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9

OF ALL the expeditions under-
taken b British explorers at the
turn of e century, the one that
probably fires the ima ' ation
most is of Ca t Sc6tt’s 1ll-fated
journey to the outh Pole.

The deaths of Scott and his
four companions just 100 miles
from safety, after their disap-

intment at not having reached

_ e pole first, will stand forever
as a classic adventure story.

Now, a Bridge woman has
retold the events of the British
Antarctic (Terra Nova) Expedi-
tion of 1910 to 1913, with the help
of photographs by the party's
cfia artist, Herbert Ponting.

. M’ Savours, probably better
known as Mrs Ann Shirley, wife
of district and county councillor
Lawrence Shirley, is one of the
or ‘try’s leading, experts on
L : exploration’. Her book,
Scott's Last Voyage, Through
the Antarctic Camera of Herbert
Ponting (Sidgwick and Jackson,
£3.95), is a fascinating account
of that stru gle a ainst the
world's wors wea er condi-,
tions.

Ponting’s. pictures retell
vividly the breathtaking beauty,
g the fascinating wildlife and the

, daily life of the explorers, both

aboard the Terra Nova and in
the Antarctic itself.

His work anti Miss Savours’
words combine to tell the
chillin tale of man's fight
agains the elements.

In his introduction, Sir Peter
Scott, who was less than two
years -old when his father's
party sailed to the bottom of the
world, tells how one of Ponting’s
pictures has been “continuously
on the wall of my various homes
throughout my life."

It shows his father working in

his den in the winter quarters

' *’mit*at“Catpe ‘Evans. Pinned on

the wall 0 the hut are snapshots
9’ 'rtt’s wife and young son.

.,. camera artist who com-
bined a highly discriminatin
eye for one values

’ composition ,with an energetic
enthusiasm for recording scenes
that were altogether new was
clearly in a position to move
people dee ly, and Ponting did
and still oes so," writes Sir
Peter. ,

It is tgerhaps this aspect of the

book at is so appealing. Miss
Savours’ words merely provide

_ the background for some of the
‘most remarkable camera work
ever.

-7 She provides the skeleton and
allows Pontin ’s ictures to
provide the fles an bones. It is
a sim le but exciting rocess.
Miss gavours personal y chose

- the illustrations from the
hundreds taken by Pontmg, so
the balance is even better.

Of Ponting and his work Capt
Scott himself wrote: “Of the
many admirable points in this
work, perhaps the most notable
are Ponting’s eye for a picture
and e mastery he has acquired
of i p subjects; the composition
of most of his ictures is
extraordinarily an . he seems
to know by ins‘ ct the exact
values of foreground and middle
distance and of the introduction
of ‘life,’ whilst with more

rs -

 

an '

technical skill in the manipula-
tion of screens and exposures,
he emphasises the . subtle
shadows of the snow and
reproduces its wondrously
transparent textures. He is an
artist in love with his work and it
was good to hear his enthusiasm
for results of the past and plans
for the future."

Those ictures of the ice are
some of e most arresting in the
book. Ponting’s ability to
capture on of those large,
cumbersome instruments—and
one should remember it was a
glass plate camera weighing
severa pounds—the forbidding
beauty of the ice scape shows a
high degree of craftsmanship
and skil in what was then an
infant technique.‘

Just as
remarkable series of pictures
contained in a chapter on the
wildlife of McMurdo Sound.
Miss Savours uses a story about
a Weddell seal protecting her
pup from killer whales, written

to the pole

Mrs Ann Shirley at her home, Little Bridge Place, Bridge.

interesting is a.

£3/\

by Punting, and his witty
account of introducing himself
to the Adélie pen ‘ s, to help
highlight the ob ous achieve-
ment in taking "such difficult
pictures. ‘ .

But it is the pictures of the
men.themse1ves, depictin their
life in the icebound con ent,
that have greatest impact. In
addition to the picture of Capt
Scott in his den, there are
several of the base camp party
and, of course, those who made
the fateful journey to the pole.

Life on board the Terra Nova
during the voyage south, the
arrival at Cape Evans,‘ prepara-
tions for the long journey and
the scientific experiments
undertaken all come in for
scrutiny.

With Miss Savours’ ‘com-
mentary they help make the

-book complete, a telling tribute

to the spirit and luck of men
who helped form e in edients
for one of the most ougsrtanding
chapters in history.

 

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