154 



NATURE 



December 19, 1901 



the 7th, stayed a day at St. Vincent (date not given), 

 reached Tasmania on November 27, ninety-seven days 

 out from London, and sailed on December 19 for 

 the Antarctic regions. The icepack was entered on 

 December 31, the Halleny and Russel Islands were seen 

 while fast in it, and on February 10, 1899, the ship, 

 having been unable to penetrate the belt of ice, came out 

 again on the northern side. She entered it once more on 

 the 14th, got through in si.v hours, and reached Cape 

 Adare on the 17th. On March i the ship left for 

 Australia after landing the expedition, and on January 28, 

 1900, she returned ; but no particulars are given, either 

 here or in Mr. Horchgrevink's book, of her two voyages 

 through the pack. On P'ebruary 2 the whole party 

 started southward in the ship; they landed on Possession 

 Island, in Wood 15ay, at the foot of Mount Melbourne, 

 •on Franklin Island on February 10, at Cape Crozier, 



clear weather. He states definitely that Mount Erebus 

 was never clearly visible, merely a glimpse having been 

 had of it, too short to allow a photograph to be taken. 

 On February 19 the ship as she lay at the ice-barrier 

 was beset with young ice, and broke through with such 

 difficulty that another day's delay would have meant 

 another year. 



The specially "scientific" part of the book is an 

 appendix, though not so called, of 50 pages. It treats 

 of the climate of the South Polar regions, terrestrial 

 magnetism, zoology, geology, astronomy, and con- 

 cludes with miscellaneous notes and a short glossary of 

 ice-terms. 



In discussing the climate, Mr. Bernacchi founds his 

 remarks on a preliminary study of the observations taken 

 at Cape Adare, which have been discussed at the 

 Meteorological OflSce and are to be published by the 



Fic. I.— The Slate Formation in Robertson Bay. (From " To the South Polar Region.s," by L. Bernacchi.) 



<:lose under Mount Terror, and finally upon the ice- 

 barrier itself in 78^ 34' S. on the 17th. The ship re- 

 mained moored to the ice-barrier all day on the iSth, 

 and on February 19 the return voyage began along nearly 

 the same route as had been taken coming south. The 

 weather was very boisterous, and the remarkable fact is 

 now stated, we believe for the first time, that no ice 

 whatever was met with and there was absolutely no 

 pack to go through. Auckland Island was reached on 

 March 21, 1900, and here the expedition may be said 

 to have completed its labours. It would have been 

 highly important if the log of the Southern Cross were 

 published in full, so that there might be no uncertainty 

 as to the e.xact dates of reaching the various points, and 

 in particular as to the condition of the sea-ice. 



Mr. Bernacchi very clearly indicates the character of 

 the Antarctic summer, a period of low temperature and 

 high wind, with very frequent fogs and rare intervals of 



NO. 1677, VOL. 65] 



Royal Society. The winter was not nearly so cold as at 

 continental stations within the polar circle in the 

 northern hemisphere, the absolute minimum recorded 

 being - 43''5 F. and the mean minimum of the coldest 

 month, August, - 22 7 F. On the other hand, the summer 

 is very cold, the absolute maximum being 48 7 and the 

 mean maximum of January (the warmest month, 

 apparently, although there are no values for February) 

 37''o; the mean temperature of this midsummer inonth 

 was only ^y, and tlie absolute minimum 25^ F., but a 

 short distance further south minima below zero Fahren- 

 heit were observed early in February. The most 

 remarkable feature, however, was the wind. Windroses 

 are given for each month of the year, showing that 

 the south-eastern quadrant of the horizon has an 

 immense preponderance of winds in every month 

 and a monopoly of gales. This is assumed as strong 

 evidence of the existence of a great continental anti- 



