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

the world. Any trace of elation we may have felt at this meteorological discovery could not compensate for the ever-present discomforts of life. Day after day

hese visitations the sequence of events could almost be predicted; inde

been blowing with great force during the morning, commenced to subside rapidly just after noon. Towards eve

came to be regarded as peculiar to the country. Similar disturbances have been observed in every part

this force, it may be mentioned that the lid of the air-tractor case had been left lying on the snow near the Hut. It weighed more than three hundredweights, yet it was whisked into the air one morning and dropped fifty yards away in a north-easterly

ath only being disturbed. For instance, Laseron one day was skinning at one end of a seal and rem

of brash-ice, frozen spray and water-vapour were frequently seen lifted t

romontories to the east and west, where the slopes were visible, mounting to an altitude of several thousand feet, clouds of drift-snow blotted out the details of the surface above a level of about six hundred feet. It certainly appeared as if the gale, for some reason, had lifted and was still raging overhead. At 7.30 P.M. the

n one occasion, a party ascending the ice slopes to the south met the wind blowing at an elevation of four hundred feet. At the same time snow could be seen pouring over the "Barrier" to the west of the Winter Qua

thousand feet. On such occasions it appeared that the gale was impelled to blow straight out from the plateau slopes over a lower stratum of dead-air. An explanation was thereby afforded of the movement of condensation clouds which appeared in the zenith at the

rie silence, that the habitual droning of many weeks would still reverberate in the ears. At night one would involuntarily wake up if the wind died away, and b

e air and the raging sea was a fearful sight. Even the nearest of the islands, only half a mile off the land,

Land in comparison with those of half the velocity which fall within one's ordinary experience. As this subject was ever before us, the following figures quoted from a work of reference will be instructive. The cl

______________________

locities|Pressures

es | in

our | s

oot

area

_______| _________|___

0.02 |May cau

ove form

| 0.06 |Moves th

7 | 0.19 |Moves s

10 | 0.37 | trees

breeze| 1

19 | 1.16 |Good s

| 25 | 1.90 | ma

31 | 2.81 |Sways

37 | 3.87 | s

44 | 5.27 |Dange

e | 53 | 7.4

10.40 |Prostrate

77 | 14.40 | an

______________________

g at the rate of a hundred miles per hour exerts a pressure of about twenty-three pounds per square

hour, neglecting individual gusts, whose velocity much exceeded the

es, timber in small scraps, cases and boards, paper, ashes, dirt, worn-out finnesko, ragged mitts and all the other details of a rubbish heap. One of the losses was a heavy case which formed the packing of part of the magnetometer. Weighted-down by stones this had stood for a long time in what was regarded as a safe place. One morning it was discovered to be missing. It was surmised that a hurricane had

Stepping out of the shelter of the Hut, one was apt to be immediately hurled at full length down wind. No amount of exertion was of any avail unless a firm foothold had been secured. The strongest man, stepping on to ice or hard snow in plain leather or fur boots, would start sliding away wi

alf inches in length, purchased in Switzerland, gave a secure foothold. Some of the men covered the soles of their boots with long, bristling spikes and these served their purpose well. Ice-nails, screwed into the soles without being riveted on plates, were liable to tear out when put to a severe test, besides being too short

he wind. In course of time, those whose duties habitually took them out of doors became thorough masters of the art of walking in hurricanes-an accomplishment comparable to skating or ski

s "lying on the wind," at equilibrium, was a unique experience. As a rule the velocity remained uniform; when it fluctuated in a series of gusts, all our

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and the wind direction (anemograph) for a

strument. The regularity of these curves shows the steadiness of the wind. It will be observed that the average velocity for twenty-four hours was 90.1 miles, and the maximum of the average hourly velocities throughout that

into crawling on hands and knees. Many of the more conservative persisted in this method, and, as a compensation, became the first exponent

time, there were not many days when objects a hundred yards away could be seen distinctly. Whatever else happened, the wind never abated, and so, even when the snow had ceased falling and the sky was clear, the drift continued until all the loose accum

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ailing at Cape Royds, Mcmurdo Sound, and at winter qu

is that supplied by the Shackleton Expedition. The solid black line refers to Adelie Land, the broken line to Cape Royds. It will be noted that whereas the average temperature con

hurled, screaming through space at a hundred miles an hour, and the temperature is below zero, Fahrenheit.** You have t

es as low as

ing-point) were experie

y occasionally exceedin

ow temperatures, or h

nough; but the combinati

s is diffic

nses an indelible and awful impression seldom equalled in the whole gamut of natural experience. The world a void, grisly, fierce and appalling. We stumble and struggle thro

windl

sullen, roarin

ntific work required all too frequent journeys to the instruments at a distance from the Hut, and, i

s having to feel his way from one place to the other. Attending to the exposed instruments in a high wi

n consumed a good deal of water, and, to keep up with the demand, Whetter piled up many hardly-won boxes of ice in the veranda. Close unearthed coal briquettes from the heap outside, shovelled tons of snow from the veranda and made himself useful and amiable to every one. Murphy, our stand-by in small talk, travel, history, literature and what not, was the versatil

well fitted out with a lathe and all the requirements for instrument-making, attended to repairs, doing splendid service. The anemome

n a leather bag, strapped on his shoulders, so that they would not be lost on the way to the Hut. As soon a

htwatch, when the chief meteorologist was due for a "watch below." It was in the early autumn-few of us, then, were adepts at finding our way by instinct-that Hodgeman and Madigan set out, one morning, for the anemometer. Leaving the door of the Hut, they lost sight of each other at

t crampons was in a dangerous situation. Two men, therefore, roped together and carefully searched round the head of the boat harbour; one anchoring himself with an ice-axe, whilst the other, at the end of th

uccessfully. For instance, Webb, who visited the Magnetograph House, a quarter of a mile distant, at least once a day, made his way between various "be

during the day, a good deal of reflected white light and a dark object looms up within a yard or two. In darkness there was nothing to recognize. So Webb would often ru

manner in which those responsible for the tidal, magn

e. It consisted of a large drift-tight box, fitted on the windward side with a long metal cone, tapering to an aperture three-quarters of an inch in diameter. The drift-laden air entered the aperture, its speed was checked on entering the capacious body

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rift

o clear away obstructions continually from the eyes. It was not easy to remove the casing of ice, outside in the wind, because this could only be done slowly, with bare fingers exposed. An experienced man, once inside the Hut, would first see that the ice was broken along the rim of the helme

l polished. Some rusty dog-chains were exposed to it, and, in a few days, they had a definite sheen. A deal box, facing the wind, lost all its painted bands and in a fo

ly, to carve ridges known as sastrugi. Of these much will be said when recounting o

by the action of drift. Again, both neve and ice may

thern, windward faces were on the whole smooth and rounded, but there was no definite polish, because the surface was partly attacked by the chipping and splitting action of frost. The leeward faces w

thrown upon its surface. The effect upon the water, already at freezing-point, would be to congeal the surface at once. Whilst the wind continued, h

lectroscope exposed outside became rapidly charged. A spark gap in a vacuum, connected with a free end of wire, gave a continuous discharge. At times, when the effects were strong, the night-watchman would find the edges and wire stays of the screen outlined in a fashion reminiscent of a pyrotechnic display or an electric street-advertisement. The corners of boxes and points of rock glowed with a pale blue light. The same appeared over points on the clothing, on the mit

s held close to it, a rattling volley of sparks immediately crossed the interval and the air was pervaded with a strong smell of ozone. Of course sparks were not always being emitted by the collector, and it was important to determine the periods of activity. To ensure this, Hurley devised an automatic arrangement, so that an electric bell was set ringing when

were more than ordinarily formidable. They scarcely seemed to provide a subject for poetic i

BLIZ

oding o'er the

lence, omino

pe of ice-roofe

that gird the

urest alab

vast infinit

swings to th

azure world o

-voices of an

rest, gleam

eless plaint o

es the bergs co

es murmuring i

throbbings of t

pulsing spell thr

rieking blizza

rift-cloud's s

pray-smoke's

f the streaming,

s brash to an

o'er the spli

e down the g

e of the ebbin

ss vast in its

neath the Ba

heer-a mar

from the show'r

lackened flood s

e vibrant,

s in the dr

through the fu

ming void in s

ce from the

river mu

shing glamour

hrill of rhy

er south in March. Had we advanced, it is more than likely that provisions would have been exhausted b

the improved weather." I find the average velocity of the wind for that day to have been forty-fiv

e arrival of a true ocean swell meant that the pack had been dispersed. On March 24 such appears to have been the case,

o, Fahrenheit. The penguins took to the sea, and, save for the glim

aking advantage of days freest from drift, the exterior of the Hangar was completed by April 6. After the air-tractor sledge had been moved inside, the snow was piled so high o

any articles which had been crowded into odd corners or rescued from the snow outside. To increase its size, tunnel

had the falls occurred a few days earlier, the cases from which the place was const

letely surrounded by massive drifts, and the snow was driven by the wind pa

greatest difficulty in getting outside to attend to his duties. To dig his way

a tunnel connecting the entrance veranda with the store veranda. From the north-western end of the latter, an out-draught had establishe

t that the scouring effect of the wind, there, would keep the opening of the tunnel free of drift. But when completed, it filled rapidly with snow and had to be sealed. It was then us

d onwards to the store veranda; finally one climbed through a manhole in the snow into the elements without. From the store veranda there was access to the Hangar by a hinged

position a matter of greater uncertainty. A journey by night

wallowed in the chaos of hurtling drift, the darkn

of a drive

ore the irre

ge dusk of this,

heir plac

ed and harried. It was "the raw-ribbed Wild that ab

s in which the huts were hidden-such and such a bearing on the wind-so far. When the rocks came in si

at least to its shelving roof. In the very thick drifts it was even possible to stand on portions of the roof without any notion of the fact. Fossicking about, one kept on the alert for the feel of woodwork. When found and proved to be too extensive

of flippant defiance from the interior. Passing through the vestibule and work-room one beheld a scene in utter variance with the outer hell. Here were warm bunks,

At the screen, he would spend a lively few minutes wrestling in order to hold his ground, forcing the door back against the pressure of wind, endeavouring to make the light shine on the instruments, and, finally, clearing them of snow and reading them. For illumination a hurricane lantern wrapped in a calic

e fire which had died out. There was no sign of Correll, the night-watchman, and we found that the last entry in the log-book had

im over a few times, causing him to lose his bearings. It was blowing a hurricane, the temperature was -70 F., and the drift-snow was so thick as to be wall-like in opacity. He aband

s were in progress for adapting our sledging-gear and instruments to the severe conditions. Correll worked long hours to keep up with the demands made upon h

pectedly, activity inside ceased, and the Hut, as seen by a spectator, resembled an ants' nest upon which a stra

tities, however, remained as ground-ice, anchored to the kelp and stones on the bottom. Gazing down through the clear waters one saw a white, mamillated sheath covering the jungle of giant seaweed, recalling a forest after a heavy snowfall. The ice, instead of being a dead

rface and rising by their own buoyancy. At the surface, if undisturbed, they soon became cemented together. For example, during a calm interval on April 6, within the interval of an hour, an even crust, one inch thick, cov

possible situation. The bulk of the biological collecting was effected under circumstances in which Hunter and Laseron might well have given up work in disgust. For instance, I noted in my diar

eighteen inches in ten days. By that time it was strong enough to be suitable for a tide-gauge.

for, as the days passed, the average velocity steadily rose. On May 11 the average for the twenty-four hours was eighty miles per hour. By that time the Hut had been further protected by a crescent of cases, erected behind the first break-wind. In height this erection stood above the Hangar, and, when the snow became piled in a solid r

h every one was tuned up to a nervous pitch as the Hut creaked and shuddered under successive blows. It seemed very doubtful whether the roof would resist the gusts, and the feasibility of the meat cellar as a last haven of refuge was discussed. After the passage of each gust, the barometer dropped, rising again immediately aft

down and pebbles from the moraine were hurled on the roof. The average velocity of the wind for each of the thre

n. Our usual remedy when this occurred was to hold a mitt over the part affected; thus sheltered, its circulation of blood was s

hering to his helmet and face. One white patch refused to leave the side of his face, until some one observed that it was a frost-bite, and acquainted him of the fact. Frost-b

ir home-we knew not where-we dwelt where the chill breath of a vast, Polar wilderness, quickening to the rushing might of e