Last updated: 29 December 2007.
BLACKBOARD PENGUINS
OLD DIARY TELLS TALES OF SCOTT HARDSHIPS
From The New Zealand Herald 02.04.2002
"A diary kept by a member of Captain Scott's expedition to the Antarctic sheds light on the conditions his team encountered during the preparations for their ill-fated journey.
The fragile papers, encrusted in penguin droppings, were discovered yards from Scott's hut, which still stands 90 years after his death. It was the work of an unknown crew member who kept a log of chores performed on Robert Falcon Scott's ship, Terra Nova.
Deciphered by a British student in a New Zealand laboratory, the diary catalogues the hardship experienced by Scott's men as their vessel approached the Antarctic. One diary entry read: "Very little wind, ship still rolling badly. In the dog watch, a lot of washing clothes, officers flitting around in loin cloths doing their own washing, and fishing over the side for specimens."
Experts have no idea of the occupation of the diarist, who used a 1910 magazine produced by the Scottish distillers Dawson's Whisky Company to chronicle day-to-day events such as the dogs dragging the explorers' equipment across the snow.
The diary, which was discovered last summer, has since been held at the Antarctic Heritage Trust in Christchurch.
Kirsten Elliott, a 26-year-old conservation of fine art student at Northumbria University, cleaned the document before stabilising the pages so they could be analysed by historians.
"The diary does start to provide a background from the crew members who went to the Antarctic and the hardships they endured when they went there," she said.
"The magazine was in a terrible state. Seasonal ice melts and re-freezing caused severe damage to the pages ... and the paper was badly cracked and splintered. The magazine had been frozen, buried and covered in penguin droppings for over 80 years.
Scott and four of his men succumbed to starvation and exposure as they returned from the South Pole in 1913."
THE JAMES CAIRD SOCIETY JOURNAL
From a mailing to members dated 18 March 2002:
"As an experimental initiative we hope to launch a journal for articles and reviews of books on matters connected with Shackleton and Antarctic exploration. We have perhaps a surplus of good material for the James Caird Society Newsletter nowadays, many pieces having to be cut in length and the Committee feels that a journal to supplement the Newsletter would allow us to print longer and perhaps more academic pieces.
We intend to print about 150 copies of the Journal for the first issue; these would be issued free of charge to members who fill in and return a slip (which will be sent out when the magazine is published - probably a year from now) asking for a copy. The first to come back to us with a slip would be the first served. To begin with these will be either be collected at our meetings, or sent in return for the cost of postage and packing.
The editor will be the Keeper of the Archives at Dulwich College and our committee member, Dr Jan Piggott, FSA, who organised the Shackleton exhibition at Dulwich last year.
We are very keen to solicit items for publication; please address them to Dr Jan Piggott at the College (The Common Room, Dulwich College, London SE21 7LD) preferably both as 'hard copy' and on disk."
UPDATE: From a recent Society mailing:
"The first issue of our journal is planned to appear in time for our next meeting at Dulwich College on May 9th. The editor is Dr Jan Piggott, Keeper of the Archives at Dulwich College, a member of our Committee and the curator of the exhibition at Dulwich of 2000-01, 'Shackleton: the Antarctic and Endurance.'(19 April 2003)The Journal aims to print articles with new material on Shackleton and on Antarctic exploration, together with unfamiliar materials and extracts from out-of-print books or forgotten magazine articles on Shackleton.
The first number will include an article by our Chairman, Major General Patrick Fagan, about an expedition to South Georgia in '64-65, an extract from William Bakewell's autobiography describing the Endurance expedition, an essay by Jan Piggott on Shackleton's reading and his love of quotation as a key to his character and on why Shackleton's own books matter. There will be a brief article on the statue of Shackleton by Charles Sergeant Jagger, and reviews by Ann Shirley, Jan Piggott and Stephen Scott-Fawcett.
The next issue will include an article on Kathleen Shackleton, and it is proposed to introduce a section of Letters, Notes and Queries.
The magazine will be printed in an A4 format, with some black and white photographic illustrations.
The print run will be no more than 150 copies. These will be issued free of charge to members who apply for a copy on the slip below. Postage inland and by surface mail overseas will also be free to members. The copies will be issued on a 'first come, first served' principle. Members who attend the James Caird Society meeting on May 9th and who wish for a copy are asked to collect them on the night to save postage. However, no copies will be issued to members on that night from whom we have not received the slip below requesting a copy.
We have a file of e-mail and of conventional letters requesting a copy of the new journal from the time of our first announcement, which we will honour. If members cannot remember if they asked for a copy at that time or wish to be sure that their name is in that file, we recommend that they now also return this slip in any case."
For further details, contact:
Dr. J.R. Piggott
The Common Room
Dulwich College
London SE21 7LD
SCOTT POLAR RESEARCH INSTITUTE LAUNCHES APPEAL
SPRI is the pre-eminent institution of its kind in the world. Many people reading this will have had the pleasure of visiting SPRI, making use of its collections and benefiting from the friendly assistance of its staff.
A mailing was recently received announcing an Appeal for funds. Included below is the cover letter from Keith Richards, The Director, and most of the text from the handsome Appeal packet.
--R. Stephenson
(16 December 2001)
Cover Letter from The Director
Since its foundation the Scott Polar Research Institute has accumulated an unrivalled collection of archival materials and artefacts relating to the cultural and scientific heritage of polar exploration, and has built an outstanding Library. These are resources of global significance and serious investment is necessary to take full advantage of such riches.
The first phase in this investment was the raising of £1.5m to fund the building of the Shackleton Memorial Library extension, which includes the new Tom Manning Archive. The second, ongoing phase is outlined in this brochure. Its aim is to raise £3.5m for a Scott Polar Research Institute Fund. This will support projects to allow us to develop the Archive, Museum and Library into an integrated information resource. The aim is for this to be available to all, from those of the public with a general interest in polar matters, to scholars engaged in polar research.
The projects are outlined in this brochure. They include:
The first phase of this investment in the Institute's future was a great success. We are sure that you will agree that the enclosed brochure outlines an exciting vision for the Institute's role in the world, and that you will want to join us in making this second phase an equally successful venture. There are many ways in which this might be feasible, and details on how to make a donation are provided on an insert in this brochure. However, even ideas, contact names, and the investment of your time could be helpful to us! We plan to recognise major donations by appropriately naming sponsored areas, projects, and posts.
We look forward to working with you to make this initiative the success it deserves to be, and hope that you will consider assisting the Institute to achieve these exciting goals.
As ever, your support is greatly appreciated,
Professor Keith Richards, Director
Much of the text from the Appeal packet
GLOBAL CHANGE, GLOBAL INFORMATION, GLOBAL ACCESS
The Scott Polar Research Institute Fund will enable us to fulfil our vision of developing global access to the Library, Archive and Museum resources of the Institute. We need to raise £3.5m in order to:
We will all benefit. The polar regions are crucial for our future welfare, and information and knowledge about them must be widely available to all. The Institute can help scientists, explorers, governments, industries, polar inhabitants, even armchair travellers; indeed, anyone with a desire to know more about the Arctic or Antarctic.
WHY SHOULD WE BE INTERESTED IN THE POLAR REGIONS?
Scientific knowledge of continental Antarctica effectively began with the expeditions of Captain Scott. Sir Ernest Shackleton set an example for leadership in adversity which business leaders today are trained to emulate. These men inspired the Institute's foundation and development.
It is to safeguard and enhance knowledge based on their achievements and those of the scientists and explorers who followed them, that we now launch the Scott Polar Research Institute Fund.
The projects outlined in this brochure can be supported at a number of levels. A donation of £5,000 would help enhance the museum; one of £15,000 would enable us to employ a qualified bibliographer for a year; £35,000 would support an archivist for a year; while sums of £500,000 to £1,000,000 would endow named posts or locations within the Institute. Whatever the gift, it will help us make our vision a reality.
The Scott Polar Research Institute Fund will support three projects to sustain the Library, Archives and Museum as new material is acquired, new technologies are introduced, and new means of providing information to scholars and the general public become available. Over the years, such development of the Institute's information services has been hampered by uncertain funding. The Fund will ensure that staff can meet the growing and changing external demands for research and information, well into the future.
(I) THE ARCHIVE PROJECT.
The Archives provide an outstanding resource for scholars throughout the world to research the early polar expeditions, the development of scientific research in Antarctica and the Arctic, and geo-political and commercial interests in these regions. The Archive Project will:
One of the Library's greatest strengths is its ability to collect and process information in many languages; seventy-two are currently represented in the collection. This is only possible if its staff have high-level bibliographic and language skills. The Institute is dedicated to making information globally available, and maintains a website which attracts approaching 200,000 hits from all around the world, every month. The Library Project seeks to build on and develop these resources in an expanding suite of subject-specific and regional directories and databases, and also through extension of its publication programme. The Library Project will:
The Museum Project aims to modernise the Institute's Museum for the educational benefit of a wider public. It holds excellent collections related to the Heroic Age of polar exploration, including much material that at present cannot readily be displayed. The Museum Project will:
THE SCOTT POLAR RESEARCH INSTITUTE
The Institute was established in 1920 as a memorial to Captain Scott and his colleagues, to collect information about the Arctic and Antarctic, and as a place for scientists and polar explorers to meet for the furtherance of knowledge. The Institute has magnificent premises in Cambridge. In addition to teaching and research facilities, these accommodate a museum, lecture theatre, archives and library in buildings originally opened in 1934 and significantly enlarged in 1968, thanks to a substantial grant from the Ford Foundation.
In the 1990s, a development programme was initiated to strengthen the Institute for the new century. This began with a highly successful campaign which raised £I.5m to build the Shackleton Memorial Library, an award-winning extension providing purpose-built accommodation for the library, archives, photographic and map collections. This brochure outlines the next phase in this programme, to create a Scott Polar Research Institute Fund which will support global access to the Institute's incomparable resource of historic and contemporary information about the polar regions.
A UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE WITH AN INTERNATIONAL MISSION
The University of Cambridge: The Institute benefits greatly from being embedded in one of the world's finest Universities. The Institute's academic staff undertake pioneering studies in a broad range of subjects, from glaciology, sea ice, and climate change, through remote sensing of environmental pollution, to social and cultural change in Arctic peoples. The Institute offers a unique Masters course in Polar Studies, and its staff contribute to other degree courses offered elsewhere in the University.
The international mission: The founding vision of the Institute was that it should provide a focus of polar information and expertise for all--for scientists, scholars, explorers and peoples of all nations. This vision is in the hands of the Library (the world's finest for the polar regions), the magnificent Archives, and the small but choice Museum. To meet burgeoning public interest in the polar regions, we need to exploit opportunities presented by evolving information technology, to disseminate knowledge and use of the Institute's unrivalled resources while maintaining the original vision. This is where the Scott Polar Research Institute Fund comes in.
If you are interested in making a donation to the Appeal, information about how to do this is provided on a loose leaf insert in this brochure. Alternatively, you may wish to contact either:
Professor K. S. Richards, The Director
Mr W. J. Mills, The Librarian and Keeper of Collections
Scott Polar Research Institute
Lensfield Road
Cambridge CB2 1ER
UK
NOTE: The insert mentioned above gives information that will be of interest to donors in the US. Tax-deductible gifts may be made to:
Cambridge in AmericaChecks should be made payable to 'Cambridge in America' and donors should request that the funds be applied to the Scott Polar Research Institute Fund.
309 West 49th Street
New York, NY 10019-7399
SIR HUBERT WILKINS' BIRTHPLACE RESTORED
The following appeared in the April 2001 issue of "Members' Newsletter" of the Australian Geographic Society:
RECOGNISING OUR NATIONAL HEROAnd another excerpt from the July 2001 issue:The life of one of Australia's greatest adventurers, Sir Hubert Wilkins, will be celebrated at a special event in the South Australian outback in April...
The Society began campaigning for the recognition of Sir Hubert--explorer, polar aviator, cinematographer and naturalist--after our founder Dick Smith flew over the stone farmhouse of his boyhood hero in 1994 and was distressed by its poor state. With the support of our enthusiastic members, who've donated thousands of dollars, and a group of dedicated locals, Sir Hubert's family home has now been authentically transformed from a crumbling ruin into a handsome memorial...
A weekend of celebrations begins in Hallett Town Hall on Saturday 28 April, with the world premiere of Searching for Sir Hubert, an exciting documentary of Sir Hubert's life, which includes rare footage shot by Sir Hubert himself. Much of the material is being shown publicly for the first time. Filmgoers will also get the chance to take part in a question-and-answer session with producer John Hipwell...
The following day, Dick Smith will officially open the restored house at 2.30 p.m. You'll be able to wander through the six rooms of the farmhouse where Sir Hubert spent his early life. The youngest of 13 children, he walked 10 kilometres to attend the local school, while also helping out on the farm. Here he witnessed the devastating droughts that motivated his life's work.
SIR HUBERT'S LIFE CELEBRATEDWilkins' birthplace is at Mt Bryan East near Hallett, South Australia. Hallett is 185km north of Adelaide.Hundreds of Society members from around the country. descended on a paddock in the South Australian outback in April to celebrate the life of one of Australia's greatest adventurers - Sir Hubert Wilkins. After years of fundraising by the Australian Geographic Society, and years of work by a committee of local people, Sir Hubert's restored family homestead was officially opened as a memorial on 29 April.
"We hope that this memorial to Sir Hubert will help inspire Australian adventurers for generations to come," Australian Geographic director Howard Whelan told the enthusiastic crowd at Mt Bryan East, 13 kilometres east of the town of Hallett, in SA's Mid-North. Australian Geographic Society chairman Dick Smith praised Sir Hubert's many achievements, and acknowledged the generosity of Society members, whose contributions made the restoration work possible. "At last, Sir Hubert is beginning to receive the recognition he deserves in the country of his birth," Dick said.
Among many other achievements, Sir Hubert captured the first-known film of battle during the Balkans War in 1912; covered World War I Western Front battles and was awarded the Military Cross and Bar for bravery in 1917-18; was the naturalist on Shackleton's last Antarctic expedition in 1921-22; made the first trans-Arctic flight in 1928; made the first under-ice voyage by submarine in the Arctic Ocean in 1931 and was the manager of four Antarctic expeditions, reaffirming some Australian Antarctic claims in 1933-39.
A replica of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith's Southern Cross--the Fokker monoplane sold to him by Sir Hubert--circled overhead, enthralling the crowd. They cheered and waved as the plane passed over the homestead several times, before dipping its wings in farewell and heading back to Adelaide. Dick then declared the homestead open, and invited everyone to look inside. The homestead was painstakingly restored by builder Neil Schiller, from the nearby town of Burra, using only authentic materials.
The Clare Valley Concert Band provided entertainment while a steady supply of freshly baked scones and refreshments continued throughout the afternoon. Members got the chance to hear about Sir Hubert first hand from many of his descendants, who'd travelled from around Australia for the event. The evening before they'd helped swell Hallett town hall beyond capacity for the first public screening of Ice Maverick, a documentary on Sir Hubert's life by Melbourne filmmaker John Hipwell.
Set in rolling hills about 180 km north of Adelaide, the homestead is an evocative reminder of Sir Hubert's modest beginnings. Members can experience the homestead for themselves by collecting keys from Hallett's Wildongoleechie Hotel.
The Newsletter is on the Society's website at www.australiangeographic.com.au
Another website with information on Wilkins is at www.rbe.net.au/~goyder/tourism_sir_hubert.htm
Thanks to Gordon Bain in Hobart for sending on the newsletters.
ANTARCTIC TARTAN
Celtic Originals, located on the Isle of Mull, has recently designed and produced the Antarctic Tartan. As all profits are earmarked for Antarctic causes we're happily including information. Here is a portion of the press release of last year.
Although remote and inhospitable, Antarctica is a key part of our world and a magnet for explorers and scientists. Now for the first time its beauty is depicted in a fabric. The Antarctic tartan symbolises Antarctica, the vast continent that surrounds the South Pole and is encircled by the Southern Ocean. All the colours used are the colours of the animals, plants, rocks and waters of this remarkable continent whilst the design itself mimics the geography.
Celtic Originals (a small tartan business on the Isle of Mull) wanted to provide those who visit the Antarctic with more than just memories whilst also benefiting conservation activities there. The British Antarctic Survey were approached for their approval to create an Antarctic tartan which could raise funds to help protect the Antarctic environment. In agreeing to help BAS suggested The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust as the charity most deserving of support. BAS photographer Chris Gilbert took photos of scientist Keith Reid wearing the Antarctic tartan shirt on Bird Island earlier this year.
In supporting this development BAS has said: "The British Antarctic Survey have welcomed this initiative in providing a different and artistic interpretation of the beauties of the Antarctic. We believe that the generous gift of profits from this enterprise could materially help in the conservation of our Antarctic heritage sites."
The Antarctic tartan perfectly symbolises Antarctica. Inspiration for the design of the tartan setts was taken from the geography of the continent, whilst the vibrant colours are those to be seen in the wildlife and rocks. The designer matched the colours from Ben Osborne's photographs of the Antarctic from Alistair Fothergill's BBC book Life in the Freezer; A Natural History of the Antarctic. Its cover picture of two King penguins was the initial inspiration.
The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust is a charity that works to safeguard Antarctica for future generations. In particular it restores and manages historic sites in the Antarctic from where, during the last hundred years, British explorers and scientists made many of their most significant journeys. The chairman of The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust is Dr John Heap.
The symbolism of the Antarctic Tartan explained. The colours: White represents the ice-covered continent, ice floes, and the edge of the Antarctic Ocean. Grey represents outcropping rocks, seals and birds. Orange represent lichen, Emperor and King penguin (head) plumage. Yellow also represents penguin plumage and the summer midnight sun. Black and white together depict penguins and whales. Pale blue represents crevasses in the ice and shallow blue icy waters of the ice shelves, whilst dark midnight blue represents the deep Antarctic Ocean and the darkness of Antarctic winter.
The design is based upon the Antarctic's geography. The large square of white at the centre of the sett represents the light of Antarctic summer on the ice-covered continent. This is quartered by threads of pale blue. These represent the zero/360, 90, 180, and 270 lines of longitude. The point where they cross represents the South Pole. Two bands of grey surrounding this white heart depict nunataks, mountain ranges, and exposed coastal rocks. Around the coast Antarctica's life forms are found so the colours that follow in the sett, orange, yellow, black and white, represent the wealth of animal life on land and in the seas. Orange also represents the lichens that encrust the rocks. Surrounding the land pale blue and white depict the ice shelves whilst the outside is edged by thick bands of midnight blue for the ocean deeps and the dark winters. Each sett is separated by a thin band of white that represents the edge of Antarctica. Where these cross, the Southern Cross is depicted. This viewed diagonally also represents the Scottish saltire, - tribute to the fact that 2001 is the centenary of the first Scottish Polar expedition to the Antarctic."
Items featuring the Antarctic tartan are available at Dundee's Discovery Point and the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich.
Celtic Originals has a website http://www.celtictartans.com through which items may be viewed and purchased. [This website appears to be shut down.]
To see what the Antarctic Tartan looks like, click here.
ANTARCTIC VIRTUAL MUSEUM
The latest "Polar Bytes" (January 2001, No 17), the newsletter of the Friends of the Scott Polar Research Institute, carried this interesting notice:
"Those of you who have visited the wonderful exhibitions South: The Race to the Pole at the National Maritime Museum and Shackleton at Dulwich College, may have considered just how much more wonderful still it would be if a means could be found to bring together permanently all artifacts associated with the great expeditions of the Heroic Era of Antarctic Exploration. This is the dream of the Antarctic Virtual Museum, and the advent of the Internet makes it a practicable possibility. The aim of our project is to bring together on the Institute's website, images of all artifacts - including equipment, paintings, photographs, and, in time, even-diaries, associated with or resulting from the Heroic Era expeditions. The images would be accompanied by annotations describing the objects shown and linked to other relevant images and sources of information. What a wonderful resource this would be for schools, and how fascinating for all those interested in Antarctica!
Needless to say, this is a very ambitious project and one which will take substantial work and funding. Already, however, a start has been made. Friends attending last year's Lunch at Girton College may recall John Heap's announcement of a grant to the project from the U K Antarctic Heritage Trust. Thanks to this, we have managed to photograph a good proportion of the Institute's own collections and to word-process much of the Museum card catalogue as an initial source for the annotations to accompany the images. Much, much more remains to be done. Items in other public collections must be identified and photographed; and contact made with individuals owning Heroic Era artifacts, many of which remain in private ownership. Only for publicly-owned artifacts will locations be given of where the originals are located; privately-owned items will simply be recorded as 'In private ownership'. We don't wish to encourage the wrong kind of interest! Much more too needs to be done before the Institute's own holdings can be displayed: the entire collection of relevant items must be digitally photographed, not too great a task perhaps for equipment, clothing, etc., but vast when one considers photographs and paintings. The Institute has nearly 1,000 paintings and drawings by Edward Wilson alone, and how much should we like to be able to display these to all by means of the Internet!
If this is a project which catches your imagination, or in which you think you might be able to help, please contact William Mills, Keeper and Librarian. We are not just looking for funding, though this is always essential. If you know of relevant artifacts, please tell us, since it is more than likely that we will not know already. If you have suggestions to offer, relevant experience, or just spare time, all will gratefully be appreciated. William may be contacted by phone on 01223-336557, email at wjml3@cam.ac.uk or by post to the Institute."
Note: William Mills reports that "As yet, there is no official announcement or press release since the project is in its earliest stages," but he encourages those who are able to assist in this undertaking by supplying information or describing their own collections, to contact him.
DISCOVERY DENTISTRY
Before Scott's Discovery sailed for the Antarctic, "Ninety-two teeth were removed . . . and 170 holes filled at a cost of £62.45." Also before sailing 32 stray East End cats were found on board and dispatched. (Ranulph Fiennes, Captain Scott, p 41)
ORIGINAL SOUTH POLE POLE
Charlie Bevilacqua, a Seabee Chief who was in charge of building the first South Pole Station (1957-58), made the first "pole," the barber pole marking 90 degrees south. The symbolic pole today is red and white but the first pole was orange and black. Why those colors? Charlie grew up in Woburn, Massachusetts, and chose orange and black, the Woburn High School colors. Charlie told me this pole is in a New Zealand museum, probably the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch.
SPENCER-SMITH'S WALLET FOUND
An interesting article by Julian Champkin appeared in the Daily Mail (UK) of February 5, 2000. The headline reads: "Secrets of the Lost Wallet." the piece begins: "Late last year, a green leather wallet was found in a wooden shack in the frozen wastes of Antarctica, nearly a century on from the day its brave owner lost it." The "wooden shack" was Scott's Cape Evans Hut, and the wallet belonged to the Rev. Arnold Patrick Spencer-Smith, one of three members of Shackleton's Ross Sea Party to perish (he died of scurvy on March 9, 1916. The lengthy (for the Mail) article has extensive detail about Spencer-Smith, his companions and the harrowing privations they faced in their successful although in the end wasted efforts to position depots for Shackleton's Weddell Sea Party.
The article gives no details on the circumstances surrounding the wallet's discovery. Possibly it was found by a work party of New Zealand's Antarctic Heritage Trust. Champkin does relate that the only contents of the wallet were a Cape Town tram ticket, a Sydney ferry ticket and five photographs.
--Thanks to John A. Stansfield
PIERRE DUMOUTIER, ANTARCTICA'S FIRST CRANIOSCOPIST
Dumont d'Urville was a proponent of phrenology to such an extent that he appointed Pierre Dumoutier as Antarctica's first "cranioscopist" aboard the Astrolabe during the great French expedition of 1837-40. In his will d'Urville directed that his head be preserved for future phrenological study. When d'Urville and his family were tragically killed in a railroad accident in 1842, the Admiral was identified by the size and shape of his charred head.
FIRST FISH CAUGHT BELOW THE ANTARCTIC CIRCLE
In February 1842, during Ross's voyage, the first fish caught below the Antarctic Circle was landed on the Terror. It was frozen into ice that had been chipped from the ship's bow. John Robertson, the surgeon, took the six-inch long fish--which he named Pagetodes (frozen solid in Greek)--below and placed it on a plate to thaw. The ship's cat found it and made a meal of it.
FOURTH GENERATION ANTARCTICANS
Edith "Jackie" Ronne mentioned recently to me that the Ronne family is now fourth generation Antarctican: Martin Rønne (1861-1932) who was with Amundsen as a sailmaker and with Byrd as a ski instructor, ice-pilot and dog driver; his son, Finn Ronne (1898-1980) who was with Byrd in 1933-35, the first of his nine Antarctic outings; his daughter Karen Ronne Tupek; and her two children.
FIRST PENGUIN MENTION
The first time the word 'penguin' was used to describe the southern bird occurred during the 1586-88 third circumnavigation of the world by Thomas Cavendish in the 'Desire.' Source: Gurney, Alan. 'Below the Convergence; Voyages toward Antarctica 1699-1839,' p. 63.
FIRST ANTARCTIC SURGERY
Louis Bernacchi records in his book Saga of the "Discovery" (London: Blackie & Son, Ltd., 1938, p. 51) perhaps the first surgery performed in the Antarctic:
Entertainment, however, sometimes became almost a "Roman holiday", and when Royds was operated upon for a cyst on his cheek, the general reaction was one of pleasurable interest rather than sympathy for the unfortunate victim. Dr. Koettlitz, nothing loath to perform the first operation in Antarctica, gladly prepared for the event. The wardroom table became the operating table. I volunteered as nurse, and rolled up my sleeves to play the part convincingly, while Koettlitz brought from their hiding-places a formidable array of knives, pincers, scissors, lint, gauze and bandages, explaining ghoulishly the exact function of each. Armitage took charge of the phial of patent freezing mixture, and the rest of the wardroom gathered round. The effort at first was not a success, for the freezing mixture functioned so thoroughly that the knife would not penetrate the skin, and while we waited for it to thaw a little, all joined in terrifyingly reassuring remarks to the patient. Again the knife was applied, and this time, to our intense satisfaction, blood flowed. Our questions as to whether it hurt or not brought a most emphatic "Yes". But the cyst was removed and the cheek stitched up, and Royds was distinguished for the rest of his life by a diminutive scar, a record of the first surgical operation performed in Antarctica.
