New-York tribune., 1900-12-26

EXpsC1uOn- Illustrated OcldNO' PIP 7'o- ~S~S-~
day & Mcclure.
EXPLORATIONS related in some measure to the
existence and characteristics of an antarctic
continent date back more than three centuries.
But the first band Of human beings to winter
far enough south to lose sight Of the sun was
that which embarked the De Gerlache ex-
pedition. For fully ten weeks in 1898 the
Belgica's company had that experience, thus an
ticipafing Borchgrevinck and his companions by
a year. De Gerlache was shipboard at the
time far south Of Cape Horn Borchgrevinck
was ashore in Victoria Land. in the longitude OF
w-ZeaIand.
The Belgica left Antwerp in August. 1891 A
few weeks later. at Rio Janeiro. she picked up
the only American in the party, DR.. Cook VINO
had previously tried to organize an expedition
Of his own. and was already an expert IN poiar
research. The Belgica vas a steam whaler Oh
go tons. cleaned up and converted into yacht
She was not specially strengthened for an en-
counter with the ice but proved herself equal to
all emergencies. Only 100000 had been raised
for the enterprise and the vessel was equipped
for a stay of little more than year beyond the
confines Of civilization. De Gerlache leIt
Staten Island. near Cape Horn, on January To-
1925 His plan to push southward to the
South Shetlands. go as much further poleWaro
as possible and. when his progress in that dlrec-
zion should be checked by land or ice, turn more
called Graham Land the charts. and per-
hans extending his investigation to Alexander
land The first important step in this pro-
sranme was 10 make soundings south of Terra
del Fuego. in the strait that bears the name
Of Sir Francis Drake. For short distance from
land it was possible to find the submerged
continental plateau at a no great depth
scarcely one thousand feet Then II dropped oL
rather abruptly to FIVE thousand feet. Where
10
stiII lower. and finally sank 1880 feet below the
surface. The South Shetlands rise from another
rlsteau ar extension Of what is believed to be the
antarctic continent and hence they belong TO a
different geographical division from America
A little TO the southwestward of this group
modern charts show a big island marked
Palmer Land" De Gerlache discovered that
this is really an archipelago. and that broad
waterway nearly hundred miles long sep
srafes it from a more continuous strip Of coast
70 the southwark. The passage, which has been
designated "Belgica Strait" reaches northeast
erIy and southwesterly, and the region opposite
the Palmer archipelago was named Dance Land
after the first mate of the Belgicar who died
while the exploration was in progress. Some
thing like five hundred miles Of coast was
charted in this part of the world by the Belgicas
geographers Danco Land is covered with ice,
and rises in steep cliffs from the sea. There are
signs however, that the region has been sinking
OF late, though it is impossible to tell for how
long period this subsistence has been going on
The submerged southern plateau also indicates
that at some remote stage of history the ant
arctic continent approached America more close
IL than it does now And from the fact that the
glaciers there are now receding it is concluded
that the climate is at present milder than it has
been in the past
Before the close Of February, 1898, the Belgica
had forced her way into the ice pack to the
southwestward OF Danco Land. and for the next
thirteen months drifted helplessy with it. In the
summer the tendency was eastward, and IL the
winter in the opposite direction Still. there was
a preponderance Of westward movement, so that
when the yacht emerged from the ice March Il,
1899. she in longitude 103 west and latitude
70:45. A year before she was in longitude 1927
and latitude 50. The nearest approach to the
pole was made in latitude 71:36,O5. During the
period Of drift the Belgica passed occasional
headiands where Graham Land has been sup
posed TO exist. But nothing was seer of con-
unuOus tract southwest OF Danco Land The
sun disappeared May 10 and returned July
~ This long night was preceded and followed
by a twilight that almost equally restric-
tive Of research and depressing to health and
spirits. But whenever it was practicable to do
so the officers and scientific experts of the expe-
dftion went out on the ice. made observations OF
various kinds. took exercise sought game and
met with numerous adventures, pleasant and
otherwise AT times the cold was intense espe-
ciaIy when the wind came over the ice from the
south During calm weather there was little
discomfort from this cause. It is noteworthy
that although the Belgica did not reach as high
latitudes as the Fran by 10 or ID degrees, she
found mean summer temperature differing
less than a degree from that observed by Nan
Tr-hey
whole year in south latitude 1912 C96 C. below
zero) was a trihe lower than that Of North
spitzbergen in latitude 50. The lowest temper
sture observed by the Belgica was experienced
IN September, and was 45 Fair. below zero The
Belglcs burned soft COAL but DR. Cook thinks
that anthracite would be preferable He also
disapproves Of oil for fuel. although he regards
the petroleum lamp the most convenient
source Of light
enormous numbers of penguins were seen.
me Few other birds encountered were the Do
minion seagull. brown seagull. sea swallow,
large petrel. Cape pigeon and coruneulated cor
morant The birds dwelt in cIefts in the cliffs
all except the penguins. Four kinds of seal
We're found-the crab eater WeddeIPs Cor the
tsls9 sea leopard, the true sea leopard and
hoSss seal Beyond some flies mites and pro-
tozoa. no other animal life was observed. The
nora OF the region explored was even more
scanty being represented chiefly by a few
mosses Ichens and a species OF grass However
diatons abounded in some of the dredgings Tbe
blood temperature Of the seals was 9S degrees
Fahrenheit, and Of the penguins lO4 That
such warmth could be maintained when the
water was close 10 the freezing point and the
air far below it illustrates both the wonderfuI
vitality and efficient clothing OF these creatures
When the summer OF 1S9s-'99 was drawing to
e close the Belgica's company grew impatient
over their iupurfSOupnan+