May 5, 192 1] 



NATURE 



291. 



Polar Exploration. 



The Lands of Silence: A History of Arctic and 

 Antarctic Exploration. By Sir Clements R. 

 Markham. Pp. xii + 539. (Cambridge : At the 

 University Press, 192 1.) 455. net. 



IT is impossible to bear in mind, while reading 

 this book, that it is the posthumous work of 

 an octogenarian. To those who knew the author 

 in the great days of Antarctic propaganda twenty- 

 five years ago, these enthusiastic appreciations of 

 old explorers bring back the very tones of the 

 eager living voice. No man ever did more to make 

 the glories of the past live again in the exploits 

 of his own day, and Sir Clements Markham will 

 always be remembered as a potent force in ex- 

 ploration and an inspiring historian. He was a 

 hero-worshipper whose incertse has imparted an 

 undying charm to the jnemory of the Elizabethan 

 adventurers and to the officers of the Franklin 

 search. He was a stimulating guide to the young 

 explorers whom he sent out to the Antarctic, and 

 he supported the men of his choice through thick 

 and thin, rewarding them while living, and 

 honouring them when dead. 



If this beautifully named and stately volume on 

 " The Lands of Silence " were intended merely as 

 a popular series of impressions and appreciations, 

 we could only praise it as the most moving of all 

 the romances of discovery. But it claims to be a 

 history; it is written by the one man whose active 

 life embraced sixty years of experiience in polar 

 voyages ; it is edited by Dr. F. F. H. Guillemard, 

 whose brilliant studies in historical geography are 

 unrivalled for conscientious completeness ; and it 

 is published by the Cambridge University Press. 

 Even so,, we would hesitate to look critically into 

 the work of. a very ol;d ipan in his last year of life 

 if the book had shown any signs of senile weak- 

 ness. The remarkable fact is that it does not. 

 The manner is the manner of Sir Clements Mark- 

 ham in his prime ; the opinions are those that he 

 always held and gloried in proclaiming, and we 

 feel that readers of a new generation should be 

 warned that in many cases the opinions of the 

 author are not shared by the majority of polar 

 students. ^iijF;«Nf- •>;. ; ■: ;, . 



At the outset the polar regions' at-e defiiied' as' 

 extending from the Poles to about 70*' latitude, 

 and the sub- Arctic and sub-Antarctic from 70° to 

 60°, This would exclude a large part 6f Green- 

 land from the Arctic regions, and remove South 

 Georgia and the Sandwich group from the sub- 

 Antarctic zone; but as no subsequent attention is 

 paid to the definitions they .do not. In, any , way, 

 limit the scope of the book, whic^ , pi^c^^i 

 treats of all explorations into icy seas. 

 NO. 2688, VOL. 107] 



While Sir Clements Markham deprecates mere 

 record-breaking attempts to reach the Poles, and 

 lays some stress on the importance of studying 

 oceanography, meteorology, geology, and natural 

 history in polar areas, he insists strongly that 

 the real use of polar discovery is as a nursery for 

 seamen, and as an opportunity for naval officers to 

 win distinction in time of peace. Hence his sym- 

 pathies go out most spontaneously to those ex- 

 plorers who face difficult conditions without the 

 aid of animal or mechanical transport. Polar re- 

 search, as distinct from exploration, makes a less 

 strong appeal, and the account of the great inter- 

 national circumpolar investigations of 1882 is 

 cold and ^incomplete. No mention is made of the 

 Antarctic series of stations, which was as im- 

 portant a part of the main scheme as the Arctic 

 series. The indifference to scientific work and 

 workers is often apparent, sometimes in curious 

 ways. While copious biographical details are 

 given even of the most junior naval officers in 

 every British expedition. Sir Douglas Mawson is 

 almost the only British man of science so treated. 

 In many cases the Christian names of men of 

 science are not mentioned, and often not even 

 their initials, so that identification is not always 

 easy, even with the aid of the index. The latter 

 does distinguish " Bruce, Mr.," from "Bruce, 

 Commander Wilfrid," but less than justice is done 

 to Dr. W. S. Bruce in the text, which is sadly 

 restrained as to the work of the 5cofia. The 

 scientific staff of the Scottish expedition is barely 

 referred to, and Mr. R. C. Mossman, who estab- 

 lished the most southerly meteorological station in 

 the world, and kept it going for several years, is 

 not mentioned at all. The expeditions of Capt. 

 Scott are allowed to throw a shadow over those of 

 all other Antarctic explorers. 



The committee of the Royal Society, which co- 

 operated with that of the Royal Geographical 

 Society in planning the Discovery expedition, was 

 not suffered gladly by Sir Clements, who says : 

 "Yet there was long and tedious opposition from 

 joint committees, special committees, and sub- 

 committees, and all the complicated apparatus 

 which our junction with the Royal Society in- 

 volved; harder to force a way through than the 

 most impenetrable of ice-packs " (p. 448). The 

 description of the "circumstances which led to the 

 selection of the leader and other members of' the 

 expedition is suggestive reading when coupled 

 with the note on a chief of the scientific staff 

 " who, perhaps fortunately, did not go out " 

 (pp. 447, 453). A useful chronological sup- 

 plement containing , several names not . raen- 

 tioned in the text, and an excellent bibliography 

 by Mr. Edward Heawood, correct some of the 



