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showing 33 library results for 'Erebus'

The magnetism of Antarctica : the Ross expedition 1839-1843 /John Knight. "This under-documented expedition was a pivotal moment in the annals of polar exploration and was the starting point, in historical terms, of revealing the great unknown continent of Antarctica. It was the first time in nearly 70 years, since Captain James Cook had circumnavigated Antarctica, that a Royal Naval voyage of discovery had ventured so far south. They set a new 'furthest south' record in the process beating the one set up by James Weddell in a whaling ship in 1823. The expedition set sail from Greenwich in 1839. It consisted of two wooden sailing ships commanded by Captain James Clark Ross and Commander Francis Crozier. The ships were manned exclusively by Royal Naval personnel and each ship had a complement of 64 men and officers. Their primary task was of a scientific nature to study the Earth's magnetic field and build up a set of results that could provide a greater understanding of the effects of magnetism on compasses and their use in navigating the world's oceans. This voyage had a set of planned targets and all were accomplished. In the process a vast amount of scientific information was collected. Many exotic places were visited during the voyage amongst them Madeira, St. Helena, Cape Town, Kerguelen Island, New Zealand, Australia and the Falkland Islands but the pinnacle was the discovery of the Ross Sea, the Ross Ice Shelf and the mighty volcanoes of Erebus and Terror (named after the two ships). The crews experienced the dangers of navigating in ice-strewn waters and narrowly escaping being crushed by icebergs. Illness was kept at bay although several lives were lost due to accidents. It would be another 60 years before the scenes of their greatest discoveries were visited again and then the Golden Age of Discovery was ushered in with the likes of Scott, Shackleton and Amundsen."--Provided by the publisher. 2023. • BOOK • 1 copy available.
Aurora Australis : the British Antarctis Expedition, 1907-1908 /Ernest Henry Shackleton ; with a foreword by Edmund Hillary. In an age when it is fashionable to forget the achievements of the great explorers of the heroic age, comes the timely rebirth of this legendary book, penned by a band of brave British men whose wit and wisdom blazes like a sun beside today's lesser stars. In 1907 Ernest Shackleton led the Nimrod Expedition to Antarctica. He established a base camp at Cape Royds on Ross Island and built a wooden hut to serve as headquarters. Because of his prior experience with Robert ScottÅs first expedition, Shackleton knew the sunless winter months spent in these cramped quarters would test the morale of his men, so he set several of them to work writing and printing the first book ever produced on the Antarctic continent. Containing fact, fiction, humour, prose and poetry, "Aurora Australis," is one of the most extraordinary travel books ever written. It contains stories about the Antarctic wildlife, describes the harsh conditions suffered by the explorers and recounts their journey to the top of Mount Erebus, a nearby active volcano surrounded by ice. An estimated one hundred copies were originally "Printed at the Sign of the Penguin" by these gifted authors, the result of which is a unique symbol of the heroic age of exploration. Because of its rarity a first edition of "Aurora Australis" recently sold for more than $100,000. This special edition is being produced in an effort to raise awareness of the need to conserve the four huts used by the British explorers, along with the remarkable memorabilia and icebound supplies preserved within their frozen walls. Having endured nearly a century of harsh weather, these huts still symbolise the nobler aspects of human nature which took these talented and brave men to Antarctica. The buildings are now considered to be some of the most endangered historic structures in the world.--back cover. 2007. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.4(99)"1908/1909"
May we be spared to meet on earth : letters of the lost Franklin Arctic expedition /edited by Russell A. Potter, Regina Koellner, Peter Carney, and Mary Williamson ; with the assistance of Alison Alexander, William Battersby, Matthew Betts, Rick Burrows, A.J. Campbell, Jonathan Dore, Alison Freebairn, Andrew Hill, D.J. Holzhueter, Olga Kimmins, Jonathan Moore, Alexa Price, Frank Michael Schuster, Michael Smith, and Michael Tracy ; foreword by Sir Michael Palin. "May We Be Spared to Meet on Earth is a privileged glimpse into the private correspondence of the officers and sailors who set out in May 1845 on the Erebus and Terror for Sir John Franklin's fateful expedition to the Arctic. The letters of the crew and their correspondents begin with the journey's inception and early planning, going on to recount the ships' departure from the river Thames, their progress up the eastern coast of Great Britain to Stromness in Orkney, and the crew's exploits as far as the Whalefish Islands off the western coast of Greenland, from where the ships forever departed the society that sent them forth. As the realization dawned that something was amiss, heartfelt letters to the missing were sent with search expeditions; those letters, returned unread, tell poignant stories of hope. Assembled completely and conclusively from extensive archival research, including in far-flung family and private collections, the correspondence allows the reader to peer over the shoulders of these men, to experience their excitement and anticipation, their foolhardiness, and their fears. The Franklin expedition continues to excite enthusiasts and scholars worldwide. May We Be Spared to Meet on Earth provides new insights into the personalities of those on board, the significance of the voyage as they saw it, and the dawning awareness of the possibility that they would never return to British shores or their families."--Provided by publisher. 2022 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.9163/27