The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-08-08

ance of land was, however, nothing more
than the upper part of a cloud marking
by well-defined but irregular line the
limit TO which vapor can ascend in these
latitudes Below is vapor in every de-
gree of condensation, above the clear cold
space which VaDor can never attain. 1t is
always near the margin of the ice that
these appearances Of land are most re
markable and most deceptive. 1t proved
a useful lesson to some OF our new hands,
who would not be persuaded il was not
land until we had actually passed over
the place of their baseless mountains"
This entry quoted Will recall wildly 70
the mind of every polar Traveller how Of
ten he was deceived in his earlier explor-
ing days by these remarkable appearances
Of clouds, as well as the peculiar haze
around icebergs, and the mirage. But
Ross expedition steered boldly and yet
cautiously through the huge fields of ice
experiencing alternate fog and sunshine
another peculiar aggraVation to ice-regiOn
voyagers-until at length real land was
espied land in the shape of two magnih-
cent ice-capped noun tains, each more
than seven thousand feet in hight, with
glaciers filing the intervening valleys. At
ter many struggles Ross reached the land
and planted the British flag upon it, dis
lance of about thirteen hundred miles
from the South Pole, or about nine hun
dred and five miles further from the goal
sought IOr lldQ Lieut.. LOCKWOOD Oh the
Greedy expedition, was from the North
Pole when ne planted the STARS and
Stripes" on Greenland's shores. But furth-
er inland Ross is reported to have seen
other and higher mountains. Some days
after this Ross found by observation that
his ship was in latitude rs degrees or
about thousand miles from the pole, and
as it was felt that no other human be-
ings had ever been so near the South
Pole as this, there was great rejoicing on
board both ships.
One incident of this day showed another
of the singular deceptiOns so perpleXing
to Arctic travellers; Ross eyes lighted on
an island where none had been visible two
or three hours before; it was noted to be
about a hundred feet high and free from
snow At the same time a large iceberg
that had been reported suddenly disap-
peared. One phenomenon helped TO eX-
| plain the other; the iceberg had changed
! its center of gravity by the action OF the
| warmer strata of water underneath and
turned completely over. presenting a new
surface covered with earth and stones. Is
lands claimed TO have been seen in the
| Arctic have appeared and disappeared at
ter the same manner. The two noun
tains of Victoria land alluded to were
named after the two ships; one was an
| active volcano twelve thousand feet nigh,
and was named after the Erabus; the
other an extinct volcano, and of less al
| titude. was named the Terror.
The hope that the icy obstacles TO fur
! Their progress would be surmounted by the
! discovery of land was not realized either
! through skill, labor or perseverance. on
! the contrary. the icy barrier became great
err and faced them directly on the south,
! and there was no possibility of penetrat-
! ing through it or climbing over it. Noun
tains over and beyond the ice barrier,
which was about two hundred feet high,
| could be seen in the distance, apparently
! as far as latitude 70 degrees. The ships
turned their prows eastward following
the line of the gigantic ice wall for about
| a hundred miles, and then gave up hopes
| of finding an opening. Ross spent three
! summers in his exploration, while he
| housed his ships in the intervening winter
| either at Tasmania or the Falkland
! Islands. Whenever he got south Of 60
! degrees or so the battling with the ice be-
! gan. In fact, it is the experience with
! ships which run through the Straits of
4 Magellan that they often meet large ice
| bergs, and this is in latitude SO degrees
only The greatest latitude reached by
/ Ross was IS degrees, or about 720 miles
/ from the pole. The object of his expedi-
/ ton, as has been stated, was to reach the
! south magnetic pOle-a different point from
| the south terrestrial pole. The great icy
! barrier prevented the realiza ton of that
| hope but a few years later Lieut.. Moore
] III llt J dSOQds ludlt an expedition TO parts
| of the Antarctic circle that had not be-
| fore been visited. and took magnetic OBJ
! servations that have rendered great serv-
! ice to science, although he did not get
/ within ] 400 miles of the terrestrial pole.
! The South Pole enthusiasts assert that
the knowledge of meteOrology, terrestrial
magnetism and ocean currents has been
! largely increased by the work in the Arc
| tic regions, and that it is desirable now to
compare the abundant facts collected with
| the corresponding conditions and phenom-
| ena in the south frigid zone No Antarc-
tic expedition has had the advantage of
| modern instruments and methods for TAX
| ing scientific observations and if Sir
| James Ross had been a Die to land on the
Antarctic continent, the coast of which
| he surveyed for hundreds of miles, he
| could not have gone far, for sledge trav-
| cling had then no important part in polar
explorations. Steam vessels. by which
| have been accomplished the greatest feats
| of Arctic discovery have not yet been
! used in Antarctic expeditions, and the en-
| tire system of work and living in polar
| regions is now better understood by ex-
/ pertinent and experience than in Wilkes
/ and Ross time. hence greater success
| should come to Antarctic researches. All
that is known of the South Pole at the
| present is this: Nobody has got nearer
/ than within 40 miles of it, icy barriers
/ exist which quite eclipse those Of the
/ North Pole; mountains have been dscov-
| cred of lofty attitudes, some of which are
| active volcanoes; the land is covered with
| snow at all times of the year; no human
! being has ever been met with south of 56
! degrees; no vegetable growth of any mo-
| ment has been seen beyond IS degrees (;
no land quadruped is known to exist be-
| yond 63 degeees.
The geology alone Of this land of mys-
| terry and wonder seems 20 afford a vast
| amount Of entertaining instruction. for in
| no other part OF the world do frost and
| fire hold such undivided sway. The vol
| cano known as Mount Terror" belches
| forth lava and ashes over the snow and
| ice. In an probability an investigation OF
| the rock formations Of the Antarctic con-
| tinent would tell a wonderful story of it's
! history in ages past.
Il
An AVAIANCuE m NANCY