The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-07-22

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skirted the lofty western coast OF Ora
hams Land for about two hundred miles
and landing on little Adelaide Island, not
far from I'm, the ", m rsd he Vas the first
circle. No one ever saw any other part
OF Graham's Land, except Ross, over iif-
ty years ago. and the Scottish and Nor
wegian whalers, who were there in the
Captain Larsen's achievement. as out
lined by the Boston Herald. was to steam
along east S wssy OF qnk the sed part aSd
mass. and when he was finally COM
PEELED to turn north again he could still
see the lofty summit OF the mainland
stretching south and cas-, as ,ar as the eye
believe that, in those days, he was skirt
ing a part OF the coast OF the great
Antarctic continent; and while ne was
adding to ou ,,s k so",s pSle he also V ds
covered some volcanoes In nlghly ac-
tive state. showing that pIutSSnie EN- energy;
in that part OF the world, mas not yet
more widely distributed than we had any
reason 10 suppose. The ice conditions
greatly favored Captain Larsen, for ne
found comparatiSely ogen mica; Sea s sma Of
the Antarctic circle. Only the year before
the whaler had found the sea packed with
ice almost to the extreme northern part or
above their ships. which effectually barred
their progress In that direction. In those
very waters Ross had spent almost the
entire season OF 1928. near the north end
OF Graham's Land, trying In vain to push
his way through the ice-encumbered sea
and the great chain OF bergs. He was not
able. however, TO advance toward tne
south until he went far east. out Of sight
of Graham's Land. whose mystery he had
hoped to solve Larsen had very differ
ent experience in November and December
last The weather was fine and warm ana
there was plenty of sunshine and very
little fog. The air and sen teemed with
animal life. for many birds. whales ana
seals were seen, and. pest OF AL r tne
ing here and there into lofty peaks. stool
| out clearly in view. He followed IL almost
| straight to the south until. at his fartnest
| point. he saw 1t rising to SUI Ioiuesr
| heights and stretching away TO the south-
| east and east.
| From Captain Larsens log and from
| the observations OF the whalers az the
north end Of Graham's Land IN the s pre-.
| idea OF this terra incosnita. ACCORDING
| 70 his log CAPTAIN Larsen steamed along
this east coast for go miles, the coast
line stretching away little est east az Il a
few miles west Of 10 degrees west longi-
| tude from Greenwich. Right at the Ant
| arctic circle is very high peak, most
| Of which In bare OF snow. The shore
front is skirted by an ice barrier that
runs about I'VE miles ont to sea and Is
| from twenty-five to sixty feet high. Inc
| land is covered with an ice cap, ana
| glaciers now down the valleys, but In
they are small and do not produce Ice
bergs over sixty to seventy feet In
height. In 1928 the wealers saw In
the neishboring waters bergs that were
200 feet or more in height. and their
! depth below the surface must have been
| at least /, 100 feet. 1t is certain that they
| come from some more southern part OF
| the Antarctic region.
Skirting the shores, Larsen saw num-
| bers of islands and rocks all Volcahic,
! and mostly basaltic rising out or the
sea almost as perpendicular as the Ice
bergs and presenting little surface on
however, in landing on Seymour island
and pushed some distance into 1t. though
the walk was most difficult across the
deep valleys and over the msh rocks.
Great numbers OF penguins had thelr
nests there. and IN the Interior he found
several dead seals. These penguin rook-
cries are very curious. They are occupied
by countless numbers OF the common.
black-throated penguins. and the nests
are crowded together in square blocks,
formed by paths intersecting one another
almost at right angles. The whaiers OF
the previous year said that these rooh-
cries. viewed through telescope from
the ships head. had the appearance OF
hair brushes, the penguns representing
| the bristles.
1t was about eighty miles north OF the
| Antarctic circle that Larsen discovered a
| chain of Ave little islands extending In a
| straight line from northwest 10 southeast
| The most northern is about ten miles from
the mainland. Two OF these Islands ar Ar
active volcanoes. The captain and hi:
mate fastened on their snowshoes ano
crossed on the Ice to one or the islands
a large volume OF smoke poured IRON
both OF the volcanoes, but neither OF then
was ejecting lava or solid matter at tns
time, though the ice In the neighborhooc
was strewn with volcanic stones that nae
| There was no snow on these volcanic
| masses.
On his journey south Captain Larser
| saw many whales and seals. Ii is wei
known that the Dundee whalers turned
their attention to the antartic regions II
1892 in hope Of finding the true whaleboh
whale which Sir James Ross believed ~
saw there. The Dundee Meet, however
saw neither this variety nor any Sperm
whale They saw any number of miners
which were so tame that the shlps actudt
ly struck them, sometimes, DeiorS W. W.
would get out OF the way. Now ana theI
these enormous creatures, not less thai
50 feet in length, jump like a salmon
every portion OF their bodies peing cIg d,
OF the water The hunchback whale, Wnlcf
was found there in great numbers, IS az, an
other Interesting species. The whalerf
; | say that neither salmon nor trout lisnins
| can equal the hunchback for sport. Lar
|
| ed ran the five lines In the nrst Do3
straight out and got free. Four additiona
harpoons and SIX rockets were nred iIiI'
| IL. il fought IS hours battle ana the'
escaned. taking with II good deal o
line. two OF the harpoons ana al, Oh VI
rockets Larsen has seen three other spei
ces OF whale there, put none OF ar la'a de-
| commercial value, while the sealS are NC
sirabIe chiefly for their oil =,
The most southern point reacned
Captain Larsen was IS degrees 10 MN
, utes south latitude. Had he advance =
| few miles further It would have pee
necessary to turn abruptly to the cas-
FOR ne saw the shore line bend ar0un
, | till Il ran almost east and west, anu Dt
, hind It was high land covered with sho"
| He had followed the coast on the cas-
side of Graham's Land as far as DISCO
had traced Il on the west. On the ma
the reader will find Alexander !. Lane
which is due west OF the high land see
| by Larsen when he turned MS snip d.
: Alexander /. Land is part OF the we
? coast OF Grahams Land. and that M
r | land mass, which Bscoe ana Larse
: have proved to widen rapidly toward IN
south is only peninsula OF the cont
3 nent OF Antarctica-
= II is interesting TO consider the gee
z graphical significance Of Larsen's voyag
our maps show that all Ground N
s the south polar circle, bits OF land haN
hAen discovered II Is noteworthy tn;
scarcely one OF these bits Of land hs
been explored in It's whole extent IT
explorers did not ascertain whether Il
= land they saw was Islands or pro)ecuoi
i from some great land mass. Discoyere
II have very rarely been able to erect
n landing on account OF the belt OF pa1
e ice or Ice foes. often ten 10 twenty mil
y wide that separated them from Il
4 shore. There are several excellent re
a sons why many OF the leading geogr
n pliers and biologists believe that the
'r Various lands-Victoia, Graham. Wilke
J. Adele, Claire. Sabrina and Terminate