POLAR EXPLORATION 



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POLAR EXPLORATION 



entered the Arctic Ocean through Dux -i> 

 went westward across Lam-aster Sound and 

 finally reached Bering Strait. The Gjoa was 

 the fir- from ocean to 



north of Amerii n though AmumU n's 



achievement was notable, no commercial jiain 

 will ever accrue from it, as boats will never 

 attempt the perilous journey. He had the 

 pleasure, however, of bringing to an end the 

 search which had continued for centuries. 



A few disastrous attempts to reach the Pole 

 lal navigation have been made, the most 

 notable being that of Andree, a Swedish engi- 

 neer, who embarked with two companions in an 

 ordinary balloon, starting from Spitzbergen in 

 1897. Nothing was ever heard of the fate of 

 the three men, or of the balloon. In 1909 

 Walter Well man, of the Chicago Record-Her- 

 ald, made an unsuccessful attempt to reach the 

 Pole in a dirigible balloon. B.M.W. 



Antarctic Exploration 



Discovery of the South Pole. The discov- 

 ery of the South Pole was achieved more 

 quickly than that of the North Pole, but it 

 demanded no less skill and hardihood on the 

 part of those who sought it. The mystery of 

 the South Pole was practically solved by an 

 expedition under Lieutenant (now Sir) Ernest 

 H. Shackleton in 1909, though the Pole was not 

 reached. Another expedition was fitted out in 

 1910, under the command of Captain Robert F. 

 Scott. In 1910 the Norwegian navigator, Roald 

 Amundsen, already famous in Arctic annals, 

 also embarked on a similar expedition. Amund- 

 sen by a quick dash that astonished the world 

 reached the Pole on December 16, 1911, and 

 returned to civilization early in 1912, with the 

 story of his success, for which the scientific 

 world has loaded him with honors. Captain 

 Scott and four of his companions reached the 

 Pole by another route on January 18, 1912, a 

 month too late to gain credit for the discovery. 

 On the return journey Scott and four of his 

 companions lost their- lives, after terrible suf- 

 ferings from cold and hunger. 



History of Antarctic Exploration. Captain 

 James Cook was the first man known to have 

 sailed across the Antarctic Circle. On January 

 30, 1774, he reached latitude 71 10' S., over 

 4 S. of the Circle. Vessels sailing round Cape 

 Horn had constantly met with adverse winds 

 which drove them out of their course into the 

 icy Southern seas, with the result that many 

 of the original discoveries of Antarctic lands 

 were accidental. In fact, all such discoveries 

 recorded previous to* 1750 must have been the 

 result of misadventure. Alexander I of Russia, 

 in 1821, sent out an expedition, the results of 

 which were highly important. It consisted of 

 two vessels under the command of Bellings- 

 hausen, who discovered land which was named 

 Peter the Great and Alexander islands. In 1831 

 Biscoe started from the Sandwich Islands, now 

 Hawaii, to look for new islands, and found En- 



derby Land, and in 1833 Kemp discovered 

 Kemp Land. In 1839 Balleny discovered a 

 group of five islands known as the Balleny 

 group. An English expedition under James 

 Clark Ross in 1842 entered the Antarctic Circle 

 in latitude 78 10' S., the lowest southern rec- 

 ord until 1900. A French expedition under Du- 

 mond D'urville found traces of what was be- 

 lieved to be a continuous coast from 136 to 

 142 E., and to it gave the name of Adelie 

 Land. 



Recent Expeditions. In 1872 a scientific ex- 

 pedition was sent out by Great Britain under 

 the command of Sir Wyville Thomson, in the 

 Challenger. The expedition carried out exten- 

 sive surveys and explorations, remaining below 

 the Antarctic Circle until 1876, penetrating in 

 1872 to 66 40' S. The Challenger was the 

 first steamer to cross the Antarctic Circle. In 

 September, 1894, the Norwegian whaler Ant- 

 arctic sailed from Melbourne, Australia, and 

 landed a party at Cape Adare, the first people 

 to set foot on the Antarctic continent. Borch- 

 grevinek, the Norwegian scientist, with the 

 British Antarctic Expedition of 1898-1900, 

 reached latitude 78 50' S., only 800 miles from 

 the Pole, located the south magnetic pole and 

 returned with the most valuable and reliable 

 information thus far obtained concerning the 

 region. 



In 1901 three important expeditions were sent 

 to the Antarctic Circle by the German, Scandi- 

 navian and British governments, respectively. 

 Captain R. F. Scott, above mentioned, who lost 

 his life after his successful attempt to reach 

 the Pole in 1912, was in command of the British 

 expedition, which had for its object geographi- 

 cal discovery and exploration. Professor von 

 Drygalski was in command of the German 

 party, with instructions to study life and mag- 

 netic phenomena. The Norwegian scientists 

 were to study all conditions and phenomena. 

 Captain Scott established quarters near Mount 



