. I N '/'. I RC TIC FM'LORA TIONS 



existed and the ice was covered with 6 feet of snow. On December 



14, reckonings were taken which indicated that the pole was five 

 miles to the south. It was on December 16, 1911, that the party 

 arrived at the South Pole. A small tent was pitched, the Nor- 

 wegian flag and the Fram pennant hoisted, and the spot christened 

 "Polheim." A letter addressed to H. M. King Haakon VII. was left 

 in the tent, which Captain Scott found a month later and started on 

 its long homeward journey. The distance of 750 nautical miles from 

 "Polheim" back to "Framheim" was covered without mishap in 39 

 days. 



During the 99 days that the polar party was absent, Lieutenant 

 Prestrud and two companions explored the surroundings of "Fram- 

 heim" and succeeded in reaching King Edward's Land, discovered 

 by Scott on a previous expedition. 



Captain Nilsen with his companions on the Fram succeeded in 

 making an 8,000 nautical mile cruise from Buenos Aires to Africa and 

 back. They made 60 oceanographic observations, and on February 



15, 1911, carried the Norwegian flag farther south than a ship had 

 ever floated before. 



WILLIAM F1LCHNFR 



Gkrman Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1912 



Deutschland 



On December 11, 1911, the Deutschland left South Georgia and 

 sailed southward. On December 17, heavy pack-ice was encountered. 

 On December 18, lat. 76" 48' S., long. 30° 25' W., a gently rising in- 

 land ice-cap was sighted, reaching a height of 200-300 meters and 

 ending seawards in a perpendicular wall 20-30 meters high. The 

 ship, following the ice-edge, reached Vahsel Bay a little north of 

 lat. 78' S. This bay was bounded on the west by a low barrier 

 resembling that of the Ross Sea. At a higher elevation to the south, 

 nunataks appeared through the ice cover. As no landing could 

 be effected on the main ice sheet the party returned to South Georgia 

 in March, 1912, and disbanded December 19, 1912. 



R. F. SCOTT 



British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-1913 



Terra Nova 



On June 1, 1910, the Terra Nova left London. On November 



29, when the expedition left New Zealand, Captain Scott had with 



him fifty-nine officers, scientists and seamen, and a full equipment for 



