Part 15 (2/2)

With considerable uncertainty the men from the station approached, and were not rea.s.sured when they were asked, in English, how they were.

”Thanks; how are you?” they replied. ”Don't you know us?” one of the strange-looking creatures asked. ”We're the relief party. Have you seen the s.h.i.+p?” Then a third figure appeared from behind an ice hummock where he had been preparing a meal. They were Professor Andersson and his companions, who were on their way, for the second time, to the station.

Without loss of time the reunited comrades made their way to the station, where soap and water and a fresh supply of clothes soon transformed the appearance of the three who had had so trying a time in the little stone hut at Hope Bay. But the situation was still fraught with anxiety, now that both parties realised something very serious had happened to the _Antarctica_. It was impossible for them to determine whether she had gone to the bottom, or had been beset in the ice. Only one thing was clear, and that was, that they would all have to stay where they were until some help came to them. While they were still debating what chances there were of any coming before another winter went by, they were startled, one day, by the arrival of visitors. These proved to be a search party from the Argentine cruiser _Uruguay_, which the Argentine Government had despatched as the _Antarctica_ had not returned at her appointed time. Help had come at a time and from a quarter least expected.

But the news that the cruiser brought added very much to the fears the explorers entertained as to the safety of the _Antarctica_ and her crew.

If she had been beset, some of her company could have reached the station over the ice while it was still compact, or, if she was still afloat, she ought herself to have been able to reach them. The absence of all news made the members of the expedition gathered at the station more than uneasy as to the fate of their comrades.

The morning after the Argentine officers arrived, one of the men, looking out of the hut, exclaimed that eight men were coming over the ice. Under the impression that they were some of the cruiser's crew sent to a.s.sist in removing the baggage from the station to the s.h.i.+p, he went out to meet them, walking slowly, as he tried to decide what was to be done if they could not speak any language he knew. The others in the hut, watching him, saw him suddenly leap forward and then turn to them and wave his arms. ”La.r.s.en! La.r.s.en is here!” they heard him shout.

With one accord they rushed out after him, and in a few moments were eagerly shaking hands with the eight men, who were a detachment sent out from the camp on Paulet Island to ascertain whether the party at the station was still intact or whether it had been rescued. The news was sent to the cruiser, and soon all the members of the expedition and their baggage were on board and the s.h.i.+p was steaming for Paulet Island.

On arrival off the coast no signs of the remainder of the crew of the _Antarctica_ were to be seen, so the whistle was blown. The men at the time were all in the shelter, sleeping, and the sudden sound of the whistle roused them. For the moment they could not believe their ears.

Then one of them looked out and saw the s.h.i.+p, and the shout with which he and his companions greeted the sight rang far out over the water.

Professor Andersson and his two comrades had left the _Antarctica_ on December 29, 1902; the s.h.i.+p was nipped on January 10, 1903; and the castaways arrived at Paulet Island at the end of February. They had lived in the shelter they constructed, subsisting mostly on penguin, until November, when the Argentine cruiser arrived. Only one man had died.

The expedition reached Buenos Aires on November 30, 1903, having, during the time they had been in the Antarctic, collected a ma.s.s of interesting and valuable scientific information.

CHAPTER XVIII

BRITAIN HOLDS HER OWN

A Capable Crew--A Modern Franklin--Early Discoveries--Frozen in--An Historic Journey--The Record of ”Farthest South”--How the Record was Won--Speedy Travelling--Receding Ice Limits--A Dying Glacier--The Secret of the Barrier--A Fatal Gale--Lost in the Snow--An Antarctic Chute--Prolonged Slumber--Antarctic Coal--Home with Honour.

The British Expedition, despatched under the international agreement, was destined, not only to surpa.s.s the achievements of the other two, but also to establish a series of records superior to anything that has yet been accomplished in Polar exploration, either in the northern or southern hemispheres.

The members of the expedition, consisting of Naval officers and men, officers of the Mercantile Marine (Royal Naval Reserve), and civilian scientists, sailed from Cowes on August 6, 1901, on board the _Discovery_, a vessel specially built for the purpose. The s.h.i.+p proceeded to New Zealand, and left there on November 28, 1901, for Victoria Land. They arrived there December 24.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MAP OF SOUTH POLAR REGIONS.

The black line marks the voyage of the _Discovery_; the dotted line the course of the record-making Southern sledge journey. On the right of the map are seen the winter quarters of the German Expedition under Prof.

von Drygalski.]

In selecting the members of the expedition, great care had been exercised, and the excellent results of the voyage may, in a great measure, be attributed to this. No other qualification than fitness was allowed to rank with the selecting committee, so that every one on board the _Discovery_ knew what he had to do and was capable of doing it. This is particularly true in regard to the commander, Captain Robert F.

Scott, R.N., of whom the President of the Royal Geographical Society justly said: ”the skilful and bold navigator, the ideal director of a scientific staff, the organiser of measures securing the health and good spirits of his people, and the beloved commander of the chosen band of explorers who are ready to face hards.h.i.+ps and dangers to secure his approval.” Throughout the entire period the expedition was away, the att.i.tude of the commander was entirely in keeping with the grandest traditions of the service to which he belonged, and would serve to place his name in the brilliant list of Polar heroes quite apart from the splendid feats he personally performed while in the Antarctic. Prominent amongst these stands the record of ”farthest South,” achieved by Scott and two comrades, in September 1902, when the flag was carried to 82 17' S., or some 250 miles nearer the Pole than it had yet been.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE _DISCOVERY_ LYING IN WINTER QUARTERS, FROZEN IN.

The large hut could accommodate the whole crew, and was built in case of a disaster to the s.h.i.+p. The smaller huts in the foreground were used for magnetic and astronomical observations.]

The first point touched by the _Discovery_ on her voyage along the coast of Victoria Land was Cape Adare, where the Newnes expedition, under Borchegrevinck, pa.s.sed the winter of 1899. Here a brief landing was effected, a collection made of the rocks in the neighbourhood, and a cairn built to hold a record for the information of the relief s.h.i.+p, which was to be sent out in the following year. Continuing the voyage to the South, the explorers visited Wood Bay, and, subsequently, discovered an excellent harbour as far south as 76 31' S.

Landing at Cape Crozier on January 22, and leaving another record there for the information of the relief s.h.i.+p, the _Discovery_ went east along the ice barrier until the 165th meridian of longitude was pa.s.sed, when the barrier was found to trend to the north, the sea becoming rapidly more shoal. The coast line was followed to 76 S., or 150 miles further than the expeditions before had gone. The s.h.i.+p was then turned, and, in 174 E. longitude, a place was seen where an inlet ran into the barrier.

A sledge party went on the ice and penetrated as far as 78 50' S., the point reached by Borchegrevinck in his sledge trip.

By this time it was realised that winter quarters must be selected, and the _Discovery_ sailed to that part of the sea where Mount Erebus and Mount Terror reared their lofty heads on the land. Examining the land for a suitable site for the camp, it was learned that both Erebus and Terror are situated on an island, and not, as was formerly believed, on the mainland. At the opposite end of the island another smaller volcanic mount was seen, with a still smaller one between it and the two giants.

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