February i, 1900J 



NA TORE 



319 



The author of this article, who has been appointed 

 leader of the Expedition, will undertake the physico- 

 -;eographical, oceanographical and geodetic work ; Dr. 

 E. Philippi, of Breslau, will take charge of the geological, 

 paheontological and chemical investigations ; Dr. E. 

 X'anhofTen, of Kiel, will act as zoologist and botanist ; 

 Dr. H. Gazert, of Munich, will be the surgeon ; and the 

 fifth member of the staff, who will have charge of the 

 magnetic and meteorological observations, is not yet 

 selected. 



The five officers, including the captain and the first 

 engineer, will be fully occupied with their duties in the 

 management and navigation of the ship during the voyage, 

 liut during the year to be passed at the scientific station 

 which will be founded by the Expedition, and near which 

 the ship will remam, the officers will take such part in 

 the scientific work as may be decided at the place and 

 lime by the leader of the Expedition. They will prob- 

 ably be occupied principally with astronomical observa- 

 tions at the station, topographical and hydrographical 

 surveys in its neighbourhood, and with pendulum and 

 magnetic observations on the land-journeys and at the 

 station. The crew also, the amount of whose assistance 

 to the scientific staff during the voyage must be regulated 

 In- their duties on the vessel, will be allocated, at the 

 winter quarters, to the different members of the scientific 

 -iaft"for training, so that they will become able to lend a 

 hand on occasion. T he captain, officers and crew have 

 not yet been appointed. 



As indicated above, the work of the Expedition may 

 be divided into two parts ; one carried out on board 

 during the voyage, the other on shore at the winter 

 quarters. The projected route of the Expedition is of 

 importance with regard to the first part. It is in- 

 tended to enter the Antarctic from the direction of 

 Kerguelen, and the details of the route, particularly the 

 deviations from a straight course, are planned with 

 regard to oceanographical, geological and magnetic 

 requirements. The oceanographical considerations are 

 the existing lacunar in our knowledge of the depths of 

 the sea ; the geological are the collection from various 

 island groups of specimens for comparison with those 

 oljtained in the Antarctic ; the magnetic conditions make 

 it desirable to cut the lines of equal value of the various 

 magnetic elements in as many points as possible. 

 Taking all these conditions into account, I propose not 

 to run directly south from Kerguelen, but first to sail 

 eastwards to about 90"^ E., and then turn towards the 

 south, as on that meridian deep-sea soundings are 

 wanting. For the same reason the route from Cape 

 Town to Kerguelen would be curved southward between 

 Frince Edward and Crozet Islands, while, on the other 

 hand, on the return voyage the line between South 

 (".eorgia and Tristan da Cunha will be straight, because 

 it is desirable to investigate the southern extension of 

 tlie great Atlantic rise. 



The point which the German Expedition has in view 

 for commencing the penetration of the Antarctic region 

 is the still hypothetical Termination Island. The British 

 Expedition being intended to follow the northern side of 

 Wilkes Land, the east coast of \'ictoria Land, the great 

 ice wall, and beyond that to investigate the Pacific side 

 of the Antarctic, the German Expedition is planned to 

 strike southwards from Termination Island in order to 

 discover the western side of Victoria Land, and to clear 

 up its possible connection with Kemp Land and Enderby 

 Land, and ultimately to sail round the Atlantic side of 

 the Antarctic and investigate, wherever it may be 

 possible, the southern extension of the Atlantic Ocean 

 and Weddell Sea. If the two expeditions carry out this 

 common plan, the geographical division of the work 

 gives the best basis for co-operation in all other 

 questions. 



The second part of the German programme is the 



NO. 1579. VOL. 61] 



establishment of a scientific station in the Antarctic, 

 at which a full year will be spent in geographical and 

 biological work, and which will serve as a starting-point 

 for longer or shorter land-journeys. It is, of course, 

 impossible to say where this station will be, as the site 

 must depend on the results of the discoveries made in 

 pushing southwards. An effort will be made to establish 

 it on the west side of \^ictoria Land, where one may 

 expect to find an extensive land surface which will offer 

 a favourable opportunity for carrying on the various 

 researches ; such a position would be particularly de- 

 sirable for magnetic observations, on account of its 

 proximity to the south magnetic pole. 



The great Antarctic ice-cap could probably be best 

 reached and explored on an extensive land which might 

 perhaps enable one to travel towards the South Pole itself. 

 An extensive land also offers richer opportunities for 

 the study of plant and animal life, if such exist, and also 

 for geological phenomena, than separate islands ; and 

 observations on gravity also are of more value on a large 

 land surface. Briefly, an effort must be made to build the 

 German station on the coast of an extensive land, and 

 for this purpose the west coast of X'ictoria Land appears 

 the most suitable, as it is the intention of the British 

 Expedition to land some of their party on the eastern 

 coast, and this proximity will afford an opportunity for 

 effective co-operation. 



I can naturally only refer briefly to the particulars of 

 the projected expedition, the main plan of which has 

 been sketched above. The fundamental fact is that the 

 scientific preparation will be so complete that every kind 

 of work can be carried out which the present condition 

 of science requires, and for which time and opportunity 

 offer. What will actually be done must naturally be de- 

 cided on the spot. The members of the Expedition 

 must be so prepared that they can distinguish the 

 important from the less important, the necessary from 

 the merely desirable ; in a word, the purely Antarctic, if 

 one may so say, from what could be carried out equally 

 well in other parts of the world. The desiderata of 

 Antarctic exploration are innumerable. It is essential 

 to make a proper choice, and this is the first object to 

 be served by thorough preparation. 



For this purpose general instructions likely to be ot 

 service will naturally be subject to the initiative of the 

 investigators themselves when they arrive at the field of 

 work. 



I shall here only mention a few of the problems with 

 which the German Expedition will be occupied. Amongst 

 these, geographical studies will take the first place, since 

 they supply the necessary foundation for all other in- 

 vestigations. An effort will be made, not only to lay 

 down the coast-lines, but, in some places at least, to 

 follow out the general contour and, wherever it is possible, 

 to study the forms of the land. The ice which gives its 

 special character to the Polar regions will be studied as 

 regards its nature and structure, its temperature, its trans- 

 port of land-waste, and its movement, and this should 

 permit conclusions to be drawn as to the land which it 

 covers. With regard to the sea, soundings will be made 

 in the regions where they are still wanting along the 

 intended route— that is, in the whole area south of 4o°S. 

 and in some places also to the north of that parallel. It 

 has already been pointed out that the route has been 

 chosen with special regard to the regions where sound- 

 ings are most required. Of course, observations will be 

 made at the same time on the physical conditions of the 

 sea with regard to temperature, density, composition of 

 the water and the deposits, colour, dissolved gases, and 

 circulation. It would be of great value also if pendulum 

 observations could be carried out during the voyage, as 

 it is intended to make this a special feature of the work 

 on shore, and particularly in the neighbourhood of the 

 station. 



