ROMANCE OF THE ANTARCTIC.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1383, 8 March 1912, Page 5

ROMANCE OF THE ANTARCTIC.

HISTORY OF EXPLORATION. THE MARCH OF SCIENCE. In a lecture before the Science Congress at Sydney in January. 1911, Dr. Malison, who was a member of the .scientific staff of tho Shnekletou expedition, and is now leading an Australasian expedition to thf. Antarctic regions, traced the history of Polar discovery in the Southern Hemisphere frcm 1531, the date of the publication of the hypothetical map of Orantius Finnc. "The belief in a vast southern land," he said, "extending over a large area, now known to be oceaii, grew stronger, during the 16th century, owing io the false and unwarranted reports of Portuguese and Spanish navigators. Voyagers travelling eastward from Malacca and westward from South America repeatedly fell in with the very numerous islands of the Pacific, and charted them as projections of the vast southern continent. Thus in 1526' New Guinea, was met with for the first time by a Portuguese. In lali" the Solomon Islands were discovered by the Spaniard Mendana. In ICOG Qnirr.s lauded in the New Hebrides. Sir Francis Drake, the boldest navigator of the Elizabethan age, after having passed through Magellan Strait in the year 1578, was driven south by a storm, and accidentally proved Tierra del Fuego to be an island. To the southward he logged: "The Atlantic Ocenn and the South Sea meet in a most Inrge and free scope." Dutch navigators sailing, south-east from their possessions in the East Indies slowly mapped in the adjoining coast of Australia. 'Jasman finally crowned their efforts by sailing round the south coasl, isolating a great mass of laud, Australia, from the hypothetical continent. Sailing further to I he east, Tasman fell in with New Zealand, which, however, he regarded as a portion of tho southern continent." Cook and Bellingshausen. The various other voyages of exploration up to the time of Captain Cock are briefly sketched. It was Cook who settled for ever the possibility of an extensive .Antarctic continent, except within the ico-iniested region of the fnr south. He inaugurated a new era in long voyages. Then folk/wed the days of the sealers in the south, the voyages of Cook proving a verv profitable investment lor tho nation. During the lurly years of the lflth century, at least, the Americans controlled die'sealing industry. In 1820 Contain Robert Johnson set out fcr New Zealand, with the object of exploring the Antarctic, t'.i the south, but was never huml of again. Early in ISI9, Dr. Mawson went on to relate," the Emperor Alexander 1 decided Io send out an expedition of two ships to the' South Polar regions. Ultimately Admiral Bellingshausen was chosen as commander. The expedition had to sail, however, without a. scientific, staff. When near the Antarctic circle they were rewarded by the discovery of several isolated islands, one of Ihem proving to be a volcano in active eruption. Skirling the pack ice, whilst preserving an caslerly course in as high' a southerly latitude as possible, (hey continued until arriving in the vicinity of Australia. They entered Sydney Harbour' 131 days after leaving Kin Jiinoiio, and received a hearty welcome from Governor .Maeqnaric and the leading citizens of Sydney. Altogel her HcllinsHi.uuen completed a, »ugnilieenl voyage ni' two years' duration with ii loss of only three men. a wonder'j fill record for those days. The Pioneers of Whaling, Among other voyages were those of Enderby brothers, the great pioneers of'the j

whaling industry, who had Bent their ships into tlio southern sens since 1785, instructing their captains to tiike every opportunity to . advance geographical knowledge uf those little-known regions. "There is," snid Dr. Mnwson, "no oilier instance of n private mercantile iirni un(lcrlakiiiß so extensive n series of voyages of discovery without much encouragement in tlio way of pecuniary returns." As n. result (if their enterprise, Messrs. Euderby ultimately obtained from tho British Government a concession for the exclusive possession of the Auckland Isles for a whaling station, and the Southern Whnlo fishing Company was established. Scientific Renaissance. Then followed a scientific renaissance. The nations woke up to tlio importance of scientific, observations in. high latitudes, especially in regard to magnetism.' Th» science of terrestrial magnetism was then in' its infancy. . A science such as tin's, based on observation, required the toil of thousands of observers for scores of years, or even centuries, before the raw material could be accumulated in su!neient',n.uantity for the mathematician to deduce and prove his theory. All Europe and America were seized with enthusiasm at the prospects of scientific research within (lis still'unknown Antarctic. In Great Britain tho Koyal Society clamoured for mi expedition, and hoped it infant be under the leadership of young James-Clark Ross, the discoverer of the North Magnetic Pols Eventually France, the United States, and Great Britain all participated. Ross took command, nnd the distinguished botanist, Sir Joseph Hooker, who still lives, was a member of tlio scientific staff. For Hie excellent achievements of the expedition Boss was awarded tho highest honours. After Sixty Years. The researches of Dimwit D'UrvilU, Wilkes, and others were briefly sketched, and ])r. Mawson went nn to state that for a period of o'O years no serious Antarctic exploration Was undertaken. America. was engaged in a civil war, nnd England was fully occupied in searching for Sir John franklin in the Arctic. A competent scientific staff on the Challenger, a roomr wooden corvette of iM tons, set out in December, 1872, to circumnavigate the world, During the course of tho voyage the expedition ran into Antarctic waters, nnd made valuable discoveries. For many years after this voyage nothing more than rumours of Antarctic vovages were heard. It was not. until the summer of 1892 that ships actually set out. Four whaler* sailed from Dundee hound on a commercial cruise in the Wcddcll Sea, Dr. Bruce, of subsequent lame, being, the surgeon on one of them. In southern waters they fell in with Captain Larson, with th'« Jason, who did some valuable scientific work. The Jason returned again the following year, nml the expedition then succeeded in penelrating well within th« Anfnrclic Circle. First Specimen of Plant Life. There was at this lime a strong feeling in Australia (lint expeditions should b» sent to the south, and to help matters the Viclorian Government offered a mini of ■fi.iOOO to any such venture. This was not taken up. Then came I lie expedition planned by Mr. Bull, a Norwegian, to investigate the possibilities of whale fisheries in Ilo'-s Sea—an expedition which Borchgrnvinck, who was serving as a surveyor's assistant, succeeded in joining in Melbourne. They landed on Possession Island, where Boreligrcvinck found x lichen growing on the rock—the first specimen 'of plant life within the .Antarctic Circle. Though touched upon as early as 1820, only six or seven expeditions, he went on. to say, ever came within sight of the land until during the Inst 15 years. It wan not until 1898 that an Antarctic winter had been experienced, nnd the contributions of the vario is expeditions referred only fo isolated spots of the 8000 .miles of coastline. The passive condition of Australian enterprise respecting the potentialities of the Antarctic continent wn« really due to lack of public knowledge relating thereto.