480 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. II. No. 41. 



ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION. 



Mr. C. E. Borchgrevink contributes to 

 the London Times an article on ' Antarctic 

 Exploration,' in which he deduces reasons, 

 both commercial and scientific, in favor of 

 undertaking an expedition toward the South 

 Pole in the near future. The recent Ant- 

 arctic expedition was a commercial venture, 

 and was equipped with the object of cap- 

 tm-ing the 'black whale,' valuable for its 

 whale bone. The failure to accomplish 

 this object is attributed by Mr. Borchgre- 

 vink to the fact that the expedition did not 

 penetrate far enough into the large open 

 bay in the vicinity of the volcanic, peaks, 

 Erebus and Terror. This bay and South 

 Victoria Land were discovered by Sir James 

 Clark Eoss in 1841, whose predictions that 

 large numbers of the black whale would be 

 found in the southern latitudes Mr. Borch- 

 grevink believes will be verified in the fu- 

 ture. The blue whale is present in large 

 numbers, but in the recent expedition 

 (the first since 1841) these could not be 

 captured owing to the lack of proper appli- 

 ances. There is also a probability of find- 

 ing many seals. The guano beds discov- 

 ered by the 'Antarctic ' are reported to be 

 well worth the attention of business men. 

 From the analysis of specimens of rock 

 brought back from the mainland there is a 

 possibilitj^, or even a probability, of the pres- 

 ence of valuable minerals. The discovery of 

 vegetation on the mainland also materially 

 increases the possibilities. Mr. Borchgre- 

 vink considers it undesirable, while practi- 

 cally little is known of the the many hun- 

 dreds of miles further north, to attempt at 

 present to reach the pole, but urges that if 

 this can eventually be reached the value 

 of observations made at the south mag- 

 netic pole would be of very great scientific 

 value. 



Mr. Borchgrevink then describes the 

 plans proposed for the expedition which he 

 hopes will be undertaken next season. It 



has been suggested that the members of the 

 expe_dition, with appliances and food, should 

 be taken to Cape Adare in a whaling vessel 

 and left there until the ice breaks up in the 

 following summer; that the whaler should 

 then take in cargo, sail for Australia and 

 pick up the exploring party (which would go 

 into winter quarters on the peninsula at 

 Cape Adare) on the return voyage. Mr. 

 Borchgrevink, however, urges that a small 

 vessel (say of 200 tons), to fall back upon 

 in case of need, would greatly add to the 

 safetjr of the party. A small light vessel 

 would be able to encounter dangers which 

 would be insuperal)le for a bulkier craft. 

 Mr. Borchgrevink considers the number of 

 men sailing with the expedition should not 

 exceed twelve and that these should be 

 chiefly composed of men of culture. Be- 

 sides the ordinary outfit on board, which 

 should be of the best, it would be neces- 

 sary to include two good whaling guns 

 with harpoons and other tackle, ISToi-wegian 

 ski and Canadian snowshoes with neces- 

 saiy footgear. The expedition should al- 

 so have a sufficient number of sledges, and 

 to drag these a large number of Eskimo 

 dogs would have to be procured. Fuel for 

 18 months would form a very important 

 item. 



Mr. Borchgrevink also recommends two 

 or' three semi-globular shaped huts, com- 

 posed of hard wood, so built as to with- 

 stand the pressure of the snow and the 

 force of the wind, and covered with some 

 material capable of resisting a possible rain 

 of stones from the adjoining volcanic 

 craters. A captive balloon with the neces- 

 sary appliances on the vessel would be ex- 

 tremely valuable, both for the purj)Ose of 

 ascertaining the exact location of open 

 water within the pack, and also to enable a 

 closer view of the magnificent aeriel phe- 

 nomena appearing in these latitudes. It 

 would be desirable also to include letter- 

 carrying baloons in the outfit. 



