The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1899-04-07
THEY FOUND NEW
ANTARCTIC LANDS
The BeIgica Returns After Fifteen
Months in Unknown Seas.
SHE WINTERE0 IN ANTARCTiCA,
They Found New Lands and Ac-
tive Volcanoes Far TO the South
east of south America.

The Standard Union. of Brooklyn. print
ed the following special cablesram yes
terday afternoon from DR.. Frederick a.
Cook. of Brooklyn. surgeon Of tho Ant
arctic expedition on the Belgian steam
shi) Begica:
"Mcntevideo. Uruguay. April i-rhe
Bcis.ca arrived here this morning. All
wei our Antarctic voyage has been
complete success.
Much new land in Weddell Sea and
open water TO the far south discovered.
Active volcanoes were also seen. come
home direct by early steamer. The BEL
gicl will not return for another winter
as originally planned. We lost men by
accident, but none by disease.
COOK"
Brief rs this dispatch is IL tells enough
10 show that the htue Belgian expedi-
ton has indeed achieved "A brilliant sue
cess. 1t has discovered the first new
land found in Antarctic waters for NIFTY
eight years II has penetrated further
south than any other South Polar eXpedl-
tion. xecept that OF Ross in 1871. Borch-
grevink in 1913 and the same explorer IN
1905. The details given In DR.. COOK 5
dispatch are very meagre. but these Facts
are established.
THE NEW l4ANDS.
The new discoveries OF land have been
made southeast of the termination OF
South America and at least 1900 miles
from Cape Horn. The new lands may be
still more distant from South America,
but as DR.. Cook does not give the highest
southern latitude attained in the large
expause which he calls WeddeI Sea, ana
which Weddell himself named George ".
Sea. we do not yet know the extent oil
her voyage. The discoveries are probably
south Of 74lJ south latitude. the
most southern point attained ny
Weddel in 1893 though they may be to
The east or west OF his route. The
reason favoring the probability that they
are south Of Weddelis furthest Is that
II they were 10 the east or west or ms
route they would very likely have been
seen by Morrel in lSZ3 or by Ross in ls43.
1t seems unlikely however, that the Bel
gica reached point very much nearer
the pole than that attained by Weddeil.
or DR.. Cook would have mentioned 1t a.
one Of the most important successes OF
the expedition.
The only man who ever before pene-
trated that part OF the Antarctic area
was Captain Wedden. a British whsler
who, with a brig OF leo tons and a cutter
OF 65 tons, Ventured far into the Antarctic
Ocean. Though he had only small san
ing vessels, he pushed far south through
sea incumbcred with floating masses or
ice and icebcrgs. ION the goth Feb
ruary 1923. =" he wrote, "our latitude was
"A degrees Is minutes south. and longi-
tude "a degrees l6 minutes. The wind was
blowing from the south and prevented.
what I most desired. our making pro-
gress in that direction. Three ice Islands
dcebergs) were in sight and on one we
perceived a great number of penguins. /
would willingly have explored the south
west quarter. but taking into considera-
ton the lateness of the season and that
We had 10 sail homeward through loo
miles of ocean strewed with ice Islands
icebergs). could not determine other
wise than to take advantage of this IA
vorabe wind for returning.
ICE FIELDS CHANGE.
Admiral Sir Erasmus Ommanney. COM
mentlng on these words of the Marcy
whaler. said in 1890: THE above is an IN
stance of the remarkable changes which
occur in the position OF ice heldS ana
drift ice in the South Polar regions. had
a steam vessel been in that faVorapie
position the extent OF research wouiu
have been much more considerable.
Weddells furthest point Is the most
southern ever reached in the winner
stretching south of the Atlantic. unless
his record has now been surpassed Dy
the Be!gica. which Is highly propaoie.
1t will be observed that the Belgica found
vast expanse OF open water. just as
Weddell did. seventy-flve years earlier.
He entered a perfectly open sea No land
was In sight. but he saw three icebergs.
Whales We're III abundance, and birds,
chiefly pengEins. were in enormous num-
ocrS In the same year. about 100 miles
to the northwest. Morrell also discovered
nearly ice-feld sea. Cook. Wedd"n
and Ross were the only explorers who
ever got south of the SEVENTEEN psrallol
until Borchgrevink steamed into the wa
ters OF Victoria Land about the close OF
1894. 1t Is only just to the earlier dis
coverers to say that they would have
made far more extensive discoveries II
they had bad larger vessels and steam
raver. is 4 IVES thew made evterslve
''s"c"eJes IN small sari-- ves.s's. THE
esbrina WIS cutter ~ fftv-fc-v tons
The Eliza Scott. commanded bv BsI,env.
was craft Of I1 tons. John Bisco's
Tula measured only iD tons. and % %