New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-03-20
ANT1ECTIC EXPLORATIONS.


Tho minors which have been current during
,bo last few years to the effect that Baron
Nordcn.liold was about to undertake an cN-
pcdition TO the South Pole. have at length as
sumcd a practical form. and n the recent meet
ing of the Royal Academy OF science at ai"c"-
holm the successful navigator Of the North
East Passage announced that h" had maze ar
,arccmonts 10 start on his voyage Of Antarctic
exploration in the summer Of 1871. Inc AUS
ITALIAN Governments have already placed sum
Of SO. 900 at his disposal for the purpose. ana
MIR. Oscar Dickson. the enlightened ana munih-
cent patron of bis former expeditions. has con
t,iLutod = similar sum The conditions IN the
Antarctic are. however, very different from what
tbcv arc in the seas around the Northern Pole
and if GOOD results are to be obtained, will
probably involve considerably larger outlay
than the 500. 900 already subscribed. Among
other things il will be necessary to spend the
first winter as far South aS possible, ana tha' III
itself will be a costly affair Baron NordcnS-
l;iold has been 50 successful. and has had 50
great an experience in all conditions OF ice. that
his determination to embark upon the cN-
ncdition in question implies his confidence Of
achieving great results. As the extent oil the
r..
the amount of money at the disposal OF the pro-
motcrs of the undertaking, we trust III the IN
forests of universal science that the Baron
appeal to the world for additional contributions
toward the enterprise, which was contained
in his address TO the Swedish Academy OF
Science. will meet with the generous response
which it deserves.
Although the Antarctic Ocean attracted sclen-
tfc and geographical attention long before
the Arctic Sea did. yet much less is known OF IT
than of the latter-the totally uncXplorcd
regions Of the two bearing the proportion OF
almost three to one. The nayigators who have
attempted to penetrate the great PERCEPTIONS
walls of ice so graphically described by Captain
Cook as encirclng the Southern Pole are Few
in number and the highest point touched by
Commodore Wilkes. of the United States Navy,
in 1910. and by sir James Ross, OF the British
service a wear later, falls far short Of the lal
tude reached by many of the Northern cx-
ncditions. The results achieved by the two
commanders in question were limited to the
| discovery Of barren and sinistcr-loobing
coast crowned by two lofty volcanoes, of an
| altitude of some 10 900 feet, which received
the appropratc names of Mount Terror and
Mount Ercbus. The two officers noted, more
over. that none Of the islands OF the far South
showed traces OF being inhabited by any land
mammals, differing in this respect from the
Arctic regions, where large and varied animals
have been observed almost as far North as man
has penetrated. Since these discoveries. half n
century ago, no further expedition has been sent
out in the direction Of the South Pole all the eff
forts of explorers being concentrated around
tho Northern Pole of the globe. The consc-
qucncc is that the Antarctic regions remain to
this day shroudcd in almost as impcnctrablc a
mystery as they were in the past century, when
they figured on the maps of the period a.
Terra Australis incognita."
The years which have elapsed since the men,
orable voyage of the Vega have been worthily