The Home of the Blizzard / Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914

le 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 attr

kable feature, and the following pages will shor

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 c

s compiled a complet

iege of the South Pol

ndix for an abr

erprise, which is still carried on, and has incidentally thrown much light upon the geography of the South Polar regions

editions by France, the United States, and Great Britain; part at least of whose programmes was Ant

r Ross, are so well known that they need not be described. The French under Dumont D'Urville and the Americans under Wilkes visited the r

It was not till 1897 that it had commenced in earnest. Since then many adventurers have gone forth; most of the prominent civilize

nt 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, spe

, 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

e Antarctic regions ma

onding with the quadran

thrown out by previous

e meridian of Greenwich,

nt or ocean. Thus the

90 degrees W., the A

es E., and the Austral

s E. The fourth divisi

cean alone lies t

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 ninetee

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

ce with the warmer waters of lower latitudes. There are innumerable seals, many sea-birds and millions of

ed, 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 continen

d existing. This naturally follows from the fact that it is a lofty expanse of ice-clad land circumscribing the Pole,

tiently ask, "What is the use

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iscoveries prece

iminating, 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 hamperi

increase in the creature comforts of man. Again, from an economic aspect, the frozen South may n

years later, great profits were being returned to Great Britain and the United States from sealing-stations established as a result of Cook's o

nce man is constantly resorting to subtler and more ingenious artifice in applying Nature's resources. It will be remembered that Charles Darwin, when in Austral

and sciences, is not now obvious. As sure as there is here a vast mass of land with potentialities, st

s, the time arrived when a complete elucidation of the Antarctic problem was more than ever desirable. In the Australian Quadrant, the broad geographica

as well to review the stage at which discovery ha

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; la

nder Drygalski in 1902. Between the most westerly point sighted by the 'Terra Nova' and Gaussberg, there is a

d, therefore, a synopsis of the voyages

noes, 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'

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 pa

French expedition during its eleven days' so

rable stretches of a solid barrier of ice, and at one point saw and landed upon rocks in

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, thou

undings made by Wilkes were indicative of the approach to land, but he must have frequently mistaken for it distant ice-masses frozen in

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

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 t

prised our knowledge concerning some two thousand miles of prospective coast lying to the southw

n 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

ding 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

olated 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 o

wn of the vast region which was our goal. It is sufficient to say that almost

s 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 impor

s was regarded by some as

failure overl

w suc

nts, we continued to adhere to them as closely a

site expenditure might well have exceeded the whole cost of our Expedition. Accordingly the best obtainable vessel was purchased, and modifie

the ice is that the hull be very staunch, capable of driving into the pac

uld 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 da

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ction of S.

atter are a sine qua non in polar navigation, whilst sails allow of economy in the consumption of c

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

d, armoured with steel plates. The heavy side-frames were braced and stiffened by two tiers of horizontal oak beams, upon which were built the '

in all probability rise out of harm's way. However, to be quite certain of this and to ensure safety in the

one hundred and sixty-five feet, bread

nd eighty-six, but the actual carrying cap

ormal power registered was ninety-eight horse-power, working a four-bladed propeller, dri

in hold, and to a forward steam-windlass. The latter was mainly used

oremast and schooner-rigged

eel tanks built into the bottom of the hold served for the storage of fresh water and at any tim

farther forward was a small lamp-room for the storage of kerosene, lamps and other necessaries. A lofty fo'c'sle-head gave much accom

iately in front of the funnel. Farther aft, behind the engine-room and below the poop deck, was the ward-room(,) a cent

from Australia, she was a scene of busy activity, as alteratio

ved both in Europe and Australia. Many and varied were the requirements, and some idea of their great m

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 ob

n 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

se fit a man for such an undertaking. The qualifications of mental ability, acquaintance with the work and sound moral quali

grounds that a man is better without them, but, on the other hand, his b

works with the determination to sacrifice all per

ntative 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

and Mr. F. H. Bickerton in charge of the air-tractor sledge, were appointed in London. Reference has

the staff appea