April 13, 1905] 



NA rURE 



561 



the chief aim of the expedition to penetrate to un- 

 known regions along the coast of King Oscar's Land 

 was utterly annihilated by powers of nature against 

 which it would be fruitless to combat." 



Sailing eastwards along the barrier some trawl 

 hawls were made in deep water, a fairly constant 

 depth of 2000 fathoms found, and indications of a 

 layer of warm water at about 300 fathoms. This layer 

 of warm water at a certain depth is characteristic of a 

 great part of the polar sea. 



On February i, 1902, in lat. 635° S. and long. 

 45° 7' W. , it was decided to return westwards and 

 seek a suitable place for winter quarters. The spot 

 selected was Snow Hill, a little to the south of 

 Seymour Island, where Capt. Larsen first discovered 

 fossils in 1892. A party of six, including Nordens- 

 kjold, was landed, with a strong, comfortable log 

 hut, a few dogs, and provisions and equipment for 

 two years. Before finally leaving the party an attempt 

 was made by Capt. Larsen to establish a depot farther 

 south, but it was unsuccessful on account of the close 

 conditions of the ice. 



The two winters seem to have been passed cheer- 

 fully and harmoniouslv. The party was too far north 

 to feel the terrors of a real polar night, for even at 

 midwinter the sun remained four hours above the 

 horizon, but the weather, common to all parts of 

 Antarctica, was most boisterous; storm followed 

 Storm, and made outdoor work only too frequently 

 impossible and the carrying out of scientific obser\- 

 ations most arduous. Perhaps we do not thoroughly 

 realise what physical hardships attend the taking of 

 scientific observations in the Antarctic regions. 



The magnetic work was undertaken by Dr. J. 

 Bodman. There were no self-recording variometers 

 like those of the Discovery, and there is therefore no 

 continuous magnetic record, but the conditions of the 

 International Term Days were fulfilled by means of 

 the ordinary method of eye readings. 



Bacteriological investigations were undertaken by 

 Dr. Ekelof, and chiefly concerned the bacterial flora 

 of the surface soil. The result seems to show that 

 "in these regions the surface soil must almost be 

 considered as the place of origin of bacteria, and 

 the results which were pursued during different 

 seasons and with regard to different kinds of earth 

 have given rise to wholly new ideas concerning the 

 conditions of bacterial life within the polar regions." 



The taking of the meteorological observations was 

 shared by all alike. At first readings were taken 

 only at 7 and S a.m. and 2 and 9 p.m., but towards 

 the middle of .April night observations were also 

 taken. 



.-\ugust 6 was the coldest day, when the thermo- 

 meter registered — 42°.3 F. ( — 4i°.3 C). At Cape 

 Adare (lat. 71° S.) the lowest temperature observed 

 was — 43°-5 F., also in August, and with the Dis- 

 covery in lat. 78=' S., -67°.8 F. 



Dr. Nordenskjold expresses the opinion that the 

 summer of 1902-3 was exceptionally cold, and points 

 out that the German ship Gauss alone succeeded in 

 extricating itself from the ice, but no figures are 

 given to prove the statement. Fewer heavy storms 

 in the summer of 1902-3 were more likely the direct 

 cause of the ice not breaking up. 



On October i. Dr. Nordenskjold set out with 

 Lieut. Sobral and a sailor on a sledge expedition 

 southwards along the coast of King Oscar II. Land. 

 The one sledire drawn bv Nordenskjold and Sobral 

 weighed in all 200 lb., and the other, drawn by five 

 dogs, 485 lb. The total length of route traversed in 

 thirty-four days was 400 miles. As a result of this 

 journey the chart of this coast has become completely 

 changed. 



During the summer of 1902-3, while waiting for 



NO. 1850, VOL. 71] 



the return of the Antarctic, important fossil finds 

 were made on Seymour Island. The first were bones 

 belonging to a species of penguin considerably larger 

 than the largest now living — the Emperor penguin. 

 This demonstrates that even at such a distant epoch — 

 probably the beginning of the Tertiary period — the 

 penguin was an inhabitant of the Antarctic regions. 

 The other was that of numerous large and quite dis- 

 tinct leaves in a brown, coarse, hard, tuff-like rock, 

 belonging to different forms of exogenous trees, firs, 

 and ferns. The leaves are small and narrow, and 

 call to mind similar fossils from (he Tertiary form- 



10 2 —Ternary plant fossils frOBi Seymour l.~land (dr 

 A. G. Nathorst). From Nordenskjold and Andersson's 



wings by Prof. 

 ■ Antarctica. ' 



ations of Central and Southern Europe, but also 

 certain South American types of leaves. 



Dr. Nordenskjold writes : " If there was one hope 

 whose fulfilment or non-fulfilment was, in my 

 thoughts, almost svnonvmous with the success or 

 failure of this expedition, it was just that of bemg 

 able to discover in these regions determinable Tertiary 

 vegetable fossils." 



Dr. .\ndersson also discovered a fossd flora from 

 the iurassic system in Hope Bay, about a degree 

 farther north, and some very fine illustrations of the 



