FRENCH EXPLORERS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 817, 14 May 1910, Page 9

FRENCH EXPLORERS.

»-— DR. CHARCOT'S;NARRATIVE. AN ANTABCTIC EXPEDITION. The following account of Dr. Charcot, Antarctic expedition in the Pourquoi-pas was written by the distinguished French explorer himself, and is tie firet full and connected narrative of Dr. Charcots travels. Dr. Charcot* writes*— On leaving Deception Island (htt. 62deg. 55min. S.); wo made our way to Port Lockray, where we commenced onr work. On January 1, Godefroy,' Jacques, Gonrckra, and I made a reconnaissance to find a better shelter, when we found, at Petermann Island, the harbour which we named, in honour of the day, "Circumcision." A few days after wo brought the Pourquoi-pas round, having escaped from Wandel without suffering on* serious damage by gently wriggling round.the icebergs. I set out the sama day with Godefroy and Gourdon to explore the South, chiefly- to climb some eminence to ece whether we had any channels to pass with the Pourquoi-pas between Biscoe Islands and the coast. As wo reckoned upon returning the same dav w-e 3tad -taken neither supplies nor change 2ii C J otIMS ; 0m mission was easily fulfilled, and we saw that the coast wag blocked; but when we wanted to retrace pur steps w? found that our path was quite b ocked by the ice. During a four days blinding snowstorm we struggtea to bberate ourselves--1 will pass over tas details of that trial.. " —o Violent Weather. Petermann Island we went'••'to. wardsjhe South, skirting the coast, and completing the chart of the Francois. We found the bay wiich was marked by fendleton, the American whaler, and discovered to the north of Adelaide Island a large bay, which we have since named Matha Bay. We next took hvdrographio observations of Adelaide Island, which has, a 'very peculiar .configuration. But instead 01 being eight miles in length, as is generally supposed, the configuration has a length of seventy miles! South of Adelaide, in a region neither explored nor ever seen, we discovered a great bay, which I have named Marguerite. Wo entered here, despite the reefs and compact ice, and anchored at a little islo which I named "Jenny," after Bonsrain'a wife. We now encountered such violent weatto for four days that it was a miracle, the vessel escaped. An enormous iceberg appeared in front of us, from which -only • a series of tacks saved us. During our sojourn at that little island three of my men made a two days' excursion, which enabled them to explore the seas between Adelaide and Terre Loihefc. To the south of Marguerite Bay we were continually fighting our way through io» and icebergs, but we managed to take soundings of the 6ea bottom around 120 miles of unknown coast. After two attempts to find our way across the ice to Alexander Land, we decided to abandon the project till the following summer. A Painful Winter. Our winter station was organised aa comfortably as possible. Numerous observation were taken with the electric light, and during a three days' tour I found that the movable house of the Francais made a more comfortable cbservatory. During the autumn we made numerous excursions. We saw no sun for five days; the: wind blew strongly froin the north-east, and the snow fell heavily. The ice floes were continually shifting. Many icebergs passed. Despito all precautions, our barrier was frequently broken. The ship was often in danger, and her rudder was smashed, wo constructed a new one by_ cutting: up .a spar. "..*" , .;

An expedition to cross Graham's Land was prepared with great care. I • intended to load it myself, but I was disabled by scurvy. Gourdon took my place, setting out with six companions. They brought back some interesting .obsecva--1 tions, but were unable ijjo scale J,',thdJ;in- ' strrmountable barrier 1 . qf. granite "and-, ice. Other excursions were also made. After considerable trouble, towards the end of November, we were able to Ret the ship j free. We returned to Deception Maid. I where we found some whalers who had. been held up by ice and bad. weather. Here wo were heartily welcomed by M, Andresen and Ms wife on the Chilian steamer Gobernador Bories. With great generosity they helped us by all means at their disposal, and supplied us with 100 tons of coal by order of the Magellan Whalers' Society. As our vessel was making two tons of water per. hour, the diver who had attempted to refloat: the steamer Telefon, stranded the year before, examined our keel. Prom' Deception Island I wanted to make for Joinyilio Land to seek for. fossils, but the ice very quickly compelled me to change my plan. We did not wish to endanger our journey southward or to suffer the fate which betel the Antarctic in the same latitude. After a brief struggle we were beaten back to Bridgeman Island, where wo. landed; then to Admiralty Bay and the.south coast of the Shefclands, where we did some good work.

Thence we set out to tie south, the weather all along being bad and misty, and tie ice and icebergs abundant. Nevertheless, we were able to go beyond all the latitudes attained, to 'the southwest of Alexander Land, and to complete the chart.

We then discovered a - series of new lands to the south and west of Alexander Land, in an unexpected glace, thus solving an important problem. The deplorabta ice-belt barred our nearer approach; in one hour we got no further than ten yards! . We continued :onr route by following the ice barrier until: we reached Peter I Island, which has not been .seen" since Bellingshausen discovered it. There we wero overwhelmed by a tempest and thick mist, during which we had to steer carefully among the icebergs,-' They were so numerous that I estimated we saw more than 5000 of them in' less than a week, We had to d-rift, without steam, all the time, through a fog so denso that we could not see furthor than twenty yards ahead. Despite this and the strong gusts of wind we reached the 126th-dogrea long. W.,. having sailed from the place where the Belgica set out, between, 69deg. and 71de§. Int., that is to say, well to the south of both Cook and Bellingshausen. Our stock of coal being exhausted, the health of several of the party became alarming. We had 1 to turn our faces northward; for a long time the icebergs had beer, innumerable, but they gradually.diminished, and finally we saw the last. The crossing of the Antarctic to Capo Pillar was extremely rapid, thanks to an uninterrupted series of south-westerly and north-north-westerly winds, but the sea was terrific. In ten days we arrived at the' entrance" of th« Magellan Straits.