Introductory. 5 
there a gentle slope leads on to the great plateau 
of South Victoria Land. The presence of the 
penguin colony, their undisturbed old nests, the 
appearance of the dead seals, the vegetation on the 
rocks, and lastly, the flat table of the cape above, 
all indicated that here the unbound forces of the 
Antarctic Circle do not display the whole severity 
of their powers. Neither ice nor volcanoes seemed to 
have prevailed at the peninsula at Cape Adare, and 
I strongly recommend a future scientific expedition to 
choose this spot as a centre for operations. At this 
place there is a safe situation for houses, tents and 
provisions. I myself am willing to be the leader 
of a party, to be landed either on the pack or on 
the mainland near Coulman Island, with ski, Canadian 
snow-shoes, sledges and dogs.” * 
M. Gerlache in the Belgica sailed southwards 
in 1897, and returned in the autumn of 1898 without 
having effected a landing on the Antarctic Continent, 
and without reaching further than 71° 24’ S. (?). 
But he added valuable data to the meteorology 
within the Antarctic Circle, as the observations on 
board the Zeue extended over a whole year, 
and that expedition was the first to over-winter 
within the Antarctic Circle. However, the first to 
invade the Antarctic Continent were the members of 
the Southern Cross under my command, who, with 
me, successfully landed on the peninsula of Cape 
Adare in 1899, with a complete outfit for exploration 
on land and at sea. 
What I claim as the principal work accom- 
* From the report of the Sixth International Geographical Con- 
gress, London, 1896. 
