The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1896-03-05
After tile South Pole.

G. +. Borchgrevink, the Norwse'
gian explorer. writes 9 graphic &c,
count Of THE First Landing o. The
Antarctic Continent for The Can.
fury. The writer says:
We landed at Cape Adare that
night (Jan. 90, 1886, benl 8 the first
human creatures to put foot on The
mainland. "A peculiar feeling IS las.
oination crept over each Of us, even
to the most prosaio natures ia our
boat, as we gradually drew near tc
the beach Of this unknown land.
Some few cakes of ice We're floating
about, and looking over the side OF
the boat Ieven discovered a Jelly
fish, apparently Of the common light
blue, transparent kind. l do not
know whether it was to catch The
jellyfshy or from a strong desire to
be the first man to put foot On This
terra inoognita, but as soon as the
order was given to stop pullingthe
oars I jumped over: the side Of The
boat. l thus killed two birds with
one stone, being the first man on
shore, and relieving the boat Of my
weight, thus enabling her to ap-
proach land near enough to let the
captain Jump ashore dryshod. A
I had painted Norwegian flag on
a large box. which we fastened on a
strong pole near the place whereswe
landed, and leaving the rest Of. the
crew to be entertained by the pen
gums I proceeded alone to investi-
gate the peninsula and to make col
lections. I found seaweed on the
beach, but whether. it had grownEon
the shores of Victoria Land remains
to be ascertained in the future
I believe that Cape Adare is the
very place where future scientific
expedition might stop safely. even
during the winter months. From
the spot where we were several &C
cessible spurs lead up to the top of
the cape, and from there a gentle
slope runs on to the great plateau of
Victoria Land. The presence Of the
penguin colony, their undisturbed
old nests, the appearance of dead
seals (Which were preserved like
Egyptian mummies, and must have
lain there for years., the vegetation
to the rocks and lastly the fat table
Of the cape above, all indicated that
here is q place where the powers of
the antarctic circle do not display
the whole severity Of their forces.
Neither ice nor volcanoes seemed to
have ragged on the peninsula at Cape
Adare, and I strongly recommend a
future scientific expedition to choose
that place as q center of operations.
On this particular spot there is am
pie space for house, tents and pro
visions. ........ ~ g.. g .i9sStS,.
I myself am willing 70 be- the
leader of . party to be landed either
ON the pack or ON the mainland mar
Oolman Island. From there it q ~
scheme to work toward the s.soufh
magnetic pole, calculated to be -
latitude Is degrees ! minutes. longt
tude $50 degrees east. Should tho
party succeed in penetrating. 50 far
into the continent. the course should,
if possible, be laid for Cape AdareI
there to join the main body Of the
expedition. AS to the geological re-l
suits of future researches, I expect;
great discoveries. It would indeed;
be remarkable if on the unexplored,
Victoria continent, which probably
extends over an area of 1900, 600.
square miles, there should not be-
found animal life hitherto unknown
in the southern hemisphere. Tt Isl,
of course, possibility that the IN.
known land around the axis: of. rota-t
ton might be found to consist of ISL
lands joined only by perpetual ice.
and snow, but the appearance of the
land, the color of the water, with
it's soundings, in addition to the.
movements of the antarctic ice,s
point to the existence of a mass Of:
land much more extensive than a.
mere group of islands. II