The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1877-02-23
THE SOUTH POLE.
Exploration and Expeditions in Search
OF AN Antarctic Continent.

Not SO much for the purpose of dis
covering new lands in the south, as to
obtain information concerning the south
magnetic poles matter of much import
ance to science, the British government
fitted out the Erebus and Terror, and
| placed them under James Ross. with
| Crozier as his second in command. They
left England in 1889, and did not see it
| again for four years.
Wonderful it was to see a raging vol
cano in such region. A long stretch of
land was seen to be marked by two mag
nifcent mountains one of which, an ac-
tive volcano, twelve thousand teet high,
received the name of Mount Erebus !;
while the other, an extinct volcano of
somewhat less height, was named after
the companion ship Terror. An unmis-
taxable volcano was Erebus. Such a
magnificent combination of volcanic fire
and endless ice probably never before
met human eye, for Mount Hecta, in Ire
land, must be far inferior to it.
Ross did not winter in that remote
region; indeed, so far as is known, no
human being ever passed winter among
| the antartic ice. Ross spent three sum-
mers in his exploration, while he housed
his ship for the intervening winters,
either at Tasmania or the Falkland
islands. Among the early explorers of
the mysterious Southern ocean were
Juan Fernandez, Dirk Gerritz, Pedro
Fernandez de QuirOs, Capt. Cook, We'd
dell, Dumont d'Uurville and Wilkes.
We might also, if their discoveries had
borne such fruit, notice more fully the
expedition of Kerguelen, who discovered
the island named after him little more
than a century ago; as also those of
Smith, Powell, Palmer and Bellinghau-
sen, fifty six years ago, resulting in the
discovery of South Shetland, South
Orkney, Palmer's land, and Alexander
land. Those fitted out by Messrs. En-
derby, the liberal and energetic promo
ters of whale and seal fishing in the
Southern ocean, are worthy of brief re-
cord for two vessels, placed by them
under Captains BiscOe and Balleny, sailed
into regions which led to the discovery
of Enderby land, Balleny land and Sa
brina land.
One object of Sir James Ross expedi
tiOn was, if possible, to reach the south |
magnetic pele-a different point from |
the south terrestrial pole. The great |
icy barrier prevented the realization of |
that hope. A few years ago Lieutenant |
Moore, in the PagOda, set eff to make |
magnetic observations in the antarctic |
circle that had not been visited; he did |
so, and rendered great service to science, |
but did not get within 400 miles of the |
tantalizing pole.
The reader will remember that two |
years ago the astronomers of the whole |
world were greatly interested in a tran
sit of Venus; correct observations of
which would, it was believed, afford data
for calculating the true distance OF the
sun from the earth, Gnd from all the
other planets. 1t was desirable to make
the observations at many different spots,
widely separated both in latitude and in
longitude and one of the spots selected
was Kerguelen's island, already men
situated between the Cape of
Good Hope and Australia, but farther
south than either. Astronomers from
Germany and the United
States landed on the island and did good
work there, but (and this is the reason
why we mention the matter here) the
roughness of the climate was great trial
to them. Although farther from the
south pole than any part Of England is
from the nerth pole, the weather was
nearly always stormy, and the tempera-
ture verging on the freezing point, even
in the summer of that hemisphere.
Astronomers are considering of appeal
ing to the Southern ocean again five
years hence, when another transit of
Venus will take place, and when still
more advantage is expected to be de-
lived from the use Of situation as near
he antarctic pole as possible. In order
% give these hard-working astronomers
air play, it would be no more than right
% send out an expedition a year or two
n advance to accumulate as many useful
md geographical facts as might be at
ainable and it is just possible that, in
70 doing, Sir James Ross seventy-eighth
legree of latitude might be Overpassed,
specially as they might now have, what
Ross had not, steam power wherewith to
contend alike against calms and adverse
Winds.
What we know of the south pole, then,
$ simply this-that nobody has got with
N seven or eight hundred miles of it !;
haticy barriers are met with quite eclips-
ng anything known in the north frigid
one; that mountains have been seen
one shooting forth volcanic fiames) lOf-
ier than any discovered by our northern
that all the land is covered
With snow at all seasons; that no human
,eing has been met with beyond fifty-six
egrees of latitude that no vegetable
rowth, except lichens, has been seen be-
-ond fifty-eight degrees of latitude: and
hat no land quadruped is known to exist !
eyony sixty-six degrees of latitude.