The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-08-20
ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION
THE BRITISH AND GERMAN CAM
PAIGN TOWARD THE SOUTH POLE.
A WeII-Equipped Expedition on Sci
entifc Lines, Led by Capable and
Experienced Commanders.
.ondon Letter in New York Tribune.

cOvery VIII swing out OF ner Dertn IN the
East India docks tomorrow forenoon. and
head for Portsmouth or Cowes. She will
anchor in the Spithead for two or three
days for final preparations, and the king
will probably go on board and inspect the
deck. cabins and working rooms. BY the
end of a week the Discovery will be on her
way to Melbourne and Victoria Land. l
went over the ship yesterday. and was i'm
pressed with the strength of the hull and
with the ingenuity of the arrangements
for scinetifc work and the comfort of the
crew during the long voyage. The Discov-
cry is a small steamer of about two
thousand tonnage, with three masts, com
pletely rugged and a fairly powerful en-
CINE. She has accommodations for about
forty-four men, officers, scientific staff and
crew. There are working rooms on deck for
the scientific staff, and the cabins, library,
messrooms and kitchen have been specially
designed for the convenience and comfort
of the officers and crew during a voyage or
two years devoted to exploration. The decks
yesterday were Uttered with stores which
had not been stored in the hold, and car
penters and shipwrights were at work upon
various alterations and appointments; but
while the confusion of the final prepara-
tions was apparent, the superiority of this
exploring ship over the steam whaler or
dinarily pressed into service for arctic
or antarctic voyages was obvious. 1t was a
working place for a trained body of scien-
tific observers and a snug and comfortable
home for the crew during the long antarctic
night. The main cabin was a model of
convenience, with compartments adjoining
1T lined with wen-stocked book shelves and
rff1n hnnP1G and dnaLa M nha NUnG
we'll appointed, and there were systematic
arrangements for the storage of supplies.
The engine room was small, but convenient
and serviceable, and the deck mechanism
was complete for navigation in the ice and
for scientific observations. The blue peter
has seldom fioated over a ship which has
been designed with more forethought and
practical skill for scientific service. With
her black hull, her yellow masts, her eight
white lfeboats, the Discovery is a trim
and handsome craft, and in construction
she is as scientific as the commission which
she has received from two great societies.
COMPLETE COOPERATION.
The Discovery will represent the Royal
Society and the Royal Geographical So
ciety in its southern voyage for the adj
vancement of science. There is complete
cooperation between the councils of the
two learned societies, and the members
of each body have subscribed literally
toward the expenses of the expedition.
There has also been a treasury grant, and
the Admiralty has rendered important aid
by supplying scientific instruments and APP
p~liances, by enabling four naval officers
as well as a small number of seamen to
omp the expedition without forfeit
ing their usual pay and allowances, by
providing naval stores for the cruise of
three years at cost price and by allowing
one of the chief naval constructors, Mr.. w.
T.. Smith. TO design and superintend the
building of the shin. The Discovery was
built by the Dundee Shipbuilding Company
after veteran explorers. such as Sir Leo
pold McClintock and Sir Clements r. Mark
ham. had been convinced that a vessel must
be specially designed for navigation in the
southern ice. 1t is one of the strongest
vessels ever constructed in a Scotch ship
yard, and is the first ship ever built in
Great Britain exclusively for exploration
and scientific work. Not only have the
lines been designed and the timber selected
for the special purpose of Offering resist
ance to the tremendous pressure of the
antarctic pack. but the magnetic observa-
tory has also been so arranged that there
is neither steel nor iron within thirty feet.
The ship bears a name already famous in
the literature of exploration. Baffin, Van
couver, Cook and Stephenson each COM
manded a good ship Discovery in their
voyages in unknown waters.
SIMULTANEOUS WORK.
Sir Clements r. Markham arranged two
years ago with DR.. Won Drygalski, COM
mander Of the German antarctic expedi-
ton, a joint plan of simultaneous opera
tions in southern waters. The quadrant
approached from the South Atlantic, ex-
tending from the Greenwich meridian to 80
degrees west. is left out of account, since
there is little chance Of penetrating the ice
pack south OF Cape Horn. the South DIRK
neys, Graham island and Alexander island.
The German expedition, which is about TO
start from Kiel, will explore the quadrant
stretching from the Greenwich meridian to
80 degrees east, and approached from the
Indian ocean. After establishing a meteor
illogical station on Kerguelen island ii will
head for Enderby Land, the range of ice
cliffs with a northern face sighted by Bis
coe in 1881. and follow the eastern trend of
the coast southwark as far as there may
be navigable water. After reaching as high
a latitude as possible In a sea which is be-
lieved TO be free from icebergs, the expedi-
ton will winter on the west coast of Vic
toria Land and attempt to open communi-
cations with the British expedition. The
two remaining quadrants, approached from
the Pacific. New Zealand and Australia,
and extending from 80 degrees to $50 de-
grees west and thence to 80 degrees east,
will be undertaken by the Discovery. From
Melbourne and Lyttleton the British expe-
dition will be headed for the east coast of
Victoria Land and along the range of ice
cliffs discovered by Sir James Ross and
recently visited by Captain Borchgrevink.
The ice pack will possibly be sighted in
December and the ship forced through II
into the south water. and the coast will be
followed eastward as far as possible. The
expedition. according to the general plan
of operations, will winter either in Wood
bay or in McMurdo bay, at the bottom OF
Mount Erebus. With the return of full
daylight sledging parties will he sent out
and the land explored south, east and west.
The second navigable season Will be occu-
pied with exploration westward of Cape
Adare. and the ship will return to New
Zealand. If all goes we'll. in April, 1908, and
proceed with a magnetic survey across the
Pacific, reaching England In August.
THEORY OF A NAVIGABLE SEA.
These explorations are conducted on the
principle that a navigable sea may usually
be expected on the eastern side of antarctic
coasts. with lanes or open water along the
northern trend. Enderby Land. with its
range of ice cliffs and indications of noun
tains running north and south. suggests
the existence OF an extensive mass of land.
If the Germans can find an eastern trend
of coast. they may make as close an APP
proach TO the south pole as Sir James Ross
and Captain Borchgrevink succeeded IN
doing of Victoria Land; and II there be no
reach OF open water southwark, they can
follow the C~hallenger's track along the line
of pack ice to the mysterious lands diScov-
cred by Wilkes and DumOnt d'Urville to-
ward Victoria Land. The work Of the Brit
ish expedition is more definite. because
Victoria Land, with its volcanic mountains
and ice barrier. is known TO be an extern
siVe coast. with "A long line of ice cliffs
stretching from Mount Terror eastward for
four hundred miles. A scientific
ton OF the origin and extent of this ice
barrier is one of the chief objects of the