ANTARC TIC EX PL OR A TION 



north, enters it anew near 50° W., and skirts the ice barrier 

 across the mouth of Weddell Sea to the meridian of 20° W. 

 He finally reached England in September, 1843, having 

 been absent for more than four years. 



G. S. NARES, 1874 

 Challenger 



[The course is indicated by transverse red and white 



bands.] 



In 1874, the British steamship Challenger, equipped for 

 scientific work and carrying an able scientific staff, entered 

 the Antarctic from Kerguelen Island, crossing the Circle 

 near the 80th meridian east, and then followed the drift ice 

 easterly as far as Wilkes Termination Land. The Chal- 

 lenger was the first steam vessel to enter the Antarctic, and 

 the first provided with adequate sounding and dredging 

 apparatus. As a result of the Challenger s investigations, 

 the existence of an Antarctic continent was proved and the 

 fact that a wealth of animal life covers the floor of the 

 Antarctic seas was established. 



C. A. LARSEN, 1893-1894 



Jason 



[The course is indicated by red, yellow and blue bands.] 



During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, witli 

 the waning of the whaling industry in the north and with 

 the report of the existence of large numbers of whales in 

 the south, the small steam whalers of Scotland and Scan- 

 dinavia made several expeditions into the Antarctic. Among 

 these was the Jasoji, commanded by C. A. Larsen, the same 

 vessel and the same captain that a few years before had left 

 Nansen on the east coast of Greenland. The Jason landed 

 south of the South Shetlands and Larsen discovered the 



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