Grade+Three

=In Grade Three we are looking at IBN BATTUTA= Ibn Battuta was the only medieval traveler who is known to have visited the lands of every Muslim ruler of his time. He also travelled in Sri Lanka, China, Byzantium and Russia. The extent of his travels is estimated at over 130,000 kms, a figure which is not likely to have been passed before the age of steam. He lived by the motto - 'never, if possible, cover any road a second time'. Fifty years earlier than Marco Polo, he travelled, on horse, camel, foot and boat, through all manner of lands, including West Africa where he visited Timbuktu, Mali and Niger. His interest was not only confined to geography. He vividly described the prevailing political, economic and social conditions, the position of women and religious matters. He was appointed Qadi (Chief judge) of Delhi, and spent the last twenty-three years of his life as Qadi of Fez, Morocco, writing his comprehensive travel document. Ibn Battuta started on his travels when he was 21 years old in 1325. His main reason to travel was to go on a Hajj, or the Pilgrimage to Makkah (Mecca), as all Muslims are instructed to do. But his traveling went on for about 29 years and he covered about 75,000 miles visiting the equivalent of 44 modern countries.

=Ernest Henry Shackleton= Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (1872-1922) was a British explorer. Shackleton was involved in many expeditions attempting to reach the South Pole.

Shackleton's first voyage was with Captain Robert Falcon Scott and Edward Wilson 1901-1904, in which they undertook a sledge journey over the Ross Ice Shelf to a latitude of 82° 16' 33 S (the South Pole is at 90°).

In 1907-1909, Shackleton led the Nimrod Expedition. Shackleton's sledge expedition went within 156 km of the South Pole. During this expedition, the Victoria Land Plateau was claimed for Britain. Shackleton was knighted upon his return.

Shackleton led the Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914-16), which planned to cross Antarctica from the Weddell Sea to McMurdo Sound 3,200 km, but instead drifted at sea for 10 months - and then their ship Endurance was crushed by pack ice in 1915. The crew escaped to Elephant Island; Shackleton and a few others went over 1200 kilometres for help in a life boat, and eventually rescued the others.



=Robert falcon Scott= Second Antarctic Expedition: Scott set out for Antarctica again on June 1, 1910, on the ship called the Terra Nova. He was racing Roald Amundsen to be the first man to the South Pole. They reached Ross Island on January 4, 1911, and prepared for a sled trip to the South Pole. Scott and his crew set off on dog sleds, ponies, and motorized vehicles on November 1, 1911. The motorized vehicles and ponies were abandoned in a few days. While they were still crossing the Beardmore Glacier (less than 300km from the pole), Amundsen reached the South Pole (January 4, 1912). Scott's team reached the pole on January 18, 1912, but they were sorely disappointed to find Amundsen's Norwegian flag. In his journal, Scott wrote, "Great God! This is an awful place, and terrible enough for us to have laboured to it without the reward of priority." Scott and his crew were frozen, exhausted, diappointed, and suffering from scurvy as they began their return trip. By February 17, one crew member, Edgar Evan died. Other members of the expedition began to die, and they set up their last camp on March 11, 1912 only 11 miles from One Ton Depot, where they could have gotten supplies. A raging blizzard kept them from the depot, and the remaining crew died at this camp. They were found dead in ther sleeping bags by a rescue party on November 12, 1912.