ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 73, 26 March 1903, Page 2

ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION.

RETURN OF RELIEF SHIP 'MORNING." PEK PRESS ASSOCIATION, Lytteltok, March 25. Thn Antaro l ic steamer Morning arlived it 9.30 o.tn., a'l well. 8h > found the Discovery ou January 25, a? Miemuidooh Bay, and states stat the Discovery's men, by means of sleighs, had been further south than any previous explorers. Th j Discovery was hemmed in tbe paok ice, but i-. might soon break np. The Disosvery Tost a man by sodden*-, The Morning brought Lifu'enant and nine men from tbe Discovery, leaving Lieutenant Mulock and nit e of her own men behind. The Mayor of Lyttelton welcomed the officers and crew of the Morning, and sub-equently they were weloomed by the Mayor of Ohriatc' urch, the mem bets of the Harbour Board, and the Hon. 0. 0. Itowen. The left Lytfelton under the command of Captain Soott in December, 1901, for the Antarctic regions. The Morning set out lsst December to try and locate her, taking provisions for her predecewor.

1 INTBRIBTING DETAILS Of EXPEDITION. i CAPTAIN SOOTT'd REPORT. WINTER IN THE 10*. Latke. I Chbtstchubcb, March 25. . * The antarctic vessel Morning which _ left on December 6th to boar relief W . the Discovery arrived at Lyttelton this I morning. A crowd quickly gather* d , on the wharf and h'ar:y greetings exchanged, The leading facts of intcl- . ligence brought by the relief ship boob became public property. The Morning had sighted the Discovery, frozen in, in about 77*40 de- > grees south. That at first eight mile* , of ice separated the vessel" and three ; milts of that broke away so that relief got witbiu five miles of the vessel she 4 , had to assist. Stores were transferred , from one to the other by sledges, but it was not possible to get all the coal to the Discovery. It was found that one , man of the Discovery named Vines had been drowned, but that the , were well. Oaptain Scjtt, in his official report of . 'he Discovery's voyage and operations, itatflH that the vessel entered the pack in January 3rd in latitude 67 sauth, and reached the southern edge oa , January Ut {?), proceeding along the barrier and coast line to latitude 76, S., longtitude 152}, W. Owing to the h%vy pack and the rapid formation of , young ice the expedition turned, on F bruary Ist, to seek winter quarters in Victorii land. Oa Feb: uary 3rd the Discovery entered an inlet in the barrier in longtitude 174, W, A balloon was raised, and a small sledge party sent to ex■mine 'he surface of the barrier. Oape Bird was roucded on February 8:h, The voloanos Erebus and Terror 1 are on in island, and the expedition fouad, apparently, excellent winter quartern neir i s southern extremity at Oape Atmi'ag* in latitude 74.48 S, longtitude 164. 53 W. The exp.dition next 1 observed ths coast of Viotoria Land extending to a conspicuous oape south of the ship in latitude 70.40, 8, the , barrier pressing up against this. There ' are some detached islands near Erebus and Terror, the Parry Mountains not ex'sting, but I think the mistake is of easy explanation. Living and magnetic huts were erected, and the expedition prepared for wintering. The weather was very boistereu*, but a reconnaissance was made by s'edge parties who were sent out. It was during one of these that J. Vinoe lost his life on 11th Maroii by falling over a high ioe cliff into the pea- during a snowstorm, The remainder of the party narrowly escaped a similar fate.' The ship was finally frozen in on March 24th, th* temperature falling rapidly. The expedition passed a comfortable winter, the ebip being well sheltered, and the lowest recorded temperature being minus 62 degrees. We commenced sledging on September 2, and during this and the fol'owing month reconnaisance and d*pot parties were out to the west, siu'h-west, and south. Royd Skelton and pirty successfully established a record at Mount Terror, travelling over the barrier under severe sledging oonditions with the temperature down to Minus 58 degrees. On November 8 Dr. Wilnon, Lieutenant Shackelton, and I, with dogs, 1» ft for the south and reaohed lv d in latitude 80.30 s., longitude 162 w. We proceeded along the ooaat to latitude 82.17 s., longitude 163 w. We turned on January Ist and traced land to the continuation of Yiotoria land, arriving at the ship on February 3rd, Ranges of high mountains ooritinue in Victoria Lind on approximately 160 th meridian, the foot of the hills much resembling these under thi Admiralty rang*. The barrier is presumably afloat, it continues horizontal, and is slowly fed by land iod. Mountains ten and twelve thousand feet high were seen in latitude 83 s., the co wit line continuing to at least 83.20 degrees nearly due sou'h. armitage Skelton and party ascended a glacier on the mainland, in face of many diffieu'tie'. They found a new r*nge of mo mtain l , and R.intd inland ice. At a h-ifrht of 9000 f*et th«y reached a level, or slighily descending plain, with an unbrokcu horizon to the westward, •Btreues and party made a suooeesful j urney to the southwest, and Koettlits and F«mr mads several 1m extended jjumsyi 19

examine geological and ice formation. Toe Morning was sighted on January 23rd, but five miles of fast ice still intervened.

The spot in which the Discovery lies was cleared of one year's ica eirly in February last year, ice continuing to break away to four or five miles beyond Oape Armitage. This season is much later, but I hope that the ehip will eventually be freed. In the meantime I think it advisable that the Morning should return, and if we are unable to follow we are all prepared for another winter. I submit that permission b9 asked to name the new land to the eastward of the barrier after His Majesty the King. C.iptain Culbeck, of the Morning, thinks that the chances of the Discovery being freed this season are vary doubtful.

The following is a summary of the scientific work done: —Hodgson has bean working indefatigably throughout the year, and reports obtaining a very rich collection of marine fauna, with a large proportion of new speciee. Sea and magnetic observations have been continued throughout the cruise in the RoB3 Se>. Barnacchi has a complete year's record with Eschenhagen instruments including term days, also seismograph records, and pendulum observations. Wilson's collection includes stuns and skeletons of all south •rn seals, with a series of embyrcs and the youog of the weddel seal, and exam pi? 8 of known antarctic bird?. Emperors and Penguin were found at Oipe Crozier with young in the down, and eggs were procured, also excellent photographs of a rookery and a series of skins of young and adults. Me'eorological observations have been carefully mide throughout, and total observations obtained during the' Winter months. Ferrar reports an extensive qmitz grit accumula'ion, practically horizontally bedded in the volcanic rocks in scoria cones. The lava] flows in frequent plutonic rock forms to the basement tf the mountains so far as can be seen. Koettlitz pursued his botanical studies as far as possible, and obtained bacterial cultures from seal*, penguins, and other sources. A large collection of photographs and sketches has been made.

Though the officers and men of the Morning are extremely reticent on tie subject it is understood that the Discovery's men had a trying time, -.sot only due to incidental privations incurred, but on account of the failure of a portion of the food supplies, some of which appear to have been of an undesirable quality. As a result the fable had to be supplemented by seal fl°sb, skua, gulls, penguins, and other edible life which was fortunately plentiful. Unfortunately the result was an outbreak of scurvey. The food for the dogs was also far from satisfactory, and this, with exposure and hard work, resulted in practically the whole of the animals being lost. It is stated that the food which caused the trouble was Norwegian tinned fish. It is satisfactory to know that, thanks to the visit of the Morning, the Discovery is now in a position to comfortably face the winter. The Morning brought back ten of the Discovery's seamen, leaving none but the Royal Navy men to man the exploring vessel.