Editing Ernest Shackleton (section)

== ''Nimrod'' Expedition, 1907–1909 ==
{{Main|Nimrod Expedition}}
[[File:TheSouthernParty (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|South Pole party: [[Frank Wild]], Shackleton, [[Eric Marshall]], [[Jameson Adams]]|alt=A black-and-white photo of the South Pole party]]
On 7 August 1907, the {{ship||Nimrod|ship|2}} set sail from England for the start of the British Antarctic Expedition, reaching New Zealand at the end of November.{{sfn|Mill|1923|p=111}} After some final preparations, the expedition set off from [[Lyttelton Harbour]] on 1&nbsp;January 1908, heading for the Antarctic.{{sfn|Mill|1923|p=114}} Shackleton had originally planned to use the old ''Discovery'' base in McMurdo Sound to launch his attempts on the South Pole and South Magnetic Pole,{{sfn|Riffenburgh|2004|p=108}} but before leaving England, he had been pressured into giving Scott an undertaking not to base himself in the McMurdo area, which Scott was claiming as his own field of work. Shackleton reluctantly agreed to seek out winter quarters at either the [[Bay of Whales|Barrier Inlet]]—which he had briefly visited in 1902 on ''Discovery''—or [[King Edward VII Land]].{{sfn|Riffenburgh|2004|pp=110–116}}

To conserve coal, the ship was towed {{convert|1650|mi|0}} by the steamer [[Koonya (1887)|''Koonya'']] to the Antarctic ice, after Shackleton had persuaded the New Zealand government and the [[Union Company|Union Steamship Company]] to share the cost.{{sfn|Riffenburgh|2004|pp=143–144}} In accordance with Shackleton's promise to Scott, the ship headed for the eastern sector of the Great Ice Barrier, arriving there on 21&nbsp;January 1908. They discovered that the Barrier Inlet had expanded to form a large bay, containing hundreds of whales, and they immediately christened it the "Bay of Whales".{{sfn|Riffenburgh|2004|pp=151–153}}

The ice conditions were found to be unstable, making it impossible to establish a safe base at the Barrier Inlet, and an extended search for an anchorage at King Edward VII Land proved equally futile. Shackleton was forced to break the undertaking he had made to Scott, and the ''Nimrod'' set sail for McMurdo Sound; according to second officer Arthur Harbord, this decision was "dictated by common sense" in view of the difficulties of ice pressure, coal shortage and the lack of any alternative base known to be close at hand.{{sfn|Riffenburgh|2004|pp=151–153}} The ship arrived at McMurdo Sound on 29&nbsp;January, but was stopped by ice {{convert|16|mi}} north of ''Discovery''{{'}}s old base at [[Hut Point]].{{sfn|Riffenburgh|2004|pp=157–167}} After considerable weather delays, a base was eventually established at [[Cape Royds]],{{sfn|Johnson|2003|p=46}} about {{convert|24|mi|0}} north of Hut Point. The party was in high spirits, despite the difficult conditions; Shackleton's ability to bond with his crew kept the party happy and focused.{{sfn|Riffenburgh|2004|pp=185–186}}

On 29 October 1908, Shackleton and three companions—[[Frank Wild]], [[Eric Marshall]] and [[Jameson Adams]]—set off on the "Great Southern Journey", as Wild called it.{{sfn|Mills|1999|p=72}} On 9&nbsp;January 1909, they reached a new Farthest South latitude of 88°23′&nbsp;S,{{sfn|Shackleton, ''The Heart of the Antarctic''|p=347–348}} a point {{convert|112|mi|0}} from the Pole.{{efn|name=distance from pole}} En route, the South Pole party discovered the [[Beardmore Glacier]], named after Shackleton's patron,{{sfn|Mills|1999|pp=82–86}} and the four men became the first persons to see and travel on the South Polar Plateau.{{sfn|Mills|1999|p=90}} Their return journey to McMurdo Sound was a race to avoid starvation, and they were restricted to half-rations for much of the duration. At one point, Shackleton gave his one biscuit allotted for the day to the ailing Frank Wild, who wrote in his diary: "All the money that was ever minted would not have bought that biscuit and the remembrance of that sacrifice will never leave me".{{sfn|Mills|1999|p=108}} The party arrived back at Hut Point just in time to catch the ship.{{sfn|Johnson|2003|p=53}}

The other main accomplishments of the British Antarctic Expedition included the first ascent of [[Mount Erebus]], and the discovery of the approximate location of the South Magnetic Pole, attained by [[Edgeworth David]], [[Douglas Mawson]] and [[Alistair Mackay]] on 16&nbsp;January 1909.{{sfn|Riffenburgh|2004|p=244}} Shackleton returned to the United Kingdom as a hero, and soon afterwards published his account of the expedition, ''The Heart of the Antarctic''. His wife Emily later recorded: "The only comment he made to me about not reaching the Pole, was 'a live donkey is better than a dead lion, isn't it?' and I said 'Yes darling, as far as I am concerned,' and we left it at that."{{sfn|Huntford|1985|p=300}}

[[File:Cusb-cyl1859d.mp3|thumb|Cylinder recording talking about the voyage as described, 1910]]

In 1910, Shackleton made a series of three recordings using an Edison [[phonograph]], in which he briefly described the expedition.<ref>{{cite web |title=My South Polar Expedition (1910) |publication-date=2010 |website=Australian Screen Online |publisher=[[NFSA]] |url=http://aso.gov.au/titles/spoken-word/my-south-polar-expedition/ |access-date=12 October 2011 |url-status=live |archive-date=12 December 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101212102355/https://aso.gov.au/titles/spoken-word/my-south-polar-expedition/}}</ref> In 2010, several (mostly intact) cases of whisky and brandy that had been left behind in 1909 were recovered for analysis by a distilling company. A revival of the vintage formula for the particular brands found was offered for sale, with a portion of the proceeds donated to the New Zealand [[Antarctic Heritage Trust (New Zealand)|Antarctic Heritage Trust]] which had discovered the lost spirits.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper = USA Today | date = 5 February 2010 | title = Explorers' century-old whisky found in Antarctic | url = https://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2010-02-05-Shackleton-whisky-antarctic_N.htm | access-date =14 October 2011 | agency = Associated Press | location = Wellington, NZ | url-status = dead | archive-date = 9 February 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100209214519/https://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2010-02-05-Shackleton-whisky-antarctic_N.htm}}</ref>