The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-03-09
| a.. = 4 degrees. 20 minutes south

\
oning. To their great satisfaction they
| found that the dead reckoning and
| observation were exactly alike at 81
1 degrees, is minutes south latitude.
Now they found themselves In fiat
| plateau marked only here and there
with tiny sastrugi, In the afternoon
| Of this day, December Sth. Amundsen
and his party passed IS degrees, 70
minues south latitude, which was
/ Shackleton's farthest point south.
! They continued on and reached So
! degrees. rs minutes, the farthest south
| up to that time. They camped for
| the night. and on the morrow estab-
| lixhed their Last depot not ten minutes
! farther south than SIS degrees. rs min
utes.
| On to the Pole.
| Here the plateau commenced to
slope down quite slowly and very
smoothly, towards the other side. They
reached So degrees. 90 minutes on
| December Q. On December 10 they
| gained IS degrees 81 minutes: De-
| cember II, 50 degrees. Ia minutes:
and en- December 18th, 50 degrees.
| 80 minutes, within half a degree of
! the pole.
1t was on to the pole now, and on
December 18th the mark OF 50 degrees,
| IS minutes was attained. Up to this
time the observation and dead reck-
| oning had agreed remarkably well. and
they figured that they ought to be
at the pole on December IA.
To their great satisfaction the az
terLoon of that day was clear and
beautiful. There were only a light
breeze from the southeast, and the
temperature was minus % degrees.
Sledging was perfect and the day went
on without noticeable incidents until
p. NJ, when tkey came to a halt
kinp Haakon VII Plateau.
According to their reckoning they
had reached their destination.
The colors. beautiful silken flag.
was broken out. and all hands gath
cred around and took hold of the
standard and planted 1t on the spot
The explorers gave to this vast plateau
where they reached the bottom OF the
earth, the name of The kim Haakon
VII. Plateau" II appeared so -. a
vast plain very much alike In all d.
rections.
During the night the explorers cir
eleA- their camp mite after mite TN
! radius OF 10 kilometers. On the fol-
lowing day In the fine weather rsat
| continued. series of observations
were taken which lasted from a. NJ
| Until + me result gave them
SO degrees, SIS minutes. This was
really at the pole. but In order to OBJ
serve the position Of the pole as close
| iy as possible, thew travelled as near
true south as they could FOR the re-
naming klometers. On December
ls they reached the true pole, and
there they camped. II was an ex-
celient day and they grasped the OPP
! portunity for observation.
| Under the brilliant sun four men,
GF he ,ts.r,
every hour of the day for - hours.
! The exact result If these observations
Will be matter for expert examIna-
ton, but there is no doubt In the
minds OF Amundsen and his men that
/ they camped on the South Pole, and
eircled 1t many times
! II is certain that they observed the
position of the pole as closely as 1t
Is IN the human power 10 do so with
instruments such as the expedition
carried. namely. sextant and artif-
a radius of kilometers.
Norwegian Home at Pole.
Observation at an cad, on Deem
/ Der II. they fastened TO the ground
/ little taoin taoin taoin taoin n
along with them and broken from its
top the Norwegian tag and the pen
nant from the Fran. Ii was a Nor
wegsan home raised on the South
Pole and was given the name OF Pol
helm.
The explorers found that the dis
lance from their winter quarters 10
! the pole was about l.400 kilometers,
so that on an average they had
/ marched 25 kilomaters q day from
the time they started.
The return trip began on Decefn Der
IL and was inaugurated in fine
weather. All the way back sthe
weather proved unusually favorable.
and made the journey much easier
than had been the march In search
OF the pole The winter quarters,
which the party named Franheim,
| We're reached on January IS. 1912
The explorers returned with two
| sledses. eleven dogs and ali the party
we'll Their speed on the return trip
| averaged SO kilometers a day. The
lowest temperature experienced on
the return journey was minus 81,
and the highest minus 8 Celsius.
/ On recapituiation II was found that
the chief results Of the expedition
! other than reaching the pole are the
determination of the extent and char
acter OF the Ross Barrier. the dis
eoyery of the connection of South
| Victoria Land and probably King Ed
warn A~Hnu, Win tneif continuation
in the eight mountains running to-
wards the southeast. which were re-
observed as far as SIS degrees south
latitude, but which in all probability
continue across the Antarctic CONT
nent. that the entire length of the
newly discovered mountains was
about $50 kilometers. This new range
OF mountains has been given the
name OF Queen Aaud,s- rang
The expedition to King Edward
Land under command of Lieutenant
Prestud achieved excellent results,
/ ana SCOTS discoveries sxere confirm
ed
A survey Of the Bay Of Whales and
of the ice barrier surface by 4 party
of the expedition Ia considered to be
OF great interest. Also there is a good
geological collection from King Ed
ward Land and South Victoria Land.
This has been brought along on the
Fran. which arrived in the Bay of
Whales on January 9th. having been
delayed on account of easterly winds
Diis January 18th the Japanese ex-
petition arrived at the Bay OF Whales.
and landed on the ice barrier near
the Amundsen winter quarters.
The Fran left the Bay of Whales
on January goth. owing to contrary
winds, Il was q long voyage to Tas-
mania. It arrived safe. however. with
all well on board.