At Dunedin in Fortnight

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 492, 23 October 1928, Page 9

At Dunedin in Fortnight

BYRD'S FOUR SHIPS ON THE WAY

Carrying Amundsen’s Pennant to Pole

Kt’atxtv - NEW YORK. October 16. LADING for New Zealand, four ships, carrying Commander R. E. Byrd’s Antarctic expedition, its planes, equipment and stores, are steaming across the Pacific. Commander Byrd and his 14 companions are aboard the whaleslnp C. A. Larsen, which should reach Dunedin in about a iortmght’s time.

\V°RD from the ships shows them to be steadily moving towards New Zealand, so the expedition takes on the aspect of military concentration, and the realisation of its complexity growls. The C. A. Larsen is three weeks’ steaming from New Zealand. Far to the south-east, about half-way between Panama and Pitcairn Island, is the barque, City of New York, with the whaler Ross carrying the expedition’s dogs. Still further south, off the Galapagos Islands, is the Eleanor Bolling. All are headed towards ports in New Zealand, where the final assembly of material will be made. Fortunately, all started soon enough to leave time for the necessary arrangements, as the ice will prevent them from reaching the Bay of Whales in the Antarctic before January 5, except by unusual luck. DOG SWALLOWED DICE For the first two days out, a stiff

breeze made even the big C. A. Larsen roll, and some of the party were seasick, but now all have their sea legs, and are enjoying the brief interval of peace. Members of the expedition are spending their time at sea reading, playing games and practising with the wireless. But the most popular game has been held up because Igloo, Commander Byrd’s dog, swallowed the dice. He is everlastingly hungry and chews anything. Just before the departure of Commander Byrd for Dunedin, the Hollywood Aero Club presented him with the blue-and-white pennant which Captain Roald Amundsen carried to the South Pole in 1911. The pennant was given to the club by Amundsen* (who lost his life while searching for General Nobile in the Arctic) a year ago.