British Antarctic Expedition Research Articles

Looking south: making monuments to the British Antarctic Expedition

Looking south: making monuments to the British Antarctic Expedition

“Milk on Ice”: A detailed analysis of Ernest Shackleton's century-old whole milk powder in comparison with modern counterparts

Whole milk powder (WMP) manufactured in New Zealand in 1907 was sent to the Antarctic continent with the Shackleton-led British Antarctic Expedition from 1907 to 1909. This powder was stored at ambient conditions at Shackleton's Hut at Cape Royds, Antarctica, for over 100 yr before a sample was collected on behalf of Fonterra by the Antarctic Heritage Trust. Having spent most of its existence both dried and in frozen storage, any deleterious reactions within the WMP would have been markedly retarded. The composition and some properties of the roller-dried Shackleton's WMP are reported along with those of 2 modern spray-dried New Zealand WMP. The Shackleton powder was less white and more yellow than the modern WMP and was composed of flakes rather than agglomerated particles, consistent with that expected of a roller-dried powder. Headspace analysis showed lipolytic and oxidative volatile compounds were present in the Shackleton WMP, indicting some deterioration of the milk either before powder manufacture or on storage of the finished product. On a moisture-free basis, the Shackleton WMP had higher protein, higher fat (with a markedly higher free fat level), higher ash, and a lower lactose level than the modern WMP. The lysine level was lower in the Shackleton WMP compared with the spray-dried powders, whereas the fatty acid composition was relatively similar. The sodium level was markedly higher in the Shackleton WMP compared with the spray-dried powder, which is probably due to the addition of an alkaline sodium salt to adjust the pH of the milk before roller drying. Lead, iron, and tin levels were markedly higher in the Shackleton WMP compared with the spray-dried powders, possibly due to the equipment used in powder manufacture and the tin-plated cases used for storage. The proteins in the Shackleton WMP were more lactosylated than in the spray-dried powders. The Shackleton WMP had a higher ratio of κ-casein A to B variants and a higher ratio of β-lactoglobulin B to A variants than the spray-dried powders, whereas the αS1-casein, β-casein, αS2-casein, and α-lactalbumin protein variants were similar in all powders. The total phospholipid content was markedly lower in the Shackleton WMP than the spray-dried powders, primarily due to a lower phosphatidylethanolamine concentration. The molecular species distributions within the phospholipid classes were generally similar in the 3 powders. Claims are sometimes encountered that the milk of today is different from that consumed by previous generations. However, this comparative study has shown that the Shackleton WMP was generally similar to modern WMP. Although differences in some components and properties were observed, these were attributable to the manufacturing equipment and processes used in the pioneering years of WMP manufacture.

Captain Scott rewrote his story: January–June 1911

Abstract This article reveals that Captain Robert Falcon Scott rewrote his Terra Nova journals for the period 24 January to 18 June 1911, making extensive changes, in places. He made carbon copies of his journal from then until 31 October 1911. The Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) holds the combined manuscript as Carbon copy of diary as leader of British Antarctic Expedition, Jan. to Oct. 1911 with reference number RFS/1. This little-known version of Scott’s journals has apparently been overlooked by many researchers and scholars. The main research question addressed by the article is: “What was the significance of Captain Scott rewriting his story?” The article reviews two versions of Scott’s story – the published narrative Scott’s Last Expedition, and RFS/1. It investigates the provenance of each version and then reviews differences between the two texts. Three key differences stand out, suggesting the underlying pressures that drove Scott to rewrite his story in mid-1911. The article touches upon editorial changes made by Leonard Huxley in compiling Scott’s Last Expedition and contrasts those changes with changes made by Scott when rewriting the same passages. It also investigates the provenance of a typescript version of RFS/1 held by Canterbury Museum.

Dogs of the British Antarctic Expedition 1910–13

AbstractThis article tells the story of the dog teams of the British Antarctic Expedition 1910–13. Its purpose is to establish an accurate record of sledge dog involvement in the expedition. It is not concerned with hypotheses about how a better outcome for the expedition might have been achieved, aiming simply to assemble and analyse verifiable evidence in chronological order. A substantial amount of research has been undertaken. Straightforward details about procurement of the dogs and their main Antarctic journeys have been summarised in tabular form as an accessible reference source for future work. A literature review has been undertaken, finding that none of the reviewed works accurately traces the evolving plans and instructions for the expedition’s dog teams. The story starts with Scott’s September 1909 public fundraising prospectus and goes on to the procurement and training of Huskies from Siberia. It traces the challenges, achievements, attitudes and management decisions that shaped the dogs’ main journeys. It finishes with Terra Nova leaving the Antarctic, with the last 13 dogs in January 1913. The dog teams and their handlers performed well in the Antarctic and successfully completed three of their four main journeys. They made a substantial contribution to the expedition.

Why didn't they ask Evans?: a response to Karen May

In ’Why didn't they ask Evans?’ (Turney, 2017), I draw together previously unpublished sources and new analyses of published material to cast further light on the circumstances that led to the fatal events surrounding the return of Captain Robert Falcon Scott's Polar Party on the British Antarctic Expedition (BAE, 1911–1913). Of particular importance are the notes on the meeting between the Royal Geographical Society's President Lord Curzon and the widows Kathleen Scott and Oriana Wilson in April 1913, which explicitly identify Lieutenant Edward ‘Teddy’ Evans as having removed food that exceeded his allocation as a member of the Last Supporting Party (Curzon, 1913), the establishment and almost immediate closure of a ‘Committee of Enquiry’ chaired by Lord Curzon (Beaumont, 1913a, b, c; Cherry-Garrard, 1913a; Darwin, 1913; Goldie, 1913), the recognition of missing food at key depots by the returning Polar Party on the 7, 24 and 27 February 1912 (Scott, 1913a; Wilson, 1912), Evans’ anger at not being selected as a member of the Polar Party and his early departure home (Evans, 1912), the revised timeline of when Evans fell down with scurvy on the Ross Ice Shelf to apparently align with when and where the food was removed (The Advertiser, 3 April 1912, Adelaide: 10) (Cherry-Garrard, 1922; Ellis, 1969; Evans, 1912, 1913a, 1943; Lashly, 1912; Scott, 1913a, 1913b), Evans’ failure to ensure Scott's orders regarding the return of the dog sledging teams had been acted on (Cherry-Garrard, 1922; Gran, 1961; Hattersley-Smith & McGhie, 1984) and the misunderstanding amongst senior Royal Geographical Society members during Evans’ recuperation in the UK that Apsley Cherry-Garrard ‘was to meet the South Pole party, with two teams of dogs, at the foot of the [Beardmore] glacier’ (Markham, 1913). I would like to thank May (2018) for her comment and acknowledge that Edward Wilson's sketchbooks of the expedition's logistics, scientific priorities, sketches and notes on the BAE comprise entries from 1911–1912 and not solely from 1912, which Turney (2017) used to denote the year of the last entry.

Crozier’s penguin: An object history of maritime and museum science

In November 1843 John Cassidy, curator in the Belfast Museum received, perhaps rather dolefully, a collection of bird skins. The Museum was barely managing to cope with the constant flow of donations from the ‘four quarters of the globe’. But the gift of bird skins could not be ignored. Sent by Captain Francis Crozier, recently returned from the British Antarctic Expedition, the bequest contained 150 species of Southern Ocean birds, including the remains of two immature ‘great penguins’. Taking the one surviving specimen as a focal point, this paper compares and contrasts the ways in which Aptenodytes forsteri, or the emperor penguin, was differently scripted on board ship and in the museum. The lively interpretations and close encounters with emperor penguins on the ice and on board the two naval bomb vessels are set alongside the more constrained meanings and fleeting attention given to them in a metropolitan and a provincial museum.

The Barrier Silence by Edward A. Wilson

ABSTRACTThe drafting, publishing and subsequent reproduction of Edward Wilson's evocative and sinisterly premonitory poem, The Barrier Silence, is examined. It was written in October 1911 for Part 3 of the South Polar Times (SPT), Vol. 3, prepared and ‘published’ at Robert Falcon Scott's British Antarctic (Terra Nova) Expedition hut at Cape Evans, Ross Island, shortly before Wilson, Scott and three other members set off on the ill-fated South Pole journey. Wilson contributed most of the illustrative material for all three volumes of the SPT, but this poem is the only written article attributed to him, although it is possible that he was also the author of an anonymous poem. Events that may have influenced Wilson to write his poem are also considered.

Why didn't they ask Evans?

ABSTRACTArguably the best known scientific Antarctic venture was the British Antarctic Expedition of 1911–1913 led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott. Whilst the so-called race to the geographic South Pole with Roald Amundsen's Norwegian Antarctic expedition excited international interest, the tragic death of Scott and his returning Polar Party was a striking reminder of the hazards of operating in the south. Recent work has highlighted the possible role expedition second-in-command Lieutenant Edward ‘Teddy’ Evans played in the deaths of Scott and his men. Here I report newly discovered documents which, when placed in a wider context, raise significant questions over Evans’ behaviour during the expedition. The evidence focuses on the shortage of food at key depots, the apparently deliberate obfuscation of when Evans fell down with scurvy and the failure to pass on orders given by Scott. It is concluded that Evans actions on and off the ice can at best be described as ineffectual, at worst deliberate sabotage. Why Evans was not questioned more about these events on his return to England remains unknown.

The geological work of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, 1902 – 04

The Scottish National Antarctic Expedition (1902 – 04) made the first topographical survey and geological assessment of Laurie Island, one of the South Orkney Islands. The expedition's surgeon and geologist, J. H. H. Pirie, provided competent geological descriptions but these were largely overshadowed by his misidentification of an obscure plant fossil as a graptolite. Erroneous confirmation by eminent British palaeontologists led to Triassic rocks being regarded as Lower Palaeozoic for fifty years. The mistake arose from the familiarity of all concerned with the geology of the Scottish Southern Uplands: they were led astray by the preconception that, as in Scotland, deformed ‘greywacke–shale’ successions would contain Lower Palaeozoic fossils. Other, more successful aspects of the expedition's geological investigations are less well known. Fossils acquired in the Falkland Islands expanded that archipelago's poorly known Devonian brachiopod fauna, but arguably the most important palaeontological discovery lay unrecognized for ten years. A limestone block dredged from the bed of the Weddell Sea contained Early Cambrian archaeocyath fossils which, had they been promptly identified, would have been the first record of this important Antarctic palaeofauna. Instead, the Weddell Sea material complemented fossils recovered on the opposite, Ross Sea side of the Antarctic continent during Shackleton's British Antarctic Expedition (1907 – 09).

Had We Lived ... Phantasms & Nieves Penitentes: Conversation between Anne Noble and Geoffrey Batchen

In the conversation, two of the most prominent New Zealand authors in the field of photography talk about the body of work of Anne Noble’s Antarctica photography projects. Had we lived is a re-photographic project reflecting on the tragedies of heroic age exploration (commemorating the centenary of the deaths of Robert Falcon Scott and his men on their return from the South Pole – Terra Nova Expedition or British Antarctic Expedition to the South Pole, 1912) and on the memory of Erebus tragedy of 1975, when a tourist plane flying over Antarctica crashed into Mt Erebus, killing all 257 people on board. Anne Noble re-photographed image taken by Herbert Bowers at the South Pole – the photograph of Scott and his men taken after they arrived at the South Pole to find Amundsen had already been and gone. Phantasms and Nieves Penitentes projects hint at the triumph of Antarctica over human endeavour and as a non-explorer type herself photographer Anne Noble states: “I rather liked this perverse reversal”. Both tragic events have a notable relationship to photography – Erebus in particular, as those who died were likely looking out of the aeroplane windows taking photographs at the time of impact. This relationship is addressed throughout the conversation between the two, providing an insightful commentary on the questions of authenticity, documentary value and the capacity of photography to exist in the in-between spaces of thoughtful imagining, and rational dreaming. Keywords: Antarctica, authenticity, documentary, photographic imaginary, re-photographing

Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Expeditions: Their Explorations In Brazil, With the First Contributions To Knowledge of the Hydrozoa

Abstract Prior to 1800, exploring expeditions were usually of a commercial and political nature, undertaken to colonize or expand relations with new countries and territories. Among those to be explored as the 19th century progressed was Brazil, the largest nation in South America. This account is a brief historical overview of some 19th and early 20th century expeditions to Brazil, focusing on those that included investigations of hydrozoans (phylum Cnidaria). Among the more important of these expeditions were l'Expedition de La Coquille (France), the Voyage of the Beagle (Great Britain), the United States Exploring Expedition, l'Expedition HSWMS Eugenie (Sweden), the Thayer Expedition (United States), the Challenger Expedition (Great Britain), the Albatross Expedition 1887–1888 (United States), the Scottish National (Scotia) Antarctic Expedition, the British Antarctic Expedition, and the Hartt Expedition (United States). Maps of routes taken and names of expedition commanders and scientists are provided...

An examination, translation and analysis of pencil inscriptions made under the bunks in the hut at Cape Adare by members of Borchgrevink's British Antarctic Expedition, 1898–1900

ABSTRACT28 individual poems, notes, or drawings found and photographed under the bunks at Borchgrevink's hut at Cape Adare, Antarctica during two short visits on 1 February and 19 February 2015, are catalogued, translated and in many cases a source is identified. It has been possible to read and translate 24 of 28 markings. The relevance of a number of quotations, which express unhappiness with the leadership of the expedition and the emotional reaction of expedition members, are examined and placed in the context of the first over-wintering. Further targeted investigation, requiring specific permission, is suggested.

Pre-Antarctic Mawson in South Australia and western New South Wales

ABSTRACTDouglas Mawson took up his position at the University of Adelaide as Lecturer in Mineralogy and Petrology on 1 March 1905 at the age of 22. He had already been the joint author of a substantial paper on the geology of the Mittagong area as well as of a paper on the occurrence of radioactivity and radium in Australia. In 1903, he had undertaken an almost 6-month long expedition to study the geology of the New Hebrides. Mawson joined the Royal Society of South Australia soon after arriving in Adelaide and was an active participant in its activities in the following years. Mawson was an enthusiastic field geologist who visited the Adelaide Hills, Kangaroo Island, the Flinders Ranges, southern Yorke and Eyre Peninsulas and the Olary-Broken Hill area within 2 years of arriving in South Australia. This work resulted in several publications and reports. However, some of these were not fully thought out and by the end of 1906, Mawson had managed to upset the longstanding Government Geologist, H.Y.L. Brown, to such an extent that his free rail pass for geological investigations was withdrawn, although it was later restored. It was while working in Broken Hill in late September 1907 that Mawson learnt of the British Antarctic Expedition, led by Ernest Shackleton. Soon after, Mawson was appointed physicist on the BAE which left Lyttelton, the port of Christchurch, on 1 January 1908.

‘They are not the ponies they ought to have been’: revisiting Cecil Meares’ purchase of Siberian ponies for Captain Scott's British Antarctic (Terra Nova) Expedition (1910–1913)

ABSTRACTCaptain Robert Falcon Scott has been attacked in recent decades because hisTerra Novaexpedition (1910–1913) had to rely on substandard Siberian ponies. Certain commentators have argued that this was Scott's fault, but the available evidence indicates that blame should rest with the buyer Cecil Meares. Additionally, archive evidence indicates that Scott specifically requested Captain Lawrence Oates to travel to Siberia to assist Meares in 1910, and that Oates refused Scott's request.

Pioneering Antarctic photography: Herbert Ponting and Frank Hurley

Herbert Ponting and Frank Hurley became the first specialist photographers recruited to British and Australian Antarctic expeditions. Ponting was enlisted on Captain Robert Scott’s 1910–1913 British Antarctic Expedition, while Hurley was employed by Dr Douglas Mawson’s 1911–1914 Australasian Antarctic Expedition. The enduring impact of Ponting and Hurley’s iconic images has shaped – and misshapen – a cultural perception of Antarctica, constructing a visual understanding that the author terms a “black and white memory”. In recent years, photo historians have pitted the artistry and intrinsic value of Ponting and Hurley’s photographic images against the other. This article chooses to sharpen the close-up lens on two historic photographic legacies, within the cultural context of their respective expeditions. It examines the aesthetics particular to each man’s vision, influenced and informed by: differing creative philosophies; contrasting cultures within the expeditions; the physical nature of two Antarctic locations; and the range of field experiences available to each photographer.

‘These had most to give’: Kathleen Scott's sculpture at the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge

ABSTRACTThe bronze sculpture variously known as These had most to give, Aspiration and Youth, stands in the forecourt of the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) in Cambridge, and functions as a memorial to the British Antarctic Expedition polar party of 1911–1912. It is one of the most important works by Kathleen Scott, wife of Robert Falcon Scott, and a prominent and prolific sculptor. Originally intended as a war memorial and dating from 1922–1923, it received critical acclaim and was exhibited widely. Ten years later Kathleen Scott offered the sculpture to the SPRI to accompany its new building. The institute's committee of management wished to reject the gift, however, as its members considered it too successful in conveying ‘death and martyrdom and in general the tragic side of Polar work’, as Frank Debenham stated, rather than scientific research and discovery. After prolonged discussions with the institute's architect, Herbert Baker, who admired Kathleen Scott and this work, it was finally accepted and installed as inconspicuously as possible. This article reconstructs the historical background to the sculpture and the controversy that surrounded it, using primary source material. The relevance of the objections to the sculpture, as well as its positive qualities, are also briefly examined from a modern perspective.

The first publication of The South Polar Times, Volume IV

Polar bibliophiles, librarians and readers will be familiar with the three handsome facsimile volumes of the first Antarctic newspaper, published in 1907 and 1914 and edited in turn by E. Shackleton, L.C. Bernacchi and A. Cherry-Garrard during the National Antarctic Expedition, 1901–1904 and the British Antarctic Expedition 1910–1913. These expeditions were led by Captain R.F. Scott R.N. in Discovery and Terra Nova respectively. From S.Y. Discovery, beset for two winters in the ice of McMurdo Sound were made the first extensive sledge journeys into the interior of the Antarctic continent, including the great ice sheet or plateau. These were further prolonged, following Shackleton's Nimrod expedition, while the pursuit of science during both Scott expeditions led to the publication in London of two monumental sets of scientific and geographical results, plus new charts and maps.

Introduzione. Scienza, esplorazione ed eroismo: Robert Falcon Scott al Polo Sud

The centenary of Scott’s arrival at the South Pole in 1912 and of his tragic death during the return journey has been celebrated through exhibitions and conferences, while a general reassessment of Scott’s figure has been provided by several scholars. In particular, the scientific role of the 1910-12 British Antarctic expedition is now emphasized: Scott’s aim was not only to reach the Pole but especially to collect data and geological specimens of a completely unknown continent. This introduction focuses on the scientific dimension of Scott’s enterprise, giving special attention to the role of photography, employed during the expedition as a tool of scientific exploration, and to the crucial impact of photographs on the modern perception of the Antarctic. Another important point concerns the Scott Polar Research Institute (Cambridge, UK), founded in 1920 to commemorate Scott, that laid the foundations of Polar studies and pioneered scientific research throughout the twentieth century.

Dr. George Murray Levick (1876–1956): unpublished notes on the sexual habits of the Adélie penguin

ABSTRACTA previously unpublished four-page pamphlet by Dr. George Murray Levick R.N. (1876–1956) on the ‘Sexual habits of the Adélie penguin’ was recently rediscovered at the Natural History Museum (NHM) at Tring. It was printed in 1915 but declined for publication with the official expedition reports. The account, based upon Levick's detailed field observations at Cape Adare (71°18′S, 170°09′E) during the course of the British Antarctic (Terra Nova) Expedition 1910, commented on frequency of sexual activity, autoerotic behaviour, and seemingly aberrant behaviour of young unpaired males and females including necrophilia, sexual coercion, sexual and physical abuse of chicks, non-procreative sex and homosexual behaviour. His observations were however accurate, valid and, with the benefit of hindsight, deserving of publication. Here we publish the pamphlet in its entirety, reinterpret selected observations and comment on its significance as a forgotten work by the pioneer of research on Adélie penguin Pygoscelis adeliae (Hombron and Jacquinot 1841) biology.

Nordover med filmkamera - fra Wellman til Nobile

The Heroic Era in Polar Exploration is filled with fascinating stories about interesting men, and the Race for the Poles is richly described in hundreds of books. The Heroic Era in Polar Exploration coincided with the conception of film technology and rise of commercial cinema, and many polar explorers saw potential in utilising this new technology as a research tool. As a result there exists a range of films from the Polar Explorations, but since their making and initial screenings they have received little attention. The story of these films is also an interesting one, although it has not yet been written. A few years after the production of the first film cameras, the explorer Carsten Borchgrevink brought one along on his British Antarctic Expedition in 1898. His main sponsor, a newspaper publisher, wanted to make news films, but the cinematograph, the film reel and the filming skills were not sufficiently developed to capture living images from the polar region. Our record of this first attempt at making a polar film is limited to one scene from when the expedition is leaving London.The first explorer to succeed in filming in the Arctic was Anthony Fiala in 1902, and since his breakthrough the cinematograph became standard scientific equipment on all polar expeditions. The Mechanical Era in Polar Exploration came with the aeroplanes, the airships and the telegraph. Roald Amundsen played a major role here; he claimed his idea about using aeroplanes was as important to the polar exploration as Nansen´s use of skies and dogsledges in the heroic era. This article tells the story about explorers with film camera trying to reach the North Pole from Spitzbergen. Wellman, Amundsen, Byrd and Nobile are the main characters. The story of their fantastic expeditions is told by others; this is the story about their films, and how the films from the Arctic developed from just documenting landscape and animal life until they became proper documentary films. Between those types of film, we have had amateur film footage, newsreels, scientific films, travelogues and early documentary films. The article ends with describing the media event around the Italia tragedy in 1928.