Review: Amundsen's 'South Pole': A Review Author(s): Hugh Robert Mill Review by: Hugh Robert Mill Source: The Geographical Journal, Vol. 41, No. 2 (Feb., 1913), pp. 148-151 Published by: geographicalj Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1778869 Accessed: 22-05-2016 02:01 UTC Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://about.jstor.org/terms JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Wiley, The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Geographical Journal This content downloaded from 132.77.150.148 on Sun, 22 May 2016 02:01:13 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 148 AMUXDSEN'S 'SOUTH POLE ': A REVIEW. of Qatar. Wadi Duwasir and Wadi Nejran, called in its lower course Wadi Aftanah, both disappear in Robu el Khali, and Jebel Tuwariq runs all the way to Bisha and the bend of Wadi Duwasir. The full report of his journey will be awaited with interest. AMUNDSEN'S <SOUTH POLE '; A REVIEW. By HUGH ROBERT MILL, D.Sc. The two beautiful volumes in which Captain Amundsen and his comrades tell the story of the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition of 1910-12 * have appeared in English garb with an almost incredible promptitude. The translator and publisher are to be congratulated on the admirable manner in which the work is done. Mr. Chaters' rendering of the Norwegian narrative is so natural, easy, and free that it is often difficult to believe that we are reading a translation. He has wisely abridged the historical introduction of the Norwegian edition, but he very rightly leaves in full Captain Amundsen's remarks on the Belgica expedition, which are of original value and form an important addition to Antarctic history. It is an open question whether a Polar expedition any longer demands two fat volumes for its narrative, in the English language at least, for the appearance of the ice, the ways of penguins, seals, and sledge-dogs, and the discomforts of sleeping-bags and tents are now fairly familiar to the reading public. And yet there is something fresh and fascinating in the intimate details of daily life as given by the Norwegians, and a home-making instinct we never before noticed in polar explorers finds expression in the very names Framheim and Polheim for the hut in the barrier and the temporary tent at the Pole. We speak of the hut in the Barrier, for, though built upon the surface of the ice, it got so drifted up with snow in the winter as to be completely buried, and it was ultimately surrounded by a complicated system of tunnels and cellars quarried in the hard snow as to assume quite imposing proportions in its plan. Captain Amundsen has himself dealt so recently, before the Royal Geographical Society, with his journey to the South Pole that there is no occasion to repeat the facts of the expedition. Although we would willingly avoid any reference to the one point of controversy which has clouded the brilliance of this unparalleled journey, we can hardly pass without comment Prof. Nansen's prologue nor Captain Amundsen's apology for concealing the object of his cruise until after his departure from Europe. Captain Amundsen was fully aware that his * ' The South Pole : an Account of the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition in the Fram, 1910-1912.' By Roald Amundsen. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1912. Maps and Illustrations. Price 42s. net. This content downloaded from 132.77.150.148 on Sun, 22 May 2016 02:01:13 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms AMUNDSEN'S < SOUTH POLE ': A REYIEW. 149 change of plans would lay him open to criticism on account of his entering a field to which a large and splendidly equipped expedition was already on its way. He claims a verdict of non-interference on the ground that his motive was altogether different from that of Captain Scott, whose main object was scientific research with an advance to the Pole as an incident?a highly important incident, as all must admit; but not, so far as any published information went, vital to the success of the expedition. Amundsen's expedition, on the other hand, was planned frankly as a dash to the Pole, and science had a very subordinate place in it. The route adopted, although originally contemplated by Sir Ernest Shackleton, had not been marked out by Captain Scott as a line of approach southward, and it had, in fact, never been attempted by any one. Hence, Captain Amundsen 'felt himself at liberty to make his attempt, relying on the adoption of a route not previously followed and depending on methods of transport which had been tried and abandoned by recent British expedi- tions. He deliberately placed his whole reliance on dogs and ski, while Captain Scott preferred the use of ponies for his sledges on the Barrier surface and haulage by men on the high plateau. Prof. Nansen lays great stress in his introduction on the absolutely independent route adopted, and on the unique fitness for such work of Norwegians trained from infancy to travel on ski over snow-covered mountains and from their youth to Polar exploration and the use of Arctic dogs. Glad as we should all have been to see Captain Scott first at the Pole, we are sure that no one whose opinion is worth having will consider that the success of the Norwegians detracts in the slightest degree from the merit of his far more arduous journey, or can possibly anticipate the enormous harvest of scientific results to which we look forward. The general impression of the Norwegian expedition is that its members organized success by providing comfort and plenty, never attempting the impossible, and, above all, by leaving nothing to chance. They developed Captain Scott's plan of laying out depots on the ice to such a degree that they have left a great stock of provisions along their route unused, and neither men nor dogs had ever to go hungry, so that they returned to the base in as good health and condition as they had left it. The most sur- prising thing about the whole expedition is the resolution with which the party moderated their going by fixing on a daily maximum, and when that distance was accomplished in a few hours, remained camped, suffering infmite boredom from inaction until their time-table permitted them to start on their next stage. This is, we believe, unique in Polar travelling. A pleasing episode of the attainment of the South Pole was the brotherly comradeship of the five explorers, every one of whom laid a hand simul- taneously on the staf! with which the Norwegian flag was planted at the antipodal point to that on which the stars and stripes had been set up singly two years before. This content downloaded from 132.77.150.148 on Sun, 22 May 2016 02:01:13 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 150 AMUNDSEN'S 'SOUTH POLE': A REYIEW. The two subsidiary expeditions described in the book were of very considerable importance. Lieut. Prestrud's account of the journey east- ward to King Edward Land could, perhaps, have been condensed with advantage; but it was a real piece of exploration well carried out. The bare rocks seen by Captain Scott from the Discovery were visited, and a numbei of geological specimens obtained from a picturesque peak emerging from the snow, appropriately named Scott's Nunatak. The journey did not throw any light on the extent of King Edward Land, nor on its relation to the appearance of land noted by Captain Amundsen to the eastward between 81? and 82? S. It appears to us that, from the geographical point of view, the most profitable route for a new land expedition from the coast of Eoss sea would be a journey southward near the 150th meridian of west longitude, in the hope of tracing the connection of King Edward Land and the mountain chain seen running to the north-east from Mount Alice Wedel-Jarlsberg in 86? S. We heartily wish that explorers would restrict the recognition of their friends and patrons to a single word when naming a new feature after them, and perhaps the happy inspiration of the chain of street names, from Paternoster Row to Amen Corner might be revived, so that we might have a long name shared between many features rather than a single feature loaded with many names. In respect of nomenclature, however, Captain Amundsen must not be made a scape- goat; the fault is common to most contemporary explorers. The second important subsidiary interest is the oceanographical work of the Fram in the North Atlantic before starting on her long voyage from Norway to Antarctica, and in the South Atlantic during the period of the wintering of the land party. Like the other chronicles, the narra? tive of this voyage, as told by First Lieut. Thorvald Nilsen, gives the impression of a rollicking time, and the predominant feeling, after reading the whole book, is that we have been following the exploits of a set of healthy, well-fed holiday-makers in the keen enjoyment of winter sports and rough yachting.