Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1895-08-22
THE ANTARCTIC CONTINENT.

International Geographical Congress
by g. T.. Borchgrevink, a Norwegian
explorer.
Alter describing the arrival of the
steam whaler Antarctic off Cape Adair
in Victoria Land he said that the
cape, which was in IL 20 and 100. 90,
rose to height OF 3,779 feet, and CON
sisted of large, square, basaltic rock
with perpendicular sides. From there
they saw the coast OF Victoria Land
TO the west and south as far as the eye
could reach. IT rose from dark, bare
rocks into peaks of perpetual ice and
snow, 12, 600 feet above the level Of
the sea, Mount Sabine, above the crest,
standing out shining in the rays Of the
midnight sun. Comic tops covered the
plateau and ran over in mighty glaciers.
lie counted as many as 20 Of them in
the close vicincity OF the Bay OF Adair.
On January 18th they sighted Pos
session Island, with its peculiar con-
tours standing out sharply against the
bright sky. They effected successful
landing on the North Island, pulling
their boat upon the shore, and they
were at once furiously attacked by the
penguins which covered the very ground
of the island and seemed much annoyed
by seeing the foreigners intruding on
their domain. Their hoarse screams
filed the air, and it was with a con
siderable strain of his voice that on
landing he addressed his countrymen
in few words, informing them that
they were the second in number to set
foot on that island, and that Sir James
Ross had preceded them. having "a
years ago landed there and planted the
English flag. They gave three cheers
for that great British navigator and
also for Commander Capt. Svend Foyn,
who so bravely sent out that present
Antartic expedition. The ground on
the island was covered with deep
layer Of guano, which, in time, might
prove very valuable to Australasia.
The island consisted Of volcanic, vesi-
cular lava, rising in tho southwest into
two pointed peaks of 300 feet in
height. He scaled the highest Of these
and called it Peak Archer, after Mr..
A, Archer, NJ. L. A., Of Northampton,
Queensland. To the west the island
rose gently upward, forming bold
and conspicuous cape, which, not being
named by Sir James Ross, it was left
10 him to ehristen. He gave it the
name of Sir Fcrd. Won Mueller, whose
scientific fame he already as boy had
learned to value on the continent. He
quite unexpectedly found vegetation
on the rocks, about 30 feet above the
sea level. Vegetation never was dis
covered in so southerly ATTITUDES be-
fore. Possession Island was situated
in latitude II. Sc, longitude III. 10. 1t
was remarkably free from snow He
judged it from 300 to $50 acres in size,
and they gave it the name of Sir James
Ross Island. On February 20th they
steamed southwards, and sighted Col
man Island on the 2lst at midnight.
Finding the eastern cape Of this large
island unnamed, they called it Cape
Oscar, in honor Of his Majesty, the
King of Norway, whose birthday it
happened to be on that day. He
noticed great irregularities in their
compass at Colman Island. Undoubt-
edly that island contained secrets of
scientific value, which would be well
worth the attention of future Antarctic
researches. On the 22d they were in
"A S. No whales appearing, it was
| decided to head northwards again,
although they all regretted that circum-
stances did not permit them to proceed
further south.
On the 23d they were again at Cape
Adair. They landed that night being
| the first human creatures who ever
poot foot on the mainland. The pen
gums were, ifpossilbe, even more mum
erous here than on the Possession Is
land, and they were discovered on the
very cape as far up as LOCO feet. In
latitude 66, longitude 172. 81, they ran
into open water again, having this
time only spent six days in the ice
pack. On the 18th the aurora APP
peared stronger than he ever saw the
aurora borealis in the north. ii rose
from southwest stretching in a broad
stream up towards zenith, and again to-
wards the eastern horizon. The mini
mum temperature within the Antarctic
circle which they experienced was %
degrees F., the maximum being As de-
grees Il. The average temperature for
January and February kept very much
the same. The temperature of the
water kept at y degrees #. all through
the ice pack, always rising one degree
where larger sheet Of water broke the
ice fields In the large bay at South
Victoria Land the temperature kept
constantly about freezing point. 1t
was evident that warm, north-run-
ming current existed in the bay, which
undoubtedly had constant direction
northwards and broke the ice fields at
the very place where first Sir James
Ross and then they successfully pene-
trated to the open bay Of Victoria
Land. Within d e Antartic circle the
barometer at 20 always indicated calm,
beautiful clear weather, and even down
to % it kept fine. This low baromet-
| Ifsnf IL
the dryness of the air should help in
causing high pressure. The move
ment of tho ice distinctly pointed to a
northeasterly direction, and the scar
city OF ice in the Bay of Victoria Land
was undoubtedly not alone owing to
warm currents, but also to the protec-
tion which the bay had against drift
ice by the shore from Cape Adair down
to the volcanoes, the Erebus and Ter
ror, A particular specimen of rock
which he picked up, composed of
| quartz, felspar and garnet fragments
held out some hope that minerals Of
economic value might occur in those
regions.
lie made thorough investigation Of
this landing place because he believed
| that here was the very place where a
future scientific expedition might stop
safely even during the winter months.
! Several accessible spurs led up from
the place where they were to the top of
the cape. From there a gentle slope
led on to the great plateau Of the South
Victorian Continent The presence
of the penguin colony, their undis-
turbed old nests, the vegetation on the
rocks, and the fiat table of the cape
above, all indicated that here was a
place where the unbound powers of the
Antarctic circle did not display the