, 1874-06-06
ANTARCTIC EXPLORATIONS,
The Voyage Of tho British Ship Chal-
lcnger.
Wilkes Continent" a Nonentity.

Drtla1 ship Challenger, which aaoi M from m 1;,,. @
gland two ycnra ago on VOYAGE Of discovery
ronna tho worid Primarily the object Of o
soa currontB OF tho ocean, to agcertai tle tom
poratnro OF tho wator Mt groat Depths and tbo
lifo which 'vas tl.ero supported. Tho eiief ifu-
hortnmco attached to tho lcttor is, that it uhows
slaerabto pnrt OF Wilkca' Antarctic Continent.
which, sinco wo wo won't to gcIool l1ns f|aurod
On on t,o tue maps In order thht It's importance may
Ve tho better unprecedented wo qaoto from Capt.
Expedition }lia rnmarlla In relation to tho dis.
cov9ry It will 10 observed that In compound
!hG longitude Capt Wilk0R rcekonB from wash
ingson, While that of the Challenger is rocliouod
WILKES rAMous DISCOVERY OF NEW conrr.
Ihia dGy. at noon (Jan. II, 1840), wo were In
atiuao 1n,, Gs ocg; 2o min nont, Longitude 150 dog.
whales, and soal weru aooli from Tia aI,n. md
tho watcr was quito green. F' "''N
lstl!-Tho wcntAer thin tay was variablo, with
W. w.n @ ia;ht S,a Westerly %nsi tho temperature Of
OF SNOW md mint ucct:rrod, b,t 1t wag at tnos
clchr Tic wstcr wna uti'l oiyo ereor,. nnil ti,o
otncf vesfcla occasionally in Aig4t, boating to
/ Tn Tho morning Of lilo 1stl wo found ourselves
III t'cep bay :srd tho Peacock standing to tlo
nouil.".at., ulssil . o'clock. n. m,. wo had a
mu'tclato hle1ze. Tin wa:or was Of a tlnrkor
Iam1 6van woa ",la na,v a"o . muddy appearance.
| aud southwest III tho former dreo-
t, tion must distinctly. .Both appoarod
,an mgn IL was between s',a IN tho morning
lana, anu ny own opinion was confirmed by that
Oh eolno Of tho Oldest and most exporionccd eoa-
men ., on board, Tho oillcor, Of tic morning
attention to i. We were at this time in iongi-
tltuu 1D4 flCt. UD mil. east. 1ntifu1o m
deg. 90 min. south. Tl1o day WAS 1no
my ~ tlFioa Quito cloag, with light winds.
n.tsf M alvo scryico still saw tho outline OF tho
ana, unchanged in torn, Int not 90. distinct %
~ the 'norsAs!'E. Bs NOON found no Nero sag-
Eiug oil TO tho barrier. Tho boats wore lowered
~ consequence a'ltl tho allip towud on. Tho
Of ieo around the bay md ,o opening to bo s noor
having tho western Point OF it boaliug to the
northward Of wost Of u.s." stood to tlle wcst-
ward to pass nronud it. fully assured that tho
buy.
Tho Pencoch, Mt 9h. 301n., according to Can't
llleots journal, having got into tic drift ieo
wtl, barier still ahoad to tho west, tackled to
.!'o sonthsast to work UP for al, itainonso mass,
Whlch i,na every appearance Of land, and which |
was boisoYed to be such by a'I OIL board 1t wag
soon beyond and towering above an leo Island
tat Tns from 15o tc quo feet in height. It bore
at.ce Of bc'ng s.oo0 font in hoight, fol1pinE a
sort Of amphitllcatro, looking gray and daTk.
and divided into two distinct ridsos or elevations
throughout Its entiro extcat, tho whole being
covered GO WIN anow. As there was no probability
or getting neasor to 1t fn this 1unrtor tl.oy stood
ont OF tho bay, which WIS about twcnty miles |
aeel' to proceed to tho westward, hoping to got
a,,as'p an opportunity to approach TUG object moro
doubt III my mind Of the discovery of land it
gave m exciting intorcBt to tho cruise TINT an
pcared to set aside oil thought OF fatigue, and to
mako every ono willing to encounter aily diCi-
Guilty to oflect q landing.
WHAT THE ouALLESoEn D1sCoyEnED,
MELnounwe, March H. 1874
l[y Dsar Or: Hayes - - 1''''
We woro directed to examining Kerguo-
len; or Desoation 1Hland, rs Capt Cook calod it,
Of Venus Expedition, which is expected to arriys
there towards tho end Of tho yea:, Uoard or
Mcdonald Island was also to bo explored, and ag
wo had to 50 SO far south Capt. Mares detor-
mined to go little further, lavo q look nj the |
ice md e'deasor to Bcttlo the doubtful question
as to the oxstouce Of WilkeB "Torlnination !
Land." But wo were IN no way prepared to en- |
tor PACK lco, rs tho shin was not strengthened |
allow any risks Of being frozen III. leo ANCHORS |
and chtsels, couple Of whalos,oats oxtra atorog.
and some warm clothing, nil OF which were OBJ
ta,nea Ct the caps were to only things takon
>, Wo lott the Cape Of Good Homo Dec. IT. Tho
d!stanco to Prince Edward and Marion 1slanls-
,loo miles-syas run IN eight days.
,, narlon n @ Island ia 5000 fcat high and covered
with SHOW, which extends in plnces to within a0O
foot OF tue 1ovel OF Tho Bsa d soft mosa, which
gro"a, IN great profuson. gives tho hiliaidos
DoAut1iully groom appearance and tho largest
plant IL tho Ke1guclon land cabbage (Pri,,glea
Tho largo abatroaa (flionsedit1 ce,tlans) wero
sitting on their eggs i'll great numbers on the
AiBldcs, w!loro from distance thoy looked
not unlike flock Of sheep graz'ng In grocn
fold. Three kinds Of poueuinB wore found,-tho
king (apA'sodWtea), tho whito-wingcd an,l tho
oudyptos, or eolaon-creBtcd, or ulacearories, as
the soalers call thom, bosdes numerous pro-
celnrn, torn. oto.
Christmas Harbor, Kerguolon, was roncfed on
7th January, 1874. Tile place 10 Interesting as
having been visited and named by Cant, Cook on
his first yoyage, and Ioss spont aixty .flyo days
5lere tlnrty-lhree years ago, during which time
on ahore. Pleasant work 1t must have beon On
tie cold nights watching tho dipping neotllo
Our observations woro ta}on on tho samo ppot.
ille noxt twonty-four dayH were spout examine
cast or leo sido Of tie island. 4 high range Of
mountains covered with SNOW extend tho whole
length. tho highest peais being Mount Ross, Mt
Royal Sound. G.00o foot Tho vegetation is
1e poaty 5o ~
ehruba. The Towering plants in all do not num-
Der over thirty. boa elephants and lcopartls
wore humorous in the crooks, and fow fur soats
obtained. Tho only four-loggcd animal dHcov-
got ashore from some wlalar. There was caplE-
Ial duck shooting everywhere Tue birds ire
small, OF dark brown plarnaBe, something like |
Silgeon, and .capitul eating. We could not ind
that They wore described by naturaBts, mud
probably the species il only to be found OH theso
southern islands.
Capt. Naros was In favor of Royal Sound for
III observatory station. It is tho headquarters
II tlo seaers, and tlno estuary, with fully, I I
should think, ono Thousand islands In it.; we iaid
1own about ono hundred in our running survey.
The climate ut Kerguolon may we'll DO conf
'arod to TINT OF England In winter. GaloA Of
snd, howovor, wore rather moro frequent; our !
lyerago was one every ttroe days; wo wore !
'lown OF the lalld several times a1ul had dll-
'mlty IN returning OIL account Of thick woatiler.
The thermometer generally stood about a or IL {
legreos, ind ranged from % to 81 degrees. No !
aud birds were found, Tho list Of aoa birds il
ather long, but tho principal arc; Three kinds :
II albatrosB four rrocollaria prion gnlls, duck, u
'uilnarla, graculus, megaliatrls aud four pon- :,
Worry fow tlBh were caught; most Of them =
}t,6 fr11 ni,H !