CHAPTER XIVMOUNT EREBUS
UntilMarch 3 the arrangement of all the details relating to settling in our winter quarters engaged our attention, but afterwards we at once began to seek some outlet for our energies which would advance the cause of science and the work of the expedition.
I was anxious to make a depot to the south for the furtherance of our southern journey in the summer, but the open water between us and Hut Point forbade all progress in that direction; neither was it possible for us to journey towards the western mountains, where the geology might have been studied with the chance of most interesting results.
One journey, however, was possible, certainly a difficult one, yet gaining interest and excitement from that very reason, and this was an attempt to reach the summit of Mount Erebus.
Both geologically and meteorologically the accomplishment of this work was desirable, but apart from scientific considerations the ascent of a mountain over 13,000 feet in height would be exciting both to those chosen as climbers, and to the rest of us who wished for their success.
After deliberation I decided that Professor David, Mawson and Mackay should form the party that was to try to reach the summit, and they were to be provisioned for ten days. A supporting-party, consisting of Adams, Marshall and Brocklehurst, was to assist the main-party as far as possible, and the whole expedition was to be under Adams' charge until he decided that his party was to return, when the Professor was to be in charge of the advance-party.
In my written instructions to Adams, he was given the option of going to the summit if he thought it feasible for his party to push on, and he actually did so, though the supporting-party was only provisioned for six days, and was not so well equipped for mountain-work as the advance-party. I also gave instructions that the supporting-party was not to hamper the main-party, especially as regarded division of provisions, but instead of being drawbacks the three men were of great assistance to the advance division, and lived entirely on their own stores, and equipment.
No sooner was the decision arrived at to make the ascent than the winter quarters became busy with the bustle of preparation, and such was the energy thrown into this work, that by 8.30A.M.on March 5 the men were ready to start upon the expedition.
In ascending such a mountain as Erebus it was obvious, that a limit would soon be reached beyond which it would be impossible to use a sledge. To meet these circumstances straps were arranged by which single sleeping-bags could be slung in the form of a knapsack upon the climber's back, and inside the bags the remainder of the equipment could be packed. Both the advance and the supporting-party followed this arrangement.
When they started I confess that I saw but little prospect of the whole party reaching the top, yet when, from the hut, on the third day out, we saw through Armytage's telescope six tiny black spots crawling up the immense deep snowfield, and when on the next day I saw the same small figures on the sky-line, I realised that the supporting-party was going the whole way.
But before I give an account of this expedition as reported to me most graphically by Professor David and Adams, I must say something about the mountain onwhich these six men were winning their spurs not only on their first Antarctic campaign, but also in their first attempt at serious mountaineering.
The name of Mount Erebus looms large in the history of polar exploration both north and south. On January 28, 1841, Sir James Clark Ross named the great volcano—at whose base our winter quarters lay—after the leading ship of his expedition.
The final fate of that ship is linked with the fate of Sir John Franklin and one of the most tragic stories of Arctic exploration, but though both theErebusandTerrorhave sunk far from the scenes of their first exploration, that brilliant period of Antarctic discovery will always be remembered by the mountains which took their names from those stout ships. Standing as a sentinel at the gate of the Great Ice Barrier, Erebus forms a magnificent picture. At the top of the mountain an immense depression marks the site of the old crater, and from the side of this rises the active cone, generally marked by steam or smoke. To ascend such a mountain would be difficult in any part of the world, but the difficulties were accentuated by the latitude of Erebus. The men, however, were determined to do their utmost to reach the crater itself, and how they fared and what they found must be told from the reports they gave to me.