Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1896-02-13
THE NEW CONTINENT.
Herr Borchgrevinck's Interesting Adven-
tures In the Antarctic REGIONS.

Herr Borchgrevinck's Interesting Adven-
lures In the Antarctic Regions
Herr Borchgrevinck, the Norwegian
explorer, who recently read before the
Geographical congress paper describ-
ing his voyage toward the south pole in
an Australian whaler, the Antarctic.
shipped as a common sailor before tho
mast and devoted all his spare time to
the collection of data relating to the
fauna and fora of the south pole region.
The whaler left Melbourne on Sep
tember 20, 1894. Icebergs from one hun
dred to one hundred and fifty feet high
were encountered south of Campbell
island, although the temperature of the
water was only 81 degrees Fahrenheit.
An immense barrier of icebergs was
sighted on November Z, extending sixty
miles from the east TO the southwest,
and the ship was obliged to alter her
course to escape it. Pack ice was found
in latitude 6s degrees As minutes south
and longitude III degrees 30 minutes
east. BLUE" whales were found here
in great abundance, and petrels and
penguins were SO numerous that many
were easily knocked over. A curious
seal, with an abnormally thick neck
and no ears, was shot in this region.
On December 81 the sun shone bright
ly at midnight, and the Antarctic sa-
luted the new year with her guns by
its light. Thirty-eight days were
spent in forcing their way through
the pack ice. They emerged into
clear, open sea, and sighted Cape Adair
in Victoria Land on January 16. This
cape is of basaltic rock and rises to a
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 re-
Gently active volcano were discovered,
and cape, not On the charts, was
found. This was named Cape Oscar, in
honor of the king of Norway and
Sweden.
The party afterward landed on Cape
Adair, and were the first human beings
who ever set foot on that shore. There
are a natural brealwater and a fine BAY
at this point. Some signs of vegetation
were discovered. One remarkable
feature of this trip was that at no time
did the temperature fall below IS de-
grees, and that on one occasion ii rose
as high as 40. There were unmistak-
able indications of an extensive north
erly warm current. The weather was
calm and beautiful when the barometer
registered as low as 2S.
ship could safely spend the winter at
Cape Adair, and recommended that this
point be made the base of operations of
the next exploring party. He added
that he would willingly lead an expe-
dition which should spend the winter
months there, and that such a party
with dogs and sledges could easily
reach the south magnetic pole, one hun
dred and sixty miles away.
He thought that scientific expedi-
ton would achieve great success from
the point of view of territorial magnet
ism alone. This great antarctic con-
tinent, the explorer said, probably COW
cred an area of eight million miles, or
twice that of Europe.
The Investigations of Herr Borch-
grevinck open a wide field for investi-
CATION and for equally entertaining
speculation.
For instance, seals were found whose
hides showed marks of struggles with
animals having teeth and talons far diff
ferent from their own. What sort Of
creature this is can only be guessed.
and even that not very clearly.
Creatures long supposed to be extinct
have been found alive and quite at home
in unfrequented corners of the earth.
and It does not seem improbable that
some important discoveries in this d.
rection will soon be made. All evil
dence 10 the contrary is purely mega
tive.-N. Y. Sun.