The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-12-27
ANTARCTIC EXPLORATIONS.
EpitOme Up to Date of What Has Been
Done in that Field.
London Times

LONDON IlmeS
At the London Institution DR.. r. H. Mill
delivered a lecture entitled THE Story of
the Antarctic" in which he briefly traced
the history of antarctic exploration. Begin
ming with the early Greek idea of the world
as fiat disc, surrounded by the River
Oceanus, he showed how this was gradually
modified by the notion of the spherical form
Of the earth and the increase of knowledge
generally. till in the second century was
found on Ptoemy's great map the first con-
ception of that antarctic continent which
hal given rise to so many daring explora-
tions Then followed a long period of in
tellectual sleep, the depth of which was IL
Illustrated from two maps in which the earth
was again represented fiat as pancake.
The lecturer then referred to the voyages
of the Portuguese, and described how Vasco
da Gamas discovery of the open sea route
cut off Africa from the antarctic continent.
After a mention of the theoriZng of the
sixteenth century. including Leonardo da
Vincis lucky guess at the form of the land
under the southern pole, he described the
Spanish attempts to find an independent
passage to the Spice Islands. and told how
Magellan, who missed Australia by about
one hundred miles showed that the CONT
nents of the north were cut off from the
antarctic continent. In 1872 French expedi-
ton was sent to look for the supposed far
southern land, and later the two eXpedl-
tons of Kerguelen resulted in the discov-
ton.
But it was not only the French army who
were seized with the idea of the greatness of
the southern land. A Scotchman named
DdlryMpl6 was so convinced OF the immense
extent of UNEMPLOYED territory in the south
that he obtained the concession of the
rights to exploit it. The first ship, however,
to cross the antarctic circle was that of his
rival, Captain Cook 1t was the latter who,
in his second voyage, undertaken to find out
whether there was any continent, gave the
first real account OF the Southern ocean,
and proved there was mo southern land
reaching up into the temperate zone.
Thenceforward antarctic exploration be-
came a scientific. not a commercial ques-
ton. Between 1897 and 1S43 three great gov
eminent expeditions We're dispatched-one
American, one French and one British, UNI
der Ross The achievements of the last
named explorer, who was accompanied by
Sir Joseph Hooker now the last survivor of
the expedition, were briefly described and
it was mentioned that he reached as far
south as Baffin and Hudson had reached
north three hundred years ago. A period
Of aVerted interest ensued, broken in 1882
by the visit of Dundee and Norwegian
whalers to those southern regions. The
the antarctic circle, and its results were in
teresting, because they indirectly proved the
existence of land within the circle. At the
present time two expeditions were in the
field-one sent out from Belgium, the other
by Sir George Newnes.
After showing some statistical diagrams,
intended to make the audience realize the
huge extent OF the UNEMPLOYED area lying
under the southern pole. the lecturer con-
Guided by referring to. the German expedi-
ton now being organized, and to the et-
forts put forth by the Royal Geographical
Society, after failing to gain the aid OF the
government to obtain the interest and sup
port of the public for British antarctic
expedition