658 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIII. No. 852 



Fur eine kraftige "Wiederaufnahme antark- 

 tischer Forsehung, und zwar in Wilkes Land 

 durcli Nord-Amerika tritt Edwin Swift Balch mit 

 Entscheidenheit vor. Seine einschlilgigen Darleg- 

 ungen aber leiden durch die ganzlicli ungerecht- 

 fertigte Annahme, dass die friiheren Arbeiten der 

 Nordamerikaner nicbt naoh Gebiihr geschatzt, und 

 in England ignoriert worden seien. Das ist nicht 

 geschehen. Insbesondere hat die Fahrt von Wilkes 

 an der Nordkiiste von Ost-Antarktika immer voile 

 Anerkennimg gefunden, ist doch der Name 

 Wilkes Land jenem Kiistenstriche gegeben worden. 

 Aber Zweifel sind entstanden, da sich nicht alle 

 Angaben von Wilkes als stichhaltig erwiesen 

 haben. Dies gilt insbesondere von den Angaben 

 von Land auf einer Karte, welche Wilkes James 

 Ross gegeben hat. Bereits letzterer passierte am 

 6. Januar 1841 eine solche Stelle und fand hier 

 tiefes Wasser, und seither hat Seott auf seiner 

 Heimreise genau den Ort auf offener See passiert, 

 wo Wilkes angibt, am 19 Januar 1840 3000' 

 hohes Landgesehen zu haben. Endlich hat E. v. 

 Drygalski oekanntlich Termination Land nicht an 

 der Stelle gefunden, wo es Wilkes es gesichtet 

 haben will. 



In this short paragraph the reviewer makes 

 five statements which call for an answer. 



1 and 2. The reviewer says it "has not 

 happened" that the work of American ex- 

 plorers was ignored in England: and also 

 that Wilkes has had full recognition. 



In order to recognize the erroneous nature 

 of these two statements it is only necessary to 

 turn to many of the papers of Sir Clements R. 

 Markham, beginning with his article "Polar 

 Regions "° and culminating in his article 

 " The Antarctic Expeditions," ' in which 

 he mentioned many of the more prominent 

 Antarctic explorers, but ignored totally 

 Wilkes's discovery of the mainland of East 

 Antarctica and Palmer's discovery of the 

 mainland of West Antarctica. Scott's various 

 misstatements about Wilkes," winding up in 

 his silly assertion "thus once and for all we 

 have definitely disposed of Wilkes Land," can 

 also be cited as attempts at disparagement. 



" " EncylopsEdia Britanniea," ninth edition, 

 American reprint, 1885. 



'The Geographical Journal, 1899, Vol. XIV., 

 pp. 473-481. 



° " The Voyage of the Discovery," passim. 



Of course, some English v?riters are just 

 and fair, and a shining example is Dr. Hugh 

 Robert Mill, who writes in accord with the 

 evidence" and whose excellent work the re- 

 viewer might consult with profit. 



3. The reviewer repeats the old mis- 

 statement about Ross sailing over a part of 

 Wilkes Land. I supposed that I had killed that 

 piece of fiction' and that Dr. Mill had laid its 

 ghost.' This matter would take too much 

 space for rediscussion here, and it seems 

 sufficient to mention the fact that, as far as I 

 am aware, my italicized statement " none of 

 Wilkes's discoveries were disproved by Ross, 

 for the simple reason that Ross never was 

 within sighting distance of any part of 

 Wilkes Land " ° has never been challenged. 



4. The reviewer says that Seott passed 

 " exactly the spot on open sea," where Wilkes 

 states he saw land. Now Scott makes no 

 claim to sailing over any part of Wilkes 

 Land. On his return voyage, Scott sailed 

 westward towards Cape Hudson, but when he 

 got within about fifteen miles of where Wilkes 

 had charted it — doubtless fifty miles too far 

 north — Scott turned northward and sailed 

 away. A glance at Scott's chart'" proves this, 

 absolutely and that Scott therefore did not 

 disprove any of Wilkes's discoveries." 



5. The reviewer says that Drygalski did 

 not find Termination Land at the place where 

 Wilkes said he had seen it. ISTow Wilkes, at 

 the most westerly point of his memorable 

 cruise along the northern coast of East Ant- 

 arctica, saw appearances of land to the south- 

 west and charted them as Termination Land. 

 Then Drygalski on his cruise south discov- 

 ered to the eastward a " high ice-covered 

 land." And a comparison of the charts of the 

 two explorers proves that Drygalski's " high 



'"The Siege of the South Pole," 1905. 



'"Antarctica," 1902. 



'"The Siege of the South Pole," pp. 246-247, 

 287. 



""Antarctica," p. 183. 



" " The Voyage of the Discovery." 



" See " Wilkes Land/' The Bulletin of the 

 American Geographical Society, January, 1906. 



