We encountered bad weather on the way back to Punta Arenas, and the little ‘Yelcho’ laboured heavily; but she had light hearts aboard.  We entered the Straits of Magellan on September 3 and reached Rio Secco at 8 a.m.  I went ashore, found a telephone, and told the Governor and my friends at Punta Arenas that the men were safe.  Two hours later we were at Punta Arenas, where we were given a welcome none of us is likely to forget.  The Chilian people were no less enthusiastic than the British residents.  The police had been instructed to spread the news that the ‘Yelcho’ was coming with the rescued men, and lest the message should fail to reach some people, the fire-alarm had been rung.  The whole populace appeared to be in the streets.  It was a great reception, and with the strain of long, anxious months lifted at last, we were in a mood to enjoy it.

The next few weeks were crowded ones, but I will not attempt here to record their history in detail.  I received congratulations and messages of friendship and good cheer from all over the world, and my heart went out to the good people who had remembered my men and myself in the press of terrible events on the battlefields.  The Chilian Government placed the ‘Yelcho’ at my disposal to take the men up to Valparaiso and Santiago.  We reached Valparaiso on September 27.  Everything that could swim in the way of a boat was out to meet us, the crews of Chilian warships were lined up, and at least thirty thousand thronged the streets.  I lectured in Santiago on the following evening for the British Red Cross and a Chilian naval charity.  The Chilian flag and the Union Jack were draped together, the band played the Chilian national anthem, “God Save the King,” and the “Marseillaise,” and the Chilian Minister for Foreign Affairs spoke from the platform and pinned an Order on my coat.  I saw the President and thanked him for the help that he had given a British expedition.  His Government had spent £4000 on coal alone.  In reply he recalled the part that British sailors had taken in the making of the Chilian Navy.

The Chilian Railway Department provided a special train to take us across the Andes, and I proceeded to Montevideo in order to thank personally the President and Government of Uruguay for the help they had given generously in the earlier relief voyages.  We were entertained royally at various spots en route.  We went also to Buenos Ayres on a brief call.  Then we crossed the Andes again.  I had made arrangements by this time for the men and the staff to go to England.  All hands were keen to take their places in the Empire’s fighting forces.  My own immediate task was the relief of the marooned Ross Sea party, for news had come to me of the ‘Aurora’s’ long drift in the Ross Sea and of her return in a damaged condition to New Zealand.  Worsley was to come with me.  We hurried northwards via Panama, steamship and train companies giving us everywhere the most cordial and generous assistance, and caught at San Francisco a steamer that would get us to New Zealand at the end of November.  I had been informed that the New Zealand Government was making arrangements for the relief of the Ross Sea party, but my information was incomplete, and I was very anxious to be on the spot myself as quickly as possible.