8 Recent Antarctic Exploration 



a succession of north-westerly gales might at any time have 

 broken up the ice ; and then the position of a party no farther 

 away than the Gauss-berg would have been precarious. For- 

 tunately the east winds held, and the " Gauss " never moved ; 

 indeed there was every possibility that she might have to 

 pass another winter there. 



When she did get free, in the middle of March 1903, 

 there was heavy ice on all sides. An attempt was made to 

 penetrate southwards on the route of the " Challenger," but 

 the ice was too close ; and in the early days of April the 

 ship bore up for the north, reaching home on Nov. 24, 1903. 

 The work of a busy winter in an antarctic station will be 

 looked forward to with the keenest interest. Drygalski does 

 not anticipate, but in the concluding chapter of his narrative 

 he indicates that the magnetic work was particularly fruitful 

 in results, especially in connection with the displays of aurora, 

 which were very frequent. A short summary of the meteoro- 

 logical observations could, one would think, have been given 

 without indiscretion ; and it would have interested even the 

 least instructed reader. 



The British national expedition, under Commander Robert 

 F. Scott, R.N., sailed from Cowes on August 6, 1901, in the 

 " Discovery," a vessel built especially for the expedition. The 

 ship arrived at the Cape on October 3, and remained there 

 until the I4th, when she left for New Zealand. During the 

 passage she went as far south as lat. 62 50' S. in long. 139 E., 

 only about 200 miles north of Adelie Land, discovered by 

 Dumont d'Urville. The final departure for the south was 

 from Port Chalmers, on Dec. 24, 1901. On Jan. 3 the ant- 

 arctic circle was crossed and the ice-pack entered. This belt 

 of pack-ice proved to be about 200 miles in width ; and the 

 "Discovery" did not get through it until the 8th. On the 

 same evening land was sighted. The weather was perfect ; 

 and by the light of the midnight sun the blue outline of the 

 high mountain-peaks of Victoria Land was seen far away to 

 the south and west. The members of the expedition were 

 astonished to find that, even at the great distance of more 



