FIRST ANTARCTIC NIGHT 403 
intense cold had already transformed the surface of the 
sea into a field of young ice through which the powerful 
engines had as much as they could do to force the ship. 
Except for a second landing on Franklin Island a straight 
run was made for the nearest temperate land. No ice 
whatever was met with, the pack had entirely disappeared, 
but the weather was extremely boisterous and it was 
March 21st, 1900, before Auckland Island was reached. 
In June the scientific staff were home in England. 
The scientific results of the expedition were not so 
great as had been expected. The zoological collections 
had suffered badly in transit, some valuable notes by Mr. 
Hanson had been lost, and one small volume comprises 
the discussion of animal life, while the physical observa- 
tions also fill but little space. Mr. Colbeck’s careful 
and trustworthy map of the great ice barrier showed that 
its edge had receded about thirty miles since Ross's voy- 
age, and the coast generally was less encumbered by pack 
ice than it had been sixty years before. Interesting as a 
dashing piece of pioneer work, and useful in training 
men for later service, the voyage of the Southern Cross 
was the last effort of the nineteenth century, the century 
which had solved all problems of geographical discovery 
except that of the Poles. 
One other expedition of the nineteenth century must 
be noticed, though, as in that of the Challenger, Antarctic 
research was only an incident in its work. Professor 
Chun of Leipzig, a prominent zoologist, had induced the 
Imperial German Government to supply funds for a 
scientific deep-sea expedition under his leadership, which 
was dispatched on board the Hamburg-America Line’s 
steamer Valdivia, commanded by Captain Krech. No 
scientific expedition was ever more comfortably installed 
