Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1889-07-31
TIE s0UrH POLE.

Facts In Relation to Antarctic Discovery
The Point Reached By Sir James Ross.
The golden age Of antarctic discovery az
rived when captain, afterward Sir James
Ross, was dispatched from England in
1870 to Ok the position Of the south mag
netic pole, and ony other position he could
discover on the way there. Before Ross
could reach the scene Of his labors, other
explores, English, French and American,
were busy forestalling him, says 'Cassell'e
Family Magazine
or these the frst was the Englishman,
Balleny, who, sailing in Enderby's ship.
the Eliza Scott, discovered in 1889 the
islands which bear his name, and which lie
almost under the Antarctic circle and
almost due south from New Zealand. Bal
Eieny could not land On the islands, but he
made sure OF their existence, and after.
ward, sailing far to the westward, he saw
many more signs Of land, and suspected
the existence Of much whichshe could not
certainly youch for. What BallenY thought
he saw was probably much WHAT the French
expedition under Dumontd Urville actually
did see in the following year-several long
lines Of coast, which might be joined to one
another, and might even run on to join
Enderby Land in the west, and il SO might
certainly be part OF the Antarctic contin.
emit that d'Urville was anxious to find.
Not less anxious was Wilkes, the leader
Of the United States exploring expedition,
who, only 2 month after the F~renchman.
arrived within q degree or two OF the Ant.
arctic circle
TO TIE SOUTH OF ZEALAND,
and, after seeing land. where Balleny had
certainly seen it before. began to fancy that
he SAW it also where none had seen it be-
seen it since. For some days. indeed,
Wilkes doubted whether what he beheld
were mountains OF clouds, objects Of
the setting Of the sun they would change
their celor. But after moving westward
along the edge OF the pack for . few days,
made sure that he now saw land, and
i~nconsequently assumed it for
that what he had seen obefore was
land also.
The discovery Of an Antarctic continent
was announced as q certainty; a very large
land, with q barrier Of ice before it, had q
range of mountains upon it, was laid down
on the map, and a copy OF the map wal
handed by the rash but generous explorer
to Ross, who left Tasmania in the autumn
OF the same year to look for the magnetic
polensithpthe two ships Erebus and Terror,
which iafterward bore Sir Johh Franklin to
his fate at the other end of the world.
Ross had SO little doubt that the Antarc-
tic continent was discovered already that
he seems to bave been almost disap-
pointed when his way to the magnetic pole
was barred by an unknown land. Yet this
land, which lay south of the SEVENTEEN par.
allie, and eastwardo Of Belleny's islands, was
the most ~southerly hitherto seen in the
world, and on it rose mountains thousands
OF feet high, plain and mountain alike robed
in stainless snow, except on the cliffs by the
shore, where the black rock came out. The
coast raj almost due north and south, and
along it's eastern face Ross advanced
steadily until he had beaten
COOKS RECORD
and also Weddell's, and zone further south
than any before him. But he could find no
place on the mainland, SO choked
was every inlet with snow and ice; only on
small island were the adventures able to
touch Antarctic earth, a few men among
OF screaming and biting pen
Fresh mountains came constantly
view as they moved southwark; at
last one in latitude n deg, over which q
cloud of snow was blowing, but when they
nearer they saw that the cloud wal
smoke and gave the name of Mount
Erebus to a giant volcano higher than
Etna, which belches forth fire and smoke
in a1and where's all things are frozen.
! Before Mount Erebus lies Cape Crozier,
and round Cape Crozier Ross hoped to find
q way to the westward, so as to reach the
magnetic pole by the back of the new land
he had found. But as they approached
they saw stretching from Cape Crozier las
far as the eye could discern to the east
Glow white line" the nature OF
which they did not understand till they
came close enough to see the truth with
their eyes. 1t was a wall OF ice $50 feet
high. without break or slope, but one gilt
tering, perpendicular steep, through which,
as Ross said, one might as easily pass
through the cliffs of Dover. Along this
rampant Ross ran eastward for
$50 miles. and in thesucceeding year, 1912,
for 200 miles more without coming to it's
end, on both Of which occasions he reached
the high altitude OF z Sdeg. south, which has
never since been approached by any man.