;36 BALCH— WHY AMERICA SHOULD [April 22, 



" The lands lying south of South America " and " The lands lying 

 south of Australia " were impossible titles to use in writing. It 

 was necessary to invent something shorter, and in 1902, the writer 

 proposed the names " West Antarctica " and " East Antarctica " 

 to distinguish Antarctic lands in the western hemisphere from those 

 in the eastern hemisphere, and first placed those names on a chart. 

 Dr. Otto Nordenskjold, while wintering at Snow Hill, felt the 

 necessity of such a nomenclature and invented independently the 

 names " West Antarktis " and " East Antarktis," which on his return 

 he decided, after reading the writer's " Antarctica," to change to 

 '' West Antarctica " and " East Antarctica."^ 



The name " West Antarctica " has already been placed on sev- 

 eral maps, but apparently only attached to the South Shetlands, 

 Palmer Land and Graham Land mass. Of course, "West Ant- 

 arctica " should include all the lands in the western Antarctic, such 

 as Coats Land and King Edward Land, just as "East Antarctica" 

 should include all the lands in the eastern Antarctic, namely, Wilkes 

 Land, Victoria Land, and Enderby Land. 



Little by little, as the writer unearthed neglected printed records 

 and manuscripts, a grand story of forgotten American enterprise 

 and pluck was revealed. As far back as the year 1800, Captain 

 Swain, of Nantucket, discovered in Antarctic waters a small island, 

 which was reported afterwards as sighted by two other Americans, 

 Captain Macy and Captain Gardner. In 1819-1820, Captain Shef- 

 field and Mate N. B. Palmer reached the newly discovered South 

 Shetlands on a sealing voyage. In 1820-1821, Captain Nathaniel 

 B. Palmer discovered the coast of the northern mainland of West 

 Antarctica, which was rightfully called Palmer Land. In 1821- 

 1822, Captain N. B. Palmer sailed along this coast, and afterwards, 

 in company with the English sealer Powell, discovered the Powell 

 Islands. In 1822-1823, Benjamin Morrell sailed over part of the 

 Antarctic Ocean, and sighted some of the coasts of West Ant- 

 arctica, south and east of the Shetlands. Before 1828, Benjamin 

 Pendleton sailed south and west from the Shetlands, and discovered 

 the coast, afterwards called Graham Land, and the entrance of a 

 great strait, doubtless Gerlache Strait. In 1830, Nathaniel B. Pal- 



' " Antarctica or Two Years amongst the Ice of the South Pole," p. 69. 



