ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION. 215 



with the ice. The ^Gauss' has been designed for strength, not speed, 

 and has been fitted up so as to make the minimum possible demands on 

 its coal consumption for steaming, scientific work and domestic use. 

 The number of the staff has been kept lower than on the English ex- 

 pedition so that the food supply may be larger and last longer. To 

 make up for the smallness of the crew, 70 dogs have been provided for 

 sledge expeditions. Further various tempting fields of scientific work 

 are to be left unentered as impracticable with the available cargo 

 capacity of the ship. 



The Swedish and Scotch expeditions both go to an area where the 

 opportunity for work largely depends on the particular ice conditions 

 of the season. If the ice be open and the Weddell Sea fairly clear, they 

 may reach high latitudes and discover the southern boundary of the 

 South Atlantic basin. As so much depends on the chances of the 

 weather, the plan in both cases is to establish stations on shore as far 

 south as possible, and for the ships to leave the ice at the end of the 

 simimer and undertake oceanographic research outside the ice pack dur- 

 ing the winter. 



III. The Problems of the Antarctic. 



The frequency of enquiries as to the practical value of Antarctic 

 research shows that popular interest in the subject still values results 

 from what it chooses to call their 'usefulness.' Information as to the 

 meteorology and magnetic phenomena of the Antarctic regions may 

 prove of value in navigation and weather prediction. Unexpected 

 stores of economic products may be found on land or at sea. Never- 

 theless it must be admitted that the hope of practical rewards is a less 

 powerful incentive to Antarctic exploration than the desire for new 

 facts of theoretical value. The expeditions seek knowledge because it 

 is knowledge rather than because it may be power. The first problem 

 which the collated reports of the four expeditions will be expected to 

 answer is whether the hypothetical 'Terra Australis' has any existence 

 at the present day. Opinions are divided on this question. According 

 to one school the Antarctic lands mostly belong to a great south polar 

 continent; according to another there is no continent but only a num- 

 ber of comparatively small and widely scattered islands. Sir John 

 Murray is the leading champion of the continental hypothesis; he has 

 sketched the probable outline of his 'Antarctica' and represents it as 

 an irregularly triangular area, of a size fully entitling it to rank as a 

 continent. 



That the Antarctic lands belong to a continent geologically there 

 can be no doubt; for rocks of a typical continental character have now 

 been collected from most of them, including Victoria Land, Wilkes 

 Land and Graham Land. Specimens are now especially wanted 



