TO ANTARCTICA

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1081, 21 March 1911, Page 5

TO ANTARCTICA

DR. MAWSON'S EXPEDITION., By Telegraph—Press Af sociation—Copyricht (Ucc. March 20, 10.30 p.m.) London, March 20. Sir Ernest Sluicklcton, leader of the British Antarctic Expedition of 1009, has paid a generous tritmte to Dr. Douglas Mawson, in connection with his work in Antarctic exploration. Sir Ernest added that Australasia gave the first official help to the 1007 expedition, and he hoped tho Home Country would not be backward in showing its sympathy with the Australian expedition for which Dr. Mawson is now endeavouring to procure funds. CHARTING 2000 MILES OF COAST. The. object of Dr. Mawson's proposed expedition is to explore about 2000 miles of as yet unknown coast betwen Cape North on tho cast and Gaussberg, the old wintering place* of the German Antarctic Expedition, on the west. The only part of this coast line about which anything definite is known is Adelie Land, which was discovered by the French explorer Dumont d'Urvillo in 1838-39. The coast-line ill this region has an interest, of its own owing to the fact that Commander AVilkes, in the United States ship Vincennes, shortly after d'Urville's discovery, reported sighting an extensive coast-line which he claimed to have followed in his ship for hundreds of miles. Subsequently Sir .Tames Eoss, in navigating the same region, found deep soundings over part of the area where Wilkes had sketched tho coast-line. Much later the Challenger also disproved the existence of part of Wilkos"s coast-line, and in 1903 Captain Scott, in the Discovery; visiting another portion of the supposed coast-line, as delineated by Wilkes,, found comparatively deep soundings. At the same time, a careful perusal of Wilkes's narrative leaves tho conviction that in places in the area in question, between Cape Adair and Gaussl>erg, he must have been correct as to his observations on the proximity of land. So far as recent explorations by Scott, Shackleton. and the Gauss Expedition have revealed its outline, it is clear that the Antarctic Continent on the side facing Australia and South Africa is of the nature of a high plateau, with a very steen coast rising almost abruptly from sea-level to from 8000 ft. to 10,000 ft. To the west of Cape North the continuation of this coast-line was seen by the British Antarctic Expedition' of 1907-9 extending for fully forty miles further west than the extreme point to which it had been previously traced. As far as the members of that exnedition could judge, the same plateau character of coast-line is maintained, as this newly-discovered land clearly consisted of broad tnble-top-ped hills isolated from ono another by . deeply eroded valleys .occupied by large glaciers.