FIXATIONS ASHORE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3000, 10 February 1917, Page 10

FIXATIONS ASHORE

THE WORK OF THE DOGS. The men rcscucd b,v the Aurora look none the worse for having been marooned for more than twenty months in the Antarctic. The strain was severe, but they havo come, back ..bronzqd and cheerful. They had donned shoregoing clothes before they reached 1 Wellington yesterday, but there was still

some robust beards and l some remarkable heads of hair to-be seen. - It was in May, 1915, that tho Aurora was -driven-out of M'Murdo Sound by a blizzard, leaving ten men 011 the -Artarcrtic coast. The sun-had sunk below the horizen for the polar winter by that lime, and the natural presumption ashore, when the ship failed to return either during the winter months or in the following spring, was that the Aurora had met with disaster. The experienced explorers among tho shore party knew how precarious would be tile position of a ship cast adrift eir.ong the -bergs and floes of thd Boss Sen in winter time, and thoy, scarce cisred hepts that the Aurora had survived. ' But they did not allow their yliglit 10 aan:p their spirits or interfere with their appointed work. A question on the ■ subject of privations drew from some iii'-niki.'rs of the party last night. a rrforenee to tobacco. Before the Aurora was driven out of M'Murdo Sound a luit had-been erected 011 Cane Kvans, and a certain quantity of stores hud been landed. But tho stories did not include-tobacco, "I. did not have a sr.wke—that is a proper smoke—for ' twenty months," said one of tho rescued n'eii,' kc-lingly. "We smoked various mixtures, cciiee, rope yarn, and so 011, but they proved a very poor substitute lor tobacco." Tile coal that was 10 feed the stove in the hut during the whiter was landed from the ship, but while it was piled on the shore a big berg over-turned-in the neighbourhood, and the resulting wave swept the coal away. There is 110 vegetation iu the Antarctic, and tho party became dependent upon seal blubber for fuel. I'' l ® j? burned fiercely, and provided .all the heat that was required. Seals Jncijs plentiful, and the supply of blubber usually was adequate. But the stove gave forth clouds of black smoke rightthrough tho winter, and coated everything iu the hut, including tho men, with lamp-black. Streamers of sootliuhg from the roof, and the preservation of white skins was out of the question.. The. popular method ot washing garments was to get some uf the grease out w.ith benzine. Batjs were-not a part of the camp regime. A shortage of clothing was a more serious matter. 'Llip changes of garments that shoiild have been available had gone away 011 the ship, and there was 110 saying when a. further supply would be scoured. Tho situation was saved to some extent by the discovery of. some canvas and several old sleep-ing-bags in the hut left by Captain Scott's expedition. The canvas was used to make trousers, and the furs of the sleeping-bags were turned into footgear by the sledging . parties. Joyce, and Wild were the handy men who did the tailoring. A- shortage of matches Was threatened, but. was overcome by. the discovory of a caso or two- of matches in the Cape TJoyds Hu.t, leftbv -the Shackleton expedition of 190709. " The-.party ashore included four members of the scientific, staff, and- these men were abls> to; undertake a greatdeal of useful scientific' work during the stay at winter quarters and the subsequent' sledging journey. They made daily observations of various lands, pursued tho study of tho geolo-. gical conditions of Boss Island and other areas, conducted 'biological investigations and attended to other branches of the work. They were lianipered by the disappearance of the ship, but they did the best they could under the circumstances, and the information they have secured will be added to tho store of knowledge 'brought from tho frozen south b'y previous expeditions. A subject 011 which most of tho men could grow eloquent was the dogs. Tho loss of' sixteen dogs on, the preliminary sledging "work in 1915 was something of a disaster, since the party was left with but four dogs for tho big southern journey that had to bo undertaken iii the following summer. The four dogs went south with the sledging party, to lay the depots that Sir Ernest Shackleton would liavo needed if he had made liis projected trans-Continental march, iii' : September, 1915,• 'and" they' hauled' the. heavy'sledges for six months, until March, 1916, almost without a break. Much of the outward journey had to be. done on a relay system, and the, . men', themselves, had ;to . take. a - share •of the ' 'hauling: • But" 'tiie' dogs, weary and often hungry, gamely stuck to__their work, just as their ancestors had dono in- the frozen wastes of the Arctic.. In ..the later r stages of their IGOO-mile journey there three sick men on the sledges,.'and three loss sick mon to help with.'thcipulling. liio sledges, were-.worn, t-li'o sripw surface was persistently soft; andftho total load to be" hauled was 'in the neighbourhood of 13001b. But tho four dogs finished tho journey, and three of tliem liavo come back to Wellington. The fourth dog, sad to relate, was killed T>y one of .his 'comrades in a. fight, after the really big struggle against' the forces of nature had been won. There are eight delightfully woolly little pups aboard thp Aurora, also, under the .care, of a fond.-and shorWenipercd mother Uvhom visitors would, do,;iycll_ to avoid. "She; is!"a' big dog, but the sire'of . the ..pups 'weighs 1101b. in his rough reddish coat/

CIVIC RECEPTION. A civic receptionjyiJl .bo tendered to. Sir -?oTS- : rades on Monday next at noon.