In the last week of October a party composed of Shackleton, Adams, Marshall, and Wild started on the trip to discover the south pole. The journey to the point farthest south occupied seventy-three days. After a few days out from the winter quarters no bare rock was seen—the landscape being one of ice and snow.
Shackleton's journal of January 8 notes the fierce gales blowing at the rate of seventy or eighty miles an hour, while the temperature had dropped to "seventy-two degrees of frost." "We are short of fuel," he writes, "and at this high altitude, eleven thousand six hundred feet, it is hard to keep any warmth in our bodies between the scanty meals. We have nothing to read now, having left behind our little books to save weight, and it is dreary work lying in the tent with nothing to read, and too cold to write much in the diary."
"It (January 9, 1909) is our last day outward. We have shot our bolt and the tale of latitude is 88° 23' south. We hoisted her majesty's flag, and the other Union Jack afterward, and took possession of the plateau in the name of his majesty. While the Union Jack blew out stiffly in the icy gale that cut us to the bone we looked south with powerful glasses, but could see nothing but the dead white snow-plain. There was no break in the plateau as it extended toward the pole, and we felt sure that the goal we have failed to reach lies on this plain. We stayed only a few minutes, and then taking the queen's flag, and eating our scanty meal as we went, hurried back and reached our camp about 3 P. M. Whatever regrets may be, we have done our best." On their return journey the party killed the two surviving ponies for food.
Early in October, 1908, a party consisting of David, Mawson, and Mackay started on their journey to locate the south magnetic pole. Like the journey of the southern party, it was a trip of hardship, intense cold, and physical suffering. On January 16, 1909, partly by experiment and partly by calculation, the point of vertical position of the needle was found in latitude 72° 25' south, longitude 155° 16' east. The position found by Professor David was very close to that obtained by Scott of the Discovery expedition and about forty miles from that which Ross calculated in 1841. In the interval of nearly seventy years, it is safe to assume that the position of the south magnetic pole has shifted forty miles.
In spite of the knowledge obtained in other directions, Shackleton frankly admits that the secret of the great ice barrier cannot be learned until the structure and trend of the mountain ranges which seem to form its edge are traced. The investigations showed, however, that it is composed of densely packed snow. It was found that at least one part of the ice barrier is receding, and that Balloon Bight, noted by Captain Scott, had disappeared in consequence of the recession. Not the least important part of the exploration was the discovery of forty-five miles of coast. Shackleton also was able to strengthen the opinion that Emerald, Nimrod, and Dougherty Islands do not exist.
The hardy Shetland and Manchurian ponies, first used by Evelyn Baldwin, proved a valuable equipment in polar research. Shackleton's gasoline motor-car and Scott's captive balloon were of considerable but limited use.
During 1910 and 1911 three different nations—England, Norway, and Japan—were represented by expeditions in south polar regions. The Norwegian expedition under Captain Roald Amundsen was especially equipped for quick travel, having eight sledges and more than one hundred trained dogs.
The expedition made its way to the head of Ross Sea, a large bay of the Antarctic plateau, nearly due south of New Zealand. The camp there was made the base of supplies. Depots for provisions were first established in latitudes 80°, 81°, and 82°.
A start for the pole was made September 8 with eight men, seven sledges, and ninety dogs. The weather was too severe for the dogs, however, and the party returned to camp. By the middle of October summer weather had set in, and on the 20th of the month five men, four sledges, and fifty-two dogs started on the poleward trip. Three days later they reached and passed the first depot; on the 31st the second depot was reached; and on November 5 the sledges reached the third depot in latitude 82°. Additional supplies were thereafter cached, in depots about one degree apart, to be used on the return trip. Snow cairns were built at frequent intervals to mark the trail. The last cache of supplies was left at latitude 85°.
From this point the way was a steep and difficult climbing over the range, or barrier, that had proved so difficult for Shackleton. Peaks in height from ten thousand to fifteen thousand feet loomed up on every side, and glacier surfaces proved to be the easiest paths.