HEADING SOUTH

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 711, 11 December 1933, Page 5

HEADING SOUTH

OFTIMISTIC NOTE STRUCK BY MR. LINCOLN ELLSWORTH HALFWAY TO PACK ICE (By Radio, Special to Press Associatictii from M". I.incoln Eliswortli) i K 'f. 6. .31! p.m.) At Sea, Dec. 10. "Wi> iiave hati a marvellously smot.ih trip so far and to-day fihds us aouui hali'-way to the pack ice. Cven in these low seas, the Wyatt Eavp rolls heavily but with the sails, we make seven knots instead of six without them. Although yesterday at ncon, we cntered the northern limit oi' drii't ice. to-day is warmer than when we left Dunedin. Squally weather, rough water and increasing cold is due to conio before long. The duration of daylight. is longthening and in another week, we should have the midnight sun. "A sooty and white wandering* albatross. the first I have seen of these marvellous birds, with a wing spread of 14 feet, follows in our wake while friendly little black and white Cape pigeons fly above our decks. "This year there will he no whalers on the Ross Sea but on the Wendcll Sea side, there should be great activity for a report from Capetown says that 100 mother ships and chasers are outfitting for those waters. Their eauipment also includes one aeroplane to he used in spotting whales. Heavy ice fields fringe the Wendell Sea so the whaling grounds are at least 300 miles out from the fixed ice barrier which I hope to find but I hope to establish radio communication with the whalers and receive weather reports from them before and during the flight across the continent from the Ross to the Wendell Sea. Christmas Preparaticms "Most men's minds, as ours aboard the Wyatt Earp, turn to Christmas at this time of the year. Down in the holds are suit cases and paekages filled with boxes of dainties tied with red ribbon with which my wife who who will spend Christmas in Samoa en route for America, has been busy for months past but the contents have been kept secret from me. "Every other package aboard, from Polar flying clothes to cabbages, is listed and stowed in known compartments where it can be found at a moment's notice. All the emergency equipment is placed handy to the hatches but I expect no emergencies. A message from the Prime Ministep of New Zealand, received as we left Dunedin, extended the warmest good wishes for the success of my venture and expressed the willingness of the Government to extend any facilities within its power either in its own Dominion or in the Ross Sea dependencies. This message is indeed appreciated but the expedition has been so well organised and painstakingly equipped that I can dream of nothing but success as we push off upon this great adventure in the history of South. Polar exploration."