The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-12-22
hi ANTARCTIC ICEsCAPE
Capt Cook Was tho First Navigator
Z Whose Eyes Looked Forth
E Upon Il.
Nearest Approach to the South
Pole Made by Sir james
Ross
No Representative of the Vegetable King
dom ON Antarctic SoiI--Creation Of
Imaginative G~eographers.

animated with q hope OF obtaining Ior SCI
ence some information about the equally
mysterious South Pole, writes M. G. Nor
riaon ia the London Graphic.
This latest expedition which was frs
mooted, I believe, at the Aberdeen meeting
OF the British asso citation in 1885, and thei
taken MP BY the Geographical society o
Australia, will be the sixth attempt to pen,
citrate beyond the 10y barrier which, like
hinge rampant, guardst the mysteries Of these
regions, except off the steep %esoarpmentl
of Victoria land and other portions OF liant
with high mountains close to the seashore
Capt. Cook was the first navigator
whose eyes looked forth on an Ant
arctic icescape. In his expedition OF l772-t
he forced his vessel through the drift
Zoe. and reached the parallel 10 degrees
south. d distance Of about 1,400 miles from
the South Pole. Since his time these dreary,
i~nhospitable shores have been visited BY
the expeditions OF BellinRshausenli lin 1921,
D,Uryille in 1890, Wilkes in 1882,
Ross in 1S339-433, and the ship Challenger III
1874.
III addition to the information brought
home by these brave navigators, many
whalers and sealers have contributed their
quota to the existing state of our knowledge
concerning the earth's surface within the
Antarctic circle. The nearest approach to
the South Pole was reached by Sir James
Ross i n February. 1871, when he attained
the latitude Of rs degrees south, a distance
over 500 miles from the pole. His farther
advance was checked by the barrier of ice.
which was here found to be from $50 to
200 feet in height. and extending in
an east and west direction for hun
dreds Of miles. Although it takes
nothing from the credit of this bold and en-
terprislng man. it may be stated that Ross
was the only Antarctic navigator who had
ships properly fortified to Withstand the
shocks and pressure of the ice Incidental to
southern exploration. The next farthest
was reached by q whaler named Weddell,
who in 1923 penetrated to n deg. IL min.
south, with open water still ahead and only
four icebergs in sight, but as he was in
these high lstitudes simply on business pur-
peses and not for scientific investigation, he
failed to take advantage of his opportunity.
The only two men who have ever set foot
on Antarctic soil areIkoss and D'Uryille, bnt
their stay on shore was necessarily brief,
owing to the great difficulty of bringing
their ships to anchor among the numerous
.iosbergs.
The Antarctic seas are well known to
whalers for their sharp gales Of north and
northwest winds, and the difficulty of nayi-
eating these ice-bearing seas is intensified
by tho dense foes which 30 frequently OBJ
scure surrounding dangers; and the almost
constant precipitation of rain and snow also
tends TO increase the miserable surround
ings Of those Inflated mortals whose lot in
life marks them out to battle with the ele-
ments SO far from comfortand civilization.
To Acesntuate by contrast tho extreme
GOODNESS and loneliness Of these dreary
wastes, nature has bestowed on it a brilliant
burning mountain over Il, OO0feet in height,
which has been named Mount Erebua. 1t
ID situated in 70 degrees south latitude,
near the supposed location of tbs southern
magnetic pole. A popularity OF the Ant.
arctic zone il the fact that tho vegetable
kingdom has no representative, not even a
lichen or a piece Of seaweed growing On the
rocks, and no land animals have been OBJ
served. The Antarctic regions are remark
able for the uniformity Of their low tenn
perature.
"A few of orr imaginative geographers
have created a vast Antarctic continent, as
extensive Rs Australia or the United States,
out of the actually discovered bits of land
met here or there on the outer fringe of the
ice barrier, and near the parallel of 81 de-
grees south; and some Of them, carried
away no doubt by their patriotic enthu-
Riasn, have even gone the length of color
ing it pink to denote British territory. But
whether it be and or water which surrounds
the South Pole, there is unanimous belief
that is is covered with an immense sheet of
snow and ice, hundreds, or perhaps thou.
sands Of feet deep and occupying an area
Of over three millions of square miles.
One of the objects of the present expedi-
tion will be to determine, if possible. the
nature and thickness OF this vast ice cap.
The rocks, where they have been examined,
are OF volcanic origin, though the Chal-
lenger dredged up from the floor of
the Antartic ocean many oozy speci-
mems OF othor rocks supposed to be
washed down into the comparatively shall
low sea from the alleged continent. The
icebergs broken off from the edge of the
great ice cap are immense fat-topped, STRAIT
lhed, table-shaped structures of a nearly
uniform height Of It's feet; but one has
been seen that reached a height of 500 feet
and extended four or five miles in length.
Hitherto the expeditions to these regions
have not usually started till the middle of
December. and have rarely attained their
hlgheat latltudes until the advanced season
and the consequent rapid formation of
young ice warmed them to retire. Az most
people know. December, January and Feb
ruary form tho southern summer months,
but the Antarctic has this advantage over
the Arctic r~egions-that it can be- an
preached, circumnavigated and surveyed
during the year. The Challenger is the
only steam vessel that has get furrowed
the surface of the ocean beyond the so
degree parallel Of south latitude. but
she was quite unprotected for ice
work. 1t is the intention Of the organizers
OF this new expedition to navigate in a yes
sci with good steam and sail power. as
pecially fitted for the work peculiar 10
these regions. the hull and propeller being
strongly protected; but the smallness of the
sum raised for the purposes of the expedi~
tion will preclude any discoveries of a SEN
s~ational character. It will mainly dsyots
itself to the thorough examination of Ger
tain portions of these regions already
known, and will also investigate the facili-
tles for turning sperm oil into Il paving
business concern. 1t may help to settle.
no doubt. some vexed questions and enrich
geography, oceanoeraphy, meteorolopy.
and other branches of physical science: But
until the homo government sees it's way to
contribute about del50,000 toward tho ex-
perses OF a properly equipped exploring ex-
pedltion, under the leadership of an eY-
perieneed arctic explorer, we cannot hone
Tor much increase OF knowledge.
Now Try This. a.M