
they are only to be found engaged in Arctic whaling and sealing.
The primary consideration in the design of a vessel built to navigate amid
the ice is that the hull be very staunch, capable of driving into the pack
and of resisting lateral pressure, if the ice should close in around it.
So a thick-walled timber vessel, with adequate stiffening in the framework,
would meet the case. The construction being of wood imparts a certain elasticity,
which is of great advantage in easing the shock of impacts with floating
ice. As has been tragically illustrated in a recent disaster, the ordinary
steel ship would be ripped on its first contact with the ice. Another device,
to obviate the shock and to assist in forging a way through the floe-ice,
is to have the bow cut away below the water-line. Thus, instead of presenting
to the ice a vertical face, which would immediately arrest the ship and
possibly cause considerable damage on account of the sudden stress of the
blow, a sloping, overhanging bow is adopted. This arrangement enables the
bow to rise over the impediment, with a gradual slackening of speed. The
immense weight put upon the ice crushes it and the ship settles down, moving
ahead and gathering speed to meet the next obstacle.
Plan and Section of S.Y. `Aurora'
Of importance second only to a strong hull is the possession
of sails in addition to engines. The latter are a sine qua non in polar
navigation, whilst sails allow of economy in the consumption of coal, and
always remain as a last resort should the coal-supply be exhausted or the
propeller damaged.
The `Aurora', of the Newfoundland sealing fleet, was ultimately purchased
and underwent necessary alterations. She was built in Dundee in 1876, but
though by no means young was still in good condition and capable of buffeting
with the pack for many a year. Also, she was not without a history, for
in the earlier days she was amongst those vessels which hurried to the relief
of the unfortunate Greely expedition.
The hull was made of stout oak planks, sheathed with greenheart and lined
with fir. The bow, fashioned on cutaway lines, was a mass of solid wood,
armoured with steel plates. The heavy side-frames were braced and stiffened
by two tiers of horizontal oak beams, upon which were built the 'tween decks
and the main deck. Three bulkheads isolated the fore-peak, the main hold,
the engine-room and the after living-quarters respectively.
A hull of such strength would resist a heavy strain, and, should it be subjected
to lateral pressure, would in all probability rise out of harm's way. However,
to be quite certain of this and to ensure safety in the most extreme case
it is necessary that the hull be modelled after the design adopted by Nansen
in the `Fram'.
The principal dimensions were, length one hundred and sixty-five feet, breadth
thirty feet, and depth eighteen feet.
The registered tonnage was three hundred and eighty-six, but the actual
carrying capacity we found to be about six hundred tons.
The engines, situated aft, were compound, supplied with steam from a single
boiler. The normal power registered was ninety-eight horse-power, working
a four-bladed propeller, driving it at the rate of sixty or seventy revolutions
per minute (six to ten knots per hour).
Steam was also laid on to a winch, aft, for handling cargo in the main hold,
and to a forward steam-windlass. The latter was mainly used for raising
the anchor and manipulating the deep-sea dredging-cable.
The ship was square on the foremast and schooner-rigged on the main and
mizen masts.
Between the engine-room bulkhead and the chain and sail locker was a spacious
hold. Six large steel tanks built into the bottom of the hold served for
the storage of fresh water and at any time when empty could be filled with
seawater, offering a ready means of securing emergency ballast.
On the deck, just forward of the main hatch, was a deckhouse, comprising
cook's galley, steward's pantry and two laboratories. Still farther forward
was a small lamp-room for the storage of kerosene, lamps and other necessaries.
A lofty fo'c'sle-head gave much accommodation for carpenters', shipwrights'
and other stores. Below it, a capacious fo'c'sle served as quarters for
a crew of sixteen men.
Aft, the chart-room, captain's cabin and photographic dark-room formed a
block leading up to the bridge, situated immediately in front of the funnel.
Farther aft, behind the engine-room and below the poop deck, was the ward-room(,)
a central space sixteen feet by eight feet, filled by the dining-table and
surrounded by cabins with bunks for twenty persons.
From the time the `Aurora' arrived in London to her departure from Australia,
she was a scene of busy activity, as alterations and replacements were necessary
to fit her for future work.
In the meantime, stores and gear were being assembled. Purchases were made
and valuable donations received both in Europe and Australia. Many and varied
were the requirements, and some idea of their great multiplicity will be
gained by referring to the appendices dealing with stores, clothing and
instruments.
Finally, reference may be made in this chapter to the staff. In no department
can a leader spend time more profitably than in the selection of the men
who are to accomplish the work. Even when the expedition has a scientific
basis, academic distinction becomes secondary in the choice of men. Fiala,
as a result of his Arctic experience, truly says, ``Many a man who is a
jolly good fellow in congenial surroundings will become impatient, selfish
and mean when obliged to sacrifice his comfort, curb his desires and work
hard in what seems a losing fight. The first consideration in the choice
of men for a polar campaign should be the moral quality. Next should come
mental and physical powers.''
For polar work the great desideratum is tempered youth. Although one man
at the age of fifty may be as strong physically as another at the age of
twenty, it is certain that the exceptional man of fifty was also an exceptional
man at twenty. On the average, after about thirty years of age, the elasticity
of the body to rise to the strain of emergency diminishes, and, when forty
years is reached, a man, medically speaking, reaches his acme. After that,
degeneration of the fabric of the body slowly and maybe imperceptibly sets
in. As the difficulties of exploration in cold regions approximate to the
limit of human endurance and often enough exceed it, it is obvious that
the above generalizations must receive due weight.
But though age and with it the whole question of physical fitness must ever
receive primary regard, yet these alone in no wise fit a man for such an
undertaking. The qualifications of mental ability, acquaintance with the
work and sound moral quality have to be essentially borne in mind. The man
of fifty might then be placed on a higher plane than his younger companion.
With regard to alcohol and tobacco, it may be maintained on theoretical
grounds that a man is better without them, but, on the other hand, his behaviour
in respect to such habits is often an index to his self-control.
Perfection is attained when every man individually works with the determination
to sacrifice all personal predispositions to the welfare of the whole.
Ours proved to be a very happy selection. The majority of the men chosen
as members of the land parties were young graduates of the Commonwealth
and New Zealand Universities, and almost all were representative of Australasia.
Among the exceptions was Mr. Frank Wild, who was appointed leader of one
of the Antarctic parties. Wild had distinguished himself in the South on
two previous occasions, and now is in the unique position of being, as it
were, the oldest resident of Antarctica. Our sojourn together at Cape Royds
with Shackleton had acquainted me with Wild's high merits as an explorer
and leader.
Lieutenant B. E. S. Ninnis of the Royal Fusiliers, Dr. X. Mertz, an expert
ski-runner and mountaineer, and Mr. F. H. Bickerton in charge of the air-tractor
sledge, were appointed in London. Reference has already been made to Captain
Davis: to him were left all arrangements regarding the ship's complement.
A ``Who's who'' of the staff appears as an appendix.
CHAPTER II - THE
LAST DAYS AT HOBART AND THE VOYAGE TO MACQUARIE ISLAND
