Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA : 1861 - 1954), Saturday 6 June 1953, page 10


Antarctic Exploration

Money Was Scarce When Rymill Expsdition Started

When Mr. John Rymill, of Penola, approached the Scott Polar Expedition in London, in 1934, in the hope of securing some financial aid for an ex-pedition he was planning to Graham Land, south of South America, he received no help, but on placing his plans before the Royal Geographical Society, Admiral Sir William Goodenough persuaded the Colonial Office to give him a grant of £10,000.

"I estimated that it would

need about £20,000 for a two year trip," Mr. Rymill told members of the Naracoorte Rotary Club in an address, "and while going around beg-ging, I was amazed at the willingness of many business people who were prepared to assist, either with cash or supplies for the expedition."

He was also able to sell the book and press rights,

which further swelled the

funds.

FOUND SHIP

The first job was to find a ship, and he finally pur-chased one from Southamp-ton. it was an old Brittany fishing schooner which the French Government had taken over for a training ship for girls. It was later engaged in the bootlegging trade, until America re-pealed the Prohibition laws. He bought the ship for £2,000 and spent another £2,000 on repairs and eouipment.

Through Sir William Good-enough, who introduced him to an influential person at Lloyds, Mr. Rymill managed to insure the ship and use it as security against financial

advances.

YOUNG SCIENTISTS

As he could not afford the luxury of a crew, the party consisted of young Cam-bridge scientists, all of whom ultimately secured  

good positions as a result of their experiences gained through the expedition. The British Navy generously provided three officers on full

pay, and they were the only members of the crew who

were paid.

There were nine in the

ship's company. They sailed the "Penola" 38,000 miles, sailing the Antarctic, and ex-periencing two winters.

When they had nearly reached their first base, they ran into a rock and badly cracked the keel of the "Pen-ola." Lord Leverhulme, who controls most of the whaling operations of the world, gave free docking facilities at South Georgia for repairing the ship.

"Fortunately, the British Museum paid £4,000 for the

published results of the ex-pedition, and a wealthy

public-spirited citizen offered   to buy the "Penola" as a training ship. In fact, it was the last boys' training ship to leave port under sail," concluded Mr. Rymill.

DISCOVERIES

From this expedition, Mr. Rymill found that ail miner-als in South America, were also located in Graham Land, and that the Andes Mountain Range petered out about 1,000 miles from the tip of Graham Land. He also discovered a large rift valley and a wonderful fossil bed. One very small lichen was found, but otherwise there was no vegetable or animal life in the Antarctic.

The financing of polar expeditions was mow a

much easier matter, as

most governments were prepared to spend, money in large sums, because of the possibilities of finding valuable uranium

deposits. As much was now being spent on one

ship as Mr. Rymill had spent on his entire expe-dition.