In January, 1909, a few days before one of his parties reached the South magnetic pole, Shackleton gained a point within 111 miles of the South Pole and was able to report that the Pole was situated on a high plateau about 10,000 feet above sea level. Capt. Scott left New Zealand on his second expedition in November, 1910, with the intention of taking up the exploration of the Antarctic continent at the point where his former expedition and that of Shackleton had left off. Scott reached the Pole on January 18, 1912, only to find that he had been anticipated by Capt. Roald Amundsen. Amundsen, who was the first to accomplish, in 1903, the complete traverse of the Northwest Passage, had left Norway early in 1911 for an expedition to the Arctic. Suddenly changing his plans to attempt the South Pole, he spent the winter of 1909 on the ice barrier at Bay of Whales, Ross Sea. Leaving his camp on October 20, 1911, he reached the Pole on December 14, by a route about 750 miles in length. Amundsen returned in safety, the whole expedition having been favored by good weather conditions. But Capt. Scott, who had been opposed by storms on his final dash to the Pole, was overtaken by a blizzard on his return journey and perished with cold and hunger with four companions, on March 29, 1912. Thus to the end polar discovery claimed its toll of human lives.
