THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



direction from Cape Adare to latitude 82° 17' south, 

 but whether this range turned to the south-east or 

 eastward for any considerable distance was not known, 

 and therefore the southern limits of the Great Ice 

 Barrier plain had not been defined. The glimpses 

 gained of King Edward VII Land from the deck of the 

 Discovery had not enabled us to determine either its 

 nature or its extent, and the mystery of the Barrier 

 remained unsolved. It was a matter of importance to 

 the scientific world that information should be gained 

 regarding the movement of the ice-sheet that forms the 

 Barrier. Then I wanted to find out what lay beyond 

 the mountains to the south of latitude 82° IT and 

 whether the Antarctic continent rose to a plateau 

 similar to the one found by Captain Scott beyond the 

 Western Mountains. There was much to be done in the 

 field of meteorology, and this work was of particular 

 importance to Australia and New Zealand, for these 

 countries are affected by weather conditions that have 

 their origin in the Antarctic. Antarctic zoology, though 

 somewhat limited, as regarded the range of species, 

 had very interesting aspects, and I wanted to devote 

 some attention to mineralogy, apart from general 

 geology. The Aurora Australis,. atmospheric electricity, 

 tidal movements, hydrography, currents of the air, ice 

 formations and movements, biology and geology, offered 

 an unlimited field for research, and the despatch of an 

 expedition seemed to be justified on scientific grounds 

 quite apart from the desire to gain a high latitude. 



The difficulty that confronts most men who wish to 

 undertake exploration work is that of finance, and 

 in this respect I was rather more than ordinarily handi- 

 capped. The equipment and despatch of an Antarctic 

 expedition means the expenditure of very many thou- 

 sands of pounds, without the prospect of any speedy 



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