New-York tribune., 1905-11-05

nave prgTasd US W ".n are ooSng up broad deep
inlet or strait which stretches away to the south
west for thirty forty miles before 1t reaches us
boundary of Cliff and snow slope. Beyond. rising
the distant range against the pale blue. sky the
outline of the mountain ridge rises and fails over
eliminates in the lofty summit of Mount Marhn&In-
The two sedge journeys next in importance
were the one undertaken by Captain Scott the
following summer to the westward from Ross
Island go miles into the interior ice plateau OF
South Victoria Land, and that conducted to the
southeast over the Great Barrier, by Lieuten-
ant Royds. The latter was without especial
incident but Captain Scotts inland excursion
over the glacier surfaces was as full Of advent
ure and hairbreadth escapes as a dime novel
The Discovery was frozen in for two years,
and when she was visited by the second relief
expedition it was feared that she would have
to be abandoned. At the last moment.
however, the ice broke away nearly to the YES
sell and few powerful charges of guncotton
completed her release. only to leave her at the
mercy of a sudden tempest. which forced her
aground and nearly wrecked her Fortunately.
her stout frame Withstood the terrific shocks
as the waves pounded her again and again into
her rocky bed, and a change of tide enabled her
to work off with fatal damage done
Among the more important conclusions at
which Captain Scott has arrived as result of
his studies and explorations is that the Antarc-
tic Continent is undergoing rapid deglaciation
and that this, oddly enough. as it must seem to
the layman, is due to an increasingly colder
temperature. For the colder the air the less
moisture it will hold. and the less will fall
At present the interior icecap of South Vic
toria Land stands $500 feet above sea
level. and this plane did not vary more than
foo ~, ifyrHo in he
hundred miles travelled it by the author
after he had reached it's summit Whether"
he saws Eve accept what our imagination must
suggest, or pause at the actual facts which have
been discovered, this great ice sheet IS unique
It has no parallel in the world, and its dis
covery must be looked on as a notable geo
graphical fact" The glaciers of the region.
which are now the largest known in the world.
showed evidence of having been from 5000 to
1900 feet above their present level
Pursuant to his instructions. well as in
accordance with his own isclinations. Captain
Scott sailed the Discovery along the Great Ice
Barrier to it's easternmost extremity and found
that it was indeed fanked by land of volcanic
origin. and of extent that the advancing
season and the necessity of outstanding the
coal supply rendered it impossible for him ac-
curately to determine. 1t appeared to be of
wide expanse and to be dominated by long
ranges of hills from 1000 to 5000 feet high
He named It King Edward VII Land. The
face Of the barrier which rises to an extreme
height Of $50 feet above sea level. extends for
more than five hundred miles between South
Victoria Land and King Edward VII Land and
for unknown distance southwark In the
interior it maintains an almost unvarying level
of about $50 feet above the sea, and must reach
from 1250 to 1890 feet below The author is
convinced that this enormous mass is afOat.
and is moving northward at a fixed rate OF
about third of mile year. yet Its face has
receded thirty miles southwark since Ross
time QS41) through the breaking off OF icebergs
Many other interesting problems are presented
by the strange physical features Of this far
southern region that cannot be considered here
Simply as a story of adventure Captain Scott's
narrative is of the most thrilling and absorbing
character, and its sideights on the limited
fauna Of those Iatitudes are full of interest and
charm