QUEST EXPEDITION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 2486, 28 September 1922, Page 4

QUEST EXPEDITION.

EXCITING EXPERIENCES'. LONDON, Sept. 23. Mr Wilkins, who has returned from tho Quest expedition, describes how, when he and his companion, Mr Douglas, were crossing South Georgia, they were precipitated down a glacier side at such speed that the momentum of the slide carried them across an appalling crevasse and plumped them safely on the other side. Finally, when they reached the coast on the far side of the island, it seemed impossible to descend the sheer dill's, which are 1000 feet high. They either had to face the perils of a return journey or make a desperate, thrilling slide over the snow, sloping at an angle of sixty degrees and covering unknown chasms. They chose the latter, although they had no sledges. Mr Wilkins said: “We just sat on our trousers, using our arms and legs as a brake on the pace in the soft snow. We reached the bottom safely to the amazement and incredulity of the whalers, who regarded the feat of crossing the island as impossible.” A New Zealander, Major Carr, intended to make an aeroplane trip to the polar regions if the conditions were suitable, but unfortunately the Quest did not call at Capetown, where the machine should have been taken aboard. This, says Mr Wilkins, was the greatest disappointment of the trip next to the death of Sir Ernest Shnckleton. Mr Wilkins added they bad completed plans for the development of Antarctic meteorology, which they were submitting for the British Society’s approval. The scheme involves the building of three ships, operating from Melbourne, Capetown, and Buenos Aires, and the establishment of several Antarctic and sub-Antarctic stations, to be maintained over a decade, with wireless communication between each other and tho main bases daily. After a few years observations. Mr Wilkins is confident we shall be able to gain a knowledge of the system of Antarctic weather conditions and influences of ice distribution, enabling definite predictions of seasonal conditions in the greater part of the southern hemisphere. and even in part of the northern hemisphere. Vessels would make wintei trips for hydrographical, marine. and biological investigations, visiting stations at Cape Adair, Gansberg. Emlerby Land, Edward Seventh Land, Charcotland. Bouvet, Kerguelen and Laurie, where the Argentine has a station, and Macquarne island, where Australia has a station. A. and N.Z. cable.