ANTARCTIC VOYAGE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1091, 1 April 1911, Page 6

ANTARCTIC VOYAGE.

• 9 STORM-BATTERED TERRA NOVA« A CLOSE CALL. THE MEETING WITH THE FRAM,':'.' A GREAT SURPRISE; ' (By TclcEraph—l'ress Association.) Christchurch, March 31. The Terra. Nova, fresh- irom tho Ant-, arctic, was expected to arrive at • Lyttelton from Stewart island between 9 a.m. and noon to-day. Tho winds along tho coast during the past two or three days had been reported as light southerJy, so that the vessel should have nladc good progress. At daybreak this morning, However, a thick fog hung over Lyttelton Harbour, and long after noon heavy banks of clouds veiled many of the hills, -and tho entrance to tho harbour. As tho hours sped on and the exploring ship had not been signalled, it was thought that, as in the caso when she-last "earner to Lyttelton, her commander was waiting till the fog should lift in order to show him his whereabouts, and it afterwards' .transpired that tho Terra Nova was not in the fog .at all. but was engaged making compass adjustments. At 3..o'clock in the,afternoon, the Terra Nova' was signalled five miles outside the' heads', and 'the tug Canterbury, with Captain Thorpe, tho harbourmaster, and a number of pressmen arid ' others aboard, steamed out to meet the'expected arrival. The Terra Nova was soon sighted coming up.under, easy steam,-just outside the heads. -

A Hearty Greeting.

..The .coastal steamer Cygnet was the ' Erst to pass. her,, hearty cheer's being given by, thoso aboard the. Cygnet for the',. ; explprcrs. . Then a rakish-looking •motor-launch' shot .round- . the old .whaler's- boats,, and .at the.'same time •a-,welcomc signal fluttered from the mastliead of. tho tug. Approaching .the Terra Nova," just, insido.the heads, those aboard the tug;- led ;by Captain Thorpe, gave'three hearty cheers for the Terra Nbvahs, the explorers giving three in . return • for Lyttel.ton,- and then, until ' the ,- ; two boats met, a perfect fusillade . St -cheers and ..'counter-cheers was yoU toyed forth and back. Captain Tborpo . then took command of tho Terra Nova, '.arid-piloted, lier,to her berth, the tug towing her to the corner of the breastwork. ..■' Coming 'through the moles tho Te'rra'.'Nov'a-'was.greeted, with a perfect , babel of sound from-the syrens of "the shippihg;in the harbour, the "Wagnerian welcome -continuing right up to tho berthing, of tiro new' arrival at tho tfharf -at five o'clock; At the Terra Nova's berthing .place was drawn up a large assemblage of tho'public, and the tooting of thersyrens was supplemented by.-hearty' cheers.'. : '

A Rough Handling.

"The'effects/of the storm experienced on the way 'dbwir'tiTtho Antarctic are ; ,' easily apparent. The bulwarks are smashed in in several places, and a *" large part of'them is missing. .Members of the crew say it'was tho worst storm they had ever experienced, and if it had lasted three hours more the shirr must Lave gone'uhder. Tho engirifes r w'ero immersed' in water, and the crew had to bail it out overboard. The ship's appearance yesterday was elofluent. testimony of the rough handling she must hare received. . On the hottest day the expedition experienced; four degrees of' frost Were registered, yet/the sun was strong enough during the summer months to brown the.faces of the members of the expedition. ' Nigger, tho coal-black kitten who accompanied the expedition south, is, his many friends and admirers will be pleased to learn, quite well and happy and comfortably installed aboard the .vessel. .. The tug Canterbury brought a large snail yesterday for the members of the / Terra ,'Nova. ' y - When the vessel drew near the whar? many were the queries from feminine lips as to different ones among those I .who had been left behind. ■ . l . Christmas Day. Christmas Day was celebrated in 'An- ! ' tarctica in time-honoured fashion. The proverbial turkey was missing from the" lYule-tide, dinner, but an excellent substitute was found in roast bcefl, and there was plenty of good, old plumduff.. , . This is how one of the crew of the Terra Nova graphically described the meeting with the Frani to a "Press" reporter : — . "One early -morning the Terra Nova i dropped into a small inlet —Balloon Inj let, I think this is called. Those of us j asleep aboard were suddenly awakened i from our slumbers by the cry of 'A ship! A ship!' Wo thought it was : """someone joking. We, however, turned out, and to our great surprise saw a ship lashed to the ice. AVo had to rub our eyes two or three times before we could believe our senses. It proved to be the Frani. Only one or two'of the Fram's crew wero up at the time, but soon her decks were crowded, and greetings were exchanged between us."

VOYAGE DESCRIBED.

INTERESTING STATEMENT BY ~-._ LIEUTENANT PENNELL. ' SENSATIONAL INCIDENTS. • : (By Telegraph.—Pres3 Association.) Christchurch, March 31. ■'A most interesting and complete account of tho progress of the expedition to date was given by Lieutenant renmell to-night.' .' ■ . Lieutenant Pcnnell. said that wlien the Terra Nova left New Zealand it was intended to make for tho Campbell Islands, and leavo meteorological instruments there, but the ship was caught in a heavy gale, and driven away to the eastward, arid the project of landing at the Campbells had to bo abandoned. The ship was deeply laden and there was a fairly big' sea' running, and a considerable quantity of water came aboard. The pumps became choked, and failed to act, and it was found necessary to. extinguish the fires to prevent damage to the boilers. Only tho hand-pump was-left, and that became choked; and the whole staff and crew hadd to turn to to bale the ship out. Thus watches were formed, and the water.was lifted out with buckets. The ship was wallowing a good deal in tho sea, and was taking in a lot of lccwatcr. ■• She was really overladen, and had it not been for that she would havo weathered tho gale without difficulty. As it was, however, little damage resulted. The principal loss was that of a quantity of paraffin stored on deck for safety. Fivo or six tons of tho deck cargo of coal had to be thrown overboard, and the expedition also lost two ponies and a dog. A section of the bulwarks was also carried away, and that really constituted the wholo of the damage. The ponies proved somewhat troublesome, for when they foil by reason of the towing of the vessel, they, raado no attempt to get jid.

Tho only thing to do was to hit ■them on the nose to mako them kick and so to help themselves involuntarily. The experience, however, was ■ valuable, and for the future tho would be' arranged' differently to' allow of the ponies being-hauled up when they would not get up themselves. Tho ga)e' passed after n few days and tho weather moderated and when the pumps'-werbclearcd and got going tho ship- was soon pumped dry. ■Entering the Pack-ice. ; -.;Tlie pack-ice was •'-■ entered at about 65 . degrees south, and tho pack ..was of extraordinary interest. Th Terra Nova was in tho ico for, .twenty-one days, and her company saw every sort of pack it was possible.'to" see. In tlio Ross Sea tho ship travelled through tho ice for about 380 miles altogether. That was au unusually'long distance, but the fact was that the expedition had started too early in the season. The Fram got through the pack in four days later in tho season, but tho Terra Nova had to push through ice when the Fram could never have tackled it. Nobody had tried to get through the .pack so early in tho season before. Tho pack appeared to a very great extent to drift across from the east to the west. Tho pack was entered at latitudo 64.46 degrees. The ship got along very nicely at first, and then sho got into difficulties, and from December 13 to December 18 was entirely stuck. It was intended, to run down to Scott.lsland for carrying out survey work, and to see whether migratory birds were nesting there, hut owing to. tho drift the ship was carried away, and the island was never sighted. • Deep-sea Soundings. •''. .The soundings taken in this pack wore most interesting. Tho principal interest of tho soundings related to the theory that tho Antarctic Continent was connected ■ with other Continents, but .as far as could be ascertained the soundings did little either to,suppoifc or disprovo that ..'theory.. Samples of water at - different' depths were .also collected and ;tb'e temperature noted, and .these samples would be afterwards analysed. : Animal and Bird Llfo. : ■ Four kinds of seals are found in those regions—tho crab-eater,'...Ross, Weddell, and the, sea leopard—and all but tho -Ross, seal wero seen.-, A few emperor penguins were . seen :in. the ,pack, but:nono wero captured: ■■ The commoner .'p&nguins Were, 'however, ..very plentiful. ' Tho birds' were very curious, and would follow the members of ; tho expedition about; and were particularly fond of music. : Tho ' Terra ■Nova got through the pack on' December 30, and on that night the-Admir-alty Rango was sighted about 120 iniles off. On December 31 tho ship ran into a gale, and picked up a sort of island of pack ico. Sho got away, however, on January 1, and had a good run down to Cape Crozier. .-On' account of a heavy swell, a landing could not bo'- made there, but from tho ship a number of emperor penguins wero seen on shore. From Cape Crozier the Terra' Nova sailed along to Cape Bird, tho northwestern end of Ross Island. A considerable amount of pack-ice was encountered,, which took practically the whole night to get through, ...and then, to overyb.ody s . great surprise, M'Murdo Sound - was found free of \ ice. The : Ice Barriers. Tho ship was taken eight miles southward of Capo Royds, Lieutenant Shacklcton's old quarters, before the faco of tho iCo barrier was reached. The place was named Capo Evans, after Lieutenant Evans, second in command of tho expedition. Capo Evans was as'-far south as tho ship could 'get. The landing of the stores was carried out most, successfully. The' hut was taken ashore in sections, and put together expeditiously, the practico tho men had at Lyttelton being most valuable. The two motor sledges wero got out, and tho dogs and ponies landed, and then the stores. Littlo interruption was caused by.tho weather,'tho real difficulty being caused by tho ico continually breaking. A Lost Motor-sledge. When the last motor-sledgo was handed out tho ice appeared to be qujte safe. Alongside the ship it was quite firm, and then a team of men started to haul the sledge off to tho camp. Mr. Day intended to take it across under its own power, but ho found there was no fuel available at the time. It was fortunate lie did not do so, for shortly after leaving the side of the ship tho sledge broke through ice which had melted away below, and fell down into' 120 fathoms of water. The men hauling the sledge held on, but tho weight was too great, and when they were pulled to tho edge,of. the opening they had to let go. It was fortunate under the circumstances .that no real accident occurred. A Narrow Escape. The loss ■of tho sledge, however, showed that the ice was dangerous, and 1 the men prepared to go on board again, > a lino being run. Near tho spot Mr. ■ Priestlv was.walking along towards the ship w'hen he suddenly disappeared through a hole in the ice. Lieutenant Pcnnell got hold of him quickly, however, and pulled him out. .■lt. was a \ nasty accident, and might" hhlvo had a 1 serious result. ' Tliero'was, a strong ' tidal stream, which was apt to carry 1 a man wider tho firm' ice, and the I water was so appallingly, cold that it i would chill a man at once. Lieutenant > Pcnnell concluded with a description of * meeting with the Norwegian vessel on \ tho way hack after: leaving tho party , at their base. '