The fruit cake was made by Huntley & Palmers and was still in its original packaging. Photo / Antarctic Heritage Trust
The fruit cake was made by Huntley & Palmers and was still in its original packaging. Photo / Antarctic Heritage Trust
A perfectly preserved cake taken to Antarctica by a party in Captain Robert Falcon Scott's expedition more than 100 years ago has been found near the South Pole.
The fruitcake, made by former UK-based biscuit makers Huntley & Palmers, was found in a remote hut in Antarctica wrapped in paper and encased in a tin.
Remarkably, researchers from New Zealand charity the Antarctic Heritage Trust said the cake looked - and even smelled - like it was still edible.
The tin box was very rusted but the contents still smelt like it could be edible. Photo / Antarctic Heritage Trust
Charity manager Lizzie Meek said the cake would have been an ideal high-energy food for Antarctic conditions and is still a favourite on modern trips to the far south.
The cake was found on a shelf in a hut at Cape Adare used by the Northern Party in 1911, which is when the researchers believe it was left there.
Meek said: "With just two weeks to go on the conservation of the Cape Adare artefacts, finding such a perfectly preserved fruitcake among the last handful of unidentified and severely corroded tins was quite a surprise."
It is believed the cake belonged to the Northern Party, which split off from Captain Scott's main party, because documents show they took the popular brand on the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition between 1910 and 1913.
Tins of rations from the interior of Norwegian explorer Carsten Borchgrevink's Hut at Cape Adare, Antarctica. Photo / Getty
Scott and his team, who had left the Northern Party at Cape Adare, reached the South Pole in 1912, 34 days after their Norwegian rivals, but the entire party died on their return journey.
Those in the Northern Party suffered their own troubles. They moved from Cape Adare about 400km south to Cape Evans in 1912, where they suffered from frostbite and hunger and were forced to eat seal meat.
The huts at Cape Adare were built by Norwegian Carten Borchgrevink's expedition in 1899, and were the first buildings constructing in Antarctica. Photo / Antarctic Heritage Trust
Conservators have been working on Antarctic artefacts from Cape Adare since May last year and have accrued almost 1500.
The huts at Cape Adare were built by the Norwegian Carsten Borchgrevink's expedition of 1899 but later used by the Northern Party.
They are the first buildings constructed in Antarctica and are set to undergo conservation work by Antarctic Heritage Trust workers.
But all objects taken from them - including the cake - must be returned after being spruced up, in accordance with rules governing the Antarctic Specially Protected Area.
