EXPLORATION.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 978, 19 November 1910, Page 9

EXPLORATION.

MR. A. J. BALFOL'R ON THE SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE. Sir Ernest Shackleton, C.V.0., recently concluded a short. tour in the principal health resorts of Scotland by delivering his lecture-, oh "Nearest tho South Pole" in the Foresters' Hall, North Berwick. The Right Hon. A. J. Balfour, M.P., who was in residence at North Berwick, presided at the lecture, which was attended by a distinguished . company, and in the course' ol : a short speech said— , . 1 i I suppose .it is about three centuries and a half since this country took the lead, which it has never yet lost; in the exploration of new and unknown regions of,; the-world. AVo all look hack with pride to tho great , days of Elizabeth,. and to the long list of heroes, who, - exploring and fighting by .turns, added so much to' tho knowledge of the world, and, lot mo add, to the sphere of influonco of the Empire. (Applause.) l Sir Ernest Shackleton has chosen as tho sphere, of his activities, not the region 011 which public attention lias been most concentrated of ; recent years— namely, the North Pole. He has chosen tho opposite end of tho axis on which this earth revolves, and I think he is right. '

In the North Pole, or so far as the North Polo is concerned,' I take it there' is little to be discovered. Tho region round the North Pole is all of one character, and scientific 'observations could bo made, I imagine, just as well fifty miles, or a hundred miles, in any direction soujth of it, as they could at tho critical point which lias been the object of so much courageous endeavour to reach. ,

Far otherwise is it with the South Pole, and, speaking for myself, my imagination is_ far moro stirred by the hope of exploring, for example, the untrodden valleys and peaks of the Himalayas, and those great fields which aro no mere oceans covered with ice, but, as Sir Ernest will tell you later, great areas with vast . mountains, glaciers, volcanoes, of which nothing practically was known in'our grandfathers' time, of which much still remains to explore, and of. which Sir Ernest himself has not been the first indeed but tho greatest v of explorers. (Applause.) Now, ladies and gentlemen,' I mentioned the great explorers of tho sixteenth century. Their eourago and their love of adventure wero beyond praise. But there is the great difference between their endeavours and the endeavour of explorers like Sir Ernest Shackleton .and his comrades, for behind all the groat work of tho Elizabeth voyagers, there lay always tho desire for gold, the desiro for territory, the desire for somo great material advantage, which, no doubt, was accompanied by a sincere desire to spread religion, a sincero desire to do the best they could for their country, but which remains on the very -surface of all the history of the time as showing at> all events that their idealism was touched and perhaps alloyed by somo baser element. r Let nobody believo that the idealism of our country is inferior to that of our forefathers. (Applause.) That is not so, and such courageous adventures a s this on which Sir Ernest Shackleton is engaged are the standing proof of it for there was no territory to be gained, no enemies to bo conquered, no vulvar ambitions to bo satisfied. (Applause.) Knowledge, science—ends in which all nations without jealousy may join together to further—these were the ends which he pursued, and theso aro tho ends which he has done so much to attain.