ANTARCTIC ADVENTURE AND RESEARCH 



netic Pole in January, 1909. Shackleton first traversed 

 the Polar Plateau in 1908 though Amundsen took pos- 

 session of the polar region itself in the name of the 

 King of Norway. Supposing valuable minerals are 

 discovered at the Pole, it will be an interesting legal 

 point as to where the hinterlands of the coasts shall 

 have their furthest southern limit, if the Pole itself is 

 to belong to Norway ! It seems a great pity that those 

 in authority did not choose 155° E. longitude, instead 

 of 160°, as the western boundary of the Ross De- 

 pendency. For the Magnetic Pole and all the moun- 

 tains discovered by Scott between 79° S. and 83° S. 

 are outside this limit. In fact, the most striking fea- 

 ture in Antarctica, the great South Victoria Horst 

 (see Figure 10), winds east and west across this 

 political boundary from Cape Adare to the Pole 



The French Government in March, 1924, has at- 

 tached Adelie Land to the Government of Madagascar, 

 together with Kerguelen Island and St. Paul and Am- 

 sterdam islands. The statement is vague, the region 

 being spoken of as "that portion of Wilkes Land 

 known as Adelie Land." As mentioned earlier there 

 is no unanimity as to what constitutes Wilkes Land. 

 We have seen that D'Urville spent only one week in 

 East Antarctica or perhaps less time than almost any 

 other explorer. He did not land on the main land. 

 In view of Mawson's splendid achievements in cartog- 

 raphy and science, and his sojourn during two Ant- 

 arctic winters in this region, it seems likely that 

 Australia will make out a good case for the British 

 claims to Adelie Land, especially as the hinterland 



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