William Speirs Bruce
William Speirs Bruce | |
---|---|
Born | London, England | 1 August 1867
Died | 28 October 1921 Edinburgh, Scotland | (aged 54)
Resting place | Ashes scattered in the South Atlantic Ocean off the southern shores of South Georgia |
Nationality | British |
Education | University of Edinburgh |
Occupation(s) | Naturalist, polar scientist and explorer |
Spouse |
Jessie Mackenzie (m. 1901) |
Children | 2 |
William Speirs Bruce
In 1892 Bruce gave up his medical studies at the
Between 1907 and 1920 Bruce made many journeys to the Arctic regions, both for scientific and for commercial purposes. His failure to mount any major exploration ventures after the SNAE is usually attributed to his lack of public relations skills, powerful enemies, and his Scottish nationalism. By 1919 his health was failing, and he experienced several spells in the hospital before his death in 1921, after which he was almost totally forgotten. In recent years, following the centenary of the Scottish Expedition, efforts have been made to give fuller recognition to his role in the history of scientific polar exploration.
Early life
Home and school
William Speirs Bruce was born at 43 Kensington Gardens Square in London, the fourth child of Samuel Noble Bruce, a Scottish physician, and his Welsh wife Mary, née Lloyd. His middle name came from another branch of the family; its unusual spelling, as distinct from the more common "Spiers", tended to cause problems for reporters, reviewers and biographers.[1] William passed his early childhood in the family's London home at 18 Royal Crescent, Holland Park, under the tutelage of his grandfather, the Revd William Bruce. There were regular visits to nearby Kensington Gardens, and sometimes to the Natural History Museum; according to Samuel Bruce these outings first ignited young William's interest in life and nature.[2]
In 1879, at the age of 12, William was sent to a progressive boarding school, Norfolk County School (later Watts Naval School) in the village of North Elmham, Norfolk. He remained there until 1885, and then spent two further years at University College School, Hampstead, preparing for the matriculation examination that would admit him to the medical school at University College London (UCL). He succeeded at his third attempt, and was ready to start his medical studies in the autumn of 1887.[1]
Edinburgh
During mid-1887, Bruce travelled north to
First voyages
Dundee Whaling Expedition
The Dundee Whaling Expedition, 1892–93, was an attempt to investigate the commercial possibilities of whaling in Antarctic waters by locating a source of right whales in the region.[6] Scientific observations and oceanographic research would also be carried out in the four whaling ships: Balaena, Active, Diana and Polar Star.[7] Bruce was recommended to the expedition by Hugh Robert Mill, an acquaintance from Granton who was now librarian to the Royal Geographical Society in London. Although it would finally curtail his medical studies,[A] Bruce did not hesitate; with William Gordon Burn Murdoch as an assistant he took up his duties on Balaena under Capt. Alexander Fairweather. The four ships sailed from Dundee on 6 September 1892.[8]
The relatively short expedition—Bruce was back in Scotland in May 1893—failed in its main purpose, and gave only limited opportunities for scientific work. No right whales were found, and to cut the expedition's losses a mass slaughter of seals was ordered, to secure skins, oil and blubber. Bruce found this distasteful, especially as he was expected to share in the killing.[9] The scientific output from the voyage was, in Bruce's words "a miserable show".[10] In a letter to the Royal Geographical Society he wrote: "The general bearing of the master (Captain Fairweather) was far from being favourable to scientific work".[11] Bruce was denied access to charts, so was unable to establish the accurate location of phenomena. He was required to work "in the boats" when he should have been making meteorological and other observations, and no facilities were allowed him for the preparation of specimens, many of which were lost through careless handling by the crew. Nevertheless, his letter to the RGS ends: "I have to thank the Society for assisting me in what has been, despite all drawbacks, an instructive and delightful experience."[11] In a further letter to Mill he outlined his wishes to go South again, adding: "the taste I have had has made me ravenous".[12]
Within months he was making proposals for a scientific expedition to South Georgia, but the RGS would not support his plans.
Jackson–Harmsworth Expedition
From September 1895 to June 1896 Bruce worked at the
Windward arrived at Cape Flora on 25 July where Bruce found that Jackson's expedition party had been joined by Fridtjof Nansen and his companion Hjalmar Johansen. The two Norwegians had been living on the ice for more than a year since leaving their ship Fram for a dash to the North Pole, and it was pure chance that had brought them to the one inhabited spot among thousands of square miles of Arctic wastes.[16] Bruce mentions meeting Nansen in a letter to Mill,[18] and his acquaintance with the celebrated Norwegian would be a future source of much advice and encouragement.[19]
During his year at Cape Flora Bruce collected around 700 zoological specimens, in often very disagreeable conditions. According to Jackson: "It is no pleasant job to dabble in icy-cold water, with the thermometer some degrees below zero, or to plod in the summer through snow, slush and mud many miles in search of animal life, as I have known Mr Bruce frequently to do".[20] Jackson named Cape Bruce after him, on the northern edge of Northbrook Island, at 80°55′N.[21] Jackson was less pleased with Bruce's proprietorial attitude to his personal specimens, which he refused to entrust to the British Museum with the expedition's other finds. This "tendency towards scientific conceit",[18] and lack of tact in interpersonal dealings, were early demonstrations of character flaws that in later life would be held against him.[18]
Arctic voyages
On his return from Franz Josef Land in 1897, Bruce worked in Edinburgh as an assistant to his former mentor John Arthur Thomson, and resumed his duties at the Ben Nevis observatory. In March 1898 he received an offer to join Major Andrew Coats on a hunting voyage to the Arctic waters around Novaya Zemlya and Spitsbergen, in the private yacht
Blencathra sailed for Spitsbergen, but was stopped by ice, so she returned to Tromsø. Here she encountered the research ship Princesse Alice, purpose-built for
The following year Bruce was invited to join Prince Albert on another oceanographic cruise to Spitsbergen. At Red Bay, latitude 80°N, Bruce ascended the highest peak in the area, which the prince named "Ben Nevis" in his honour.[27] When Princesse Alice ran aground on a submerged rock and appeared stranded, Prince Albert instructed Bruce to begin preparations for a winter camp, in the belief that it might be impossible for the ship to escape. Fortunately she floated free, and was able to return to Tromsø for repairs.[22]
Marriage and family life
It is uncertain how Bruce was employed after his return from Spitsbergen in late 1899. In his whole life he rarely had settled salaried work, and usually relied on patronage or on influential acquaintances to find him temporary posts.[28] Early in 1901 he evidently felt sufficiently confident of his prospects to get married. His bride was Jessie Mackenzie, who had worked as a nurse in Samuel Bruce's London surgery. Bruce's marriage took place in the United Free Church of Scotland, in Chapelhill within the Parish of Nigg on 20 January 1901, being attended and witnessed by their parents.[29] Perhaps, due to Bruce's secretive nature presenting limited details even among his circle of close friends and colleagues, little information about the wedding has been recorded by his biographers.[30]
In 1907 the Bruces settled in a house at South Morton Street[31] in Joppa near the coastal Edinburgh suburb of Portobello, in the first of a series of addresses in that area. They named their house "Antarctica". A son, Eillium Alastair, was born in April 1902, and a daughter, Sheila Mackenzie, was born seven years later. During these years Bruce founded the Scottish Ski Club and became its first president. He was also a co-founder of Edinburgh Zoo.[32]
Bruce's chosen life as an explorer, his unreliable sources of income and his frequent extended absences, all placed severe strains on the marriage, and the couple became estranged around 1916. They continued to live in the same house until Bruce's death. Eillium became a
Scottish National Antarctic Expedition
Dispute with Markham
On 15 March 1899 Bruce wrote to
On 21 March 1900 Bruce reminded Markham that he had applied a year earlier, and went on to reveal that he "was not without hopes of being able to raise sufficient capital whereby I could take out a second British ship".[34] He followed this up a few days later, and reported that the funding for a second ship was now assured, making his first explicit references to a "Scottish Expedition".[35] This alarmed Markham, who replied with some anger: "Such a course will be most prejudicial to the Expedition [...] A second ship is not in the least required [...] I do not know why this mischievous rivalry should have been started".[36][C]
Bruce replied by return, denying rivalry, and asserting: "If my friends are prepared to give me money to carry out my plans I do not see why I should not accept it [...] there are several who maintain that a second ship is highly desirable".[34] Unappeased, Markham wrote back: "As I was doing my best to get you appointed (to the National Antarctic Expedition) I had a right to think you would not take such a step [...] without at least consulting me".[34] He continued: "You will cripple the National Expedition [...] in order to get up a scheme for yourself".[37]
Bruce replied formally, saying that the funds he had raised in Scotland would not have been forthcoming for any other project. There was no further correspondence between the two, beyond a short conciliatory note from Markham, in February 1901, which read "I can now see things from your point of view, and wish you success"[38]—a sentiment apparently not reflected in Markham's subsequent attitude towards the Scottish expedition.[39]
Voyage of the Scotia
With financial support from the Coats family, Bruce had acquired a
In November 1903 Scotia retreated to Buenos Aires for repair and reprovisioning. While in Argentina, Bruce negotiated an agreement with the government whereby Omond House became a permanent weather station, under Argentinian control.[45][46] Renamed Orcadas Base, the site has been continuously in operation since then, and provides the longest historical meteorological series of Antarctica.[47] In January 1904 Scotia sailed south again, to explore the Weddell Sea. On 6 March, new land was sighted, part of the sea's eastern boundary; Bruce named this Coats Land after the expedition's chief backers.[48] On 14 March, at 74°01′S and in danger of becoming icebound, Scotia turned north.[49] The long voyage back to Scotland, via Cape Town, was completed on 21 July 1904.[citation needed]
This expedition assembled a large collection of animal, marine and plant specimens, and carried out extensive hydrographic, magnetic and meteorological observations. One hundred years later it was recognised that the expedition's work had "laid the foundation of modern climate change studies",[50] and that its experimental work had showed this part of the globe to be crucially important to the world's climate.[50] According to the oceanographer Tony Rice, it fulfilled a more comprehensive programme than any other Antarctic expedition of its day.[51] At the time its reception in Britain was relatively muted; although its work was highly praised within sections of the scientific community, Bruce struggled to raise the funding to publish his scientific results, and blamed Markham for the lack of national recognition.[52]
Post-expedition years
Scottish Oceanographical Laboratory
Bruce's collection of specimens, gathered from more than a decade of Arctic and Antarctic travel, required a permanent home. Bruce himself needed a base from which the detailed scientific reports of the Scotia voyage could be prepared for publication. He obtained premises in Nicolson Street, Edinburgh, in which he established a laboratory and museum, naming it the Scottish Oceanographical Laboratory, with the ultimate ambition that it should become the Scottish National Oceanographic Institute. It was officially opened by Prince Albert of Monaco in 1906.[53]
Within these premises Bruce housed his meteorological and oceanographic equipment, in preparation for future expeditions. He also met there with fellow-explorers, including Nansen, Shackleton, and Roald Amundsen. His main task was masterminding the preparation of the SNAE scientific reports. These, at considerable cost and much delay, were published between 1907 and 1920, except for one volume—Bruce's own log—that remained unpublished until 1992, after its rediscovery.[54] Bruce maintained a wide correspondence with experts, including Sir Joseph Hooker, who had travelled to the Antarctic with James Clark Ross in 1839–43, and to whom Bruce dedicated his short book Polar Exploration.[53][55]
In 1914 discussions began toward finding more permanent homes, both for Bruce's collection and, following the death that year of oceanographer Sir John Murray, for the specimens and library of the Challenger expedition. Bruce proposed that a new centre should be created as a memorial to Murray.[56] There was unanimous agreement to proceed, but the project was curtailed by the outbreak of war, and not revived.[57][58] The Scottish Oceanographical Laboratory continued until 1919, when Bruce, in poor health, was forced to close it, dispersing its contents to the Royal Scottish Museum, the Royal Scottish Geographical Society (RSGS), and the University of Edinburgh.[53]
Further Antarctic plans
On 17 March 1910 Bruce presented proposals to the Royal Scottish Geographical Society (RSGS) for a new Scottish Antarctic expedition. His plan envisaged a party wintering in or near Coats Land, while the ship took another group to the Ross Sea, on the opposite side of the continent. During the second season the Coats Land party would cross the continent on foot, via the South Pole, while the Ross Sea party pushed south to meet them and assist them home. The expedition would also carry out extensive oceanographical and other scientific work. Bruce estimated that the total cost would be about £50,000 (2024 value about £5,430,000).[59][60]
The RSGS supported these proposals, as did the
Shackleton's expedition was an epic adventure, but failed completely in its main endeavour of a transcontinental crossing. Bruce was not consulted by the Shackleton relief committee about that expedition's rescue, when the need arose in 1916. "Myself, I suppose," he wrote, "because of being north of the Tweed, they think dead".[65]
Scottish Spitsbergen syndicate
During his Spitsbergen visits with Prince Albert in 1898 and 1899, Bruce had detected the presence of coal,
At that time, in international law Spitsbergen was regarded as terra nullius—rights to mine and extract could be established simply by registering a claim.[68] Bruce's syndicate registered claims on Prince Charles Foreland and on the islands of Barentsøya and Edgeøya, among other areas.[69] A sum of £4,000 (out of a target of £6,000) was subscribed to finance the costs of a detailed prospecting expedition in 1909, in a chartered vessel with a full scientific team. The results were "disappointing",[70] and the voyage absorbed almost all of the syndicate's funds.[citation needed]
Bruce paid two further visits to Spitsbergen, in 1912 and 1914, but the outbreak of war prevented further immediate developments.[71] Early in 1919 the old syndicate was replaced by a larger and better-financed company. Bruce had now fixed his main hopes on the discovery of oil, but scientific expeditions in 1919 and 1920 failed to provide evidence of its presence; substantial new deposits of coal and iron ore were discovered.[66] Thereafter Bruce was too ill to continue with his involvement. The new company had expended most of its capital on these prospecting ventures, and although it continued to exist, under various ownerships, until 1952, there is no record of profitable extraction. Its assets and claims were finally acquired by a rival concern.[72]
Later life
Polar Medals withheld
During his lifetime Bruce received many awards: the
Bruce, and those close to him, blamed Markham for this omission.
No award had been made nearly a century later, when the matter was raised in the Scottish Parliament. On 4 November 2002 MSP Michael Russell tabled a motion relating to the SNAE centenary, which concluded: "The Polar Medal Advisory Committee should recommend the posthumous award of the Polar Medal to Dr William Speirs Bruce, in recognition of his status as one of the key figures in early 20th century polar scientific exploration".[78]
Last years
After the outbreak of war in 1914, Bruce's prospecting ventures were on hold. He offered his services to the
Bruce continued to lobby for recognition, highlighting the distinctions between the treatment of SNAE and that of English expeditions.
Assessment
After Bruce's death his long-time friend and colleague Robert Rudmose Brown wrote, in a letter to Bruce's father: "His name is imperishably enrolled among the world's great explorers, and the martyrs to unselfish scientific devotion."
The early years of the 21st century have seen a reassessment of Bruce's work. Contributory factors have been the SNAE centenary, and Scotland's renewed sense of national identity. A 2003 expedition, in a modern research ship "Scotia", used information collected by Bruce as a basis for examining climate change in South Georgia. This expedition predicted "dramatic conclusions" relating to global warming from its research, and saw this contribution as a "fitting tribute to Britain's forgotten polar hero, William Speirs Bruce".[50]
An hour-long BBC television documentary on Bruce presented by Neil Oliver in 2011 contrasted his meticulous science with his rivals' aim of enhancing imperial prestige.[86] A new biographer, Peter Speak (2003), claims that the SNAE was "by far the most cost-effective and carefully planned scientific expedition of the Heroic Age".[51]
The same author considers reasons why Bruce's efforts to capitalise on this success met with failure, and suggests a combination of his shy, solitary, uncharismatic nature[87] and his "fervent" Scottish nationalism.[88] Bruce seemingly lacked public relations skills and the ability to promote his work, after the fashion of Scott and Shackleton;[51] a lifelong friend described him as being "as prickly as the Scottish thistle itself".[89] On occasion he behaved tactlessly, as with Jackson over the question of the specimens brought back from Franz Josef Land, and on another occasion with the Royal Geographical Society, over the question of a minor expense claim.[90]
As to his nationalism, he wished to see Scotland on an equal footing with other nations.[91] His national pride was intense; in a Preparatory Note to The Voyage of the Scotia he wrote: "While 'Science' was the talisman of the Expedition, 'Scotland' was emblazoned on its flag".[92] This insistence on emphasising the Scottish character of his enterprises could be irksome to those who did not share his passion.[93] He retained the respect and devotion of those whom he led, and of those who had known him longest. John Arthur Thomson, who had known Bruce since Granton, wrote of him when reviewing Rudmose Brown's 1923 biography: "We never heard him once grumble about himself, though he was neither to hold or bend when he thought some injustice was being done to, or slight cast on, his men, on his colleagues, on his laboratory, on his Scotland. Then one got glimpses of the volcano which his gentle spirit usually kept sleeping."[94]
See also
Notes and references
Notes
- ^ In fact, Bruce never resumed his medical studies and did not qualify as a physician. His later title of "Doctor" came from an honorary D. Litt.
- ^ Bruce's association with this family would be of great future benefit to him, through their financial backing for his main Antarctic venture a few years later.
- ^ The tone of Markham's letter, and particularly the "mischievous rivalry" jibe, rankled with Bruce long after. He refers to the term in a 1917 letter to his MP, Charles Edward Price, when Bruce was still campaigning for the awards of Polar Medals. See Speak, pp. 129–31.
- ^ For full listing of ship's and shore parties, see Speak, pp. 67–68.
- ^ The largely unexplored Antarctica continent had been divided by the RGS for convenience into four distinct geographic quadrants: Ross, Victoria, Enderby and Weddell Sea.
- ^
This contribution was worth at least £1.5 million in 2008 terms (South Georgia.
- ^ On the basis of this honorary degree Bruce was usually described thereafter as "Dr Bruce", although this style is not generally used in Britain for doctorates honoris causa.
- ^ Thomas Robertson, captain of Scotia.
- ^ An example of Bruce's treatment by English writers is in Huxley, Scott of the Antarctic, p. 52. She writes: "There was Bruce's venture shortly to sail in the Scotia to the Weddell Sea; this, too, got trapped in sea-ice and returned without ever reaching the land".
Citations
- ^ a b Speak, pp. 21–23.
- ^ Speak, p. 23.
- ^ a b Speak, pp. 24–25.
- S2CID 140688820.
- ^ Speak, p. 25.
- ^ Speak, pp. 28–30.
- ^ Speak, p. 29.
- ^ Speak, p. 31.
- ^ Speak, p. 33.
- ^ Letter to H. R. Mill, 31 May 1893, quoted in Speak, p. 34.
- ^ a b Letter to "Secretaries of the Royal Geographical Society", quoted in Speak, pp. 34–35.
- ^ Letter to H. R. Mill, June 1893, quoted in Speak, p. 36.
- ^ a b Speak, pp. 38–40.
- ^ Speak, pp. 41–45.
- ^ Speak, p. 44.
- ^ a b Fleming, pp. 261–62.
- ^ Fleming, p. 261.
- ^ a b c Speak, pp. 49–51.
- ^ Speak, p. 50.
- ^ Speak, pp. 50–51.
- ^ Speak, p. 51.
- ^ a b Speak, pp. 52–57.
- ^ Goodlad, Voyage of the Scotia.
- ^ Speak, p. 54.
- ^ Speak, pp. 54–55.
- ^ Speak, pp. 56–57.
- ^ Speak, p. 57.
- ^ Speak, pp. 59–63.
- ^ Scotland's People, Scotlandspeople.gov.uk Statutory Marriages 078/1 1901 Bruce, William S
- ^ Speak, p. 60.
- ^ Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directories 1907 onwards
- ^ Gazetteer for Scotland.
- ^ Speak, pp. 61–63.
- ^ a b c d Speak, pp. 69–74.
- ^ Speak, pp. 71–72.
- ^ Speak, p. 72.
- ^ Speak, pp. 73–74.
- ^ Speak, p. 75.
- ^ Speak, pp. 75 and 122.
- ^ Rudmose Brown, pp. 6–7.
- ^ Speak, p. 79.
- ^ Rudmose Brown, p. 33.
- ^ Exploring Polar Frontiers, by William J Mills
- ^ Rudmose Brown, pp. 56–65.
- ^ Rudmose Brown, p. 98.
- ^ Swinney, Geoffrey N. (2007). "The Scottish National Antarctic Expedition (1902 1904) and the Founding of Base Orcadas". Scottish Geographical Journal. 123 (1): 48 67.
- ^ Speak, pp. 85–86.
- ^ Rudmose Brown, p. 121.
- ^ Rudmose Brown, p. 122.
- ^ a b c Collingridge, Diary of Climate Change.
- ^ a b c Speak, pp. 14–16.
- ^ a b Speak, p. 96.
- ^ a b c Speak, pp. 97–101.
- ^ Speak, p. 100.
- ^ Bruce, Polar Exploration.
- ^ Goodlad, The legacy of Bruce.
- ^ Speak, p. 101.
- ^ Swinney.
- ^ a b Speak, pp. 118–23.
- ^ a b Measuring Worth.
- ^ Speak, p. 120.
- ^ Speak, pp. 122–23.
- ^ Huntford, p. 367.
- ^ Huntford, pp. 376–77.
- ^ Speak, pp. 124–25.
- ^ a b Goodlad, After the Scotia expedition.
- ^ Speak, pp. 104–07.
- ^ Speak, p. 104.
- ^ Map, Speak, p. 110.
- ^ Speak, p. 105.
- ^ Speak, pp. 106–07.
- ^ Speak, p. 117.
- ^ a b Speak, p. 138.
- ^ Speak, p. 108.
- ^ Speak, pp. 128–31.
- ^ Speak, p. 129.
- ^ Speak, pp. 129–31.
- ^ Scottish Parliament Business Bulletin.
- ^ Speak, pp. 131–34.
- ^ Speak, p. 132.
- ^ Speak, pp. 125–26.
- ^ Speak, p. 133.
- ^ Speak, p. 134.
- ^ Speak, p. 62.
- ^ Speak, p. 135.
- ^ BBC, The Last Explorers, Episode 2 of 4, William Speirs Bruce
- ^ Speak, p. 14.
- ^ Speak, p. 8.
- ^ Speak, p. 15.
- ^ Speak, p. 128.
- ^ Speak, p. 16.
- ^ Rudmose Brown, p. xiii.
- ^ Speak, pp. 97 and 131.
- ^ Speak, p. 59.
Sources
- Bruce, William S. (1911). Polar Exploration. Home university library of modern knowledge. London: OCLC 53687410.
- Fleming, Fergus (2001). Ninety Degrees North. London: Granta Books. ISBN 1-86207-449-6.
- Goodlad, James A. (2003). Scotland and the Antarctic, Section 5: Voyage of the Scotia. Royal Scottish Geographical Society. ISBN 0-904049-04-3. Retrieved 10 October 2011 – via Glasgow Digital Library.
- Goodlad, James A. (2003). Scotland and the Antarctic, Section 6: After the Scotia expedition. Royal Scottish Geographical Society. ISBN 0-904049-04-3. Retrieved 10 October 2011 – via Glasgow Digital Library.
- Goodlad, James A. (2003). Scotland and the Antarctic, Section 7: The legacy of Bruce. Royal Scottish Geographical Society. ISBN 0-904049-04-3. Retrieved 10 October 2011 – via Glasgow Digital Library.
- OCLC 13108800.
- ISBN 0-297-77433-6.
- ISBN 1-84183-044-5.
- Speak, Peter (2003). William Speirs Bruce: Polar Explorer and Scottish Nationalist. Edinburgh: NMS Publishing. ISBN 1-901663-71-X.
Online sources
- Collingridge, Vanessa (9 May 2003). "Diary of Climate Change". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 3 June 2008.
- "Measuring Worth". Institute for the Measurement of Worth. Retrieved 21 June 2008.
- Swinney, G. N. (12 September 2002). "William Speirs Bruce, Scotland, polar meteorology and oceanography". Museum of the World Ocean Congress. vitiaz.ru. Archived from the original on 25 September 2006. Retrieved 3 June 2008.
- "Scottish Parliament Business Bulletin No. 156/2002 Section F: S1M=3530#". Scottish Parliament. 4 November 2002. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
- "William Speirs Bruce 1867–1921". Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
External links
- "William S Bruce 1867–1921". south_pole.com. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
- Goodlad, James A. (2003). Scotland and the Antarctic. Royal Scottish Geographical Society. ISBN 0-904049-04-3. Retrieved 10 October 2011 – via Glasgow Digital Library.
- William Speirs Bruce Collection at the University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 2017-09-11.