The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1902-03-06
PERSONALITY OF B0R(HGREVNK PERSISTENT
EXPLORER OF. THE GREAT ANTARCTIC REGIONS

large promontory OF rocks rising UP
toward the ice covered tablelands and
spent some hours ashore. j got sew
eral natural history specimens 10 add 10
the collection that i prepared during
the voyage of the Antarctic"
Three years later. i'm August. 1898.
Borchgrevink was again on his way TO
the southern ocean, this time in com
mand OF well equipped expedition OF
his own. In the good ship Southern
Cross, barkentine rigged vessel with
auxiliary screw and a crew OF thirty
six men, including six scientists.
Borchgrevink sailed TO a point about
1000 miles south of Australia and, after
establishing a camp at Cape Adair.
South Victoria Land, sent the vessel
back, with instructions 10 look him up
year later. 1t was i'm February 1892
that the explorer. with his staff OF six
scientists, two Laplanders and a Nor
wegian sailor, together with ninety
sledge dogs. was landed and left alone
TO brave the season In Antarctica. The
crew of the Belgica had passed the win
ter two years before with their vessel
caught in the fee. but this was the first
camp ever established on the mainland
This isolated place in which Borchgre-
wink and his companions passed the
dreary months. including the long ant
arctic night, at times Drawing a tenn
perature OF IS degrees below zero, he
named Camp Ridley after his mother.
Just a year later the Southern Cross
came back and found the party anx-
iously awaiting her arrival. having ex-
perienced nearly three months of dark
ness. There were no great discoveries
10 record. for no animals of conse-
quence had been found or any vegeta /.
tion larger than lichens. BY means or
sledge Journeys, however, Borchgrevink
had penetrated TO latitude rs degrees so
minutes, the farthest point south ever
trodden by man. Until the reports ar
rive from the expeditions now in the
antarctics this record holds good. The
achievement brings the distance within
between 200 and 500 miles of the south
pole, while the north pole has been ap-
preached 10 within about 240 miles.
But for having made the farthest
south of any explorer and having. as ne
believes. located the magnetic pole OF
| the southern hemisphere Borchgre-
vink's expedition was practically bar
rem of results The Belgica had estab-
| lished the fact that man could winter
| in the antarctics. and her naturalists
| had seen about all that BorchgreviniS
! found in the way of animal life, such as
seals. fishes. penguins. some few in
| sects. etc, while neither expedition had
| discovered absolute evidence of human
| life on the great antarctic continent.
which is estimated to be twice as large
| as Europe.
| Vast glaciers and glaciated plateaus
| and volcanoes frowned upon the ex-
plorers everywhere they went and pre-
| vented access to distant points in the
| interior. Attached to the British expe
\ dition now on the way to the southwark
is 2 complete aeronautic STAFF, will
| balloon equipment so that IL is barrel,
| POSSIBLE that the glaciated cliffs will b,
surmounted.
] That exploration I'm the antarctic Is
| extremely difficult and that relatively
| little attention has been paid to this
region is evidenced by the fact that
| though IL is now sixty years since Ross
made south latitude rs degrees, Borch-
erevink has surpassed that distance
| by only fifty miles or so. But the ar
! dent explorer. still healthy and vigor-
| ous. speaks of undertaking shortly an
| other expedition into Antarctica, this
| time with two ships under his COM
mand. CLAIMING A. BARLOW.