THE ANTARCTIC.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 68, 10 March 1908, Page 2

THE ANTARCTIC.

THE aiAlLWms CAI'TAIN liJiyiCiXS. THE SHIP'S MUVDiiISXTS. t'tr Association. Cbrinkhui-ch, Last Kijjlit. Seen by a reporter this atternoim, Captain Knylaiul made the following statement",— "Vou may announce my resignation as commander of Hie Ximrod 011 tile grounds of ill-health. J shall remain in charge until tlie ship is passed oxer to the agents here. lly future movements arc very uncurtain, lint I shall probably remain here for a considerable time." I It is improbable that the Ximrod will 1 be despatched oil magnetic survey work as originally intended, lior will she visit Sydney and Melbourne as was expected. It is practically cerlain Ilia I, she will remain in Lyttellon until leaves for I lie Antarctic regions to pick up 1 lie shore party in December next. rill-; CAI'T.U.VK XAIiIiATIVK. A Tlt\l\'<; l-.XI'KItII'ATK. Till? 10 A DIM I TllKin WAY TllUltrCll. KJKBIOHtiS.

(hiisl.-liuii.il, Usl Night. Captain Knglaiid. in an interview, staled that alter the Nimrod left l,ytU'lton tlie weather became pretty bad, and as tlie slii|i seemed to lie jerking, they lmd to inei'ease tile toulinc until llie're was 1-1(1 fathoms of eliain and 1(1(1 I'iiMioins of wire rope hanging over tlie vessel's sLuiu. In order to ligliton. tlie Nimrod forward the balance of the cable had to bo thrown overboard. The bad wentlKT eonliniied, gale following gale. The Nimrod was straining hcavih'y and she begun to leak. The pumps were used. 11 ml the Nimrod could only move

slowlv until she reached the (iOth paral-, lei, mill slip had fretpiently to heave-to. There wns a pcrpelual roll of -13 degrees In each side, and in order lo preserve Hie lives of tile ponies and prevent the heavy .sons from washing away the deck, cargo, which ineliuled the motor-car and other lixings, the ship had frequently, to Ik' nursed for hours. Nothing was, lost, however, and, with the exception; of a. portion of the bulwarks being stove: in in several places, the vessel and cargo were undamaged. On 15th January the Koonya parted, with the Nimrod, and shortly after the latter got among heavy land ice and; bergs not close, but near enough to make the vessel twist in and out as slie! went along. Tito further the little ves-i sel went, the closer and heavier the, bergs were. There were no floes and no pack ice. At last, however, from the, crow's nest the crew discovered open sea to the south-east, and the vessel stood out, getting clear of all the ice. The Nimrod had hardly been twelve hours in the open before it came on thick again, and though site will not go that way again, she saved much eoal and time on that occasion, It was a. magnificent sight to see the little vosseli twisting in and out among the greaticebergs. The weather got very l>al, and sail and coal had to be used to lessen the vessel's leeway. The heavyi jerking and straining carried away the topmast backstays, and new stays had, to be lilted. On 22nd January the ice barrier was sighted and the vessel ram towards llalloon Inlet, where the Dis-i covery sent up a balloon, but it was! found that the into had disappeared, and a great many bergs had been carried oil' since the Discovery was there. The Nimrod returned along the ice. barrier, and the vessel was brought to a mooring in a bay between Cape Koyds, ami llame, and the stores were landed; on the ice. The. site chosen, said Cap-, tain England, for the hut was a well-, selected place, sheltered from the' wind

ami with a hard roeky I>ottoin, Holes, were bored in the rock and the pik>s for the hut cemented in. "Wo had not been able to land much stuff here before the ice broke up in the bay, mak-i ing it necessary to work the stores ashore in boats. The difficulty of the: undertaking was great, as the ship, being lighter, was high out of the waten and was gi-eutlv affected by the wind. She had to stand out- and in and swing! round for each boat in order to shorten) the distance as much as possible. When-, ever the wind was sufficiently light, we got the boats under water. The work] entailed handling the boat through iceHoes and carefully tending them against the ice face, while the stores had to be landed in a temperature rapidly lowering until below zjcto was recorded. Ui was a slow process, but it gradually worked through to completion, until on 22nd February all the stores were landed. j