The day was one of alternate sunshine and rain - conditions that might be taken as emblematic of the joy, not unmixed with sorrow, with which the men were received back to their native land: joy at their return and sorrow to find some of them maimed and broken.
It is unquestionable that the return of men who have suffered wounds and sickness in the tremendous conflict that is taking place brings home even to the people of this far-flung corner of the Empire some new and vivid realisation of the more dreadful side of war, and causes them to long more earnestly than ever for the hour of victory and the furling of the battle flags.
The sorrow and pathos that enter into these homecomings were well nigh lost sight of in the warmth of the reception tendered to the men on Saturday.
The citizens of Port Chalmers, who were fully sensible of the honour that was being done them, rose manfully to the occasion, and literally received the men with open arms, when the word "welcome'' was heard on every side.
There could be no mistake about the depth of the feelings that were stirred.
• The Antarctic exploration ship Aurora was towed up to town from Port Chalmers by the tug Dunedin on Saturday morning, and was berthed alongside a barricaded portion of the Rattray Street wharf, where she was thrown open for public inspection.
As was to be expected, the vessel proved the centre of a great deal of interest, attracting throngs of visitors during Saturday afternoon and the greater part of Sunday, the majority of whom were fascinated by the glamour of romance which clings around the vessel.
On the Harbour Board offices, the cheerful inscription "Welcome, Aurora,'' appeared, conveying sentiments of good-fellowship to those on board.
A great deal of trouble had apparently been gone to by the men in order to make a full display of the various articles of interest on board, and these were labelled and laid out in an adjacent cargo shed, where they were closely inspected.
Captain Scott's sledge aroused a great deal of attention, as did also a pony snowshoe that had been left at Discovery Hut, while among the exhibits was a sledge packed ready for ice-travelling, and another that had not been so prepared.
The various specimens of bird and animal life that were brought back from the barren regions of the south formed an interesting feature of the display and the descriptive labels saved the asking of a great many questions. - ODT, 17.4.1916
• COPIES OF PICTURE AVAILABLE FROM ODT FRONT OFFICE, LOWER STUART ST, OR WWW.OTAGOIMAGES.CO.NZ
