Ill 



OISCOV(-.HY 



shuw, tlu- extent of tlie unknown is far larger than in 

 the north, and, in point of expense, more difficult of 

 attack. \Ve can be fairly certain that the area within 

 the Antarctic Circle is mostly continent, and we infer 

 also that it is for the most part very high land and ice- 

 covered. But except in one sector, that to the south 

 of New Zealand, we can hardly vouch for anything on 

 land, for it has only been from observations taken 

 from shipboard that we know of land bej'ond the circle. 

 Two avenues of approach have been opened up in the 

 past, and no new ones have been found or used. Ross 



SHIP HELD rP BV THICK P.\CKICE. 



There is a fringe of floating pack-ice atound the whole coutiucnt, wiiich can only 



be passed in wooden ships. 



in 1S41 found that with a stout ship one could force 

 the floating pack-ice which fringes the continent and 

 penetrate far south in a comparatively open sea, since 

 named the Ross Sea. That avenue has been used to 

 reach the pole, as we know, but it has also given 

 access to the continent for several expeditions whose 

 object was mainly scientific, so that it remains the best- 

 known part of the continent. 



Another avenue exists to the South of Cape Horn 

 in the form of a long tongue of land and scattered 

 islands, apparently an extension of the main continent, 

 reaching as far north as 63° S. hit. The credit of its 



discovery must be divided among many, but wc may 

 chiefly connect with it the name of Bellingshausen, 

 the commander of a Russian exp>edition which sailed 

 round the Antarctic continent in the early twenties of 

 last century, a worthy successor to Captain Cook, who 

 did the same fifty years before. Being a land avenue 

 of a rather forbidding character, it has been hardly 

 used for penetrating southwards, but nevertheless 

 offers a path which will not be ignored in the future. To 

 the east of the land tongue of Graham Land, as it is 

 generally called, is the Weddell Sea, and this is regarded 

 to some extent as an. avenue comparable to the Ross 

 Sea. More exact knowledge may confirm the sea in 

 this character, but so far its reputation has been fcir 

 from good. The sealer-explorer, Weddell, penetrated 

 to 74° S. in 1823, it is true, and that without encoun- 

 tering any pack-ice ; but those who have followed 

 in his track have fared badly. The Scotia in 1904 

 equalled his record, but had to battle through much 

 ice. The Deutscliland in 1910 beat him by four degrees, 

 but was beset by ice for many months and barely 

 escaped. Lastly the Endurance, in 1915, had the 

 same experience, but was finally crushed and its crew 

 marooned on the ice. 



There is therefore ample scope for purely geographical 

 work in the South, and we may indicate some of the 

 probable points of future attack. 



As far as the coast-line of the continent is concerned, 

 the greatest gaps are to the south of the Pacific Ocean, 

 and to the south of the Atlantic — between Coats Land 

 and Enderby Land. One would expect that these 

 coasts w'ould be finally plotted from circumna\-igating 

 ships, but in the case of the first there seems Uttle 

 possibility of doing it that way. Attempts have been 

 made, both from the Ross Sea end and from Graham 

 Land, to trace the coast in between. Scott in the 

 Discovery did get far enough to determine the trend 

 of the coast, and to see that only very powerful 

 ships well supplied with fuel would be able to get far 

 along the coast in that direction. The Belgica, under 

 Gerlache, attempted the same thing from the other 

 end, and was caught in the ice and drifted about for 

 a year before getting free again. 



The most promising method of attacking this strip 

 appears to be by land parties using the sea-ice and 

 fringing ice shelf for their route, and choosing their 

 base in King Edward \TI Land or Charcot Land. A 

 landing has not yet been made on either of these 

 places, but would be possible in the former in most 

 seasons. 



It is somewhat surprising that there has never been 

 a determined attempt to follow up the discovery of 

 Enderby Land by Biscoe, another whaling-explorer, 

 in 1S31. With the steam whaler there should be little 

 difficulty in reaching the land there — Biscoe did not 



