tents, etc.

Leaving Lyttelton on January 1, 1908, the Nimrod reached the ice-pack
on the 15th, and arrived in the open Ross Sea in lat. 70deg. 43' S.,
long. 178deg. 58' E. The Ross Barrier was sighted on January 23. The
original intention was to follow this, and try to land the shore party
in Barrier Inlet, which was practically the beginning of King Edward
VII. Land; but it was found that Barrier Inlet had disappeared, owing
to miles of the Barrier having calved away. In its place was a long,
wide bay, which Shackleton named the Bay of Whales. This discovery
determined him not to attempt to winter on the Barrier, but on solid
land. At this part of the voyage the course of the Nimrod coincided
very nearly with that of the Fram on her second outward trip.

After an unsuccessful attempt to reach King Edward VII. Land,
Shackleton turned to the west and took up his winter quarters on Ross
Island in McMurdo Sound.

The southern party, composed of Shackleton, Adams, Marshall, and
Wild, started on October 29, 1908, with four sledges, four ponies,
and provisions for ninety-one days. On November 26 Scott's farthest
south, 82deg. 17' S. was passed. By the time lat. 84deg. was reached all the
ponies were dead, and the men had to draw the sledges themselves. They
were then faced by the long and difficult ascent of Beardmore Glacier,
and it was not until seventeen days later that they came out on the
high plateau surrounding the Pole. At last, on January 9, 1909, they
were compelled to return by shortness of provisions, having planted
Queen Alexandra's flag in lat. 88deg. 23' S., long. 162deg. E.

Everyone who reads Shackleton's diary must feel a boundless admiration