302 POLAR PROBLEMS 



and 36° 31' W. The DeiitscJiland, held fast by the ice, drifted for 

 eight months in Weddell Sea. 



Finally, in 1915, Shackleton in an unsuccessful attempt to cross 

 the Antarctic Continent, reached latitude 76° 30' in Weddell Sea, 

 lost his vessel, the Endurance, through ice pressure, and drifted for 

 more than a year on a floe before reaching the open sea in the vicinity 

 of the South Shetlands. 



Each of these expeditions, with the exception of Shackleton's, 

 has published extensive reports on its meteorological observations, 

 accompanied by discussions of great interest. The meteorologists on 

 these expeditions were: Arctowski on the Belgica, Bodman on the 

 Swedish Antarctic expedition, Mossman on the Scottish Antarctic 

 expedition, Rey on the Frangais, Rouch on the Pourgiioi Pas?, and 

 Barkow on the Deutschland. 



But these reports are not the only ones from which meteorologists 

 can draw information. On the return of Dr. Bruce's expedition the 

 Argentine Government, impressed with the important bearing of the 

 meteorological phenomena of the Antarctic on the climate of Argen- 

 tina, decided to continue the observations made on the South Orkneys 

 and to establish a permanent observatory there. 



On South Georgia continuous meteorological observations are 

 also made. Official observatories exist on Staten Island, at Point 

 Dungeness at the eastern entrance to the Strait of Magellan, and 

 on the Falkland Islands. 



Finally, in order to complete this review of the meteorological 

 source material for this sector of the Antarctic, there are also the very 

 complete observations made at Orange Bay near Cape Horn by the 

 Mission Frangaise du Cap Horn, in 1882-1883, the records which the 

 Chilean Government has had made since 1901 by the keepers of the 

 lighthouse on the Evangelist Islands at the western entrance to the 

 Strait of Magellan, and the very important series of observations of 

 the Salesian Fathers at Punta Arenas, who have been in charge of a 

 meteorological observatory of the first rank since 1888. 



General Aspect of West Antarctica 



Like the southern end of the New World, West Antarctica is a 

 mountainous country with peaks more than 3000 meters high. It 

 consists of a folded chain on the western side and a tabular region on 

 the eastern side. Physiographically West Antarctica has a fiord-and- 

 channel coast like Patagonia. Apparently the long island garland 

 designated by Suess the Southern Antilles, consisting of South Georgia, 

 the Sandwich Islands, and the South Orkneys, forms a direct contin- 

 uation of the Andes. South Georgia, however, although in the same 

 latitude as Cape Horn, is much more desolate in appearance. The 



