THE BELGIAN ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION 



The Societe Royale Beige de Geographie, of Brussels, through whose 

 efforts the Belgica was equipped and dispatched in search of the South 

 Pole, has published the preliminary report of Captain De Gerlache on 

 the results of the expedition. After leaving Punta Arenas, December 14, 

 1897, the Belgica kept on southward, and without any incident except 

 the loss of a few days, caused by grounding on a submerged rock near 

 Lapataia, reached Hughes bay January 24. Three weeks were then 

 passed in exploring this bay in every direction, and also in investigating 

 a strait discovered between the lands toward the east and a large penin- 

 sula, which they temporarily called Palmer archipelago. 



They entered the Pacific February 12 and soon made out in the dis- 

 tance Alexander I Land, but as an impenetrable ice-floe prevented an ap- 

 proach, changed their course to the west. Two weeks later, when at 70° 

 20 / south by 85° west, a violent northeast wind opened up deep chan- 

 nels in the pack, so that, although the season was very far advanced, the 

 occasion seemed favorable to continue on toward the south. The dan- 

 gers of a winter in the Antarctic zone were evident, but, on the other 

 hand, if caught in the ice and unable to regain the open sea, they might 

 drift to a high latitude and perhaps winter near new lands. On March 

 3, seeing the absolute impossibility of continuing farther, they put the 

 helm about, and during the few following days drifted seven or eight 

 miles in the midst of a compact mass of ice. By March 10 the Belgica 

 was completely blocked, as the cakes of ice which surrounded her had 

 welded together and formed an impenetrable field. 



Beginning with the latter half of the month of March the cold became 

 very sharp because of the winds from the south. The temperatui e, how- 

 ever, was dependent upon the direction of the wind, for winds from the 

 south brought clear, sharp weather, while those from the north— that 

 is, from the ocean — almost always meant clouds and mist and a tempera- 

 ture about zero C, and sometimes even higher. The drift also was a 

 direct function of the wind. The aspect of the pack changed continually ; 

 though for the most part very compact, at times great gaps and chan- 

 nels would open and extend for miles, but the ship, imprisoned in a wall 

 of ice, could not gain them. By May 30 they had drifted to latitude 71° 

 36 / by 87° 39 / , apparently the farthest point south gained by the expedi- 

 tion. During the winter snowstorms frequently made all work out of 

 doors impossible ; also the treacherous character of the ice-floe and the 

 violence of the gusts of wind prevented any long excursion upon the ice. 

 The sun set on May 17 and did not rise again until July 24. The seals 

 and penguins, without ever being very numerous in the immediate 

 neighborhood of the vessel, constituted the main part of the crew's fare 

 during the last months of winter, and this fresh food not a little con- 

 tributed to maintain their good health, which, except during the polar 

 night, was excellent. 



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