1909.] RE-EXPLORE WILKES LAND. 43 



the honor of this country and of one of her ablest naval officers it is to be 

 hoped that the point at issue may be thoroughly investigated before many 

 years. A special expedition for the purpose might well be organized in 

 America. 



As a result also of these articles, the American Geographical 

 Society took up the matter and sent the following letter to the 

 Secretary of the Navy : 



February 15, 1906. 

 Sir: 



The council of this society respectfully invite your attention to the fol- 

 lowing passage from " The Voyage of the Discovery," by Robert F. Scott, 

 R. N., London, 1905, Vol. IL, page 392: 



" The sky has been dull, but the horizon quite clear ; we could have seen 

 land at a great distance, yet none has been in sight, and thus once and for 

 all we have definitely disposed of Wilkes Land." 



This authoritative utterance by a recent explorer in the Antarctic is but 

 the culmination of a series of representations, continued through sixty years, 

 reflecting on the importance of the work accomplished by the U. S. Exploring 

 Expedition of 1838-1842, under the command of Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, 

 U. S. N. 



Wilkes Land is the name given by map makers to the land discovered 

 by Wilkes on the nineteenth of January, 1840, in E. long. 154° 30', S. lat. 

 66° 20', followed for 1,500 miles, and called by him The Antarctic Continent. 



No subsequent explorer has followed his track. 



It is hoped that it may be the purpose of the government to dispatch a 

 vessel in order to verify the results of the exploration made by Wilkes, and 

 this society will appreciate information on this point. 



Respectfully, 



Chandler Robbins, 



The Hon. Domestic Corresponding Secretary. 



The Secretary of the Navy, 



Washington, D. C. 



Mr. Truman H. Newberry, Acting Secretary of the Navy, re- 

 plied in the following letter: 



Navy Department, Washington, March 8, 1906. 

 Sir: 



Replying to your letter of the 15th ultimo, inviting, on behalf of 

 the Council of the American Geographical Society, attention to a certain 

 passage from " The Voyage of the Discovery," by Robert F. Scott, London, 

 1905, Vol. IL, page 392, therein quoted, to the effect that the vessel in 

 question on her homeward voyage from Victoria Land, in March, 1903, 

 crossed the track that had been followed in January, 1840, by the vessels of 



