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Antarctic Explorers: Ernest Shackleton

Ernest H. Shackleton
1874-1922

Ernest Henry Shackleton was born at Kilkea House, County


Kildare, on February 15, 1874. The Shackletons came
originally from Yorkshire. The founder of the family was
Abraham Shackleton, a Quaker, who moved to Ireland early
in the eighteenth century and started a school at Ballitore,
near Dublin. Henry Shackleton, Ernest's father, was
Abraham's direct descendant in the fourth generation. Henry
tried to enter the army but his poor health prevented him.
Becoming a farmer instead, he settled in the green, fertile,
rolling fields of County Kildare at a place called Kilkea.
Ernest's mother, born Henrietta Letitia Sophia Gavan,
married Henry in 1872, bringing a touch of Irish blood into an
otherwise pure Anglo-Irish lineage. Ernest's birth happened
to coincide with the disastrous potato crop failure, so much
a part of Irish history. This meant an agricultural depression
and difficult times for farmers. Henry Shackleton was a
survivalist and therefore abandoned his farm before it was too
late. At the age of 33, Henry left his farm to Trinity College in
Dublin and started a new career in medicine. In 1884, Dr.
Shackleton crossed the water and settled in England. It was
in suburban London that Ernest Shackleton spent the
remainder of his boyhood years. Ernest's mother became
mysteriously an invalid and remained so for the last forty
years of her life. Dr. Shackleton, with help from his motherin-law and various female relatives from Ireland, raised
Ernest and the other children.
Until the age of eleven-and-a-half, Shackleton was educated at home by a governess. He then went to
Fir Lodge Preparatory School, down the road from his home, Aberdeen House, in West Hill. In 1887
Ernest left Fir Lodge to go to Dulwich College. Henry desired for his son to enter the medical field but
Ernest would have no part of it. Longing for the sea, Ernest left Dulwich at the end of the Lent term in
1890 and on April 19, at the age of sixteen, went to Liverpool and joined the full rigger HOGHTON
TOWER, owned by the North Western Shipping Company of Liverpool. Ernest's first experience at sea
belongs to sailor's folklore. The HOGHTON TOWER was bound for Valparaiso round Cape Horn. They
reached Cape Horn in the middle of winter and fought against storms for nearly two months before finally
rounding the Cape. Battered by the seas, the HOGHTON TOWER reached Valparaiso in the middle of
August. From there she sailed for Iquique, Chile where for six weeks she loaded nitrates. The
HOGHTON TOWER returned to Liverpool at the end of April, 1891, with food and water running out. It
was a hard, difficult trip, especially for a sixteen-year-old old novice. Shackleton went on to spend five
years sailing to and from the Far East and America. In 1896, without much difficulty, Shackleton
passed for First Mate. In April 1898, he was certified as Master. At the age of twenty-four he had
qualified to command a British ship anywhere on the seven seas.
In the summer of 1897, Shackleton met and became attracted to one of his sisters' friends, Emily
Dorman. Ernest had just returned from a voyage to Japan aboard the FLINTSHIRE when he met the tall,
dark-haired young woman "with a good figure". At the end of 1898, the FLINTSHIRE ran aground near
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Middlesbrough which gave him the opportunity to take leave for 24-hours in order to go home for his
father's birthday on January 1. On the way, he stopped and visited The Firs, where Emily lived, and for
the first time Ernest was seriously in love. Shackleton had enough of tramping to the East. To improve
his standing with Emily and her father, he left the Welsh Shire Line and, early in 1899, took a position
with the Union Castle Line.
The Union Castle Line belonged to the lete of the merchant service. The ships were immaculate, from
their red and black funnels to their red boot topping. Used to carry mails between England and South
Africa, it was the next best thing to the navy. The brasswork glistened as officers paraded in navy blue
and gold braid across the decks. As a bonus, the Union Castle Line meant coming home regularly
every two months instead of long and undetermined absences aboard a tramper. It was an ideal
itinerary: down the Solent from Southampton, round the bulge of Africa, across the Bight of Benin, into
the docks at Cape Town and back...six thousand miles each way. By December, promoted to Third
Officer, Shackleton was transferred to the TINTAGEL CASTLE which was hauling troops to the Cape
since, in October 1899, the Boer War had broken out. During the summer of 1900, Shackleton was in
London on leave, seeing Emily when he could. Then, on September 13, Shackleton wrote to volunteer
for the National Antarctic Expedition (commanded by Robert Falcon Scott), which was in the process of
being organized. Four days later he visited the expedition offices in person to press home his desires. A
journalist later asked Shackleton where he got the notion to become an explorer and Ernest responded,
"I think it came to me during my first voyage...I felt strangely drawn towards the mysterious south...we
rounded Cape Horn in the depth of winter. It was one continuous blizzard all the way...Yet many a time,
even in the midst of all this discomfort, my thoughts would go out to the southward...But strangely
enough, the circumstance which actually determined me to become an explorer was a dream I had
when I was twenty-two. We were beating out to New York from Gibraltar, and I dreamt I was standing on
the bridge in mid-Atlantic and looking northward. It was a simple dream. I seemed to vow to myself that
some day I would go to the region of ice and snow and go on and on till I came to one of the poles of
the earth, the end of the axis upon which this great round ball turns". In March, 1900, Shackleton was
on his second trooping voyage to South Africa in the TINTAGEL CASTLE when he met Cedric
Longstaff, a lieutenant in the East Surrey Regiment. Longstaff's father, Llewellyn, happened to be the
principal benefactor of the National Antarctic Expedition...he had donated 25,000 to make the
expedition possible. Shackleton persuaded Cedric Longstaff to give him an introduction to his father.
The summer of 1900 was filled with uncertainty. Ernest's brother, Frank, was commissioned in the
Royal Irish Fusiliers, bound for South Africa to take part in the final days, so it seemed, of the war. But
front-page news was Carsten Borchgrevink, recently returned from the Antarctic where he was the first
man to winter on the Antarctic continent. Shackleton's romantic imagination ran wild as he went down
to Wimbledon to meet Llewellyn Longstaff. Like Shackleton, Mr. Longstaff was a Fellow of the Royal
Geographic Society and, besides, would always welcome anyone who had recently seen his son. He
was overwhelmed by Shackleton's personality. When Shackleton asked his help in joining the
expedition, Longstaff could hardly refuse. As Shackleton returned to sea, Longstaff made it clear to Sir
Clements Markham that he wanted Shackleton accepted for the expedition. Sir Clements told Scott
who promptly passed the matter on to Albert Armitage as he simply "had no time to attend to it". Early
in March 1901, Shackleton returned to Southampton on the CARISBROOK CASTLE to find himself
part of the National Antarctic Expedition. Shackleton would depart with Scott on the historic
DISCOVERY EXPEDITION to Antarctica later that summer. (NOTE: the story of the National Antarctic
Expedition is written, in detail, under the chapter devoted to Robert Falcon Scott).
Shackleton became seriously ill on Scott's southern sledge journey, midway through the expedition,
and had to be invalided home aboard the relief ship MORNING. As Bernacchi, with Scott's DISCOVERY
EXPEDITION noted, Shackleton was "deeply disappointed & would give anything to remain. Although
everyone is so anxious to return this year with the DISCOVERY few are so poor spirited as to wish to
return in the MORNING". On June 12,1903, after convalescing in New Zealand, Shackleton landed in
England. A huge scandal had broken out about the affairs of the DISCOVERY EXPEDITION. It seems
everyone was upset about Scott remaining for a second winter in the Antarctic. The organizers had
explicitly said that under no circumstances was Scott to stay for a second year...it would be considered
professional incompetence to allow the DISCOVERY to be frozen in, risking being crushed by the ice.
Sir Clements sent a telegram to Shackleton: "The Admiralty will undertake rescue of Discovery.
Committee appointed. Come to me. I wish to consult you". The expedition organizers wanted
Shackleton to sail out as chief officer on the TERRA NOVA to assist the MORNING, if necessary, to
get Scott and his men back home. Shackleton declined as, according to Armitage, "he meant to return
and prove to Scott 'that he---Shackleton---was a better man than Scott' ". Besides, Emily had now
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agreed to marry him. Meanwhile, early in October Shackleton visited Sir Clements Markham, in
Markhams' words, with "full plans for another expedition". Sir Clements discouraged him and
Shackleton went on to join the staff of Royal Magazine as a journalist. On January 11, 1904, after a long
and nerve-racking wait, Shackleton found himself elected to the desired post of secretary to the Royal
Scottish Geographical Society. He now had a full-time job and, as he wrote to Emily, "I am so happy
dearest thinking about all the times which are to be in the future...we do want to settle down and have
our own house at last after all these years of waiting". In London, on April 9, Ernest Shackleton and
Emily Dorman were married at Christchurch, Westminster. A week before the wedding the DISCOVERY
returned to New Zealand after her second season in the ice. The record southing, in which Shackleton
had participated, was still intact. When Shackleton walked up the aisle with Emily he was still one of
the men who had reached the Furthest South...no finer wedding present could have been given.
Shackleton discovered a new-found gift: public speaking. He made many acquaintances as secretary
and was soon asked to run for Parliament. On November 16, 1904, the Dundee Courier announced that
Shackleton "is to uphold the Unionist cause in the next election". On February 2, 1905, Emily gave birth
to their first child, a boy. This was exciting but, unfortunately, he had no income...in mid-January he had
resigned his position at the RSGS to further his political career. He subsequently finished in fourth place
in the election. A time of uncertainty would prevail until early in 1907. On Monday, February 11,
Shackleton was in London at the RGS. In the same room stood Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof
Nansen...it was an extraordinary scene. Shackleton had come to ask for the support of the RGS and
the patronage of the King...he planned on spending the next winter in Antarctica and he only had six
months to prepare.

The NIMROD Expedition


1907-09
In the Geographical Journal for March, 1907, Shackleton outlined his plans, some of which
subsequently had to be changed. The expedition was expected to leave New Zealand at the beginning
of 1908 and proceed to winter quarters on the Antarctic continent. Here the men and stores would be
landed, followed quickly by the retreat of the ship to New Zealand to prevent her from being frozen in.
Shackleton announced, "The shore-party of nine or twelve men will winter with sufficient equipment to
enable three separate parties to start out in the spring. One party will go east, and, if possible, across
the Barrier to the new land known as King Edward VII Land, follow the coastline there south, if the coast
trends south, or north if north, returning when it is considered necessary to do so. The second party will
proceed south over the same route as that of the southern sledge-party of the DISCOVERY; this party
will keep from fifteen to twenty miles from the coast, so as to avoid any rough ice. The third party will
possibly proceed westward over the mountains, and, instead of crossing in a line due west, will strike
towards the magnetic Pole. The main changes in equipment will be that Siberian ponies will be taken for
the sledge journeys both east and south, and also a specially designed motor-car for the southern
journey...I do not intend to sacrifice the scientific utility of the expedition to a mere record-breaking
journey, but say frankly, all the same, that one of my great efforts will be to reach the southern
geographical Pole. I shall in no way neglect to continue the biological, meteorological, geological and
magnetic work of the DISCOVERY".
The first step was to secure an office in London. A furnished room at 9 Regent Street served as
headquarters of the expedition. The staff consisted of Mr. Alfred Reid, who had gained considerable
experience in connection with previous polar adventures, and a district messenger. Fortunately, there
was a typing office on the same floor which could deal with the correspondence which grew from day to
day. Shackleton secured estimates for the supplies from a number of different companies as he wanted
the best of everything possible. Shackleton stipulated that all the goods were to be delivered in London
by June 15, for the ship was to leave England on June 30. As for the ship, Shackleton's first choice was
the BJORN, owned by Mr. C. Christiansen. The BJORN was a new ship, built specially for polar work,
but was simply too expensive to purchase. Instead, when Shackleton returned to London after visiting
Christiansen in Sandyfjord, the purchase of the NIMROD was made. At the time, the NIMROD was on a
sealing venture, out of Newfoundland, but was expected to return very soon. The ship was small and old
and her maximum speed under steam was hardly more than six knots, but on the other hand, she was
strongly built. The NIMROD did not return as soon as Shackleton expected and when she did arrive,
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she had been somewhat damaged by the ice. She was inspected on Shackleton's behalf and
pronounced sound. A rapid transit was made across the Atlantic and the ship arrived in the Thames on
June 15, 1907. Shackleton was very disappointed when he first inspected the ship; she was run down
and smelt strongly of seal-oil. In addition, she required new caulking and masts. As work began on the
NIMROD, Shackleton contracted Messrs. Humphreys, of Knightsbridge, to construct the hut in which to
live during the Antarctic winter. The hut would be shipped in sections aboard the NIMROD. It was made
of stout fir timbering of best quality in the walls, roofs and floors. The walls were strengthened with iron
cleats bolted to main posts and horizontal timbering, and the roof was reinforced with iron tie rods. The
hut was lined with match-boarding and the walls and roof were covered first with strong felt, then oneinch tongued and grooved boards, followed by an additional covering of felt. Granulated cork was used
as insulation. The hut was to be erected on wooden piles, driven into the ice, with rings attached to the
roof so that guy ropes could be used to give additional resistance to the gales.
"The personnel of an expedition of the character I proposed is a factor on which success depends to a
very large extent. The men selected must be qualified for the work, and they must also have the special
qualifications required to meet polar conditions. They must be able to live together in harmony for a long
period without outside communication, and it must be remembered that the men whose desires lead
them to the untrodden paths of the world have generally marked individuality", Shackleton wrote. The
staff:

SHORE PARTY

Sir Philip Brocklehurst, Bart., assistant geologist, and in charge of current


observations.
Bernard Day, electrician and motor expert.
Ernest Joyce, in charge of general stores, dogs, sledges and zoological collections.
Dr. A. F. Mackay, surgeon.
Dr. Eric Marshall, surgeon, cartographer.
G E. Marston, artist.
James Murray, biologist.
Raymond Priestley, geologist.
William Roberts, cook.
Frank Wild, in charge of provisions.

SHIP'S STAFF

Lieutenant Rupert England, R.H.R., Master.


John K. Davis, first officer.
A. L. A. Mackintosh, second officer.
Dr. William Arthur Rupert Michell, surgeon.
H. J. L. Dunlop, chief engineer.
Alfred Cheetham, third officer and boatswain.

The work of preparing for the expedition was rapid and as the end of
July approached, the stores and equipment were loaded on board the
NIMROD in readiness for the voyage to New Zealand. On July 30,
1907, the NIMROD sailed from the East India Docks for Torquay. The
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first night was spent at Greenhithe and on the morning of the 31st the
ship continued for Torquay. A detour was made when a tug overtook
the NIMROD and conveyed news that the King and Queen wished to
come on board to inspect the ship and equipment on Sunday,
August 4. By Sunday, the ship was anchored at Cowes, and their
Majesties, the King and Queen, their Royal Highnesses the Prince of
Wales, the Princess Victoria, Prince Edward and the Duke of
Connaught came on board. The King presented Shackleton with the
Victorian Order and the Queen presented him with a Union Jack to
carry on the southern sledge journey. The NIMROD sailed for
Torquay early the next morning and arrived there on August 6.
Farewell dinner and drinks were ingested that evening and on the
morning of Wednesday, August 7, the ship sailed for New Zealand.

After calling at St. Vincent and Cape Town, the NIMROD arrived at
Lyttelton, New Zealand, on November 23. The Commonwealth Government
gave Shackleton 5000 and the New Zealand Government another 1,000
which allowed Shackleton to increase the number of the shore party and
add additional equipment. The New Zealand Government also agreed to pay
half the cost of towing the NIMROD down to the Antarctic circle so that
coal could be saved. At 4 P.M. on January 1, 1908, the lines were cast off
from the wharf and the NIMROD was off for the south. Thousands watched
and cheers broke out as the NIMROD passed the United States' magnetic
survey ship GALILEE. With the KOONYA steaming in front, Shackleton
moved up close to her stern and hauled in the 4-inch wire cable to be used
to tow the NIMROD south.
Everything went well until the third of January. As Mackintosh wrote, "A
truly miserable day and night: everything upside down, nearly every one
seasick. We exchanged signals with the KOONYA occasionally--this
afternoon she enquired how our passengers were faring? We replied and
told her that 'there were 20 seasick, but all cheerful'. It's blowing strong
from S.W. with quite a tidy sea and swell". The weather moderated the
next day but some of the crew were still very ill; Marshall, Mawson and
Priestley being the worst. The first pony was lost on January 6. "Doctor" fell
over onto his back in a very awkward manner. Try as they might, the poor
animal could not get up so it was shot.
Gales accompanied the ships on the journey south and on January 14 the first iceberg was sighted. The
next day the pack ice was sighted off the starboard bow extending all the way to the port bow. A short
time later the NIMROD was on her own as the KOONYA'S tow-line was cast off.
After navigating through dense clusters of bergs, the NIMROD entered the Ross Sea on January 16, the
first ship to do so without the vessel having been held up by pack-ice. January 17 found them at
7043'S, 17858'E. The NIMROD skirted the Barrier until January 25 at which time Shackleton gave up
all hope of reaching King Edward VII Land. The pack-ice was too thick as well as being interspersed
with giant icebergs. It seemed impossible to reach land, and the shortness of coal, the leaky condition
of the ship, and the absolute necessity of landing all the stores and putting up the hut before the vessel
left them made the situation extremely anxious for Shackleton. Fearing becoming trapped in the ice,
Shackleton could see no option other than steering for McMurdo Sound. At 8 P.M. she turned to the
west and on January 28 they entered McMurdo Sound. Around midnight, the frozen sea stopped them
some 20 miles short of Hut Point; the ice anchor was dropped and made fast to the floe. Shackleton
decided to lay off the ice-foot for a few days to give Nature a chance to break up the ice. Meanwhile, on
the evening of the 29th, the sides and top of the motor-car case were removed and the wheels put on
the car. On the 30th most of the beams of the pony shelter were removed so the ponies could be
removed without difficulty at a moments notice. Most of them were in very poor shape and one,
"Nimrod", had to be shot.
The voyage had been without accident until the morning of the 31st. The entire
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crew was busy unpacking the stores from the after-hatch, preparatory to
landing them, when a hook on the tackle slipped and, swinging suddenly
across the deck, struck Mackintosh in the right eye. He fell to the deck in
great pain but was able, in a few minutes, to walk to England's cabin where
Marshall examined him. It was clear that the eye must be removed so
Marshall, assisted by Michell and Mackay, administered chloroform to
Mackintosh and removed the eye.
At 9:30 P.M. on February 3, the ship was fast alongside the ice foot off Hut
Point Peninsula. The offloading began with the motor car the first thing to go
over the side. By February 12th, the stores were safely ashore. The
temperatures were now consistently below -10F. The NIMRODS' masts "were
grey with the frozen spray and the bows were a coat of mail". At 10:45 P.M. on
February 22, the NIMROD headed northward and arrived at Port Chalmers,
New Zealand, on March 6, 1908.
It took a few more weeks to transform the hut from an empty
shell to a fully furnished and functional lodging. The fifteen
men had to eat, sleep, work, worry, talk and meet all their
social needs for their time in Antarctica in the tiny hut.
Shackleton had his own space while two men each shared
the seven other cubicles.
The meteorologist, Jameson Adams, set to work building a
meteorological screen on a hill near the hut to measure air
temperature, wind speed / direction and evaporation.
Measurements were taken nearly round the clock as Adams
took them from 8 am to 8 PM and the night watchman took
the 10 PM to 6 am shift. Douglas Mawson built an
anemometer on the tallest ridge; wind speed was frequently
recorded above 100 mph. Professor Edgeworth David made a
snow gauge from spare stove and chimney parts.
Evaporation was measured by hanging measured cubes of snow and ice from rods projecting from the
wall of the hut. Sometimes wind direction could be tracked by monitoring the steam plume coming from
Mount Erebus. The biologist, James Murray, built a sledge which could be lowered through a crack in
the ice and pulled along the bottom which scooped up a vast variety of small fish, crustacean and other
marine animals. Oddly to Murray, the fish and other animals would freeze before he could get back to
the hut but, once thawed out, they would spring back to life.
As the sun began to set in March, tiny details of the daily routine became major events. The weather
was an important factor of everyday life; in a blizzard the chores of emptying dishwater and ashes and
getting fresh ice became small feats of endurance. Night watchmans' duties were rotated every two
weeks. Two men were exempted from these duties: Roberts, who was the cook, and Sir Philip
Brocklehurst, whose toes were still black with frostbite (one later amputated by Marshall) after his climb
of Mount Erebus. (NOTE: The successful ascent of Mount Erebus was one of the first accomplishments
of the expedition. Six men, among them Douglas Mawson, measured the crater. They quickly
descended by sliding down the 5000 feet in four hours). The others tended to their specialties: Adams
wound the chronometers, checked instruments and did other meteorological work; Marshall, the
surgeon, tended to medical needs and exercised ponies; Wild, the storekeeper, issued food to the
cook, opened the cases of tinned food and dug the meat out of the snowdrifts (penguin, seal or mutton);
Joyce fed the dogs and trained them for sledge-pulling; David spent time on geological studies;
Priestley and Murray worked at dredging; Mawson studied the aurora, ice structures and measured
atmospheric electricity.
By midwinter, activity had declined to a lazy pace, as compared to the torrid one set earlier. Most of the
men now stayed up late and Professor David, more of a late-night person than the others, organized an
11 o'clock tea. Nearly all were sound asleep by 1 am. First up at 7:30 am would be Roberts, to start
breakfast, and Armitage, to feed the ponies. At 8:30 am the rest would get up and at 8:45 the table was
lowered from the roof. At 9:00 they all sat down to porridge and hot milk. Occasionally a second course
would follow consisting of bottled fruit and tea, followed by a smoke. Lunch was at 1:00 PM and dinner
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was at 6:45 sharp. On birthdays and midwinter's day (June 21), they broke the rules and celebrated with
what Shackleton described as "a sort of mild spree". Optimism was high through the six-month night.
"We were all busy and there was little cause for us to find the time hung heavy on our hands; the winter
months sped by". Evidently, the men were actually thrilled when winter ended since they were obviously
getting on each others' nerves. One night, as Marshall writes, Wild "showed sign of being drunk, & was
anxious to make a row, but after a little while persuaded him to turn in. Was seriously thinking of getting
him outside to give me a hand with the ponies & then giving him a damn good hammering, as he was
becoming very talkative and objectionable & Shacks was evidently afraid to come out and stop him,
although awake and hearing all said". At the beginning of August, Mackay suddenly went for Roberts,
the cook, with whom he shared a cubicle. It seems that Roberts put his feet on Mackay's chest to lace
up his boots. Mackay, much bigger and stronger, tried to wring Robert's neck and may have succeeded
if Mawson, who was bigger and stronger still, hadn't stepped in. In Priestley's words, it was "lucky
evidently that the Winter (was) almost over instead of just beginning". In Marshall's version, Shackleton
was "in a regular panic about it & threatens he will shoot (Mackay). This is the 2nd time he has said
(so). He is so easily frightened that he is not to be trusted with a pistol...Mac quite all right but slightly
eccentric & quick tempered".
Spring arrived and the plans, worked out over the winter, were ready to be launched. Shackleton,
Adams, Marshall and Wild would head south for the Pole, a 1700-mile trek; Edgeworth David (aged 50)
would lead the Northern Party on a 1260-mile journey towards the South Magnetic Pole, with Mackay
(aged 30) and Mawson (aged 26) as teammates. The Northern Party had no experience of polar
exploration. They would have to pull sledges and supplies without the help of dogs or ponies. At the
start, they used the motor car to establish two depots 10 and 15 miles from the hut on Cape Royds. On
September 25 the engine overheated and they actually had to wait in the blistering cold for it to cool
down. When the party finally left winter quarters the next day, Mackay's wrist was in a sling after an
accident with the car's starter. It seemed a rather ominous beginning to a journey into the unknown with
the doctor's arm in a sling! By November 1 they were becoming worried at the rate the rations were
diminishing. Appetite consumed them but by November 5 they limited themselves to one plasmon
biscuit each for breakfast and dinner, discovering in the process that "we had never before fully realised
how very nice those plasmon biscuits were". The three explorers used the traditional method for dividing
food: the cook would put three biscuits on the cooker cover, then point to one, asking one of the others
with his back turned, "Whose?" By this means there would be no opportunity to create a squabble over
who was getting the biggest portion. In the beginning, no attention was paid to the crumbs; by early
November they were breaking their biscuits over their pannikins to make sure they left no precious
crumbs. Even their conversation was dominated by food as David wrote, "We could discuss nothing but
the different dishes with which we had been regaled in our former lifetime at various famous restaurants
and hotels".
On December 11, a mile short of the Drygalski Ice Tongue, David fell into a crevasse only 20 feet from
their tent. He managed to save himself, catching the edge on either side but needed Mawson's
assistance, with an ice ax, to pull him out. The next day it was Mackay's turn. While hunting for
emperor penguins he fell through an ice bridge up to his waist in water. On December 20, Mawson had
a brush with death. David heard a "slight crash" and noticed that Mawson had disappeared. David and
Mackay found him dangling over a deep crevasse, suspended by his harness attached to the sledge
rope. Mawson, ever the curious scientist, took the opportunity to inspect the ice crystals on the
crevasse wall. David wrote, "After this episode we were extra cautious in crossing the crevasses, but
the ice was simply seamed with them. Twice when our sledge was being dragged up ice-pressure
ridges it rolled over sideways with one runner in a crevasse and once the whole sledge all but
disappeared into a crevasse...Had it gone down completely it would certainly have dragged the three of
us down with it, as it weighed nearly one-third of a ton".
On Christmas day, David and Mawson offered Mackay, who was suffering from snow-blindness, some
sennegrass--dried Norwegian grass they used to line their boots--as substitute pipe tobacco. It was the
only gift they had to offer. The sun and cold temperatures constantly wreaked havoc with the men.
Mawson's right cheek and the tip of David's nose were frostbitten while the sun burned David's hands.
The cold stripped skin from their lips and Mawson woke each morning with his mouth glued shut from
congealed blood. As they neared the magnetic pole, David wrote, "The heavy runners of the sledge
rustled gently as they crushed the crystals by the thousand". On January 15,1909, Mawson's compass
was only 15 minutes off the vertical.

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L to R: Mackay, Dav id, Maw son

The men depoted most of the heavy gear and set out on a
forced march to the pole. Arriving a short time later, David
and Mackay planted a flagpole at the spot. The three men
bared their heads, hoisted the Union Jack and posed in front
of the camera which David triggered with a string. David said,
"I hearby take possession of this area now containing the
Magnetic Pole for the British Empire" and then gave three
cheers for His Majesty King Edward VII. They were awfully
tired but still managed to march back to the depot (24 miles)
where they slept soundly knowing that they had indeed
accomplished their objective. Now they just had to find a
way to stay alive.
They calculated that in order to reach the Drygalski depot
and signal the NIMROD on time, they would need to average
nearly 17 miles a day from January 17 to February 1. On
February 5, 1909, they were within one mile of the Drygalski
depot. With the NIMROD nowhere in sight, their attention
was turned to the possibility of striking out for Ross Island.
About this time two sudden explosions were heard in the
distance. Mawson screamed, "A gun from the ship!" and
scrambled out of the tent. Mackay and David followed close
behind and as they emerged, Mawson was already 300 feet
away. Mawson turned and shouted, "Bring something to
wave!" David grabbed a rucksack and "as I ran forward this
time, what a sight met my gaze.

There was the dear old NIMROD, not a quarter of a mile away, steaming straight towards us up the
inlet..." Mackay shouted to the ship, "Mawson has fallen down a crevasse, and we got to the Magnetic
Pole!" By the afternoon the men were enjoying tea aboard the NIMROD. Later they enjoyed their first
bath in over four months, followed by a wonderful dinner. As the men went to bed, David wrote, "None
but those whose bed for months has been on snow and ice can realise the luxury of a real bunk,
blankets and pillow, in a snug little cabin". They had traveled 1260 miles with no dogs or ponies in the
coldest place on earth. Upon completion of the trek, David felt they could have done it in half the time
with a team of dogs. "We pioneered a route to the magnetic pole and we hope that the path thus found
will prove of use to future observers".
As for Shackleton and the South Pole crew, their journey began at 10 am, under a cloudless sky with
the wind at their backs, on October 29, 1908. At lunchtime, one of the Manchurian ponies, "Grisi",
kicked Adams just below the kneecap and exposed the bone. This was not a good beginning. Even the
light played tricks with them. When clouds and mist blocked the sun, they could see no shadows. As a
result, ledges, mounds and gullies disappeared into a dead, flat white plain. Crevasses were difficult to
spot. Covered only by fragile snowcrust, they were often so deep they could not see the bottom nor
hear an echo from an object they dropped into them. On November 5 Wild, Adams, Marshall and "Grisi"
were all rescued from crevasses---Marshall twice. Three days later Marshall and Wild pitched their tent
right next to an unseen crevasse. The next day another pony slipped into an abyss and was fortunately
saved from the brink of death. As with David and his men, Shackleton's party also experienced deep
hunger. Three weeks out Shackleton complained in his diary about the size of their rations...if they were
this hungry now, what will it be like "later when we are really hungry?" They shot "Chinaman", the
weakest pony, on November 21, ate some of the meat and laid a depot with the rest for when they
returned. Adams, unable to sleep for days from a toothache, let Marshall extract it without the use of
tooth-pulling equipment. After 29 days, on November 26, they passed the previous "furthest south"
record set by Robert Scott in 1902. In early December two more ponies were shot. Shackleton, with his
soft heart for animals, believed he heard the last pony, "Socks", whinnying "all night for his lost
companions". They started eating pony maize. Shackleton remained optimistic, reporting on December
11 that, "Difficulties are just things to overcome, after all". Christmas was celebrated at 9500 feet with
plum pudding, medical brandy, cocoa, a spoonful of crme de menthe and cigars. They still had 250
miles between themselves and the pole, with only three weeks' biscuits left. "Tomorrow we will throw
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away everything except the most absolute necessities", Shackleton wrote. "Everytime we reach the top
of a ridge we say 'perhaps this is the last', but it never is the last", he wrote. On December 27th they
reached the polar plateau at an altitude of 10,200 feet. The weather was severe as a strong headwind
chilled them to the bone. On December 30 a blizzard held them to only 4 miles traveling. They were
weak from a lack of food and their hands and feet were always on the verge of frostbite. By January 2,
1909, Shackleton was near the breaking point. "I cannot think of failure yet. I must look at the matter
sensibly and consider the lives of those who are with me...man can only do his best..." Two days later
he wrote, "The end is in sight. We can only go for three more days at the most, for we are weakening
rapidly". They fought through a blizzard on January 4, 5 and 6. On January 7, only 100 miles from the
pole, a howling blizzard kept them in their sleeping bags all day. It was the same on January 8. The end
of their southern journey began at 4 am on January 9. They left the sledge, tent and food at the camp
and took only the Union Jack, a brass cylinder containing stamps and documents to mark their farthest
south, camera, glasses and a compass. Their farthest south was reached at 9 am: 8823'S, longitude
162--just 97 miles from the South Pole.

Farthest South: Janurary 9, 1909

They planted the flag, stayed a few minutes, and then turned
round and headed for home. The strong winds which worked
against them on their trip south now helped them on their
return. For two weeks they traveled quickly with the sledge
rushing, under sail, down ice falls and over crevasses. One
day, January 19, they made 29 miles. By the morning of
January 26 they had only tea, cocoa and a little pony maize
left. That day they traveled 16 miles over "the worst surfaces
and most dangerous crevasses we have ever encountered".
On February 13 they reached the depot with "Chinaman's"
carcass, which "tasted splendid". They found the Bluff depot
on February 23. When spotted, Shackleton wrote, "It
seemed to be quite close and the flags were waving and
dancing as though to say 'Come, here I am, come and feed.
After months of want and hunger, we suddenly found
ourselves able to have meals fit for the gods, and with
appetites the gods might have envied". By this time Marshall
was suffering badly from dysentery. On February 27
Shackleton decided to leave Marshall and Adams behind
while he and Wild took off for Hut Point.

When they arrived, they found a letter telling them that the NIMROD had picked up the magnetic pole
party and would shelter near the glacier tongue until February 26. It was now February 28. After a bad
night, they burned the magnetic hut and shortly thereafter the NIMROD appeared. By 11 am they were
on board and three hours later Shackleton led a rescue party for Marshall and Adams. At 1 am on
March 4, all were safe on board the NIMROD; they had walked 1700 miles.
The winter season was approaching. McMurdo Sound was already white and choked with the freezing
sea. As Mackay put it, "So the end of the business is that (we are) homeward bound, bumping our way
through this season's ice, which is the form of pantiles, some three or four inches thick. I have left a
great many things behind that I am very sorry to lose". As the NIMROD sailed past Cape Royds,
Shackleton wrote that, "we all turned out to give three cheers and to take a last look at the place where
we had spent so many happy days. The hut was not exactly a palatial residence...but, on the other
hand it had been our home for a year that would always live in our memories...We watched the little hut
fade away in the distance with feelings almost of sadness, and there were few men aboard who did not
cherish a hope that some day they would once more live strenuous days under the shadow of mighty
Erebus".
Shackleton's Hut at Cape Royds

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