BY A. MOETON, F.L.S. 



261 



ments on the importance of scientific observations inside the 

 Polar Circle, and maintains that for the purpose of 

 discovering those general laws which are necessary as guides 

 and standards in the interpretation of phenomena in clima- 

 tology and physical geography generally, the South Polar 

 regions are much better adapted than the North. The dictum 

 of Captain Cook, that the ice he met in lat. 71deg. lOmin. S. 

 extended to the Pole, and his prediction that no man would 

 venture further than he had done, was set aside success- 

 fully by Captain Boss, who penetrated 420 miles to the south 

 of the point at which the great navigator turned back. 



With the general results of his voyages, accomplished, be 

 it remembered, without the aid of steam, you are all per- 

 fectly familiar. And here let me say that while heartily 

 sympathising with the Geographical Society of Australasia 

 in its efforts to assist the proposed expedition under Baron 

 Nordenskiold, and appreciating the private liberality which 

 has been displayed in the matter, I yet think the sum of 

 ,£10,000 quite inadequate to produce any great results, or to 

 fit out an expedition that would do much more than has 

 already been done. 



Let England and Australasia unite in sending an expedi- 

 tion, so equipped and manned, that failure, if not impossible, 

 shall at least be unlikely, and we may confidently look for 

 results that shall satisfy even the most incredulous as to the 

 wisdom of Antarctic Exploration. Some remarks by Dr. 

 Petermann on " Circumpolar Expeditions," read at a meeting 

 of the Royal Geographical Society, of London, are worth 

 quoting for their applicability to the case in hand : — 

 "Although the Geographical and Scientific world," he says, 

 " would be contented were an Expedition sent out for the sake 

 of Science alone, nevertheless the whale fisheries in the Polar 

 regions are also of great importance, as instanced by the one 

 fact that the American whale fisheries in Behring Straits 

 amounted in two years to the value of 8,000,000 dollars. 



. . . The English, having the best men, vessels, outfit, 

 and resources, are best fitted to send out an expedition. 

 When the French and American Expeditions, under Captain 

 d'Urville and Lieutenant Wilkes, were sent out to the 

 Antarctic Seas, together with Sir James Boss, it was clearly 

 seen that only the English were quite at home in the Polar 

 elements ; they fearlessly went on with their important 

 explorations for three consecutive years, whereas the other 

 squadrons were always beaten back in their attempts to 

 penetrate towards the South Pole. Captain Sherard 

 Osborne, B.N., C.B., an eminent authority on the Polar 

 regions, in a paper read before the Boyal Geographical 

 Society of England in 1865, speaks as follows :— " An 



