Preserving Antarctic History

stretch of sand. In 2011, a bottle of MacKinlay’s whisky, the only one, was to be seen in front of the newly restored structure and sun reflects off the cliffs of the nearby glacier. B. The New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust (NZHAT) and its accompanying workers recently announced the completion of 10 years of intensive work to save the historic buildings on Ross Island as well as the hut at Cape Evans, the hut at Cape Royds on Discovery Hut from Scott’s 1901–04 expedition at Hut Point, and the hut at Cape Royds, built for Ernest Shackleton’s 1907–09 expedition. When work began, many of the artefacts were temporarily removed while carpenters from the team of conservation workers repaired walls, floors and roof. In Scott’s ‘command hut’ was the table where team member Edward Wilson had once incubated his moulds and parasites. Of particular interest is the small wooden racks of sample tubes, sample jars and Bunsen burners standing on the biologist Edward Nelson, by its shape through a dusty window. This was where the young scientist preserved Antarctic specimens as part of his search for new species and an understanding of the Antarctic food chain. C. The NZHAT executive director Nigel Watson describes the three restored…