The Arizona champion. [volume] (Peach Springs, Mohave County, A.T. [Ariz.]) 1883-1891, 1889-01-19
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SOUTH POLAR EXPLORATION.

IL Is now mere question ~ tiiHe
when an expedition will be set OF
foot for the exploration of the An
tarotic Continent, and geogaphers
are furnishing up their knowledge of
that section of the world 50 as to
follow the course of the explorers
intelligently. The chances are that
the adventure will follow tho usual
course. The first explorer viii
penetrate the waste of icy waters
which surrounds the southern Con-
tinept, and will probably not be
heard of again. Then expodition
will DO fitted out for their rescue,
and these, in their turn, viii have
TO be rescued. In the end ZONE
valuable lives viii be sacrificed, and
we shall get in exchange some
knowledge of the awful land OF
desolation which SO far as we know,
surrounds the southern pole.
The two poles very considerably.
The north pole is supposed To be
surrounded by an open sea, which
is bounded on all sides by o ,,on-
geries of islands; the souFh pole, so
far as we know, appears to be ,he
heart of . continent, which is grt
round by an impenetrable icy s,a.
In the icy waters flowing cut
through the openings to the north
pole there are lanes Of warmer
water, produced probably by var
.mer winds blowing from the gulf
stream in the Atlantic; through
these lanes ships have been enabled
to penetrate the polar regions TO
points very far north, There are
no warm lanes, so far as is known,
in the South Polar Sea. That
stormy ocean appears to carry on
its bosom innumerable ice foes,
with no openings between them ex-
cept those which have been formed
by the Winds Il is partly from
this reason that our exploration of
the South Polar region has been so
much more limited than that of the
corresponding northern region.
Franz Josef Land, which has been
visited by Mr.. Leigh Smith and
Others, lies north of the eightieth
parallel, and Capt, Markham, of
the Alert, in 1875, reached on foot
the meridian of SO 90 in Grant
Land, on the shore of Lincoln Sea.
This is several hundred miles nearer
the pole than any other southern
explorer has got, The most sputl :
erly land ever reached is the islands
of Peter !, and Alexander, which
were discovered by the Russian
expedition under Bellinghausen in
1920, They lie in about IS , 40'
English and French navigators, of
whom the most prominent were
Capts. Ross and Dumont d'Urville,
claim to have traced the coast line
of the Antarctic Continent from
west longitude hoe to west long.
itude $50 .; it did not vary much
from 81 0 sodth latitade, though
Mounts Kreaus and Terror, which
Ross saw from lis masthead, were
located by him in about 1872 But
observations made under such diff
culties, when II was always a ques.
ton with the mariner whether he
could ever get his ship out Of the
ice. are not to be implicitly trusted.
The first requisite for South
Polar exped;tion'is base, and that
unfo tunately, is not easy to find,
except at so great distance that
communication between it and the
expedition would necessarily take
time. The North Polnr expedition
have bean able 10 establish accessi-
BILE bases in Smith Sound and on
Spitzbergen, in the neighborhood of
500. The points which have been
suggested as basss for Southern
Arctic expeditions, where depot Of
supplies could be established and a
harbor of refuge appointed, lie in or
pear 9oe. The islands which
cluster raund the southern oapes Of
New Iceland are in about sos
they would answer every purpose,
but they are 100 miles from the
probable coast Of the unknown con-
tinent Kergulep Island has been
suggested, because there is safe an
chorage and good coal there; it lies
north Of 5Qe, and is thus equally
Objectionable, Rather than prepare
for SO long voyage before reaching
the field Of operations, the expedi-
ton might better choose one Of the
Shetland or Orkney islands as a
starting point. The most southerly
Of the Orkneys hes in about 60 3
and there is reason to believe that
from that point to the shore of the
Southern Continent there is IN
archipelago similar TO the epa which
surrounds tho open Polar Sea Of the
North.
Polar exploration is Of value be
cause ii leads to a knowledge OF
natures laws and extends the field
Of scientific research, and it it be
conducted in accordance with the
rules Which experience has inculcat-
ed, especially if the expedition
proper maintains its connection
with base not too far distant, and
Al l-...