﻿PuENELL. 
  — 
  On 
  Antarotio 
  Exploration, 
  80 
  

  

  how 
  much 
  more 
  he 
  would 
  probably 
  have 
  done 
  had 
  he 
  been 
  aided 
  by 
  steam. 
  

   On 
  his 
  second 
  voyage, 
  when 
  he 
  attained 
  the 
  highest 
  latitude 
  ever 
  reached, 
  he 
  

   was 
  56 
  days 
  in 
  the 
  pack, 
  which 
  was 
  1000 
  miles 
  through, 
  and 
  by 
  the 
  time 
  he 
  

   had 
  got 
  out 
  of 
  it 
  and 
  reached 
  the 
  ice 
  barrier 
  it 
  was 
  time 
  to 
  return. 
  With 
  

   steamers 
  he 
  would 
  probably 
  have 
  pierced 
  the 
  pack 
  in 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  weeks. 
  

   In 
  the 
  event 
  of 
  the 
  expedition 
  being 
  unable 
  to 
  winter 
  in 
  the 
  ice, 
  I 
  should 
  

   propose 
  that 
  the 
  explorations 
  be 
  renewed 
  in 
  the 
  next 
  and 
  following 
  years, 
  

   thus 
  making 
  three 
  attempts 
  to 
  accomplish 
  the 
  objects 
  in 
  view. 
  

  

  It 
  cannot, 
  however, 
  be 
  denied 
  that 
  the 
  antarctic 
  explorer 
  has 
  a 
  harder 
  

   task 
  to 
  encounter 
  than 
  his 
  northern 
  comrade. 
  The 
  cold 
  is 
  more 
  intense; 
  

   storms 
  more 
  frequent 
  ; 
  while 
  a 
  constant 
  heavy 
  swell 
  of 
  the 
  sea 
  adds 
  to 
  the 
  

   dangers 
  of 
  the 
  navigator. 
  Describing 
  the 
  state 
  of 
  the 
  ice 
  barrier 
  on 
  Feb- 
  

   ruary 
  9, 
  1841, 
  Boss 
  says, 
  " 
  gigantic 
  icicles 
  depended 
  from 
  every 
  projecting 
  

   point 
  of 
  its 
  perpendicular 
  cliffs, 
  proving 
  that 
  it 
  sometimes 
  thaws, 
  which 
  

   otherwise 
  we 
  could 
  not 
  have 
  believed, 
  for 
  at 
  a 
  season 
  of 
  the 
  year 
  equivalent 
  

   to 
  August 
  in 
  England 
  we 
  have 
  the 
  thermometer 
  at 
  12°, 
  and 
  at 
  noon 
  not 
  

   rising 
  above 
  14° 
  ; 
  this 
  severity 
  of 
  temperature 
  is 
  remarkable, 
  also, 
  when 
  

   compared 
  with 
  our 
  former 
  experience 
  in 
  the 
  Northern 
  Seas, 
  where, 
  from 
  

   every 
  iceberg 
  you 
  meet 
  with, 
  streams 
  of 
  water 
  are 
  constantly 
  pouring 
  off 
  

   during 
  the 
  summer." 
  There 
  is 
  not 
  the 
  smallest 
  trace 
  of 
  vegetation 
  visible 
  

   in 
  these 
  inhos]Ditable 
  regions, 
  even 
  in 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  summer. 
  The 
  most 
  

   southerly 
  spot 
  where 
  vegetation 
  has 
  been 
  seen 
  is 
  Cockburn 
  Island, 
  one 
  of 
  

   the 
  South 
  Shetland 
  Group, 
  situated 
  in 
  latitude 
  64° 
  12' 
  S. 
  ; 
  but 
  it 
  only 
  con- 
  

   sists 
  of 
  a 
  few 
  mosses, 
  algse 
  and 
  hchens. 
  No 
  land 
  animals 
  have 
  been 
  

   observed. 
  Whales, 
  seals, 
  penguins, 
  petrels, 
  and 
  skua 
  gulls 
  are 
  the 
  only 
  

   visible 
  living 
  creatures 
  in 
  the 
  highest 
  latitudes 
  that 
  have 
  been 
  reached. 
  

   The 
  winter 
  is 
  rather 
  longer 
  and 
  the 
  summer 
  shorter 
  than 
  in 
  the 
  Arctic 
  Seas. 
  

   These 
  pecuharities 
  would 
  of 
  course 
  prove 
  great 
  hindrances 
  to 
  land 
  explora- 
  

   tions, 
  which 
  would, 
  even 
  if 
  they 
  could 
  be 
  undertaken 
  at 
  aU, 
  have 
  to 
  be 
  made 
  

   under 
  different 
  and 
  more 
  arduous 
  conditions 
  than 
  those 
  attaching 
  to 
  land 
  

   journeys 
  in 
  the 
  North 
  Polar 
  regions. 
  

  

  The 
  determination 
  of 
  the 
  existence, 
  or 
  non-existence, 
  of 
  an 
  Antarctic 
  

   Continent 
  is 
  the 
  principal 
  problem 
  to 
  be 
  solved 
  by 
  a 
  South 
  Polar 
  expedi- 
  

   tion. 
  It 
  must, 
  however, 
  be 
  also 
  borne 
  in 
  mind 
  that 
  the 
  geographical 
  

   discoveries 
  which 
  have 
  already 
  been 
  made 
  are 
  of 
  the 
  baldest 
  nature. 
  

   Certain 
  lands 
  are 
  known 
  to 
  exist 
  and 
  that 
  is 
  all. 
  They 
  have 
  never 
  been 
  

   explored. 
  Louis 
  Philippe 
  Land 
  and 
  the 
  other 
  land 
  to 
  the 
  south 
  of 
  Cape 
  

   Horn 
  are 
  the 
  only 
  Antarctic 
  Lands 
  of 
  whose 
  geography 
  and 
  productions 
  

   we 
  have 
  any 
  real 
  knowledge, 
  and 
  that 
  is 
  very 
  limited. 
  But 
  the 
  explorer's 
  

   foot 
  has 
  never 
  trodden 
  Victoria 
  Land, 
  Terre 
  Adelie, 
  Sabrina, 
  or 
  Enderby 
  

  

  