428 A rctic and A ittarctic Exploration [part ii 
Thomson found that "public interest was now fairly 
aroused in the new field of research/' 
A circumnavigating expedition was then suggested to 
traverse the great ocean basins, and prepare sections show- 
ing their physical and biological conditions. Mr Lowe, 
who was then Chancellor of the Exchequer, approved the 
plan, and the Challenger, a corvette of 2306 tons and 
1234 h.-p., was selected for the service. All but two of 
her guns were taken out and she was fitted out entirely 
for deep sea sounding and dredging operations. The 
Challenger sailed in January, 1873, under the command 
of Captain Nares, with Dr Wyville Thomson as head of the 
scientific staff. There were four Lieutenants, Maclear, 
Aldrich, Bromley, and Bethell, and five scientific assistants 
to Dr Wyville Thomson, Buchanan (Physicist) Moseley, 
John Murray, Willemoes-Siihn, and Wild. The ship was 
fitted with all the latest inventions that twenty years of 
study and experience had produced. 
After having thrown much light on the depths and the 
fauna of tropical oceans, the Challenger approached the 
Antarctic regions early in 1873. She met with dense 
fogs in 65 0 42' S. on February 19th, but Captain Nares 
continued a southward course and the vessel crossed the 
Antarctic Circle in 78 0 22' E. She then followed the edge 
of the pack for 150 miles eastward to within 15 miles of 
Wilkes's supposed Termination Land. The soundings 
gave depths of from 1250 to 1975 fathoms. Westward 
of 8o° E. very few icebergs were met with, but eastward 
of 92 0 E. they were very numerous. It was thought 
that there was no land for a considerable distance between 
70 0 and 8o° E. The depths showed that the continental 
shelf had not been reached on those meridians. This 
particular region to the east of Kempe Land has not 
since been visited and it offers a very interesting, and 
possibly a successful route for future explorers. 
The science of oceanography has progressed consider- 
ably since the days of the Challenger ; great improvements 
have been made in the varied apparatus connected with 
it, and the work has become at once more easy and more 
accurate. Steam power is indispensable, rendering reliable 
deep sea soundings possible and ice navigation much 
easier. 
