FROM ANTARCTICA.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1390, 25 March 1912, Page 8

FROM ANTARCTICA.

i JAPANESE PARTY RETURNSKAINAN MARU IN WELLINGTON PURELY SCIENTIFIC EXCURSION. Hardly has tho thrill of Amundsen's great achievement in Antarctic exploration passed away, when news comes to .land of the return of another expedition pi hicU has been bent on scientific obsclva\t'.on on the southern ice-cap of the world, j Early on Saturday morning, and, without |leinsr reported at all, the Japanese Antarcitio exploring vessel Kainan Maru arrived ,'off tho Heads, and coming in under easy leteam cast anchor near Somes' Island, [where she remained until allotted nnchortogo nearer tho city water-front. The ■somewhat rovstorious manocurrings of "this quaint little craft, with its sturdy .crew fr>m the land of Nippon, have a. peculiar interest to Wellington, as this was the last port of call made by Commander Shiraso on his first voyage to the Antarctic early last year. The expedition put into Wellington on I'ebniary 8, and sailed three days Inter for tho south, •arriving in Antarctica at a time when .winter was fast closing down. A landing /was made at Cooluuci Island, oil' the coa.se of yictoria Land (in Latitudo TSileg. 3Gmin. south, Longitude 170deg. ■ 2min. ■east) and then the-ship was turned iibout jfo'r Sydney, which wus reached in liny. iThe vessel, whose equipment "was below Jthat.of any.similar expedition undertaken 'during the previous twenty years, had a. ■rather severe handling in southern seas, ;nud spent tho winter and spring in re:h'tting ■iiv.Wittson's Bay in Sydney Harjbour.. -There, on the sunny slopes of ;South:Hcnd, the crew were'permitted tn anake an encampment, where they lived iin content to await the result of a delegation which had-gone forward to Japan to lay the position before the promoters of tho expedition, the head of which is Count Okuma. After an absence of several months, "the delegation returned to Sydney, and, on November 19 last, the Hainan Mam slipped past tho frowning North Head, and stuck her nose south-, ■ward once more. That is tho last that ■was heard of her until early on Saturday morning, when she rolled into'port, looking little tho" worse for her buffeting in 'the'southern seas. . \ A DISCREET SILENCE. ' It is tho nature of the Antarcticexplorer to preserve a discreet silence as to. what hns been done on. returning to civilisation. As a rule an arrangement .with tho press.has something to do with it, the subsidising paper or press syndicate ■being entitled to the first uso of the "story." Whether Commander Shiraso has any such arrangement with the Ja.panese press or his .supporters, or whether there is little or nothing to tell, could i.ndt bo ascertained very clearly on Saturday. Tho chances are that the-latter is ■ the more likely contingency. A vessel ■ of the class of the Kainan Mam would probably take well ovor a mouth to, reach the ice barrier, as she depends mostly on ler sails', and another month would be occupied on tho voyage northward to Wellington, which would only.give the ex.pedition a couple o£ months in Antarctica.

VISIT TO THE CONSUL. At midday Commander Sh'iraso,.'Professor Takeda, arid a party of four landed from the vessel by boat, and paid an official visit to .the Japanese Consul (Mr. Thomas Young). They looked spruce and .well-fed, and woro,spick and span in.'their -clothing. Certainly .thoir appearance did not , that , they had suffered through the hardships usually associated with Antarctic exploration. With their grey tweed coats, buttoned up close to tho neck, and little, upright collars,' they had that semi-clerical air associated with •foreign Bible students at tho New York Missionary College. Tho party, was closeted; with tho Consul for over half an hoiir, during which timo Mr. Young- was able to make himself understood and to understand hia visitors through an interpreter. After' the interview Mr. .Young Baid that Commander Shira.se did not wish to say any more than what had been said officially to the reporters ; on tho ship. They had been busy fixing .up messages in code for Japan" "as long as your arm." Hbw long will they be here? "They propose to/stay hero five days,: nnd then' to sail for Japan," 'said Mr. Young. The stay here would be for the purpose of taking in stores and overhauling the vessel a bit. :." SHIRASE THE SILENT. Commander Slrirase cither knows little English or desires to commit himself to nothing. He is graciously amiable, deferentially polite, (leprecatingly,regretful in his<attitu(lo under cross-examination. Where have you been? ■ .. . A sweet smile and a shrug of his sturdy shoulders was the silfcnt intimation that lie did not understand. Did you go for tho Pole? Did you sco Gcott or Mawson? What was the' weather like? What latitude did you reach? Theso questions were fired at the smiling Shiraso, who seemed to say:— "I would dearly like to tell yon everything, but I don't sneak or understand your ■languaue. What, a pity!" •- Professor Talceda' has "a little English 'at his.command, and from him and one..or two others who were able to 'put in a v;ord or two of English it was gathered that the party had made no attempt'to .reach the Pole—that was not their object or .intention, and that their work • had been that of scientific investigation oaly along the const of tho great Southern Continent. The Professor intimated that afterloaving Sydney the 'Kaijia.ii Maru snilrd for the Bay of Whale*, where a .party '.was", landed, the vessel proceeding on in a south-easterly direction. On this run she met the Norwegian exploring vessel Pram, .but. Amundsen was away''from tho ship. Another exploring party was landed on .King Edward VTI Land. Then, according 'to Shirase (whose remarks had to be interpreted), they sailed into unknown seas, and J.iter returned and picked up the parties on ' King Edward Land anil in the Bay of i Whales, and came, on to Wellington, leav■'ing.the ice on February 4. They had all ! enjoyed excellent -health, and had not had ',to suffer niiy privations. .' SCIENTIFIC WORK. It'was gathered from the disjointed observations'of ..other officers that valuable fccicritiiic work had been done, but of what character"'was , 'not' explained. Jt was also gathered that the expedition had been somewhat hampered by the low power of the Kainnn's engines, which made the voyage to and from the ice barrier long and tedious... Tho engines, it is clear, would not have been of niuch service if the vessel had had , to push its iway through loose ice.- The snip was well provisioned, and that all hands fared well cannot be doubted on the appearance of the men. It was gathered that the Japanese saw nothing of either Captain Scott's or Dr. MawjOiTs expeditions.' ' . THE OFFICIAL REPORT. An officer, supplied.the following official report of the .Kainan.-Mini's voyage, which ,ve print a.s received '.— .': . "We started from Sydney, on November lit of last year,' and as we planned, directly sailing to Whales' Inlet; of 7Sdeg.. iiflmin. south latitude, landed u-pnrt of our party, which niiist proceed farther south 'eastward. At this inlet wo met.a Norwegian, explor- .., ing ship.' the From, which is very celebrated for its Arctic navigation under .Dr. Nanseii some ten . years ago; Our bunt then sailed . south-eastward along the coast, (ind reached King Edward All Land. We 'landed here a coast exploring party, but the boat still sailed south-eastwards, and explored the unknown part' of the ?ea. After this we returned to King Edward VII. Land, Whales' Inlet, to get on board the two parties, and thenco we ore now in our homeward bound. In this exploration we lost no person; all are healthy. We collected many scientific specimens and facts, which we must keep in secret at present. "Tho ship will reach Japan at beginning of Juno this year." QUESTIONS. The eomo officer who furnished the official report, on being asked how long the ' expedition intended to stay at Wefi.ug. ton, replied, "Oh, about ten days. Bid you see Captain fccott? TIB tie next luestioQ asko/1. . '.'■'" i

The officer smiled broadly, as if not comprehending tho question, and after some show of hesitation, replied, "Captain Scott? Well, no. We saw the Pram." Again the question was asked, and In a smiling, hesitating manner tho answer cninc, and it wns a long-drawn out ""Well -cr-no." How far south did you get? In reply it was stated that the party had reached 80deg. smin. south. Was tho weather very cold down there? Once moro the brond srailo appeared, and with ft slight shrug of tho shoulders ho replied, "Oh, no." How was tho weather on your run up from tho ico? . Tho little Japanese did not answer at once, but had tho appearance of a man trying to think. All of a sudden the answer came, this time without the customary smile, "Bad at times. A SHORT DASH, Evidently tho Japanese do not favour long spells in Antarctica. Seeing that tho Kainan Maru left Sydney on Aovember 19 last, and arrived off tho Wellington Heads at an early hour on Satimlav morning, she has only boon away 124 days in ail. According to the report tho vessel left tho ice-barrier finally for Wellington on February i, so that her trip northward occupied '17 days. It Hie trip southward from Sydney occupied tho same length of time, it will be seen that Commander Shirase and his men could only have spent some thirty days in Antarctica, which is perhaps tho shortest time ever occupied by.either an Arctic or Antarctic expedition at any time. MUCH-CHANGED PLANS. The plans of the Japanese explorers, as sot out above, are altogether different from those outlined as theirs by the Sydney pressmen before their departure for the i'ar South. In the course of an article in tho "Sydney Morning Herald" of October 5 last Professor Takeda is reported as explaining in details the plans for the Polar dash. The "Herald" said:

"Then tho professor and Commander Shiraso told something about their plans to reach tho South Pole. Captain Nomura, tho commander of the Kainan Maru, which has been undergoing repairs here, was dispatched to Japan to report the movements of the expedition niter the unsuccessful attempt that was made to penetrate tho barrier ice. All the other members of tho expedition had taken ail oath not to return to -Japan until they' had reached the South Pole—as tho Spartans of old swore to return honie with, their shields or upon them. Captain: Nomura'is returning to Sydney by the Nikko Maru, which is expected hero on the 18th ihsi, and it is hoped that the expedition will bo ready to sail from Sydney about tho end of this month. "It is'admitted that the expedition is not nearly as complete as Captain Scott's, or Amundsen's, but these Japanese explorers are. nothing daunted. Even if they learn that Scott has reached the Pole beforo them, even if Amundsen has, they will go on, for the sake of their honour and the glory of Japan. I'rom 78 south latitude, to the Pole, eaid Mr. Takeda, was a distance of about 750 miles in a straight line, and probably they would have about 1000 miles to cover. They reckoned on covering 18 miles a day, so that it would take between 50 and 60; days to do it. 'But the Pole is very high, and 78 south latitude is v.ery low—l:think so—and we will come back in about 30 days. My show.' "Ho produced an atlas, turned Jo the Antarctic regions, ond showed the route the expedition proposed to take. It seemed easy on paper. "But these hardy men of the East, who are used to cold and do not .fear the hardships attendant on such a journeyCommander Shirase, for instance,' once went round Kamschatka and through Behving Strait in the hope of getting to the North Pole, and afW reaching 73 north latitude had to return on account of adverse currents—are not confining • their attention to the reaching of the Pole. -They are scientists, anxious to add to tho world's store of knowledge, and they are well equipped for the task." COST OF THE EXPEDITION. In view of. tho cost of Captain Scotfs expedition, and in view of tho .£IO,OOO or ■£50,000,' which Dr. Mawson has secured for his, it is not without interest, .to-.state that the amount that was,handed"Commander Shirase for the Japanese expedition was .£15,000 less J54000 paid for the Kainau Maru—and this sum "was expected to last for three : years, as , from December, l'JlO.) Out' of .£II,OOO tho stores, clothes, , , and .seamenV , wages had to be found. The bulk of the money was provided by-Count Okunla;■ the rest was subscribed by' other patriotic Japanese. There are 17 seamen to, be paid, the .amount they Teceivo being about £[i a month. The members of the scientific staff receive no salaries. But when they return 1 to Japan'there may be something waiting for them in tho way of a present. ■'■■■ ,