6o2 



NATURE 



[July 7, 192 1 



Sir Ernest Shackleton's New Expedition. 



SIR ERNEST SHACKLETON announces in the 

 Times and Daily Mail a new Antarctic expedi- 

 tion to start under his leadership in August. The 

 region to be explored is that missing part of the 

 Antarctic coastline which lies between Drygalski's 

 Wilhelm Land and Bruce's Coats Land. In this 

 stretch the only land known with certainty is the bold 

 headland of Cape Ann, or Enderby Land, discovered 

 by J. Biscoe in 183 1, but never visited. Cape Ann 

 probably marks the edge of the continent. Kemp 

 Land, a little further east and also on the Antarctic 

 Circle, was reported in 1833, but its existence needs 

 verification. Cook (1773), Biscoe (1831), Bellings- 

 hausen (1820), and Moore (1845) were each thwarted 

 by pack in their attempts to push southwards to the 

 west of Cape Ann. In lat. 68° 5' S., long. 16° 37' E., 

 Bellingshausen was probably not far from land, but 

 these early navigators took no deep soundings. A large 

 bight in the coastline in this region is improbable, but 

 glacier tongues may occur, and, by obstructing the free 

 movements of the pack along the coast, make approach 

 and landing difficult. Sir E. Shackleton hopes to avoid 

 wintering in the south, and plans to sail northwards 

 from Coats Land through the more open eastern part 

 of the Weddell Sea to the South Sandwich group and 

 South Georgia. After refitting he proposes to sail 

 eastward via Bouvet and Heard Islands to New Zea- 

 land, taking deej>-sea soundings on the way. It will 

 prove no easy matter to sound in the stormiest seas 

 in the world, but it is to be hoped he will be successful 

 and so amplifv the work of the Valdivia and Scotia, 

 and further east that of the Challenger and Gauss. 

 On the way home soundings are to be taken in high 

 latitudes in the south-eastern Pacific. 



In addition to his Antarctic work Sir E. Shackleton 

 proposes to visit a number of isolated islands and to 

 search for others the existence of which is doubtful. 

 In the latter category is Dougherty or Keates Island, 

 which was reported in lat. 59° 40' S., long. 110° 45' 

 W., in 1841, and since has been sighted only once and 

 several times searched for in vain. It probably has no 

 existence. Search is also to be made for Tuanaki, 

 a legendary island in lower latitudes in the South 



Pacific. Of the other islands in the expedition's list, a 

 few afford scope for exploration, but others are well 

 known, even if seldom visited. St. Paul's rocks, near 

 the Equator, have been explored by a pumber of 

 scientific expeditions, from that of the Beagle (1832) 

 to that of the Scotia (1902). Their geology, birds, and 

 scanty plant-life are well known. South Trinidad 

 achieved fame from Mr. E. F. Knight's cruise in the 

 Alert, and was visited in 1902 by the Discovery ; little 

 new can be expected there. Gough Island, or, more 

 correctly, Diego Alvarez, 280 miles south-east of 

 Tristan da Cunha, promises more interest. The only 

 scientific expedition that has ever visited that island 

 was the Scotia, which in 1904 secured several new 

 species of birds and plants. Heard Island was ex- 

 plored by the Challenger, but Bouvet Island, dis- 

 covered in 1739, and sighted again and even photo- 

 graphed in 1898, is quite unknown. It appears to be 

 ice-capped and is said to be inaccessible. Interesting 

 work will be done in the South Sandwich group, 

 which is imperfectly explored, even if known to 

 sealers at one time. In South Georgia work remains 

 to be done on the east and south coasts. 



The expedition is to be equipped for oceanographical 

 work, which will be conducted throughout the voyage. 

 Meteorological research will be assisted by the use of 

 a specially constructed seaplane and pilot balloons. 



In the Quest the expedition has a first-rate ship for 

 the work. She is a Norwegian wooden vessel of some 

 200 tons, built four years ago, and thoroughly tested 

 in hunting and trading in the Barents Sea and Spits- . 

 bergen waters. The Quest has auxiliary engines, and 

 will be rigged as a brigantine. Sir E. Shackleton will 

 be accompanied by six members of his former expedi- 

 tions, including Mr. F. Wild, Capts. F. Worsley 

 and J. R. Stenhouse, Dr. A. H. Macklin. and Mr. L. 

 Hussey, meteorologist. No other names of the staff 

 are announced, but the personnel, which is to be small, 

 is said' to be complete. The expedition is financed 

 by Mr. J. Q. Rowett, -and will be styled the 

 Shackleton-Rowett Oceanographical and Antarctic Ex- 

 pedition. Mr. F. Becker has also given generous 

 support. R. N. R. B. 



Milk Customs of Bunyoro, Central Africa. 



ON June 21 the Rev. J. Roscoe read a paper on 

 "The Milk Customs of Bunyoro " at a meeting 

 of the Royal Anthropological Institute. Mr. Roscoe, 

 after a brief account of the distribution of the main 

 groups of peoples in Central Africa, described the chief 

 social and religious ceremonies of the Bunyoro, of 

 which the ritual of the milk formed a part. These 

 ceremonies have become obsolete under the influence 

 of Christianity, but they were revived and re-enacted 

 so far as possible in order that Mr. Roscoe might 

 have an opportunity of witnessing them. 



The King of Bunyoro is expected to put an end to 

 his own life as soon as he feels his powers failing 

 through illness or old age. His death is announced 

 by one of the milkmen of the sacred cows in the 

 words, "The milk is spilled," pronounced from the 

 roof of a hut and accompanied by the breaking of a 

 pot of milk. This man and the boy whose duty it is 

 to bring the cows to the royal enclosure to be milked 

 are thereupon put to death in order that their spirits 

 may serve the king in the next world. 



The princes who lav claim to the throne now take 

 to arms and fight until only one is left alive. This 



NO. 2697, VOL. 107] 



survivor claims the body of the king, which lies in 

 the royal enclosure unburied until he comes. Mourn- 

 ing then begins, and the dead king is buried in a pit 

 filled up with barkcloths in a specially built hut. 

 Two of his widows are buried alive with him. The 

 country is then purified by the new king's sister, who 

 sprinkles the people and cattle gathered in the royal 

 enclosure with a mixture of water, white clay, and 

 milk. A sham king is appointed for the purpose of 

 removing sorrow and sickness. He is set on the 

 throne, receives homage and gifts, and is then taken 

 aside and strangled by the chief minister. The new 

 king then moves to a new royal enclosure and begins 

 his reign. 



The king, as the chief priest for the people and 

 cattle, has a constant succession of ceremonial duties 

 to perform. His food is milk from nine sacred cows 

 brought in from the royal herd and milked with much 

 ceremony. While the king drinks everyone in the 

 royal enclosure kneels down and hides his face ; a 

 cough or sneeze is punishable by death. Later in the 

 day the king has a meal of four pieces of meat served 

 by the royal cook, who has to place them in the 



