CHAPTER XXIV. 

 THE SOUTH POLE WILL BE FOUND. 



When Shackleton reached latitude 88 south, he had traveled far beyond 

 the best record of Capt. Scott, his mentor, in 1892, and had gone 18 degrees 

 farther than the best previous mark. This was made by C. E. Borchgrevink, 

 a Dane, in March, 1900. Borchgrevink's exact record was latitude 70 de- 

 grees 50 minutes. Before him came a German and a Scotch expedition — 

 these in addition to the Belgian party with which Dr. Cook got his training. 

 The German party under Capt. Ruser made a trip in 1901 which was without 

 sensational incident. The Scotch expedition, headed by Capt. Bruce sailed in 

 the ship Scotia in 1903. Neither of these parties established a notable record. 

 Of the various trips, however, the combined results were such as to prove the 

 utterly desolate character of the Antarctic, and threw much added light on 

 the.basic discoveries made by Capt. Cook, an i8th century hero and navigator 

 whose book "Capt. Cook's Voyages," is one of the celebrated books of the 

 world. Cook, in 1773-5, first circumnavigated the southern continents and was 

 really the discoverer of the Antarctic region, which even in modern times had 

 been supposed by many excellent folk to be non-existent, except as an un- 

 broken sea. 



It is now known that the Antarctic, though mainly composed of vast stretches 

 of ocean, does include some comparatively small areas of land. These, how- 

 ever, are so ice-covered and bleak as scarcely to be distinguished from the 

 frozen seas. There is no vegetation, and for the most part, no animal life 

 whatever. Explorers cannot, as Nansen, Cook and others did in the Arctic, 

 shoot quantities of life-saving game when near the South Pole. 



There have been three recognized routes of exploration to the lands lying 

 south of the Antarctic circle, — Patagonia, Kerguenlen Island, and Tasmania. 



The first American Antarctic traveler was a whaler named Nathaniel B. 

 Palmer. He made his attempt in 1821 and discovered what is known as the 

 Palmer Archipelago, lying north of what is supposed to be the Antarctic con- 



240 



