Part 16 (1/2)
The larger of these was named Mount Discovery, and, near its base, the site of the camp was chosen. The s.h.i.+p was worked in as close to the sh.o.r.e as was possible before the heavy frost set in, and, as she was well constructed to withstand the pressure of ice, she remained in this position until, after the second winter had been pa.s.sed, the relief s.h.i.+p arrived with sufficient explosives to blast a way out of the ice.
As soon as the members of the expedition had settled down and all was made snug, trips were taken in all directions along the coast and over the ice. The longest trip, taken in the following September, was arranged for, food depots being established as far to the south as the stores could be conveyed.
On this trip, the historic one of the expedition, only three went. These were Captain Scott, Lieutenant Shackleton, and Dr. Wilson. They had dogs with them at the start, but the animals grew sick and weak, and were, at last, quite useless in dragging the sledges. The three harnessed themselves to the sledges in place of the dogs, and, handicapped with this weight of 240 lbs. each, they pushed on until they reached 82 17'
S. From the position they then occupied they were able to see as far as 83 20' S., and would have gone as far, if not farther, but for an insuperable obstacle that confronted them. The route they followed was over rough ice, often yawning with deep creva.s.ses, down which the sledges had to be lowered and then hauled up on the other side. Some of them were veritable chasms, but they faded into insignificance when compared with the one which opened before the explorers at the end of the march. For a time they examined this mighty ice ravine to see if it were not possible, one way or another, to get across. The descent might have been possible, and there was no great difficulty in crossing the floor of it, but the far side rose in an unbroken precipice, and they recognised it as insurmountable, even to such daring and intrepid climbers as themselves.
From the lat.i.tude they had attained they were able to learn that Victoria Land is traversed by a range of high mountains, which, in 82 S., were from 10,000 to 14,000 feet high. A line of foot-hills, closely resembling Admiralty Mountains in appearance, rose in longitude 160 E.
The route gradually ascended, as the party progressed, until a level unbroken plain was reached, the alt.i.tude of which was 9000 feet. The coast line could be seen stretching away due south to the 83rd parallel.
On the way back Lieutenant Shackleton unfortunately ruptured a blood-vessel during an unusually heavy strain at the sledges. The strength of all the party was severely taxed by the hards.h.i.+ps of the journey, and the sudden incapacitating of one of the three was a matter of grave anxiety. He was relieved of the weight of his sledge, but they all realised that if they were to get back alive to the s.h.i.+p, Lieutenant Shackleton would have to walk, as the other two were utterly unable to drag the sledges, with the food and supplies, and his weight as well.
With heroic determination he followed them on foot, only complaining that his injury effectively prevented him from doing his share in the hard work. So they journeyed, arriving at the s.h.i.+p after an absence of ninety-four days, during which they must have covered quite a thousand miles. The speed at which they travelled, when the ice conditions would allow them to proceed, was as high as thirty-two miles a day, a speed far greater than has been attained by other explorers, with one exception, even when the sledges have been drawn by dog-teams.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE ”FARTHEST SOUTH” SLEDGE PARTY IN A BLIZZARD.
_Drawn by Stanley L. Wood._]
The exception was the record set by another party of the _Discovery_ explorers, who, without dogs, and with heavy sledges (240 lbs. a man), covered thirty-three miles a day over the inland ice. This party went out in a westerly direction and pa.s.sed over the interior of Victoria Land, which they found covered with an ice-cap forming a great plain 9000 feet above the sea-level. They were fifty-three days absent, and, at their farthest, were 142 miles from the s.h.i.+p. When they turned back, the plain on the horizon seemed to be higher than where they stood, and rocks occasionally showed. Between this plain and the coast they had several magnificent views of glaciers. In following one down they had an interesting evidence of the fact that the ice in these regions is receding, though at a rate that will require many centuries to pa.s.s before it is all melted and the land made available for human settlement.
They had followed down the glacier for a day, and the ice became so very rough they were obliged to leave their sledges behind them and proceed with the greatest care. As they continued to descend, the glacier gradually dwindled and then suddenly ended in a low wall of ice. In the valley beyond were some frozen lakes, beyond which the valley changed into a series of deep, narrow gorges, filled with long lines and confused heaps of stones and other debris, shed from the glacier as it melted. Perhaps in this valley, more than anywhere else, lay the evidences of what was happening and what had been. There lay the glacier, inert and dead, while the summer sun was gradually wasting its huge ma.s.s. On either side its shrinking tributaries had already severed their connection with it, and receded up the mountain sides. Everything pointed to receding glaciation. Not only were the gorges filled with the stones and debris of the moraines, but thousands of feet up the hill-sides they lay in clear-cut lines, showing how vast the proportions of the glacier had once been.
Other glaciers observed gave the same indications. One of these, named the Ferrar Glacier, after the discoverer, was described as containing probably as much ice as any hitherto known in the world. Two others, the Barnes and the Shackleton Glaciers, each contained a great deal more; but all were greatly shrunk from the tremendous proportions they must once have had, and which could be traced by the lines of moraines. It was from observing these glaciers and speculating upon the immeasurable quant.i.ty of ice that once must have slowly flowed along them to the sea, that a theory was formed as to the real significance of the great ice barrier lying to the south of the Antarctic Circle. The opinion was generally entertained that the ice in this barrier is afloat. It had receded from the time when Ross first discovered it. Even while the expedition was in the neighbourhood it receded. In September 1902, a depot was established on the ice at a line drawn between a volcanic peak at the extreme end of Minna Bluff and the top of Mount Discovery. In November 1903, this spot was found to have moved 608 yards out of the alignment, moving east of north. On the sides of Mount Terror, 800 feet above the existing surface of the barrier, moraines marked its original height. From these facts it was reasoned that at one time the ice forming the cap over the Antarctic continent was enormously deeper than it is to-day, and that it then extended out into the Antarctic Ocean for probably hundreds of miles further than it now reaches. The slow but steady flow of the great ice stream had absolutely filled the sea off the coast of Victoria Land, and the barrier, now existing, was the remains of this once mighty ma.s.s.
It was on one of these exploring journeys that a curious experience befell one party, a member of which, unfortunately, lost his life in consequence. The party were out with sledges and had halted for the midday meal when a violent gale sprang up. As usual, the wind set the snow in motion, and soon the men found themselves in a whirling cloud of finely powdered snow which entirely shut out their view in all directions. Believing themselves to be in the vicinity of the s.h.i.+p, they left the sledges and set out to march to the vessel. Soon they found themselves on a slope which they fancied they recognised as the one that led down to where the s.h.i.+p lay in the ice. As they cautiously advanced, one of the men missed his footing. What with the force of the wind, the insecure foothold on the moving snow, and the declivity of the slope, he was unable to stop himself, and slipped past his comrades and out of sight in the whirling snow with the speed of lightning.