The coastline of Antarctica was known, by and large, as a result of the foregoing expeditions. Now it was all about exploring the interior. At the same time about taking possession of the last ownerless continent. Concrete gain Markham did not promise, rather more the fame which would arise with each new expedition under Britain's flag. Scott was the right man for the job. He was not only ambitious, strong and capable of radiating enthusiasm, he was a British officer and proud of it. Scott received for his mission a brand new ship, specially constructed for this expedition, the Discovery. When he set sail on 31 July 1901, the King and Queen saw him off. To underline the importance of this large-scale voyage of discovery, Markham had got half of Britain enthusiastic about it.
On 8 January 1902 the Discovery reached Cape Adare. On McMurdo Sound the crew erected their winter quarters, a sturdy prefabricated wooden hut. Scott carried with him a balloon which he used for atmospheric research. On 4 February he climbed up with it to inspect the Ross Shelf Ice. Sadly, the ice surface was not as flat as a board, as he had hoped. Mountains and a range of wavy hills spread out before him. Scott thought of overcoming these 'plains' with ponies and dogs. After the first wintering, Scott commenced a serious attempt to reach the vicinity of the Pole. His companions were Ernest Henry Shackleton and Dr. Edward Wilson. The two sledges with provisions, fuel and equipment were drawn by nineteen huskies. The expedition started on 2 November 1902. On 3 February 1903 the men returned to the Discovery. In the ninety-three days they had covered 1,500 kilometres, which meant an average daily performance of 16 kilometres. In the closing stages, the men dragged the sledges themselves; the dogs were not up to the strain and all had to be shot.
The British had either poor dogs - or they couldn't get on with them... The British have loudly and unmistakably declared to the world that skis and dogs are useless in these regions and that hide clothing is nonsensical. We shall see - we shall see.
Thus later did Amundsen judge Scott's and Shackleton's first expeditions. History was to prove him right.
Scott, Wilson and Shackleton had indeed covered less than half the distance to the Pole, but had thereby set up a new southern record. Scott described this 'heroic act' in an impressive diary; also the worries. The physical condition of the participants was miserable by the end of the march. All were suffering from snow blindness, Shackleton and Wilson had scurvy. Only the fact that they had good weather during the last 100 kilometres back to the ship saved the party. They were totally exhausted. A snowstorm would easily have finished them off. Despite his protests, the sick Shackleton was taken on board the supply ship Morning. Furious, he sailed back to England. That was the beginning of the rivalry between 'Shack' and Scott.
After the second Antarctic winter, from October 1903 Scott reconnoitered the Trans-Antarctic Mountains and pushed on into the hinterland, Victoria Land. The six men of this expedition put 1,160 kilometres behind them in fifty-nine days and reached a height of 2,700 metres (average speed 20 kilometres per day). The temperatures were murderous, 40°C below zero. From the first they had renounced the use of dogs. 'Man-hauling'-dragging the sledges themselves-was Scott's tactic. It was to become his creed. On 24 December 1903 the group was back on the Discovery safe and sound. Scott was the undisputed 'hero' of the Antarctic. As Scott's ship entered the New Zealand port of Christchurch on I April 1904, an enthusiastic crowd awaited him. The practical results of the expedition were plain to see. The Ross Shelf Ice, the Trans-Antarctic Mountains and Victoria Land had been reconnoitered. Now more was known about the ice continent, much more. The South Pole, however, was still far away, unexplored. It became a fixed idea with 'Shack', his goal. Ernest Henry Shackleton (1874-1922), nicknamed 'Shack' by his friends, was born in Ireland. He was six years younger than Scott, but a real old soldier. At seventeen he enlisted in the British merchant marine. Quickly he rose to be Third Officer. When he met Scott and accompanied him to the Antarctic, he was curious, fond of life and ready to learn. As one of the best men on the expedition, it galled him unspeakably that he had not been able to cope with the physical stresses. He knew that he was superior to Scott, but first had to prove it. Henceforth he made his way as a journalist, gave lectures, and canvassed unsuccessfully for a seat in Parliament. Also as a businessman he was not successful. Finally, he decided to go to the Antarctic a second time on his own account. This time he wanted to conquer the Pole, cost what it might. The funds that Scott had been amply provided with officially by the Royal Navy, naturally were harder to come by for 'Shack'. Still, they sufficed to buy the expedition's equipment (sledges, sleeping-bags, skis, etc.), which he organized mainly in Norway. There they had experience on ice. His ship, the Nimrod, was forty years old.
On New Year's Day 1908 the expedition set out from New Zealand. At Cape Royds, 20 kilometres away from Scott's wintering point, he set up his camp. Shackleton took a motor car to Antarctica. It was the first motorized ice vehicle. This absurd 15hp vehicle did not stand the test, however. Instead of dogs, 'Shack' decided to use Manchurian ponies and had them transported half-way round the world, in order to try them out as draught animals. The route to the Pole he proposed, over the Ross Shelf Ice to the Beardmore Glacier, was the one which he had got to know with Scott. From the glacier he hoped to reach the polar plateau and press on towards the South Pole. On 20 October 1908 he departed with half a dozen ponies and three companions. Fuel and provisions were calculated for ninety-one days. Also on the sledges was fodder for the ponies. On the Ross Shelf Ice, 'Shack', Marshall and Adams already had to shoot the first animals. Unlike dogs, ponies sweat and are thus unsuited to extremely low temperatures. On 26 November they reached the southernmost point of Scott's expedition. Shackleton was triumphant. Onwards! It became colder, the snow softer. As they fought their way up the Beardmore Glacier, the situation became really depressing. One pony after another collapsed. The meat was stored in depots against the return. The last of the hard-pressed beasts fell into one of the many crevasses which became ever more enormous.
The rations became increasingly scantier. The marching performance of an average 20 kilometres per day was far too little to reach the Pole and get back to the Nimrod before the Antarctic winter. 'Shack' realized that they were not quick enough. On 9 January 1909, only 175 kilometres away from the Pole, they gave up. The return march became a race against death. The weather worsened all the time. Pony maize now served almost exclusively as food. Shackleton did not order, he ran ahead, thus drawing his men on. Although they hoisted sails on the sledges and thereby achieved a daily performance of from 31 to 47 kilometres, they were too slow, The return march lasted until the fourth day of March. In 128 days they had covered 2,736 kilometres (average 21 kilometres-per day). Half-starved, they climbed aboard the Nimrod. During Shackleton's push for the south, a second group from his expedition, led by Douglas Mawson, had reached the magnetic South Pole. At the time this was some 500 kilometres away from the spot where the ship was anchored.
Back in England, 'Shack' too was hailed as a hero. He enjoyed the glow of publicity, wrote a successful book about the expedition and became a professional adventurer. Edward VII knighted him and gave him 20,000 pounds. He had debts nonetheless. The expenses of the expedition had become so great that he had to give lectures for years.