EXPLORING THE GREAT CONTINENT 



niatologist, were members of this expedition. They 

 coasted along Graham Land, making numerous land- 

 ings in Belgica Strait, and then penetrated west of the 

 region between Alexander and Peter islands, passing 

 to the south of the latter island (see Figure 4). Here 

 they were beset and spent the first Antarctic night 

 drifting from 80° 30' W. to 102° W. They seem to 

 have suffered a good deal from confinement and inade- 

 quate food, but carried out scientific observations in 

 many useful fields. 



To Borchgrevinck must be given the credit for first 

 landing on the continent and spending a winter there 

 after his ship had returned to temperate climes. On 

 the seventeenth of February, 1899, he landed on Cape 

 Adare at the northwest extremity of the Ross Sea in 

 latitude 71° S. The party consisted of seven Scandi- 

 navians and three Britishers, including L. Bernacchi 

 and W. Colbeck, who both joined later expeditions. 

 The locality was unfavorable as a base for sledging, 

 but valuable meteorological observations w^ere made. 

 The zoologist, Hanson, died at Cape Adare from some 

 disease akin to scurvy. In January, 1900, their ship 

 picked them up and cruised south to the great Ross Ice 

 Shelf. On February 19th they made a sledge journey 

 of a few miles to the south and reached 78° 45', which 

 was perhaps forty miles south of Ross's record in 1842. 



With the new century began the most famous period 

 of Antarctic exploration. From 1772 to 1900 nothing 

 was know^n of the interior of Antarctica. An ice-bound 

 north coast was indicated by Wilkes' discoveries. A 

 stupendous mountain coast flanked the Ross Sea on the 



33 



