West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1885-01-30

madagascar few miles northeast Of
Captain Cooks Swoops i'm l27i. IL
should be added that Graham Land.
visited hy Bi>coc i'm 1882. i'm only an cN-
tension of a coast discovered In part i'm
1921 10y Howell, and called Trinity
Land; 10y Palmer. and called Palmer
Land; and by BcllinghauScu. and called
Alexander Land. Wcddcll, in 1928.
penetrated TO 7tl degrees south lati-
tudc but saw no land.
\ few years later. in 1896. Dumont
dJrvillc visited Graham Land His
main work, however. was done two
years after south Of Australia, where ne
discovered Claric and Adele Lands
Two years lat T still. only few miles
west OF the former. Balleuy added Sa-
hrina Land To the slowly-picccd-out
contour. Captain Wilkes lid con
tnbuted meanwhile TO tho G.owlcdoe
of the tremendous icc-harrlcrs that
closed the way 60 the South Role. lie
deserted, early in 1910. about latitude
Ola degrees south, and longitude l6l
degrees east, CoAst-lnc. which he fol-
lowed westward, with occasional
glimpScs of il, for weeks, by cruising
along the icC-tcdS
Shortly after the greatest gain in all
the explorations was achieved hy Cap
tain James Ross, who, from point lust
east of that which had been reached bv
D'UWillc, forced his way almost direct
~ south along the coast of Victoria
Land and after working by the greatest
intrcpidity through heavy icc-hclt,
found himself able TO discern rocky
land nearly as far aS the 79th parallel
One of the most extraordinary fruits of
this voyage was the discovery of the
two lofty mountains, Terror aud Ercbus
the latter "A burning volcano
In spite of his success and of the curl
osity exc ted by finding a volcano much
nearer the South Pole than Hccla is To
the North, little has been done for more
than forty years to continue the cNplor-
ations. Occasionally some vessel like
the Challenger has cruised among these
solitary wastes of ice; and only IA few
years ago the Pilots Bride went fur
thcr south, probably, than any whalcr
has ever gonc-at any rate. fnr enough
TO skirt along Graham Land for some
miles I'm general, however, this drcary
part of the world has been left almost
unvisltcd for two-scorc years
Undoubtedly one reason why so much
less effort has been expended on Ant
arctic than on Arctic discovery is that
practicable routes TO the Indies both
eastward and westward around Cape
Horn and Cape of Good Hope too,
away that necessity for penetrating fur
thcr polcward which furnished the
stimulus TO all the carly Arctic cvplora-
ton. Another drawback is the remote
ness of the Southern Ocean from the
starting points of those adventurous
maritime nations that make the great
voyages of discovery. Finally the pc.
culIar dcsolation of the southern frigid
zone, its perpetual fogs. its bcwildcring
currents and It's enormous masses of
continuous ice. beginning at great dis
tance from the Pole, have discouraged
enterprise in that direction. Four years
ago Italy and the Argentine Republic
contemplated an expedition TO the South
Pole, which was to have been i'm charge
of Lieutenant Bovc, who was with Nor
dcn,kiold i'm the Vegas VOYAGE. This
would have been followed, it was said
by an English expedition under Sir A.
Young; but the promoters Of the under
taking shrank from It's obstacles
Should Prof Nordcnskiold, however.
carry out the purpose attributed To him,
hc would have certain advantages over
his predecessors First, the influence
of the great Equatorial current, which
crosses the Indian Ocean, and, after
skirt.ng the coast of Africa, strikes d-
rccily into Antarctic waters is now bet
ter understood than IL was half cent
ury ago. and the most inviting path Of
Southern exploration becomes almost a
matter Of scientific calculation Above
all, Ross successes were achieved with
two sailing vessels, and the substitution
of steam promises "a great gain ~ j.
SIM