I I z 



NATURE 



[November 30, 1895 



spring tides rise only about two feet, so that the construction 

 of the railway works and their future maintenance would be 

 greatly facilitated. It is thought that the works required would 

 consist of an iron and steel viaduct of considerable length, but in 

 short spans, no large span being required except over the exist- 

 ing navigable channel, where a swing bridge would probably be 

 necessary. Until a detailed survey of the strait has been made, 

 however, it is impossible to speculate upon the details of the 

 railway or the canal project with any degree of certainty ; and 

 the Government of India is determined to settle the question 

 once for all by making a thorough survey of the coast and 

 dividing ica. 



Full particulars have lately been received of the death by 

 drowning, in September last, of Mr. H. M. Becher, while on 

 his way to visit the mountain known as Gunong Tahan in the 

 province of Trengganu in the Malay peninsula. He had come 

 within sight of the mountain, which had never before been seen 

 by a European, and roughly estimated its height at between 

 8,000 and 9,000 feet, when his camp on a low island in a river 

 was submerged by a sudden flood, and the boat in which he at- 

 tempted to reach the shore capsized. His companion, Mr. H, 

 Quin, escaped, but did not continue the journey. 



A LONG letter just received from Mr. Astor Chanler, who is 

 travelling in East Africa, is published in the December number 

 of the Geographical yotirnal. It contains the unfortunate tid- 

 ings that his companion, Lieutenant von Hohnel, whose pre- 

 vious successful travels in East Africa are well known, had been 

 seriously wounded by a rhinoceros, which rendered his imme- 

 diate return to Europe necessary. Mr. Chanler, although he 

 has suffered greatly from loss of men and animals, is determined 

 to push on to the north in the hope of reaching Berbera or 

 Zeila. At the time of writing, September 20, the party had 

 returned to Daicho, near Mount Kenia, after a visit to the Ren- 

 dile tribe, who live in the country to the north. These people 

 appear to have strong Somali affinities, and were more intelli- 

 gent than the Masai, but equally fierce and intractable. The 

 loss of von Hohnel's services will detract from the geographical 

 value of the expedition, as he is an accomplished surveyor. 



In our last issue we gave, without comment, an abstract of one 

 of the rumours regarding the Nansen expedition, published by 

 an evening newspaper. It is right to add, however, that the 

 report of high land north of the New Siberian Islands is no 

 new thing, and that Nansen has no thought of taking up winter 

 quarters on any land, his intention being to get fast in the ice, 

 and drift wherever it carries him. His only object in touching 

 at the New Siberian Islands was to send letters home ; but if 

 the sea was as favourable as we believe it to have been, he 

 would probably strike straight northward without calling 

 anywhere. 



ANTARCTIC EXPLORA TION. 



A T the meeting of the Royal Geographical Society on Monday 

 ■'*■ evening Dr. John Murray, of the Challenger Expedition, 

 read a paper on the renewal of Antarctic exploration. He 

 sketched the history of voyages to the far south, and of the 

 notions which prevailed as to the nature of the South Polar 

 region from the earliest time down to the present day. He 

 showed that while the huge southern continent believed in by 

 the geographers of past ages had been vastly diminished by in- 

 creased knowledge, the probability is that around the South 

 Pole a land area of about 4,000,000 square miles actually exists. 

 He indicated thepresentstate ofourknowledgeoithe region, which 

 is extremely meagre, and then went on to show that until this 

 knowledge was greatly increased many problems in science 

 must remain unsolved. Until we had a complete and continued 

 series of observations in the Antarctic area the meteorology of the 

 globe could not be understood. Important problems in geology, 

 in biology, in physics, in oceanography, demanded the renewal 

 of research on an adequate scale in the South Polar area. Dr. 

 Murray concluded as follows : — 



Within the past few months I have been in communication 

 with geographers and scientific men in many parts of the world, 

 and there is complete unanimity as to the desirability, nay, 

 necessity for South Polar exploration, and wonder is expressed 

 that an expedition has not long since been fitted out to under- 

 take investigations which, it is admitted on all sides, would be 

 of the greatest value in the progress of so many branches of 

 natural knowledge. 



To determine the nature and extent of the Antarctic continent ; 

 to penetrate into the interior ; to ascertain the depth and nature 

 of the ice-cap ; to observe the character of the underlying rocks 

 and their fossils ; to take magnetic and meteorological ob- 

 servations both at sea and on land ; to observe the temperature 

 of the ocean at all depths and seasons of the year ; to take pen- 

 dulum observations on land, and possibly also at great depths 

 in the ocean ; to bore through the deposits on the floor of the 

 ocean at certain points to ascertain the condition of the deeper 

 layers ; to sound, trawl, and dredge, and study the character and 

 distribution of marine organisms. All this should be the work 

 of a modern Antarctic expedition. For the more definite de- 

 termination of the distribution of land and water on our planet ; 

 for the solution of many problems concerning the Ice Age ; for 

 the better determination of the internal constitution and super- 

 ficial form of the earth ; for a more complete knowledge of the 

 laws v/hich govern the motions of the atmosphere and hydro- 

 sphere ; for more trustworthy indications as to the origin of 

 terrestrial and marine plants and animals, all these observations- 

 are earnestly demanded by the science of our day. 



A dash at the South Pole is not what I now advocate, nor do 

 I believe that is what British science, at the present time, desires. 

 It demands rather a steady, continuous, laborious, and systematic 

 exploration of the wholesouthern region with all the appliances of 

 modern investigators. 



This exploration should be undertaken by the Royal Navy, 

 Two ships, not exceeding one thousand tons burthen, should, it 

 seems to me, be fitted out for a whole commission, so as to 

 extend over three summers and two winters. Early in the first 

 season a wintering-party of about ten men should be landed 

 somewhere to the south of Cape Horn, probably about Bismarck 

 Strait at Graham's Land. The expedition should then proceed 

 to Victoria Land, where a second similar party should winter, 

 probably in Macmurdo Bay near Mount Erebus. The ships 

 should not be frozen in, but should return to the North, con- 

 ducting observations of various kinds towards the outer margins- 

 of the ice. After the needful rest and refit, the position of the 

 ice and the temperature of the ocean should be observed in the 

 early spring, and later the wintering parties should be communi- 

 cated with, and, if necessary, reinforced with men and supplies 

 for another winter. During the second winter the deep-sea 

 observations should be continued to the north, and in the third 

 season the wintering parties should be picked up and the exi>edi- 

 tion return to England. The wintering parties might largely be 

 composed of civilians, and one or two civilians might be attached 

 to each ship ; this plan worked admirably during the Challenger 

 expedition. 



It may be confidently stated that the results of a well- 

 organised expedition would be of capital importance to British 

 science. We are often told how much more foreign govern- 

 ments do for science than our own. It is asserted that we are 

 being outstripped by foreigners in the cultivation of almost all 

 departments of scientific work. But in the practical study of 

 all that concerns the ocean this is certainly not the case ; we 

 have to acknowledge no superiors nor equals in this branch of 

 investigation, and if we be a wise and progressive ■ people, 

 British science will always lead the way in this direction. 

 Twenty or thirty years ago we were in profound ignorance as to 

 the condition of all the deeper parts of the great ocean basins ; 

 now we have a very accurate knowledge of the conditions'which 

 obtain over the three-fourths of the earth's surface covered by the 

 waters of the ocean. This is the most splendid addition to 

 earth-knowledge since the circumnavigation of the world, and 

 is largely due to the work and exertions of the British navy in 

 the Challenger and other deep-sea expeditions. 



This country has frequently sent forth expeditions, the primary 

 object of which was the acquisition of new knowledge — such 

 were the expeditions of Cook, Ross, and the Challenger ; and 

 the nation as a whole has always approved such action, and has 

 been proud of the resultSj although they yielded no immediate 

 return. Shall it be said that there is to be no successor to these 

 great expeditions? 



A preliminary responsibility rests on the geographers and re- 

 presentatives of science in this country. It is necessary to show 

 that we have clear ideas as to what is wanted, to show that a 

 good workable scheme can be drawn up. When this has been 

 done it should be presented to the Government with the unani- 

 mous voice of all our scientific corporations. Then, I have 

 little doubt, that a Minister will be found sufficiently alive to the 

 spirit of the times, and with sufficient courage to add a few 



NO. 1257, VOL. 49] 



