with the natives. This would have been a difficult task, for 
the largest native land animal in Antarctica is a wingless 
mosquito, and very few of these have been reported. Cer- 
tainly it was the belief in the strategic importance of the 
Palmer Peninsula and Drake Passage that led to Secretary 
Hull’s proposal in 1940. 
Except for Drake Passage, the oceanic waters that sur- 
round Antarctica are of such breadth that they do not carry 
specific names. Indeed, the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the 
Indian oceans merge into a great belt of such proportions 
that the whole is sometimes called the “Antarctic Ocean.” 
Except for South America, the lands that lie north of 
Antarctica are around two thousand miles away. However, 
there still may be certain strategic advantage in the pos- 
session of parts of the continent below New Zealand, 
Australia, and Africa. Great powers with vast resources 
beyond any possessed by the lands noted above could con- 
ceivably command these waterways with modern aircraft 
and guided missiles. However, even for the richest coun- 
tries, the cost of establishing and maintaining such stations 
would be fantastic. 
‘The presence of Soviet IGY bases in the sector claimed 
by Australia has caused much apprehension in that coun- 
try, which has erupted into vigorous editorial protest with 
the announcement that the Soviet Union proposes to main- 
tain some of its bases after the official expiration of IGY on | 
December 31, 1958. Yet this decision on the part of the 
Soviet Union merely coincided with that which was rec- 
ommended by the United States and is now concurred in 
by the twelve nations participating in the current IGY 
Antarctic programs. 
During World War II German raiders operated from 
Zl 
