THE STORY OF THE QUEST.'*
WIIEN Shaeldeton died in South Georgia, the leadership of the expedition fell to Commander Wild, who was, of course, at that time Shackleton's second-in-command. The task of recounting the story of the voyage has therefore fallen to him, and though he has no pretensions to literary skill, he shows the same gallant spirit in his conduct of this book as he did in his work as an explorer. It is based on the Official Journal and private diary of Dr. Macklin, the surgeon of the ' Quest.' The most noteworthy feature of the volume, which is rather unwieldy for its actual amount of text, is its photography. The illustrations are magnificent. Previous volumes have shown us photographs of greater interest, but none of greater beauty. Every other page or so gives us something to delight the eye. In his preface, Commander Wild remarks : " The writings of explorers vary, but in my opinion they have all one common fault, which is, that they have attempted to combine in one volume the scientific results with the more popular story of the expedition. This book is for the public. I have sought to eliminate the mass of scientific details with which my journal is filled, to avoid technical terms, and to retain only that which can be easily understood by all." There can be no doubt that he has succeeded, although the ordinary reader who has often sat late into the night, breathless, over such things as Nansen's Furthest North, or Shackleton's South, will probably be disappointed by this present narrative. The expedition itself had not, of course, the imaginative appeal of the earlier ones ; there was no great goal and little prospect of drama, although the hardships and the danger attending the expedition were by no means inconsiderable.
It seems to have been unlucky from the first. Originally, it was intended to go north instead of south, and Shackleton was to have had the support of the Canadian Government. But the Dominion withdrew its support ; and the whole plan had to be changed. Fortunately, with fine generosity, Mr. J. Q. Rowett offered to finance the expedition, which then became a voyage of exploration and scientific investigation along the two thousand odd miles of unknown Antarctic coastline. The choice of the ' Quest' appears to have been a mistake. Before South Georgia was reached on the outward journey there was a very bad leak in the furnace, and the engineer had to cope with innumerable difficulties, for the boiler was thirty-one years old. It was doubtful whether the expedition would be able to proceed, and although it was decided to go forward there can be no doubt that these vexing trials did a great deal to unsettle Shackleton and hasten his end. Moreover, the ' Quest' was absurdly small. The quarters were confined, and this resulted in an unpleasant affair that Commander Wild relates with some reluctance and obvious reserve. After leaving South Georgia, when he had taken over the command, he began to be aware " of an amount of dissatisfaction and grumbling occurring in both the forward and after-messes " that he did not like. This unpleasantness, to which he managed to put an end by taking prompt action, was partly due, he frankly confesses, to faulty arrangements that, in their turn, had not a little to do with the size of the vessel. " It must be admitted," he remarks, " that before leaving England the arrangements for the comfort of the personnel had in some directions been overlooked, and long-continued discomfort is bound, sooner or later, to have an effect upon the temper." The climax of the narrative is, of course, the death of Shackleton. Indeed, after that the remainder of the story has the air of anti-climax, the great protagonist has left the stage, and now nothing seems of any great moment. This is not Commander Wild's fault, it is simply in the nature of the case. But he, faced with the decision of going forward or turning back, decided to go forward, and the greater part of the book is taken up with what happened to the expedition, ;horn of its great leader, in the Southern Seas.
Much of it is a description of the lonely islands, in particular of Tristan da Cunha ; the actual Antarctic, owing to the weakness of the ' Quest' and the unfavourable conditions, plays a surprisingly small part. Two appendices, one of geological and other scientific findings, and the other on the medical side of the expedition, are added as an example of the solid work accomplished by the scientists of the party, who are, of course, preparing detailed reports that have no place
• Shackkton's Last Voyage. By Commander Frank Wild. London Cassell. L308.]
in such a narrative as this. In conclusion, though there is no question of this volume being included among the great stories of Polar exploration, it is only fair to say that through- out it never fails in interest, and, indeed, has some passages of description that have hardly been bettered. Certainly, the photographs are unapproachable, and there are enough of them to satisfy even the most voracious armchair traveller.
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