Theme 01

The first dogs

The Southern Cross was the first expedition to use dogs in Antarctica. They became an important part of Antarctic work for much of the twentieth century.

The expedition also brought two young Sami men, Ole Must and Per Savio, from the far north of Norway to care for and train the dogs. Their experience in cold climates and their skill in handling these half-wild animals were vital to the expedition’s survival.

Left: Ole Must, William Colbeck and Per Savio with some of the dogs prior to departure.

Must and Savio wore traditional Sami clothing throughout the expedition. Their Sami tent is also visible in this photo. It would prove to be a life-saver on the team’s first night in Antarctica, 1898

Canterbury Museum 1978.207.102. No known copyright holder

Per Savio with some of the dogs during the journey south, 1898–1899

Canterbury Museum 1978.207.124. No known copyright holder

Persen Savio on deck of Southern Cross with dogs
A DIFFICULT VOYAGE

Around 95 samoyeds and huskies were aboard the Southern Cross when it left England. They had been bought in Siberia and Greenland for nearly £2,000, which would be more than NZ$400,000 today.

The dogs were kennelled during the journey south, creating an awful stench on deck. Their feet bled as they were tossed by rough seas onto the hard boards and their coats had to be clipped as the ship passed through the tropics.

On arrival at Cape Adare, the dogs were allowed to run free, but they fought viciously and caused mass destruction in the unsuspecting penguin colony.

They were eventually kennelled in packing cases outside the huts.

Men from Southern Cross expedition hauling supplies at Cape Adare

Hauling stores up the beach at Cape Adare, February 1899

Canterbury Museum 1978.207.7. No known copyright holder

THE FIRST NIGHT ON THE ANTARCTIC CONTINENT

This significant event was unplanned.

A sudden storm blew up on 19 February while supplies were being landed, stranding seven men ashore with the dogs. Luckily, Ole Must and Per Savio had brought their tent. Otherwise there would have been no shelter against the gale.

The wind soon grew too fierce for a fire and the group had no sleeping bags. Several dogs forced their way into the tent, but the men were grateful because the dogs lay on top of them, sharing their warmth so no one froze. If it weren’t for the dogs and the forethought of Must and Savio, the Southern Cross expedition might have ended that night, in tragedy.

Dog coat

Camel hair dog coat

Antarctic Heritage Trust 11957.1

Uncertain how the dogs would fare in Antarctic conditions, the expedition brought protective gear for them, including fur boots and woollen coats. Most went unused.

Persen Savio on skis with dogs

Per Savio exercising the dogs on the sea ice, 1899

Canterbury Museum 1978.207.39. No known copyright holder

Dog chain and tether post

Antarctic Heritage Trust 12019.1

Stake and chain for chaining up sledge dogs

The dogs had to be tethered to stop them wandering but also to curb the fights that often broke out between them.

Dog collar belonging to Joe, sledge dog on Southern Cross and Discovery expeditions

Joe’s dog collar

Canterbury Museum 2013.3.1

A CONSTANT COMPANION

During the heroic era, some explorers built up close associations with particular dogs. This collar belonged to Joe, a dog who worked with Louis Bernacchi on the Southern Cross expedition and again when Bernacchi returned to Antarctica with Captain Robert Falcon Scott on the Discovery.

Bernacchi has attached a brass name plate for Joe to both sides of the collar, one for each expedition.

Descendants of the Southern Cross expedition in Christchurch

Descendants of the Southern Cross dogs in Christchurch prior to departure on Ernest Shackleton’s Nimrod expedition, 1907

Canterbury Museum 10274. No known copyright holder

After returning from Antarctica, this descendant of a Southern Cross samoyed became a family pet in Christchurch. Its proud owner is Beatrice Curlett, who married Antarctic explorer, Ernest Joyce, 1909

Canterbury Museum 1980.175.21122. No known copyright holder

Beatrice Curlett with samoyed descended from Southern Cross dogs
A CANINE LEGACY

After the expedition, the surviving dogs were quarantined at Stewart Island, the southernmost island in New Zealand, under the care of the Traill family. The Traills sold pups from the white samoyeds, creating a line of pure-bred Southern Hemisphere samoyeds which exists to this day.

In 1907, Ernest Shackleton took descendants of these dogs to Antarctica on the Nimrod expedition.

See More
The first buildings
The first winter

BREAKING THE ICE


Before the world had heard of Scott and Shackleton, another explorer hatched a plan to spend a year in Antarctica. He was Carsten Borchgrevink, and he and his team proved it was possible for humans to survive the Antarctic winter.

Southern Cross ship leaving Hobart, Tasmania
01
01

The Southern Cross expedition

Carsten Borchgrevink and nine others spent a year in Antarctica, cut off from the rest of the world.

See More

Southern Cross expedition scientific staff
02
02

The first people

Carsten Borchgrevink’s shore party were the first people ever to live on the Antarctic mainland.

See More

Cape Adare huts credit Richie Hunter
03
03

The first buildings

Cape Adare is one of Antarctica's harshest places, but the expedition's buildings have survived for more than a century.

See More

Ole Must, William Colbeck and Persen Savio with puppies
04
04

The first dogs

The Southern Cross was the first expedition to use dogs in Antarctica.

See More

Anton Fougner, Hugh Evans and William Colbeck at work in huts on Southern Cross expedition Cape Adare
05
05

The first winter

The men of the Southern Cross lived through 72 days of total darkness.

See More

Louis Bernacchi taking readings during Southern Cross expedition
06
06

Science

The Southern Cross scientists assembled data from a part of the Earth that was then largely unknown.

See More

Ridge above Cape Adare
07
07

Exploration

The expedition's attempts to explore the ice taught them about Antarctica's deadly storms and fickle sea ice.

See More

Terra Nova Northern Party members Victor Campbell, George Murray Levick and Raymond Priestley prepare to leave Cape Adare, 1912
08
08

A Second Team at Cape Adare

In 1911, Cape Adare became home to the Northern Party of Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova expedition.

See More

Torb Prytz at Cape Adare C AHT Lizzie Meek
09
09

Antarctic Heritage Trust

Antarctic Heritage Trust is a New Zealand-based charity with a vision of inspiring explorers.

See More