ANTARCTIC ADVENTURE AND RESEARCH 



arctica on February ist, 1840, and have sent no later 

 expedition into these eastern waters. 



Although the United States has taken a great in- 

 terest in Arctic exploration, as was shown in the 

 Franklin Relief Expeditions and later, she has not given 

 much official attention to Antarctic seas and lands. Al- 

 most the sole exception until the present century was 

 the important expedition dispatched in 1839 under 

 Commander Charles Wilkes.^ His instructions were 

 to survey the waters frequented by American whalers, 

 and to make two summer cruises towards the South 

 Pole south of America and Tasmania respectively. He 

 was not equipped for lengthy Antarctic exploration. 

 He sailed on the sloop ''Vincennes," together with 

 three other small boats, and made two determined at- 

 tacks on the unknown regions to the south. Early in 

 March, 1839, they cruised among the islands at the 

 north end of Graham Land and the "Porpoise" was 

 nearly wrecked on Elephant Island, where Shackleton's 

 men were to shelter in 1916. The other two boats 

 penetrated into the heavy pack west of Graham Land 

 and the "Flying Fish" (of only 96 tons) reached 70°, 

 near the region explored by the "Belgica" in 1898, 

 where it is likely that they mistook high icebergs for 

 land. In December, 1839, the ships left Sydney for 

 their second Antarctic voyage. They were most poorly 

 equipped, and Wilkes records that he felt it was "un- 

 wise to attempt such service in ordinary cruising ves- 

 sels, but we had been ordered to go, and that was 



1 Charles Wilkes, Narrative of the United States Exploring 

 Expedition (London, Whittaker, 1845). 



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