Weekly independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1887-1914, 1895-12-01
ANTARCTIC CONTINENT.
A Body OF Land Twice as Largo
as Europe.
The Interesting Investigations of = Nor
wsEian In the Southern Polar Sea
"A Close Approach to
the South Pole.

Herr Bo~rchgrevinck, the Norwegian
explorer, who recently read before the
Geographical congress u paper describe
ing his voyage toward the south pole in
an Australian whalcr, the Antarctic.
shipped MS a common sailor before tho
mast and devoted all his spare time to-
the collection of data relating to til.
fauna and flora of the south pole region.
The whalcr left Melbourne on Sep
TENDER 20, 1894. Icebcrgs from orc hun
drcd to one hundred and fifty feet high
were encountered south of Campbell!
Islands although the temperature Of III"
water was only 81 degrees Fahrenheit.
An immense barrier of iccbcrgS was
sighted on November Z, extending sixt,
miles nom the east to the southwest.
and the ship was obliged to alter her
course to escape il. Pack ice was found
in latitude Gs degrees As minutes south
and longitude III degrees 50 minutes
cast. Blue" whales were found here
i'll great abundance, and petrels and
penguins were so numerous that many
were EASILY Knocked over \ curious
seal, with an abnormally thick neck
and no ears, was shot in this region.
On December 81 the sun shonc bright
~ ut midnight, ard the Antarctic sa-
lntch the new year with her guns by
it's light. Thirty-cight days were
spent in forcing their WAY through
the pack ice. They emerged into a
clear, open sea, and sighted Cape Adair
i'll Victoria Land on January 10. Thi,
cape is of Gasaltic rock and rises to n
height of four thousand feet above the
sea. Some of the peaks of Victoria
Land seen from the cape are twelve
thousand feet high. Traces of y re-
Gently active volcano were discovered.
and n cape, not on the charts, = n
found This was named Cape Oscar, in
honor OF the king of Norway and
Sweden.
The party aftcrward landed on Cap.
Adair, and were the first human beings
who ever set not on that shore. Their,
are n natural hrcakwatcr and a fine la,
mt this point. Some signs of vegetation
were discovered. One remarkable
feature of this trip was that At no time
did the temperature fall below - de-
grccs, and that on one occasion il rns
as high as 10. There were urmis,al
able Indications of an extensive north.
crly warm current. The weather wms
calm and beautiful when the barometer
registered as low MS os.
Herr Borchgrcvinck asserted that n
ship could safely spend the winter at
Cape Adair, and recommended TIA, tL:..
point he made the base of opCrntionsor
the next exploring party. lie ahdc!
that he would willingly Road an 800
dition which should spend the vim;
months there, and that such Il party
WITH dogs and sle'l"cs could caaily
reach the south magnetic role. one hun
drcd and sixty miles away.
lie thought that a scientific cxpndi-
ton would achieve great success fror
the point of view of territorial murn,,
ism alone. This great antarctic ccl..
tincnt, the explorer said. probably co,
cred an area of eight million miles. o.
twice that Of Europe.
The Investigations of Herr Horch-
Ercvinck open n wide field for iuycsti.
CATION and for equally entertaining
speculation.
For instance. seals were found whose
h'H'S ih"E'cd marks of STRUGGLES with
nnimals having teeth and !"'.ug frr ~
tcrcni from their own. WHAT sort Of
creature this is can only - gucsscd.
ana ever that not very cl"r IS.
Creatures long surpu' It 70 hr cytirrt
have been found alive ard ru:,a ri home
IN uDfrcquCntCh II ~. cnr,h.
ana Z Co.'S not srcm IL r,ialIc tI,n.
Soin" im'1rtint discoveries in this di.
rrciion VIII soon he made. All evil
dcnrc to III" contrary is purely mega.
tivc.-N. 7. Sun.