5i6 



NATURE 



[March 28, 1901 



THE LAND WORK OF THE BELGIAN 

 ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



A T the present moment the Antarctic problem is mainly 

 •^~*- that of the forthcoming expeditions, and during 

 their preparation every fact bearing upon the conditions, 

 physical and official, in which the scientific staffs will 

 have to work has a special interest. So far the Belgian 

 expedition has yielded most information of a useful kind, 

 and the two latest papers of its enthusiastic geologist, 

 M. Henryk Argtowski, are of more than usual value.^ 

 The general account of the expedition contains nothing 

 that will be new to our readers. M. Argtowski concludes 

 it by the observation that while the scientific results have 

 been varied and satisfactory, the chief outcome is that 

 the great public has been acquainted with the paucity of 

 our knowledge of the Antarctic 

 area, and shown how trifling is 

 the work accomplished com- 

 pared with that which remains 

 to be done. 



The paper in the Geographical 

 Journal is the most detailed 

 and valuable description of land 

 on the confines of the Antarctic 

 region that has ever been pub- 

 lished. It records, in the form 

 of a narrative from day to day, 

 the exploration of Belgica Strait, 

 the new channel discovered by 

 the expedition, separating the 

 Palmer Archipelago from the 

 mass of Graham Land with 

 which those islands were form- 

 erly supposed to be continuous. 



The twenty landings which 

 the importunity of M. Argtowski 

 induced the reluctant com- 

 mander to permit are described 

 in detail ; but, as none of the 

 new names given by the expe- 

 dition are employed, and prac- 

 tically no other names exist in 

 that region, it is impossible to 

 follow the description without 

 reference to the sketch map on 

 which the landings are marked. 

 This is accordingly reproduced 

 as Fig. I. 



The opportunities of landing 

 were numerous, but the time 

 allowed on shore was usually 

 absurdly inadequate to the im- 

 portance of the work of survey- 

 ing and geological investigation. 

 In the only case where a week 

 was spent on shore practically 

 nothing was done because of 

 the unnecessarily heavy equip- 

 ment insisted on by the commander — a sailor of no scien- 

 tific qualifications, and apparently devoid of sympathy 

 with the more important objects of the expedition. Still, 

 it must be remembered that but for de Gerlache's burning 

 ambition to reach a high southern latitude (an ambition 

 which was not gratified) the expedition would never have 

 been dispatched, and no scientific work of any kind 

 would have been done. The following paragraphs are a 

 much-abridged summary of M. Argtowski's narrative. 



At 7 p.m. on January 23, 1898, having passed the 

 South Shetlands, the Belgica was close to a headland, 

 which probably was Cape Cockburn, but as she went on 



1 " L'ExDidition Antarctique beige," Revue GSiUrale des Sciences, 12 

 (1901), 87-94. "Exploration of Antarctic Lands," Geographical Journal, 

 17(1901), 150-180. 



NO. 1639, VOL. 63] 



the charts became valueless. What was seen corre- 

 sponded to nothing that they represented, and Lecoinle 

 proceeded to construct a fresh chart from his own sur- 

 veys. At 10.30 p.m. the first landing was made on an 

 island in Hughes Bay (see I. on map, Fig. i). A con- 

 siderable part of the island was uncovered. The upper 

 part was like a lava-flow of prismatic structure. Lower 

 down the rock was completely cracked, and seemed to 

 decompose in large superimposed blocks with straight 

 surfaces. It was an eruptive rock of great density, very 

 hard and brittle, and ringing on a blow with the hammer. 

 It was not basaltic, but of granitic structure and very 

 fine-grained ; its colour was a very deep green, and M. 

 Argtowski thought that he saw small crystals of horn- 

 blende ; if so, the rock would be a diorite. 



On January 24 the second landing was made (II. on 



Fig. I. — The track of the Belgian Antaictic Expedition in Belgica Strait. From the Geographical Journal. 



map. Fig. i) on a small narrow island, no more than 

 100 feet high and almost free from snow ; it appeared 

 to be surrounded by a close colonnade, on account of 

 the regular vertical cracks in the rock, which were 

 doubtless produced by extreme cold. The surface was 

 frequently mammilated and worn smooth by the ice. 

 Here, M. Argtowski says, "A little sandy clay mixed 

 with guano was found in small pockets between the 

 rocks, and while examinmg this I had the pleasure of 

 discovering the first Antarctic insect, almost microscopic 

 in its dimensions." The general result of that day's 

 nautical work had been the discovery of an elevated land 

 where Friederichsen's map bore the inscription, " No 

 land in sight (Larsen)." Towards the east and south an 

 uninterrupted coast-line stretched as far as the eye could 



