The siege of the South pole; the story of Antarctic exploration

S**. 


' 


r HE  STORY  OF  EXPLORATION 

EDITED  BY 

J.  SCOTT  KELT  IE,  LL.D.,  Sec.  R.G.S. 


THE  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

BY 


HUGH  ROBERT  MILL 


The  Ramparts  of  the  South  Pole 
(Photograph  supplied  by  Professor  K.  von  Drygalski 

Frontispiece . 


1M 


THE  SIEGE  OF  THE 
SOUTH  POLE 


THE  STORY  OF 

ANTARCTIC  EXPLORATION 


BY 

HUGH  ROBERT  MILL,  LL.D.,  D.Sc. 


WITH  MAPS , DIAGRAMS , AND  OTHER 
ILL  USTRA  TIONS 


AND  MAPS  BY  J.  G.  BARTHOLOMEW 


LONDON 

ALSTON  RIVERS,  Limited 
Arundel  Street,  W.C. 

1905 


TO 

MY  MOTHER 

WHOSE  LOVE  OF  NATURE  LED  ME  TO  SCIENTIFIC  STUDY 
AND  TO 

MY  WIFE 

FOR  HER  UNFAILING  HELP 


PREFACE 


HIS  book  has  been  the  burden  of  the  holidays  of 


three  years — in  Switzerland,  in  Scotland,  and  in 
the  United  States — and  it  expresses  the  result  of  the 
reading  of  thirty.  Though  I have  never  been  within 
two  thousand  miles  of  the  Antarctic  Circle  it  has  been 
my  good  fortune  to  possess  the  personal  friendship  of 
all,  or  almost  all,  the  living  explorers  and  promoters  of 
exploration  in  the  Antarctic  Regions,  and  I have  been 
privileged  to  speed  the  parting  ships  of  every  Antarctic 
expedition  which  left  a British  port,  from  the  sailing 
of  the  Dundee  fleet  in  1892  to  that  of  the  Terra  Nova,  in 
1903,  though  to  my  regret  on  each  occasion  I shared  the 
unhappy  fate  of  the  stowaways,  and  was  landed  before 
my  native  shores  were  left  behind,  or  at  the  farthest 
before  the  tropics  were  reached. 

I have  based  this  history  of  Antarctic  exploration  as 
far  as  possible  on  original  narratives  and  on  the  conversa- 
tion of  the  men  who  themselves  took  part  in  it.  In  this 
respect  I owe  a special  debt  to  three:  to  Sir  Joseph 
Hooker,  the  last  survivor  of  the  Erebus,  who,  in  addition 
to  much  other  kindness,  has  read  the  proofs  of  the  earlier 
chapters,  including  those  dealing  with  Sir  James  Clark 
Ross’s  expedition;  to  Sir  John  Murray,  of  the  Chal- 
lenger, whose  friendship  and  scientific  guidance  for  more 
than  twenty  years  have  been  the  most  effective  parts  of  my 
education ; and  to  His  Excellency  Professor  Georg  von 
Neumayer,  the  charm  of  whose  personality  and  the 


Vll 


PREFACE 


viii 

enthusiasm  of  his  devotion  to  South  Polar  problems  have 
been  a continual  inspiration. 

In  trying  to  elucidate  the  origin  as  well  as  to  describe 
the  events  of  the  various  expeditions,  I have  assumed  that 
from  the  historical  point  of  view  the  motive  and  the  aim 
are  as  important  as  the  resulting  achievement  or  failure. 
The  story  is  told  to  the  best  of  my  power  with  an  impartial 
mind,  and  scrupulously  follows  the  facts ; if  any  error  has 
been  made  as  to  the  narrative  it  is  a mistake  and  not  due 
to  any  bias.  Where  an  opinion  is  expressed  that  opinion 
is  my  own,  and  though  I consider  it  right  it  may  possibly 
seem  wrong  to  some. 

The  two  introductory  chapters  dealing  with  voyages 
which  fell  short  of  the  Antarctic  Circle  are  designedly 
brief  and  uncritical.  In  them  I have  stated  the  views 
of  those  whom  I consider  to  be  the  best  authorities.  The 
descriptions  of  exploration  from  the  voyage  of  the  Reso- 
lution to  that  of  the  Challenger  are  more  detailed  because, 
except  for  Cook’s  voyage,  the  narratives  drawn  upon  are 
almost  all  out  of  print  and  difficult  to  consult.  The  later 
voyages  are  touched  on  lightly,  for  each  is  described  in 
one  or  several  authoritative  narratives  recently  published, 
and  to  be  found  everywhere.  The  names  of  these  works 
are  given  in  the  Appendix. 

In  selecting  and  arranging  for  the  illustrations  I have 
been  greatly  helped  by  the  Editor  of  this  series,  my  old 
colleague,  Dr.  J.  Scott  Keltie.  The  unique  picture  of 
Admiral  Bellingshausen  was  secured  by  the  kind  repre- 
sentations made  to  the  Head  of  the  Russian  Admiralty 
by  my  friend  Colonel  J.  de  Shokalsicy  of  St.  Peters- 
burg. Captain  R.  F.  Scott  of  the  Discovery,  Profes- 
sor E.  von  Drygalski  of  the  Gauss,  Dr.  Otto  Norden- 
sicjold  of  the  Antarctic,  M.  Arctowski  of  the  Belgica, 


PREFACE 


IX 


and  Mr.  W.  S.  Bruce,  of  the  Scotia,  have  generously 
allowed  photographs  taken  by  them  to  be  reproduced. 
Captain  Scott  and  Mr.  Bruce  have  also  been  kind 
enough  to  read  the  proofs  of  the  portions  of  Chapter  XX 
dealing  with  their  expeditions.  There  are  many 
others  to  whom  I am  grateful  for  help,  espe- 
cially my  friends  Mr.  E.  Heawood,  Librarian  of  the 
Royal  Geographical  Society,  whose  patience  I have  too 
frequently  called  into  lively  exercise,  and  Mr.  J.  G. 
Bartholomew  for  his  cooperation  in  the  preparation  of 
the  maps;  to  Captain  A.  Mostyn  Field,  the  liydrog- 
rapher  to  the  Admiralty,  who  kindly  aided  me  in  settling 
several  historical  points,  and  to  Mr.  P.  L.  Davis,  of  the 
Nautical  Almanac  Office,  for  a copy  of  the  valuable  letter 
written  by  his  father,  the  late  Captain  Davis,  R.  N.,  when 
on  the  Terror. 

This  book  does  not  profess  or  attempt  to  describe  the 
Antarctic  Regions  or  their  peculiar  conditions;  it  is 
merely  the  record  of  an  uncompleted  episode  in  the 
history  of  geographical  exploration. 

H.  R.  M. 

62  Camden  Square, 

London,  N.  W., 

15th  July,  1905* 


,v 


1 


CONTENTS 


Preface  vii 

I The  Origin  of  the  Idea i 

II  The  Intellectual  Sleep  and  the  Awakening  . . io 

III  Searching  for  the  South  Land 28 

IV  The  Achievement  of  James  Cook 56 

V American  Sealers  in  the  South 91 

VI  Bellingshausen's  Antarctic  Voyage  . . . . 114 

VII  Weddell's  Farthest 131 

VIII  Enderby  Brothers  and  the  Antarctic  ....  146 

IX  The  Dawn  of  the  Victorian  Era 174 

X Dumont  D’Urville  and  the  French  Dashes 

toward  the  South  Pole 193 

XI  Charles  Wilkes  and  the  United  States  Ex- 

ploring Expedition 211 

XII  James  Clark  Ross 249 

XIII  The  Discovery  of  Victoria  Land 262 

XIV  Hairbreadth  Escapes  in  the  Ice 289 

XV  The  Last  Antarctic  Voyage  of  the  Erebus  and 

Terror 3*4 

XVI  The  Generation  of  Averted  Interest 327 

XVII  The  Challenger 344 

XVIII  Steam  Whalers  Bound  South 362 

XIX  The  First  Antarctic  Night 383 

XX  Early  Expeditions  of  the  Twentieth  Century  406 

XXI  The  Raising  of  the  Siege 433 

Appendix  : The  Principal  Antarctic  Voyages  Chronologically 
Arranged,  with  References  to  the  Literature  of  the 

Subj  ect 443 

Index  45 1 


XI 


i 


/ ^ 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


The  South  Polar  Regions.  Coloured  Map  by 

J.  G.  Bartholomew End  of  Volume 

The  Ramparts  of  the  South  Pole.  (Photograph 

supplied  by  Professor  E.  von  Drygalski.)  . Frontispiece 

The  World  According  to  Homer Page  2 

The  World  According  to  Herodotus Facing  p.  4 

The  Habitable  World  and  the  Globe  According  to 

Strabo  and  Pomponius  Mela 

The  World  According  to  Ptolemy 

The  Theory  of  Impassable  Zones Page 

Diagram  of  Spherical  Earth,  with  no  Antipodes. 

(After  Rainaud.) 

The  Earth,  According  to  Cosmas  Indicopleustes  . . “ 

Wheel-Map  of  the  Twelfth  Century.  (From  Nor- 

denskiold’s  Facsimile  Atlas.)  

The  Map  of  Macrobius 

The  Sea  Route  to  India  on  an  Early  Map.  (From 

Nordenskiold’s  Facsimile  Atlas.) 

The  Continuous  Southern  Ocean.  (From  Norden- 
skiold’s Facsimile  Atlas.) 

The  Map  of  Orontius,  Southern  Hemisphere. 

(Frcm  Nordenskiold’s  Facsimile  Atlas.)  . . 

Typical  Antarctic  Iceberg.  (Photograph  supplied 
by  Professor  E.  von  Drygalski.)  .... 

Dalrymple’s  Chart  of  the  South  Pacific,  1764 

Alexander  Dalrymple 

Captain  James  Cook 

Cook’s  Tracks  near  Bouvet  Island Page 

The  Ice  Islands  of  the  Antarctic  (From  Cook’s 

“ Second  Voyage.”) Facing  p. 

Royal  Bay,  Isle  of  Georgia.  (From  Cook’s 

“ Second  Voyage.”) 

Cook’s  Chart  of  the  Isle  of  Georgia Page 

Elephant  Island,  one  of  the  South  Shetlands. 

(From  D’Urville’s  Atlas.) Facing  p.  94 

xiii 


6 

8 

8 

12 

13 

14 

16 

19 


Facing  p.  24 


26 

46 

50 

58 

64 

70 

72 

80 

80 


XIV 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Powell’s  Chart  of  the  South  Shetlands  . . . Facing  p. 

The  Meeting  of  Palmer  and  Bellingshausen. 

(From  Fanning’s  “Voyages  Round  the 

World.”) 

Benjamin  Morrell,  Jr 

Admiral  Bellingshausen.  (From  a Portrait  in  the 
Library  of  the  Imperial  Naval  Department  in 

St.  Petersburg.) 

The  Vostok  and  Mirni  off  Macquarie  Island. 

(From  Bellingshausen’s  Atlas.) 

Peter  I.  Island  and  Alexander  I.  Land.  (From 

Bellingshausen’s  Atlas.) 

James  Weddell.  (From  a Painting  in  the  Library 
of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society.)  .... 

Weddell’s  Seal,  Leptonychotes  Weddelli.  (i) 

From  Weddell’s  “Voyage  Towards  the  South 
Pole.”  (2)  From  the  “ British  Museum  Re- 
ports on  the  Southern  Cross  Collections”  . “ 

The  Jane  and  Beaufoy  at  Weddell’s  Farthest. 

(From  Weddell’s  “Voyage  Towards  the 

South  Pole.”) 

The  Balleny  Islands  (From  a Sketch  by  John 

McNab.)  

General  Sir  Edward  Sabine,  K.  C.  B.  (From  a 
Painting  in  the  Rooms  of  the  Royal  Society.) 

Baron  von  Humboldt “ 

Synoptic  Diagram  of  the  Early  Victorian  Expedi- 
tions   “ 

Admiral  Dumont  D’Urville.  (From  D’Urville’s 

Atlas.) u 

The  Astrolabe  and  Zelee  in  the  Ice.  (From 

D’Urville’s  Atlas.) “ 

D’Urville’s  Expedition  Amongst  the  Ice  Islands. 

(From  D’Urville’s  Atlas.) “ 

Hoisting  the  French  Flag  on  Adelie  Land. 

(From  D’Urville’s  Atlas.) “ 

Lieutenant  Charles  Wilkes,  U.  S.  N.,  Command- 
ing the  United  States  Exploring  Expedition. 

(From  the  Narrative  of  the  Expedition.)  “ 

Ringgold’s  Knoll.  (From  the  Narrative  of  the  U. 

S.  Exploring  Expedition.) Page 


98 

100 

106 

116 

124 

128 

132 

134 

138 

170 

180 

184 

192 

194 

200 

202 

206 

214 

228 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Peacock  Bay  in  the  Ice  Barrier Page 

The  Peacock  in  Peril.  (From  the  Narrative  of 

the  U.  S.  Exploring  Expedition.)  ....  Facing  p. 


View  of  the  Antarctic  Continent  from  an  Ice 
Island  on  February  14,  1840.  (From  the  Nar- 
rative of  the  U.  S.  Exploring  Expedition.) 
Facsimile  of  Part  of  the  Chart  Given  by  Wilkes 
to  Ross,  with  the  Tracks  of  the  Erebus  and 
Terror,  and  of  the  Discovery,  added  . . . 
Sir  James  Clark  Ross.  (From  a Water-colour  in 
the  Possession  of  the  Royal  Geographical 

Society.) 

Sir  Joseph  Dalton  Hooker,  G.  C.  S.  I.  (From  a 
Pen  and  Ink  Sketch  by  T.  B.  Wirgmann.)  . 
Iceberg  in  Ross  Sea.  (Photograph  taken  by  the 
National  Antarctic  Expedition  on  Board  the 

Discovery.) 

Admiralty  Range.  (Photograph  taken  by  the  Na- 
tional Antarctic  Expedition.) 

Possession  Island.  (From  Ross’s  “Voyage  to  the 

Southern  Seas.”) 

Penguin  Hunting.  (From  Ross’s  “Voyage  to  the 

Southern  Seas.”) 

View  of  the  Great  Southern  Barrier.  (From 
Ross’s  “Voyage  to  the  Southern  Seas.”)  . 
Ross’s  Chart  of  the  Great  Southern  Barrier  with 
the  Track  of  the  Discovery  Added  . . . 
The  Ertbus  and  Terror  in  a Gale  in  the  Pack. 
(From  Ross’s  “Voyage  to  the  Southern 

Seas.”) 

The  Erebus  and  Terror  in  Collision.  (From 
Ross’s  “Voyage  to  the  Southern  Seas.”)  . 


Davis’s  Diagram  of  the  Collision  between  the 

Erebus  and  Terror Page 

His  Excellency  Geheimrath  Professor  Georg 

von  Neumayer Facing  p. 

Sir  John  Murray,  K.  C.  B.,  of  the  Challenger. 

(Photograph  by  Messrs.  Thomson,  London.) 

The  Miller-Casella  Deep-Sea  Thermometer  ....  Page 
Outer  Case  of  Miller-Casella  Deep-Sea  Ther- 
mometer   


XV 

232 

232 

240 

246 

250 

254 

270 

274 

276 

276 

280 

284 

296 

310 

3il 

338 

348 

354 

355 


XVI 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


H.  M.  S.  Challenger  after  Collision  with  an  Ice- 
berg. (From  the  Challenger  Narrative.)  . 

Lieutenant  A.  de  Gerlache 

Typical  Landscape  of  the  Palmer  Archipelego. 
(Photograph  by  the  Belgian  Antarctic  Expe- 
dition.)   

Carstens  Egeberg  Borchgrevink.  (Photograph 

by  Messrs.  Thomson,  London.) 

Synoptic  Diagram  of  the  First  Two  Expeditions 

Wintering  in  the  Antarctic 

Penguins,  near  Cape  Crozier.  (Photograph  sup- 
plied by  Captain  Scott.) 

Bouvet  Island.  (Photograph  Taken  on  Board  the 

Valdivia.) 

Sir  Clements  R.  Markham,  K.  C.  B.  (Photo- 
graph by  Messrs.  Thomson,  London.)  . . . 
Captain  R.  F.  Scott,  R.  N.,  C.  V.  O.  (Photograph 

by  Messrs.  Thomson,  London.) 

The  Discovery  Alongside  the  Barrier.  (Photo- 
graph supplied  by  Captain  Scott.)  .... 
McMurdo  Strait.  (From  a Photograph  taken  by 
the  National  Antarctic  Expedition.)  . . . 
Professor  Erich  von  Drygalski.  (Photograph 

by  Messrs.  Thomson,  London.) 

The  Gauss  under  Sail.  (Photograph  supplied 
by  Professor  E.  von  Drygalski.)  .... 
The  Gaussberg,  Kaiser  Wilhelm  II.  Land.  (Pho- 
tograph supplied  by  Professor  E.  von  Dry- 
galski.)   

Dr.  Otto  Nordenskjold 

The  Antarctic  in  Cumberland  Bay,  South  Georgia. 
(Photograph  supplied  by  Dr.  Otto  Nor- 
denskjold.)   

William  S.  Bruce.  (Photograph  by  Messrs. 

Thomson,  London.) 

The  Scotia  in  the  Pack.  (Photograph  supplied 
by  the  Scottish  Antarctic  Expedition.)  . . 
Synoptic  Diagram  of  the  First  Antarctic  Expedi- 
tions of  the  Twentieth  Century  .... 


Facing  p.  358 

38  4 


" 388 

" 394 

. • Page  397 
Facing  p.  400 
404 


406 

408 

412 

416 

418 

420 


422 

424 


" 426 

“ 428 

“ 430 

. Page  430 


Siege  of  the  South  Pole 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  IDEA 


“A  wanderer  is  Man  from  his  birth. 

He  was  born  in  a ship  on  the  breast  of  the  river  of  Time 
Brimming  with  wonder  and  joy  . . .” 

— Matthew  Arnold. 

VOYAGES  towards  the  South  Pole  commenced  so 
long  ago,  and  they  have  exercised  an  influence  on 
the  trend  of  exploration  so  continuously,  that  a com- 
plete history  of  the  search  for  the  Antarctic  would  almost 
be  a history  of  geographical  discovery. 

The  particular  motive  to  Antarctic  exploration  has 
varied  from  age  to  age  as  the  special  problem  it  was  ex- 
pected to  solve  has  changed  with  the  growth  of  knowl- 
edge and  the  development  of  thought.  When  first  stated 
the  problem  was  no  more  than  a philosophical  specula- 
tion, a mere  academic  thesis  interesting  a few  learned 
men.  It  grew  to  be  a burning  question  in  the  struggle 
of  rival  Powers  for  commercial  and  political  supremacy. 
It  was  a force  in  empire-building,  with  the  Common- 
wealth of  Australia  as  a product  of  its  partial  solution. 
The  period  of  stress  and  strife  has  passed  with  the  strenu- 
ous lives  of  the  circumnavigators ; but  a time  of  renewed 
interest  of  a quieter  sort  has  come  when  it  is  particularly 
appropriate  to  turn  a backward  glance  toward  the  be- 


2 SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

The  Antarctic  problem  has  now  crystallised  into  an 
object  of  scientific  research,  the  results  of  which  may 
indeed  become  practically  useful,  but  in  a manner  too 
uncertain  and  remote  to  be  a leading  motive.  Its  solu- 
tion has  been  reduced  to  the  result  of  exploration  in  the 
ice,  and  the  final  result  will  round  out  the  knowledge  of 
the  globe  into  completeness  and  will  leave  no  spot  of 


Earth  unknown.  When  the  story  of  the  Antarctic  can  be 
fully  told  T err  a Incognita  will  cumber  the  map  no  more. 

At  the  dawn  of  geographical  history  an  antarctic  prob- 
lem was  impossible  because  the  Earth  was  viewed  as  a 
flat  disc  girdled  by  the  Ocean  River  and  bounded  by 
darkness.  Curiously  enough  the  name  became  possible 
before  the  idea.  When  the  early  Greek  students  of  the 
stars,  looking  out  hour  after  hour  and  night  after  night 
on  the  wheeling  vault  overhead,  classified  the  brightest 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  IDEA  3 

points  into  groups  or  constellations  they  named  the  most 
conspicuous  of  these  which  never  set  Arctos — the  Bear — • 
and  the  point  round  which  it,  in  common  with  the  rest  of 
the  heavenly  host,  appeared  to  turn  was  called  the  Arctic 
pole.  The  natural  antithesis  of  an  antarctic  pole  of  the 
heavens,  that  is,  a fixed  point  opposite  the  arctic , must 
have  occurred  to  many  minds,  for  it  was  easy  in  imagi- 
nation to  complete  the  sphere  of  the  celestial  vault,  traced 
out  in  part  by  the  unseen  portion  of  the  circuit  of  the 
stars,  but  the  flat  cake  of  the  habitable  world  stretched 
between,  separating  the  domain  of  light  and  possible 
knowledge  from  that  of  darkness  and  the  unknowable. 
The  dark  and  gloomy  space  under  the  Earth  traversed 
only  by  the  souls  of  the  dead  on  their  way  to  Hades,  was 
known  as  Erebus , a place  of  terror,  used  ages  later  by 
Shakespeare  as  a fit  metaphor  for  the  man  that  had  no 
music  in  his  soul. 

We  cannot  attempt  here  to  discuss  all  the  modern  views 
as  to  the  growth  and  decay  of  the  ancient  theories  to 
which  we  must  refer,  but  from  the  immense  literature 
which  has  flourished  upon  the  resulting  soil  we  will  at- 
tempt to  show  how  the  mind  of  all  ages  has  exercised 
itself  upon  this  particular  problem.  The  narrative  is  not 
critically  exact,  for  it  claims  only  to  afford  a basis  on 
which  the  efforts  of  modern  explorers  may  be  seen  in 
their  relation  to  the  gradual  unfolding  of  human  knowl- 
edge regarding  the  Earth. 

Herodotus  made  merry  over  the  absurdity  of  the  round 
disc  of  the  habitable  Earth  put  forth  in  the  descriptions  of 
Hecataeus.  As  a traveller  and  a lover  of  truth  he  knew 
that  travellers  had  been  able  to  get  farther  from  west  to 
east  than  from  north  to  south  about  the  Mediterranean  as 
a centre,  and  he  was  content  with  this  knowledge. 


4 SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

The  speculations  of  the  Pythagorean  philosophers  were 
not  restrained  by  trammels  of  fact  or  experience,  and  rely- 
ing on  general  principles  they  contemplated  the  probability 
of  the  Earth  being  a sphere  because  the  sphere  was  the 
most  perfect  form,  and  the  abode  of  Man  the  perfection  of 
creation  ought  also  to  be  perfect  of  its  kind.  In  this  con- 
ception of  ideal  perfection  and  symmetry  we  find  the  first 
principle  of  geographical  theory ; Herodotus  himself  had 
made  large  use  of  it  in  tracing  out  the  course  of  the  rivers 
of  Africa  by  comparison  with  those  of  Europe.  If  the 
Earth  were  spherical  the  long  narrow  belt  of  the  Habitable 
World  could  occupy  only  a small  portion  of  its  surface. 
Was  the  Ocean  River  to  be  extended  into  a huge  continu- 
ous sheet  enveloping  all  the  rest?  The  idea  was  con- 
trary to  Greek  reason.  Symmetry  demanded  other 
worlds  breaking  up  the  dreary  voids  of  ocean  on  which 
the  mind  could  not  otherwise  dwell  in  comfort.  If  the 
new  form  of  the  Earth  could  be  entertained  by  reasonable 
people  there  was  no  reason  why  there  should  not  be  an- 
other Habitable  World  under  the  Antarctic  pole  of  the 
heavens  to  balance  that  which  lay  under  the  Arctic  pole. 
So  with  the  possibility  of  a spherical  Earth  the  Antarctic 
problem  had  its  birth. 

It  is  a far  cry  from  a poetical  fancy  to  an  established 
fact.  Many  minds  could  entertain  the  fancy,  however 
novel  it  might  be,  but  only  one  or  two  in  all  the  ages  of 
human  history  could  test  the  fancy  as  to  whether  it  was 
fact  or  not.  Aristotle,  the  intellectual  giant  who  founded 
so  much  of  modern  science,  demonstrated  the  truth  of 
the  spherical  form  of  the  Earth  and  some  of  his  proofs 
enunciated  three  and  a half  centuries  before  the  begin- 
ning of  our  era  still  hold  their  place  in  the  school-books 
of  to-day.  According  to  Aristotle  the  Earth  was  a sphere 


H E RODOTUS 


a:  n 


*4 


1 J JZ  V 7 X V 


Thk  World  accord i no  to  Hkrodotus. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  IDEA  5 

because  of  the  tendency  of  matter  to  fall  together  to  a 
common  centre,  and  it  was  proved  to  be  a sphere  by  the 
fact  that  no  other  form  could  always  throw  a circular 
shadow  on  the  moon  during  an  eclipse,  and  because  on  no 
other  form  of  Earth  could  the  shifting  of  the  horizon  be 
explained  as  one  travelled  from  north  to  south  and  saw 
the  old  familiar  stars  drop  out  of  sight,  while  new  con- 
stellations rose  into  view. 

This  stupendous  discovery  of  the  true  form  of  the 
Earth  brought  in  its  train  others  of  equal  magnitude.  A 
spherical  Earth  in  the  centre  of  a spherical  heaven 
studded  with  constellations  of  invariable  form  was  no 
longer  an  unknown  trackless  waste.  The  stars  were 
landmarks  everywhere,  for  by  noting  the  height  of  the 
celestial  pole  above  the  horizon  the  traveller  could  tell 
how  far  he  was  north  or  south  of  the  middle  line  or 
equator  which  could  be  imagined  as  dividing  the  globe 
into  halves.  And  it  followed  that  a distance  on  the  sur- 
face that  corresponded  to  an  increase  or  decrease  of  the 
elevation  of  the  celestial  pole  by  one  degree  must  be 
exactly  one  three-hundred-and-sixtieth  of  the  whole  cir- 
cumference of  the  Earth.  It  would  suffice  then  to  measure 
the  length  in  miles  or  yards  of  that  distance  and  multiply 
by  360  to  know  the  size  of  the  globe  and  so  to  calculate 
the  exact  dimensions  and  position  of  the  Habitable  World 
surrounding  the  Mediterranean  and  the  distance  it  would 
be  necessary  to  sail  over  the  ocean  to  come  from  its  west 
coast  to  its  east  or  from  its  north  coast  to  its  south.  All 
this  was  clear  to  the  minds  of  Aristotle  and  his  followers, 
but  there  were  innumerable  difficulties  to  be  overcome 
before  the  established  theory  could  be  applied  to  elicit 
new  facts.  Though  latitude  could  easily  be  reckoned 
from  the  altitude  of  the  pole  by  night,  or  that  of  the  sun 


6 SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


at  noon,  there  was  no  such  easy  method  of  finding  longi- 
tude, because  there  was  no  time-keeper  by  which  a travel- 
ler could  carry  with  him  the  time  of  an  initial  meridian. 
The  instruments  for  finding  latitude  were  also  clumsy  in 
the  extreme,  and  the  method  most  in  use  for  centuries 
was  that  of  noting  the  length  of  the  longest  day.  It  was 
difficult,  for  these  reasons,  to  lay  out  a line  due  north  and 
south,  the  ends  of  which  could  be  fixed  with  any  precision 
in  order  to  measure  the  size  of  the  Earth;  hence  it  is 
amazing  how  very  near  the  estimate  of  such  a mathema- 
tician as  Eratosthenes  came  to  the  truth. 

When  the  shape  and  size  of  the  Earth  became  known 
the  main  problem  of  geography  was  completely  altered ; 
it  was  no  longer  the  question  of  the  possibility  of  an 
antarctic  region  existing;  but  the  possibility  of  reaching 
it.  The  problem,  in  fact,  was  the  wider  one  of  the  dis- 
tribution of  land  and  water,  of  climate  and  the  means 
of  travelling,  the  antarctic  problem  of  to-day  being  but 
the  unsolved  residue  of  the  larger  problem. 

The  estimates  of  Eratosthenes  (about  250  B.  C.)  made 
it  apparent  that  the  Habitable  World  of  the  Greeks  occu- 
pied only  about  one-quarter  of  the  surface  of  the  sphere. 
It  seems  a limited  World  to  us,  though  vast  enough  to 
those  whose  swiftest  means  of  transport  were  the  horse 
and  the  galley.  Controversy  was  active  amongst  the 
Greek  philosophers  as  to  the  plan  of  the  Earth.  The 
Stoics  upheld  the  continuity  of  the  ocean  and  viewed  the 
Habitable  World  as  one  out  of  four  large  islands  placed 
symmetrically  upon  the  sphere,  one  to  balance  the  other. 
Nature  loved  life,  so  those  three  unknown  Worlds  were 
also  inhabited  and  it  was  easy  to  fit  the  hypothetical  peo- 
ples with  appropriate  and  expressive  names  according  to 
their  position  with  regard  to  the  Old  World,  the  Antoken, 


THE  WORLD  THE  WORLD 

according  to  attording  to 

STRABO  MELA 

AD.  18  A.D.  -V3 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  IDEA  7 


Perioken  and  Antipodes.  Strabo  and  Pomponius  Mela 
at  a much  later  date  gave  expression  to  this  view. 

But  the  rival  philosophers  following  the  lead  of  Hip- 
parchus ridiculed  a theory  founded  on  no  better  basis 
than  the  principle  of  symmetry,  and  relying  on  a state- 
ment of  the  Chaldean  astronomer,  Seleukos,  that  the 
Indian  ocean  was  tideless  (a  statement  entirely  contrary 
to  fact)  argued  that  the  land  was  really  continuous  and 
the  seas  occupied  enclosed  basins  within  it,  of  which  the 
Caspian  was  one  of  the  smallest.  How  this  idea  of 
Seleukos  outweighed  the  historical  circumstance  men- 
tioned by  Herodotus  that  a Phoenician  expedition  had 
circumnavigated  Africa  by  the  south  we  cannot  tell. 
The  fact  remains  that  the  Alexandrian  School  took  up 
the  theory  of  continuous  land  and  that  Ptolemy,  the 
greatest  teacher  of  that  School,  and  the  ultimate  reposi- 
tory of  the  Geography  of  the  Greeks,  embodied  it  in  his 
celebrated  map.  Thus  it  happened  that  his  error  changed 
the  direction  and  retarded  the  progress  of  geographical 
discovery  for  twelve  hundred  years  after  his  death. 

Anyone  who  reads  the  laborious  arguments  by  which 
the  ancient  philosophers  buttressed  their  fancies  as  to 
other  habitable  worlds  and  their  people  must  be  struck 
by  the  v^st  amount  of  admirable  controversy  which  might 
have  been  rendered  unnecessary  by  a few  expeditions 
carried  out  with  the  determination  which  characterised 
the  Greek  wars.  One  reason  of  this  apparent  lack  of 
enterprise  was  undoubtedly  the  general  acceptance  of  the 
existence  of  zones  of  climates,  which  was  an  important 
truth  but  poisoned  by  the  exaggerated  intensity  of  the 
climates  attributed  to  the  extreme  zones. 

Without  going  fully  into  the  question  of  the  zones  it  is 
enough  to  say  that  even  when  the  flat-Earth  theory  pre- 


8 SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

vailed  it  was  recognised  that  far  to  the  north  of  the 
pleasant  temperate  zone,  which  included  the  Mediter- 
ranean lands,  there  was  a frigid  zone  of  frightful  cold, 
and  to  the  south  a torrid  zone  of  frightful  heat.  The  ac- 
ceptance of  the  spherical  theory  of  the  Earth  involved  the 
duplication  of  these  zones  in  the  southern  hemisphere 


and  their  continuation  as  unbroken  rings  round  the  globe. 
It  was  very  generally  held  that  the  frigid  zones  were  unfit 
for  habitation  on  account  of  the  cold,  and  the  torrid  zone 
on  account  of  the  heat,  while  the  temperate  zones  alone 
were  habitable.  Hence  the  Habitable  World  of  the  north 
temperate  zone  was  separated  from  the  Antichthone  or 
habitable  world  of  the  south  temperate  zone  by  the  burn- 
ing torrid  belt,  in  which,  as  the  equator  was  approached 
the  heat  and  dryness  of  the  Sahara  grew  worse  and 
worse,  until  all  life  became  impossible.  The  two  habit- 
able worlds  were  believed  to  be  separated  by  an  impassa- 


Ptolemy  Map. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  IDEA  9 

ble  gulf  of  unendurable  heat;  the  sea  was  alive  with 
whales  of  incredible  size,  and  monsters  defying  descrip- 
tion; it  was  thick  with  floating  weed  through  which  a 
ship  could  not  make  way,  and  notwithstanding  the  in- 
tensity of  the  solar  heat  by  day  and  the  fire  thrown  down 
by  the  stars  at  night,  it  was  veiled  in  a perpetual  stifling 
fog.  All  these  exaggerations  have  so  clear  a basis  of 
truth  that  we  can  hardly  acquit  the  Phoenician  sailormen, 
who  traded  far  into  the  tropics,  of  wilfully  heightening 
the  discomforts  of  the  doldrums,  the  terrors  of  equatorial 
thunder-storms  and  of  the  dust  clouds  blown  from  the 
Sahara,  in  order  to  maintain  their  monopoly. 

Whether  the  southern  hemisphere  were  held  to  consist 
mainly  of  land  or  of  water  the  terrors  of  the  torrid  zone 
supply  a sufficient  explanation  of  the  failure  of  the  early 
explorers  to  penetrate  it.  At  the  same  time  there  is  evi- 
dence that  before  the  growth  of  the  torrid  myth  some 
voyages  to  the  south  had  been  undertaken  with  success. 
It  may  be  that  Ophir  was  in  the  southern  hemisphere ; it 
is  practically  certain  that  Africa  was  circumnavigated  by 
the  Phoenicians  and  that  other  early  travellers  had  sailed 
far  southward  along  the  east  coast  of  that  continent. 
But  these  achievements  were  forgotten,  and  the  legacy 
of  Greek  wisdom  to  Christendom  was  the  fact  that  the 
Earth  is  a globe  and  the  belief  that  the  southern  hemi- 
sphere of  that  globe  contained  habitable  land  which  could 
never  be  reached. 


CHAPTER  II 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SLEEP  AND  THE  AWAKENING 

“ Let  things  be — not  seem. 

I council  rather, — do,  and  nowise  dream! 

Earth’s  young  significance  is  all  to  learn: 

The  dead  Greek  lore  lies  buried  in  the  urn 
Where  who  seeks  fire  finds  ashes.” 

— Robert  Browning. 

iT^THER  interests  filled  the  troubled  Middle  Ages,  the 
Greek  language  with  the  works  of  Aristotle  and 
Ptolemy  were  almost  forgotten  in  Christendom,  and 
the  results  of  Greek  learning  were  kept  alive  only  in  the 
Moslem  world.  The  Antarctic  problem  disturbed  no 
man’s  rest,  and  fired  the  fancy  or  adventure  of  no  one. 

The  churchmen  detected  a fruitful  source  of  heresy  in 
the  idea  of  a spherical  Earth,  and  after  a while  found  it 
contrary  to  Scripture ; but  it  is  pleasant  to  note  that  the 
Venerable  Bede  maintained  the  true  view  in  England. 
In  the  first  enthusiasm  of  Christianity  worldly  knowledge 
was  brushed  aside  as  not  being  essential  to  salvation. 
St.  Basil,  who  did  not  himself  deny  the  sphericity  of  the 
Earth,  said: 

“ Of  what  importance  is  it  to  know  whether  the  Earth 
is  a sphere,  a cylinder,  a disc  or  a concave  surface? 
What  is  of  importance  is  to  know  how  I should  conduct 
myself  towards  myself,  towards  my  fellowman  and  to- 
wards God.” 

Perhaps  it  was  the  belief  in  Antipodes,  human  beings 
inhabiting  the  side  of  the  Earth  opposite  to  the  known 

IO 


SLEEP  AND  AWAKENING 


ii 


world,  that  was  most  obnoxious  to  the  Christian  Fathers. 
From  the  theological  point  of  view  belief  in  the  existence 
of  vast  inaccessible  lands  inhabited  by  millions  of  people 
raised  exactly  the  same  difficulties  as  in  the  case  of  belief 
in  the  other  planets  being  also  inhabited.  Were  there 
separate  Divine  revelations  to  these  people,  were  there 
separate  Atonements? 

Thus  the  Antarctic  problem  became  an  element  in  theo- 
logical controversy.  St.  Augustine  met  the  difficulty 
in  a philosophical  spirit  by  distinguishing  between  dem- 
onstrated facts  and  mere  speculation  and  his  argument 
is  worth  quoting  in  the  following  translation  from  De 
Civitate  Dei , kindly  made  by  Dr.  Sutherland  Black: 

“ Further,  as  touching  what  they  fable,  that  there  are 
antipodes — that  is  to  say,  that  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
Earth,  where  the  sun  rises  when  he  sets  to  us,  men  plant 
[their]  footsteps  opposite  to  our  feet — it  is  by  no  means 
to  be  believed.  Nor,  indeed,  do  they  [v/ho  so  allege] 
maintain  that  they  have  learned  this  by  any  historical 
knowledge,  but,  so  to  speak,  they  conjecture  it  by  a pro- 
cess of  reasoning  [to  the  effect]  that  the  Earth  is  sus- 
pended between  the  vaults  of  the  sky  and  that  the  world 
occupies  at  one  and  the  same  time  the  lowest  and  the  inter- 
mediate position,  and  from  this  they  form  the  opinion  that 
the  other  half  of  the  Earth  which  is  below  cannot  possibly 
be  without  human  inhabitants.  But  they  fail  to  observe 
that  even  although  the  world  be  believed,  or  even  in  some 
sort  shown,  to  be  of  a rounded  and  spherical  form,  it  does 
not,  therefore,  follow  that  the  Earth  also  in  that  part  is 
free  from  the  accumulation  of  waters;  nor  yet  even 
should  it  be  thus  free,  would  it  forthwith  follow  of  neces- 
sity that  it  should  be  peopled.  For  in  no  way  does  the 
scripture  lie  which  when  it  relates  the  past  produces 


12  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


confidence  in  that  its  predictions  are  being  fulfilled,  and  it 
is  too  absurd  that  it  should  be  said  that  certain  men  had 
been  able,  the  immensity  of  Ocean  traversed,  to  sail  from 
this  side  and  arrive  at  the  other  so  that  there  also  the 
human  race  should  be  set  up  from  that  one  first 
man.  . . 

To  Augustine  the  trouble  seemed  to  be  to  understand 
how  the  Antipodes  could  be  descended  from  Adam,  and 
the  completeness  of  his  theory  as  to  the  constitution  of 
the  City  of  God  required  that  all  men  should  be  descended 
through  Noah  from  Adam.  His  suggestion  that  the 
other  side  of  the  world  might  be  entirely  covered  with 


Spherical  Earth  with  no  Antipodes. 

(After  Rainaud.) 

water  was  worked  out  in  a mediaeval  spherical  Earth 
which  could  harbour  no  Antipodes,  being  devised  on  the 
principle  that  the  lithosphere  or  solid  globe  need  not  be 
concentric  with  the  hydrosphere  or  globe  of  waters.  But 
centuries  before  inis  ingenious  plan  of  avoiding  the  the- 


SLEEP  AND  AWAKENING  13 

ological  difficulty  was  arrived  at  the  spherical  Earth  was 
banished  from  Christendom  on  the  plea  that  it  was  in 
contradiction  to  Scripture. 

Lactantius  early  in  the  fourth  century  covered  with 
ridicule  those  who  could  believe  in  so  monstrous  a con- 
ception as  a spherical  Earth,  and  without  using  any  ar- 
gument save  “ It  is  written  ” he  denounced  the  whole 
theory  as  a Greek  invention.  Cosmas  Indicopleustes,  a 
monk  who  had  travelled  to  India  and  could  not  reconcile 
his  own  observations  with  a flat  Earth,  set  himself  in  the 
sixth  century  to  the  hopeless  task  of  constructing  an 
Earth  out  of  his  own  head  on  the  model  of  the  Jewish 
tabernacle  with  a prodigious  conical  mountain  in  the 
midst  for  the  sun  to  rise  from  and  set  behind. 


The  Earth  According  to  Cosmas  Indicopleustes. 


It  is  an  unedifying  story.  The  temporary  result  was 
that  in  the  mind  of  Europe  the  Earth  became  once  more 
as  flat  as  a pancake,  and  the  wheel-maps  of  the  Middle 
Ages  reverted  to  the  circular  disc  of  the  earliest  Greeks. 
The  Antarctic  problem,  after  being  stigmatised  as  heresy, 


i4  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

had  been  crushed  out  of  existence.  How  serious  the 
heresy  was  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  in  the 
year  741  Pope  Zacharias  excommunicated  an  Irish  priest 
named  Virgil  because  he  taught  the  doctrine  of  Antip- 
odes “ admitting  the  existence  of  souls  who  shared 


Wkeel-Map  of  the  Twelfth  Century. 

(From  Nordenskiold’s  Facsimile  Atlas.) 

neither  the  sin  of  Adam  nor  the  redemption  of  Christ” 
The  bold  Irishman  probably  recognised  the  truth  of 
Augustine’s  argument  and  thought  it  unnecessary  to  suf- 


SLEEP  AND  AWAKENING  15 

fer  to  the  utmost  in  support  of  a speculative  fancy,  for 
after  twenty  years  he  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Salz- 
burg, a pretty  strong  proof  of  his  recantation. 

The  reign  of  Papal  authority  lasted  long,  but  from 
time  to  time  the  ancient  ideas  found  expression.  Ptol- 
emy's views  leaked  back  into  current  thought  from  the 
tenth  century  onward  through  the  Arabic  translations 
brought  to  Europe  by  the  Moors  and  made  known  by 
the  writings  of  Isidore  of  Seville.  Occasionally  a specu- 
lative monk  in  drawing  a wheel-map  extended  it  far  be- 
yond the  limits  of  the  Old  World,  and  like  Macrobius 
represented  some  possibility  of  a southern  temperate  and 
even  of  a southern  frigid  zone.  Speculation  revived  as 
to  the  existence  of  Antipodes  to  the  west  as  well  as  Antip- 
odes to  the  south.  Roger  Bacon,  so  far  before  his  age 
in  all  that  concerned  natural  science,  openly  declared  his 
belief  in  them,  and  of  course  in  the  spherical  form  of  the 
Earth. 

The  travels  of  Marco  Polo  opened  the  eyes  of  the 
awakening  intellect  of  Europe  to  the  immense  eastward 
extension  of  the  Old  World,  and  made  it  clear  for  the 
first  time  that  the  Torrid  Zone  was  no  barrier  of  fire,  but 
a path  for  Chinese  and  Arab  trade  in  the  far  east  of  Asia 
and  along  the  east  coast  of  Africa.  Marco  Polo  prepared 
the  way  for  the  translation  of  Ptolemy  made  by  Angeles 
in  1410.  The  world  was  ready  for  this  revelation  and 
there  is  something  of  pathos  in  the  sight  of  the  first  leaders 
of  thought  in  modem  Europe  eagerly  welcoming  as  the 
latest  advance  the  work  of  the  last  of  the  Greeks.  Long 
before  this,  isolated  writers,  such  as  Moses,  a converted 
Spanish  Jew,  in  the  eleventh  century,  Michael  Scott,  the 
astrologer  and  reputed  wizard,  and  Albert  Trismegistus, 
the  alchymist,  had  urged  that  the  Torrid  Zone  was  not 


16  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


impassable  on  account  of  heat,  and  that  it  might  be  trav- 
ersed though  with  great  difficulty. 

Europe  at  last  became  fully  awake.  In  every  depart- 
ment of  intellectual  activity  the  idle  disputations  in  which 
the  learning  of  the  Schoolmen  had  its  end  were  being  dis- 
carded. Facts  of  natural  science  were  no  longer  an- 


The  Map  of  Macrobius. 


swered  according  to  the  letter  of  Aristotle,  but  according 
to  his  spirit  by  direct  appeal  to  nature.  The  art  of 
navigation  had  greatly  improved,  the  Northmen  had  dis- 
covered new  lands  far  in  the  west,  the  compass  had  been 
invented,  or  adopted  from  the  Chinese,  and  as  a final  spur 
to  action  the  power  of  Mohammedanism  passed  from  the 
cultivated  Arab  to  the  sanguinary  and  ignorant  Turk. 


SLEEP  AND  AWAKENING  17 

This  change  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  the 
whole  renaissance.  The  Turk  burnt  the  Alexandrine 
library  and  the  Pope  admitted  the  sphericity  of  the  Earth  ; 
the  sceptre  of  intellect  passed  by  these  acts  from  Islam  to 
Christendom,  and  the  way  was  reopened  to  attack  the 
problem  of  the  Antarctic.  The  shifting  of  the  balance 
of  power  began  to  press  heavily  on  trade.  The  routes  to 
the  Far  East  were  blocked  by  the  Turk;  but  the  products 
of  the  Far  East  had  become  indispensable  to  Europe. 
The  possibility  of  a sea-passage  to  India  became  a press- 
ing affair,  and  Ptolemy’s  Terra  Incognita  uniting  the 
south  of  Africa  with  the  Malay  peninsula  would  bar  the 
way;  but  here  it  appears  that  the  early  European  geog- 
raphers were  not  altogether  inclined  to  follow  Ptolemy, 
and  many  even  of  the  wheel-maps  show  the  Indian  Ocean 
open  to  the  south. 

The  problem  of  the  sea-route  to  the  East  absorbed  the 
attention  of  the  Portuguese  Prince  Henry,  of  English  de- 
scent on  his  mother’s  side,  whose  life-long  efforts  to  pro- 
mote maritime  enterprise  gained  for  him  the  surname  of 
The  Navigator.  With  the  advent  of  Prince  Plenry  we 
pass  from  speculation  to  exploration,  and  thanks  to  his 
vigorous  initiative  the  clouds  of  ignorance  which  had 
obscured  three-quarters  of  the  Earth’s  surface  for  mil- 
lenniums, began  to  roll  away. 

It  is  scarcely  possible  in  the  twentieth  century  for  us 
to  understand  the  horror  of  the  unknown  ocean  which 
haunted  the  seafarers  of  the  Mediterranean  even  so  late 
as  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century.  It  would  seem 
as  if  the  fancies  of  the  ancient  Greeks  had  expanded  in 
vagueness  and  terror  during  the  intellectual  sleep  until 
they  became  veritable  nightmares.  West  of  the  Pillars 
of  Hercules  the  portals  of  the  pleasant  Mediterranean, 


18  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


where  every  coast-line  had  been  neatly  and  accurately 
charted  there  lay  an  infinite  expanse  of  water,  but  south- 
ward as  the  Torrid  Zone  was  approached  the  sea  became 
covered  with  darkness,  the  waves  rose  to  mountain  height, 
the  wind  dropped  calm,  the  water  itself  evaporated  into  a 
saline  mud  in  which  dwelt  monsters  of  indescribable  size 
and  variety.  Blackest  horror  of  all,  the  huge  hand  of 
the  Devil  himself  would  be  thrust  up  above  the  boiling 
sea  groping  for  wandering  ships;  one  of  the  fantastic 
islands  in  the  Atlantic  on  a mediaeval  map  bears  the  title, 
de  la  man  de  Satanaxio . We  hear  at  the  present  day  of 
the  superstitions  of  sailors,  and  multiplying  these  super- 
stitions by  the  centuries  which  have  passed  since  Prince 
Henry  organised  his  pioneer  exploration,  we  can  dimly 
apprehend  what  the  courage  of  the  old  mariners  was, 
nerving  them  to  contend  against  far  greater  obstacles 
than  those  interposed  by  Nature. 

Year  after  year,  from  1418  until  he  died  in  1460,  Prince 
Henry  sent  out  his  ships  under  stout  skippers  trained  at 
his  naval  observatory  at  Sagres  in  the  knowledge  of 
Ptolemy  and  the  Arabs,  and  posted  up  in  all  the  informa- 
tion brought  back  by  their  contemporaries.  The  farthest 
south  of  these  days  was  Cape  Nun  (28°  46'  N.)  long  held 
impassable ; it  was  passed  by  Gil  Eannes  in  1433  or  J434- 
Ten  years  later  the  dreary  harbourless  coast  of  the  Great 
Desert  was  passed  and  the  name  of  Cape  Verde,  the  Green 
Cape,  testifies  to  the  joy  and  surprise  of  the  navigators  in 
their  discovery  that  the  Torrid  Zone  was  not  all  Sahara, 
but  contained  fertile  and  inhabited  land.  The  Navigator 
died  long  before  the  achievement  of  crossing  the  equator 
by  one  of  the  ships  which  followed  voluntarily  in  the 
track  which  he  had  opened  with  the  labour  of  a life-time. 
This  occurred  abo^t  1470. 


SLEEP  AND  AWAKENING  19 

In  1487  Bartholomew  Diaz  sailed  from  Lisbon  with 
three  ships  to  look  for  the  mythical  Prester  John  in 
Ethiopia.  He  crossed  the  whole  breadth  of  the  Torrid 
Zone  and  his  crew,  first  amongst  sailors,  realised  the  truth 
of  the  scientific  deduction  that  a second  Temperate  zone 
lay  beyond.  After  erecting  a monument  at  Cape  Voltas 


The  Sea  Route  to  India.  An  Early  Map. 
(From  Nordenskiold’s  Facsimile  Atlas.) 


(26°  S.)  Diaz  was  driven  by  a storm  far  out  into  the  South 
Atlantic  and  for  thirteen  days  his  flotilla  was  at  the  mercy 
of  the  winds.  The  weather  grew  bitterly  :cold  and  his 
men  might  well  believe  they  had  crossed  the  Temperate 
zone  as  well  and  were  driving  towards  the  new  terror  of 
a South  Frigid  Zone,  for  they  were  in  the  great  current 
partly  of  Antarctic,  partly  of  abysmal  oceanic  water 


20  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


which  wells  up  against  the  southwest  coast  of  Africa  and 
streams  northward  along  the  land.  When  the  storm  was 
over  Diaz  steered  east  to  meet  the  coast,  but  after  some 
days  seeing  no  land  he  altered  his  course  to  the  northward 
and  anchored  in  Algoa  Bay.  There  is  no  doubt  that  he  had 
reached  and  passed  the  fortieth  parallel  of  south  latitude 
before  making  the  south  coast  of  Africa.  To  his  delight, 
but  to  the  alarm  of  his  crew,  the  coast  continued  to  trend 
eastward,  and  but  for  the  inevitable  mutiny  that  played  a 
part  in  almost  every  voyage  of  the  period  Diaz  would 
have  anticipated  Vasco  da  Gama  in  discovering  the  sea- 
route  to  India.  He  opened  the  way  to  it,  however,  by 
showing  that  Africa  had  undoubtedly  a southern  termi- 
nation in  a temperate  climate,  where  there  were  living 
people,  those  very  Antipodes  to  believe  in  whom  had  for 
centuries  been  the  rankest  heresy. 

How  far  Prince  Henry  knew  that  Africa  was  a great 
peninsula  before  he  began  his  efforts  to  sail  round  it  we 
cannot  say.  There  are  rumours  of  a chart  of  oriental 
origin  showing  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  a route  round 
it  to  India;  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  Arab  traders 
on  the  east  coast  of  Africa  knew  that  there  was  free  water 
communication  to  the  southwest;  and  on  Fra  Mauro’s 
map  of  1495  Africa  was  shown  free  to  the  south.  There 
is,  however,  all  the  difference  in  the  world  between  vague 
report  and  actual  demonstration,  and  nothing  that  has 
been  discovered  as  to  prior  knowledge  can  detract  from 
the  credit  due  to  the  Portuguese  for  their  magnificent 
perseverance  in  pushing  their  way  to  the  farthest  south. 
They  proved  that  long  voyages  were  possible,  that  the 
dangers  of  navigation  on  the  high  seas  were  far  less  than 
had  been  supposed,  and  they  brought  home  proofs  of  the 
form  of  the  Earth  that  even  the  common  sailor  and  the 


SLEEP  AND  AWAKENING  21 

man  in  the  street  of  those  days  could  not  fail  to  under- 
stand. 

From  the  last  years  of  the  fifteenth  century  the  Church 
encouraged  maritime  exploration  and  it  would  be  hard  to 
say  whether  missionary  zeal  or  commercial  enterprise  or 
political  ambition  was  the  strongest  motive  power  in  the 
great  age  of  discovery  which  was  now  inaugurated. 

The  voyage  of  Vasco  da  Gama  in  1497  gave  a definite 
outline  to  Africa  and  shattered  any  lurking  suspicion  that 
the  Terra  Incognita  of  Ptolemy  might  possibly  be  at- 
tached to  that  continent.  Columbus  had  meanwhile  sailed 
westward  and  found  what  he  believed  to  be  a short  cut 
to  India,  with  some  indications  of  an  extensive  land  to 
the  south  of  the  West  Indies  which  he  supposed  to  be 
the  extreme  southeast  of  Asia.  On  his  outward  voyage 
Vasco  da  Gama  discovered  that  by  sailing  southwest  from 
Cape  Verde  he  could  make  use  of  the  northeast  trade 
winds  and  then  turning  southward,  get  across  the  belt 
of  calms  where  it  was  narrow,  and  into  the  westerly  air 
current,  which  would  carry  him  round  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  and  he  advised  his  successor,  Cabral,  to  take  that 
route.  In  following  these  instructions  Cabral  found  him- 
self farther  west  than  he  had  intended  and  discovered 
what  he  took  to  be  a new  island  which  he  named  Terra 
Santa  Cruz.  One  of  his  ships  returned  to  Lisbon  with 
the  news  while  Cabral  continued  his  voyage  to  India. 

Two  expeditions  were  sent  out  in  1501  and  1503  by 
the  King  of  Portugal  to  explore  the  new  island,  and  a 
Florentine  named  Amerigo  Vespucci  took  part  in  each. 
Vespucci  wrote  an  account  of  the  voyages  and  although 
he  was  neither  the  leader  of  the  expeditions  nor  a Por- 
tuguese his  name  became  attached  to  the  new  land  in  the 
form  America.  Controversy  has  raged  about  the  char- 


22  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


acter  of  Vespucci,  who  is  hailed  on  the  one  hand  as  a 
gifted  discoverer,  and  on  the  other  as  a lying  adventurer. 
Possibly  he  was  only  a very  ordinary  person  writing 
with  the  uncritical  carelessness  of  an  amateur  on  matters 
which  interested  him,  but  which  he  did  not  fully  under- 
stand. Anyhow  his  letters  are  all  that  remain  as  a record 
of  the  expeditions  and  from  them  we  learn  that  on  reach- 
ing the  coast  of  the  New  World  between  50  and  8°  S. 
the  first  expedition  in  1501  found  that  Santa  Cruz  was 
no  island  but  the  coast  of  Brazil,  evidently  part  of  a 
great  continent,  which  was  followed  far  to  the  south. 
Vespucci  declared  that  he  had  reached  520  S.,  being 
driven  by  a great  storm,  and  there  discovered  a bleak  in- 
hospitable land  with  steep  cliffs,  rendering  a landing  im- 
possible, but  the  weather  was  too  foggy  to  admit  of  fur- 
ther exploration.  Unfortunately  for  himself  Vespucci 
made  the  remark  that  at  that  latitude  the  night  was  fif- 
teen hours  long ; but  for  a night  of  fifteen  hours  on  April 
2nd  (his  assigned  date)  it  is  necessary  to  be  in  latitude 
72 0 S.,  and  he  certainly  was  not  there.  It  seems  most 
probable  that  the  land  seen  was  some  part  of  the  Pata- 
gonian coast. 

O11  the  second  voyage  of  the  Portuguese  (in  1503) 
their  instructions  were  to  follow  the  coast  of  Brazil 
southward  and  search  for  a passage  to  the  west  in  order 
to  reach  the  much  desired  goal  of  the  spice  islands  of 
the  Moluccas;  but  it  was  unsuccessful  and  reached  no 
farther  south  than  20°  S. 

An  interesting  expedition  followed  the  second  voyage 
of  Vespucci,  the  first  in  which  a non-Iberian  nation  took 
part.  A Norman  noble  the  Sieur  de  Gonneville  being  at 
Lisbon  was  fired  with  the  stories  of  the  wealth  of  the 
Far  East,  and,  securing  the  services  of  two  Portuguese 


SLEEP  AND  AWAKENING 


23 


sailors  who  had  already  made  the  voyage  to  India,  he 
set  out  for  that  brilliant  goal  in  the  Espoir  of  Honfleur. 
Two  months  after  he  had  crossed  the  equator  he  per- 
ceived signs  of  land  in  floating  seaweeds  and  believed  he 
was  approaching  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  A violent 
storm  sprang  up  and  drove  the  ship  back  into  the  zone 
of  calms,  and  two  months  later  (presumably  after  resum- 
ing the  southward  course)  land  was  sighted  and  a 
landing  made.  From  this  Southern  Land  de  Gonneville 
brought  a native  back  to  France  about  whose  subsequent 
fate  picturesque  tales  are  told.  He  is  said  to  have 
married  a French  lady  of  noble  family  and  his  descend- 
ants more  than  two  centuries  later  are  reported  to  have 
set  sail  in  search  of  their  remote  fatherland.  Theoreti- 
cal geographers  have  located  de  Gonneville’s  Southern 
Land  in  Australia,  Africa,  Madagascar,  North  America 
and  South  America  as  it  suited  their  views ; the  balance 
of  probability  seems  to  point  to  southern  Brazil  as  the 
real  landfall. 

In  1514  two  Portuguese  ships  returned  to  Lisbon  from 
the  coast  of  America.  They  belonged  to  the  great  com- 
mercial house  of  Haro  but  their  captains  are  unknown. 
Tht  only  record  of  the  voyage  is  a long  report  written 
by  the  Lisbon  agent  of  the  famous  German  firm  of 
Fugger  in  Augsburg  in  whose  archives  the  original  MS. 
was  recently  found.  It  had  been  printed  at  the  time 
under  the  title  of  “ Copia  der  Newen  Zeytung  aus 
Presillgt  Landt,”  and  became  widely  known.  The  gist 
of  the  “ new  tidings  from  Brazil  land  ” is  that  the  south- 
ern extremity  of  America  was  found  by  Haro’s  ships  in 
40  0 S.  and  that  to  the  south  of  the  broad  channel  washing 
the  cape  appeared  the  coast  of  the  great  South  Land,  i 

There  was  naturally  keen  rivalry,  political,  commer- 


24  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

cial  and  religious  between  the  Portuguese  and  the 
Spanish  explorers  and  at  an  early  date  they  had  appealed 
to  the  Pope  to  settle  their  disputes.  This  the  Pope  did 
by  assigning  the  eastern  hemisphere  to  Portugal  and  the 
western  to  Spain,  the  meridian  separating  the  two 
passing  through  the  Atlantic.  The  famous  Line  of  De- 
marcation was  not  easily  adjusted  to  suit  both  parties 
but  in  its  final  form  it  was  the  meridian  of  46°  W.  in 
the  Atlantic  and  1340  E.  on  the  other  side  of  the  globe. 
Thus  it  came  about  that  the  fruits  of  Cabral’s  discovery 
so  far  as  a route  to  the  Spice  Islands  were  concerned  fell 
to  the  share  of  Spain,  and  it  was  from  Spain  that  the 
greatest  hero  of  this  great  age  of  discovery  set  sail,  al- 
though he  was  himself  a Portuguese,  Ferdinand  Magellan. 

Magellan  sailed  in  September,  1519,  found  the  coast 
of  Brazil  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Rio  de  Janeiro  in 
December,  coasted  southward,  and  very  carefully  ex- 
amined the  broad  opening  of  the  Rio  de  la  Plata  by  which 
he  had  hoped,  probably  on  the  strength  of  the  “ Newen 
Zeytung  aus  Presillgt  Landt,”  to  find  a passage  west- 
ward. Convinced  by  the  shallowness  and  freshness  of 
the  water  that  there  was  no  passage  there,  he  pursued 
his  course,  searching  every  bay  until  the  approach  of  the 
southern  winter  made  it  necessary  to  seek  a secure 
harbour.  This  he  found  in  Port  St.  Julian  490  30'  S. 
where  he  stayed  five  months,  and  there  he  informed  his 
officers  that  he  would  go  on  seeking  for  a passage  as  far 
as  750  S.  if  necessary. 

On  October  21st,  1520,  the  squadron  sighted  a head- 
land, which  was  named,  in  accordance  with  the  Roman 
Catholic  custom  so  valuable  to  the  historian  of  early 
travels,  after  the  saint  of  the  day,  in  this  case  the  Eleven 
Thousand  Virgins.  It  was  situated  in  520  S.  the  highest 


The  Continuous  Southern  Ocean. 
(From  Nordenskiold’s  Facsimile  A Has.) 


SLEEP  AND  AWAKENING  25 

south  latitude  so  far  reached  with  certainty,  and  by  the 
side  of  the  cape  a channel  opened  deep,  salt  and  with  a 
strong  current  running  through,  the  long-looked-for 
passage  to  the  west.  With  the  further  labours  of  Magel- 
lan we  have  little  to  do.  He  crossed  the  wide  Pacific  in 
a voyage  of  three  months'  duration  in  which  no  land 
was  sighted  but  two  wide-separated  barren  islands.  One 
ship  of  his  squadron,  the  Victoria,  after  his  untimely 
death,  threaded  the  maze  of  the  Malay  archipelego  and 
crossing  the  Indian  Ocean  returned  to  Spain  by  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope.  The  Victoria  turned  a furrow  of 
blue  water  round  the  globe  and  taught  Europe  by  that 
simple  demonstration  that  the  Earth  was  indeed  a sphere, 
or  at  least  that  it  was  round,  taught  it  also  that  the  Old 
World  and  the  New  World  alike  were  free  to  the  south 
and  that  a third  world,  if  such  existed,  must  be  looked  for 
in  the  vast  unknown  area  about  the  Antarctic  pole. 

That  a " third  world  ” did  exist  was  a cherished  belief, 
no  doubt  derived  from  the  old  Greek  speculations  and 
reasoning  based  on  the  law  of  symmetry.  Magellan  did 
much  to  confirm  the  idea,  for  when  he  passed  through 
the  strait  that  bears  his  name  he  saw  to  the  south  of  him 
land  as  continuous  and  as  continental  in  appearance  as 
the  territory  of  the  Patagonians  to  the  north.  This 
southern  land  he  named  Tierra  del  Fuego,  the  land  of 
fires,  apparently  from  the  fires  carried  by  the  natives  in 
their  canoes. 

While  the  question  of  the  existence  of  an  Antarctic 
region  had  been  settled  definitely  by  the  acceptance  of 
the  sphericity  of  the  Earth,  and  the  mode  of  access  to 
that  region  had  been  shown  by  Magellan  to  be  by  the  sea 
alone,  it  still  remained  doubtful  whether  it  was  an 
antarctic  sea  or  an  antarctic  land  that  lay  inviting  dis- 


26  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


covery.  Map-makers  picking  up  their  scraps  of  fact  as 
they  could,  from  the  descriptions  of  Ptolemy,  the  authen- 
tic logs  of  recent  voyages  or  the  stories  of  sailors,  were 
obliged  or  at  least  felt  themselves  impelled  to  work  these 
facts  into  some  sort  of  setting  that  gave  their  drawing 
an  air  of  completeness.  They  had  to  fall  back  for  this 
purpose  on  the  old  ideas  of  symmetry  or  analogy  or  else 
to  draw  upon  their  imagination — a more  abundant  source 
and  much  more  easily  tapped.  It  is  not  surprising  that 
the  globes  of  the  sixteenth  century  varied  vastly  in  their 
details. 

Leonardo  da  Vinci  on  his  globe  of  1515  depicts 
America  and  Africa  separated  by  broad  stretches  of 
ocean  from  a continent  almost  included  in  the  Antarctic 
circle,  which  would  have  been  a marvellously  lucky  guess 
at  the  truth  had  there  been  any  indication  of  a possible 
Australia.  The  globe  of  Schoner  in  1515  also  showed 
America  and  Africa  free,  but  obviously  on  the  strength  of 
the  “ Newen  Zeytung  aus  Presillgt  Landt,”  America  was 
represented  as  terminating  in  latitude  40°  S.  and  nearly 
touching  a huge  ring-shaped  continent  almost  encircling 
the  globe  and  enclosing  a sea  which  filled  the  Antarctic 
circle.  This  continent  was  laden  with  detail  of  moun- 
tains and  rivers,  and  the  part  south  of  America  was 
named  Brasilie  regio.  Schoner’s  globe  of  1520  named 
the  land  south  of  America  stretching  from  40°  to  nearly 
8o°  S.  Brasilia  Inferior . The  map  of  Orontius  Finne, 
published  in  1531,  seems  to  combine  the  information  of 
the  two  foregoing  with  Magellan’s  discovery,  for  it 
shows  a vast  continent  covering  the  whole  Antarctic  area 
coming  close  to  America,  keeping  more  distant  from 
Africa,  but  swelling  out  in  the  south  Indian  Ocean  almost 
to  the  tropic  in  a great  square  projection  called  Brasilie 


The  Mai*  of  Orontius,  Southern  Hemisphere. 

[ F rom  Norclenskiold’s  Facsimile  .If/as.) 

[To  face  p.  a6. 


SLEEP  AND  AWAKENING  27 

RegiOy  to  the  east  of  which  a large  peninsula  attached  by 
a very  narrow  isthmus  was  named  Regio  Patalis.  The 
whole  continent  bore  the  inscription  “Terra  Australis 
recenter  inventa  sed  nondum  plene  cognita.,,  The  out- 
line of  the  Regio  Patalis  irresistibly  suggests  Australia 
and  has  given  rise  to  much  controversy  as  to  the  early 
discovery  of  that  continent.  French  maps  of  the  same 
date,  and,  curiously  enough,  French  maps  only,  showed 
the  island  of  Java  separated  by  a narrow  strait  from  a 
huge  shapeless  island  called  “ Jave  le  Grand,”  which 
covers  a great  part  of  the  area  really  occupied  by  Aus- 
tralia, but  stretched  on  some  maps  as  far  as  6o°  S.  This 
also  suggested  to  some  writers  an  early  discovery  of 
Australia  by  unknown  Frenchmen. 

However,  these  things  may  be  we  cannot  be  far  wrong 
in  accepting  the  map  of  Orontius  as  representing  the 
current  views  of  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  as 
to  the  nature  of  the  southern  hemisphere.  The  vast 
Terra  Australis  built  entirely  of  conjecture  save  for  the 
Tierra  del  Fuegian  scrap  of  fact,  was  a continent  indeed 
“ not  yet  fully  known,”  the  finding  of  which  would  well 
repay  any  explorer,  and  place  the  happy  discoverer  on  a 
pedestal  beside  Columbus  and  Vasco  da  Gama,  perhaps 
even  as  high  as  Magellan  himself.  It  was  a magnificent 
stimulus  and  the  following  chapters  trace  its  historical 
results. 


CHAPTER  III 


SEARCHING  FOR  THE  SOUTH  LAND 

“We  left  behind  the  painted  buoy 
That  tosses  at  the  harbour  mouth; 

And  madly  danced  our  hearts  with  joy, 

As  fast  we  fleeted  to  the  South ; 

How  fresh  was  every  sight  and  sound, 

On  open  main  or  winding  shore ! 

We  knew  the  merry  world  was  round, 

And  we  might  sail  for  evermore.” 

— Tennyson. 

FOR  two  hundred  years  the  fair  image  of  the  South 
Land  fled  before  the  bold  sailors  who  entered  the 
southern  seas  in  quest  of  trade  or  plunder.  They 
ever  kept  a watchful  eye  to  southward  in  the  hope  of 
lighting  upon  the  Third  World,  the  richness  and  attrac- 
tiveness of  which  seemed  to  increase  from  generation  to 
generation. 

Unfortunately  it  is  difficult  to  unravel  the  stories  of  the 
voyagers  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries.  It 
is  true  that  “ the  men  loomed  large  on  the  long  trail,  the 
trail  that  is  always  new,”  but  their  forms  are  rarely 
distinct.  The  vagueness  of  their  original  narratives 
often  set  down  from  hearsay  by  another  hand,  the  uncer- 
tainty of  determining  latitude  to  a single  degree  by 
means  of  the  clumsy  back-staff  or  cross-staff,  and  the 
wild  guesses  at  longitude  that  were  alone  possible,  makes 
the  story  of  any  particular  voyage  hard  to  follow,  and  the 
contests  as  to  priority  of  discovery  very  difficult  to 

28 


FOR  THE  SOUTH  LAND 


29 


umpire.  But  an  even  greater  difficulty  is  introduced  by 
the  diametrically  opposite  views  arrived  at  by  different 
geographical  experts  after  critical  study  of  all  existing 
data.  If  one  could  believe  all  the  evil  that  has  been 
spoken  of  the  early  explorers,  and  of  some  of  the  later  as 
well,  the  only  possible  conclusion  would  be  that  the 
most  detestable  scoundrels  of  all  nations  and  they  alone 
were  hardy  enough  to  undertake  maritime  enterprise.  If 
one  were  to  believe  all  the  good  that  is  spoken  of  these 
same  men  by  authorities  equally  high,  they  were  without 
exception  high-souled  heroes  of  whom  the  world  was  not 
worthy,  animated  by  none  but  the  loftiest  motives, 
incapable  alike  of  error  in  their  observations  or  of  exag- 
geration in  their  statements.  The  truth  must  lie  between 
the  two  extremes,  and  we  shall  follow  the  views  which 
appear  the  most  reasonable  in  setting  out  a chronological 
narrative  of  the  attempts  to  reach  that  ghost  of  an 
antarctic  continent  which  the  fancies  of  cartographers 
had  conjured  up.  We  have  no  prepossessions  in  the 
matter,  are  ready  to  revise  our  opinions  on  obtaining  any 
fresh  evidence,  and  not  prepared  to  take  up  the  cudgels 
of  controversy  in  respect  of  any  of  the  views  set  forth. 

All  through  this  period  the  means  of  publicity  were 
small,  and  as  a rule  the  desire  for  publicity  on  the  part 
of  explorers  was  even  smaller.  The  balance  of  power 
in  Europe  depended  so  intimately  on  the  possession  of 
exclusive  information  that  authentic  charts  were  jeal- 
ously guarded  as  State  documents  of  the  highest  value, 
the  communication  of  which  to  a foreigner  was  an  act  of 
treason.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  false  reports 
were  sometimes  deliberately  made  public  in  order  to 
deter  rivals,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  malicious 
slanders  were  circulated  as  to  persons  whose  knowledge 


3o  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

was  inconvenient  to  those  in  authority.  It  is  accordingly 
not  surprising  to  find  that  many  facts  to  which  we  now 
have  access  were  unknown  to  the  contemporaries  of  the 
actors  themselves,  whose  efforts  and  discoveries  were 
thus  often  left  unproductive  and  lay  outside  the  chain  of 
historical  continuity. 

The  Emperor  Charles  V.  sent  out  an  expedition  in 
1525  to  repeat  the  voyage  of  Magellan  and  one  of  the 
caravels,  the  San  Lesmes,  encountering  one  of  the  violent 
storms  that  haunt  the  southern  extremity  of  America, 
was  driven  far  to  the  southeastward  of  the  entrance  to 
the  strait,  and  in  latitude  55 0 found  an  open  sea  leading 
the  captain  to  believe  that  he  had  come  to  the  southern 
end  of  Tierra  del  Fuego.  This  fact  never  found  its  way 
into  contemporary  maps,  but  the  difficulties  of  the  south- 
west passage  to  the  Indies  were  fully  appreciated  by  the 
Spanish  sailors.  They  had  a much  easier  and  safer  route 
by  Mexico,  a route  which  obviated  the  storms  of  the 
Southern  Ocean  and  the  tedious  and  hazardous  naviga- 
tion of  the  Strait,  and  which  also  reduced  the  voyages 
of  the  Spaniard  living  at  home  to  the  short  and  easy  trip 
to  Mexico,  while  his  colonial  brother  undertook  the  trans- 
pacific voyage  from  one  of  the  ports  on  the  west  coast  of 
America,  all  of  which  were  bound  together  by  a regular 
service  of  coasting  vessels.  For  forty  years  the  Span- 
iards deserted  the  Strait,  but  diligently  continued  their 
navigations  in  the  great  South  Sea. 

The  Portuguese  trader,  Jorge  de  Meneses,  while  on  a 
voyage  from  Malacca  to  Ternate  in  1526,  was  drifted 
out  of  his  course  and  fell  in  with  the  coast  of  a vast 
projection  of  the  great  South  Land.  The  discovery  was 
not  followed  up  and  twenty  years  later  a Spaniard  Ynigo 
Ortiz  de  Retes,  in  the  San  Juan,  after  passing  a number 


FOR  THE  SOUTH  LAND 


3i 


of  islands,  met  with  an  extensive  land  of  which  he  fol- 
lowed the  north  coast  for  about  230  leagues  without 
coming  to  an  end.  Henceforth  this  portion  of  the 
Southern  Continent  appeared  upon  the  maps  under  the 
name  of  New  Guinea,  which  it  still  bears.  It  was  easy 
to  draw  a continuous  coast  line  across  the  Pacific  to  unite 
it  with  the  Magellanic  Land,  nor  were  there  wanting 
adventurous  sailors  to  visit  portions  of  that  coast  and 
return  with  detailed  descriptions.  Thus  Dr.  Juan  Luis 
Arias  some  time  between  1606  and  1621,  no  doubt  ani- 
mated by  the  stories  of  Ouiros,  wrote  a Memorial  to 
Philip  III.,  King  of  Spain,  in  the  true  spirit  of  expansive 
imperialism,  urging  that  monarch  to  proceed  to  annex 
and  colonise  the  new  continent  without  delay,  for  it  had 
been  discovered  by  the  intrepid  pilot,  Juan  Fernandez, 
about  40°  west  of  the  coast  of  Chile,  a pleasant  land, 
fertile,  temperate  in  climate,  watered  by  great  navigable 
rivers,  like  nothing  one  could  see  in  Chile  or  Peru,  and 
to  crown  all,  inhabited  by  white  people.  So,  long  before 
Defoe  immortalised  the  adventures  of  Alexander  Selkirk 
on  the  island  really  discovered  by  Juan  Fernandez  and 
named  after  him,  a romance  was  woven  round  some 
Polynesian  island  visited  by  the  same  navigator,  and  the 
prevailing  belief  in  a non-existent  region  strengthened 
thereby. 

In  1567,  Pedro  de  Sarmiento,  succeeded  in  inducing 
the  Viceroy  of  Peru  to  fit  out  an  expedition  to  explore 
the  South  Land,  but  though  he  was  made  captain  of  one 
of  the  vessels  the  command  of  the  expedition  was  given 
to  Alvaro  de  Mendana,  nephew  of  the  Viceroy,  who  took 
a course  of  his  own,  little  dreaming  that  the  route  urged 
by  Sarmiento  would  have  led  to  the  discovery  of  Aus- 
tralia. The  only  result  of  the  voyage  was  to  find  a 


32  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

group  of  large  islands,  some  of  which  the  explorers  be- 
lieved to  be  connected  by  land  with  New  Guinea,  and  as 
some  gold  was  picked  up,  though  neither  apes  nor  pea- 
cocks were  found,  they  called  them  the  Solomon  Islands 
on  account  of  their  resemblance  to  Ophir.  This  partial 
success  stimulated  Mendana  to  continue  his  explorations, 
to  the  brilliant  conclusion  of  which  we  shall  refer 
presently. 

The  scene  of  interest  shifts  back  to  “ where  wild  meet- 
ing oceans  boil  besouth  Magellan/’  and  for  the  first  time 
an  English  explorer  appears  on  the  stage,  no  less  heroic 
a figure  than  Sir  Francis  Drake,  the  boldest  buccaneer 
of  the  Elizabethan  age  when  the  sphere  of  the  “ ten  com- 
mandments ” did  not  extend  beyond  the  mouth  of  the 
Channel  and  every  man  who  owned  a ship  was  free  to 
make  his  fortune  as  seemed  right  in  his  own  eyes  on  the 
high  seas.  Drake  who  cared  nothing  for  the  Pope’s 
Line  of  Demarcation,  or  the  Spaniards’  valour,  much  as  he 
appreciated  their  galleons,  set  out  in  1578  “ to  seek  that 
strait  in  which  the  vulgar  believe  not  but  the  reality  of 
which  is  confirmed  by  many  cosmographers.”  He  found 
the  strait,  passed  through  into  the  Pacific  in  the  remark- 
ably short  time  of  18  days  and  after  sailing  some  distance 
to  the  northwest  met  with  one  of  the  gales  of  the  region 
and  was  driven  far  to  the  southwest.  He  was  in  latitude 
“ 570  or  somewhat  better  ” before  he  recovered  control  of 
his  ship.  He  had  reached  the  farthest  south  yet  attained, 
though  still  nine  degrees  north  of  the  Antarctic  circle 
within  which  a distorted  report  of  his  voyage  in  De  Dry’s 
great  compendium  of  travels  represented  him  as  having 
been  driven.  Drake  found  himself  soon  after  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  a group  of  islands  which  he  named  the  Eliza- 
bethides  after  the  Queen,  and  turning  northward  came  on 


FOR  THE  SOUTH  LAND 


33 


the  south  coast  of  a land  in  550  S.  These  islands  were 
undoubtedly  part  of  the  insular  labyrinth  of  Tierra  del 
Fuego,  but  they  were  shifted  about  on  the  map  like 
pawns  on  a chess-board  by  the  cartographers  of  the  fol- 
lowing generation  until  “ Drake  Land  " figured  as  a 
respectable  promontory  of  the  great  South  Land  itself. 

Although  a pirate,  Drake,  in  his  own  erratic  way,  was 
a pious  man  and  carried  a chaplain,  the  Rev.  Francis 
Fletcher,  who  as  the  author  of  “ The  World  Encom- 
passed/' was  also  the  chronicler  of  the  voyage.  Although 
his  master  once  set  him  in  irons  on  board,  with  the 
inscription  on  his  arm  “ frances  fletcher  ye  falsest  knave 
yt.  liveth  ” we  may  accept  the  chaplain's  statement : “ at 
length  wee  fell  with  the  uttermost  part  of  land  towards 
the  South  Pole,  and  had  certainly  discovered  how  farre 
the  same  doth  reach  Southward  from  the  coast  of  Amer- 
ica aforenamed.  The  uttermost  cape  or  hedland  of  all 
these  Hands  stands  neere  in  56  deg.,  without  which  there 
is  no  maine  nor  Hand  to  be  seene  to  the  Southwards,  but 
that  the  Atlanticke  Ocean  and  the  South  Sea,  meete  in  a 
most  large  and  free  scope." 

Richard  Hawkins,  (whose  identity  as  a prisoner  of 
the  Spanish  is  quaintly  veiled  in  Don  Ricardo  Aquines, 
and  in  German  translations  Reichard  von  Aquin),  also  a 
famous  buccaneer  states  his  own  view  confirmed  by  a con- 
versation with  Drake,  as  follows: 

“ If  a man  be  furnished  with  woode  and  water  and  the 
winde  good,  he  may  keepe  the  mayne  sea,  and  goe  round 
about  the  straits  to  the  southwards  and  it  is  the  shorter 
way;  for  besides  the  experience  which  we  made,  that  all 
the  south  part  of  the  straites  is  but  ilands,  many  times 
having  the  sea  open,  I remember  that  Sir  Francis  Drake 
told  me,  that  having  shott  the  straites,  a storm  first  took 


34  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

him  at  northwest,  and  after  vered  about  to  the  southwest, 
which  continued  with  him  many  dayes,  with  that  ex- 
tremitie,  that  he  could  not  open  any  sayle,  and  that  at  the 
end  of  the  storme,  he  found  himselfe  in  fiftie  degrees* 
which  was  sufficient  testimony  and  proof e that  he  zvas 
beaten  round  about  the  straites  ” 

There  is  thus  no  manner  of  doubt  that  Drake  had 
proved  Tierra  del  Fuego  to  be  a group  of  islands  and 
not  part  of  any  Antarctic  Continent ; but  his  record  was 
misunderstood,  he  himself  thought  little  of  it  and  does 
not  appear  to  have  given  a name  to  the  “ extreme  cape  or 
cliff  ” which  probably  enough  was  that  which  Le  Maire 
and  Schouten  in  1615  after  passing  through  Strait  Le 
Maire  and  sighting  Staten  Land  called  Cape  Lloorn  after 
one  of  their  ships,  a name  since  only  too  familiar  to  the 
deep-sea  sailor  as  The  Horn. 

The  next  important  event  in  the  history  of  the  Antarctic 
possibly  occurred  twenty-one  years  later,  but  whether  it 
occurred  or  not  is  one  of  those  puzzling  questions  to 
which  an  answer  is  difficult.  The  story,  which  has  been 
accepted  by  many  students  of  the  history  of  discovery,  is 
to  the  effect  that  a small  Dutch  vessel,  the  Blijde  Bood- 
schap  (Blithe  Tidings),  under  the  command  of  Dirk 
Gerritsz,  one  of  the  famous  Dutch  squadron  of  “ the 
Five  Ships  ” bound  to  the  Indies  for  trade  and  plunder, 
after  having  cleared  Magellan  Strait  and  reached  50°  S. 
in  the  Pacific,  was  driven  back  by  a storm  to  64°  S. 
where  a mountainous  snowy  coast  like  that  of  Norway 
was  discovered,  extending  apparently  to  the  Solomon 
Islands.  It  has  been  generally  believed  on  the  strength 

* Probably  an  error  of  a copyist  who  mistook  “ 56  ” for  “ 50  ” ; 
it  is  scarcely  probable  though  not  impossible  that  longitude  and 
not  latitude  is  meant. 


FOR  THE  SOUTH  LAND 


35 


of  this  report  that  Dirk  Gerritsz  was  the  discoverer  of 
the  South  Shetlands  and  his  name  has  recently  been  at- 
tached by  the  leading  German  cartographers  to  the  whole 
archipelago  lying  south  of  6i°  in  the  longitude  of  Tierra 
del  Fuego.  From  the  record  of  the  other  vessels  of  the 
squadron,  we  learn  that  the  leader,  Olivier  van  Noort, 
had  received  a letter  from  Dirk  Gerritsz,  stating  that  he 
had  missed  the  appointed  meeting  place  at  Santa  Maria 
Island,  ran  short  of  provisions,  reached  Valparaiso  in 
great  distress  and  was  wounded  and  taken  prisoner  by 
the  Spaniards.  Not  a word  was  said  as  to  any  discovery 
of  land  in  the  far  south.  This  was  first  heard  of  in  some 
supplementary  notes  incorporated  in  the  introduction  to 
Herrera’s  “ History  of  the  Doings  of  the  Spaniards  in 
America,”  by  Kasper  Barlaeus,  who  translated  that 
Spanish  work  into  Latin  in  1622. 

It  seems  likely  that  Gerritsz’s  name  was  associated  by 
mistake  with  the  report  of  quite  another  voyage,  and  the 
origin  of  the  mistake,  as  pointed  out  by  Mr.  E.  S.  Balch, 
is  probably  a manuscript  dating  from  the  end  of  the  sev- 
enteenth century,  which  is  preserved  in  the  Royal 
Archives  at  The  Hague.  It  commences : 

“ Laurens  Claess  of  Antwerp,  aged  about  40  years,  has 
served  as  boatswain  on  the  Magellan  ship  Blijde  Boot- 
schap  which  sailed  with  other  ships  ...  in  1598 
. . . has  served  under  the  Admiral  Don  Gabriel  de 

Castiglio  with  three  ships  along  the  coast  of  Chile  towards 
Valparaiso  and  from  there  towards  the  Strait,  and  that  in 
the  year  1603,  and  he  went  in  March  to  64  degrees  where 
they  had  much  snow.” 

No  mention  is  made  of  land,  and  it  would  seem  that 
Dirk  Gerritsz’s  old  shipmate  had  really  approached  within 
a few  degrees  of  the  Antarctic  circle  on  board  a Spanish 


36  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

ship.  A confused  report  of  this  exploit  may  very  well 
have  inspired  Barlaeus.  The  statement  that  the  snow- 
clad  coast-line  imputed  to  Dirk  Gerritsz  probably  ex- 
tended to  the  Solomon  Islands,  is  plainly  a speculation 
of  an  armchair  geographer,  and  obviously  emanates  from 
Barlaeus ; but  we  have  now  to  follow  the  mythical  coast- 
line to  the  new  land  of  Ophir,  for  the  centre  of  interest  in 
the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century  lies  there. 

Mendana  was  accompanied  on  a second  voyage  of  ex- 
ploration, with  which  we  are  not  concerned,  by  a Portu- 
guese pilot  named  Pedro  Fernandez  de  Quiros,  who  is 
hailed  by  one  authority  as  the  true  hero  of  the  unknown 
South  Land,  and  stigmatised  by  another  as  a lying 
Munchausen.  In  any  case  he  was  an  interesting  figure 
and  he  played  a picturesque  part  in  the  history  of  ex- 
ploration. On  Mendana’s  death,  Quiros  after  a vain 
attempt  to  get  the  Peruvian  viceroy  to  provide  funds  for 
a great  expedition  to  the  South  Land,  went  to  Spain  like 
Columbus,  to  whom  he  compared  himself,  to  move  the 
King  in  the  matter.  He  went  first  to  Rome  and  laid  be- 
fore the  Pope  a touching  picture  of  the  untold  millions 
of  South  Land  natives  ready  to  be  led  into  the  fold  of 
the  Church ; the  Pope  recommended  him  to  King  Philip 
III.,  to  whom  Quiros  promised  new  lands  greater  in  ex- 
tent than  those  he  already  possessed  and  the  funds  were 
secured. 

Quiros  set  out  from  Callao  in  December,  1605, 
with  three  ships  to  explore  the  coast  of  the  South  Land 
from  Tierra  del  Fuego  to  New  Guinea,  accompanied  by 
six  Franciscan  missionaries.  After  encountering  much 
bad  weather  and  often  changing  his  course  he  reached 
a small  island  in  the  group,  afterwards  called  the  New 
Hebrides,  which  from  its  height,  its  inhabitants  and  other 


FOR  THE  SOUTH  LAND 


37 


signs  he  took  to  be  a promontory  of  the  great  Terra  Aus- 
tralis Incognita.  He  named  it  Australia  del  Espiritu 
Santo , and  took  possession  with  a pomp,  ceremony,  and 
comprehensiveness  that  has  perhaps  never  been  sur- 
passed. He  landed  with  his  soldiers  and  priests,  set  up 
his  standards  and  the  cross,  and  hailed  his  discovery 
with  the  words  “ To  God  alone  the  praise  and  glory ! O 
Land  so  long  sought  for,  believed  in  by  so  many,  so  earn- 
estly longed  for  by  me.”  Then  a notary  solemnly  called 
Heaven  and  Earth,  the  Waters  and  all  Creatures  to  witness 
that  Captain  Pedro  Fernandez  de  Quiros  took  possession 
in  the  names  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  the  Pope,  the  Francis- 
cans, various  other  orders,  and  lastly,  the  King  of 
Spain.  The  definition  of  the  territory  annexed  was 
given  thus : 

“ In  this  southern  quarter  of  the  globe  which  has  hith- 
erto been  unknown,  to  which  I have  come  with  the  per- 
mission of  Pope  Clement  VIII.  and  by  command  of  King 
Philip  III.  of  Spain,  dispatched  by  his  Council  of  State, 
I,  Captain  Pedro  Fernandez  de  Quiros  take  possession 
in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Trinity  of  all  islands  and 
lands  which  I have  recently  discovered  and  will  discover 
e  en  to  the  Pole.” 

Yet  notwithstanding  all  this  Quiros  went  no  further 
south ; he  lingered  more  than  a month  at  his  island,  and 
planned  a town  to  be  called  New  Jerusalem  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Jordan.  Soon  after  sailing,  the  ships  of  the  squad- 
ron were  separated  by  a storm.  Quiros  returned  to  Peru 
via  the  Philippines,  and  Torres,  his  second  in  command, 
discovered  and  navigated  the  strait  which  now  bears  his 
name,  thus  proving  that  New  Guinea  was  not  part  of  the 
southern  continent,  arid  discovering  new  land  to  the 
south.  Quiros,  the  would-be  Columbus  of  the  south, 


38  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

passes  out  of  sight  protesting  loudly  that  his  discovery 
was  a land  of  gold  and  silver,  cattle  and  grain,  the  rich- 
est fruit  and  the  healthiest  climate,  a land  without  venom- 
ous beasts  or  insects,  peopled  by  gentle  natives,  a land 
richer  than  Mexico  or  Peru  and  as  large  as  all  Europe 
and  hither-Asia  as  far  as  Persia. 

Meanwhile  the  Dutch  voyagers  sailing  south  from  the 
Malay  archipelago  had  discovered  the  Gulf  of  Carpen- 
taria, where  Jansz  arrived  a few  months  before  Torres ; 
and  year  after  year  the  west  coast  of  Australia  was  felt 
out ; and  its  bays  and  headlands  bear  testimony  to  this  day 
to  the  hardiness  of  the  Dutch  captains  and  the  names  of 
their  ships.  In  1627  Nuyt  discovered  that  after  passing 
Cape  Leeuwin  the  coast  turned  eastward,  and  Tasman 
crowned  the  work  by  sailing  round  the  coast  and  cutting 
off  the  great  mass  of  New  Holland  from  the  dwindling 
hypothetical  continent.  Continuing  on  his  way  he  dis- 
covered the  west  coast  of  New  Zealand,  which  he  named 
Staten  Land  in  honour  of  the  Dutch  States  General. 
He  thought  that  it  might  perhaps  be  continuous  with  the 
other  Staten  Land  east  of  Cape  Horn;  but  in  any  case 
he  was  of  opinion  that  the  new  discovery  formed  part 
of  the  unknown  South  Land. 

Except  possibly  in  the  middle  of  the  three  southern 
oceans  it  was  now  apparent  that  the  Antarctic  continent 
could  not  reach  very  far  into  the  temperate  zone.  This 
was  the  utmost  of  the  achievements  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, and  so  far  as  attaining  high  latitudes  is  concerned, 
the  best  results  were  due  to  the  tempests  off  Cape  Horn, 
such  expeditions  as  set  out  with  the  professed  intention 
of  pushing  on  to  the  great  South  Land  having  usually 
been  well  content  to  harbour  in  some  tropical  island. 

In  the  Cape  Horn  region  the  hopes  of  meeting  with 


FOR  THE  SOUTH  LAND 


39 


the  coast  of  the  South  Land  were  gradually  dispelled. 
Hendrik  Brouwer  in  1643  being  unable  to  make  Strait  Le 
Maire  turned  eastward  along  Staten  Land  and  found  it  to 
be  an  island  of  no  great  size.  He  also  professed  to  have 
found  new  land  farther  to  the  east,  but  his  discoveries 
were  so  vaguely  described  that  they  failed  to  gain  general 
belief.  In  1675  a merchant  named  Antony  La  Roche,  re- 
turning from  the  South  Sea,  encountered  a strong  current 
off  Strait  Le  Maire  which  carried  him  far  to  the  east, 
where  he  discovered  a snow-covered  land,  possibly  the 
Falkland  Islands — one  of  the  most  frequently  discovered, 
named  and  forgotten  groups  in  all  the  seas — but  perhaps 
it  was  South  Georgia  with  which  the  snow-covering  in 
April  agrees  better. 

During  the  years  towards  the  close  of  the  seventeenth 
century  the  English  buccaneers  made  more  use  than 
almost  any  other  navigators  of  the  seas  about  the  Horn, 
and  the  stories  of  their  adventurous  voyages  abound  in 
accounts  of  storms  driving  them  south  amongst  the  ice. 
They  were  forced  into  such  positions  sorely  against  their 
will  and  all  their  efforts  were  devoted  to  escaping  north- 
ward again.  Little  information  is  to  be  derived  from 
their  logs  except  concerning  the  severity  of  the  weather 
and  the  misery  of  working  the  ships  in  that  region  of 
“ floe  and  snow  and  blow.’’  It  may  be  that  some  of  the 
ships  reached  high  latitudes,  but  the  total  absence  of  ob- 
served longitudes  deprive  the  record  of  any  geographical 
value.  Bartholomew  Sharpe  is  believed  to  have  reached 
“ near  6o°  S.”  in  1681,  Ambrose  Cowley  6o°  in  1684, 
and  Edward  Davis  “ very  near  63°  ” in  1687  in  the  South 
Atlantic.  Davis  had  a short  time  previously  lighted  on 
a new  land  in  the  South  Pacific,  far  off  the  coast  of 
Chile,  which  although  only  the  little  Easter  Island,  gave 


4o  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

the  speculative  cartographers  another  point  in  the  coast 
line  of  their  illusive  land. 

The  only  result  so  far  as  the  search  for  the  South  Land 
was  concerned  was  to  warn  intending  discoverers  that 
there  was  no  prospect  of  success  to  the  south  of  South 
America.  Cowley  indeed  draws  a quaint  moral  of  his 
own,  for  the  storm  struck  his  ships  while  the  men  were 
“ chusing  of  Valentines  and  discoursing  on  the  Intrigues 
of  Women  ” one  14th  of  February,  “ so  that  we  concluded 
the  discoursing  of  women  at  sea  was  very  unlucky  and 
caused  the  storm.” 

The  seventeenth  century  closed  with  the  belief  in  a 
Terra  Australis  Incognita  undiminished  by  the  very  sub- 
stantial increase  of  the  known  world  in  the  southern 
hemisphere;  but  it  closed  with  the  first  special  expedi- 
tion to  investigate  a purely  scientific  problem. 

How  the  question  was  approached  by  the  scholars 
of  the  day,  and  to  what  extent  their  knowledge  went,  may 
be  judged  by  two  extracts  from  the  learned  Dr.  Nathanael 
Carpenter  in  his  “ Geographie,”  second  edition,  published 
in  1635.  The  first  illustrates  the  way  in  which  such 
scholars  played  with  ideas: 

“ It  hath  beene  a usuall  kinde  of  speech  amongst  men 
to  tearme  such  things  as  are  stronger,  worthier  or  greater. 
Masculine ; on  the  contrary  side  such  things  Feminine 
as  are  found  deficient  or  wanting  in  these  perfections ; by 
which  kinde  of  Metaphor  taken  from  the  Sexes  in  liv- 
ing creatures  they  have  ascribed  to  the  Northerne  Hemi- 
spheare  a Masculine  Temper  in  respect  of  the  Southerne, 
which  comes  farre  short  of  it.” 

The  second  quotation  is  a good  summary  of  known 
facts  and  a typically  English  view  of  foreign  character: 

“ Of  the  third  and  greatest,  which  is  the  South  Con- 


FOR  THE  SOUTH  LAND 


4i 


tinent,  no  conjecture  can  be  well-grounded,  being  in  a 
manner  all  undiscovered,  except  some  small  quillets  on 
the  borders  of  it;  by  which  if  we  may  judge  of  all  the 
rest,  we  shall  almost  give  the  same  judgment  as  of  the 
other.  The  want  of  discovery  in  this  age  of  ours  wherein 
navigation  hath  beene  perfected  and  cherished,  is  no  small 
argument  to  prove  it  inferiour  in  commodities  to  other 
places : Neither  had  the  slacknesse  of  the  Spaniard  given 
that  occasion  of  complaint  to  Ferdinand  de  Quir , the  late 
discoverer  of  some  of  these  parts,  had  not  the  Spanish 
king  thought  such  an  expedition  either  altogether  fruit- 
lesse  or  to  little  purpose.  For  who  knowes  not  the  Span- 
iard to  bee  a nation  as  covetous  of  richesse  as  ambitious 
to  pursue  forrane  Soveraignty:  as  such  who  will  more 
willingly  expose  the  lives  of  their  owne  subjects,  then 
loose  the  least  title  over  other  Countreys.” 

Halley,  the  English  Astronomer  Royal,  had  spent  the 
whole  year  1676  on  St.  Helena  making  systematic 
magnetic  observations  with  a view  to  completing  his 
theory  of  terrestrial  magnetism  which  was  published  in 
the  Philosophical  Transactions  in  1693.  The  theory  met 
with  keen  opposition,  and  feeling  the  need  of  additional 
data  to  support  his  views,  Halley  applied  to  the  govern- 
ment for  the  means  of  extending  his  observations  farther 
into  the  Southern  Hemisphere.  This  was  granted,  and 
the  astronomer,  invested  with  a captain’s  commission, 
was  placed  in  command  of  H.  M.  S.  The  Paramour  Pink 
in  1699,  with  instructions  to  study  the  variation  of  the 
magnetic  needle  in  different  latitudes  and  to  discover 
any  of  the  new  lands  supposed  to  exist  in  the  South  At- 
lantic. The  first  purely  scientific  expedition  by  sea  under 
the  British  or  any  other  flag  was  in  some  ways  unfor- 
tunate. 


42  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

While  the  Royal  Observatory  at  Greenwich  was 
and  is  very  intimately  associated  with  the  Royal  Navy, 
it  was  not  to  be  expected  that  the  head  of  the  Observatory 
could  at  a moment’s  notice  take  command  of  a ship  of 
war.  In  those  days  of  course  the  navy  was  not  so  spe- 
cialised a profession  as  it  is  now,  and  captaincies  and  even 
higher  posts  could  then  be  bestowed  without  scandal  on 
persons  who  were  not  qualified  to  exercise  the  duties 
attached  to  their  office.  It  was  in  fact  a convenient  way 
in  which  a leading  politician  could  reward  his  friends  to 
place  them  on  the  books  of  a ship  or  of  a regiment.  Such 
appointments  were  even  given  to  children  and  served 
merely  as  an  excuse  for  an  annuity  from  the  public  funds. 
But  Halley  was  called  upon  not  only  to  draw  the  pay 
but  to  exercise  the  executive  duties  of  a captain  in  com- 
mand of  a crew  engaged  upon  uncongenial  and  to  them 
incomprehensible  work.  It  is  not  astonishing  that  dif- 
ficulties arose  and  that  the  rough  sailors  of  those  days 
resented  the  efforts  of  their  amateur  captain  to  main- 
tain discipline.  The  wonder  is  that  any  scientific  work 
was  possible  in  the  circumstances.  Halley  succeeded  in 
making  excellent  magnetic  observations,  he  landed  at  St. 
Helena  and  repeated  his  experiments  there,  and  then 
steered  southward.  In  January,  1700,  he  met  with  float- 
ing ice  in  latitude  520  S.  and  longitude  167°  W.  of 
Ferro.  The  vessel  was  not  prepared  for  ice-navigation 
and  got  into  a position  of  considerable  danger  so  that  it 
became  necessary  to  return  northward  immediately.  No 
new  land  was  seen,  but  some  indications  of  land  appeared 
in  latitude  430  12'  S.  and  longitude  490  32'  W.,  while 
the  presence  of  birds  in  430  51'  S.,  250  50'  W.,  suggested 
the  possibility  of  land  existing  in  that  neighbourhood. 

As  one  result  of  this  voyage  Halley  was  able  to  con- 


FOR  THE  SOUTH  LAND 


43 


struct  the  first  map  of  magnetic  variation,  and  as  another 
he  introduced  a method  of  determining  longitude  by  ob- 
serving occultations  of  the  fixed  stars.  These  were  two 
substantial  gains  to  navigation,  for  hitherto  the  problem 
of  the  longitude  had  been  practically  insoluble. 

The  solitary  scientific  expedition  toward  the  south  was 
merely  an  incident  without  any  direct  consequences  to 
exploration.  The  mercantile  or  piratical  adventurers 
of  England  continued  to  visit  the  southern  seas  and 
several  times  were  driven  south  of  6o°.  Dampier  in  his 
famous  circumnavigation,  although  attaining  no  high 
latitudes,  helped  to  cast  doubt  upon  the  existence  of  a 
great  southern  continent  by  observing  how  frequently 
the  coast-line  marked  on  the  charts  was  found  to  have 
no  basis  in  fact.  One  of  his  comrades,  however,  John 
Welbe  by  name,  was  convinced  of  the  existence  of  such 
a land,  at  least  he  addressed  many  memorials  in  1713 
to  the  Admiralty  and  the  Treasury  asking  for  a ship 
with  180  men  in  which  he  could  explore  the  coast  of  the 
continent  between  Cape  Horn,  the  Land  of  Juan  Fer- 
nandez and  New  Guinea ; but  the  Admiralty  and  Treasury 
had  other  things  to  think  about  and  remained  silent. 

It  would  serve  no  purpose  to  recall  the  names  of  all  the 
sailers  of  this  period  who  were  driven  south  of  6o° 
while  rounding  the  Horn,  but  George  Shelvocke  may 
be  mentioned  because  his  particular  storm  in  1719  was 
imputed  by  his  superstitious  mate  to  the  presence  of  a 
“ disconsolate  black  albitross  ” which  followed  the  ship, 
and  after  several  vain  attempts  the  mate  shot  the  bird. 
It  did  not  die  in  vain,  for  the  report  of  the  episode 
suggested  to  Coleridge  the  poem  of  the  Ancient  Mariner. 

In  1721  Jacob  Roggeveen  submitted  a scheme  for  a 
voyage  of  southern  exploration  to  the  Dutch  East  India 


44  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

Company,  similar  to  one  proposed  by  his  father  fifty  years 
before,  and  accepted  by  the  Company,  but  postponed  in- 
definitely on  account  of  the  war  then  in  progress.  The 
political  conditions  being  now  happier  the  Company  at 
once  accepted  the  proposal,  and  the  younger  Roggeveen 
was  granted  three  ships  to  explore  the  Southern  Seas 
and  to  search  for  the  Isle  of  Gold,  a half  mythical,  half 
traditional  island  in  the  neighbourhood  of  New  Guinea. 

The  Dutch  expedition  set  out  in  August,  1721,  visited 
the  Falkland  Islands,  naming  them  Belgia  Australis,  and 
tried  to  enter  Strait  Le  Maire.  Here  the  usual  fate 
awaited  them,  a northerly  storm  sprang  up  and  drove 
the  squadron  far  to  the  south  beyond  62°  S.,  one  of  the 
ships,  the  Thienhoven,  being  reported  to  have  reached 
64°  58'  S.  This  position  cannot  be  affirmed  with  any 
certainty,  and  like  all  the  high  latitudes  previously  at- 
tained, it  was  made  much  against  the  will  of  the  ex- 
plorers, who  never  intended  to  seek  that  part  of  their 
great  continent  which  lay  amongst  the  Antarctic  ice. 
The  Dutch  voyagers  did  not  doubt  that  the  southern  con- 
tinent lay  to  the  south  of  them;  the  abundance  of  ice, 
which  was  believed  to  form  only  near  land,  the  birds, 
the  direction  of  the  currents  in  the  sea  were  all  taken 
as  evidence  of  the  proximity  of  land.  The  land  they 
considered  might  very  possibly  be  inhabited,  for  the 
shores  of  Davis  Strait  were  inhabited  all  the  year  round 
at  least  as  far  as  70°  N. 

Roggeveen  proceeded  to  search  in  the  Pacific  for  Davis 
Land,  he  sighted  Easter  Island,  but  not  dreaming  that 
so  insignificant  a speck  could  cast  so  vast  a shadow  on 
the  map  he  continued  sailing  northwest,  although  his  com- 
panion Behrens  regretted  that  a southwesterly  course 
had  not  been  taken.  When  at  a later  date  Roggeveen 


FOR  THE  SOUTH  LAND 


45 


wished  to  turn  south  and  explore  the  Staten  Land  east 
of  New  Holland,  he  was  prevented  from  doing  so  by 
the  representations  of  his  ship's  company,  and  proceed- 
ing into  the  tropical  Pacific  he  discovered  Samoa,  and  in 
iT  S.  the  islands  of  Thienhoven  and  Groningen,  which 
he  hailed  as  promontories  of  the  South  Land.  We  may 
take  leave  of  Roggeveen  chanting  the  praises  of  that 
terrestrial  paradise,  the  great  Southern  Continent,  its  vast- 
ness, richness,  accessibility,  delightful  climate  and  the 
rest,  in  language  worthy  of  Quiros  himself,  and  no  doubt 
largely  derived  from  that  poetical  explorer. 

The  old  story  of  De  Gonneville’s  South  Land  and  the 
perennially  fresh  descriptions  of  Quiros  worked  upon 
the  mind  of  an  able  French  naval  officer,  Lozier  Bouvet 
or  Bouvet  des  Loziers,  and  led  him  to  appeal  to  the 
French  East  India  Company  to  send  out  an  expedition 
to  discover  and  annex  the  Southern  Continent.  The 
Company  after  several  years  consented,  desiring  to  es- 
tablish a port  of  call  for  their  ships  trading  to  India 
and  China,  and  Gonneville’s  South  Land  lying  off  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope  with  its  fine  climate  and  charming 
inhabitants  would  be  very  suitable  indeed  for  this  pur- 
pose. From  Gonneville  Land  Bouvet  proposed  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  prevailing  westerly  winds  to  reach  Quiros’s 
Australia  del  Espiritu  Santo,  where  he  hoped  to  open 
up  a lucrative  trade  in  slaves  amongst  other  commodities, 
“ and  it  is  only  by  a great  trade  that  a great  navy  can 
be  supported."  He  proposed  to  return  by  Cape  Horn 
and  thus  to  accomplish  a complete  voyage  of  circum- 
navigation in  the  southern  hemisphere  in  about  two  years' 
time. 

The  French  East  India  Company  gave  two  ships,  the 
Aigle  and  the  Marie,  provisioned  for  eighteen  months, 


46  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

manned  by  a carefully  selected  crew  and  placed  under  the 
command  of  Bouvet  and  Hay.  The  instructions  of  the 
company  stated  that  the  object  of  the  expedition  was  the 
discovery  of  southern  lands  which  were  to  be  sought  for 
in  latitude  440  S.,  and  if  not  found  the  ships  were  to 
proceed  as  far  as  550  S.,  afterwards  returning  to  440  S. 
and  pursuing  a sinuous  track  as  far  as  8o°  E.  of  Paris. 
While  in  sight  of  the  southern  land  the  ship’s  companies 
were  to  receive  an  increase  of  25  per  cent  in  their  pay ; 
but  the  captains  were  forbidden  to  bring  any  Australians 
(that  is,  inhabitants  of  the  Terra  Australis  Incognita) 
to  France. 

Bouvet  sailed  from  Lorient  on  July  19th,  1738,  and  by 
December  15th  he  commenced  to  meet  floating  ice  in 
latitude  48°  50'  S.,  but  no  land  was  sighted  where  the 
maps  showed  the  “ Terre  de  Vue  ” five  degrees  farther 
north.  Pushing  on  southward  the  expedition  found  the 
ice  growing  more  abundant  and  the  bergs  larger,  a 
good  sign  in  Bouvet’s  opinion,  for  it  argued  the  prox- 
imity of  an  elevated  and  extensive  land,  and,  as  he 
observed  in  his  log*  “ high  lands  are  well  known  to  be 
the  healthiest.”  The  weather  was  bad  with  much  fog, 
but  Bouvet  was  a good  sailor  and  a determined  man  not 
likely  to  be  baffled.  At  length  on  New  Year’s  Day,  1739, 
his  perseverance  was  rewarded  by  the  discovery  of  a high 
snow-clad  land  thickly  veiled  in  fog,  but  showing  on  its 
steeply  scarped  coast  a prominent  headland  which  was 
named,  after  the  Church  festival  of  the  day,  Cape  Cir- 
cumcision. It  was  impossible  to  make  a landing  and 
although  the  two  vessels  remained  in  sight  of  the  cape  for 
twelve  days  the  fog  never  completely  lifted  and  it  could 
not  be  determined  whether  it  was  an  island  or  part 
of  a continent.  The  pilot  of  the  Marie  differed  from  his 


sm 


i 


Typical  Antarctic  Iceberg. 
(Photograph  supplied  by  Prog  E.  von  Drygabki. 


FOR  THE  SOUTH  LAND 


47 


captain  on  this  matter,  believing  that  the  evidence  pointed 
to  Cape  Circumcision  being  on  an  island,  and  that  not  a 
large  one.  The  position  assigned  by  Bouvet  was  be- 
tween 540  io'  and  540  15'  S.,  and  between  270  and  28° 
East  of  Tenerife.  Cape  Circumcision  will  be  heard  of 
again  several  times  in  the  course  of  our  narrative. 

On  January  20th  the  Frenchmen  reached  54°4o'  S., 
close  to  the  limit  assigned  by  their  instructions,  and  even 
had  they  wished  to  go  farther  they  could  not  have  done  so 
on  account  of  the  ice-pack,  the  edge  of  which  they  fol- 
lowed for  400  leagues  eastward  along  what  they  be- 
lieved to  be  a continent  rendered  inaccessible  by  the 
floating  ice.  Bouvet  accordingly  turned  north-eastward 
and  continued  the  search  for  Gonneville  Land  to  55°  E. 
(of  Tenerife)  with  no  result.  His  crews  suffering  much 
from  illness  he  returned  to  France  after  a spirited  and 
persevering  effort  to  find  what  did  not  exist. 

He  did  valuable  work  in  freeing  the  South  Atlantic 
of  the  mythical  land  and  in  bringing  home  the  first  fairly 
complete  description  of  the  huge  flat-topped  Antarctic 
icebergs  amongst  which  he  had  sailed.  Some  of  these 
he  described  as  from  200  to  300  feet  in  height  and  from 
two  to  three  leagues  in  circumference.  The  abundance 
of  penguins  and  seals  observed  on  the  ice  appeared  to 
indicate  the  proximity  of  land  for,  as  Bouvet  observed, 
these  are  amphibious  animals.  And  whether  he  was  right 
as  to  the  proximity  of  a coast-line  or  not  he  performed  a 
solid  piece  of  exploration  in  very  hard  conditions  by 
sailing  along  48°  of  longitude  nearly  in  55 0 S. 

The  contrast  between  the  far  south  and  the  far  north 
could  not  fail  to  strike  the  explorers,  for  here  not  long 
after  the  southern  midsummer  they  found  the  sea  filled 
with  ice  at  a latitude  corresponding  to  that  of  Belfast. 


4b  siege  of  the  south  pole 

It  began  to  be  apparent  that  the  approaches  to  the 
Antarctic  circle  were  very  effectively  guarded. 

The  next  incident  in  Antarctic  history  is  the  dis- 
covery by  the  Spanish  merchant  ship  Leon,  returning 
from  Chile  in  1756,  of  a high  mountainous  land  covered 
with  snow  in  55 0 S.,  and  far  to  the  east  of  Cape  Horn. 
This  was  named  San  Pedro  after  the  saint  of  the  day, 
and  though  the  longitude  assigned  by  the  discoverer  is 
wrong  by  ten  degrees,  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that 
it  was  the  island  now  known  as  South  Georgia. 

The  French  natural  philosophers  of  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  when  passing  in  review  the  whole 
field  of  natural  knowledge  could  not  avoid  so  urgent 
a question  as  the  nature  of  the  unknown  parts  of  the 
southern  hemisphere.  They  did  not  lay  stress  on  the 
popular  idea  that  a great  mass  of  land  symmetrically  ar- 
ranged round  the  south  pole  was  necessary  to  maintain 
the  equilibrium  and  uniform  rotation  of  the  Earth;  but 
they  showed  a general  tendency  to  believe  in  some  such 
continent.  Thus  the  celebrated  mathematician  Mauper- 
tuis,  in  writing  to  his  patron,  Frederick  the  Great,  pointed 
out  the  vastness  of  the  unknown  area  which  contains 
room  enough  for  a fifth  part  of  the  world  larger  than  any 
of  the  others,  and  considered  it  unreasonable  to  suppose 
that  no  land  existed  there.  He  pointed  out  also  that  signs 
of  land  had  been  observed  by  Bouvet  all  along  the  edge 
of  the  ice.  These  lands  must  form  as  it  were  a world 
apart  which  if  they  could  only  be  reached  would  furnish 
“ great  opportunities  for  commerce  and  marvellous  spec- 
tacles in  Physics  ” ; and  he  summed  up  by  saying  that 
he  would  rather  have  an  hour’s  conversation  with  a native 
of  the  Terra  Australis  Incognita  than  with  the  finest  in- 
tellect in  Europe.  Maupertuis  was  too  good  a man  of 


FOR  THE  SOUTH  LAND 


49 


science  not  to  be  struck  by  the  low  latitude  to  which 
Antarctic  ice  penetrated  northward,  and  he  assigned  as  a 
reason  for  it  the  fact  that  the  Antarctic  summer  occurred 
when  the  Earth  was  in  the  part  of  its  elliptical  orbit  most 
remote  from  the  sun  and  when  its  motion  in  the  orbit 
is  consequently  slowest,  so  that  the  winter  is  not  only 
colder,  but  eight  days  longer  than  that  of  the  northern 
hemisphere.  He  also  made  the  very  practical  remark 
that  if  Bouvet  had  had  experience  of  the  arctic  regions 
and  the  methods  of  ice-navigation  there  he  might  have 
been  more  successful. 

Buffon  also  dealt  at  some  length  with  the  unknown 
South  in  his  essay  on  the  Theory  of  the  Earth  where  he 
expressed  views  as  to  the  existence  of  a great  continent 
which  subsequent  discoveries  led  him  to  modify.  He 
seemed  somewhat  credulous  in  accepting  the  stories  of 
“ people  worthy  of  belief 99  who  had  told  him  of  an 
English  captain  named  Monson  who  had  reached  88°  S. 
without  seeing  ice,  and  of  some  unnamed  Dutchmen  who 
claimed  to  have  reached  89°  S.,  or  within  70  miles  of 
the  pole.  One  cannot  help  thinking  of  the  Dutch  sailor 
who  boasted  to  his  boon-companions  in  a sea-port  tavern 
that  he  had  once  sailed  so  far  north  that  he  came  two 
degrees  beyond  the  pole,  though  we  would  not  for  a 
moment  compare  Buffon  with  the  simple-minded  pam- 
phleteer who  placed  the  vaunt  on  record  as  a fact. 

Buache,  the  eminent  geographer  who  will  be  remem- 
bered as  the  first  to  use  contour  lines  on  maps  for  ex- 
pressing differences  of  level,  read  a paper  to  the  Acad- 
emy of  Sciences  in  1757  in  which  he  suggested  the 
existence  of  a great  Antarctic  Sea  nearly  surrounded 
by  land,  but  with  two  openings  whence  vast  quantities 

of  ice  from  the  rivers  of  that  continent  were  discharged 

4 


50  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

into  the  ocean,  one  south  of  Cape  Circumcision,  the  other 
south  of  the  mythical  Davis  Land. 

Buffon  performed  a notable  service  to  Antarctic  re- 
search by  inducing  M.  Charles  de  Brosses,  president  of 
the  Parlement  of  Dijon  to  compile  his  “ Histoire  des 
Navigations  aux  Ter  res  Australes,"  published  in  1756. 
This  work  passed  in  review  the  details  of  all  the 
voyages  of  exploration  to  the  south  so  far  as  the  records 
known  at  the  time  permitted,  and  the  compiler  strongly 
urged  the  continuance  of  voyages  of  discovery.  “ For 
a king  this  would  be  an  enterprise  more  glorious  than 
a war  or  a victory/'  he  exclaimed.  “ Thank  God/'  said 
King  Edward  VII.  in  bidding  farewell  to  the  expedition 
on  board  the  Discovery,  nearly  a century  and  a half 
later,  “ this  is  no  warlike  expedition."  De  Brosses  con- 
tinued : “ The  most  celebrated  of  modern  sovereigns  will 
be  he  who  gives  his  name  to  the  Southern  World.  This 
enterprise  can  only  be  carried  out  by  a king  or  by  a State ; 
it  is  beyond  the  resources  of  an  individual  or  of  a com- 
pany, for  a company  seeks  before  everything  profit  and 
immediate  profit."  He  went  on  to  point  out  that  explora- 
tion ought  to  be  carried  out  for  its  own  sake ; the  result- 
ing advantages  would  appear  later. 

De  Brosses  discussed  the  question  of  the  southern  ice, 
the  difficulties  which  it  presented,  however,  he  believed 
would  be  found  to  diminish  as  one  got  further  south, 
and  he  strongly  upheld  the  existence  of  a habitable  and 
colonisable  continent  in  the  unknown  Southern  Ocean. 

The  arguments  of  De  Brosses,  the  tradition  of  De 
Gonneville’s  voyage,  and  the  poetical  narrations  of  Quiros 
did  not  fail  to  fire  the  ambition  of  French  explorers, 
who  were  also  stimulated  by  the  very  laudable  desire  to 
anticipate  the  discoveries  likely  to  be  made  by  the  British 


East  Longitude 


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Three  Kings  It .  58. 


JAMES  COOK  59 

“ I am  very  far  from  intending  the  most  distant  in- 
sinuation of  resentment  to,  or  dissatisfaction  with,  the 
worthy  and  brave  old  Officer  who  was  at  the  head  of  the 
Admiralty  when  the  Endeavour  was  purchased ; his 
ideas  on  the  subject  of  discovery  were  clear  and  just 
in  the  only  conference  I ever  had  with  him,  and  I have 
been  told  that  afterwards,  4 He  lamented  I did  not  go  9 ; 
but  his  open,  honest,  unsuspecting  nature,  I think,  ex- 
posed him  to  the  insinuations  of  cunning  men,  who 
would  have  endeavoured  to  throw  the  odium  on  me  if 
the  expedition,  in  the  mode  it  was  proposed,  had  not  been 
successful,  and  attributed  all  the  merits,  to  their  own 
tools.  The  point  is  not  yet  determined  whether  there 
is  or  is  not  a SOUTHERN  CONTINENT?  Although 
four  voyages  have  been  made  under  their  auspices,  at  the 
same  time  I dare  appeal,  even  to  them,  that  I would  not 
have  come  back  in  Ignorance 99 

Cook  accepted  the  appointment  with  the  calmness  of  a 
man  who  knows  his  own  powers.  He  had  climbed  from 
the  very  lowest  rung  of  the  ladder  of  sea  service.  The 
son  of  a Northumbrian  or  Roxburghshire  father  and  a 
Yorkshire  mother,  he  inherited  no  other  advantage  than 
that  of  the  sturdy  character  and  the  undemonstrative 
temperament  of  the  borders,  for  his  father  was  only  a 
farm  labourer  and  he  himself  ran  away  to  sea  from  an 
uncongenial  apprenticeship.  From  boy  on  a collier  he 
worked  his  way  up  to  be  mate;  then,  to  anticipate  the 
press-gang,  he  volunteered  for  the  Royal  Navy  as  an 
able  seaman  and  was  promoted  Master  for  his  services 
in  sounding  the  St.  Lawrence  under  fire  at  the  siege  of 
Quebec,  and  in  the  survey  of  the  Newfoundland  coast. 
Self-made  if  ever  a man  was,  entirely  self-educated,  he 
forced  himself  to  the  front  by  pure  merit  and  tenacity  in 


6o  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


an  age  when  merit  was  by  no  means  the  usual  road  to 
promotion. 

Cook  received  the  rank  of  Lieutenant  and  sailed  in 
1768  with  orders  to  proceed  to  King  George  III.  Island 
or  Otaheite,  recently  discovered  by  Wallis — at  this  time 
no  one  knew  that  it  had  previously  been  known  to 
Quiros — and  after  observing  the  transit  of  Venus  there 
on  June  1st,  1769,  to  sail  southward  for  exploration.  He 
circumnavigated  and  surveyed  New  Zealand,  proving 
that  it  was  no  part  of  any  Antarctic  continent,  charted 
the  east  coast  of  New  Holland  and  sailed  through  the 
strait  between  it  and  New  Guinea,  a strait,  as  Dalrymple 
pointed  out  with  vindictive  pleasure,  which  had  pre- 
viously been  discovered  by  Torres. 

During  Cook's  absence  Dalrymple  had  completed  and 
published  his  valuable  “ Historical  Collection  of  the  Sev- 
eral Voyages  and  Discoveries  in  the  South  Pacific 
Ocean,"  which  first  gave  prominence  to  the  work  of 
Quiros  and  his  successors.  The  dedication  of  the 
volume  was  so  characteristic  that  it  is  worth  reproducing 
in  its  entirety. 


Not — to  Him 

Who  discovered  scarcely  any  thing 
But — Patagonians ; 

Nor — to  Him 

Who,  from  20°  South  Latitude, 
Determined 
To  come — Home 
Into  50°  North, 

Thinking  it  impossible 
To  go — into  30°  South, 

On  Discovery; 


JAMES  COOK  61 

Nor — to  Him 

Who  left  the  arms  of  a Calypso, 

To  amuse 

The  European  World 
With  stories  of  enchantments 
In  the  New-Cytherea 
Mistaking  the  example  of  Ulysses, 

Who  never  wished 
To  return  Home, 

Till  he  had  atchieved  that 
For  which  he  went  Abroad. 

But  to 
The  man 
Who, 

Emulous  of  Magalhanes, 

And 

The  Heroes  of  former  Times, 

Shall  persist  through  every  Obstacle, 

And 

Succeed  not  by  Chance, 

But 

By  Virtue  and  Good-conduct 
This  Historical  Collection 
Of  Former  Discoveries 
In 

The  South  Pacific  Ocean 
Is  Presented 
By 

Alexander  Dalrymple. 

May  14,  1769. 

The  ungenerous  reflections  on  a former  explorer,  ap- 
parently Bougainville,  contained  in  this  dedication, 
cannot  apply  to  Cook,  the  results  of  whose  voyage  were 


62  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


still  unknown;  but  the  description  of  the  ideal  man  of 
action  to  whom  the  work  is  presented  agrees,  however 
reluctant  the  author  might  be  to  admit  it,  with  no  one  in 
all  the  range  of  history  so  well  as  with  Cook  himself. 

On  Cook's  return  all  the  logs  and  other  documents  of 
the  expedition  were  handed  over  to  a ponderous  man 
of  letters,  Dr.  Hawkesworth,  to  be  put  into  literary  form 
by  him  and  combined  in  one  work  with  the  narratives  of 
the  circumnavigations  of  Byron,  Wallis,  and  Carteret. 
They  were  accordingly  clothed  with  a wealth  of  classical 
imagery  and  interspersed  with  trite  moral  reflections  in 
a manner  adapted  to  the  taste  of  the  period,  and  the  plain 
tale  of  Cook's  own  log  was  actually  left  unpublished  for 
one  hundred  and  thirty  years,  while,  incredible  as  it  may 
seem,  the  description  of  some  of  the  scientific  col- 
lections of  the  voyage  with  the  plates  engraved  at  the 
time  are  only  now  appearing  in  the  twentieth  century. 
Despite  its  defects  no  book  ever  became  more  popular  at 
once  and  for  all  time  and  in  all  languages  than  Cook’s 
First  Voyage,  and  we  find  Robert  Burns  in  1785  speak- 
ing of  “ some  unkenned  o’  isle  beside  New  Holland,” 
as  a simile  that  would  be  familiar  to  his  peasant  neigh- 
bours in  Ayrshire. 

Dalrymple  now  formed  the  resolve  to  undertake  the 
search  for  the  southern  continent.  He  proposed  to 
associate  some  of  his  friends  with  himself  and  to  bear  the 
expense  jointly,  but  he  first  applied  to  the  Government 
for  a concession  of  all  unoccupied  lands  he  might  find  in 
the  course  of  five  years  between  the  equator  and  6o°  S. 
Two  letters  on  this  subject  written  in  1772  to  Lord 
North  were  never  answered,  the  concession  was  not 
granted,  the  expedition  did  not  sail.  What  sort  of  in- 
ducements Dalrympie  held  out  may  be  understood  from 


JAMES  COOK  63 

the  following  extract  obviously  based  on  the  epistle  of 
Arias  which  he  had  discovered  and  translated  as  an 
important  document. 

“ The  American  colonies  are  generally  supposed  to  con- 
tain two  millions  of  people,  whose  commerce  with  Britain 
is  thought  to  give  them  an  over-ruling  influence.  The 
number  of  inhabitants  in  the  Southern  Continent  is  prob- 
ably more  than  50  millions,  considering  the  extent, 
from  the  eastern  part  discovered  by  Juan  Fernandez,  to 
the  western  coast  seen  by  Tasman,  is  about  100  deg.  of 
longitude,  which  in  the  latitude  of  40  deg.  amounts  to 
4596  geographic,  or  5323  statute  miles.  This  is  a 
greater  extent  than  the  whole  civilised  part  of  Asia,  from 
Turkey  to  the  eastern  extremity  of  China.  There  is  at 
present  no  trade  from  Europe  thither,  though  the  scraps 
from  this  table  would  be  sufficient  to  maintain  the  power, 
dominion,  and  sovereignty  of  Britain,  by  employing  all 
its  manufacturers  and  ships.” 

Hawkesworth’s  account  of  Cook’s  First  Voyage  was 
published  in  three  quarto  volumes  in  1773,  and  Dal- 
rymple  not  caring  to  attack  Cook  directly,  immediately 
fell  upon  the  conscientious  though  infelicitous  editor 
with  a letter  “ occasioned  by  some  groundless  and  illiberal 
imputations  ” made  in  the  work.  Hawkesworth  replied 
in  the  preface  to  the  second  edition,  and  Dalrymple  re- 
sponded with  a force  and  vivacity  that  may  be  appre- 
ciated from  an  extract: 

“ Altho’  I believe  in  Providence,  I am  not  a Roman 
Catholic  to  give  my  confidence  into  the  keeping  of  Dr. 
Hawkesworth,  or  any  other  Doctor;  nor  do  I think  my- 
self bound  to  avoid  every  man  whose  conduct  and  be- 
haviour, in  certain  instances,  I condemn : altho’  the  death 
of  an  Indian  unnecessarily  may  appear  to  me  murder , 


64  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

it  may  not  seem  so  to  him,  and  therefore  altho’  I think  the 
act,  murder,  I cannot  deem  him,  absolutely,  a murderer; 
or  perhaps  he  may  have  repented : at  the  same  time,  if 
I thought  I could  obtain  any  information  useful  to  the 
Public  by  associating  with  the  Devil  or  Dr.  Hawkesworth, 
I should  have  no  scruples  of  conscience  to  be  in  their 
company,  tho’  the  one  could  not  induce  me  wantonly  to 
destroy  my  fellow-creatures,  nor  the  other,  by  all  his 
erudition  and  elocution,  convince  or  persuade  me  that 
‘ in  little  more  than  seven  years,  Discoveries  have  been 
made  far  greater  than  those  of  all  the  navigators  of  the 
world  collectively,  from  the  expedition  of  Columbus  to 
the  present  time/  ” 

While  this  unedifying  strife  was  in  progress  the  Ad- 
miralty had  taken  a shorter  way  to  settle  the  question 
in  dispute.  Cook,  whose  only  official  reward  had  been 
the  simple  promotion  to  Commander,  received  at  least 
“ the  glory  of  going  on.”  He  was  appointed  to  com- 
mand a new  expedition  intended  to  solve  the  problem  of 
the  Southern  Continent  finally,  and  he  had  scarcely 
wound  up  the  affairs  of  his  first  voyage  before  he  was 
deep  in  the  preparations  for  the  second.  These  prepara- 
tions were  of  no  ordinary  kind.  He  had  to  procure 
ships,  and  arrange  for  their  stores  and  provisioning.  The 
latter  was  a matter  to  which  he  gave  the  minutest  personal 
attention.  In  his  previous  voyage  he  had  made  success- 
ful experiments  in  the  prevention  of  scurvy  which  in  all 
earlier  voyages  of  circumnavigation  had  played  havoc 
with  the  crew.  He  determined  to  get  rid  of  this  bug-bear 
to  exploration,  and  accordingly  laid  in  quantities  of  pre- 
served vegetables,  mostly  in  the  form  of  pickles  and 
“sour  krout,”  as  well  as  malt  and  various  extracts  of 
herbs.  The  necessity  of  cleanliness  was  also  present 


ilii 


 

( 


JAMES  COOK  65 

with  him  and  the  regulations  he  made  for  the  conduct 
of  his  crew  in  this  particular  were  very  like  those  in  force 
at  the  present  day,  though  a startling  innovation  in  a 
naval  ship  of  1772.  As  to  the  vessels,  Cook  stated  his 
requirements  in  these  words: 

“ A ship  of  this  kind  must  not  be  of  a great  draught 
of  water,  yet  of  a sufficient:  burden  and  capacity  to 
carry  a proper  quantity  of  provisions  and  necessaries 
for  her  complement  of  men,  and  for  the  term  requi- 
site to  perform  the  voyage.  She  must  also  be  of 
a construction  that  will  bear  to  take  the  ground,  and 
of  a size  which,  in  case  of  necessity,  may  be  safely 
and  conveniently  laid  on  shore  to  repair  any  accidental 
damage  or  defect.  These  properties  are  not  to  be  found 
in  ships  of  war  of  forty  guns,  nor  in  frigates,  nor  in 
East  India  Company’s  ships,  nor  in  large  three-decked 
West  India  ships,  nor  indeed  in  any  other  but  North- 
country-built  ships  as  such  arc  built  for  the  coal  trade, 
which  are  peculiarly  adapted  for  this  purpose.” 

Commander  Cook  on  this  expedition  had  two  vessels, 
both  ship-rigged  and  of  the  stout  north-country  collier 
type,  built  at  Whitby  and  nearly  new — the  Resolution, 
of  462  tons  and  112  men  under  his  own  command,  the 
Adventure,  of  336  tons  and  81  men,  under  that  of  Lieu- 
tenant Tobias  Furneaux,  who  had  been  Wallis's  second 
lieutenant.  The  appointments  were  dated  on  28th  No- 
vember, 1771.  The  Admiralty  instructions  were  dated 
June  25th,  1772.  Lord  Sandwich,  who  was  at  that  time 
First  Lord,  took  the  deepest  personal  interest  in  the  ex- 
pedition, visiting  the  ships  again  and  again  during  their 
equipment,  and  coming  on  board  in  Plymouth  Sound  just 
before  the  expedition  sailed,  to  assure  himself  that  every- 
thing had  been  done  to  Cook's  satisfaction. 

5 


1 


66  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


The  object  of  the  voyage  was  to  discover  the  great 
Southern  Continent  if  it  existed  or  to  disprove  its  exist- 
ence definitely.  The  plan  was  in  fact  similar  to  that  of 
Kerguelen’s  second  voyage,  different  as  was  the  result. 
Cook  was  instructed  to  proceed  to  Madeira,  thence  to 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  then  a Dutch  possession,  for  it 
must  be  remembered  that  at  that  date  there  was  no  British 
territory  in  the  Southern  hemisphere  and  that  Cape  Town, 
the  river  Plate,  Valparaiso  and  Batavia  were  the  nearest 
ports  to  the  Antarctic  circle  where  a ship  could  refit. 
From  the  Cape  he  was  to  proceed  southward  in  search  of 
Bouvet’s  Cape  Circumcision  in  540  S.,  ii°  20'  E.,  and  if  it 
were  discovered  to  determine  if  it  were  part  of  a conti- 
nent. In  case  it  should  be  so  he  was  to  explore  as  much 
of  the  continent  as  possible,  to  land  and  make  such  “ob- 
servations of  every  kind  as  might  be  useful  either  to  nav- 
igation or  commerce,  or  tend  to  the  promotion  of  natural 
knowledge.”  His  attitude  towards  the  inhabitants,  if  any, 
was  laid  down  carefully  and  he  was  enjoined  to  invite 
them  to  trade  and  show  them  “ every  kind  of  civility  and 
regard.”  The  continent  was  to  be  coasted  either  east- 
ward or  westward  and  the  exploration  continued  as  near 
to  the  South  Pole  as  possible  so  long  as  the  state  of  the 
vessels  and  the  health  of  the  crew  permitted,  and  a 
sufficiency  of  provisions  was  in  hand  to  enable  the  ships 
to  reach  a port  of  supply.  Should  Cape  Circumcision  be 
found  to  be  on  an  island  it  was  to  be  surveyed,  and  in 
this  case,  or  if  Bouvet’s  reported  land  could  not  be  found, 
Cook  was  instructed  to  proceed  southward  as  long  as  he 
considered  that  there  was  any  likelihood  of  falling  in 
with  the  continent  and  then  to  proceed  eastward  in  a 
high  latitude  until  he  had  circumnavigated  the  globe, 
making  such  discoveries  as  might  be  as  near  the  pole  as 


JAMES  COOK  67 

possible.  This  being  done  the  ships  were  to  proceed  to 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  return  thence  to  Spithead. 
When  the  season  of  the  year  made  it  unsafe  to  remain  in 
high  latitudes  the  ships  were  to  retire  to  some  known 
place  to  the  northward  to  refit  and  refresh  the  people, 
after  which  they  were  to  return  to  the  south.  In  all 
cases  not  provided  for  in  the  Instructions  Cook  was  to 
exercise  his  own  discretion. 

The  vessels  were  provisioned  for  two  years,  salted  beef 
and  pork  being  of  course  the  only  meat  possible ; but  the 
various  preserved  vegetables,  soups,  sugar  and  extracts 
promised  better  fare  than  Jack  usually  received  in  the 
eighteenth  century.  The  ships  were  armed,  the  Resolu- 
tion carrying  twelve  guns,  for  it  was  war  time.  In  ad- 
dition to  the  usual  boats  the  timbers  for  a cutter  of 
twenty  tons  were  put  on  board  each  in  case  of  shipwreck 
on  an  unknown  coast.  A considerable  number  of  live- 
stock was  carried  for  food  and  for  setting  free  on  suit- 
able islands.  The  voyage  was  intended  to  be  largely 
devoted  to  scientific  research.  An  astronomer  accom- 
panied each  ship.  Mr.  William  Wales  on  the  Resolution, 
Mr.  William  Bayley  on  the  Adventure.  Mr.  William 
Hodges,  an  artist,  was  taken  to  depict  the  places  and  peo- 
ple met  with. 

The  first  exploring  voyage  of  Captain  Cook  had  been 
made  famous  for  scientific  discoveries  by  the  voluntary 
services  of  Mr.  Joseph  Banks  and  Dr.  Solander.  Banks 
was  anxious  to  go  again  and  in  order  to  accommodate 
him  and  his  scientific  equipment  a poop  had  been  fitted  to 
the  Endeavour,  which,  however,  overweighted  the  ship 
and  had  to  be  removed.  Other  difficulties  arose  and  to  the 
great  disappointment  of  both  Banks  and  Cook  the  former 
was  unable  to  go,  although  he  had  spent  some  thou- 


68  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


sands  of  pounds  in  preparation.*  It  was  held  to  be  of 
public  Utility  that  some  person  skilled  in  Natural 
History  should  accompany  the  expedition  and,  as 
Cook  drily  observes  in  his  preface,  “ Mr.  John  Rein- 
hold Forster  with  his  son  were  pitched  upon  for 
this  employment.,,  The  choice  turned  out  to  be  an  un- 
happy one,  but  it  proved  valuable  in  a quite  unexpected 
way,  as  the  eloquent  expression  the  disappointed  natural- 
ists gave  to  their  grievances  supplies  all  the  touches  of  hu- 
man interest  that  are  lacking  in  Cook's  impassive  chron- 
icle. The  equipment  of  scientific  instruments  was  slender ; 
setting  aside  those  for  astronomical  work  and  the  ordinary 
duty  of  navigation  we  find  mention  made  only  of  an 
azimuth  compass,  a dipping  needle,  a marine  barometer 
and  two  portable  barometers,  a wind-gauge,  six  thermom- 
eters, a theodolite,  level  and  chain  and  an  apparatus 
for  taking  the  temperature  of  the  sea  at  various  depths. 
There  were  chronometers  of  several  patterns,  the  use  of 
which  for  determining  longitude  was  then  in  an  experi- 
mental stage,  and  these  proved  invaluable. 

The  expedition  left  the  Thames  on  June  22nd,  and  sailed 
from  Plymouth  on  July  13th,  1772.  Madeira  was  reached 
on  the  29th,  and  after  a stay  of  three  days  the  voyage 
was  resumed,  Cape  Town  being  reached  on  October  30th. 
At  Cape  Town  Cook  was  courteously  received  by  the 
Dutch  governor,  who  informed  him  of  the  results  of  the 
voyages  of  Kerguelen  and  of  Marion  and  Crozet,  and 
showed  a chart  of  their  discoveries.  Plere  also  he  met 
Andrew  Sparrmann,  a Swedish  naturalist,  one  of  the 

* When  Sir  Joseph  Hooker  went  to  India  in  1847  he  was  pre- 
sented with  a number  of  large  glass  jars  for  preserving  plants  in 
spirits  that  had  been  part  of  Banks's  equipment  for  Cook’s  second 
voyage. 


JAMES  COOK  69 

many  pupils  of  Linneus  who  were  engaged  in  studying 
natural  phenomena  in  all  parts  of  the  globe.  Dr.  Rein- 
hold Forster  was  much  attracted  by  the  young  Swede  and 
felt  that  he  would  be  a most  valuable  assistant  in  making 
scientific  observations.  Sparrmann  was  eager  to  extend 
the  sphere  of  his  researches  and  after  much  importunity 
Cook  consented  to  take  him  on  board,  Forster  paying  for 
his  food  and  allowing  him  a salary  at  his  own  expense. 

The  expedition  left  Cape  Town  on  November  22nd, 
1772,  steering  in  the  direction  of  Bouvet’s  Cape  Circum- 
cision. On  December  10th,  in  50°  40'  S.  and  20°  E.,  the 
first  ice  was  met  with,  a majestic  berg  perpendicular  in 
the  sides,  flat  on  the  top,  a veritable  island  of  ice.  Next 
day  the  bergs  had  increased  in  number,  the  sea  ran  high, 
a fierce  storm  was  blowing  and  thick  fog  lay  over  every- 
thing. On  the  1 1 th  Cook  crossed  the  assigned  latitude 
of  Cape  Circumcision  at  a point  ten  degrees  east  of  Bou- 
vet’s longitude.  All  eyes  were  on  the  outlook  for  the  ex- 
pected land,  and  again  and  again  the  wreaths  of  sea-fog 
lightened  and  the  edge  of  some  huge  berg  appeared,  to 
be  mistaken  for  land  for  a few  moments  and  then  recog- 
nised as  a drifting  island  of  ice.  Yet  some  of  the  offi- 
cers held  to  the  belief  that  land  had  been  sighted  until 
on  the  return  voyage  two  years  later  the  Resolution 
crossed  the  reported  situation  of  Bouvet  Island  in  clear 
weather  and  saw  nothing.  Cook,  thanks  to  his  chronom- 
eters, was  able  to  keep  a good  account  of  longitude  as 
well  as  latitude.  As  he  pursued  his  way  southward  he 
had  also  to  work  eastward  along  the  edge  of  a field 
of  heavy  floating  ice;  but  rounding  that  obstruction  in 
570  S.  he  turned  to  the  W.  S.  W.  until  he  crossed  the 
meridian  of  io°  E.  in  latitude  590  S.  He  now  had 
passed  300  miles  to  the  south  of  Bouvet’s  position  for 


70  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

Cape  Circumcision,  and  as  the  weather  was  absolutely 
clear  so  that  high  land  could  be  seen  70  miles  away 
Cook  was  justified  in  assuming  that  Cape  Circumcision 
was  not  a part  of  a continent.  Moreover  the  ice  was 
drifting  freely  to  the  north  which  it  could  not  well  do  if 
a continent  were  there  to  block  the  way.  Taking 
these  facts  into  consideration  Cook  came  to  the  con- 


Cook's  Tracks  Near  Bouvet  Island. 


elusion  that  Bouvet  had  mistaken  a great  iceberg  for  land. 
This  is  perhaps  evidence  that  Cook  did  not  know  Bou- 
vet’s own  report  of  his  work,  for  it  is  difficult  to  see  how 
any  sailor  could  keep  in  sight  of  an  iceberg  for  twelve 
days  without  detecting  its  nature. 

On  January  2nd,  1773,  the  ships  were  once  more  turned 


JAMES  COOK  71 

to  the  southeast  in  conformity  with  the  Instructions. 
Several  cases  of  scurvy  occurred  and  were  checked  by 
the  use  of  sweet  worts.  Christmas  had  been  celebrated 
by  the  crew,  who  had  been  saving  up  their  daily  ration 
of  spirits  for  weeks  before,  “ with  savage  noise  and 
drunkenness/'  to  quote  the  words  of  the  younger  Forster. 
No  doubt  some  of  the  noise  was  due  to  the  performance 
of  a Highlander  amongst  the  crew  who  had  brought  his 
bagpipes  to  rouse  the  echoes  of  the  bergs,  and  who  after- 
wards played  a considerable  part  in  charming  the  shy 
natives  of  the  tropical  islands  with  the  music  of  the 
north. 

The  Forsters  seem  to  have  been  but  little  suited 
for  the  life  of  exploring  naturalists.  Their  cabins  were 
the  worst  on  board,  they  declared,  and  the  bedding  never 
dry ; the  misery  of  the  monotonous  days  impressed  them 
deeply.  “ We  were  almost  perpetually  wrapped  in  thick 
fogs,”  they  lamented,  “ beaten  with  showers  of  rain,  sleet, 
hail,  and  snow,  surrounded  by  innumerable  islands  of 
ice,  against  which  we  daily  ran  the  risk  of  being  ship- 
wrecked, and  forced  to  live  upon  salt  provisions,  which 
concurred  with  the  cold  and  wet  to  infect  the  mass  of 
our  blood.” 

January  17th,  1773,  was  an  epoch  in  the  world's  his- 
tory, for  just  before  noon  on  that  day  the  Antarctic 
circle  was  first  crossed  by  human  beings.  The  southern 
frigid  zone  foreseen  by  Aristotle,  reasoned  on  by  the 
Greek  philosophers,  who  declared  it  existent  but  inacces- 
sible, denied  and  stigmatised  as  heretical  by  the  mediaeval 
Church,  never  hitherto  deliberately  sought  for,  had  at 
last  been  entered  by  the  Resolution  and  Adventure  in 
an  open  sea  with  only  one  iceberg  in  sight.  Cook  had  now 
outdistanced  all  his  predecessors ; but  the  attempt  to  push 


72  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

southward  was  made  impossible  by  the  increasing  thick- 
ness of  the  crowd  of  bergs  and  at  6 p.  m.  on  the  same  day 
a vast  expanse  of  solid  ice  appeared,  rising  only  about 
eighteen  feet  above  the  sea  but  stretching  with  a perfectly 
uniform  surface,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach  from  the 
top  of  the  mast.  It  was  the  signal  for  retreat.  The 
season  was  too  far  advanced  to  try  to  turn  the  edge  of 
this  barrier  and  to  the  joy  of  all  on  board  except  the 
captain  the  Resolution’s  head  was  turned  northward  in 
latitude  67°  15'  S.  and  390  35'  E.  due  south  of  the  Mozam- 
bique Channel.  The  supply  of  fresh  water  had  given 
out  some  time  before,  but  Cook  was  aware  of  some 
previous  researches  on  sea-ice  and  to  the  disgust  of  his 
sailors  who  expected  an  earlier  refuge  in  some  “ New 
Cytherea  ” of  the  tropics,  he  ordered  out  the  boats  and 
filled  his  barrels  with  blocks  hewn  from  the  nearest 
mass  of  floating  ice. 

At  the  end  of  January  the  Resolution  was  cruising  in 
490  N.,  590  E.  looking  for  the  lands  discovered  by  the 
French  expeditions  of  the  previous  year  of  which  Cook 
had  heard  at  Cape  Town.  It  is  curious  that  he  was 
exactly  in  the  latitude  of  Kerguelen  Land,  but  io°  too 
far  east,  being  in  fact  midway  between  that  island  and 
the  Crozets,  and  accordingly  he  saw  nothing  of  either. 
The  two  ships  parted  company  in  a gale  on  February 
8th,  and  as  a portion  of  the  summer  still  remained,  Cook 
bore  southeast  once  more,  and  fell  in  with  icebergs  in  the 
middle  of  February  in  570  S.  On  February  24th  he  was 
in  61 0 52'  S.  and  95 0 E.,  and  once  more  fields  of  ice 
blocked  the  way.  Again  and  again  the  appearance  of 
penguins  and  other  birds  seemed  to  indicate  the  vicinity 
of  land,  but  Cook  did  not  lay  much  stress  on  this  prog- 
nostic and  was  convinced  that  far  from  being  the  north- 


The  Ice  Islands  of  the  Antarctic. 
(From  Cook's  Second  Voyage.) 


■! 


JAMES  COOK  73 

ern  capes  of  a continent  the  French  discoveries  were  only 
insignificant  islands.  Baffled  in  the  attempt  to  get  far- 
ther south,  Cook  kept  an  easterly  course,  a little  to 
the  south  or  a little  to  the  north  of  the  parallel  of  6o°  as 
the  ice  permitted  or  required,  until  he  reached  the  me- 
ridian of  147 ° E.  on  March  16th.  It  was  now  time  to 
seek  lower  latitudes  but  not  yet  time  for  rest.  The  Reso- 
lution tried  to  make  the  east  side  of  Van  Diemen's  Land, 
where  Cook  wished  to  ascertain  if  the  coast  were  con- 
tinuous with  that  of  New  South  Wales;  but  the  westerly 
winds  were  too  strong,  so  he  bore  up  for  New  Zealand, 
which  was  reached  in  Dusky  Bay  on  March  26th,  after 
1 22  days  at  sea.  The  Adventure  was  found  in  Queen 
Charlotte  Sound,  now  known  as  Cook  Strait.  She  had 
made  a straight  course  without  discovering  any  land. 
Between  the  routes  of  Tasman,  Marion,  Kerguelen, 
Cook,  and  Furneaux  there  was  no  room  for  a temperate 
continent  in  the  Southern  Ocean ; the  voyage  of  the 
Resolution  had  swept  one-third  of  the  great  circumpolar 
continent  within  the  ice-barrier  south  of  6o°  S. ; and  im- 
planted in  Cook  a lively  distrust  in  the  existence  of  the 
other  segments. 

Until  June  7th  Cook  employed  himself  in  surveying 
the  coast  of  New  Zealand.  The  naturalists  landed,  made 
collections  and  had  various  adventures  with  the  natives, 
after  an  interview  with  whom  on  one  occasion  the  worthy 
Sparrmann  stalked  forth  from  the  bush  wearing  only  his 
spectacles,  all  the  rest  had  been  involuntarily  sacrificed  to 
the  inquisitiveness  and  acquisitiveness  of  the  Maoris. 

From  New  Zealand  both  ships  pursued  their  researches 
for  three  months  between  41 0 S.  and  46°  S.,  to  the 
eastward  as  far  as  135 0 W.,  nearly  half  way  across 
the  Pacific.  Many  on  board  expected  daily  to  fall  in 


74  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

with  the  visionary  continent  of  Quiros  and  Dalrymple, 
but  no  land  of  any  kind  was  sighted. 

Toward  the  end  of  August  the  two  ships  cast  anchor 
in  Matavai  Bay,  in  the  sailor's  paradise  Tahiti,  and  there 
the  life  for  a few  brief  weeks  would  have  justified  the 
sternest  moral  censure  of  Dalrymple.  The  men  had 
worked  hard  and  endured  much,  and  sailors  have  always 
had  large  license  in  the  manner  of  their  “ refreshment.” 
Forster,  with  his  usual  spitefulness,  observed  that  the 
scenes  of  debauchery  on  board  the  ships  at  Tahiti  almost 
made  him  believe  they  were  in  Spithead.  This  brief  in- 
terlude over,  the  stern  discipline  which  Cook  always  ex- 
ercised when  at  sea  was  again  imposed  and  the  ships  re- 
turned toward  New  Zealand.  The  Adventure  was  lost 
sight  of  and  not  seen  again  until  the  return  to  England, 
but  the  Resolution  arrived  at  Queen  Charlotte  Sound 
on  November  3d,  1773,  and  after  catching  and  salting  a 
quantity  of  fish,  and  gathering  every  green  thing  which  by 
any  possibility  could  be  eaten  to  keep  away  scurvy  they 
sailed  for  the  frozen  seas  on  the  26th. 

The  60th  parallel  was  crossed  in  1770  W.,  whence  a 
course  was  held  to  the  southeast  and  the  first  ice  met  with 
on  December  12th  in  62°  10'  S.,  and  1720  W.,  much  far- 
ther south  than  was  the  case  a year  earlier  to  the  south  of 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  The  ice,  once  met  with,  soon  in- 
creased in  quantity  and  on  the  15th  it  was  necessary  to 
turn  northward,  but  on  the  20th  the  Antarctic  circle  was 
reached  in  147 0 30'  W.,  and  for  three  days  the  Resolution 
pushed  her  way  eastward  within  the  circle,  reaching 
the  farthest  latitude  of  67°  31'  S.  on  December  22nd.  On 
the  23rd  it  was  found  necessary  on  account  of  the  exhaus- 
tion of  the  officers  and  men  and  the  continued  bad 
weather  to  stand  northward  again  in  1350  W.,  after  mak- 


JAMES  COOK  75 

mg  twelve  and  a half  degrees  of  easting  south  of  the 
circle.  The  ship  reached  470  50'  S.  in  1230  W., 
a useful  detour,  since  it  showed  that  no  continuous  land 
stretched  between  New  Zealand  and  Cape  Horn,  but 
affording  little  rest  to  the  jaded  crew,  who  on  Jan- 
uary 18th  were  once  more  on  the  poleward  side  of  6o°, 
bound  south.  On  January  20th  icebergs  appeared,  one  of 
them  towering  to  a height  of  200  feet,  with  a dome-shaped 
peak,  but  as  the  ship  got  farther  south  the  number  of 
bergs  diminished  and  the  air  grew  warmer. 

When  the  Resolution  crossed  the  circle  for  the  third 
time  in  109°  31'  W.  on  January  26th,  1774,  no  ice  was  in 
sight;  but  floes  appeared  next  day  and  a thick  fog  came 
on,  greatly  hampering  navigation.  Every  one  on  board 
was  suffering  more  or  less  from  the  salt  food  and  the  mis- 
erable weather.  George  Forster  we  are  sure  did  not  ex- 
aggerate when  he  said,  “ A gloomy,  melancholy  air  loured 
on  the  brows  of  our  shipmates,  and  a dreadful  silence 
reigned  amongst  us.  . . . The  hour  of  dinner  was  hate- 
ful to  us.”  The  captain  alone,  he  said,  seemed  to  grow 
better  as  they  advanced  toward  the  pole.  On  January 
30th,  1774,  the  weather  was  clear  and  the  ship  was 
blocked  in  71 0 10'  S.  and  106°  54'  W.  It  was  the  farthest 
south  of  the  cruise  and  of  the  century.  The  situation  is 
thus  described  by  Captain  Cook  himself : 

“ On  the  30th,  at  four  o’clock  in  the  morning,  we  per- 
ceived the  clouds,  over  the  horizon  to  the  south,  to  be 
of  an  unusual  snow-white  brightness,  which  we  knew 
announced  our  approach  to  field  ice.  Soon  after  it  was 
seen  from  the  topmasthead,  and  at  eight  o’clock  we  were 
close  to  its  edge.  It  extended  east  and  west  far  beyond 
the  reach  of  our  sight.  In  the  situation  we  were  in,  just 
the  southern  half  of  our  horizon  was  illuminated  by  the 


76  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

rays  of  light  reflected  from  the  ice  to  a considerable 
height.  Ninety-seven  ice  hills  were  distinctly  seen  within 
the  field,  besides  those  on  the  outside — many  of  them  very 
large,  and  looking  like  a ridge  of  mountains  rising  one 
above  another  till  they  were  lost  in  the  clouds.  The 
outer  or  northern  edge  of  this  immense  field  was  com- 
posed of  loose  or  broken  ice  close  packed  together,  so 
that  it  was  not  possible  for  anything  to  enter  it.  This 
was  about  a mile  broad,  within  which  was  solid  ice  in 
one  continued  compact  body.  It  was  rather  low  and  flat 
(except  the  hills),  but  seemed  to  increase  in  height  as 
you  traced  it  to  the  south,  in  which  direction  it  extended 
beyond  our  sight.  Such  mountains  of  ice  as  these,  I 
think,  were  never  seen  in  the  Greenland  seas,  at  least  not 
that  I ever  heard  or  read  of,  so  that  we  cannot  draw  a 
comparison  between  the  ice  here  and  there.  It  must  be 
allowed  that  these  prodigious  ice  mountains  must  add 
such  additional  weight  to  the  ice  fields  which  enclose 
them  as  cannot  but  make  a great  difference  between  the 
navigating  this  icy  sea  and  that  of  Greenland. 

“ I will  not  say  that  it  was  impossible  anywhere  to  get 
farther  to  the  south  ; but  attempting  it  would  have  been 
a dangerous  and  rash  enterprise,  and  which,  I believe, 
no  man  in  my  situation  would  have  thought  of.  It  was, 
indeed,  my  opinion,  as  well  as  the  opinion  of  most  on 
board,  that  this  ice  extended  quite  to  the  pole,  or  perhaps 
joined  on  some  land  to  which  it  had  been  fixed  from  the 
earliest  time,  and  that  it  is  here,  that  is,  to  the  south  of 
this  parallel,  where  all  the  ice  we  find  scattered  up  and 
down  to  the  north  is  first  formed,  and  afterwards  broken 
off  by  gales  of  wind  or  other  causes  and  brought  to  the 
north  by  the  currents,  which  are  always  found  to  set  in 
that  direction  in  high  latitudes.  As  we  drew  near  this 


JAMES  COOK  77 

ice  some  penguins  were  heard  but  none  seen ; and  but  few 
other  birds,  or  anything  that  could  induce  us  to  think 
any  land  was  near.  And  yet  I think  that  there  must  be 
some  to  the  south  behind  this  ice;  but  if  there  is,  it  can 
afford  no  better  retreat  for  birds  or  any  other  animals 
than  the  ice  itself,  with  which  it  must  be  wholly  covered. 
I,  who  had  ambition  not  only  to  go  farther  than  anyone 
had  been  before,  but  as  far  as  it  was  possible  for  man  to 
go,  was  not  sorry  at  meeting  with  this  interruption,  as 
it  in  some  measure  relieved  us,  at  least  shortened  the 
dangers  and  hardships  inseparable  from  the  navigation 
of  the  southern  polar  regions.  Since,  therefore,  we  could 
not  proceed  one  inch  farther  to  the  south,  no  other 
reason  need  be  assigned  for  my  tacking  and  standing 
back  to  the  north.” 

Another  reason  may  be  suspected,  however,  for  even 
the  iron  constitution  of  Cook  could  not  resist  a diet  of 
old  and  over-salted  meat  and  rotten  biscuits  half-de- 
voured by  cockroaches,  combined  with  the  constant  ex- 
posure and  anxiety  of  navigating  a ship  in  such  seas. 
The  horrors  of  extreme  cold  and  of  darkness  were  for- 
tunately spared  these  first  “intruding  mortals,”  to  use 
Forster’s  phrase,  but  the  monotony  of  nearly  perpetual 
daylight  is  in  itself  hard  to  bear  and  the  constant  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  freezing  point  makes  a miserable  mid- 
summer, when  there  is  no  dry  place  in  the  ship.  The  ship 
had  not  gone  far  on  her  northward  voyage  before  the 
captain  broke  down;  “a  bilious  colic,”  he  called  it,  but 
apparently  it  very  nearly  proved  fatal,  both  to  himself 
and  to  the  ship’s  surgeon,  who  tended  him  by  day  and 
night  without  intermission  until  the  crisis  was  passed. 
Illness,  whether  of  his  crew  or  of  himself,  never  stopped 
the  work  of  James  Cook  when  he  could  think  or  the  men 


78  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

could  move,  and  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  worst 
effects  of  scurvy  were  still  kept  at  bay  and  there  were  no 
deaths. 

The  Resolution  sailed  north  between  ioo°  and  90°  W., 
looking  for  Juan  Fernandez  land,  the  report  of  which 
had  been  made  known  by  Dalrymple’s  translation  of  the 
long  forgotten  letter  of  Arias,  but  no  such  land  had  been 
found  when  on  February  21st,  Cook  reached  the  position 
assigned  to  its  northern  coast,  370  54'  S.  and  90°  W., 
and  after  several  days  satisfied  himself  that  if  there  was 
land  at  all,  it  could  only  be  a Small  island,  as  there  was 
room  for  nothing  of  any  great  size  between  his  track 
and  those  of  the  other  circumnavigators.  Having  dis- 
posed of  the  Spanish  myth,  he  turned  westward  to  prove 
that  the  only  kernel  of  truth  in  the  great  expanse  of  Davis 
Land  as  shown  on  Dalrymple’s  chart  was  the  quaint 
little  Easter  Island.  The  island  was  found  none  too  soon 
to  replenish  the  supply  cff  food,  and  its  marvellous 
statues  and  terraces  so  unlike  the  work  of  any  known 
Polynesian  race  formed  a welcome  object  of  study  and 
description  for  both  officers  and  naturalists.  At  length, 
on  April  22nd,  the  blissful  island  of  Tahiti  was  reached, 
all  warmth  and  fruit  and  flowers,  and  the  anchor  dropped 
in  Matavai  Bay  for  a happy  month  amongst  the  guile- 
less natives,  when,  as  Foster  observed,  the  poet's 
lines : 

“To  dress,  to  dance,  to  sing,  our  sole  delight, 

The  feast  or  bath  by  day,  and  love  by  night,” 

could  be  applied  to  the  ship’s  company  with  peculiar 
propriety. 

Not  quite  a month,  however,  for  Cook,  with  restored 
health  and  a robust  crew  set  sail  on  May  15th,  1774,  for 
a fresh  voyage  of  discovery.  If  heaping  coals  of  fire  on 


JAMES  COOK  79 

an  enemy’s  head  is  an  appropriate  punishment,  Cook’s 
reply  to  Dalrymple’s  interminable  strictures  was  to  crown 
him  with  a burning  fiery  furnace  seven  times  heated. 
Without  uttering  a word  of  anger  or  resentment,  he  pro- 
ceeded calmly  and  systematically  to  wipe  out  of  the  map 
of  the  South  Pacific,  as  he  had  already  wiped  out  of  the 
South  Indian  Ocean,  every  line  of  that  imaginary  conti- 
nent which  Dalrymple  loved  as  his  own  soul.  Quiros 
was  now  to  share  the  fate  of  Juan  Fernandez  and  Ed- 
ward Davis.  Proceeding  to  Australia  del  Espiritu  San- 
tos, which  had  been  so  gloriously  annexed  to  Spain, 
Cook  and  the  Resolution  resolved  the  dazzling  continent 
into  a small,  unhealthy  archipelago  inhabited  by  the 
most  hopeless  savages.  He  named  the  group  the  New 
Hebrides.  Then,  adding  New  Caledonia  to  his  discov- 
eries by  the  way,  he  regained  New  Zealand,  ready  to  take 
advantage  of  the  third  Antarctic  summer. 

On  November  ioth,  1774,  Cook  left  New  Zealand 
bound  for  home  after  one  more  campaign  in  the  ice.  He 
crossed  the  meridian  of  160°  W.  in  56°  S.,  and  held  a 
course  eastward  between  57 0 and  53 0 S.,  meeting  little 
ice  and  encountering  no  land  until  the  islands  of  Tierra 
del  Fuego  were  sighted  on  December  17th.  Coasting 
those  islands  the  Resolution  found  a favourable  harbour, 
which  received  the  name  of  Christmas  Sound,  for  here 
on  Christmas  eve  a lucky  shooting  expedition  brought 
home  a great  bag  of  geese.  No  man  probably  ever  cared 
less  for  the  pleasures  of  the  table  than  James  Cook;  but 
even  he  confessed  that  he  had  grown  sick  of  the  ancient 
salt  beef  and  pork  that  remained  of  their  stores.  Fresh 
food  of  any  kind  was  welcomed,  the  puppy-seals  were 
tried  and  found  palatable,  the  meat  of  the  females  was 
not  much  amiss,  but  the  old  bulls  were  voted  abominable. 


8o  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


Penguins  were  thought  disagreeable,  but  they  were  fresh 
and  that  made  them  go  down.  However,  the  geese  were 
a rare  treat  and  as  a little  Madeira  wine  was  left,  “ the 
only  article  of  our  provisions  that  was  mended  by  keep- 
ing/’ Cook  remarked  “ our  friends  in  England  did  not, 
perhaps,  celebrate  Christmas  more  cheerfully  than  we 
did.” 

The  few  days’  rest  after  the  dull  months  of  monot- 


Cook's  Chart  of  the  Isle  of  Georgia. 

(From  Cook’s  “Second  Voyage”) 

onous  hardship  did  good  to  all  hands.  The  captain 
looked  back  with  immense  satisfaction  to  his  proof  that 
no  vast  temperate  continent  lay  in  the  South  Pacific,  and 
he  looked  forward  to  yet  another  southward  cruise  before 
turning  the  bows  of  his  weather-beaten  ship  homeward. 
Cape  Horn  was  doubled  on  December  29th,  and  a 


Royal  Bay,  Isle  of  Georgia. 

(From  Cook’s  Second  Voyage.) 


[ To  face  />.  80. 


JAMES  COOK  8r 

fortnight  was  spent  in  surveying  the  neighbouring  islands 
and  sounds.  Then  Cook  set  sail  to  the  eastward  to  ex- 
plore the  Gulf  of  St.  Sebastian,  a great  bay  in  the  coast- 
line of  Dalrymple’s  Southern  Continent.  But  past  ex- 
perience of  Dalrymple’s  chart  had  filled  Cook’s  mind  with 
doubt  as  to  the  existence  of  any  such  coast-line,  and  when 
he  found  open  sea  in  fact,  where  land  was  indicated  on 
paper,  he  turned  at  once  to  a more  hopeful  quest.  This 
was  the  land  discovered  by  La  Roche  in  1675,  an(^  seen 
again  by  the  ship  Leon  in  1756,  which  was  reported  to  be 
in  540  30'  S.,  though  the  longitude  was  shown  differently 
in  various  maps.  Land  was  sighted  on  January  14th, 
1775  > first  ^ seemed  to  be  only  an  ice  island,  but  a 
sounding  in  175  fathoms  confirmed  the  opinion  that  it 
was  indeed  land,  and  from  its  thick  covering  of  snow 
it  seemed  to  be  of  great  extent.  On  the  16th  the  Reso- 
lution was  close  up  to  the  north  coast,  and  during  that 
day  and  the  next  cruised  along  it,  naming  the  capes  and 
bays.  Three  landings  were  made  at  different  points, 
the  British  flag  was  hoisted  and  the  captain  “ took  pos- 
session of  the  Isle  of  Georgia  in  his  Majesty’s  name, 
under  a discharge  of  small  arms.” 

This  was  the  first  discovery  of  a typical  Antarctic  land. 
True,  it  lay  in  a latitude  corresponding  to  that  of  the 
north  of  England,  but  even  at  midsummer  it  possessed 
the  climate  of  Greenland.  Ice-cliffs  came  down  at  the 
head  of  the  bays  and  masses  of  ice  were  continually 
breaking  off  and  floating  out  to  sea.  If  the  coast  was 
repellant,  “ the  inner  parts  of  the  country  were  not  less 
savage  and  horrible.  The  wild  rocks  raised  their  lofty 
summits  till  they  were  lost  in  the  clouds,  and  the  valleys 
lay  covered  with  everlasting  snow.  Not  a tree  was  to 

be  seen,  nor  a shrub  even  big  enough  to  make  a tooth- 

6 


82  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


pick.  The  only  vegetation  we  met  with  was  a coarse 
long-bladed  grass  growing  in  tufts,  wild  burnet,  and  a 
plant  like  moss,  which  sprung  from  the  rocks.” 

The  shores  swarmed  with  seals,  especially  at  that  sea- 
son with  females  and  innumerable  cubs.  It  seemed  to 
Cook  absurd  to  call  these  creatures  sea-lions,  for  he  could 
see  no  resemblance  in  them  to  the  king  of  beasts.  There 
were  great  flocks  of  the  largest  size  of  penguins;  some 
that  were  brought  on  board  weighed  from  29  to  38  pounds, 
and  there  were  other  sea-birds  innumerable.  When  he 
reached  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  land  Cook  got  bear- 
ings of  the  same  features  along  the  south  coast  that  he 
had  seen  from  the  western  end,  and  so  he  was  obliged  to 
conclude  that  despite  its  snows  this  was  no  continent 
but  a small  island.  “ I must  confess,”  he  adds,  “ the 
disappointment  I now  met  with  did  not  affect  me  much ; 
for  to  judge  of  the  bulk  by  the  sample  it  would  not  be 
worth  the  discovery.”  Nevertheless,  a point  on  the  south 
coast  was  christened  Cape  Disappointment. 

Cook  was  greatly  impressed  with  the  discovery  of  a 
snow-clad  island,  and  at  once  concluded  that  Bouvet's 
Cape  Circumcision  might  not  have  been  an  iceberg  after 
all  and  that  the  South  Atlantic  might  have  more  land  in 
store  for  him  than  he  would  have  time  to  explore.  The 
weather  became  foggy  and  the  winds  light  and  variable, 
so  that  it  was  the  23rd  before  the  Resolution  left  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  Isle  of  Georgia  and  set  out  south- 
eastward. The  parallel  of  6o°  S.  was  crossed  on  the 
meridian  of  30°  W.,  but  bergs  and  pack  ice  were  found 
so  closely  massed  in  that  position  that  it  was  necessary 
to  turn  again  northeastward.  On  the  way  Cook  discov- 
ered a rocky  land  which  he  named  Southern  Thule,  be- 
cause its  latitude,  590  13'  S.,  was  higher  than  that  of  any 


JAMES  COOK  83 

southern  land  previously  known.  The  lofty  snow-cov- 
ered summits  were  continued  towards  the  north  by  a 
group  of  peaks,  which  were  named  Sandwich  Land,  in 
honour  of  the  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty,  but  the  whole 
was  so  beset  with  ice  as  to  be  unapproachable  in  the 
thick  weather  that  prevailed.  The  ship  sailed  northward 
for  more  than  200  miles  in  sight  of  the  west  coast  of  this 
new  land  before  there  was  an  open  sea  to  the  east- 
ward. 

Cook  could  not  decide  whether  this  chain  of  peaks  was 
a line  of  islands  or  a promontory  of  the  southern  land. 
He  felt  convinced  that  an  extensive  land  lay  to  the  south 
for  he  could  not  otherwise  account  for  the  vast  abundance 
of  ice  and  for  its  unequal  extension  northward  in  differ- 
ent positions.  This  led  him  to  expect  that  the  snow- 
covered  continent  extended  farthest  to  the  north  opposite 
the  Southern  Atlantic  and  the  Indian  oceans. 

From  near  Sandwich  Land  in  58°  S.,  270  W.,  Cook 
steered  due  east  to  the  meridian  of  Greenwich  and  then 
northeastward  to  the  assigned  latitude  of  Cape  Circum- 
cision, resolved  this  time  not  to  let  Bouvet’s  Island  slip 
if  it  really  existed,  as  he  now  believed  it  did.  The  great 
navigator,  however,  did  not  sufficiently  allow  for 
Bouvet’s  difficulties  with  the  longitude,  and  his  careful 
search  from  6°  E.  to  220  E.  was,  of  course,  unavailing. 
This  part  of  the  ocean  was  found  to  be  much  less  en- 
cumbered by  ice  than  in  1772.  Crossing  their  outward 
track  south  of  South  Africa,  Cook’s  sailors  could  boast 
that  they  had  not  only  put  a girdle  round  the  Earth 
farther  south  than  it  had  ever  been  circled  before,  but 
that  they  had  enough  track  over  to  tie  a knot  on  it.  Cook 
himself  observed  with  quiet  satisfaction  that  Mr.  Dal- 
rymple’s  coast-line  of  a southern  continent  in  the  South 


84  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

Atlantic  also  was  an  error;  and  so  he  wiped  that  too 
from  the  map,  leaving  the  far  south  of  the  globe  a clean 
slate  for  the  insertion  of  real  discoveries. 

At  last,  his  labours  over  and  well  done,  Cook  bore  up 
for  Cape  Town.  On  March  18th  and  19th,  when  be- 
calmed off  the  coast,  he  met  a Dutch  and  a British  ship, 
which  supplied  him  with  fresh  provisions  and  the  almost 
forgotten  luxuries,  tea  and  sugar.  Old  newspapers  also, 
which  were  new  to  men  three  years  away  from  civilisa- 
tion, and  the  news  that  the  Adventure  had  returned  to 
the  Cape  a year  before,  having  come  round  the  Horn 
and  crossed  both  Pacific  and  Atlantic  nearly  in  6o°  S., 
well  to  the  south  of  the  track  of  the  Resolution.  Cape 
Town  was  reached  on  March  22nd;  there  Cook  met 
Crozet,  of  Marion's  expedition  and  learnt  from  him  of 
the  discoveries  of  Marion  and  Kerguelen  in  detail.  On 
July  30th,  1775,  the  Resolution  dropped  anchor  at 
Spithead,  and  the  most  adventurous  voyage  since  that  of 
Magellan  came  to  an  end.  The  expedition  returned  after 
an  absence  of  three  years  in  good  health,  having  lost  only 
four  men,  three  by  accident  and  one  from  a disease 
which  would  probably  have  killed  him  sooner  if  he  had 
stayed  ashore.  This  record  was  unique  and  inaugurated 
a new  era  in  long  voyages,  for  thanks  to  the  unceasing 
vigilance  of  Cook  and  the  insistence  with  which  he  ad- 
ministered preventatives  and  enforced  cleanliness,  scurvy 
was  shown  to  be  no  necessary  accompaniment  of  life 
at  sea. 

Cook  returned,  not  as  the  discoverer  of  a new  conti- 
nent, but  as  one  who  had  achieved  the  far  more  difficult 
task  of  proving  a negative  beyond  the  cavil  of  his  bit- 
terest critic.  “ Had  we  found  out  a continent  there/'  he 
said,  “ we  might  have  been  better  enabled  to  gratify  curi- 


JAMES  COOK  85 

osity ; but  we  hope  our  not  having  found  it,  after  all  our 
persevering  searches,  will  leave  less  room  for  future 
speculations  about  unknown  worlds  waiting  to  be  ex- 
plored” 

The  vast  masses  of  ice  in  the  Antarctic  region  pro- 
foundly impressed  the  navigator  and  convinced  him  that 
there  was  indeed  a frigid  continent  within  the  Antarctic 
circle,  though  he  had  not  caught  sight  of  it.  As  to  the 
lands  he  had  seen,  and  the  nature  of  those  beyond,  he  con- 
cluded : 

“ Countries  condemned  to  everlasting  rigidity  by  Na- 
ture, never  to  yield  to  the  warmth  of  the  sun,  for  whose 
wild  and  desolate  aspect  I find  no  words ; such  are  the 
countries  we  have  discovered ; what  then  may  those  resem- 
ble which  lie  still  further  to  the  south?  . . . Should 

anyone  possess  the  resolution  and  the  fortitude  to  eluci- 
date this  point  by  pushing  yet  further  south  than  I have 
done,  I shall  not  envy  him  the  fame  of  his  discovery,  but 
I make  bold  to  declare  that  the  world  will  derive  no  bene- 
fit from  it.” 

Looking  back  on  the  hardships  and  the  difficulties  of 
his  attempts  to  penetrate  the  Antarctic  regions,  Cook 
was  even  led  to  declare  that  he  believed  no  man  would 
ever  push  farther  south  than  he  had  done  and  that  the 
region  round  the  southern  pole  would  always  remain 
sealed  up  in  its  ice,  unknown  to  man.  He  considered 
that  his  proof  of  the  possibility  of  preserving  the  health 
of  a ship’s  company  at  sea  throughout  a long  and  trying 
voyage  was  the  greatest  of  his  achievements  and  enough 
in  itself  to  make  the  voyage  memorable  “ when  the  dis- 
putes about  a southern  continent  shall  have  ceased  to 
engage  the  attention  and  to  divide  the  judgment  of 
philosophers.”  The  Royal  Society  awarded  him  the 


86  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


Copley  medal,  not  for  his  discoveries  in  geography,  but 
for  this  demonstration  in  hygiene. 

Dalrymple  was  vanquished,  but  he  held  his  peace; 
he  had  returned  to  India  in  a high  official  position, 
and  on  his  retirement  from  the  East  India  Company's 
service,  he  sunk  his  old  differences  with  the  Admiralty 
and  became  its  first  hydrographer,  when  that  office  was 
instituted  in  1795.  Eleven  years  later  he  was  dismissed 
for  some  characteristic  excess  of  zeal,  and  died  of  a 
broken  heart. 

It  is  interesting  to  speculate  as  to  what  the  result  might 
have  been  if  instead  of  leaving  the  wide  section  south  of 
New  Zealand  unvisited,  because  from  the  direction  of  the 
wind  he  believed  there  was  no  land  there  unless  it  lay 
very  far  to  the  south,  Cook  had  endeavoured  to  push 
south  to  the  southward,  say  of  Tasmania.  He  might 
have  found  a clear  sea  and  discovered  the  coast  of  Vic- 
toria Land.  He  might,  probably  enough,  have  been 
frozen  in  the  pack,  and  with  his  inadequate  provision  for 
meeting  the  added  strain  of  cold  and  darkness,  it  is  not 
too  much  to  say  that  the  chance  of  his  escape  would  have 
been  small  indeed. 

The  only  honour  bestowed  on  Cook  by  the  government 
for  his  stupendous  service  to  science  and  to  his  country, 
was  a step  in  naval  rank.  But  he  also  received  the  com- 
mand of  a new  expedition  to  sail  in  the  following  year 
and  to  attempt  for  the  unknown  north  polar  regions  what 
he  had  already  done  in  the  far  south.  To  a man  of  his 
nature,  this  was  perhaps  the  greatest  possible  reward, 
but  the  new  work  was  his  last,  and  his  death  left  it  un- 
completed. 

For  nearly  a generation  no  other  vessel  ventured  into 
the  southern  ice  bent  on  exploration.  But  the  merchants 


JAMES  COOK  87 

of  London  were  on  the  alert  for  new  fields  of  commer- 
cial adventure,  and  the  description  of  the  vast  abundance 
of  seals  in  Cook’s  report  on  the  Isle  of  Georgia  fell  on 
attentive  ears.  It  is  difficult  for  us  to  realise  the  vast 
importance  of  animal  oil  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  As  a lubricant  for  machinery,  the  use  of  which 
was  steadily  extending  in  every  branch  of  industry,  it 
was  important;  but  for  the  purposes  of  illumination  it 
was  indispensible.  Electric  light  was  only  known  as 
the  spark  from  a frictional  electric  machine ; coal-gas  was 
occasionally  produced  as  a laboratory  experiment,  but 
Lord  Dundonald’s  attempt  in  1787  to  use  it  for  illumina- 
tion was  laughed  at  as  the  fad  of  a mad  sailor ; mineral 
oil  was  only  used  in  China  and  some  scarcely  known 
parts  of  Central  Asia ; wax  candles  lighted  the  houses  of 
the  rich  alone;  the  poor  had  to  be  content  with  tallow 
dips.  The  lighting  of  towns  was  becoming  general 
and  whale  oil  or  seal  oil  was  the  only  form  of 
fuel  that  was  thought  fit  for  the  purpose.  The  whalers 
of  the  North  were  then  in  the  zenith  of  their  glory,  and 
great  fleets  sailed  each  year  for  the  Greenland  seas  and 
came  back  laden  with  catches  which  now  seem  almost 
fabulous.  The  hunters  of  the  sperm  whale  had  begun 
their  long  voyages  in  the  tropical  oceans,  the  wildest  and 
most  adventurous  form  of  all  seafaring,  but  still  the  de- 
mand increased,  far  exceeding  the  supply,  and  a new 
oil-field  where  the  whale  or  blubber-seal  could  be  met 
with  was  in  the  quieter  commercial  life  of  the  last  quarter 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  as  great  a discovery  in  its  own 
way,  as  a new  petroleum  field  was  in  the  last  quarter  of 
the  nineteenth. 

As  early  as  the  year  1778  the  English  sealers  brought 
back  from  the  Isle  of  Georgia  and  Magellan  Strait  as 


88  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


many  as  40,000  seal-skins,  and  2800  tons  of  sea-elephant 
oil,  the  latter  valued  at  £40,000,  and  by  1801  the  import 
of  oil  from  those  regions  reached  6000  tons,  worth 
£172,500.  In  1791  no  less  than  102  vessels,  averaging 
200  tons  burden  and  manned  by  3000  sailors,  were  en- 
gaged in  securing  fur-seals  and  oil  in  the  Southern  Ocean, 
and  the  value  of  their  cargoes  in  that  year  was  estimated 
at  £235,000.  The  voyage  of  Cook,  which  cost  under 
£20,000,  thus  had  proved  a very  profitable  investment  for 
the  nation  as  a mere  matter  of  money,  apart  from  the 
prestige  acquired,  especially  in  France,  notwithstanding 
the  war,  by  Cook's  services  to  science  and  to  humanity. 
With  so  rich  a harvest  waiting  to  be  gathered  at  the  very 
edge  of  the  icy  seas  the  sealers  naturally  felt  little  tempta- 
tion to  wander  farther  afield  and  incur  certain  dangers 
for  uncertain  gain.  Thus  there  is  no  sure  knowledge 
of  any  discovery  having  been  made  by  British  sealers  up 
to  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

When  commerce  begins  to  assert  itself  the  history  of 
exploration  inevitably  becomes  troubled  and  contradic- 
tory. The  commercial  explorer  owes  his  first  duty  to 
the  firms  employing  him,  and  in  order  to  safeguard  their 
interests  he  must  keep  silence  amongst  outsiders  as  to 
what  he  has  seen.  He  may  even  consider  it  expedient  to 
permit  a suggestio  falsi  to  arise  in  quarters  v/here  judi- 
cious discouragement  might  secure  him  freedom  from 
competition.  “ It  is  much  to  be  regretted,"  says  Weddell, 
“ that  any  men  should  be  so  ill  advised  as  to  propagate 
hydrographical  falsehoods;  and  I pity  those  who,  when 
they  meet  with  an  appearance  that  is  likely  to  throw  some 
light  on  the  state  of  the  globe,  are  led  through  pusillanim- 
ity to  forego  the  examination  of  it.  But  the  extreme 
reluctance  I have  to  excite  painful  feelings  anywhere, 


r 


JAMES  COOK  89 

restrains  me  from  dealing  that  just  censure  which  is  due 
to  many  of  my  fellow-seamen,  who  by  negligence,  nar- 
row views  of  pecuniary  interest,  or  timidity,  have  omitted 
many  practicable  investigations.’,  The  evil  was  evidently 
acutely  felt  at  the  time  when  this  was  written,  about 
1824.  Long  after  the  monopoly  of  information  has  lost 
its  values  the  logs  of  old  voyages  may  sometimes  be  re- 
covered in  the  archives  of  the  business  houses  which  had 
earned  on  the  trade ; but  too  often  they  have  been  de- 
stroyed or  lost  sight  of  before  the  historian  begins  to 
inquire  about  them.  This  difficulty  applies  especially  to 
the  beginnings  of  things,  and  so  we  cannot  now  speak 
with  certainty  as  to  the  first  practical  men  who  turned 
Cook’s  second  voyage  to  account. 

The  last  episode  of  the  dwindling  eighteenth  century  in 
the  southern  seas  was  the  reputed  discovery  of  the  Aurora 
Islands,  a group  which  for  a time  was  the  object  of 
almost  as  much  interest  as  Cape  Circumcision  itself, 
though  they  no  longer  figure  on  the  chart.  It  was  in 
1762  that  the  ship  Aurora  on  her  return  from  Lima, 
sighted  two  islands  about  35  leagues  to  the  east  of  the 
Falklands ; the  larger  was  several  miles  in  extent,  and  the 
ship  passed  between  the  two  in  latitude  53 0 15'  S.  Islands 
in  a similar  position  were  seen  in  1769  from  the  San 
Miguel,  and  in  1774  the  Aurora  once  more  saw  two 
islands,  one  in  53 0 38'  S.,  about  three  leagues  in  length, 
separated  from  another  at  a distance  of  about  three  or 
four  leagues  to  the  E.S.E.  The  islands  were  seen  again 
in  1779  and  in  1790,  and  finally  in  1794  the  Spanish  gov- 
ernment sent  the  corvette  Atrevida  to  fix  their  position. 
This  ship,  provided  with  chronometers,  left  the  Falklands 
on  January  10th,  1794.  After  a slow  voyage,  much 
protracted  by  fog  and  bad  weather,  the  Atrevida  sighted 


9o  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

a great  mountain  like  a tent  divided  vertically  into  two 
parts,  one  side  white  with  snow,  the  other  very  dark; 
this  was  taken  to  be  the  island  in  question  and  was 
coasted  within  a mile  of  the  land,  and  next  day  a second 
island  was  seen,  not  so  high  as  the  first,  and  about  ten 
miles  to  the  northeast.  Several  days  were  lost  waiting 
for  the  sun  to  appear  to  make  an  observation  possible, 
and  at  last  the  positions  were  obtained  as  530  15'  S.  and 
4i°4'W.  of  Cadiz  for  the  first  island,  and  520  37' S. 
and  41 0 26'  W.  of  Cadiz  for  the  second.  The  cruise  of 
the  Atrevida  was  a piece  of  simple  marine  surveying,  of 
no  importance  in  exploration ; but  it  is  mentioned  here  to 
show  how  extremely  uncertain  the  positions  assigned  to 
discoveries  at  sea  often  are,  even  in  localities  far  re- 
moved from  the  atmospheric  illusions  peculiar  to  the 
polar  seas. 


CHAPTER  V 


AMERICAN  SEALERS  IN  THE  SOUTH 

“ Ever  they  hear  the  floe-pack  clear  and  the  blast  of  the  old  bull- 
whale 

And  the  deep  seal-roar  that  beats  off-shore  above  the  loudest 
gale; 

Ever  they  greet  the  hunted  fleet — lone  keels  off  headlands 
drear — 

When  the  sealing  schooners  flit  that  way,  at  hazard,  year  by 
year.” 

— Rudyard  Kipling. 

WHERE  nearly  everything  is  left  to  conjecture  it 
is  impossible  to  trace  out  clearly  the  succession  of 
events  which  led  to  the  next  advance  in  discovery.  It 
is  now,  we  fear,  impossible  to  say  when  the  first  Ameri- 
can sealer  made  his  way  to  South  Georgia,  the  name  by 
which  Cook's  “ Isle  of  Georgia  ” has  been  known  since 
the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Weddell,  writ- 
ing in  1825,  when  both  fur-seals  and  sea-elephants  were 
almost  extinct  on  the  island,  mentioned  that  the  fur  seal- 
skins brought  with  the  sea-elephant  oil  to  England  were 
of  so  little  value  on  account  of  the  furriers  not  knowing 
how  to  dress  them,  that  their  capture  was  almost  neg- 
lected. “ At  the  same  time,”  he  says,  “ the  Americans 
were  carrying  from  Georgia  cargoes  of  these  skins  to 
China,  where  they  frequently  obtained  a price  of  from 
5 to  6 dollars  apiece.  It  is  generally  known  that  the 
English  did  not  enjoy  the  same  privilege;  by  which 

91 


92  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

means  the  Americans  took  entirely  out  of  our  hands  this 
valuable  article  of  trade.,, 

The  whole  question  of  American  enterprise  in  the 
Antarctic  regions  has  been  discussed  by  Mr.  Balch  in  his 
“ Antarctica/'  a work  embodying  a great  deal  of  careful 
research  into  old  records,  and  to  this  we  are  much  in- 
debted. The  first  light  on  the  subject  comes  from 
Swain's  Island,  which  does  not  now  appear  on  the  chart, 
but  it  is  reported  on  the  authority  of  Edmund  Fanning 
that  an  island  to  which  he  gave  that  name  was  discov- 
ered in  1800  in  590  30'  S.,  ioo°  W.,  by  Captain  Swain, 
of  Nantucket,  and  that  it  was  “ resorted  to  by  many 
seals."  It  is  probably  Dougherty  Island. 

According  to  a communication  which  was  made  by 
Captain  J.  Horsburgh,  Hydrographer  to  the  East  India 
Company,  to  Professor  Heinrich  Berghaus,  the  distin- 
guished author  of  the  “ Physical  Atlas,"  American  seal- 
ers had  been  at  work  in  the  South  Shetlands  since  1812, 
and  had  kept  their  field  of  operations  a profound  secret 
in  order  to  exclude  competitors.  The  shadowy  forms 
of  Captain  Swain,  of  Nantucket,  and  his  crew  of  phan- 
tom Yankees  may  be  imagined  breaking  in  upon  the 
“ rookeries " of  those  mist-wreathed  island  beaches 
slaying,  skinning  and  boiling  out  the  blubber  of  un- 
known and  now  perhaps  extinct  species  of  seals.  We 
have  seen  that  so  far  as  the  trade  in  seal  oil  was  con- 
cerned the  Americans  had  no  monopoly.  To  the  later 
explorations  initiated  by  the  enlightened  firm  of  Enderby 
Brothers,  we  devote  a special  chapter;  but  their  associa- 
tion with  the  far  southern  trade  began  before  the  cen- 
tury. We  first  hear  of  their  ships  in  the  southern  seas 
in  October,  1808,  when  the  Snow  Swan  under  James 
Lindsay,  and  the  Otter  under  Thomas  Hopper  on  a 


AMERICAN  SEALERS 


93 


whaling  cruise  in  the  South  Atlantic,  came  upon  Bouvet’s 
Cape  Circumcision.  Fog  and  ice,  the  usual  companions 
of  the  mariner  in  those  seas,  did  not  allow  them  to  land 
though  Lindsay  stayed  in  the  neighbourhood  for  a week, 
but  they  fixed  the  position  of  the  Cape  as  540  15'  S.  and 
4°  15'  E.  But  during  the  first  decades  of  the  nineteenth 
century  the  American  interest  in  the  seal-fisheries  prob- 
ably outweighed  the  British.  How  keen  it  must  have 
been  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  Edmund  Fanning  was  ap- 
pointed in  1812  commander  of  a United  States  expedi- 
tion, in  the  Volunteer  and  Hope,  for  a voyage  of  discov- 
ery to  explore  the  southern  hemisphere  and  circumnavi- 
gate the  globe.  The  unfortunate  war  between  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States  which  broke  out  in  that 
year  made  it  impossible  to  proceed  with  the  expedition. 
Though  the  smoke  of  war  now  involved  the  whole  of 
Europe  and  North  America,  and  the  outlook  for  the  fu- 
ture was  black  enough  at  home,  the  old  Hanseatic 
motto  held  its  force  “ Necessare  est  navigare  ” and 
year  by  year  more  and  more  ships  sought  the  stormy 
neighbourhood  of  the  Horn.  After  the  final  struggle  of 
1815  when  the  disturber  of  the  peace  of  Europe  was  him- 
self enisled  in  the  solitudes  of  the  South  Atlantic  the 
traders  of  the  east  and  west  sailed  southward  in  in- 
creasing numbers. 

The  first  absolutely  clear  episode  in  the  history  of  Ant- 
arctic discovery  since  Cook  was  due  to  a British  seaman, 
William  Smith,  captain  of  the  brig  Williams,  of  Blyth, 
one  of  the  north  country  craft  so  highly  rated  by  Cook. 
Trading  between  Montevideo  and  Valparaiso  he  brought 
his  ship  round  Cape  Horn  with  a bold  southward  sweep  in 
February,  1819,  believing  that  by  keeping  far  off  the  land 
he  would  find  better  weather  for  making  what  is  always 


94 


SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


an  anxious  passage  under  sail.  On  the  19th,  in  latitude 
62°  40'  S.  and  longitude  6o°  W.  he  thought  he  saw  land. 
Night  fell  before  he  could  make  quite  sure  and  he  pru- 
dently hauled  off  to  the  north  for  the  few  hours  of  dark- 
ness of  the  southern  summer  night  and  stood  south  again 
next  day  when  the  land  appeared  to  him  to  be  unmistak- 
able. 

He  happened  to  have  a valuable  cargo  on  board  and 
being  himself  part  owner  of  the  ship  he  was  afraid  to  run 
the  risk  of  a storm  descending  upon  him  when  off  an  un- 
known coast ; being  afraid  too  that  the  underwriters  might 
make  trouble  about  his  insurances  if  he  were  to  convert 
a coasting  trip  into  a voyage  of  discovery,  he  resumed 
his  course  and  reached  Valparaiso  in  due  time.  Smith 
spoke  of  his  discovery  to  the  English  residents  at  the 
Chilean  port,  but  was  only  laughed  at  for  his  pains,  and 
it  would  appear  that  some  of  his  ship's  company  thought 
that  no  land  had  been  seen  but  merely  icebergs.  It  was 
about  mid-winter  (June,  1819)  before  Smith  obtained  a 
return  cargo,  and  although  he  ran  south  to  62°  12'  he  saw 
nothing  of  the  land  and  nearly  got  caught  in  the  sea-ice 
from  which  he  was  glad  to  escape  even  without  con- 
firmation of  his  discovery.  At  Montevideo  as  at  Val- 
paraiso incredulity  and  ridicule  were  all  he  received  from 
his  countrymen,  but  a party  of  Americans  approached 
him  desirous  of  further  information  and  promising  to 
charter  his  brig  for  a sealing  voyage  on  very  favourable 
terms  if  he  would  only  tell  them  the  exact  position  of 
the  alleged  new  land. 

In  order  to  understand  the  keenness  of  international 
rivalry  at  this  period  we  must  remember  that  three  Amer- 
ican whale-ships  went  round  Cape  Horn  for  every  one 
under  the  British  flag.  Reckless  extermination  was  the 


Fi  kitiant  Island,  one  of  the  South  Shetlands. 
(From  D’Urville's  Atlas  ) 


AMERICAN  SEALERS 


95 

only  method  of  seal-hunting  resorted  to  on  the  islands  of 
South  Georgia  and  the  coasts  of  South  America  so  that 
the  first  in  the  field  at  a new  sealing  ground  was  sure  of 
an  immense  booty,  and  late-comers  as  likely  as  not  would 
have  to  go  empty  away.  Smith  was  determined  that  he 
would  not  part  with  his  secret  without  an  equivalent  to 
anyone  but  a British  subject  and  absolutely  refused  to 
give  the  American  inquirers  the  information  they  wanted. 
He  offered  to  take  them  to  the  southern  land  for  a seal- 
ing voyage  and  if  he  could  not  find  it  to  charge  nothing 
for  the  use  of  his  vessel,  but  that  remarkably  liberal  offer 
was  rejected;  the  inquirers  wanted  chiefly  to  know  exactly 
where  the  land  lay.  Several  months  elapsed  before  he 
could  get  a cargo  together  for  another  trip  to  Chile.  At 
last  he  succeeded  and  on  October  15th,  1819,  came  up  with 
the  land  in  the  position  where  he  had  seen  it  before,  got 
soundings  in  40  fathoms  and  next  day  sent  a boat  ashore 
with  the  first  mate  to  plant  the  Union  Jack  and  take  pos- 
session for  Great  Britain.  He  called  the  new  land  New 
South  Britain  but  afterwards  changed  the  name  to  New 
South  Shetland  because  it  was  situated  in  the  same  lati- 
tude as  the  Shetland  Isles  of  the  northern  hemisphere. 
The  name  did  not  imply  any  opinion  as  to  the  insular 
nature  of  the  new  land  to  part  of  which  he  refers  as  the 
mainland,  and  the  name  of  Antarctic  Continent  was  even 
revived  for  it  by  some  German  geographers  when  the 
discovery  became  known  in  Europe  in  the  following 
year. 

Smith  spent  some  days  in  cruising  along  the  coast, 
standing  out  to  sea  at  night  and  returning  in  the  morn- 
ing toward  the  land,  picking  out  now  a cape  and  now  a 
mountain  in  the  fog  and  naming  them  more  or  less  ap- 
propriately, occasionally  losing  sight  of  the  coast,  and  ap- 


96  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

parently  making  no  other  landing.  The  scenery  re- 
minded him  strongly  of  Norway,  so  strongly  that  he  even 
imagined  he  could  see  pine  trees  waving  on  the  distant 
slopes,  and  he  satisfied  himself  that  the  rocks  and  off- 
lying  islands  swarmed  with  fur-seals,  blubber-seals  and 
birds  in  great  variety.  Whales  too  abounded  including 
what  he  declared  to  be  “ the  true  spermaceti  whale.” 
Altogether  Smith  saw  the  land  more  or  less  continu- 
ously along  a course  of  250  miles,  and  on  reaching  Val- 
paraiso at  the  end  of  November  he  was  able  to  give  such 
particulars  as  convinced  the  British  residents  of  the 
reality  of  the  discovery.  Apart  from  the  enormous 
value  for  the  seal  and  whale  fishery  the  prospect  of  hav- 
ing some  British  possession,  however  desolate,  within  ten 
days’  sail  was  very  welcome  to  Smith’s  compatriots  who 
did  not  feel  too  secure  under  the  government  of  a new 
republic  still  at  war  with  its  mother  country.  They  re- 
sented the  recent  abandonment  of  the  Falkland  Islands 
and  were  intensely  anxious  to  have  some  outpost  of  the 
empire  nearer  than  Cape  Town  on  the  one  side  and  Syd- 
ney on  the  other.  These  feelings  were  fully  shared  by 
the  British  naval  commander  on  the  Pacific  Station,  Cap- 
tain W.  H.  Shirreff,  who  on  hearing  Smith’s  story  re- 
solved to  take  immediate  action.  Mr.  J.  Miers,  F.  R.  S., 
the  merchant  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  the  first 
description  of  the  finding  of  New  South  Shetland,  had 
commenced  to  load  the  Williams  for  her  return  voyage 
when  Captain  Shirreff  chartered  her  for  a cruise  of 
exploration,  and  Miers,  who  was  an  enthusiastic  natural- 
ist, at  once  transferred  his  cargo  to  another  vessel  and 
gladly  set  the  brig  free  for  her  more  important  work. 
Edward  Bransfield,  Master  R.  N.,  was  put  in  charge,  and 
three  midshipmen  of  H.  M.  S.  Andromache  accompanied 


AMERICAN  SEALERS 


97 


him  to  aid  in  surveying.  Dr.  Young  of  H.  M.  S.  Slaney* 
also  volunteered,  as  a surgeon  was  considered  necessary, 
and  the  brig  sailed  on  December  19th. 

Bransfield  reached  the  new  land  on  January  16th, 
1820,  and  remained  off  its  coasts  until  March  21st,  fol- 
lowing it  for  90  or  io°  to  the  eastward  and  about  30  from 
north  to  south.  He  sailed  amongst  the  islands  and 
charted  them,  going  as  far  south  as  64°  30',  but  did  not 
apparently  determine  whether  the  land  was  entirely  in- 
sular or  in  part  continental.  He  landed  at  one  point  at 
least  and  found  the  only  vegetation  to  consist  of  stunted 
grass.  Trees  were  entirely  absent. 

The  question  as  to  the  priority  of  discovery  by  Dirk 
Gerritsz  is  hardly  worth  discussing  as  the  evidence  on 
which  his  connection  with  the  South  Shetlands  is  based 
is  now  known  to  be  so  very  slight.  Slight  though  it 
was,  however,  it  would  apparently  have  led  to  the  dis- 
covery of  the  group  in  1820  whether  Smith  had 
sighted  it  or  not. 

Stonington,  Connecticut,  a small  town  of  seafaring 
folk,  now  comes  into  prominence  as  a centre  of  the 
southern  sealing  enterprise  of  the  United  States.  Fleets 
of  small  vessels  were  fitted  out  there  year  after  year, 
and  the  pluck  of  their  skippers  and  crews  led  them  often 
far  into  the  Antarctic  regions.  Amongst  the  many  cap- 
tains who  sailed  out  of  Stonington  a few  have  become 
famous  and  left  their  names  as  memorials  on  the  lands 
they  explored  and  despoiled.  The  first  experiment  of 

* An  amusing  error  has  crept  into  several  books  of  reference 
through  Dr.  Young  dating  an  anonymous  description  of  the  cruise, 
which  appeared  in  the  Edinburgh  Philosophical  Journal  from  “ H. 
M.  S.  Slaney.”  The  address  was  taken  for  a signature  and  a 
mythical  Mr.  Slaney  has  thus  been  credited  with  the  authorship 
of  the  account. 


7 


98  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

which  we  have  definite  information  was  due  to  the  initia- 
tive of  Mr.  Edmund  Fanning,  who  had  before  that  time 
been  in  South  Georgia  and  formed  theories  as  to  the 
proximity  of  land  to  the  south  based  on  the  drifting  of 
the  ice.  He  had  also  read  of  Gerritsz’s  reported  discov- 
ery and  resolved  that  the  matter  was  worthy  of  being  put 
to  the  test;  moreover,  he  knew  of  the  cruise  of  Captain 
Swain  of  Nantucket  in  those  waters,  and  he  also  knew 
a great  deal  more  than  he  set  down  as  to  the  doings  of 
earlier  sealers.  Anyhow,  in  July,  1819,  the  Hersilia  sailed 
from  Stonington  under  the  command  of  James  P.  Shef- 
field with  W.  A.  Fanning  as  supercargo.  They  visited  the 
Aurora  islands,  or  some  land  which  was  taken  for  them, 
and  sailing  south  to  63°  discovered  what  they  took  to  be 
the  land  of  Dirk  Gerritsz,  naming  several  islands  and  land- 
ing on  one  at  a place  named  Hersilia  Cove  in  February, 
1820.  If  the  latitude  is  correct  these  islands  must  have 
been  members  of  the  South  Shetland  group,  and  the  Wil- 
liams and  Hersilia  must  for  a time  have  been  very  near 
neighbours  though  they  did  not  sight  each  other.  The 
Hersilia  came  home  without  delay  bringing  a quantity 
of  sealskins,  including  those  of  the  valuable  southern 
fur-seal.  There  was  a flutter  of  excitement  at  Stoning- 
ton, and  energetic  steps  were  taken  to  follow  up  this 
successful  voyage. 

The  southern  summer  of  1820-21  was  a dark  one  for 
the  fur-seals  whose  ancestors  had  basked  upon  the  shores 
of  the  South  Shetlands  for  untold  centuries,  following 
their  quaint  semi-civilised  life  and  pursuing  their  pa- 
triarchal customs  of  war  and  love  undisturbed  by  any 
being  capable  of  contending  with  them.  The  sentry 
bulls  saw,  with  the  stolid  unconcern  of  ignorance,  the 
approach  of  a fleet  of  five  sail ; certainly  it  was  without 


CO 

c* 


Powell’s  Chart  of  the  South  Shetlands. 


AMERICAN  SEALERS 


$9 

fear  or  suspicion,  for  the  intruders  found  they  could 
butcher  the  unresisting  beasts  without  any  preliminary 
trouble  of  hunting  or  stalking.  Nor  were  the  Americans 
alone,  British  enterprise  was  equally  ready  to  profit  by 
the  new  discovery,  and  there  is  little  doubt  that  at  least 
as  many  ships  flew  the  red  ensign  as  the  stars  and  stripes 
that  summer  amongst  the  southern  isles.  The  killing 
of  seals,  perhaps  from  the  total  ignorance  of  the  victims 
of  the  threatened  fate,  perhaps  from  the  almost  human 
family  afifection  they  display,  perhaps  from  the  pathos 
of  their  innocent  eyes,  seems  nearer  murder  than  any 
other  form  of  butchery  or  sport,  and  the  first  assault 
upon  such  a tribe  of  creatures  is  really  painful  to  think 
about.  Harrowing  tales  are  told  by  the  seal-slayers 
themselves,  some  of  whom,  if  their  narratives  are  to  be 
trusted,  spent  a large  part  of  their  sea-time  in  shedding 
“ manly  tears  ” over  the  ordinary  risks  of  their  calling ; 
but  we  need  not  dwell  upon  scenes  to  which  our  readers 
will  not  have  time  to  become  hardened,  and  the  tragedy 
of  the  fur-seal  may  be  left  to  form  a dark  but  unobtrusive 
background  to  the  lighter  features  of  this  period  of  dis- 
covery. 

The  five  American  vessels  were  the  brig  Frederick 
under  the  command  of  Benjamin  Pendleton,  in  charge  of 
the  fleet;  the  brig  Plersilia  again  under  James  P.  Shef- 
field ; the  schooners  Express  and  Free  Gift  and  the  forty- 
ton  cutter  Hero,  whose  skipper  was  Nathaniel  B.  Palmer. 
They  found  headquarters  in  Yankee  Plarbour,  Decep- 
tion Island,  in  63°  S.,  a cove  in  the  remarkable  natural 
harbour  formed  by  the  sea  invading  the  central  hollow  of 
a huge  volcanic  crater,  a portion  of  the  side  of  which  had 
broken  down.  The  island,  in  fact,  is  a mere  ring  of 
volcanic  rock  rising  from  deep  water  to  a great  height 


ioo  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

and  forming  as  fine  a look-out  as  the  crater  forms  a har- 
bour. On  this  look-out  Captain  Pendleton  observed  one 
clear  day  several  mountains  far  to  the  south,  one  of  them 
an  active  volcano. 

Captain  Palmer  was  sent  off  in  the  little  Hero  to  look 
more  closely  at  the  new  mountains,  and  he  found  them 
to  be  part  of  a great  region  stretching  far  to  the  south 
laden  with  snow,  and  even  at  midsummer  edged  along 
the  coast  with  a girdle  of  ice  which  discouraged  any  at- 
tempt at  landing.  It  was  not,  perhaps,  a very  interest- 
ing land  to  its  discoverer,  for  there  were  no  fur-seals  on 
the  shore,  only  the  spotted  sea-leopard,  which  could  bide 
its  time  till  its  more  valuable  comrade  of  the  sea  was 
extinct. 

On  his  way  back  from  the  discovery  of  his  land, 
Palmer  met  the  not  uncommon  fate  of  being  enveloped 
in  a thick  fog,  a dreary  circumstance  in  any  part  of  the 
ocean,  but  unutterably  so  when  one  knows  one’s  ship 
to  be  absolutely  alone  upon  the  sea,  save  for  the  drift- 
ing bergs.  When  the  fog  lifted  Palmer  looked  to  port 
and  starboard  with  amazement  to  find  on  either  side  of 
him  a full-rigged  frigate  and  a sloop  of  war,  nor  could 
his  astonishment  be  much  lessened  when  in  response  to 
his  hoisting  the  “ gridiron/’  they  responded  with  the  St. 
Andrew’s  Cross.  Fanning  tells  the  story  pleasantly,  and 
we  may  quote  his  words: 

“ These  ships  he  then  found  were  the  two  discovery 
ships  sent  out  by  the  Emperor  Alexander  of  Russia,  on 
a voyage  round  the  world.  To  the  commodore’s  in- 
terrogatory if  he  had  any  knowledge  of  those  islands 
then  in  sight,  and  what  they  were,  Captain  P.  replied, 
he  was  well  acquainted  with  them,  and  that  they  were 
the  South  Shetlands,  at  the  same  time  making  a tender 


J 


The  Meeting  of  Palmer  and  Bellingshausen. 

(From  Fanning’s  Voyages  round  the  IVor/dhj, 


AMERICAN  SEALERS 


IOI 


of  his  services  to  pilot  the  ships  into  a good  harbor 
at  Deception  Island,  the  nearest  by,  where  water  and  re- 
freshment such  as  the  islands  afforded  could  be  ob- 
tained ; he  also  informed  the  Russian  officer  that  his  ves- 
sel belonged  to  a fleet  of  five  sail,  out  of  Stonington, 
under  command  of  Captain  B.  Pendleton,  and  then  at 
anchor  in  Yankee  Harbor,  who,  would  most  cheerfully 
render  any  assistance  in  his  power.  The  commodore 
thanked  him  kindly,  ‘ but  previous  to  our  being  en- 
veloped in  the  fog/  said  he,  ‘ we  had  sight  of  those 
islands,  and  concluded  we  had  made  a discovery,  but 
behold,  when  the  fog  lifts,  to  my  great  surprise,  here 
is  an  American  vessel,  apparently  in  as  fine  order  as  if 
it  were  but  yesterday  she  had  left  the  United  States; 
not  only  this,  but  her  master  is  ready  to  pilot  my  vessels 
into  port ; we  must  surrender  the  palm  to  you  Americans/ 
continued  he,  very  flatteringly.  His  astonishment  was 
yet  more  increased  when  Captain  Palmer  informed  him 
of  the  existence  of  an  immense  extent  of  land  to  the 
south,  whose  mountains  might  be  seen  from  the  mast- 
head when  the  fog  should  clear  away  entirely.  Captain 
Palmer,  while  on  board  the  frigate,  was  entertained  in 
the  most  friendly  manner,  and  the  commodore  was  so 
forcibly  struck  with  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  that 
he  named  the  coast  then  to  the  south  Palmer’s  Land.” 
The  incident  as  a whole  has  an  air  of  probability;  the 
courteous  speech  and  generous  recognition  of  the  work 
of  others  were  characteristic  of  Bellingshausen,  who  was 
in  every  thought  and  act  a man  of  whom  any  navy  might 
be  proud.  But  we  feel  sure  that  Bellingshausen  never 
claimed  the  discovery  of  the  South  Shetlands,  the  ex- 
istence of  which  he  knew  of  beforehand ; and  it  seems 
strange  that  if  informed  of  the  whereabouts  of  Palmer 


io2  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


Land  he  made  no  reference  to  that  fact  in  his  own  book 
or  in  the  atlas  accompanying  it. 

Palmer  well  deserved  any  kindly  attention  shown  by 
Bellingshausen,  and  we  feel  almost  sorry  that  it  was  his 
brother,  Captain  A.  S.  Palmer,  who  was  the  hero  of  the 
pleasing  little  description  by  Dr.  Webster  of  H.  M.  S. 
Chanticleer,  to  which  vessel  a similar  service  was  per- 
formed in  Tierra  del  Fuego  eight  years  later: 

“ When  he  made  his  appearance  on  board  the  brig 
with  Captain  Foster,  we  took  him  for  another  Robinson 
Crusoe  in  the  shape  of  some  shipwrecked  mariner.  He 
was  a kind  and  good-hearted  man  and,  thinking  that 
they  would  be  a treat  to  us,  had  brought  with  him  a 
basket  of  albatross’  eggs,  which  were  to  us  a most  accept- 
able present,” 

The  Stonington  fleet  returned  in  the  following  year, 
when  Palmer  in  a stouter  vessel,  the  James  Monroe  of 
eighty  tons,  continued  the  exploration  of  the  land  named 
after  him.  Unfortunately,  Fanning,  whose  description 
is  the  only  one  we  know  of,  is  deplorably  vague  as  to 
positions,  and  it  is  hard  to  make  sense  of  his  statement : 

“ After  proceeding  to  the  southward,  he  met  ice  fast  and 
firmly  attached  to  the  shore  of  Palmer’s  Land;  he  then 
traced  the  coast  to  the  eastward,  keeping  as  near  the  shore 
as  the  ice  would  suffer ; at  times  he  was  able  to  come  along 
shore,  at  other  points  he  could  not  approach  within  from 
one  to  several  miles,  owing  to  the  firm  ices,  although  it 
was  in  December  and  January,  the  middle  summer 
months  in  this  hemisphere.  In  this  way  he  coasted  along 
this  continent  upwards  of  fifteen  degrees,  viz.,  from  64° 
and  odd,  down  below  the  49th  of  west  longitude.  The 
coast,  as  he  proceeded  to  the  eastward,  became  more 
clear  of  ice,  so  that  he  was  able  to  trace  the  shore  better ; 


AMERICAN  SEALERS 


103 

in  61 0 41'  south  latitude,  a strait  was  discovered,  which 
he  named  Washington  Strait,  this  he  entered  and  about 
a league  within  came  to  a fine  bay,  which  he  named  Mon- 
roe bay,  at  the  head  of  this  was  a good  harbor;  here 
they  anchored,  calling  it  Palmer’s  Harbor.” 

If  Palmer  followed  the  coast  to  490  W.  he  followed  it 
into  what  is  certainly  open  sea,  and  if  he  found  a har- 
bour in  6i°  41'  S.  it  could  be  in  no  known  land.  Fan- 
ning apparently  suggests  that  Palmer’s  harbour  lay  in 
49°  W.,  which  is  far  to  the  east  of  any  land  except  the 
South  Orkneys ; and  from  Powell’s  map  there  is  no  doubt 
that  what  Palmer  followed  was  the  edge  of  the  pack 
which  that  season  stretched  unbroken  to  the  South  Ork- 
neys where  the  strait  he  threaded  and  the  harbour  in 
which  he  anchored  are  duly  charted.  Nathaniel  B.  Pal- 
mer continued  to  follow  the  sea  for  many  a year  and  died 
in  1877  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight. 

Captain  George  Powell,  apparently  a British  sealer, 
accompanied  Palmer  in  the  sloop  Dove  for  a considerable 
part  of  his  cruise  in  1821-22,  and  gave  a clear  account  of 
his  track  in  an  excellent  chart  published  in  London  on  his 
return.  This  shows  that  he  had  not  only  improved  the 
survey  of  the  South  Shetlands,  but  discovered  and  sur- 
veyed the  group  of  islands  usually  called  the  South 
Orkneys,  but  originally  known  as  the  Powell  Islands,  a 
name  to  which  it  would  seem  only  right  to  return. 
Powell  might  have  done  much  as  an  explorer,  but  he 
perished  in  a squabble  with  the  natives  of  Tonga  in  1824 
at  the  age  of  twenty-nine. 

For  years  to  come  the  Americans  regularly  visited  the 
South  Shetlands,  South  Georgia  and  neighbouring 
islands  and  did  not  cease  until  the  fur  seal  was  extinct, 
and  even  the  hair  seal  had  become  scarce.  The  exploits 


104  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

of  one  other  amongst  their  number  must  be  referred  to, 
Benjamin  Morrell,  who  in  1832  published  a book  of  his 
voyages  resembling  in  many  respects  that  published  by 
Edmund  Fanning  in  the  following  year,  from  which  we 
have  already  quoted.  Fanning  was  vague,  but  Morrell 
was  vaguer  as  to  dates  and  places,  and  moreover,  he  was 
intolerably  vain  and  as  great  a braggart  as  any  hero  of 
autobiographical  romance.  That  he  did  sail  to  the  Ant- 
arctic regions  we  cannot  doubt,  for  he  mentions  the 
names  of  too  many  men  still  living  at  the  time  of  publica- 
tion to  leave  that  matter  in  question;  but  the  greater 
part  of  his  most  entertaining  narrative  concerns  the 
happy  isles  of  the  Pacific  and  the  troubled  coast  of  South 
America.  The  incidents  in  his  book  are  frequently  very 
similar  to  those  recorded  by  Weddell  and  other  voyagers, 
whose  published  writings  Morrell  had  seen,  but  in  every 
case  they  are  more  remarkable  and  highly  coloured,  while 
the  sheer  absurdity  of  some  of  them  shows  that  the 
author  is  romancing  regardless  of  fact. 

Morrell  says  he  was  a wild  youth,  running  away  to  sea 
in  1812,  to  be  speedily  taken  by  a British  man-of-war 
and  detained  for  eight  months  a prisoner  of  war  at  St. 
John’s,  Newfoundland,  and  after  liberation  back  to  the 
sea  again,  his  valour  no  whit  abated,  though  his  second 
voyage  landed  him  a prisoner  of  war  on  Dartmoor  for 
two  years.  In  June,  1821,  “ having  heard  much  of  the 
South  Shetland  Islands,”  which  as  we  have  seen,  were 
discovered  three  years  before,  though  previously  he  had 
only  sailed  before  the  mast,  he  received  the  post  of  first 
mate  on  the  Wasp  under  Captain  Robert  Johnson,  and 
started  on  a sealing  voyage.  Here  remarkable  adven- 
tures befell  him  in  the  way  of  hairbreadth  escapes  from 
drowning,  from  freezing  to  death  in  a gale  in  a small 


AMERICAN  SEALERS 


I05 

boat  fifty  miles  from  his  ship,  and  in  extricating  the 
schooner  from  deadly  peril  in  the  pack.  This  last  ex- 
ploit illustrates  his  presence  of  mind  and  his  rhetorical 
instinct,  for  in  giving  orders  for  a manoeuvre  requir- 
ing instant  action,  he  quotes  a speech  of  ninety-one  elo- 
quent words  in  which  he  adjured  the  men  to  ex-ert 
themselves ! 

On  his  return,  Morrell  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven,  was 
given  command  of  the  Wasp  and  sent  off  on  a South  Sea 
sealing  voyage,  leaving  New  York  on  June  30,  1822. 
He  was  permitted  by  his  owners  to  make  explorations  in 
the  Antarctic  regions  and  he  did  not  lack  confidence  in 
the  powers  of  the  human  race  or  of  himself,  for  as  he 
put  it: 

“ The  march  of  intellect  is  irresistible ; and  were  the 
earth  itself  one  globe  of  ice,  the  fire  of  genius,  directed 
by  the  wand  of  science,  could  melt  a passage  to  its  centre. 
The  day  is  not  far  distant  when  a visit  to  the  South  Pole 
will  not  be  thought  more  of  a miracle  than  to  cause  an 
egg  to  stand  upon  its  point.” 

The  truth  of  Morrell's  voyage  has  been  so  seriously 
questioned  that  many  geographers  prefer  to  ignore  it. 
We  cannot  altogether  share  that  view,  for  a man 
may  be  ignorant,  boastful  and  obscure,  and  yet  have 
done  a solid  piece  of  work,  though  his  account  of  it  is 
crusted  thick  with  exaggeration  and  mistake.  Such  a 
description  may  stimulate  a more  sober-minded  explorer 
to  outdo  the  deeds  of  the  boaster  and  advance  knowledge 
more  than  if  he  had  had  no  claimant  before  his  eyes  to 
confirm  or  confute.  Hence,  since  Morrell's  Antarctic  voy- 
age is  little  known,  we  shall  give  an  abstract  of  his  ac- 
count of  it,  with  such  remarks  as  may  be  necessary. 

Several  months  were  spent  in  surveying  the  coast  of 


106  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

Patagonia,  and  the  first  fortnight  of  November  1822  was 
occupied  in  a purposeless  search  for  the  Aurora  Islands, 
although  Morrell  had  just  met  his  old  captain,  Johnson, 
at  the  Falklands,  returning  from  the  same  hopeless  quest, 
and  knew  of  Weddell’s  exhaustive  and  conclusive  search 
made  two  years  before.  He  then  visited  South  Georgia 
but  found  no  fur-seals,  and  on  December  6th,  arrived 
without  any  apparent  difficulty  at  “ Bouvette’s  Island, 
so  called  from  being  first  seen  by  that  navigator  in  Oc- 
tober, 1808.”  Here  the  fore-shortening  of  time  is  pain- 
fully in  evidence,  since  Bouvet’s  Cape  Circumcision  of 
1738  is  run  into  Lindsay  and  Hopper’s  rediscovery  in 
1808,  with  a considerable  flavour  of  Norris’s  landing  in 
1825.  The  only  interesting  fact  is  that  this  reference 
proves  that  in  1832,  when  Morrell’s  book  was  published, 
the  fact  that  the  island  had  been  seen  in  1808  (and  also 
in  1825)  was  known  among  the  southern  sealers.  Ac- 
cording to  Morrell,  Bouvet  Island  was  over  25  miles 
in  circumference,  situated  in  latitude  54°  15'  S.,  longitude 
6°  ii'  E.,  and  off  the  west  end  of  the  island  where  there 
was  a beach,  a chain  of  grounded  icebergs  shut  in  a 
tranquil  harbour,  in  which  the  Wasp  anchored  in  17 
fathoms  half  a mile  from  shore.  Rather  fewer  than 
two  hundred  skins  were  yielded  by  this  beach,  on  which, 
the  seals  were  so  tame  “ that  they  would  come  up  and 
play  among  the  men  who  were  skinning  their  com- 
panions.” A circumnavigation  of  the  island  showed  that 
there  was  no  other  point  save  this  beach  on  which  a seal 
could  land.  The  island  was  of  volcanic  rock,  the  cliffs 
in  some  parts  presenting  the  appearance  of  blue  and 
green  glass;  the  mountain,  which  rose  some  3000  feet 
above  the  sea-level,  was  covered  with  pumice-stone, 
with  some  patches  of  vegetation.  Not  a word  is  said  as 


Hknjamin  Morrkll,  Jr. 


I To  face  p.  to6. 


AMERICAN  SEALERS  107 

to  its  being  snow-covered,  nor  does  the  weather  seem  to 
have  been  foggy. 

On  December  8th  the  Wasp  left,  steering  southeast, 
and  on  the  13th  she  was  in  6o°  n'S.,  io°  23' E.,  and 
thence  she  made  for  Kerguelen  Land.  After  seal-hunt- 
ing round  the  island  from  December  31st  to  January 
12th,  1823,  the  Wasp  headed  southwest,  and  on  the  22nd, 
was  in  62°  27'  S.  and  940  11'  E.  Here  a number  of  great 
icebergs  made  it  necessary  to  turn  northward,  and  the 
voyage  was  continued  between  50°  and  58°  as  far  east 
as  1170  E.,  a point  due  south  of  Western  Australia. 
Hitherto,  the  weather  had  been  bad,  but  on  February 
1st  it  became  clear  and  pleasant,  with  a northeast  wind. 
Now  comes  the  part  of  the  voyage  concerning  the  truth 
of  which  most  doubt  has  been  entertained,  and  as  it  is 
unfortunately  dismissed  in  very  few  words,  we  quote  it 
exactly  as  it  is  given  in  Morrell’s  book : 

“ By  an  observaton  at  noon  we  were  in  lat.  64°  52'  S., 
long.  1180  27'  E.  The  wind  soon  freshened  to  an  eleven- 
knot  breeze,  and  we  embraced  this  opportunity  of  making 
to  the  west;  being,  however,  convinced  that  the  farther 
we  went  south  beyond  lat.  64°  the  less  ice  was  to  be  ap- 
prehended, we  steered  a little  to  the  southward  until 
zve  crossed  the  antarctic  circle  and  were  in  lat.  69°  n'  S., 
long.  48°  13'  E.  In  this  latitude  there  was  no  field-ice, 
and  very  few  ice-islands  in  sight.  We  likewise  discov- 
ered that  the  winds  in  this  latitude  blow  three-fourths  of 
the  time  from  the  southeast,  or  the  northeast,  very  light, 
and  attended  with  more  or  less  snow,  every  day;  and 
that  the  westerly  winds  were  accompanied  with  severe 
hail-squalls. 

“ February  23d. — We  continued  steering  to  the  west- 
ward with  every  necessary  caution  until  4 p.  m.,  when 


io8  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


being  in  lat.  69°  42'  S.,  we  crossed  the  meridian  of 
Greenwich  in  a fine  clear  day,  and  with  the  wind  from 
S.  E.  to  S.  S.  W.,  from  which  quarter  it  had  blown  for 
the  last  four  days.  We  now  steered  for  the  north  and 
west  for  Sandwich  Land.” 

Sandwich  Land  was  reached  on  February  28th,  and 
the  interest  of  this  part  of  the  voyage  makes  a short  dis- 
cussion necessary.  Up  to  February  1st,  the  track  from 
Kerguelen  Land  eastward  lay  to  the  north  of  Cook’s, 
and  the  point  where  the  westward  voyage  began  is  in 
waters  that  have  been  frequently  visited  since  1823.  If 
the  course  from  this  point  had  been  due  west  no  one 
would  feel  inclined  to  question  it;  and  if  Morrell  had 
only  stated  the  longitude  at  which  he  “ steered  a little  to 
the  south  ” and  that  at  which  he  crossed  the  Antarctic 
circle  we  could  easily  follow  and  criticise  the  track.  Ob- 
servations made  by  all  subsequent  voyagers  in  those  seas 
show  the  extreme  probability  of  southeasterly  winds  pre- 
vailing south  of  64°  S.,  and  so  far  as  we  can  ascertain, 
Morrell  was  the  only  man  except  Balleny  who  ever  tried 
to  sail  westward  for  any  distance  south  of  6o°  S.  with  a 
view  of  penetrating  the  ice.  All  other  explorers  had 
tried  to  get  south  when  sailing  from  west  to  east  against 
the  prevailing  winds  of  high  latitudes.  If  Morrell 
steered  southward  and  crossed  the  Antarctic  circle  about 
IT5  E.,  he  must  have  passed  to  the  southward  of  the  land 
charted  as  Budd  Land,  Knox  Land,  Termination  Land, 
Kemp  Land,  Enderby  Land,  and  Kaiser  Wilhelm  II. 
Land,  proving  them  (if  they  all  exist)  to  be  islands; 
but  between  his  position  south  of  Enderby  Land  in 
48  15  E.,  and  the  meridian  of  Greenwich,  where  he 
turned  northward,  his  track  lay  so  near  the  farthest  south 
gained  between  those  meridians  by  Cook,  Biscoe,  Bell- 


AMERICAN  SEALERS 


109 


ingshausen,  and  Ross,  that  it  is  easily  credible.  There  is 
no  inherent  improbability  in  the  insular  character  of  the 
reported  lands  behind  which  Morrell  seems  to  claim  to 
have  passed ; but  there  is  nothing  in  his  narrative  to  show 
that  he  may  not  have  passed  to  the  north  of  them ; there 
is  no  improbability  in  a track  of  open  water  being  found 
south  of  the  floating  pack-ice.  The  speed  of  the  voyage 
is  indeed  remarkable  and  some  parts  of  it  almost  in- 
credible, but  we  are  not  disposed  to  place  much  confidence 
in  the  longitudes  assigned,  even  if  we  allow  that  the  cruise 
is  honestly  reported. 

After  leaving  Sandwich  Land  Morrell  turned  south- 
west again,  passed  through  a heavy  pack  and  came  out 
into  an  open  sea  in  64°  21'  S.,  38°  51'  W.,  on  March  10th, 
reaching  70°  14'  S.  in  40°  3'  W.  on  March  14th,  1823. 
Here,  he  says,  he  found  the  temperature  of  the  air  to  be 
470  and  that  of  the  water  440,  values  certainly  at  least 
ten  and  perhaps  fifteen  degrees  higher  than  we  can  be- 
lieve possible  in  such  a latitude  and  at  such  a date. 
Weddell,  a month  before,  had  broken  his  only  two  ther- 
mometers a short  distance  to  the  north  of  the  same  posi- 
tion ; but  said  that  the  air  and  water  were  no  colder  than 
they  were  ten  degrees  (of  latitude)  further  north. 
Could  Morrell  have  “ corrected  ” Weddell’s  temperatures 
for  6o°  S.  by  ten  degrees  of  temperature,  and  claimed 
these  figures  as  representative  of  the  conditions  in  70°  S.  ? 
It  is  curious  to  notice  that  Morrell  refers  to  Weddell  as 
having  reached  a higher  latitude  in  the  same  sea  the  year 
before,  whereas  it  was  in  the  same  year  and  only  a month 
earlier.  From  his  farthest  south,  Morrell  bore  north- 
west and  coasted  some  part  of  the  land  called  New  South 
Greenland  by  Johnson  to  its  north  cape,  in  62°  41'  S. 
This  was  probably  intended  for  the  land  known  later  as 


no  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


Louis  Philippe  Land  and  Joinville  Land,  but  if  so,  its 
longitude  was  wrong  by  io°.  Although  a new  ship  sev- 
eral years  later  was  built  for  this  adventurous  skipper 
and  named  the  Antarctic , he  never  seems  to  have  gone 
towards  the  ice  with  her,  and  we  leave  Captain  Benjamin 
Morrell,  Jr.,  with  his  reflections  at  the  farthest  south. 

“ I regret  extremely  that  circumstances  would  not  per- 
mit me  to  proceed  farther  south,  when  I was  in  lat. 
70°  14'  S.,  on  Friday,  the  14th  day  of  March,  1823,  as 
I should  then  have  been  able,  without  the  least  doubt,  to 
penetrate  as  far  as  the  eighty-fifth  degree  of  south  lati- 
tude. But  situated  as  I then  was,  without  fuel,  and  with 
not  sufficient  water  to  last  twenty  days, — destitute  of  the 
various  nautical  and  mathematical  instruments  requisite 
for  such  an  enterprise,  and  without  the  aid  of  such 
scientific  gentlemen  as  discovery  ships  should  always  be 
supplied  with;  taking  all  these  things  into  consideration, 
I felt  myself  compelled  to  abandon,  for  the  present,  the 
glorious  attempt  to  make  a bold  advance  directly  to  the 
South  Pole.  The  way  was  open  before  me,  clear  and 
unobstructed ; the  temperature  of  the  air  and  water  mild ; 
the  weather  pleasant;  the  wind  fair.  . . . The  anguish 
of  my  regret,  however,  was  much  alleviated  by  the  hope 
that  on  my  return  to  the  United  States,  an  appeal  to  the 
government  of  my  country  for  countenance  and  assist- 
ance in  this  (if  successful)  magnificent  enterprise  would 
not  be  made  in  vain.  To  the  only  free  nation  on  earth 
should  belong  the  glory  of  exploring  a spot  of  the  globe 
which  is  the  ne  plus  ultra  of  latitude,  where  all  the  de- 
grees of  longitude  are  merged  into  a single  point,  and 
where  the  sun  appears  to  revolve  in  a horizontal  circle. 
But  this  splendid  hope  has  since  been  lost  in  the  gloom 
of  disappointment!  The  vassals  of  some  petty  despot 


AMERICAN  SEALERS 


1 1 1 


may  one  day  place  this  precious  jewel  of  discovery  in  the 
diadem  of  their  royal  master.  Would  to  heaven  it  might 
be  set  among  the  stars  of  our  national  banner ! . . . I 
have  no  doubt  that  the  British  government,  ever  foremost 
to  encourage  genius  and  reward  merit,  will  yet  give  my 
much  esteemed  and  worthy  friend,  Captain  Weddell,  an- 
other opportunity  of  distinguishing  himself  with  the  com- 
mand of  an  expedition  towards  the  South  Pole.” 

Looking  at  the  brevity  and  comparative  indifference 
with  which  the  eloquent  Morrell  dismisses  the  Antarctic 
part  of  his  voyages  we  are  inclined  to  believe  that  he  did 
make  a passage  from  somewhere  near  the  meridian  of 
Kerguelen  toward  Weddell  Sea  at  a high  latitude;  but 
on  account  of  his  blunders,  his  acknowledged  habit  of 
building  the  experience  of  others  into  his  story  and  the 
silence  of  his  contemporaries  as  to  his  exploits,  we  can- 
not credit  any  one  of  the  particulars  which  he  alleges, 
and  must  regard  his  claims  as  “ not  proven.” 

Morrell  subsequently  offered  his  services  to  the  French 
government  for  D’Urville’s  expedition  of  1837,  but  they 
were  not  accepted,  and  he  also  importuned  the  Messrs. 
Enderby  for  employment,  but  Mr.  Charles  Enderby  stated 
publicly  that  “ he  had  heard  so  much  of  him  that  he  did 
not  think  fit  to  enter  into  any  engagement  with  him.” 
Captain  Robert  Johnson,  who  has  been  several  times 
referred  to,  was  one  of  the  few  Antarctic  navigators  who 
perished  in  those  seas.  He  set  out  from  New  Zealand 
in  1826  with  the  intention,  according  to  Morrell,  of  seek- 
ing new  land  between  6o°  and  65°  S.  south  of  that  island, 
and  was  never  heard  of  again.  It  might  very  pos- 
sibly be  that  he  penetrated  the  pack  into  Ross  Sea,  and 
was  unable  to  make  his  way  out. 

The  American  sealers  continued  to  visit  the  islands 


1 12  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

bordering  the  Antarctic  circle,  though  with  the  exception 
of  Morrell,  we  have  not  found  that  any  of  them  claimed 
to  have  crossed  the  magic  line  that  bounds  the  Antarctic 
regions  properly  so-called.  No  doubt  they  accumulated 
much  information  that  has  been  lost  to  us,  because  at 
that  time  no  society  existed  in  America  which  concerned 
itself  with  collecting  and  preserving  records  of  explora- 
tion or  of  encouraging  geographical  research.  The 
work  was  that  of  groups  of  individuals,  amongst  whom 
some  were  fully  alive  to  the  importance  of  scientific  ob- 
servation, though  to  most  the  seal  was  more  interesting 
than  the  land  it  lived  on. 

The  Antarctic  summer  of  1829-30  saw  Captain  Pen- 
dleton in  the  brig  Seraph,  and  Captain  Palmer  in  the  brig 
Annawan  once  more  in  the  South  Shetlands  and  cruising 
to  the  north  and  west  of  Palmer  Land.  On  this  occasion, 
they  were  accompanied  by  two  scientific  men,  Mr.  J.  N. 
Reynolds  and  Mr.  Watson,  to  whom  the  possibilites  of  re- 
search in  the  vast  unknown  area  on  whose  verge  they 
were  hovering,  naturally  appealed  strongly.  Mr.  Rey- 
nolds states  distinctly  that  several  sealers  had  gone  south 
of  70°  S.,  had  pursued  their  work  on  uncharted  coasts, 
but  declined  from  commercial  motives  to  give  any  defi- 
nite description  of  their  discoveries.  We  are  glad  to 
learn  that  the  old  records  and  living  memories  at  Ston- 
ington  are  being  laid  under  contribution  in  order  to 
produce  what  cannot  fail  to  be  a fascinating  work,  the 
full  history  of  American  sealers  in  the  far  south. 

In  1&33>  Edmund  Fanning  presented  a memorial  to 
Congress  “ praying  that  a national  discovery  and  ex- 
ploring expedition  be  sent  to  the  South  Seas/’  and  a 
strong  effort  was  made  to  influence  public  opinion  in  the 
matter.  The  Americans  felt  that  they  had  been  first  in 


AMERICAN  SEALERS  113 

the  field  and  they  saw  that  they  were  in  danger  of  losing 
the  credit  of  making  new  discoveries,  for  a formidable 
rivalry  in  their  sealing  ventures  had  sprung  up.  J.  N. 
Reynolds  helped  forward  the  cause  in  which  he  was 
keenly  interested,  and  in  the  course  of  an  address  to 
Congress  in  1836,  he  referred  to  the  “ extensive  group  of 
islands  lying  north  of  the  coast  of  Palmer’s  Land,  the 
extent  of  which  neither  we  nor  any  subsequent  navigators 
have  as  yet  ascertained ; though  a British  vessel  touched 
at  a single  spot  in  1831,  taking  from  it  the  American  and 
giving  it  an  English  name.” 


8 


CHAPTER  VI 


Bellingshausen's  antarctic  voyage 
“To  reside 

In  thrilling  regions  of  thick-ribbed  ice ; 

To  be  imprisoned  in  the  viewless  winds 
And  blown  with  restless  violence  round  about 
The  pendent  world.” 

— Shakespeare. 

WHEN  the  fog  lifted  from  the  deck  of  the  little  Hero 
in  Bransfield  Channel  one  morning  in  1821  the  wor- 
thy Nathaniel  B.  Palmer  of  Stonington,  Connecticut, 
gazed,  we  are  told,  with  very  natural  surprise  on  two  Rus- 
sian men-of-war  which  loomed  above  him  out  of  the 
darkness.  They  appeared  without  notice  and  after  the 
momentary  intercourse  with  the  sealers  of  Yankee  Har- 
bour they  disappeared  without  a trace  for  many  a day. 
Even  now  the  volumes  which  conceal  the  facts  of  the 
cruise  in  the  Russian  language  remain  without  a full 
published  translation  into  any  tongue  of  western  Europe, 
and  it  was  many  years  before  even  a summary  of  the  log 
of  the  expedition  became  known  to  sailors.  The  excel- 
lent abstract  in  German  published  by  Professor  Gravelius 
in  1902  gives  the  only  really  satisfactory  account  yet 
accessible  of  one  of  the  greatest  Antarctic  expeditions  on 
record,  a voyage  well  worthy  of  being  placed  beside  that 
of  Cook,  the  only  precursor  in  those  waters. 

Early  in  1819  the  Emperor  Alexander  I.,  probably  act- 
ing on  the  advice  of  Baron  de  Traversey  the  head  of 


BELLINGSHAUSEN 


1 15 

the  Russian  Admiralty,  resolved  on  a scheme  of  polar 
exploration  on  a truly  imperial  scale.  He  decided  to  send 
out  two  expeditions  simultaneously  to  explore  the  two 
polar  regions  each  consisting  of  two  ships  of  the  Russian 
navy  under  the  command  of  naval  officers.  The  arrange- 
ments were  carried  through  with  all  the  speed  and  thor- 
oughness that  an  absolute  monarch  could  command,  and 
there  is  no  doubt  that  the  project  of  exploration  was 
very  warmly  cherished  by  the  Tsar,  whilst  Baron  de 
Traversey  threw  himself  heart  and  soul  into  the  work  of 
equipment.  Everything  was  far  advanced  before  the 
commanders  of  the  four  ships  were  finally  appointed. 

The  supreme  command  of  the  southern  expedition  was 
given  to  Commodore  Rashmanoff,  a celebrated  Russian 
sailor  who  had  served  under  Krusenstern  on  his  voyage 
of  circumnavigation.  But  the  commodore  had  had  the 
misfortune  to  lose  his  ship  on  the  Skaw,  and  was  wait- 
ing in  Copenhagen  for  the  return  of  summer  before  mak- 
ing the  journey  to  St.  Petersburg.  On  receiving  his 
orders  he  excused  himself  on  the  plea  of  shattered  health 
and  physical  inability  to  undertake  so  laborious  and  re- 
sponsible a command,  but  he  recommended  for  the  post  his 
old  comrade  with  Krusenstern,  Captain  Bellingshausen 
then  in  command  of  the  frigate  Flora  in  the  Black  Sea. 

Fabian,  or  perhaps  more  correctly  Thaddeus,  von  Bell- 
ingshausen, was  born  in  Oesel,  the  island  which  lies 
across  the  mouth  of  the  Gulf  of  Riga,  in  the  year  1778. 
He  was  thus  forty-one  years  of  age  when  chosen  for  the 
command.  On  May  5th,  Bellingshausen  received  a per- 
emptory order  to  report  himself  at  St.  Petersburg  to  re- 
ceive the  Emperor’s  instructions,  and  making  all  haste 
from  Sevastopol  he  reached  the  capital  on  June  3rd  and 
received  the  appointment  to  command  the  expedition. 


ii6  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


The  ships  had  already  nearly  completed  their  prepara- 
tions for  sea,  and  lay  at  Cronstadt  where  the  new  com- 
mander had  scarcely  six  weeks  at  his  disposal  before  set- 
ting out.  He  was  personally  to  command  the  Vostok 
(Orient)  a corvette  barely  130  feet  long  and  of  almost  33 
feet  beam,  built  of  pine  at  St.  Petersburg  the  previous 
year,  and  specially  sheathed  in  copper  below  water. 
The  moment  Bellingshausen  saw  the  lofty  masts  and 
slender  spars  of  his  ship  he  gave  orders  for  them  to  be 
Cut  down,  the  sail-area  diminished,  and  the  ship  rigged 
and  strengthened  for  rough  weather. 

The  second  in  command  of  the  expedition,  who  had 
received  his  commission  on  April  5th,  was  Lieutenant 
Lazareff,  a promising  officer  who  had  served  as  a vol- 
unteer for  four  years  in  the  British  navy  and  then,  enter- 
ing the  Russian  service,  had  commanded  a ship  of  the 
Russian-American  company  and  had  circumnavigated 
the  world  on  his  voyage  to  Alaska  and  back.  His  ship 
was  an  old  Baltic  trader,  the  Ladoga,  of  530  tons,  120  feet 
long  and  of  30  feet  beam,  also  built  of  pine  and  specially 
strengthened  for  the  cruise.  Lazareff  had  her  masts 
reduced  and  other  changes  made,  and  the  Emperor  is- 
sued a decree  changing  her  name  to  Mirni  (Pacific)  ; 
but  Bellingshausen  observed  drily  that  despite  the  change 
of  name  any  naval  officer  could  see  at  a glance  that  she 
could  never  keep  pace  with  the  Vostok.  As  a matter 
of  fact  the  leading  ship  had  to  make  almost  the  whole 
voyage  under  shortened  sail  in  order  not  to  run  away 
from  her  clumsy  consort.  While  the  repairs  were  being 
carried  out  with  feverish  haste  Bellingshausen  had  a hard 
time  of  it  selecting  his  officers  and  crew.  The  number 
of  candidates  was  so  great  that  the  selection  proved  ex- 
tremely difficult  but  at  last  the  requisite  reduction  of  the 


Admiral  Bellingshausen. 

(From  a portrait  in  the  Library  of  the  Imperial  Naval  Department 
in  St.  Petersburg.) 


[ 7 o face  p.  1 16. 


BELLINGSHAUSEN 


it  7 


list  was  made.  Eventually  the  Vostok’s  complement  con- 
sisted of  the  captain,  four  lieutenants,  a midshipman,  an 
astronomer,  an  artist,  a surgeon,  various  warrant  officers 
and  servants,  14  naval  artillery  men  and  71  sailors,  a total 
number  of  117  men.  The  Mimi  carried  a captain, 
two  lieutenants,  two  midshipmen,  two  warrant  officers,  a 
surgeon,  seven  artillerymen  and  44  sailors,  the  total  num- 
ber being  given  as  72.  To  this  total  we  must  add  a 
chaplain,  for  frequent  references  are  made  to  a priest  who 
sailed  on  the  Mirni,  though  his  name  is  not  given  in  the 
list. 

The  provisions  were  very  carefully  selected  and  as 
proof  of  their  quality  Bellingshausen  points  to  the  ex- 
cellent health  of  the  expedition  and  the  absence  of  scurvy. 
The  staple  food  was  salted  meat,  some  of  which  was 
brought  back  in  excellent  condition  after  two  years  in 
all  climates.  Biscuits,  sauerkraut  and  a small  quantity 
of  condensed  soup  are  the  only  other  articles  of  food 
mentioned.  Special  attention  was  paid  to  the  provision 
of  abundant  warm  clothing  for  the  men,  and  the  wages 
were  fixed  at  eight  times  the  usual  amount,  while  an  extra 
year's  pay  was  given  to  all  ratings  on  their  return.  The 
expedition  was  in  fact  planned  throughout  on  the  most 
generous  scale.  Two  German  naturalists  were  selected 
to  accompany  the  ships  and  appointed  to  join  at  Copen- 
hagen on  July  23rd. 

On  July  5th  the  Emperor  visited  the  ships  in  Cron- 
stadt  and  next  day  entertained  the  commanders  at  Peter- 
hof,  impressing  upon  them  his  desire  that  they  should 
act  in  the  most  friendly  manner  possible  towards  every 
one  they  might  meet,  and  in  particular  that  they  should 
never  use  their  weapons  against  any  savages  except  in 
the  uttermost  need. 


n8  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


The  two  expeditions  sailed  from  Cronstadt  on  July 
15th,  1819,  the  Vostok  and  the  Mirni  leaving  first,  bound 
for  the  farthest  south  to  supplement  the  voyage  of  Cook ; 
the  Otkritie  and  Blagonamerennii  following,  bound  for 
the  farthest  north  with  the  special  task  of  making  the 
North  West  Passage  from  Bering  Strait  eastward. 

The  Antarctic  expedition  reached  Copenhagen  on  July 
25th,  when  Bellingshausen  and  LazarefE  landed  to  pick 
up  their  German  naturalists  and  lay  in  a supply  of  rum, 
wine  and  vinegar  for  the  cruise.  The  latter  pui'pose  was 
speedily  effected,  but  the  naturalists  did  not  appear.  They 
wrote  explaining  that  a long  voyage  demanded  much 
time  for  preparation,  that  they  found  the  time  insufficient 
and  so  were  sorry  that  they  could  not  come.  A desper- 
ate effort  was  made  to  find  Danish  substitutes  but  in  vain. 
Bellingshausen  says : “ We  have  lamented  during  the 
whole  course  of  the  voyage  and  still  lament  that  two  Rus- 
sians were  not  selected  to  carry  out  the  natural  history 
work  of  the  expedition,  as  we  had  wished  at  the  begin- 
ning instead  of  depending  upon  unknown  foreigners.” 
Vice-admiral  Lewenoren,  a Dane,  who  was  “ no  friend 
of  the  English  ” warned  the  captains  against  placing  any 
reliance  on  the  British  Admiralty  charts  or  the  Nautical 
Almanack,  the  errors  in  which  he  assured  them  were  the 
cause  of  many  shipwrecks.  However  LazarefE  had  his 
four  years  of  service  in  the  British  navy  to  judge  by ; and 
the  two  ships  made  their  way  straight  to  Portsmouth  to 
complete  their  equipment  of  charts  and  nautical  instru- 
ments. On  August  9th  the  Vostok  anchored  in  Spithead, 
and  three  days  later  the  two  captains  took  coach  for 
London  to  purchase  charts,  chronometers  and  sextants. 
The  want  of  naturalists  weighed  heavily  on  Bellingshau- 
sen, the  Emperor’s  plan  was  made  imperfect  by  it,  the 


BELLINGSHAUSEN 


“9 

full  success  of  his  voyage  imperilled;  and  in  the  hope 
even  at  the  eleventh  hour  of  filling  the  vacancies  he  ob- 
tained an  introduction  to  the  President  of  the  Royal  So- 
ciety, the  venerable  Sir  Joseph  Banks,  the  old  friend  and 
companion  of  Captain  James  Cook. 

All  the  enquiries  were  unavailing  and  the  Russians  re- 
turned to  Portsmouth,  whence  after  having  completed 
their  stores  and  waiting,  hoping  against  hope  for  natural- 
ists to  be  found  the  ships  set  sail  on  September  5th.  They 
touched  at  Tenerife  and  Rio  de  Janeiro,  meeting  the  Rus- 
sian Arctic  expedition  outward  bound  at  the  latter  port, 
and  then  a straight  run  down  the  South  Atlantic  brought 
South  Georgia  into  sight  on  December  27th.  Two  Brit- 
ish sealing  vessels  were  found  at  work  here;  a run- 
ning survey  was  made  of  the  south  coast  to  supplement 
Cook’s  work  on  the  north,  and  two  small  off-lying  islets 
were  given  Russian  names.  Half  way  to  the  South 
Sandwich  Islands  a sounding  was  made  in  260  fathoms 
with  no  bottom,  and  a temperature  observation  at  that 
depth  gave  31. 8°  F. 

The  first  ice-island  was  met  in  56°  S.  towering  out  of 
the  water  for  180  feet  and  alive  with  penguins.  The 
Russian  sailors  gazed  with  amazement  at  a sight  soon 
to  become  the  most  familiar  of  every  day  appearances. 
Whales  were  observed  in  great  numbers,  and  albatrosses 
escorted  the  ships  on  their  way  to  the  south.  The  first 
discovery  was  made  on  January  3rd,  1820,  when  a group 
of  three  small  islands  was  descried  a short  distance  to 
the  north  of  the  Sandwich  group.  It  was  appropriately 
named  after  the  Russian  Minister  of  Marine,  Baron  de 
Traversey.  One  of  the  islands  named  after  Savadoffski, 
the  first  officer  of  the  Vostok,  was  an  active  volcano  rising 
into  a fantastic  summit  and  emitting  thick  clouds  of 


120  SIEGE  OF  TEIE  SOUTH  POLE 


vapour.  A landing  was  made,  and  the  ground  half  way  up 
the  mountain  was  found  to  be  quite  hot.  One  side  of  the 
island  was  free  from  snow  in  consequence  and  was  en- 
tirely covered  with  penguins  which  seemed  to  be  revelling 
in  so  genial  a nesting  place. 

Bellingshausen  employed  a considerable  part  of  his 
time  in  making  scientific  experiments,  he  tested  a new 
deep-sea  water-bottle  with  an  enclosed  thermometer  and 
satisfied  himself  that  the  water  at  200  fathoms  was  colder 
and  salter  than  on  the  surface ; he  sent  out  boats  to  chip 
off  pieces  of  the  floating  ice  and  melted  it  to  see  if  the 
resulting  water  could  be  used  for  making  tea;  and  as 
the  nights  grew  colder  he  studied  the  formation  of  ice 
in  salt  and  fresh  water. 

The  Russian  ships  made  their  way  southward  just  to 
the  east  of  the  Sandwich  group  recognising  Candlemas, 
Saunders  and  Montague  Islands,  which  Cook  had  seen 
from  the  west,  and  favoured  by  a solitary  day  of  brilliant 
sunshine  the  snow-swathed  mountains  made  a splendid 
spectacle.  Fogs  and  snow-squalls  speedily  reasserted 
their  sway  and  the  icebergs  became  more  numerous  and 
the  sea  was  so  rough  that  on  January  12th,  the  officers 
of  the  Mirni  were  unable  to  come  on  board  the  Vostok 
to  celebrate  the  Russian  New  Year’s  Day.  Next  day 
Southern  Thule  was  seen  and  just  after  crossing  the  par- 
allel of  6o°  S.  the  ships  were  confronted  by  the  edge  of  a 
solid  ice-pack  which  compelled  them  to  turn  west  and 
then  north,  passing  the  islands  of  the  South  Sandwich 
group  again  on  the  west  side  and  so  enabling  the  positions 
to  be  fixed.  It  was  a trying  experience,  the  first  of  many 
in  which  the  ships  had  to  beat  against  a gale  through  a 
sea  encumbered  by  ice-islands,  and  the  relief  of  being 
able  to  hold  a steady  course  for  a few  hours  on  January 


BELLINGSHAUSEN 


1 2 1 


1 6th,  is  described  with  a warmth  of  feeling  that  helps 
one  to  realise  the  previous  toil  and  anxiety.  An  easterly 
course  was  held  until  the  22nd  to  the  south  of  Cook’s 
homeward  track,  and  then  the  pack  became  less  close 
and  a slight  swell  running  from  the  south  betokened  an 
open  sea  in  that  direction. 

The  parallel  of  6o°  was  crossed  in  8°  W.,  and  the  wind 
shifting  made  it  possible  to  turn  southward  round  the  edge 
of  the  pack.  No  other  ship  had  ever  entered  this  region, 
and  Bellingshausen  hoped  to  discover  land  or  at  least  to 
make  a high  latitude.  He  crossed  the  Antarctic  circle  on 
January  26th,  in  30  W.  and  next  day  reached  69°  21'  on 
the  same  meridian.  Close  ice  now  barred  the  way ; three 
days  were  spent  in  working  round  a small  projection 
of  it  and  on  January  30th  there  seemed  at  last  to 
be  a clear  lead  to  the  south,  little  ice  being  in  sight  and 
whales  blowing  all  round.  The  ships  were  thickly 
covered  with  soft  snow  and  the  temperature  of  the  air 
had  fallen  below  30 0 F.  O11  February  1st  all  progress 
was  barred  by  the  ice  in  69°  25'  S.  and  i°  11'  W.  A 
northeasterly  course  brought  them  north  of  the  circle 
again  on  the  5th,  and  the  eastward  course  was  resumed 
as  far  south  as  the  ice  permitted  and  about  five  degrees 
to  the  south  of  Cook’s  outward  route  on  his  vain  search 
for  Bouvet  Island.  It  was  soon  possible  to  turn  south- 
ward and  Bellingshausen  crossed  the  circle  southward 
for  the  second  time  on  February  14th  in  180  E.,  reaching 
69°  6'  S.  on  the  16th.  The  air-temperature  had  fallen  to 
23 0 F.  and  the  sea  was  full  of  pack-ice  while  snow  and  fog 
alternated  with  heavy  gales.  It  was  impossible  to  go 
farther  and  a northeasterly  course  had  to  be  shaped  which 
carried  the  vessels  beyond  the  circle  on  the  19th,  in  21 0 E. 
a point  due  south  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 


122  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


The  Russians  might  have  been  excused  had  they  ceased 
from  their  efforts  at  this  point  but  Bellingshausen  sailed 
east,  south  of  latitude  65°  for  20  degrees  of  longitude  and 
then  succeeded  in  crossing  the  Antarctic  circle  for  a third 
time  in  36°  E.  reaching  66°  53'  S.  in  41 0 E.  This  was 
an  important  point,  for  here  Cook  had  made  his  first  cross- 
ing of  the  Antarctic  circle  forty-seven  years  before,  had 
reached  the  same  latitude  and  had  been  driven  back  by 
just  such  an  impassable  barrier  of  ice.  The  variation  of 
the  compass  was  found  to  have  increased  nearly  n°  west- 
erly since  Cook's  time.  Since  leaving  the  South  Sand- 
wich Islands  the  Russian  ships  had  kept  south  of  Cook's 
track  and  pushed  the  limits  of  human  knowledge  far  to 
the  southward  of  any  previous  explorer.  The  appear- 
ance of  birds  again  suggested  the  vicinity  of  land,  and 
had  Bellingshausen  been  able  to  keep  along  the  Antarctic 
circle  in  clear  water  for  a day's  sail  to  the  eastward  he 
would  probably  have  discovered  Enderby  Land.  On  the 
26th,  however  the  worst  storm  of  the  voyage  descended 
suddenly  on  the  ships;  decks  and  rigging  were  covered 
thick  with  snow,  terrific  seas  broke  over  the  vessels  and 
the  greatest  anxiety  was  felt  as  to  the  result.  The  gale 
lasted  for  three  days  from  north  and  north-northeast,  the 
furious  snow-squalls  hid  the  drifting  bergs  which  only 
loomed  up  as  the  ships  were  almost  upon  them.  The 
one  hope  of  safety  was  to  beat  to  the  north  into  clearer 
seas,  but  every  rope  and  spar  was  crusted  an  inch  and  a 
half  thick  with  ice  making  it  almost  impossible  to  work 
the  sails,  and  it  was  little  less  than  a miracle  that  both 
ships  emerged  still  in  company  and  without  having  suf- 
fered any  serious  damage. 

At  this  point  it  will  be  remembered  Cook  had  run  to 
the  northward  of  the  fiftieth  parallel  in  order  to  search 


BELLINGSHAUSEN 


123 

for  the  islands  reported  by  Marion  and  had  thus  left  a 
vast  stretch  of  the  Antarctic  area  untraversed.  No  sail 
had  been  in  those  seas  since  and  Bellingshausen  again  had 
the  honour  of  being  the  first  to  follow  the  edge  of  the  ice- 
pack in  latitudes  of  from  63°  to  6o°  for  nearly  45°  of 
longitude,  one-eighth  of  the  circumference  of  the  Earth. 
In  all  this  stretch  of  unknown  ocean  nothing  was  seen 
except  occasional  floating  ice,  and  gradually  turning  to- 
ward the  north  the  Vostok  and  Mirni  passed  the  sixtieth 
parallel  on  March  16th  in  87°  E.  close  to  the  point  where 
Cook  had  crossed  it  southward  on  his  return  from  the 
northern  detour.  A few  days  previously  Bellingshausen 
had  celebrated  his  hundredth  day  out  from  Rio  de  Janeiro 
with  immense  satisfaction  because  the  crews  of  both 
ships  were  in  -the  best  of  health ; but  supplies  were  run- 
ning low  and  it  was  becoming  important  to  seek  some 
harbour  where  they  could  be  replenished.  On  March 
15th  an  enormous  iceberg  had  been  seen  the  height  of 
which  was  given  by  two  sextant  measurements  as  375  and 
408  feet. 

Bellingshausen  now  resolved  to  quit  the  ice  and  divide 
his  forces  for  the  voyage  to  Sydney  so  as  to  explore 
more  thoroughly  the  sea  south  of  Australia.  The  two 
vessels  were  to  meet  again  either  at  Royal  Company 
Island  (which  neither  vessel  could  find  for  the  best  of 
reasons),  or  in  Sydney  Harbour.  As  the  ship’s  company 
of  the  Vostok  was  by  far  the  more  numerous  Bellings- 
hausen thought  it  right  to  take  the  priest  on  board  so 
that  as  he  could  no  longer  minister  to  both  crews  he 
might  at  least  have  the  benefit  of  the  larger  congre- 
gation. 

Then  for  the  first  time  since  she  outpaced  the  Mirni  in 
crossing  the  North  Sea  the  Vostok  spread  her  full  can- 


124  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

vas  and  made  speed  to  port,  dropping  anchor  in  Sydney 
Harbour  on  March  29th,  1820,  13 1 days  out  from  Rio. 

The  two  ships  Otkritie  and  Blagonamerenii  were  found 
here  again,  having  got  no  farther  on  their  leisurely  voy- 
age to  Bering  Sea.  The  young  colony  of  New  South 
Wales  gave  a most  hearty  welcome  to  the  Russian  offi- 
cers, and  Bellingshausen  very  handsomely  acknowledges 
the  kindness  he  received  from  the  governor  General  Mac- 
quarie and  the  leading  citizens  of  Sydney  and  Paramatta. 
The  governor  drove  the  officers  out  to  see  the  new  light- 
house on  die  South  Head  on  April  18th,  an  auspicious 
day,  for  as  they  approached  the  lighthouse  they  saw  the 
Mirni  glide  into  the  harbour  with  all  well  on  board. 

The  two  ships  remained  in  port  undergoing  a very 
necessary  overhaul  only  until  May  19th,  for  the  objects  of 
the  expedition  were  not  exclusively  polar,  and  the  Russian 
commodore  and  his  crews  spent  the  southern  winter  of 
1820  in  cruising  through  the  tropical  archipelagoes  of 
the  South  Pacific.  The  Paumotu  group,  not  yet  fully 
charted  after  the  lapse  of  more  than  eighty  years,  was 
then  scarcely  known  and  amongst  those  islands  the  Vos- 
tok  and  Mirni  spent  much  orf  their  time.  A bag  of  seven- 
teen new  islands  rewarded  the  mighty  hunters  of  the  ex- 
pedition. An  interesting  visit  was  also  paid  to  Cook’s 
only  place  of  refreshment  Tahiti,  where  the  chief  Pomare 
and  the  English  missionaries  received  them  with  graceful 
hospitality. 

The  ships  were  back  in  Sydney  Plarbour  on  September 
19th,  and  there  the  Russian  consul  informed  Bellings- 
hausen of  the  discovery  of  New  South  Shetland  by  Wil- 
liam Smith  in  1819,  a fact  of  some  little  importance  as 
bearing  on  the  authenticity  of  Fanning’s  account  of  the 
visit  of  the  Russian  expedition  to  Deception  Island  to 


The  “Vgstok”  and  “Mirni”  off  Macquaire  Island. 
(From  Bellingshausen's  Atlas.) 


BELLINGSHAUSEN 


125 


which  reference  has  already  been  made.  The  Vostok  and 
Mirni  quitted  Sydney  on  November  nth,  1820,  and  a fort- 
night later  they  reached  Macquarie  Island  where  they  ex- 
perienced the  shock  of  a submarine  earthquake  while  in 
50  fathoms  of  water.  On  December  7th,  they  crossed 
the  parallel  of  6o°  S.  in  163°  E.  at  dinner-time,  and  the 
officers  drank  a toast  to  their  friends  at  home  in  latitude 
6o°  N.  They  remained  south  of  that  parallel  for  the 
unprecedented  distance  of  145  degrees  of  longitude  and 
for  a period  of  no  less  than  two  months  and  three  days. 

The  first  ice  was  met  on  December  8th  in  62°  18'  S.,  a 
stately  berg  80  feet  high  and  a mile  in  circumference, 
its  sides*  carved  by  the  weather  so  that  it  looked  like  a 
cathedral  wall  enriched  with  statues ; and  from  that  time 
onwards  the  vessels  never  lost  sight  of  the  ice  until  they 
left  South  Georgia  behind  them  on  their  homeward  voy- 
age. The  advance  guard  of  icebergs  was  soon  succeeded 
by  heavy  pack  ice  in  which  many  huge  bergs  were 
frozen,  one  of  them  more  than  five  miles  in  circum- 
ference being  at  first  mistaken  for  land.  Along  the  edge 
of  this  pack  they  cruised  south  of  New  Zealand,  where 
had  they  been  a month  or  so  later  and  had  their  course 
been  directed  southwest  instead  of  southeast  they  might 
have  anticipated  the  great  discoveries  of  Ross.  It  is 
interesting  to  note  that  at  this  point  Bellingshausen  takes 
some  pains  to  explain  why  he  did  not  enter  the  pack 
and  push  southward,  his  reason  being  that  his  ships  were 
too  weak  ta  stand  any  severe  ice-pressure.  The  region 
had  been  avoided  by  Cook,  hence  the  anxiety  of  his  suc- 
cessor to  attain  a high  latitude  in  it. 

As  the  ships  proceeded  the  ice  thickened  and  at  one 
time  more  than  a hundred  majestic  bergs  were  in  sight. 
It  was  necessary  to  make  a detour  to  the  northward  to 


126  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


get  round  the  edge  of  the  pack,  which  was  followed  for 
a distance  of  380  miles,  and  just  when  the  end  of  it 
seemed  to  be  reached  and  open  sea  appeared  to  south 
and  east,  allowing  a southerly  course  to  be  set,  a frightful 
storm  came  on.  To  add  to  the  misery  of  the  gale  and 
the  darkness  the  wild  rolling  of  the  ships  shook  masses 
of  frozen  snow  from  the  rigging  which  fell  on  the  decks 
making  it  doubly  dangerous  to  attempt  to  move  about. 
The  pet  birds  brought  from  the  tropics  were  dying  daily, 
but  the  denizens  of  the  region  of  ice  and  storm  came 
round  the  ships  in  increasing  number,  always  renewing 
the  hope  of  land  not  far  beyond  the  barrier  ice.  On 
December  24th  the  vessels  for  the  fourth  time  succeeded 
in  getting  within  the  Antarctic  circle  in  164°  34'  W. ; but 
the  high  latitude  could  only  be  maintained  for  two  days 
a dense  pack  set  with  gigantic  bergs  put  a stop  to  all  ad- 
vance, one  of  the  ice-islands  being  found  to  measure  over 
eleven  miles  in  length.  A wide  northward  curve  had  to 
be  made  keeping  outside  the  edge  of  the  pack  through 
the  same  part  of  the  ocean  where  Cook  nearly  a fortnight 
later  in  the  same  month  of  1773  had  sailed  for  thirteen 
degrees  of  longitude  south  of  the  circle.  Bellingshausen 
just  managed  to  get  round  the  pack  without  going  north 
of  6o°S.,  and  on  the  meridian  of  I35°W.,  where  Cook  had 
been  driven  north  with  his  exhausted  crew,  he  succeeded 
in  getting  south  again.  On  Christmas  day  (Russian 
calendar)  244  icebergs  were  sighted,  and  the  com- 
mander congratulated  himself  that  both  crews  were  en- 
joying the  best  of  health,  far  better  than  in  the  tropics. 
On  January  nth  the  circle  was  crossed  for  the  fifth  time 
to  67  50  in  1200  W.  Here  the  pack  again  presented  too 
formidable  a front  to  face,  and  the  two  war  ships  had 
once  more  to  make  an  honourable  retreat,  but  not  for 


BELLINGSHAUSEN 


127 

long.  Doubling  the  northern  projection  of  the  ice,  Bel- 
lingshausen deliberately  passed  the  meridian  where  Cook 
had  made  the  farthest  south  of  his  voyage,  feeling  it  was 
his  duty  to  explore  the  unknown  rather  than  to  follow 
where  another  had  led.  Keeping  on  a southeasterly 
course  he  crossed  the  circle  southward  for  the  sixth  time 
in  103 0 W.  and  sailing  straight  on  through  a crowd  of 
huge  ice-islands  was  brought  up  by  a solid  wall  of  ice. 
This  was  the  most  southerly  point  reached  on  the  voyage, 
69°  52'  S.  in  920  10'  W. ; it  was  attained  on  January  1st, 
1821. 

The  risk  of  being  surrounded  and  imprisoned  in 
the  drifting  ice  was  becoming  serious  and  the  ships  were 
sailing  northward  along  the  edge  of  the  pack  when  a 
dark  speck  appeared  on  the  white  background  of  ice  to 
the  east.  Every  telescope  was  turned  upon  it  and  various 
opinions  were  being  expressed  when  the  sun  suddenly 
shone  out  and  revealed  it  as  undoubted  land,  the  steep 
cliffs  standing  out  black,  bare  and  unmistakable.  Since 
leaving  the  Macquarie  Islands  the  only  solid  objects  to 
meet  the  eye  had  been  ice  in  its  multifarious  forms  of 
berg  and  floe  and  pack,  but  now  an  island  loftier  than 
any  berg  had  come  into  view.  It  lay  in  latitude  69°  S., 
longitude  90°  W.,  the  most  southerly  land  yet  discovered, 
and  when  on  January  22nd  the  ships  came  as  near  the 
land  as  the  ice  permitted,  its  length  was  found  to  be  about 
nine  miles,  its  breadth  four  miles  and  its  height  was  esti- 
mated at  4000  feet.  The  island  rose  abruptly  from  the 
ice-covered  sea  and,  except  for  the  cliffs  and  the  higher 
slopes,  was  entirely  swathed  in  snow.  It  stood  as  a silent 
and  inaccessible  outpost  of  the  known  world,  the  only  land 
ever  yet  discovered  within  the  southern  circle.  Bellings- 
hausen named  it  Peter  I.  Island  in  memory  of  the  great 


128  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


Tsar  who  had  rescued  Russia  from  its  frigid  isolation  and 
thrown  the  world  open  to  his  country.  The  sea  was 
much  discoloured,  and  the  other  indications  of  land 
familiar  to  Antarctic  voyagers  were  present  in  abundance 
so  that  Bellingshausen  was  convinced  that  he  was  on  the 
threshold  of  some  more  important  discovery ; “ the  land 
must  come  ” he  wrote. 

Keeping  as  far  south  as  possible,  close  on  the  edge  of 
a heavy  pack,  Bellingshausen  held  to  the  east  and 
on  January  28th,  another  high  land  came  into  view;  this 
time  a coast  of  considerable  extent  with  a well  marked 
cape,  the  position  of  which  was  fixed  as  68°  43'  S.,  and 
73°  10'  W.  The  weather  was  fortunately  fine,  in  fact 
it  was  the  most  beautiful  day  of  the  whole  Antarctic 
voyage,  and  the  air  was  so  clear  that  although  the  ships 
could  not  approach  within  40  miles  of  the  land,  it  could 
be  seen  distinctly  and  some  parts  appeared  free  from 
snow.  The  land  seemed  to  extend  a long  distance 
toward  the  southwest,  and  it  was  named  Alexander  I. 
Land,  after  the  reigning  Tsar. 

It  was  impossible  to  follow  up  the  discovery.  The  in- 
sistent pressure  of  the  ice  forced  the  ships  back  to  the 
northwest,  and  when  an  easterly  course  could  be  resumed 
they  crossed  the  circle  northward  in  76°  W.  on  January 
31st,  after  having  sailed  within  the  Antarctic  circle  for  a 
fortnight  over  a continuous  stretch  of  28  degrees  of 
longitude,  an  unprecedented  achievement.  From  this 
point  the  Russian  ships  made  straight  for  the  South  Shet- 
land islands  in  order  to  see  whether  there  was  any  con- 
nection between  them  and  the  “ conjectured  Antarctic 
Continent.  Land  was  seen  on  February  4th,  and  identi- 
fied as  the  South  Shetlands.  Bellingshausen  sailed  along 
the  south  of  the  group  and  gave  many  Russian  or  at 


Alexander  I.  Land. 
(From  Bellingshausen's  Atlas.) 


BELLINGSHAUSEN 


129 


least  anti-French  names  such  as  Yaroslav,  Waterloo, 
Borodino,  Smolensk  and  Leipzig  to  several  of  the  islands, 
but  these  have  not  been  retained  as  the  group  had  al- 
ready been  charted  by  Bransfield  and  Weddell.  At  Yar- 
oslav Island  he  says  that  he  met  a fleet  of  eight  British 
and  American  sealers  lying  at  anchor  on  February  5th, 
and  the  romantic  meeting  with  the  Americans  so  dra- 
matically described  by  Fanning  is  dismissed  in  the  words 
“ The  American  captain,  Palmer,  whom  we  invited  to  see 
us,  told  of  the  really  prodigiously  rich  booty  which  was 
made  here  of  sealskins/’  On  which  the  Russian  captain 
predicts  the  early  extermination  of  the  seals. 

After  crossing  the  sixtieth  parallel  on  February  nth, 
and  passing  through  the  South  Orkneys  the  two  ships 
completed  their  circumnavigation  off  South  Georgia. 
After  an  anxious  night  near  the  Shag  Rocks  in  a fog,  they 
bore  up  for  Rio,  stayed  there  from  March  9th  to  May 
4th,  and  reentered  the  harbour  of  Cronstadt  on  July  5th, 
1821  after  a magnificent  voyage  of  two  years’  duration 
with  the  loss  of  only  three  men,  a death-rate  very  much 
smaller  than  that  prevailing  in  Russia.  Of  the  75 1 
days  they  had  been  afloat  527  days  had  been  passed  under 
sail. 

It  is  an  exceedingly  unfortunate  circumstance  that 
so  little  has  ever  been  known  outside  Russia  of  Bel- 
lingshausen’s great  exploit.  The  voyage  was  a mas- 
terly continuation  of  that  of  Cook,  supplementing  it  in 
every  particular,  competing  with  it  in  none.  The  oc- 
casional measurements  of  temperature  and  salinity  in  the 
water,  and  the  acute  observations  on  the  formation  of 
sea-ice  would  have  been  very  useful  to  later  explorers. 
But  unfortunately  until  1902  no  Antarctic  expedition 
had  been  furnished  with  details  of  the  Russian  work 

9 


i3o  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

though  the  track  of  Bellingshausen's  ships  is  laid  down 
on  the  South  Polar  charts. 

This  track  alone  is  very  instructive,  for  though  it 
shows  that  Cook's  highest  latitude  was  not  equalled  by 
a degree  and  a quarter,  it  shows  also  that  the  Vostok  and 
Mirni  sailed  over  242  degrees  of  longitude  south  of  6o°  S., 
of  which  41  degrees  of  longitude  were  within  the  Antarc- 
tic circle ; while  the  Resolution  and  Adventure  made  only 
125  degrees  south  of  6o°  S.,  and  24  degrees  south  of  the 
circle.  Not  only  so,  but  Bellingshausen's  care  in  cross- 
ing all  the  great  gaps  left  by  his  predecessor  demon- 
strated beyond  any  doubt  the  existence  of  a continuous 
open  sea  south  of  the  parallel  of  6o°. 

On  his  return  Bellingshausen  wrote  a full  account  of 
the  voyage  which  was  not  published  for  several  years 
and  then  only  in  Russian.  He  continued  to  serve  in 
the  navy  and  rose  to  the  rank  of  Admiral  in  1831.  Eight 
years  later  he  received  the  onerous  appointment  of  Port 
Captain  and  Governor  of  Cronstadt,  the  impregnable 
fortress  that  guards  the  entrance  to  the  Neva.  In  that 
town  he  died  in  1852,  and  there  his  memory  is  perpetuated 
by  a bronze  bust  set  on  a granite  pedestal  in  one  of  the 
tree-lined  avenues. 


CHAPTER  VII 


Weddell's  farthest 

“Give  these,  I exhort  you,  their  guerdon  and  glory 
For  daring  so  much,  before  they  well  did  it, 

The  first  of  the  new  in  our  race’s  story 
Beats  the  last  of  the  old;  ’tis  no  idle  quiddit” 

— Robert  Browning. 

'REFERENCE  has  already  been  made  to  Enderby’s 
A^sBips  and  the  rediscovery  of  Bouvet  Island  in  1808, 
as  well  as  to  the  discovery  of  the  South  Shetlands  in  1819 
by  a British  ship,  though  she  was  trading  at  that  time 
between  foreign  ports.  We  have  now  to  follow  up  the 
consequences  of  this  discovery  in  the  old  country,  and  to 
introduce  an  interesting  personality  who  contributed 
much  to  the  story  of  the  Antarctic. 

James  Weddell,  the  son  of  a Lanarkshire  upholsterer, 
settled  in  London,  being  left  an  orphan  at  an  early  age, 
was  bound  apprentice  on  board  a coasting  vessel,  prob- 
ably a Newcastle  collier.  In  1808,  after  sailing  in  a 
merchant  ship  trading  with  the  West  Indies  for  three 
years,  he  resented  some  action  of  his  captain  and  knocked 
him  down.  The  captain  accordingly,  judging  him  unfit 
for  the  merchant  service,  handed  him  over  to  a man-of- 
war,  as  a subject  for  discipline.  At  that  time  when  men 
were  scarce  any  recruit  was  welcome  and  Weddell  com- 
mencing under  such  bad  auspices  nevertheless  earned  for 
himself  a character  which  makes  one  suspect  that  his  old 
captain  fully  deserved  the  treatment  he  received.  Wed- 
dell was  soon  rated  as  midshipman  and  then  as  Master, 

131 


1 32  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

with  which  rank  he  was  paid  off  in  1816  when  the 
strength  of  the  navy  was  reduced  at  the  close  of  the 
war. 

When  the  news  of  the  discovery  of  the  South  Shet- 
lands  became  known  in  1819  Weddell  accepted  the  com- 
mand of  the  brig  Jane  of  Leith,  a sealer  of  160  tons,  and 
started  for  a sealing  cruise  in  the  southern  seas.  On  this 
first  voyage  he  commenced  the  exploration  and  survey 
of  the  South  Shetlands,  and  he  was  the  first  mariner  from 
Great  Britain  to  visit  them.  He  seems  to  have  also  dis- 
covered the  South  Orkneys  on  the  same  voyage,  not 
knowing  of  the  previous  discovery  by  Powell,  and  he 
made  a most  thorough  search  for  the  Aurora  Islands  mid- 
way between  the  Falklands  and  South  Georgia.  He  found 
no  land  whatever  in  that  region  and  suggested  that  what 
gave  rise  to  the  report  and  misled  the  officers  of  the  Atre- 
vida  must  have  been  icebergs  drifted  around  and  adher- 
ent to  the  Shag  Rocks,  which  when  thus  encased  pre- 
sented the  appearance  of  snow-covered  islands  with  rocky 
prominences. 

A second  cruise  followed  in  which  Weddell  had,  as  well 
as  the  Jane  under  his  own  command,  a cutter  of  65  tons 
named  the  Beaufoy  of  London,  under  Matthew  Brisbane, 
the  two  vessels  sailing  together  and  keeping  within  sight 
with  few  and  short  exceptions  during  the  whole  long 
and  difficult  voyage.  The  vessels  were  provisioned  for 
two  years  and  carried  twenty-two  men  all  told  on  the 
Jane  and  thirteen  on  the  Beaufoy.  Particular  care  was 
given  to  the  nautical  instruments,  but  although  Weddell 
had  scientific  leanings  he  does  not  appear  to  have  had 
any  scientific  equipment,  nor  did  his  vessel  follow  the 
usual  custom  of  the  Arctic  whalers  in  carrying  a sur- 
geon. 


James  Weddell. 

(From  a painting  in  the  Library  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society.) 


7'o  face  p.  132. 


WEDDELL’S  FARTLIEST 


133 

The  two  little  craft  left  the  Downs  on  September  17th, 
1822,  touched  at  Madeira  on  October  4th,  at  Bonavista 
in  the  Cape  Verde  group  on  the  14th,  to  take  in  a stock 
of  salt,  and  crossed  the  equator  on  November  7th.  A 
week  later  Weddell  spoke  and  boarded  a Portuguese 
slaver  carrying  250  slaves  and  bitterly  regretted  that  he 
had  no  legal  right  to  make  a prize  of  her  and  liberate 
her  wretched  cargo.  His  ship  appears  to  have  been 
armed,  for  he  says  he  had  force  enough  to  take  the  slaver, 
and  his  officers  urged  him  strongly  to  do  so,  but  he  felt 
he  could  not  lay  himself  open  to  a charge  of  piracy,  so 
the  slavers  escaped  and  the  slaves  remained  captive. 
Several  stoppages  were  made  on  the  Patagonian  coast  for 
the  purpose  of  getting  water,  shooting  guanacos  for  meat, 
repairing  damage  to  the  Jane,  and  making  surveys  of 
some  harbours,  and  on  the  12th  of  January,  1823,  the 
South  Orkneys  were  sighted,  and  some  time  was  spent  in 
surveying  them.  The  centre  of  Saddle  Island  was  fixed  as 
in  6o°  38'  S.  and  440  53'  W.  Here  Weddell  captured 
some  sea-leopards,  one  of  the  skins  of  which  presented 
by  him  to  the  Edinburgh  Museum  was  examined  and 
described  by  Professor  Jamieson  and  was  the  first  speci- 
men to  be  studied  scientifically  in  Europe.  Though  gro- 
tesquely stuffed,  and  still  more  grotesquely  figured  in 
Weddell’s  book  it  remains  as  the  type  specimen  in  the 
Museum  at  Edinburgh  to  this  day. 

The  South  Orkneys  are  described  as  even  more  rugged 
and  dreary  than  the  South  Shetlands.  A few  patches  of 
coarse  grass  formed  the  only  vegetation  visible,  and  the 
fogs  which  usually  hung  over  the  land  did  not  make  it 
more  attractive.  On  January  22nd  the  vessels  sailed 
for  the  south,  keeping  close  together,  the  cutter  on  the 
windward  quarter  of  the  brig,  to  avoid  separation  in 


i34  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

the  fog.  The  constant  heaving-to  when  the  weather  be- 
came too  thick  and  the  manoeuvring  to  avoid  floating  ice 
made  the  progress  “ very  teasing  and  unprofitable.”  By 
the  27th  the  ships  had  reached  64°  58'  S.  in  390  40'  W. 
looking  for  new  islands  which  might  harbour  seals;  but 
finding  none  they  stood  northward  in  the  same  longitude 
and  then,  wishing  to  avoid  known  land  and  the  tracks 
of  former  expeditions,  turned  back  to  the  southeast.  A 
reward  of  £10  was  offered  to  the  man  who  first  saw  land 
and  many  were  the  disappointments  which  resulted,  for 
fog-banks,  icebergs  and  once  even  a dead  and  much  in- 
flated whale  gave  rise  to  claims  which  a second  glance 
disallowed. 

Weddell  refers  to  the  extremely  narrow  escape  which 
Cook  had  of  discovering  both  the  South  Orkneys  and  the 
South  Shetlands ; but  nothing  in  the  history  of  marine  ex- 
ploration is  more  remarkable  than  the  way  in  which  ships 
looking  for  new  land  have  passed  just  out  of  sight  of 
great  masses  and  archipelagoes,  while  ordinary  seafarers 
hoping  for  nothing  but  a clear  sea-way  have  lighted  upon 
islands  and  even  continents  which  to  them  were  mere 
obstacles.  On  February  4th,  being  then  within  100  miles 
of  Sandwich  Land,  Weddell  proposed  to  Brisbane  to 
stand  as  far  south  as  they  could  go  in  the  hope  of  finding 
some  entirely  unknown  land,  and  that  officer  readily  as- 
senting the  two  little  vessels  set  off  on  the  most  interest- 
ing exploit  of  the  voyage.  Everything  possible  on  such 
small  craft  was  done  for  the  comfort  of  the  men,  but  the 
decks  were  always  wet  and  the  sailors  suffered  badly  from 
“ colds,  agues  and  rheumatism.”  As  to  diet  Weddell 
says: 

I had  allowed  them  three  wine-glasses  of  rum  a day 
per  man,  since  we  were  in  those  seas ; and  their  allow- 


i.  (From  Weddell’s  Voyage  towards  the  South  Pole.) 


2.  (From  the  British  Museum  Reports  on  the  Southern  Cross  Collections.) 
Weddell’s  Seal  (. Leptonychotes  Weddelli). 


[To  face  /.  134. 


WEDDELL’S  FARTHEST 


T35 


ance  of  beef  and  pork  was  one  pound  and  a quarter  a 
man  per  day;  five  pounds  of  bread,  two  pints  of  flour, 
three  of  peas  and  two  of  barley  a man  per  week.  These 
allowances  in  a cold  climate  were  rather  scanty,  but  the 
uncertainty  of  the  length  of  our  voyage  required  the 
strictest  economy.” 

Observations  were  made  daily  at  noon  whenever  the 
sun  appeared,  and  as  Weddell  had  provided  four  of 
the  best  chronometers  available  for  his  own  ship  and  was 
an  expert  in  navigation  his  longitudes  as  well  as  his  lati- 
tudes may  be  trusted.  He  also  made  a point  of  observ- 
ing and  recording  the  temperature  of  the  air  and  water 
and  the  variation  of  the  compass  each  day. 

On  February  6th  and  7th  about  latitude  64°  S.  many 
ice  islands  were  encountered,  one  of  them  estimated  at 
two  miles  in  length  and  250  feet  high.  The  wind  blew 
from  a westerly  quarter  and  the  weather  was  alternately 
foggy  and  clear,  the  temperature  of  the  air  at  8 p.  m.  was 
340  and  that  of  the  water  36°.  Early  on  the  morning 
of  the  10th  the  mate  of  the  Jane  reported  land  in  sight, 
and  Weddell  himself  on  seeing  a dark  sugar-loaf  shaped 
object  believed  it  to  be  a rock  and  expected  to  find  the 
terra-fir ma  beyond  it ; but  on  making  up  to  it  and  passing 
within  300  yards  it  was  found  to  be  merely  the  pinnacle  of 
an  iceberg  so  thickly  incorporated  with  black  earth  as  to 
present  the  appearance  of  a rock,  an  illusion  strengthened 
by  an  island  of  clear  ice  from  which  it  was  “ detached 
above  water  though  connected  below.”  The  wind  shifted 
to  the  south  and  blew  a gale,  a strong  northwesterly  cur- 
rent was  running  and  the  sailors  began  to  grumble  in 
their  disappointment,  for  their  wages  were  a proportion 
of  the  value  of  the  catch  and  a new  land  meant  a big  haul 
of  seals  and  increased  pay.  The  position  was  just  on  the 


136  siege  of  the  south  pole 

Antarctic  circle  and  there  was  some  temptation  to  re- 
turn; but  Weddell  arguing-  that  the  earth  on  the  berg 
must  have  come  from  some  land  to  the  south  held  on  his 
course  against  both  wind  and  current.  Ice-islands  were 
numerous;  for  days  over  fifty  were  always  in  sight,  and 
the  effort  to  avoid  them  made  so  many  changes  of  course 
necessary  that  it  was  very  difficult  to  keep  account  of  the 
position  by  dead  reckoning. 

By  the  14th  of  February,  1823,  the  high  latitude  of 
68°  was  attained,  and  on  the  16th  the  ships  crossed  the 
seventieth  parallel  going  south.  A great  number  of  birds 
“ of  the  blue  petrel  kind  ” kept  in  sight  and  also  “ many 
hump-  and  finned-back  whales.”  Here  a disaster  oc- 
curred in  the  breaking  of  the  only  two  thermometers  on 
board  so  no  more  observations  of  temperature  could  be 
taken;  but  Weddell  states  that  the  weather  was  cer- 
tainly not  colder  than  that  of  midsummer  (December)  in 
latitude  61 0 S.  The  rapid  changes  in  variation  puzzled 
the  leader  greatly,  he  compared  all  the  compasses  on  board 
but  could  find  no  material  difference  between  them  though 
they  were  rather  sluggish  in  action.  On  the  18th  in 
73°  S.  the  weather  was  beautiful,  not  a particle  of  ice 
of  any  description  was  to  be  seen,  many  whales  were 
about  the  ships  and  the  sea  was  “ literally  covered  with 
birds  of  the  blue  petrel  kind.”  The  carpenter  was  re- 
pairing a boat,  the  sailmaker  was  mending  the  sails ; it 
was  altogether  a picture  of  summer  at  sea. 

During  the  night  of  the  19th  it  fell  calm,  but  on  the 
morning  of  the  20th  it  blew  fresh  from  south  by  west: 
The  atmosphere  now  became  very  clear,  and  nothing 
like  land  was  to  be  seen.  Three  ice-islands  were  in  sight 
from  the  deck,  and  one  other  from  the  mast-head.  On 
one  we  perceived  a great  number  of  penguins  roosted. 


WEDDELL’S  FARTHEST 


137 


Our  latitude  at  this  time,  20th  February,  1822  * was 
740  15',  and  longitude  340  16'  45";  the  wind  blowing 
fresh  at  south,  prevented  what  I most  desired,  our  making 
farther  progress  in  that  direction.  I would  willingly 
have  explored  the  S.  W.  quarter,  but  taking  into  con- 
sideration the  lateness  of  the  season,  and  that  we  had  to 
pass  homewards  through  1000  miles  of  sea  strewed  with 
ice  islands,  with  long  nights  and  probably  attended  with 
fogs,  I could  not  determine  otherwise  than  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  this  favourable  wind  for  returning. 

“ I much  regretted  that  circumstances  had  not  allowed 
me  to  proceed  to  the  southward,  when  in  the  latitude  of 
65°,  on  the  27th  of  January,  as  I should  then  have  had 
sufficient  time  to  examine  this  sea  to  my  satisfaction. 

“ Situated  however  as  I actually  wras,  my  attention  was 
naturally  roused  to  observe  any  phenomena  which  might 
be  considered  interesting  to  science.  I was  well  aware 
that  the  making  of  scientific  observations  in  this  unfre- 
quented part  of  the  globe  was  a very  desirable  object,  and 
consequently  the  more  lamented  my  not  being  well  sup- 
plied with  the  instruments  with  which  ships  fitted  out 
for  discovery  are  generally  provided.” 

In  these,  simple  words,  which  may  profitably  be 
compared  with  Morrell’s  rhapsodical  utterances  when 
he  claimed  to  be  in  a similar  position,  Weddell  shows 
himself  at  his  best.  The  similarity  in  sentiment  and 
diction  with  Cook  is  interesting;  and  enforces  the 
similarity  in  the  birth,  training,  and  naval  experience  of 
the  two  men.  It  must  be  remembered  that  Weddell  was 

*This  misprint  for  the  correct  date  1823  is  significant  in  show- 
ing that  Morrell  followed  the  text  of  Weddell’s  book  and  did 
not  speak  from  actual  knowledge  of  his  cruise.  The  map  in  the 
volume  gives  the  date  as  1823. 


T38  siege  of  the  south  pole 

searching  for  seals  not  for  the  south  pole  and  that  his  con- 
sort was  a little  vessel  more  like  a pilot-boat  than  a sea- 
going craft.  Neither  vessel  was  protected  in  any  way  for 
ice-navigation  and  to  be  compelled  to  winter  south  of  the 
circle  would  probably  have  been  fatal  to  all  on  board. 
The  men  were  but  ill-clothed  for  bad  weather  and  the 
supply  of  fuel  and  food  was  not  sufficient  to  justify  any 
serious  risks  being  run.  In  similar  circumstances  Cap- 
tain Cook  would  have  acted  in  the  same  way. 

Weddell  looked  out  for  the  aurora  australis,  the  sun 
being  then  below  the  horizon  for  six  hours,  but  the 
twilight  all  night  was  too  strong  to  allow  it  to  be  seen. 

In  order  to  cheer  up  his  crew,  whose  repeated  disap- 
pointments in  finding  the  seals  that  were  to  pay  their 
wages,  was  beginning  to  have  a bad  effect,  Weddell  made 
a little  ceremony,  hoisting  colours  and  firing  a salute  in 
honour  of  their  having  accompanied  him  to  the  farthest 
south  point  yet  attained,  214  nautical  miles  nearer  to  the 
pole  than  Cook  had  reached.  The  men  gave  three  cheers, 
extra  grog  was  served  out  and  the  sea  was  named  after 
King  George  IV. ; but  the  name  has  been  changed  and  it 
is  now  more  appropriately  known  as  Weddell  Sea  in 
commemoration  of  its  first  navigator. 

On  returning  northward  various  observations  were 
made,  a sounding  with  240  fathoms,  all  the  line  on  board, 
found  no  bottom.  A bottle  containing  a paper  stating 
the  condition  of  the  sea  in  740  S.  was  thrown  overboard 
to  test  the  direction  of  the  current,  but  it  was  never 
picked  up. 

As  they  proceeded  northwards  bad  weather  returned, 
with  much  snow  and  fog,  and  after  crossing  the  position 
where  a non-existent  “ South  Iceland  ” was  marked  on 
the  chart,  the  Beaufoy  was  separated  from  her  consort. 


The  “Jane”  and  “ Beattfoy  ” at  Weddell’s  Farthest. 
(From  Weddell’s  Voyage  iotxpards  the  South  Pole.) 


WEDDELL’S  FARTHEST 


T39 


Next  day,  March  7th,  it  blew  a gale  with  a heavy  sea 
that  sent  the  brig  racing  at  10  miles  an  hour  through  the 
ice-laden  water  and  enabled  them  to  traverse  the  pack 
very  quickly,  though  with  great  discomfort  and  constant 
danger.  On  the  12th  the  gallant  little  Beaufoy  was  found 
all  well,  and  on  the  same  afternoon  both  vessels  cast 
anchor  in  Adventure  Bay,  South  Georgia,  a happy  event 
after  five  months  afloat,  even  though  “ it  was  not  a 
country  the  most  indulgent.”  It  yielded,  however,  some 
green  herbs  which,  though  bitter,  were  useful  in  warding 
off  scurvy,  while  young  albatrosses  could  be  had  in 
abundance  and  formed  excellent  fresh  meat,  “not  suffi- 
ciently firm  to  be  compared  with  that  of  any  domestic 
fowl.” 

On  South  Georgia  Weddell  was  surprised  to  find  that 
when  he  climbed  to  the  top  of  one  of  the  mountains  to 
take  an  observation  for  latitude,  the  mercury  in  his  arti- 
ficial horizon  kept  in  a state  of  such  tremulous  motion 
that  he  could  not  use  it.  It  acted,  in  fact,  as  a seismo- 
scope,  showing  that  some  volcanic  activity  still  lurked  in 
the  island. 

In  the  middle  of  April  the  two  little  vessels  were  off 
again,  bound  for  the  Falklands,  and  very  heavy  weather 
was  encountered  on  the  way.  Weddell  expresses  his 
great  satisfaction  that  some  years  before  he  had  definitely 
proved  the  non-existence  of  the  Aurora  Islands,  the  risk 
of  shipwreck  on  which  would  have  been  a very  great 
anxiety.  As  it  was  the  gale  would  have  dismasted  the 
brig  had  extra  stays  not  been  rigged,  and  the  cutter  lost 
her  bowsprit  by  pitching  into  a heavy  sea.  The  Falk- 
lands were  not  reached  until  May  nth,  and  here  the 
winter  was  passed. 

Leaving  the  Falklands  early  in  October,  1823,  the  Jane 


1 4o  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

and  Beaufoy  sailed  for  the  South  Shetlands,  and  en- 
countered very  heavy  pack  ice  in  62°  S.  Sometimes 
they  skirted  the  edge  of  the  pack  looking  for  an  opening, 
sometimes  they  tacked  about  in  a pool  of  open  water 
entirely  surrounded  by  the  pack  and  drifting  rapidly  to 
the  eastward,  and  when  at  last,  with  infinite  labour,  the 
islands  were  sighted  on  October  28th,  the  ships  were 
struck  by  a hurricane  from  the  southwest,  accompanied 
by  bitter  cold.  Everything  movable,  including  a whale- 
boat, was  swept  from  the  deck  of  the  Jane  and  speedily, 
the  deck,  bulwarks,  and  lower  rigging  became  a solid 
mass  of  ice;  the  rudder  was  frozen  fast  and  could  not 
be  used,  and  the  masses  of  frozen  water  on  the  fore- 
castle made  the  brig  rise  sluggishly  to  the  sea.  In  spite 
of  the  danger  thus  occasioned,  Weddell  attributes  his 
escape  to  the  ice  binding  the  ship  together  and  prevent- 
ing, as  he  put  it,  “ the  fastenings  from  being  distressed.” 
Many  of  the  crew  were  hurt  by  being  thrown  down  by 
the  wild  rolling  of  the  ship,  and  nearly  all  were  frost- 
bitten, for  the  clothing  of  the  improvident  Jacks  was  worn 
out,  and  many  had  not  even  a second  pair  of  stockings  or 
a shirt  to  change.  The  captain  parted  with  everything  he 
had  to  make  good  deficiencies.  His  blankets  were  cut 
up  to  make  stockings,  and  the  pump  leather  was  used 
to  patch  the  shoes.  But  no  complaints  were  made,  the 
men  well  knowing  that  if  they  went  back  to  temperate 
seas  without  a cargo  the  form  of  “ paying  off  ” would 
take  place  without  any  money  changing  hands.  The  little 
cutter  had  stood  the  storm  better  than  the  brig,  and  both 
continued  to  struggle  to  reach  the  South  Shetlands  until 
November  17th,  when,  after  having  been  in  the  utmost 
peril  in  the  pack,  they  worked  out  in  a sorely  battered  con- 
dition and  made  for  Cape  Horn.  The  vessels  were  far 


WEDDELL’S  FARTHEST  141 

too  lightly  built  for  ice  work,  their  bottom  planking  being 
only  two  and  a half  inches  thick.  Weddell  remarked 
that  he  had  been  in  the  Greenland  seas  and  was  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  dangers  of  ice-navigation  in  the  north, 
but  that  sailing  among  the  ice  in  the  south  was  ac- 
companied by  much  greater  risks  because  of  the  heavy 
westerly  swell  which  keeps  the  ice  in  motion  and  never 
entirely  subsides.  The  remainder  of  the  summer  was 
spent  in  sealing  amongst  the  islands  of  Tierra  del  Fuego 
and  not  until  May  1824  did  the  gallant  little  vessels 
return  in  safety  to  England. 

There  is  nothing  in  Weddell’s  narrative,  nor  in  what 
is  known  of  the  man,  to  lead  us  to  doubt  one  word  that 
he  says.  Recently  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  cast 
discredit  on  his  voyage  to  740  15'  S.,  because  on  returning 
home  the  chief  officer  of  the  Jane  and  two  seamen  made 
oath  before  the  Commissioners  of  Customs  as  to  the 
truth  of  the  ship’s  log.  This  it  has  been  argued  sug- 
gested that  the  commander  feared  to  be  disbelieved  and 
might  have  had  some  ground  for  his  fears.  It  is  much 
more  likely  that  Weddell,  knowing  the  tall  talk  indulged 
in  by  the  ordinary  run  of  sealers  and  the  groundless  tales 
they  told,  was  resolved  that  his  voyage  at  least  should  be 
placed  authoritatively  on  a different  platform. 

It  is  impossible  to  admire  this  man  too  much  for  the 
way  in  which  he  spared  neither  pains  nor  expense  to  keep 
an  accurate  account  of  his  route  and  to  fix  every  position 
he  visited.  He  shunned  no  danger  in  his  slender  little 
ships,  and  not  only  served  the  interests  of  his  co-owners  as 
a merchant,  but  also  advanced  the  knowledge  of  the  least- 
known  part  of  the  globe  as  only  one  who  was  at  heart  a 
man  of  science  could.  Weddell  was  fortunate  in  escap- 
ing serious  accident,  for  it  appears  that  during  the  three 


I42  siege  of  the  south  pole 

years,  1820-22,  at  least  seven  sealing  vessels  were 
wrecked  on  the  South  Shetlands,  and  the  crew  of  one  of 
them  was  compelled  to  winter  there  in  great  destitution 
and  misery. 

When  the  land  was  so  difficult  of  access  except  in  the 
middle  of  the  short  summer,  and  the  weather  even  during 
those  few  weeks  so  capricious  and  foggy,  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  very  vague  ideas  prevailed  as  to  the  geog- 
raphy of  the  region  to  the  south  of  the  South  Shetland 
Islands.  That  a large  mass  of  land  existed  there  was 
clearly  understood.  Fanning  spoke  of  the  “ continent 
of  Palmer’s  Land,”  which  he  believed  did  not  extend 
farther  than  ioo°  W.  longitude.  Morrell  spoke  of  the  east 
coast  of  the  land  which  Captain  Johnson  had  named 
“ New  South  Greenland/’  and  Fanning  states  explicitly 
that  this  was  Palmer  Land,  the  first  knowledge  of  which 
he  had  himself  communicated  to  Johnson.  Weddell  in 
his  track-chart  sketches  a vague  “ Trinity  Land,”  but  in 
a theoretical  sketch-map  of  the  circumpolar  region  he 
lays  down  a large  mass  of  land  south  of  the  South  Shet- 
land Islands  and  gives  to  it  the  name  of  “ South  Shet- 
land.” 

All  that  befell  Weddell  after  his  return  we  do  not 
know,  apparently  he  made  other  voyages  to  the  south  as 
a sealer.  He  was  certainly  absent  from  England  in 
1831  to  1833,  and  he  died  in  London  in  the  forty-seventh 
year  of  his  age  on  9th  October,  1834.  When  Cap- 
tain Biscoe  reached  Plobart  Town  in  May,  1831,  and 
again  when  he  left  it  in  October  of  the  same  year,  he 
mentions  a Captain  Weddell  as  being  there  in  .command 
of  the  cutter  Eliza,  and  there  seems  no  reason  to  doubt 
that  this  was  the  hero  of  the  voyage  to  74 0 S. 

Although  Bouvet  Island  can  no  longer  claim  to  be  a 


WEDDELL’S  FARTHEST  143 

problem  in  Antarctic  exploration,  it  is  too  old  a friend  to 
lose  sight  of,  and  the  next  incident  to  be  chronicled  is 
the  visit  of  two  more  of  Enderby’s  ships  in  1825.  This 
visit  is  described  in  the  logs  of  the  ships  which  were 
shown  by  Mr.  Charles  Enderby  to  Sir  James  Clark 
Ross  twenty  years  later,  and  the  similarity  with  Mor- 
rell’s account  may  be  taken  either  as  strong  confirmation 
of  his  alleged  visit  in  1823,  or  as  proof  of  his  having  ob- 
tained and  adapted  an  early  account  of  the  landing  in 
1825.  The  latter,  we  fear,  is  the  more  probable  view. 

On  December  10th,  1825,  Captain  Norris  of  the 
Sprightly,  v/ith  the  Lively  in  company,  came  upon  an 
island  in  540  15'  S.  and  50  E.,  which  he — apparently  ig- 
norant of  the  search  so  often  made  for  Bouvet’s  Cape 
Circumcision — at  once  named  Liverpool  Island.  An  at- 
tempt to  land  was  frustrated  by  a snowstorm.  On  the 
13th,  another  island  was  sighted,  and  named  Thompson 
Island,  its  position  being  given  as  530  56' S.,  5°3o'E., 
and  there  were  several  rocks  which  were  named  The 
Chimnies.  A landing  was  made  on  the  16th  and  the 
Union  Jack  hoisted  on  shore,  but  it  is  not  stated  on  which 
of  the  two  islands.  Again  on  the  18th,  a boat  was  sent  out 
from  each  vessel  to  go  round  the  island  different  ways, 
starting  from  the  east  end  and  meeting  at  the  west  end. 
Stormy  weather  came  on  and  the  boats,  which  had  mean- 
while landed,  were  unable  to  get  back  to  their  ships 
until  the  24th.  They  returned  when  the  weather  mod- 
erated with  the  skins  of  forty-eight  seals.  The  log- 
states  : 

“ We  found  by  their  report  that  seals  are  very  scarce ; 
and  the  isle  is  not  likely  to  produce  many,  the  S.  W. 
point  being  the  only  place  where  they  can  make  a land- 
ing, as  the  boats  wTent  entirely  round  the  isle,  and  noth- 


i44  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

ing  but  perpendicular  rocks  could  be  seen ; it  bears  evi- 
dent marks  of  having  been  a volcano,  as  it  is  nothing  less 
than  a complete  cinder,  with  immense  veins  of  lava, 
which  have  the  appearance  of  black  glass,  though  some 
are  streaked  with  white.” 

When  Liverpool  Island  was  first  sighted  the  centre  was 
seen  to  be  covered  with  snow,  but  from  the  fact  of  its 
complete  circumnavigation  and  no  mention  having  been 
made  of  ice,  it  would  seem  that  no  glaciers  reached  the 

sea. 

The  work  of  the  sealers  may  be  interrupted  for  a mo- 
ment to  refer  to  a scientific  expedition  sent  out  by  the 
British  government  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  ob- 
servations on  magnetism  and  the  force  of  gravity  in  the 
South  Atlantic.  Sir  Edward  Sabine,  who  did  more  than 
any  Englishman  of  his  generation  to  advance  the  science 
of  physical  geography,  had  taken  up  the  task  of  measur- 
ing the  force  of  gravity  by  swinging  pendulums  at  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  Earth’s  surface,  the  only  method 
known  by  which  the  true  form  of  the  surface  of  the  globe 
can  be  ascertained.  In  pursuance  of  these  researches 
the  Admiralty  sent  out  an  extremely  talented  and  thor- 
oughly scientific  officer,  Captain  Henry  Foster,  in  com- 
mand of  H.  M.  S.  Chanticleer,  to  undertake  experiments 
in  the  islands  of  the  South  Atlantic.  His  instructions 
were  to  proceed  to  the  most  southerly  known  accessible 
land,  the  South  Shetlands,  and  there  make  a complete 
series  of  pendulum  and  magnetic  observations.  Antarctic 
discovery  was  no  part  of  the  programme  and  the  ship  was 
not  fitted  for  navigation  in  the  ice.  The  Chanticleer  went 
beyond  the  South  Shetlands  to  a position  in  63°  43'  S., 
6i°45'W.,  where  Foster  found  land,  went  ashore  and 
named  Cape  Possession.  This  appears  to  have  been  on 


WEDDELL’S  FARTHEST  145 

Hoseason  Island,  its  earlier  name  possibly  perpetuating 
the  memory  of  some  American  sealer,  who  otherwise 
would  be  forgotten.  The  ship  took  up  temporary  head- 
quarters in  the  vast  crater  of  Deception  Island,  near  the 
Yankee  Harbour  of  the  Stonington  fleet,  renamed  Port 
Foster.  Captain  Foster's  name  deserves  to  be  com- 
memorated in  the  Southern  Seas,  for  his  early  death  be- 
fore the  voyage  was  concluded,  was  a loss  not  only  to 
the  Royal  Navy,  but  to  science.  It  would,  however,  have 
been  more  appropriate  to  attach  his  name  to  Cape  Pos- 
session than  to  overshadow  so  quaint  and  interesting  a 
landmark  in  the  history  of  the  Antarctic  as  the  Yankee 
Harbour  of  the  old  New  England  skippers.  From  Jan- 
uary 9th  to  March  4th,  the  Chanticleer  lay  in  this  safe 
and  commodious  harbour,  while  the  observations  were 
diligently  carried  on  ashore,  and  then  it  was  high  time  to 
make  for  the  north  to  escape  the  on-coming  winter. 
The  medical  officers  of  the  ship  studied  the  plant  and 
animal  life  of  this  strange  shell  of  an  island,  and  one 
of  them,  the  Dr.  Webster  who  preserved  for  us  the  word 
portrait  of  Palmer  with  his  basket  of  albatross  eggs,  also 
made  some  experiments  on  the  floating  of  ice  in  sea- 
water with  reference  to  the  phenomena  of  icebergs.  A 
registering  thermometer  was  left  on  the  island  so  that  the 
subsequent  finder  could  tell  the  extremes  of  temperature 
which  had  been  experienced. 


10 


CHAPTER  VIII 


ENDERBY  BROTHERS  AND  THE  ANTARCTIC 

“We  bring  no  store  of  ingots, 

Of  spice  or  precious  stones, 

But  that  we  have  we  gathered 
With  sweat  and  aching  bones: 

In  flame  beneath  the  tropics 
In  frost  upon  the  floe. 

And  jeopardy  of  every  wind 
That  does  between  them  go.” 

— Rudyard  Kipling. 

IV/TESSRS.  ENDERBY,  whose  ships  had  visited  the 
-^-■“Southern  seas  since  1785  and  had  already  added 
something  to  geographical  knowledge,  began  to  take  a 
deeper  interest  in  Antarctic  exploration  from  the  time  of 
the  foundation  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society.  Mr. 
Charles  Enderby  became  an  original  Fellow  of  that  So- 
ciety in  1830  and  remained  actively  interested  in  its  work 
for  forty-seven  years.  There  is,  perhaps,  no  other  instance 
of  a private  mercantile  firm  undertaking  so  extensive  a 
series  of  voyages  of  discovery  without  much  encourage- 
ment in  the  way  of  pecuniary  returns.  It  was  in  the  palmy 
days  of  the  deep-sea  whalers,  when  hundreds  of  ships 
sailed  for  a cruise  of  a couple  of  years  “ round  the  world 
and  back  again  ” for  a cargo  of  whale  oil  in  tropical  or 
temperate  waters,  as  the  chance  of  success  suggested,  and 
many  shipmasters  must  have  lighted  on  discoveries  now 
lost  to  the  world  and  perhaps  never  treated  as  more  than 
sailors’  yarns.  Messrs.  Enderby  differed  from  other 

146 


ENDERBY  BROTHERS 


147 


merchants  by  the  careful  choice  of  their  skippers,  who 
were  men  of  some  education,  and  often  of  naval  train- 
ing. These  were  instructed  to  pursue  discovery  with  a 
view  to  the  advancement  of  knowledge  as  well  as  to 
pecuniary  profit,  hence  the  names  of  the  owners  as  well 
as  that  of  their  skippers  must  always  be  honourably  asso- 
ciated with  the  opening  up  of  the  dark  and  icebound 
margin  of  the  South  Polar  region. 

In  1830,  Mr.  John  Biscoe,  a retired  Master  in  the 
Royal  Navy,  was  sent  out  by  the  Enderbys  on  a sealing 
voyage  in  the  brig  Tula,  with  the  cutter  Lively,  com- 
manded at  first  by  Mr.  Smith  and  later  by  Mr.  Avery,  in 
company.  On  voyages  of  such  length  and  danger 
it  was  felt  that  the  dispatch  of  a single  ship 
was  inexpedient,  and  experience  had  shown,  as 
in  the  case  of  Weddell’s  expedition,  that  a cut- 
ter was  a handy  and  serviceable  craft  for  working 
on  the  edge  of  the  ice.  In  the  landsman  of  to-day  so 
small  a vessel  venturing  into  the  remotest  and  the 
stormiest  seas  of  the  world,  excites  feelings  of  amaze- 
ment, and  we  question  if  there  are  many  in  the  navy,  or 
even  in  the  mercantile  marine,  who  would  care  to  sign 
on  for  a south  polar  voyage  of  two  years’  duration,  in 
a fifty-tonner. 

Attention  had  been  called  to  the  probability  of  land 
existing  within  the  Antarctic  ice  by  Captain  Horsburgh, 
Hydrographer  to  the  East  India  Company,  who  com- 
municated a paper  to  the  Royal  Society  in  1830,  on  the 
remarkable  distance  towards  the  tropics  at  which  Antarc- 
tic ice  was  met  with  in  1828,  some  bergs  having  been 
sighted  as  far  north  as  35 0 50'  S.  He  argued  that  land 
must  exist  somewhere  within  the  Antarctic  region  be- 
tween the  meridian  of  Greenwich  and  20°  E.,  capable  of 


14B  siege  of  the  south  pole 

giving  rise  to  huge  icebergs,  and  he  believed  that  the  ex- 
ceptional quantity  of  ice  sighted  in  that  year  could  be 
best  accounted  for  by  the  occurrence  of  great  earth- 
quakes, which  broke  it  off  from  the  land.  Thus  Biscoe 
set  out  with  some  ground  for  looking  for  land  and  not 
merely  fields  of  sea-ice  in  the  far  south. 

Fortunately,  Biscoe’s  log  has  been  preserved,  having 
been  presented  to  the  Royal  Geographical  Society  by 
Mr.  Charles  Enderby,  and  the  essential  parts  of  it  were 
published  both  in  the  English  and  French  geographical 
journals  of  the  period. 

Biscoe’s  command  left  Gravesend  on  July  14th,  1830, 
and  sailed  from  Berkeley  Sound  in  the  Falklands 
on  November  27th,  to  carry  out  his  instructions 
by  visiting  the  southeast  part  of  Sandwich  Land.  On 
the  way  he  thought  it  advisable  to  cruise  to  the  north- 
ward of  the  position  assigned  to  the  Aurora  Islands  by 
the  Atrevida,  so  as  to  dispel  any  lingering  suspicion  of 
the  possible  existence  of  that  troublesome  group,  Wed- 
dell's courses  having  lain  to  the  southward.  The  search 
proved  fruitless  and  the  Auroras  will  trouble  us  no  more. 

On  the  voyage  south  the  cutter  was  lost  sight  of  in  a 
fog  on  December  nth,  and  the  Tula  lay-to  until  noon  in 
the  hope  that  she  would  reappear.  What  made  it  worse 
was  that  the  carpenter  had  gone  aboard  the  smaller  ves- 
sel to  repair  a boat  two  days  before,  and  had  not  been 
able  to  return.  It  was  a wretched  day  for  Biscoe,  for  his 
barometer  ‘‘burst  of  itself,"  and  left  him  without  a 
weather-glass;  the  brig  then  ran  over  something,  prob- 
ably only  floating  ice,  but  it  scraped  unpleasantly  along 
her  keel,  and  to  crown  this  day  of  misfortunes  she  was 
in  the  position  assigned  on  the  chart  to  Traversey  Island 
and  might  strike  upon  it  at  any  moment  in  the  dark. 


ENDERBY  BROTHERS 


149 


Three  days  later  the  Lively  reappeared,  and  after  a long 
fight  with  fog  and  gales,  the  two  vessels  came  in  sight 
of  Sandwich  Land  on  the  21st.  Three  islands  were 
sighted,  all  of  them  small,  rocky  masses,  descending 
steeply  to  the  water’s  edge,  with  no  beach  for  a seal  to 
land  on,  and  covered  with  ice  and  snow,  “so  much  so 
that  it  was  hardly  possible  to  distinguish  the  rocks,  the 
snow  and  the  clouds  above  these,  one  from  the  other.” 
It  was  hopeless  to  look  for  a cargo  on  such  rocks,  and 
that  will-o’-the-wisp  of  the  Antarctic  seafarer,  an  “ ap- 
pearance of  land  ” being  observed  to  the  southeast, 
Biscoe  set  sail  in  its  pursuit.  Field-ice  soon  appeared, 
and  after  much  manoeuvring  the  ships  passed  safely 
through  the  pack  to  the  southward,  where,  instead  of  the 
open  sea,  they  found  merely  a great  bay  of  about  eight 
miles  diameter,  from  which  they  had  much  ado  to  escape 
northward  again.  Until  the  end  of  the  month  they  con- 
tinued fighting  with  wind  and  ice  in  the  endeavour  to  reach 
the  main  body  of  Sandwich  Land  by  working  back  to 
the  westward.  It  was  a hard  time  for  both  captains  and 
crews : 

“ Independent  of  the  small  seas  of  field-ice  the  whole 
space  was  completely  covered  with  drift  pieces,  some 
swimming  very  deep  in  the  water,  which  a vessel  striking 
upon  would  most  likely  knock  a hole  in  her  bottom,  so 
that  from  the  26th  to  the  29th  in  the  forenoon,  we  were 
utterly  prevented  from  steering  on  any  one  course  for 
more  than  a few  minutes  at  a time  . . . and  never  at 
any  time  had  we  less  than  fifty  or  a hundred  ice-islands 
round  us.” 

On  December  29th,  two  of  the  islands  of  Sandwich 
Land  were  sighted  and  the  boats  sent  to  search  a low- 
lying  reef  for  seals,  but  they  returned  empty,  and  Biscoe 


ISO  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

resolved  to  keep  on  his  voyage  towards  the  east  with- 
out more  delay.  The  weather  turned  dazzlingly  clear; 
but  no  land  revealed  itself,  and  the  field-ice  spread 
smooth  and  solid  before  the  ships.  They  struggled 
through  the  pack  and  drift-ice  along  its  edge,  making 
only  twelve  miles  on  their  course  in  a whole  day,  and 
never  at  rest  for  an  hour  from  the  ceaseless  tacking  and 
shifting  of  course  to  clear  the  dangerous  ice-masses. 
The  absence  of  life  was  remarkable,  neither  seals  nor 
penguins  were  to  be  seen,  and  only  a few  petrels  re- 
deemed the  scene  from  utter  desolation.  It  was  the 
seventeenth  of  January,  1831,  before  the  parallel  of 
6o°  S.  was  crossed  in  70  0 W.,  almost  at  the  same  point 
where  Bellingshausen  crossed  it  eleven  years  before.  The 
edge  of  the  pack  was  now  turned  and  a clear  sea  lay  to 
the  south,  with  only  a few  icebergs  in  sight,  and  a tem- 
perature of  350  in  the  air.  On  the  22nd,  the  Antarctic 
circle  was  crossed  in  i°  E.  So  far  the  edge  of  the  pack 
had  been  similar  in  outline,  though  about  a hundred  miles 
farther  to  the  north  and  east  than  Bellingshausen  had 
found  it ; but  from  this  point  to  50°  E.,  Biscoe  was  able 
to  sail  for  five  weeks  within  or  on  the  circle,  often  far 
to  the  south  of  the  track  which  the  ice  had  permitted 
the  Russian  ships  to  follow.  The  farthest  south  reached 
was  69°  S.  in  io°  43'  E.,  on  January  28th.  All  this  time 
the  ship  was  pressing  as  closely  on  the  ice-floes  as  she 
could  with  safety;  the  wind  held  mostly  from  easterly 
points,  giving  Biscoe  “ a beating  passage  of  it,”  and  in- 
commoding him  very  much;  and  many  anxious  hours 
were  spent  by  all  on  board.  The  incidents  are  very 
calmly  treated  by  the  captain,  but  even  he  must  occasion- 
ally have  felt  a thrill.  For  instance,  one  day: 

“ At  6 p.  m.,  while  standing  to  the  southward,  we  sud- 


ENDERBY  BROTHERS  151 

denly,  on  the  weather  clearing  up,  found  ourselves  com- 
pletely beset  with  large  pieces  of  drift-ice.  The  helm 
was  immediately  put  down,  and  by  the  careful  manage- 
ment of  the  sails  we  were  enabled  to  pass  through  two 
large  pieces,  of  about  the  size  of  our  hull,  which  showed 
themselves  under  the  bows  just  as  the  head-yards  were 
hauled,  the  vacancy  between  just  sufficient  to  admit  the 
vessel  through ; the  cutter  being  a short  distance  astern, 
avoided  the  danger/’ 

The  cutter  was,  however,  a constant  anxiety,  chiefly 
on  account  of  her  habit  of  getting  lost,  perhaps  from  the 
difficulty  of  keeping  up  with  the  larger  vessel  in  rough 
weather.  On  the  very  day  after  the  escape : 

“ At  midnight  the  weather  became  so  thick  that,  al- 
though I could  speak  the  cutter,  I could  not  see  her,  and 
as  we  were  now  completely  surrounded  by  broken  ice 
and  obliged  to  use  the  sweeps,  I made  a line  fast  to  her 
to  prevent  our  separation;  the  weather  quite  calm  and 
sea  smooth.” 

The  wind  continued  so  light  for  several  days  that 
progress  became  very  slow,  but  the  sea  was  smooth,  and 
Biscoe  was  a man  with  open  eyes  and  a receptive  mind 
for  the  phenomena  of  nature.  He  gave  much  attention 
to  the  formation  of  sea-ice,  making  some  acute  observa- 
tions, which  led  him  not  unnaturally  to  erroneous  con- 
clusions, for  though  the  training  of  a seaman  may  turn 
out  an  excellent  observer,  it  requires  the  no  less  arduous 
training  of  a scientific  education  to  enable  correct  de- 
ductions to  be  made  from  the  facts. 

At  the  end  of  January  the  surface  of  the  smooth  sea 
was  beginning  to  freeze  and  cementing  together  the 
broken  fragments  of  drift-ice.  Biscoe  was  struck  with 
the  rapidity  with  which  ice  an  inch  thick  was  formed  in 


152  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

this  way  at  the  end  of  summer,  and  he  argued  that  when 
the  summer  temperature  of  the  air  fell  at  nights  far  be- 
low the  freezing  point  the  winter  temperature  must  be 
very  severe  indeed,  and  consequently  the  surface  of  the 
sea  may  be  frozen  to  a considerable  depth.  The 
frozen  sea-water  might  be  freshened,  he  thought,  by  the 
continuous  addition  of  snow,  and  the  outcome  of  his  ob- 
servations was  to  the  effect  that  the  field-ice  might  be 
formed  in  the  open  sea,  and  that  consequently  its  pres- 
ence was  not  necessarily  a sign  of  the  proximity  of  land. 
In  this,  he  was  no  doubt  substantially  correct;  but  he 
went  farther  in  his  speculations  as  to  the  origin  of  ice- 
bergs. After  brooding  over  the  matter  for  a fortnight 
he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  icebergs  also  were 
creatures  of  the  sea  and  not  of  the  land,  as  had  always 
been  held  before.  He  knew  that  Captain  Weddell  had 
reported  a berg  so  impregnated  with  earth  as  to  make  it 
look  like  a piece  of  rock,  but  he  himself  had  seen  hun- 
dreds of  bergs,  all  of  unsullied  purity  and  not  one  of  them 
bore  the  least  trace  of  any  connection  with  the  land. 
They  might,  he  thought,  be  the  product  of  the  perpetual 
freezing  of  a tranquil  sea  “ accumulating  with  time.”  It 
was  the  experience  of  February  25th,  1831,  that  convinced 
Biscoe  of  the  truth  of  this  theory.  An  “ appearance  of 
land  ” had  been  seen  the  night  before  in  latitude 
66°  29'  S.,  longitude  450  17'  E.,  but  at  noon: 

“ That  which  lately  had  the  appearance  of  land  now 
bore  from  E.  S.  E.  to  W.  S.  W.  (true  bearing),  with 
a large  range  of  field-ice  stretching  to  the  N.  E. 
Innumerable  icebergs,  and  the  vessels  so  encom- 
passed with  straggling  pieces  we  could  proceed  no 
further  with  safety  owing  to  a strong  N.  E.  swell,  which 
set  towards  the  main  body  of  ice,  which  it  now  proved  to 


ENDERBY  BROTHERS 


iS3 


be;  the  appearance  of  it  was,  I think,  nearly  similar  to 
the  North  Foreland,  and  I should  think  the  cliffs  of  it, 
which  bore  the  marks  of  icebergs  having  been  broken 
from  off  it,  and  which  was  exactly  similar  to  their  sides 
in  every  respect,  was  as  high,  or  nearly  so,  as  the  North 
Foreland;  it  then  ran  away  to  the  southward  with  a 
gradual  ascent,  with  a perfectly  smooth  surface,  and  I 
could  trace  it  in  extent  to  at  least  from  30  to  40 
miles  from  the  foretop  with  a good  telescope ; it  was  then 
lost  in  the  general  glow  of  the  atmosphere.  As  I ob- 
served some  two  or  three  lumps,  which  had  the  appear- 
ance of  land  from  the  irregularity  of  their  surface,  I low- 
ered a boat,  and  went  myself  to  ascertain  whether  or  not 
there  was  any  appearance  of  land  on  a nearer  view, 
judging  myself  to  be  about  3 miles  at  his  time  from 
the  main  body;  but  after  pulling  about  half  an  hour  or 
more,  I found  we  were  rather  more  than  half  a mile 
from  it  still,  with  the  ice  so  thick  we  could  at  times 
scarcely  get  the  boat  through  it,  and  as  both  vessels 
were  hull  down,  and  entirely  at  times  hid  from  us  by  the 
ice,  the  weather  also  having  a black  appearance  from  the 
northward  with  a heavy  N.  E.  swell,  I deemed  it  most 
prudent  to  return  after  having  fully  convinced  myself 
this  was  nothing  more  than  a solid  body  of  ice.” 

This  barrier  of  solid  ice  rising  like  a wall  100  feet  or 
so  above  the  sea  might  very  probably  have  been  part  of  a 
great  ice-barrier  similar  to  that  found  by  Ross  ten  years 
later,  and  believed  by  him  to  be  the  edge  of  confluent 
glaciers  or  of  an  ice-cap  completely  covering  an  exten- 
sive land.  Biscoe,  however,  had  persuaded  himself  that 
all  Antarctic  ice  was  sea-ice  and  he  states  boldly: 

“ I have  not  the  least  doubt  that  the  whole  spaces,  from 
the  latitudes  I have  visited  to  the  Pole,  are  one  solid 


154  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

mass;  land  may  intervene,  or  winds,  where  they  are 
strong  and  prevalent,  may  have  prevented  its  forming  in 
some  parts  more  than  others,  but  I have  found  such 
frequent  calms  and  light  airs  with  smooth  water,  that  I 
see  no  reason  why  ice  should  not  be  formed  to  any  extent 
during  the  winter  seasons.” 

These  views  have  recently  been  confirmed  by  fresh 
evidence  collected  by  Captain  Scott  on  the  Discovery 
expedition.  Biscoe  showed  very  clearly  how  the 
great  masses  of  flat-topped  floating  ice  “accumulated 
with  time,”  could  give  rise  to  all  the  varieties  of  peaked 
and  caverned  bergs  wh;ch  were  to  be  met  with  by  the 
solvent  action  of  the  sea-water  on  the  submerged  portion, 
altering  their  centre  of  gravity  and  causing  them  to  turn 
over,  exposing  the  fantastically  water-worn  parts  to 
the  air. 

On  February  6th,  a patch  of  discoloured  water  was 
seen,  but  no  soundings  were  found  with  250  fathoms 
of  line.  On  the  14th  a severe  gale  blew  and  the  cutter 
got  out  of  sight  again.  The  weather  became  so  thick 
that  lumps  of  floating  ice,  collision  with  which  would 
have  sent  the  brig  to  the  bottom,  could  hardly  be  seen 
until  they  were  almost  on  board,  and  the  seas  broke  over 
the  deck  and  froze  so  that  if  some  unknown  but  benevo- 
lent Captain  Christie  had  not  supplied  the  crew  with 
boots  at  Gravesend,  the  captain  declared  that  half  the 
poor  fellows  would  have  been  laid  up.  After  four  days 
of  anxious  search  the  Lively  was  found  again,  and  on 
February  20th,  when  the  days  were  beginning  to  shorten 
with  uncomfortable  rapidity,  a fine  display  of  the  aurora 
australis  was  seen  by  the  officer  of  the  watch,  who  neg- 
lected to  report  it  to  the  captain  before  it  disappeared, 
and  is  censured  in  the  iog  accordingly.  On  the  same  day 


ENDERBY  BROTHERS 


155 


the  Tula  crossed  Captain  Cook's  route  in  40°  E.,  almost 
at  the  farthest  south  point  made  by  the  great  commander 
at  his  first  dip  to  southward  of  the  circle.  Cook  had  been 
compelled  by  the  ice  to  retire  northward  at  once,  but 
Biscoe  was  able  to  carry  on  on  an  easterly  course,  though 
gradually  trending  to  the  northward.  On  February 
28th,  after  two  days  of  terrible  pitching  and  straining  of 
the  vessels  in  a heavy  southeasterly  gale,  the  weather 
moderated ; they  tacked  to  the  southward,  and  from  lati- 
tude 66°  S.  and  in  longitude  470  20'  E.  the  captain  dis- 
cerned some  hummocks  on  the  southern  horizon,  which 
at  4 p.  m.,  much  resembled  the  tops  of  mountains,  and  at 
6 p.  m.  it  was  clear  that  they  really  were  black  mountain 
summits,  standing  up  from  a considerable  extent  of  land. 
The  land,  however,  appeared  very  far  off  and  was  closely 
beset  with  field-ice  and  icebergs.  For  two  days  the  ves- 
sels struggled  gallantly  southward,  taking  advantage  of 
every  opening  in  the  ice-pack  to  edge  in  towards  the  land 
which  was  now  only  about  12  leagues  off.  A magnifi- 
cent Aurora  australis  also  appeared,  but  Biscoe,  at  first 
overjoyed  at  seeing  the  splendid  phenomenon,  soon  found 
it  a source  of  danger,  because  he  could  hardly  restrain  the 
lookouts  and  the  man  at  the  wheel  from  gazing  up  at  the 
sky  instead  of  at  the  ship's  course  and  the  menacing  ice. 
A prominent  headland  had  by  this  time  become  familiar, 
and  Biscoe,  after  finding  its  approximate  position  to  be 
66°  25'  S.,  490  18'  E.,  named  it  Cape  Ann,  but  drops  no 
hint  as  to  the  identity  of  the  lady  thus  honoured  in  his 
first  discovery.  A channel  of  clear  water  three  miles 
wide  was  found  heading  straight  for  the  land,  but  just 
as  it  seemed  certain  that  it  could  be  reached,  a south- 
easter burst  upon  the  ships ; the  cutter  disappeared  from 
view,  one  of  the  brig's  boats  was  swept  away,  others 


156  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

stove  in,  the  bulwarks  smashed,  and  the  ;crew  so  be- 
numbed by  the  bitter  cold  that  they  could  not  hold  on  to 
a rope  for  two  minutes  at  a time.  The  brig  became  com- 
pletely unmanageable  and  drove  before  the  wind ; the  ice 
drove  with  it,  and  apparently  at  the  same  rate,  for  no 
collision  ensued,  and  when  the  weather  moderated  after 
five  days  of  hurricane  fury,  the  Tula  was  little  better 
than  a wreck*  and  had  been  driven  one  hundred  and 
twenty  miles  before  the  wind. 

Although  five  men  out  of  his  small  crew  were 
on  the  sick  list  as  the  result  of  the  storm  and  the  most 
serious  anxiety  was  felt  as  to  the  safety  of  the  cutter, 
Biscoe  tried  yet  again  to  get  south  with  a southeasterly 
gale  howling  against  him  half  the  day  and  subsiding  into 
calm  once  in  every  twenty-four  hours,  until  on  March 
16th,  Cape  Ann  was  seen  once  more,  and  also  a very  high 
mountain.  The  ice  did  not  seem  to  have  been  disturbed 
in  its  position  by  the  succession  of  heavy  gales.  Summer 
was  over,  the  air  temperature  had  fallen  to  22°  F.,  and 
sorely  against  his  will  Biscoe  had  to  give  up  all  hope  of 
reaching  Cape  Ann  or  the  coast  that  bore  it,  now  named 
after  his  owners,  Enderby  Land.  He  had  done  his  best 
and  could  do  no  more.  The  log  states: 

“ The  land  inaccessible,  heavy  gales  frequent  every 
day,  some  of  the  people  getting  sick,  the  carpenter  for 
some  time  past  having  lost  the  use  of  his  legs,  and  two 
others  at  this  time  in  the  same  situation,  and  two  or  three 
more  under  medicine  for  the  same  complaint,  although 
every  attention  has  been  paid  to  their  health  and  com- 
fort. The  vessel  is  very  uncomfortable  in  bad  weather 
and  ships  a great  deal  of  water,  and  is  now  on  her  out- 
side, both  hull  and  ropes,  where  the  spray  can  reach,  one 
mass  of  ice.” 


ENDERBY  BROTHERS 


H7 


Yet  with  all  this  against  him,  Biscoe  observes  that  as 
the  land  seemed  to  trend  toward  the  northeast  he  still 
hoped  to  reach  it  in  some  part  free  from  ice. 

The  southeasterly  gales  continued,  the  fact  could  not 
be  overlooked  that  scurvy  had  broken  out  on  board,  the 
ship  was  a mass  of  ice,  although  now  in  62°  S., 
and  at  length,  on  April  4th,  the  hope  of  meeting 
the  land  was  abandoned  in  8o°  E.,  and  a course  laid  for 
New  Zealand.  By  this  time  only  three  of  the  crew  were 
able  to  stand,  and  it  was  no  longer  possible  to  beat 
against  head  winds.  The  carpenter  died  on  April  24th, 
and  on  the  26th  only  one  man  of  the  crew  was  able  to 
stand,  and  the  ship  had  to  be  worked  by  him,  the  captain 
himself,  two  mates  and  a boy;  it  was  hopeless  to  try  to 
make  New  Zealand,  and  to  save  the  ship  and  the  sur- 
vivors of  the  crew,  the  Tula  was  headed  for  Van  Die- 
men’s Land.  Next  day  a second  man  died.  On  May 
8th  the  brig  was  off  the  unfamiliar  coast  of  Tasmania, 
of  which  there  were  no  proper  charts,  and  things  looked 
very  black  on  board.  Biscoe  confided  to  his  log : 

“ I endeavoured  all  in  my  power  to  keep  up  the  spirits 
of  those  on  board,  and  often  had  a smile  on  my  face, 
with  a very  different  feeling  within.” 

After  all  her  batterings,  the  Tula  was  at  last  safely 
moored  off  Hobart  Town,  on  May  10th,  1831 ; the  dying 
men  were  removed  to  a hospital  on  shore,  and  Biscoe  was 
at  last  able  to  rest  for  a time,  though  the  absence  of  the 
Lively  was  a heavy  anxiety.  As  he  entered  the  harbour 
he  met  the  Eliza  cutter,  with  Captain  Weddell  on  board. 

When  the  Lively  was  separated  from  her  consort 
in  the  storm  she  continued  the  cruise  in  the  icy  seas 
until  deaths  had  reduced  the  ship’s  company  to  Captain 
Avery,  one  seaman  and  a little  boy  whose  hand  had  been 


158  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

crushed  by  the  boat  falling  on  it.  They  could  not  make 
Tasmania  but  reached  Port  Philip,  and  when  they  landed 
not  far  from  what  is  now  Melbourne  they  nearly  died  of 
starvation,  and  the  cutter  drifted  away.  She  was  found 
ashore  after  a fortnight,  and  the  party  reached  the  Der- 
went on  September  3rd  to  meet  the  Tula  coming  out. 
Biscoe  put  back  and  waited  until  the  cutter  was  refitted 
and  her  crew  restored  to  health. 

With  the  southern  spring  in  October,  1831,  the  Tula 
and  Lively  were  once  more  at  sea  ready  for  a fresh  cam- 
paign, Captain  Weddell  coming  on  board  to  say  fare- 
well as  they  sailed.  Three  months  were  spent  in  sealing 
on  the  coasts  of  New  Zealand  and  off  the  Chatham  and 
Bounty  islands  in  order  to  get  a cargo,  and  then  the  time 
came  to  commence  the  homeward  voyage  by  Cape  Horn. 
A course  was  shaped  for  the  position  assigned  by  the 
charts  to  the  Nimrod  Islands,  56°  S.,  158°  W. ; but  no 
land  could  be  seen,  and  although  there  was  an  appearance 
of  shallow  water  the  sounding-line  showed  no  bottom. 

Towards  the  end  of  January  Biscoe  resolved  to  cross 
Captain  Cook  s track  (he  does  not  seem  to  have  known 
Bellingshausen  s route),  and  steer  south-eastward  in 
order  to  look  for  land  to  the  W.  S.  W.  of  the  South  Shet- 
lands,  and  Mr.  Avery  received  instructions  as  to  what 
he  should  do  in  case  the  Lively  lost  sight  of  her  consort. 
On  the  28th  they  were  south  of  the  sixtieth  parallel  in 
1310  W.,  and  ice-islands  appeared  in  great  numbers,  with 
some  loose  drift-ice.  An  extraordinarily  low  barometer 
prevailed  for  several  days,  the  mercury  going  as  low  as 
27.3°  inches,  but  the  expected  gale  did  not  occur.  Until 
February  14th,  tne  course  was  easterly  with  a little 
south,  bringing  the  ships  gradually  to  the  Antarctic  circle 
along  which  they  sailed  without  making  any  attempt  to 


ENDERBY  BROTHERS 


159 

push  far  to  the  south,  for  Biscoe  did  not  wish  to  repeat 
his  experiences  of  the  previous  summer  and  arrive  at  his 
last  sealing  ground  with  a crew  incapacitated  for  work. 
Accordingly,  his  course  at  this  part  of  the  voyage  lay 
on  the  average  two  degrees  to  the  north  of  Bellings- 
hausen’s track. 

The  cutter  as  usual  was  a source  of  never-ending 
anxiety.  On  February  4th,  six  hogsheads  of  water  had 
been  put  aboard  of  her  from  the  brig,  as  the  smaller 
vessel  had  run  short,  and  Biscoe  now  thought  that  drink- 
ing ice-water  led  to  dysentery.  Mr.  White  took  this  oc- 
casion to  return  on  board  the  Tula,  as  he  had  had  some 
dispute  with  Mr.  Avery.  We  are  not  told  who  Mr.  White 
was,  but  immediately  on  his  arrival,  Biscoe  refers  to  the 
bad  state  of  the  Lively’s  canvas,  and  the  necessity  for 
making  a quick  voyage  home.  Icebergs  continued  in 
abundance  and  vigilance  was  increased  to  avoid  them, 
so  that  the  ice  necessitated  a change  of  course  to  the 
northward  on  one  occasion  only,  and  when  Biscoe 
reached  the  point  in  78°  W.,  where  the  Russian  ships  had 
been  forced  northward  after  finding  Peter  I.  Island  and 
Alexander  I.  Land,  he  seems  to  have  had  no  difficulty  in 
running  east-southeast  to  67°  S.  in  72°  W.  Here  land 
was  sighted  on  February  14th,  and  from  a chance  refer- 
ence to  its  being  the  most  southerly  known  land,  it  would 
appear  that  Biscoe  was  ignorant  of  the  discoveries  of  his 
predecessors  of  ten  years  before.  Three  miles  off  the 
shore  a sounding  found  no  bottom  with  250  fathoms. 
Says  Biscoe : 

“ This  island,  being  the  farthest  known  land  to  the 
southward,  I have  honoured  it  with  the  name  of  H.  M.  G. 
Majesty  Queen  Adelaide.  It  has  a most  imposing  and 
beautiful  appearance,  having  one  very  high  peak  running 


160  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


Up  into  the  clouds,  and  occasionally  appears  both  above 
and  below  them ; about  one-third  of  the  mountains,  which 
are  about  4 miles  in  extent  from  north  to  south,  have 
only  a thin  scattering  of  snow  over  their  summits. 
Towards  the  base  the  other  two-thirds  are  buried  in  a 
field  of  snow  and  ice  of  the  most  dazzling  brightness. 
This  bed  of  snow  and  ice  is  about  4 miles  in  extent, 
sloping  gradually  down  to  its  termination;  a cliff,  ten 
or  twelve  feet  high,  which  is  split  in  every  direction  for 
at  least  two  or  three  hundred  yards  from  its  edge 
inwards,  and  which  appears  to  form  icebergs  only  wait- 
ing for  some  severe  gales  or  other  cause  to  break  them 
adrift  and  put  them  in  motion.  From  the  great  depth  of 
water,  I consider  this  island  to  have  been  originally  a 
cluster  of  perpendicular  rocks,  and  I am  thoroughly  of 
opinion  that  the  land  I before  saw  last  year,  could  I have 
got  to  it,  would  have  proved  to  be  in  the  same  state  as 
this,  and  likewise  all  land  found  in  high  southern 
latitudes/’ 

Here  Biscoe  reveals  the  unrelenting  grip  that  his 
theory  of  the  sea-origin  of  all  Antarctic  ice  had  taken  of 
his  mind.  He  doubtless  remembered  Weddell’s  sugges- 
tion as  to  the  origin  of  the  mythical  Aurora  Islands  from 
icebergs  entangled  amongst  the  Shag  Rocks  (though  as 
we  have  seen,  he  resolutely  shut  his  eyes  to  Weddell’s 
discovery  of  an  earth-saturated  iceberg),  and  now  with 
the  genesis  of  miniature  icebergs  from  the  glaciers  of  a 
mountainous  island  before  his  eyes,  he  refused  to  believe 
his  own  senses,  and  preferred  to  think  that  it  was  only 
the  escape  of  sea-ice  previously  icaged  between  the  bars 
of  perpendicular  rocks. 

Next  day  was  particularly  clear,  and  high  mountains 
were  seen  to  the  southward  at  a distance  estimated  at 


ENDERBY  BROTHERS 


161 


ninety  miles,  but  a fog  came  on  and  continued  for  twenty- 
four  hours,  making  it  necessary  to  steer  northwest. 
Many  birds  now  appeared  about  the  ships  and  on  the 
17th  and  18th,  a row  of  small  islands  was  passed,  the 
series  now  known  as  the  Biscoe  Islands.  They  lay  in  a 
line  from  W.  S.  W.  to  E.  N.  E.  and  were  not  moun- 
tainous, but  each  covered  with  a shield  of  ice  and  snow 
perfectly  smooth  except  at  the  edges.  A tier  of  very 
high  mountains  presented  a grand  appearance  in  the 
background,  belonging  in  Biscoe’s  opinion,  to  the  main- 
land. On  February  19th  a landing  was  made  on  an 
island,  the  position  of  the  middle  of  the  west  side  of 
which  was  fixed  by  good  observations  in  65°  20'S., 
66°  38'  W. ; but  no  seals  were  found  on  it.  This  island 
was  named  after  Pitt,  “ from  the  great  likeness  of  an 
iceberg  to  that  statesman  in  a sitting  posture,  and  which 
for  some  time  I took  to  be  a rock.” 

The  island  appeared  at  first  to  join  the  mainland,  and 
in  a few  days  Biscoe  was  able  to  set  foot  upon  what  must 
have  been  the  land  discovered  by  Palmer  and  named 
after  him  by  Powell.  Though  recent  expeditions  have 
shown  that  this  is  a group  of  islands  of  no  great  size, 
Biscoe  believed  that  it  was  a land  of  large  extent  and  that 
he  was  the  first  to  discover  it.  He  accordingly  took  for- 
mal possession  in  the  name  of  King  William  IV.,  after 
whom  he  named  the  highest  mountain,  while  the  peak 
next  in  height  was  named  for  Captain  John  Moberly, 
R.  N.  The  sea  was  so  calm  that  if  any  seals  had  been 
found  the  ships  could  have  lain  securely  alongside  the 
rocks  to  take  them  on  board. 

Biscoe’s  discovery  was  subsequently  marked  on  the 
charts  as  Graham  Land,  the  name  being  given  in  honour 

of  Sir  James  R.  G.  Graham,  the  First  Lord  of  the 

11 


1 62  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


Admiralty  at  the  time.  The  troubled  career  of  this  un- 
popular statesman  lives  unenviably  in  common  memory 
in  England  because  as  Home  Secretary  he  ordered  Maz- 
zini’s  letters  to  be  opened  in  the  Post  Office  and  communi- 
cated to  the  Austrian  government.  In  Scotland  his  high- 
handed proceedings  in  connection  with  the  ecclesiastical 
difficulties  which  led  to  the  Disruption  of  the  National 
Church  in  1843  are  n°t  yet  forgotten. 

It  is  not  easy  after  the  lapse  of  many  years  to  under- 
stand how  far  the  names  given  to  portions  of  newly  dis- 
covered coasts  were  intended  by  their  sponsors  to  apply 
to  the  whole  mass  of  land  of  which  these  coasts  formed 
part  of  the  boundary.  Fanning  undoubtedly  under- 
stood Palmer  Land  to  include  the  whole  mass  of  land  to 
the  southward  of  the  South  Shetlands,  and  referred  to 
it  as  a continent.  Biscoe’s  “mainland,”  the  Graham 
Land  of  the  British  charts  was  no  doubt  meant  to  be 
equally  inclusive,  and  so  too,  was  Johnson’s  New  South 
Greenland.  Making  allowance  for  the  uncertainty  of 
longitudes  determined  even  with  the  utmost  care  by  ships 
whose  chronometers  had  not  been  rated  for  months,  or 
perhaps  even  for  years,  we  can  easily  understand  the  con- 
fusion wrought  by  the  multiplication  of  over-lapping 
names,  and  this  confusion  was  made  worse  confounded 
by  the  fact  that  as  a rule  each  discoverer  was  ignorant  of 
the  work  of  his  predecessor.  As  a matter  of  historic 
justice,  it  seems  to  us  that  Powell’s  name  of  Palmer  Land 
ought  to  be  retained  for  the  whole  group  of  islands,  and 
possible  continental  peninsula  south  of  the  South  Shet- 
lands, Graham  Land  might  well  be  restricted  to  the 
southern  part  south  of  Adelaide  Island,  and  the  other 
names  be  fixed  to  definite  members  of  the  group ; but  to 
this  subject  we  must  return  later. 


ENDERBY  BROTHERS  163 

Discoveries,  even  though  they  included  a new  conti- 
nent, would  not  fill  the  hungry  holds  of  the  sealers,  so 
Biscoe  made  for  the  South  Shetlands,  where  he  expected 
that  “ the  March  bulls  would  be  coming  up.”  On  March 
5th  the  Tula  was  securely  anchored  in  the  land-locked 
harbour  of  New  Plymouth,  while  Biscoe  worked  among 
the  islands  in  the  cutter  collecting  a scanty  harvest  of  sea- 
elephants.  Pie  returned  on  April  2nd,  and  the  mate  of 
the  Tula  reported  that  on  one  occasion  a heavy  swell  had 
set  into  the  harbour  and  menaced  the  ship.  Preparations 
were  accordingly  made  to  get  away  as  soon  as  possible, 
the  Lively  to  proceed  direct  to  England,  while  the  inde- 
fatigable Biscoe  was  to  take  the  brig  off  to  the  nearest 
sperm-whaling  ground  to  fill  up  with  oil.  Everything 
was  ready  for  departure  on  April  10th,  but  before  the 
anchors  were  got  up  the  wind  shifted  to  the  northeast 
and  sent  in  a terrific  swell,  which  the  Lively  rode  in 
safety,  but  the  greater  draught  of  the  Tula  caused  her 
to  strike  the  ground  in  the  trough  of  the  huge  waves. 
So  serious  did  the  situation  become  that  the  brig  had  to 
be  abandoned,  her  rudder  being  broken  and  the  breakers 
making  a clean  breach  over  the  vessel.  She  must  have 
been  a stoutly-built  craft,  however,  for  she  was  not  stove 
in,  and  when  the  weather  moderated  the  rudder  was  tem- 
porarily hung  with  ropes  and  on  April  29th,  1832,  after  a 
stormy  passage,  the  Tula  reached  Berkeley  Sound  in  the 
Falklands  for  repairs. 

At  the  Falklands  the  two  vessels  again  lost  sight  of 
each  other  and  on  touching  at  Santa  Catarina  in  Brazil, 
Biscoe  learned  that  the  poor  Lively,  after  following  him 
round  the  world,  had  come  to  grief  at  last  in  the  Falk- 
lands, where  her  crew  remained  while  the  Tula  anchored 
in  the  Thames  on  January  30th,  1833. 


164  siege  of  the  south  pole 

Biscoe’s  voyage  won  for  him  a well-deserved  reward 
from  the  Royal  Geographical  Society  in  the  form  of  the 
second  gold  medal  it  ever  awarded.  Although  the 
voyage  brought  no  pecuniary  profit  to  the  owners, 
they  were  highly  gratified  at  the  magnificent  feat 
of  sailing  for  i6o°  of  longitude  south  of  6o°  S.,  and 
for  almost  fifty  degrees  within  the  Antarctic  circle  itself, 
as  well  as  at  the  discoveries  of  land.  They  gave  Biscoe 
vessels  for  another  voyage  without  delay  and  made  elab- 
orate arrangements  for  combining  geographical  discov- 
ery with  commercial  seal-hunting.  The  Admiralty  also 
interested  themselves  in  the  matter  and  appointed  Mr. 
Henry  Rea,  R.  N.,  to  accompany  the  expedition  as  a 
surveying  officer.  Biscoe  commanded  the  brig  Hopeful 
in  which  Rea  was  a passenger  and  sailed  from  London 
on  May  13th,  1833.  No  narrative  of  the  cruise  has  been 
preserved,  so  far  as  we  can  ascertain,  and  the  facts  must 
be  pieced  together  from  fragmentary  notices.  The  Hope- 
ful reached  the  Falklands  on  October  23d,  and  found  that 
a terrible  tragedy  had  occurred  there.  A party  of  South 
American  convicts  transported  to  the  islands  had  fallen 
upon  and  massacred  the  leading  men  of  the  little  group 
of  British  settlers,  including  Matthew  Brisbane,  the 
superintendent,  who  had  been  Weddell’s  companion  on 
the  famous  voyage  of  the  Jane  and  Beaufoy.  From  the 
tone  of  an  official  letter  in  which  Rea  announces  the  fact 
of  the  massacre  it  would  seem  as  if  he  were  then  in  com- 
mand of  one  of  the  ships,  if  not  of  the  expedition,  for  he 
speaks  of  his  arrangements  and  his  plans  without  men- 
tioning anyone  else.  Biscoe  met  Captain  Dumont  D’Ur- 
ville at  Hobart  Town  in  1839,  an^  appears  to  have  talked 
freely  about  the  failure  of  this  expedition,  and  D’Urville 
says  on  the  direct  authority  of  this  interview : “ Personal 


ENDERBY  BROTHERS  165 

reasons  made  Biscoe  give  up  this  voyage,  and  another 
was  charged  with  the  expedition.”  The  two  vessels 
reached  the  South  Shetlands  in  the  southern  summer  of 
1 833-34  and  appear  to  have  found  the  ice  conditions  very 
severe.  They  seem  to  have  sailed  toward  Alexander 
Land  in  the  hope  of  making  a circumnavigation  west- 
ward in  a high  latitude,  but  they  were  beset  in  the  ice 
and  the  Hopeful  was  crushed  and  sank,  all  hands  being 
saved  by  the  smaller  vessel.  Biscoe  suggested  to  D’Ur- 
ville that  this  was  due  to  the  inexperience  of  the  com- 
mander. Biscoe  returned  to  London  about  January, 
1835,  when  Mr.  Enderby  handed  to  him  the  gold  medal 
of  the  Paris  Geographical  Society  awarded  in  April, 
1834,  for  his  Antarctic  explorations.  In  acknowledging 
this  award  the  explorer  said  in  a letter  to  the  President : 

“ Allow  me  to  express  my  very  hearty  and  sincere 
thanks  to  the  Society,  and  to  assure  you  that  if  an  oppor- 
tunity to  revisit  those  latitudes  again  presents  itself, 
neither  difficulty  nor  danger  will  prevent  me  from  resum- 
ing the  exploration  of  a part  of  the  world  still  almost 
unknown  and  now  so  interesting.” 

Biscoe  continued  in  the  employment  of  Messrs.  En- 
derby, and  while  in  command  of  the  brig  Emma  he  made 
several  attempts  to  push  exploration  to  the  southward  of 
New  Zealand,  but  had  always  been  stopped  by  the  ice 
about  63°  S.  In  January,  1839,  he  had  been  spoken  by 
Balleny  off  Campbell  Island,  and  at  the  close  of  the  same 
year  he  met  Wilkes  in  Sydney  Harbour.  Shortly  after- 
wards he  visited  D’Urville  at  Hobart  Town,  and  then 
said  that  he  knew  of  no  land  having  been  discovered 
south  of  Tasmania.  The  interview  with  Wilkes  in  which 
he  informed  the  latter  of  the  discovery  of  the  Balleny 
Islands  would  thus  seem  to  have  occurred  later,  on 


166  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

Wilkes’s  return  from  his  southern  cruise.  The  whole 
matter  is  confused  and  difficult  to  follow. 

When  Biscoe  subsequently  returned  to  England  he 
fell  into  poor  circumstances  and  died  in  1848  in  such 
depth  of  poverty  that  his  widow  and  four  children  were 
only  saved  from  starvation  by  a timely  subscription  got 
up  by  seafaring  men. 

In  1893  Mr.  J.  G.  Foxton  communicated  to  the  Mel- 
bourne Branch  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society  of 
Australasia  a paper  entitled  “ Notes  of  a long-forgotten 
Antarctic  voyage  in  1833  ” which  were  set  down  from 
his  recollection  of  the  expedition  on  which  he  himself 
had  sailed.  The  expedition  was  in  two  ships,  the  Hope- 
well  and  the  Rose,  belonging  to  Messrs.  Enderby,  under 
the  command  of  Lieutenant  Binstead,  R.  N.  They 
discovered  land  in  jo°  S.  between  io°  and  20°  W.  and 
then  the  Rose  was  crushed  in  the  ice  and  all  hands 
escaped  in  the  Hopewell.  The  land  had  been  seen  a few 
years  earlier  by  a Russian  expedition,  the  reports  of  which 
Binstead  had  been  sent  out  to  confirm.  The  paper  is 
interesting  as  an  example  of  the  tricks  that  memory  can 
play  sixty  years  after  the  event.  For  Hopewell  we  must 
read  Hopeful  and  for  Binstead  we  must  read  Biscoe, 
and  we  must  add  about  fifty  degrees  to  the  longitude 
before  we  can  realise  that  the  long-forgotten  voyage  was 
that  of  Biscoe  and  Rea,  a contemporary  account  of 
which  would  be  such  interesting  reading.  Perhaps  Mr. 
Foxton’s  memory  for  incidents  may  have  been  stronger 
than  for  names  and  positions,  but  we  cannot  trust  it,  and 
only  mention  his  account  because  it  has  already  been  cited 
in  books  of  reference  and  at  first  sight  it  might  appear 
as  if  the  Coats  Land  discovered  by  Mr.  W.  S.  Bruce  in 
1904  had  been  seen  seventy  years  before. 


ENDERBY  BROTHERS  167 

Although  the  Enderby’s  attempt  at  exploration  in  1833 
ended  in  failure  and  Binstead  was  a figment  of  the  mind, 
a British  sealer  named  Kemp  also  sent  out  by  Messrs. 
Enderby  made  a notable  voyage  in  that  year  of  which 
nothing  is  known  save  his  track  on  the  chart.  Sailing 
southward  from  Kerguelen  nearly  on  the  meridian  of  6o° 
E.  he  discovered  signs  of  land  in  66°  S.,  and  although 
Kemp  Land  has  never  been  seen  again  it  continues  to  be 
shown  on  the  map. 

The  interest  of  the  Enderbys  did  not  flag,  and  in  1838, 
in  spite  of  the  heavy  financial  loss  incurred  by  Biscoe’s 
voyage  and  that  which  followed,  they  in  conjunction 
with  seven  other  London  merchants,  fitted  out  a new 
expedition,  the  results  of  which  were  scarcely  less  re- 
markable than  Biscoe’s.  On  July  16th,  1838,  the 

schooner  Eliza  Scott  of  154  tons,  with  John  Balleny  in 
command,  accompanied  by  the  dandy-rigged  cutter 
Sabrina  of  54  tons,  under  H.  Freeman,  left  the  Thames 
on  a sealing  voyage,  with  instructions  to  push  as  far  to 
the  south  as  possible  in  the  hope  of  discovering  land  in 
a high  latitude.  The  little  squadron  was  provided  with 
three  chronometers  and  was  otherwise  well  equipped. 

After  spending  some  time  in  Chalky  Bay  in  the  South 
Island  of  New  Zealand,  where  the  crews  of  both  vessels 
were  in  a state  bordering  on  mutiny,  Balleny  sailed  on 
January  7th,  1839,  and  on  the  nth  entered  Perseverance 
Harbour,  Campbell  Island,  where  by  a curious  coin- 
cidence he  met  John  Biscoe  engaged  on  a sealing  voy- 
age in  the  Emma,  just  as  the  latter  had  met  James  Wed- 
dell in  Hobart  Town  when  performing  his  memorable 
circumnavigation.  Sailing  thence  on  January  17th,  the 
voyage  was  resumed  to  the  south,  and  Balleny,  getting  to 
the  south  of  Bellingshausen’s  track  on  the  27th,  reached 


1 68  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


the  Antarctic  circle  in  longitude  178°  E.,  on  the  29th. 
Field-ice  bounded  the  southern  horizon,  and  numerous 
bergs  were  in  sight.  On  February  1st  the  Eliza  Scott 
and  Sabrina  were  stopped  in  latitude  69°  S.,  longitude 
1720  E.,  by  a large  body  of  packed  ice.  They  did  not 
attempt  to  penetrate  the  pack,  but  worked  to  the  north- 
west along  its  edge  against  a strong  westerly  wind,  which 
they  had  not  expected  to  find  so  far  south.  No  previous 
voyagers  had  ever  got  so  far  south  in  these  longitudes. 
For  several  days  the  weather  was  thick  and  foggy, 
with  light  winds.  The  sea  was  discoloured ; there  were 
feathers  floating  about  and  many  seals  and  penguins 
were  seen,  while  whales  were  also  plentiful.  Little 
progress  was  made  and  except  the  ice  surrounding  the 
ships,  nothing  could  be  seen. 

On  February  9th,  1839,  8 a.  m.,  the  sky  cleared 

and  an  observation  for  longitude  was  obtained  which 
gave  the  position  as  164°  30'  E.  At  11  o’clock,  a dark 
appearance  was  noticed  to  the  southwest  and  the  sun 
continuing  to  shine  brightly,  allowed  an  observation 
for  latitude  to  be  made  at  noon,  giving  the  position  as 
66°  37'  S.,  while  the  appearance  noted  an  hour  previously 
was  seen  to  be  land.  A course  was  immediately  set 
for  the  land,  and  at  8 p.  m.  it  was  within  five  miles 
of  the  vessels,  showing  up  as  three  large  and  very  high 
islands,  with  a number  of  smaller  ones.  Next  day  the 
Eliza  Scott  succeeded  in  getting  to  within  a mile  of 
the  middle  island,  but  it  was  found  to  be  closely  invested 
with  ice  and  no  landing  possible.  Fog  soon  came  on  and 
continued  for  two  days,  with  occasional  clear  blinks.  A 
glimpse  of  the  land  obtained  in  one  of  these  showed  a 
mountain  of  tremendous  height,  estimated  by  Balleny  at 
12,000  feet.  On  February  12th  both  captains  made  an 


ENDERBY  BROTHERS  169 

attempt  to  land  in  the  Sabrina’s  boat  at  the  only  ac- 
cessible place  011  the  island  bearing  the  great  mountain, 
a beach  of  a few  feet  wide  which  was  uncovered  only 
for  a moment  as  each  wave  drew  back.  Balleny  de- 
scribes the  visit  tersely  and  without  any  attempt  at  pic- 
turesque description,  for  he  had  no  gift  of  language : 

“ Captain  Freeman  jumped  out  and  got  a few  stones, 
but  was  up  to  the  middle  in  water.  There  is  no  landing 
or  beach  on  this  land;  in  fact,  but  for  the  bare  rocks 
where  the  icebergs  had  broken  from,  we  should  scarce 
have  known  it  for  land  at  first,  but,  as  we  stood  in  for 
it,  we  plainly  perceived  smoke  arising  from  the  mountain 
tops.  It  is  evidently  volcanic,  as  the  specimens  of 
stones,  or  cinders,  will  prove.  The  cliffs  are  perpen- 
dicular, and  what  would  in  all  probability  have  been 
valleys  and  beaches  are  occupied  by  solid  blocks  of  ice. 
I could  not  see  a beach  or  harbour  or  anything  like  one.” 
The  schooner  and  cutter  held  on  their  course  to  the 
northwestward  and  saw  no  more  of  the  land.  There 
were  altogether  five  large  and  two  small  islands  to  which 
the  names  of  five  of  Mr.  Enderby’s  partners  in  the  cruise 
are  attached,  the  other  two  being  commemorated  in 
the  peaks.  The  names  given  in  Mr.  Enderby’s  paper  do 
not  correspond  exactly  with  those  on  the  Admiralty 
charts,  but  there  is  no  official  tribunal  to  decide  on  these 
matters  and  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  the  names  to  whom 
the  deserved  honours  were  paid  in  1839  were  G.  F. 
Young,  W.  Borradaile,  J.  W.  Buckle,  T.  Sturge,  W. 
Brown,  J.  Row,  and  W.  Beale,  together  with  Captain 
Freeman  of  the  Sabrina,  who  stands  godfather  to  the 
great  mountain  on  Young  Island,  where  he  landed. 
Fortunately  the  second  mate  of  the  Eliza  Scott,  named 
John  MacNab,  had  some  little  skill  with  the  pencil 


170  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

and  succeeded  in  making  a sketch  of  all  the  islands  of 
the  Balleny  group  from  a distance  of  about  nine  miles. 
In  this  sketch  the  most  prominent  features  are  the  lofty 
cone  of  Peak  Freeman  on  Young  Island  and  the  smoke 
rising  from  an  active  volcano  on  Buckle  Island.  Beale 
Pinnacle,  a rock  off  the  eastern  end  of  Borradaile  Island, 
is  described  as  rising  from  the  water  like  a lighthouse. 

The  course  westward  was  made  between  the  latitudes 
of  63°  and  65°  S.  without  any  incident  to  break  the 
usual  succession  of  icebergs  and  fogs  except  a supposed 
sight  of  land  on  February  26th,  which  was  afterwards 
believed  to  be  merely  fog  hanging  over  an  iceberg. 
Then  on  March  2nd,  the  ships  being  in  65°  S.  12 1°  E., 
land  was  sighted  to  the  south,  but  no  further  particulars 
are  given,  either  in  Balleny’s  log  or  in  that  of  William 
Moore  the  chief  mate  of  the  Eliza  Scott,  the  latter 
remarking  only  that  “ the  supposed  land  ” was  not  more 
than  one  mile  to  windward.  Next  day  an  attempt  was 
made  to  get  towards  the  land  through  the  ice,  but  the 
pack  was  too  heavy  to  penetrate,  and  although  the  “ ap- 
pearance of  land  ” was  logged  as  visible  beyond  the  ice  on 
two  occasions  that  day  it  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
very  decided.  Although  the  name  of  the  cutter  Sabrina 
has  been  given  to  an  appearance  of  land  at  this  point,  we 
cannot  look  upon  its  discovery  as  proved  by  the  vague 
references  made  by  the  explorers. 

On  March  13th  an  iceberg  about  300  feet  high  was 
passed  within  a quarter  of  a mile  in  61 0 S.  103 0 40'  E., 
the  weather  being  particularly  fine  and  calm.  About  20 
feet  up  the  side  of  this  a block  of  dark  stone,  about 
12  feet  high  and  6 feet  wide  embedded  in  the  ice,  was 
conspicuously  visible,  a circumstance  that  attracted  the 
special  attention  of  the  artist  mate  MacNab  and  led 


[ To  face  p.  1 70. 


ENDERBY  BROTHERS  171 

to  an  interesting  note  by  Charles  Darwin.  The  strong 
belief  of  Biscoe  that  all  Antarctic  ice  originated  at  sea 
led  that  explorer  to  ignore  or  explain  away  the  reports 
of  earth-stained  ice  made  by  Weddell  and  others,  but 
Darwin  points  out  that  a stone  had  once  before  been  seen 
on  an  iceberg  during  a sealing  cruise  by  a former  boat- 
swain of  H.  M.  S.  Beagle.  The  existence  of  these  em- 
bedded rocks  can  only  be  accounted  for  on  the  hypothesis 
of  the  origin  of  the  icebergs  as  land-ice,  and  Darwin 
points  out  that  the  block  seen  by  the  Eliza  Scott  must 
have  drifted  certainly  more  than  ioo  miles,  and  probably 
more  than  450  miles  from  the  land  of  its  origin,  while  it 
was  1400  miles  distant  from  the  nearest  certainly-known 
land,  that  of  Enderby. 

This  day  was  diversified  by  another  episode  which 
was  much  more  momentous  for  the  two  junior  mem- 
bers of  the  expedition  than  any  discovery  in  natural 
science.  The  veil  rises  for  a moment  from  the  social 
life  of  those  two  lonely  little  craft  tossing  amongst  the 
ice  on  the  very  verge  of  the  known  world,  but  it  falls 
again  so  quickly  that  we  can  picture  little  from  the 
glimpse.  “ This  morning  Captain  Freeman  came  on 
board  and  brought  the  boy  Smith  with  him  and  took  the 
boy  Juggins  on  board  the  cutter.”  We  can  only  specu- 
late whether  the  wretched  Smith  was  brought  on  board 
for  purposes  of  discipline  and  the  proud  Juggins  pro- 
moted to  his  place,  or  whether  the  miserable  Juggins  was 
condemned  for  some  dereliction  of  duty  to  the  smaller 
craft  and  fortune  smiled  on  the  happy  Smith.  A good 
deal  hinges  on  the  question  whether  the  boy  Smith  was 
identical  with  Smith  the  fisherman,  for  on  the  16th 
Moore  once  more  refers  to  the  life  on  board : 

“At  10  Smith,  the  fisherman,  being  at  the  tiller,  and 


172  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

it  getting  dark  and  all  hands  busy  shortening  sail,  the 
captain  conned  the  vessel,  intending  to  hail  the  cutter, 
when  giving  directions  to  Smith  to  starboard  and  port 
the  helm  as  required,  desired  him  to  answer  that  he 
(the  captain)  might  know  whether  he  heard  him  or  not, 
when  Smith  became  exceedingly  insolent  to  the  captain, 
and  at  last  let  go  the  tiller,  hove  the  tiller-rope  in  the 
captain’s  face  and  swore  that  he  would  not  take  the 
tiller  any  more  while  he  was  in  the  vessel,  and  was  so 
abuseful  that  the  captain  was  obliged  to  take  him  by  the 
neck  and  push  him  forward  and  beat  him  severely.”  A 
marginal  note  on  the  log,  probably  in  the  captain’s  hand, 
states  that  “ the  last  three  words  were  written  many  days 
afterwards  and  in  pure  malice.”  Next  day  we  are 
told  that  Smith  remained  below,  refusing  to  do  his 
duty,  and  a day  later  that  he  was  not  well.  There 
must  have  been  many  rough  episodes  in  the  strenuous 
life  of  those  vikings  of  the  south,  and  the  skippers  had  to 
be  men  of  action  ready  to  repress  insubordination  by 
methods  that  their  semi-mutinous  crews  could  under- 
stand. 

The  course  was  now  altered  to  a northerly  one  along 
the  95th  meridian  of  east  longitude,  and  until  the  ice  was 
left  behind  fine  displays  of  the  aurora  australis  were 
observed  every  night.  On  March  24th  a gale  rose  and 
the  Sabrina  was  evidently  in  distress,  burning  blue 
lights.  At  daybreak  next  morning  the  cutter  was  no- 
where to  be  seen  and  Balleny,  now  very  anxious  for  her 
safety,  had  as  much  as  he  could  do  to  enable  his  own 
ship  to  weather  the  storm.  A heavy  sea  broke  on  board 
staving  both  boats,  sweeping  everything  from  the  deck 
and  laying  the  vessel  on  her  beam-ends  so  that  for  ten 
minutes  she  seemed  to  be  settling  in  the  water;  but  the 


ENDERBY  BROTHERS 


i73 


stout  little  schooner  righted  herself  and  sustained  no 
serious  damage.  The  Sabrina  was  never  heard  of 
again.  By  September  17th  the  Eliza  Scott  was  safe 
once  more  in  the  port  of  London  in  time  to  report  the 
result  of  her  discoveries  to  Captain  James  Clark  Ross, 
who  was  on  the  point  of  sailing  with  the  Erebus  and 
Terror. 

Balleny’s  cruise  proved  for  the  first  time  the  exist- 
ence of  land  within  the  Antarctic  circle  south  of  New 
Zealand,  and  by  means  of  it  the  firm  of  Enderby  forged 
still  more  links  in  the  strong  chain  of  evidence  that 
either  the  edge  of  an  extensive  continent  or  a long  series 
of  islands  lay  to  the  south  of  the  Indian  Ocean  just 
within  or  on  the  Antarctic  circle,  portions  of  which 
appeared  in  the  Balleny  Islands  on  the  east,  Enderby 
Land  on  the  west,  and  at  Kemp  Land  and  possibly 
Sabrina  Land  between  the  two. 

In  1847  the  Messrs.  Enderby  obtained  from  the  British 
Government  a concession  for  the  exclusive  possession  of 
the  Auckland  Islands  as  a whaling  station,  and  the 
Southern  Whale  Fishery  Company  was  established.  At 
least  one  important  voyage  of  exploration  resulted,  but 
it  has  been  almost  lost  sight  of  by  the  unaccountable  loss 
of  the  documents  given  by  Mr.  Charles  Enderby  to  a 
member  of  the  Council  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society 
for  preservation  in  the  library.  In  mentioning  this  fact 
at  a meeting  of  the  Society  in  1858,  Mr.  Enderby  said  that 
in  February,  1850,  Captain  Tapsell  left  the  Aucklands  in 
the  ship  Brisk,  sighted  the  Balleny  Islands  and  proceeded 
thence  to  the  westward  as  far  as  the  meridian  of  1430  E. 
in  a considerably  higher  latitude  than  that  followed  by 
Wilkes,  and  without  sighting  any  land. 


CHAPTER  IX 


THE  DAWN  OF  THE  VICTORIAN  ERA 

“ . . . A closer  link 
Betwixt  us  and  the  crowning  race 

Of  those  that,  eye  to  eye,  shall  look 
On  knowledge;  under  whose  command 
Is  Earth  and  Earth’s,  and  in  their  hand 
Is  Nature  like  an  open  book.” 


HE  nineteenth  century  stands  by  itself,  set  apart 


from  all  the  centuries  of  history  which  went  before 
it  by  the  rapid  advance  of  natural  science  and  its 
applications  to  practical  ends. 

As  the  means  of  travel  were  perfected  the  motive  which 
led  to  exploration  changed,  and  while  for  the  first  thirty 
years  of  the  century  the  aims  of  explorers  were  not  dis- 
similar from  those  of  Columbus  and  Magellan,  during  the 
last  seventy  years  there  were  in  the  political  sense  no 
worlds  left  for  the  seafarer  to  conquer.  The  desirable 
temperate  lands  were  all  occupied  or  at  least  “ pegged 
out  ” by  European  nations,  and  the  great  trade  routes 
were  fairly  established  and  free  from  any  national 
restrictions. 

The  period  of  transition  between  1830  and  1840  led 
to  the  establishment  of  the  life  and  thought  of  to-day, 
to  the  manners  and  ideals  which  stamp  this  portion 
of  history  as  an  era  requiring  a name,  and  it  is  perhaps 
the  last  era  in  the  history  of  the  world  to  which  the  name 
of  any  sovereign  will  be  entirely  applicable.  The  era 


-Tennyson. 


THE  VICTORIAN  ERA  175 

was  one  during  which  in  science,  trade,  and  political 
ascendancy  the  United  Kingdom  became  and  remained 
greater  than  any  other  nation  of  the  world.  Towards 
the  end  other  great  Powers,  and  particularly  the  United 
States  and  Germany,  have  come  to  the  front  by  strides 
so  gigantic  as  to  make  it  practically  impossible  that 
any  one  Power  can  ever  again  be  so  far  ahead  of  the 
rest  as  Britain  was  in  the  zenith  of  the  Victorian  Era. 
This  is  not  the  place  to  discuss  the  causes  of  that  pre- 
eminence or  to  speculate  as  to  its  duration,  nor  can 
we  claim  the  special  field  of  the  present  volume  as  that 
in  which  the  preeminence  was  most  strikingly  displayed. 
Still  without  claiming  for  British  explorers  greater  dar- 
ing or  a stronger  sense  of  duty  or  a more  fervid 
patriotism  than  animated  the  explorers  of  other  nations, 
we  cannot  shut  our  eyes  to  the  fact  that  in  the  British 
subject  the  elements  are  so  kindly  mixed  as  to  have 
made  success  a tradition  of  the  flag. 

The  term  Victorian  Era  is  not  used  in  any  narrow  or 
merely  national  sense.  It  is  intended  to  cover  the  period 
following  the  scientific  renascence  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, which  was  restricted  to  no  country,  but  in  which 
one  nation  profited  by  and  improved  upon  the  thought 
and  work  of  another.  Partly  by  rivalry,  partly  by  co- 
operation they  made  of  modern  science  not  so  much  a 
finished  statue  as  a working  engine,  always  being  im- 
proved in  one  part  or  another. 

New  learned  bodies  which  expanded  and  multiplied 
with  the  specialisation  of  science  were  everywhere 
springing  into  existence  before  Queen  Victoria  ascended 
the  British  throne,  and  spurring  the  august  Academies 
and  Royal  Societies  out  of  their  ancient  calm.  The 
Paris  Geographical  Society  was  founded  in  1821,  that 


1 76  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

of  Berlin  in  1828,  and  the  Royal  Geographical  Society 
in  London  in  1830.  The  last  named  claimed  some  sort 
of  relationship  it  is  true  to  the  African  Association  of 
1788;  but  to  all  intents  and  purposes  it  was  new  in  scope 
and  in  enthusiasm.  The  German  gathering  of  Physicians 
and  Men  of  Science  which  met  periodically  in  different 
centres  for  the  purpose  of  stimulating  popular  interest 
in  the  study  of  Nature  had  recently  been  founded  and 
proved  a great  success.  Sir  David  Brewster  heard  of 
it,  visited  one  of  its  meetings,  and  returned  to  found  in 
1831,  with  other  active  scientific  men  full  of  the  growing 
enthusiasm  for  natural  knowledge,  the  British  Associa- 
tion for  the  Advancement  of  Science.  From  the  outset 
this  Association,  though  sneered  at  by  not  a few  of  the 
older  hide-bound  professors  of  the  earlier  period,  set 
about  the  exhaustive  discussion  of  pressing  problems  in 
pure  and  applied  science. 

Gradually  in  every  country  of  Europe  and  in  the 
United  States  the  need  of  a more  exact  and  complete 
study  of  the  laws  of  terrestrial  magnetism  had  been 
recognised,  and  a period  of  rapid  advance  in  magnetic 
observation  set  in,  accompanied  by  improvements  of  the 
instruments  employed  in  the  field  or  in  the  observatory, 
and  of  the  methods  of  calculation.  The  problem  pre- 
sented by  terrestrial  magnetism  is  by  no  means  entirely 
solved  even  now ; at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury it  could  hardly  be  propounded.  In  1836  Humboldt 
declared  that  no  other  branch  of  science  had  advanced 
so  far  in  a single  generation. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  tell  anyone  now-a-days  that 
poetic  phrases  such  as  “ true  as  the  needle  to  the  pole  ” 
do  not  represent  the  fact.  It  is  generally  known  that  the 
freely  poised  magnetic  needle  points  in  a different  direc- 


THE  VICTORIAN  ERA 


l77 


tion  in  every  place,  and  that  the  direction  varies  in  any 
one  place  from  time  to  time.  Some  of  these  variations 
are  temporary  and  irregular,  partaking  of  the  nature 
of  storms,  others  are  steady  and  uniform,  admitting  of 
ready  calculation  and  prediction  when  a sufficient  number 
of  data  is  known. 

The  difference  between  sciences  based  on  observation 
and  those  based  on  experiment,  is  that  in  the  former  no 
short  cut  is  possible  to  arrive  at  the  theory  binding 
together  all  that  has  been  discovered,  and  pointing  the 
way  to  all  that  remains  to  be  found  out.  The  toil  of 
hundreds,  or  it  may  be  thousands  of  observers  is  neces- 
sary for  scores  of  years,  or  it  may  be  for  centuries  before 
the  raw  material  has  been  accumulated  in  sufficient  quan- 
tity for  the  theoretical  mathematician  to  deduce  and  prove 
his  simplifying  theory.  It  was  so  in  the  case  of  astron- 
omy, and  it  has  been  so  in  the  case  of  terrestrial  magnet- 
ism, and  it  is  so  in  the  case  of  meteorology. 

The  scientific  study  of  magnetism  began  in  the 
spacious  days  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  when  Dr.  Gilbert  of 
Colchester  proved  the  properties  of  the  lodestone  and 
stated  many  fundamental  facts  as  to  the  dip  of  a freely 
suspended  needle  toward  the  horizon  and  its  deviation 
horizontally  from  the  meridian  or  north  and  south  line. 
Observers  in  all  parts  of  the  world  had  kept  records  for 
longer  or  shorter  times  which  showed  that  the  compass 
needle  pointed  to  the  east  or  west  of  north  in  almost 
every  place,  and  that  the  amount  of  its  deviation  from 
the  true  north  was  progressively  changing.  Thus  Gil- 
bert had  found  in  1576  that  the  compass  needle  pointed 
eleven  degrees  east  of  north  in  London  and  year  by  year 
this  easterly  declination  diminished  until  in  1652  the 
needle  pointed  due  north — the  poets  of  the  middle  of  the 

12 


17B  SIEGE  OF  TEIE  SOUTH  POLE 

seventeenth  century  being  right  enough  in  symbolising 
fidelity  by  the  true-pointing  compass— but  year  by  year 
the  declination  continued  to  increase,  this  time  toward 
the  west,  until  in  1815  it  came  to  a maximum  of  24^° 
West  of  North,  the  compass  needle  actually  pointing 
N.W.  by  N f N.  Since  that  time  it  has  been  steadily 
returning  toward  true  north.  These  were  facts  so  prom- 
inent that  the  roughest  observations  served  to  make  them 
plain.  It  was  only  when  the  scattered  data  were  col- 
lected and  critically  compared  that  the  difficulty  of  arriv- 
ing at  a general  statement  became  obvious. 

The  astronomer  Halley  it  will  be  remembered  had 
taken  command  of  a ship  of  war  in  1700,  when  he  con- 
ducted the  first  scientific  expedition  under  the  British  or 
any  other  flag  to  study  magnetic  declination  in  the 
North  and  South  Atlantic.  The  result  was  to  enable 
him  to  produce  the  first  magnetic  chart  on  which  he  had 
the  happy  inspiration  to  draw  curves  connecting  all 
places  where  the  magnetic  declination  had  equal  values. 
This  was  the  first  use  of  that  invaluable  cartographical 
method  of  contour  lines  which  has  since  proved,  one 
might  almost  say,  the  foundation  of  the  science  of 
geographical  distribution,  for  it  enables  all  phenomena, 
visible  or  invisible,  to  be  represented  on  maps  if  they  are 
capable  of  being  measured  and  expressed  in  figures. 

Following  Halley’s  advice  ship-masters  continued  to 
note  the  variation  of  their  compasses  from  time  to  time 
and  to  place  their  results  on  record,  but  for  more  than 
half  a century  these  results  were  so  chaotic  as  to  be 
practically  valueless.  Then  Captain  Flinders  discovered 
that  the  iron  of  a ship  affected  the  compasses  in  a different 
way  when  the  ship  s head  pointed  in  different  directions, 
so  that  a great  part  of  the  observed  variation  was  simply 


THE  VICTORIAN  ERA 


179 


due  to  changes  in  local  attraction.  A method  was 
eventually  devised  by  the  English  physicist,  Barlow,  for 
getting  rid  of  this  source  of  error  by  compensating 
masses  of  iron  suitably  arranged  near  the  compasses,  and 
the  observations  were  thus  improved  in  scientific  value. 
The  instruments  were  rough  and  the  methods  crude  until 
the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  when  terrestrial 
magnetism  assumed  an  importance  never  before  attained. 

Humboldt  on  his  unparalleled  scientific  journey  in 
South  America  had  paid  special  attention  to  magnetic 
work,  though  he  neglected  no  branch  of  human  knowl- 
edge— being  as  he  was  the  last  man  who  could  grasp 
the  whole  of  the  rapidly  widening  sheaf  of  natural 
science.  The  observatories  he  subsequently  established 
in  Europe  showed  that  the  minor  perturbations  of  the 
magnetic  needle  were  simultaneous  over  vast  areas  of 
the  Earth’s  surface,  and  suggested  the  magnificent  con- 
ception that  their  origin  was  not  local  but  cosmical,  due 
to  some  influence  outside  the  Earth  altogether,  to  the 
variations  of  which  all  parts  of  the  globe  responded  at 
the  same  moment.  On  his  geological  expedition  to 
Siberia  in  1829  Humboldt,  with  the  permission  and  indeed 
the  active  assistance  of  the  Russian  Emperor,  established 
a chain  of  magnetic  observing  stations  from  Moscow 
throughout  Siberia  to  Peking  and  across  the  Pacific  in 
Sitka.  Distinguished  physicists  in*  the  United  States, 
amongst  whom  Bache  deserves  to  be  specially  mentioned, 
carried  similar  observations  across  America. 

The  great  Norwegian  physicist  Hansteen,  and  the 
Russian  explorer  Erman,  had  conducted  magnetic  sur- 
veys throughout  Siberia,  north  into  the  Arctic  circle,  and 
round  the  world  through  the  Pacific  and  Atlantic 
Oceans,  bringing  together  an  immense  amount  of  new 


i8o  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


data  which  Hansteen  utilised  in  his  great  work  on  the 
Magnetism  of  the  Earth,  published  in  1819.  Like  Halley, 
he  endeavoured  to  find  what  possible  arrangement  of 
magnets,  hypothletically  supposed  to  exist  within  the 
Earth,  and  to  shift  their  position  from  time  to  time,  would 
account  for  the  varying  phenomena  observed  on  the  sur- 
face and  enable  them  to  be  predicted  to  the  advancement 
of  science  and  the  advantage  of  navigation.  Barlow, 
in  1833,  also  compiled  an  elaborate  chart  of  magnetic 
declination  and  followed  in  the  quest  of  a possible  ex- 
planation, trying  to  fix  what  number  of  “ magnetic 
poles  ” existed  on  the  Earth  or  wandered  over  its  sur- 
face. To  him  the  problem  appeared  so  insoluble  that 
neither  four  nor  any  number  of  poles  were  sufficient  to 
account  for  the  observations,  but  he  thought  that  “ there 
is  no  determinate  pole  to  which  all  needles  point,  but  that 
each  place  has  its  own  particular  pole  and  polar  revolu- 
tion governed  probably  by  some  one  general  but  unknown 
cause.” 

Meanwhile,  the  British  Association,  in  the  pride  of  its 
youth,  was  appointing  committees  to  report  on  the  exist- 
ing state  of  knowledge  with  regard  to  all  branches  of 
science,  and  magnetism  received  a full  share  of  attention. 
Edward  Sabine,  an  enthusiastic  physicist  rapidly  gaining 
promotion  as  an  Artillery  officer  in  virtue  of  his  scien- 
tific discoveries,  had  already  carried  out  magnetic  and 
geodetic  surveys  in  many  distant  parts  of  the  world, 
from  the  Arctic  regions  to  the  poisonous  swamps  of 
West  Africa.  James  Clark  Ross,  a no  less  enthusiastic 
naval  officer  and  tried  Arctic  explorer,  had  had  the  proud 
experience  of  localising  the  North  Magnetic  Pole — using 
that  name  for  the  point  at  which  the  compass  ceased  to 
have  any  directive  force,  but  where  the  freely  suspended 


General  Sir  Edward  Sabine,  K.C.B. 
(From  a painting  in  the  rooms  of  the  Royal  Society  ) 


[ To  face  /.  180. 


THE  VICTORIAN  ERA  181 

needle  pointed  with  its  north-seeking  end  vertically  down- 
wards. The  Rev.  Prof.  Humphry  Lloyd,  of  Dublin,  had 
perfected  instruments  for  magnetic  observations  and  made 
many  important  researches  on  these  subjects.  All  three 
were  associated  on  one  of  the  British  Association  com- 
mittees, the  work  of  which  consisted  of  making  a mag- 
netic survey  of  the  British  Isles  between  1833  and  1837, 
proceeding  on  the  sound  policy  of  beginning  at  home. 

At  the  same  time  in  1835  Sabine  presented  to  the  Asso- 
ciation a full  abstract  of  Hansteen’s  “ Magnetism  of  the 
Earth.”  Two  years  previously,  Mr.  S.  Hunter  Christie, 
of  Cambridge,  in  a survey  of  the  existing  views  as  to 
the  magnetic  theory  had  introduced  for  the  first  time  to 
most  British  readers  the  name  of  a German  mathematical 
physicist,  Johann  Karl  Friedrich  Gauss,  who  held 
original  views  on  terrestrial  magnetism,  as  to  which  the 
Cambridge  don  pronounced  an  opinion  so  guarded  that 
whether  the  views  in  question  were  ultimately  approved 
or  buried  in  oblivion,  his  judgment  would  appear  to  have 
been  justified  by  the  event. 

In  1823  Johann  Kaspar  Horner,  who  had  sailed  round 
the  world  with  Krusenstern  as  magnetic  and  meteoro- 
logical observer,  revised  and  greatly  improved  a map  by 
the  Swedish  investigator  Wilcke  showing  lines  of  equal 
magnetic  dip  for  the  whole  Earth  so  far  as  observations 
went.  This  made  it  possible  for  Sabine  to  present  to 
the  British  Association  a Report  of  epoch-making  im- 
portance on  the  Distribution  of  Magnetic  Intensity. 
The  fact  that  the  total  intensity  of  magnetic  force  varied 
from  place  to  place  had  been  known  for  some  time,  but 
until  Sabine’s  experienced  eye  had  inspected  and  dis- 
cussed the  records  no  systematic  attempt  had  been  made 
to  place  these  variations  on  a chart. 


1 82  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


Not  until  1837  had  it  been  possible  to  present  in  a com- 
parable and  trustworthy  form  the  data  of  all  three  mag- 
netic elements — the  declination  or  degree  of  variation  of 
the  needle  from  the  true  north,  the  dip  or  inclination  of 
the  needle  to  the  horizon,  and  the  total  intensity  of  the 
magnetic  force.  The  time  was  opportune,  and  the  man 
was  ready  whose  genius  and  training  enabled  him  to  com- 
bine these  three  elements,  each  elaborated  by  a brilliant 
specialist  from  the  isolated  labour  of  hundreds  of  observ- 
ers, into  one  stately  and  harmonious  theory.  It  would  be 
hopeless  to  attempt  to  describe  the  theoretical  reasoning 
of  Gauss  in  a popular  book,  and  in  this  volume  the  theory 
of  terrestrial  magnetism  concerns  us  only  in  so  far  as  it 
was  an  incentive  to  Antarctic  exploration.  It  must  there- 
fore suffice  to  say  that  Gauss  deduced  a formula  by  which 
he  could  calculate  the  magnetic  elements  for  any  spot  on 
the  Earth’s  surface  at  any  time,  and  so  far  as  observations 
were  available  by  which  this  formula  could  be  checked,  it 
stood  the  test  triumphantly.  Amongst  other  conse- 
quences of  the  theory  it  was  shown  that  a south  magnetic 
pole  similar  to  the  north  magnetic  pole  found  by  James 
Clark  Ross  in  Boothia  Felix  must  exist  in  or  near  the 
latitude  of  66°  S.  and  the  longitude  146°  E.  It  would 
naturally  be  a triumph  for  the  theory  if  the  south  mag- 
netic pole  were  discovered  in  the  region  assigned,  for 
the  stations  where  magnetic  observations  were  available 
in  the  southern  hemisphere  were  so  few  that  there,  if 
anywhere,  an  error  in  calculation  would  be  most  likely 
to  arise. 

The  importance  of  obtaining  observations  to  fill  up 
the  gaps  in  the  magnetic  maps  had  often  been  urged,  but 
during  the  years  from  1833  to  1837  the  matter  was 
receiving  more  and  more  earnest  attention.  The  scien- 


THE  VICTORIAN  ERA  183 

tific  mind  was  fully  awake  to  the  value  of  completing  the 
observational  basis  of  theory;  the  practical  intelligence 
of  the  country  did  not  fail  to  grasp  the  vast  possibilities 
of  improved  navigation.  In  the  “ thirties  ” a voyage  to 
India,  to  Australia,  where  trade  was  increasing  with  the 
rising  colony  of  New  South  Wales,  above  all  to  China, 
was  a very  serious  matter  and  the  risk  of  shipwreck  was 
great.  Anything  which  tended  to  reduce  that  risk  was 
to  be  welcomed  eagerly.  Steam  navigation  was  begin- 
ning and  the  possibility  of  constructing  ships  entirely  of 
iron  promised  an  unprecedented  expansion  of  ship-build- 
ing. The  first  iron  steamer  to  attempt  a voyage  in  the 
Irish  Sea  had  been  nearly  lost  on  account  of  her  com- 
passes proving  useless ; but  Mr.  G.  B.  Airy — for  so  many 
years  Astronomer  Royal — after  devoting  much  study  to 
the  question  had  shown  how  the  disturbing  effect  of  an 
iron  ship  could  be  practically  neutralised.  For  a long 
voyage  therefore  the  chief  danger  of  treachery  in  the 
compasses  was  reduced  to  the  uncertainty  of  the  magnetic 
conditions  of  the  Earth  itself,  especially  in  such  places  as 
the  far  south  of  the  Indian  Ocean  where  the  declination 
changed  rapidly. 

The  world  is  wide  and  the  interests  of  science  are 
many  and  diverse,  so  that  it  is  impossible  to  preserve  a 
strict  chronological  order  in  describing  the  steps  which 
led  to  the  great  era  of  Antarctic  exploration.  We  are  not 
wrong,  however,  in  saying  that  this  revival  was  a case  of 
magnetic  attraction,  the  other  causes  being  combined 
with  that  in  a minor  degree. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  British  Association  in  Dublin 
in  1835  many  important  magnetic  papers  were  read. 

Robert  Were  Fox  described  his  newly  invented  instru- 
ment for  measuring  the  dip,  which  was  capable  of  being 


1 84  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

used  at  sea;  Sabine  presented  his  translation  of  Han- 
steen’s  great  work  and  referred  to  the  blanks  which  re- 
mained to  be  filled,  and  the  committee  on  Magnetism  in 
set  terms  adopted  the  following  recommendation : 

“ That  a representation  be  made  to  Government  of  the 
importance  of  sending  an  expedition  into  the  Antarctic 
regions,  for  the  purpose  of  making  observations  and  dis- 
coveries in  various  branches  of  Science,  as  Geography, 
Hydrography,  Natural  History  and  especially  Magnetism 
with  a view  to  determine  precisely  the  place  of  the  south 
magnetic  pole  or  poles,  and  the  direction  and  inclination 
of  the  magnetic  force  in  those  regions.” 

The  Council  of  the  Association  assumed  a very  cautious 
attitude,  reserving  any  action  until  they  had  seen  the 
result  of  the  report  on  magnetic  intensity  which  they 
called  upon  Sabine  to  prepare.  To  this  request  he  re- 
sponded with  splendid  effect,  but  during  the  two  years 
while  the  Report  was  preparing  he  could  not  remain 
silent  as  to  the  pressing  need  for  an  expedition,  and  we 
know  that  he  discussed  the  matter  earnestly  with  Baron 
Humboldt,  then  the  first  man  of  science  in  Europe.  On 
April  22nd,  1836,  while  the  dispatch  of  an  American  ex- 
pedition was  a matter  of  lively  dispute  in  Congress,  and 
while  a great  French  expedition  to  the  Pacific  was  form- 
ing as  a dream  of  ethnographical  research  in  the  mind  of 
Dumont  D Urville,  Humboldt  under  the  strong  impres- 
sion created  by  conversations  with  Sabine,  addressed  a 
weighty  letter  to  the  President  of  the  Royal  Society,  at 
that  time  H.  R.  H.  the  Duke  of  Sussex.  This  letter  ap- 
pealed for  the  establishment  throughout  the  British  Em- 
pire of  a series  of  magnetic  observatories  similar  to  those 
which  the  Russian  Emperor  had  established  across 
Siberia.  Committees  were  appointed  to  report  upon  the 


Baron  von  Humboldt. 


[To  face  p.  184. 


THE  VICTORIAN  ERA  185 

letter  and  to  draw  up  plans  for  the  proposed  establish- 
ments; but  difficulties  and  delays  of  many  kinds  arose 
and  for  a couple  of  years  things  made  but  little  progress. 
The  Royal  Society  applied  to  the  Government  for  funds  to 
purchase  magnetic  instruments  early  in  1837,  and  money 
was  at  once  granted.  Then  some  trouble  arose  as  to 
what  instruments  were  to  be  bought.  Many  of  the 
British  authorities  looked  with  distrust  on  the  new  forms 
of  apparatus  introduced  by  Gauss  and  used  at  continental 
observatories,  and  while  these  were  being  tested  at  Green- 
wich Observatory  the  months  and  years  were  slipping 
past.  A contemporary,  evidently  a man  of  high  author- 
ity, writing  in  the  Quarterly  Review  a few  years  later 
states  that : 

“ While  thus  in  abeyance  a movement  from  another 
quarter  gave  a decisive  turn  to  the  whole  project,  by 
striking  at  once  an  outline  so  full  and  sweeping  as  to  meet 
all  the  exigencies  of  the  case.”  This  movement  was  the 
long  delayed  action  of  the  British  Association. 

During  the  period  when  both  the  bodies  representing 
natural  science  as  a whole  were  deliberating  and  delay- 
ing, events  were  moving  forward.  The  American  Ex- 
ploring Expedition  was  decided  upon,  with  Antarctic  re- 
search as  a large  part  of  its  programme.  Lieutenant 
Wilkes  of  the  United  States  Navy  came  to  London  to 
buy  magnetic  and  nautical  instruments,  and  a notice  prob- 
ably derived  directly  from  him  and  written  by  Captain 
Washington,  R.  N.,  then  secretary  of  the  Royal  Geo- 
graphical Society,  appeared  in  the  Journal  of  that  society 
for  1836.  It  gave  a brief  outline  of  the  American  plans, 
stated  that  the  expedition  would  probably  start  in  the 
Spring  of  1837,  and  welcomed  in  the  warmest  possible 
way  the  accession  of  the  United  States  to  the  number  of 


1 86  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


the  great  exploring  nations  of  the  world.  Captain  Wash- 
ington was  in  close  and  constant  communication  with  the 
Paris  Geographical  Society,  and  transmitted  to  it  all  the 
information  he  received  as  to  the  forthcoming  expedi- 
tions; but  as  he  could  not  stir  his  own  Council  to  any 
active  steps  toward  competition  with  the  foreign  expe- 
dition, the  idea  of  cooperation  could  hardly  yet  be  pro- 
posed. 

Early  in  1837  an  anonymous  pamphlet  signed  A.  Z. 
appeared  in  the  form  of  a letter  to  the  President  and 
Council  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society  on  the  sub- 
ject of  Antarctic  Discovery.  This  was  obviously  the 
work  of  Captain  Washington,  and  was  indeed  practically 
acknowledged  by  him  a few  years  later.  The  pamphlet 
contained  an  able  summary  of  Antarctic  exploration  with 
a map  showing  the  tracks  of  Cook,  Biscoe,  Weddell,  Mor- 
rell, and  for  the  first  time  on  any  English  chart  the  track 
of  Bellingshausen  also.  It  contained  a fervid  appeal  to 
British  patriotism  suggested  by  the  announcement  of  the 
approaching  American  Expedition,  and  urged  the  Coun- 
cil of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society  to  come  forward 
and  press  upon  Government  the  necessity  for  a national 
expedition,  or  if  need  were  to  cooperate  with  the  spirited 
London  merchants  in  fitting  out  a private  expedition  to 
the  farthest  south.  The  appeal  was  supported  by  three  ar- 
guments : the  acquisition  of  scientific  facts,  the  commer- 
cial results  likely  to  accrue  from  the  revival  of  sealing 
in  the  Southern  Ocean,  and  the  credit  of  the  country  as 
a pioneer  of  discovery.  The  letter  of  Humboldt  was  re- 
ferred to  and  it  was  asserted  that: 

“ All  Europe  looks  to  this  country  to  solve  the  problem 
of  Terrestrial  Magnetism;  and  all  Europe,  nay  all  civi- 
lised nations,  would  unanimously  point  to  that  individual 


THE  VICTORIAN  ERA  187 

who  has  already  planted  the  red  cross  of  England  on  one 
of  the  northern  Magnetic  Poles,  as  the  man  best  fitted  to 
be  the  leader  of  an  expedition,  sent  out  for  such  a 
purpose/' 

This  was  the  first  suggestion  in  print  of  what  must 
have  been  an  understood  matter  amongst  the  promoters 
of  the  expedition,  that  James  Clark  Ross  was  the  natural 
and  indeed  the  inevitable  commander.  The  fervour  of 
the  appeal  to  patriotism  may  be  judged  by  two  quota- 
tions from  A.  Z.'s  letter: 

“ Oh ! let  it  not  be  said  that  more  than  half  a century 
elapsed  since  our  immortal  countryman  Cook  sacrificed 
his  life  in  the  cause  of  discovery,  and  that  no  step  was 
taken  to  follow  up  the  glorious  track  in  which  he  led 
the  way, — that  all  within  the  Polar  circle  still  remains 
a blank  on  our  charts ; — nay,  infinitely  more  to  our 
disgrace,  that  we,  who  date  a thousand  years  of  naval 
supremacy,  allowed  a nation  but  of  yesterday,  albeit  gi- 
gantic in  her  infancy,  to  snatch  from  us  our  birth-right 
on  the  ocean,  and  to  pluck  the  laurels  that  have  been 
planted  and  watered  by  the  toils  of  our  seamen.” 

“ I . . . conclude  with  the  earnest  hope  that  through 
your  exertions  my  wishes  may  be  realised,  and  that  ere 
long  the  Southern  Cross  may  shine  over  an  expedition 
sailing  to  the  Polar  Seas — that  Cross  sung  by  Dante  and 
Camoens  of  old,  which  has  served  as  a banner  in  a far 
more  sacred  cause — that  cross  which  by  its  position 
points  out  the  hour  of  night  to  the  Indian  wandering  o'er 
the  pathless  desert  of  Atacama,  or  the  mariners  plough- 
ing the  trackless  ocean — that  Cross  which  brightly 
shone  o'er  Diaz  and  Columbus  and  Vasco  da  Gama — 
and  that  Cross  which  I ardently  hope  will  once  again 
shine  o'er  the  4 Meteor  Flag  of  England,'  proudly  wav- 


1 88  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

ing  o’er  Antarctic  land,  discovered  by  the  zeal  and  in- 
trepidity of  British  seamen.” 

No  direct  result  followed  the  effort  of  A.  Z.,  the  Royal 
Geographical  Society  remained  impervious  to  the  ap- 
peals of  its  secretary,  seconded  as  these  no  doubt  were  by 
Mr.  Enderby,  and  so  it  had  no  part  in  the  great  era  of 
Antarctic  research.  Dumont  D’Urville  who  was  on  the 
point  of  sailing  with  a French  expedition,  part  of  whose 
programme  was  to  attain  a high  southern  latitude,  trans- 
lated the  letter  for  the  Paris  Geographical  Society  and 
doubtless  laid  to  heart  its  patriotic  appeals  mutatis  mutan- 
dis ....  The  dispatch  of  Balleny  on  his  southern  cruise 
which  has  already  been  described  was  also  possibly  in 
part  a result  of  the  letter. 

The  British  Association,  meeting  at  Liverpool  in  1837, 
received  Sabine’s  great  Report  on  the  variations  of  Mag- 
netic Intensity,  in  the  course  of  which  he  again  strongly 
urged  the  dispatch  of  an  Antarctic  expedition.  He 
quoted  a letter  from  Professor  Hansteen  who  said  that 
the  poor  Norwegian  nation  had  through  its  Storthing 
voted  a handsome  sum  towards  a magnetic  expedition 
into  Siberia  in  the  very  session  in  which  they  had  refused 
a grant  for  a new  royal  palace  in  Christiania,  and  this 
being  so  it  was  not  too  much  to  expect  the  wealthy  Brit- 
ish nation  to  make  itself  responsible  for  a magnetic  sur- 
vey of  the  whole  southern  part  of  the  Earth.  Sabine 
concluded  by  saying  that  there  was  a naval  officer  avail- 
able eminently  fitted  to  be  the  leader  “ and  if  fitting  instru- 
ments make  fitting  times,  none  surely  can  be  better  than 
the  present.” 

In  May,  1838,  the  Royal  Society  appointed  a committee 
on  mathematics  and  physics  to  deliberate  further  on  the 
question  of  magnetic  observatories  and  a South  Polar 


THE  VICTORIAN  ERA 


189 

voyage ; but  took  no  action  until  the  British  Association, 
at  last  fully  committed  to  the  enterprise,  had  taken  the 
decisive  step.  At  the  Newcastle  meeting  of  the  Associa- 
tion in  August,  1838,  Captain  Washington  had  read  a 
paper  on  Antarctic  Discovery  to  the  Geographical  Section 
(which  that  year  had  an  independent  existence  for  the 
first  time,  though  many  years  elapsed  before  it  met  again) 
in  terms  very  similar  to  and  in  parts  identical  with  the  let- 
ter of  A.  Z.  It  is  not  likely  that  it  produced  much  effect 
on  “ Her  Majesty’s  Parliament  of  Science,”  as  some  one 
christened  the  Association  at  this  its  first  meeting  in 
Queen  Victoria’s  reign ; because  the  Association  through 
its  Council  had  already  decided  to  act,  and  had  drawn  up 
a full  and  sufficient  expression  of  the  demands  of  the  lead- 
ing scientific  men  of  the  day.  A committee  consisting  of 
Sir  John  Herschel,  and  Professors  Whewell,  Peacock  and 
Lloyd  was  appointed  to  lay  before  Government  a 
memorial  embodying  the  resolutions  passed  by  the  As- 
sociation. This  memorial  was  the  charter  of  the  expedi- 
tion which  resulted  from  its  adoption  and  we  may  quote 
the  three  most  important  resolutions  it  contained: 

“ Resolved,  1.  That  the  British  Association  views  with 
high  interest  the  system  of  simultaneous  magnetic  obser- 
vations which  has  been  for  some  time  carried  on  in  Ger- 
many and  various  parts  of  Europe,  and  the  important 
results  to  which  it  has  already  led;  and  that  they  con- 
sider it  highly  desirable  that  similar  series  of  observations, 
regularly  continued  in  correspondence  with  and  in  ex- 
tension of  these,  should  be  instituted  in  various  parts  of 
the  British  dominions. 

“ 2.  That  this  Association  considers  the  following  lo- 
calities as  particularly  important : Canada,  Ceylon, 

St.  Helena,  Van  Diemen’s  Land,  and  Mauritius,  or  the 


1 9o  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

Cape  of  Good  Hope ; and  that  they  are  willing  to  supply 
instruments  for  their  use. 

• • * » » 

“4.  That  the  Association  considers  it  highly  impor- 
tant that  the  deficiency,  yet  existing  in  our  knowledge  of 
terrestrial  magnetism  in  the  southern  hemisphere,  should 
be  supplied  by  observations  of  the  magnetic  direction 
and  intensity,  especially  in  the  high  southern  latitudes  be- 
tween the  meridians  of  New  Holland  and  Cape  Horn; 
and  they  desire  strongly  to  recommend  to  Her  Majesty's 
Government  the  appointment  of  a naval  expedition  ex- 
pressly directed  to  that  object.” 

The  committee  lost  no  time  in  approaching  Govern- 
ment for  on  September  3rd  the  Prime  Minister,  Lord  Mel- 
bourne, wrote  making  an  appointment  to  receive  them  on 
November  10th.  On  that  day  some  informal  conversa- 
tion took  place,  the  presentation  of  the  memorial  being 
postponed  to  November  29th,  when  the  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer  was  also  present.  The  Prime  Minister  re- 
ferred the  memorial  to  the  Royal  Society,  then  as  now, 
the  acknowledg  d advisor  of  the  Government  on  all  sci- 
entific matters,  and  it  seems  to  have  excited  some  surprise 
at  the  time  that  the  President  and  Council  of  the  ancient 
society  “ casting  behind  them  every  feeling  but  an  earnest 
desire  to  render  available  to  science  the  ancient  and  es- 
tablished credit  of  their  institution,"  warmly  supported  the 
representations  of  the  young  Association  which  had 
rushed  in  where  the  more  august  body  hesitated  to  tread. 

All  was  now  plain  sailing.  Lord  Melbourne  decided 
on  the  despatch  of  an  expedition,  the  Lords  of  the  Ad- 
miralty set  apart  two  ships  well  suited  for  the  purpose,  the 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  supplied  ample  funds,  the 
Royal  Society  appointed  a Committee  on  Meteorology 


THE  VICTORIAN  ERA 


191 


and  Physics  which  drew  up  an  admirable  programme  of 
scientific  work,  and  before  the  American  expedition  had 
reached  the  southern  ice,  though  after  D'Urville  had 
completed  his  appointed  exploration  in  the  Antarctic  re- 
gions, the  British  expedition  was  being  fitted  out. 

The  complete  scheme  sanctioned  by  Government  in- 
cluded the  establishment  of  magnetic  observatories  at 
Toronto,  St.  Helena,  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  Hobart 
Town,  which  were  to  remain  in  activity  during  the  period 
of  the  Antarctic  cruise  so  as  to  obtain  simultaneous  obser- 
vations over  a large  part  of  the  southern  hemisphere.  The 
scheme  was  thought  out  completely  and  full  instructions 
drafted  by  the  hearty  cooperation  of  the  whole  scientific 
world.  The  British  expedition  differed  from  the  others 
already  in  the  field  by  the  singleness  of  its  aim  and  the 
perfect  adaptation  of  the  means  employed  to  secure  the 
ends  intended.  No  doubt  the  rivalry  between  the  three 
expeditions  made  each  the  keener  in  its  work;  but  un- 
fortunately it  went  too  far  to  be  altogether  beneficial  from 
the  point  of  view  of  the  advancement  of  science.  Had 
the  three  great  expeditions  of  France,  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain  been  arranged  to  act  simultaneously 
and  in  concert,  with  similar  equipment  and  according  to 
a 'common  plan,  the  results  would  unquestionably  have 
been  far  greater  than  those  wrhich  were  actually  obtained. 
There  would  also  have  been  less  room  for  the  unfortu- 
nate criticism  by  each  commander  of  the  action  of  his 
contemporaries  and  their  predecessors,  a criticism  which 
degenerated  into  personal  charges  of  professional  incom- 
petence of  a very  painful  kind,  and  somewhat  obscured 
the  substantial  gains  to  human  knowledge  contributed  by 
the  various  expeditions. 

To  make  it  clear  how  the  four  expeditions  were  en- 


i9z  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

gaged  the  dates  between  which  each  was  in  the  field  may 
be  set  down  in  the  form  of  a diagram,  reference  to  which 
is  advisable  when  reading  the  narrative  of  each  cruise. 
The  diagram  gives  a vertical  line  for  each  month  of 
the  six  years,  and  a double  horizontal  line  is  drawn  for 
each  expedition  across  the  months  occupied  by  the  cruise 
from  the  date  of  leaving  the  home  port  to  that  of  return- 
ing. The  time  spent  in  the  Antarctic  regions  is  distin- 
guished by  solid  black.  It  will  be  observed  that  the 
French  expedition  was  in  Antarctic  waters  in  1837-38 
and  again  in  1839-40;  the  American  expedition  in  1838- 
39  and  1839-40;  Balleny’s  private  voyage  took  place  in 
1838-39 ; and  the  British  expedition  spent  the  three  south- 
ern summers  1840-41,  1841-42  and  1842-43  in  active  polar 
work. 

All  three  expeditions  owed  much  to  the  revival  in  the 
study  of  Nature  which  affected  all  lands  alike ; but  each 
had  its  own  special  characteristics,  depending  largely  on 
the  individuality  of  the  commander.  Thus  each  must  be 
described  separately  and  it  may  be  that  in  touching  on 
the  points  of  contact — points  unfortunately  that  caused  a 
good  deal  of  friction — some  repetition  of  facts  will  arise. 
Each  expedition  gave  occasion  to  numerous  feats  of  en- 
durance, each  abounded  in  hairbreadth  escapes  and  in 
opportunities  for  the  display  of  consummate  seamanship, 
and  although  success  did  not  smile  equally  upon  the  three 
it  is  matter  for  congratulation  that  none  met  with  disaster 
but  every  one  achieved  something  for  the  honour  of  its 
flag. 


Synoptic  Diagram  of  the  Early  Victorian  Expeditions. 


Note. — Each  vertical  column  represents  a month  ; the  horizontal  bands  show  the  duration  of  the  expeditions  by  the 
number  of  months  they  run  through  ; the  time  spent  south  of  6o°  S.  is  indicated  in  solid  black. 

[ To  face  p.  192. 


CHAPTER  X 


DUMONT  D’URVILLE  AND  THE  FRENCH  DASHES  TOWARD 
THE  SOUTH  POLE 

“ . . . And  as  a lance 
The  fiery  eyes  of  France 

Touched  the  world’s  sleep,  and  as  a sleep  made  pass 
Forth  of  men’s  heavier  ears  and  eyes 
Smitten  with  fire  and  thunder  from  new  skies.” 

— Swinburne. 

AT  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  British 
flag  was  less  known  on  the  Pacific  and  in  the  South- 
ern Ocean  than  the  flags  of  the  United  States  and  France. 
The  extraordinary  value  placed  upon  whale  oil  at  that 
period  sent  fleets  of  whalers  to  all  parts  of  the  ocean ; but 
British  enterprise  had  marked  the  Arctic  seas  for  its  own 
and  comparatively  few  ships  were  engaged  in  the  lengthy 
voyages  of  the  sperm  whaler.  This  work  employed  many 
French  vessels  and  voyages  of  three  or  more  years  in 
duration  were  common  from  the  whaling  ports  of  France. 
It  was  the  custom  of  the  French  Ministry  of  Marine  to 
send  a frigate  on  a tour  of  the  world  to  visit  the  whale- 
men at  their  headquarters  on  the  various  desolate  islands 
in  the  south  temperate  zone,  bringing  them  supplies, 
furnishing  medical  advice,  punishing  delinquents,  hunting 
up  shipwrecked  mariners  and  in  every  possible  way  re- 
minding the  wanderers  that  they  were  citizens  of  the  re- 
public, or  subjects  of  the  empire  or  monarchy  as  the  case 
might  be,  and  that  wherever  they  wandered  they  belonged 
to  France  and  were  not  forgotten  by  the  fatherland.  In 
this  way  the  countrymen  of  De  Gonneville,  Bouvet, 

*93  13 


j94  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

Marion  and  Kerguelen  preserved  the  historic  continuity 
of  French  interests  in  the  southern  hemisphere.  And  not 
in  this  way  alone.  More  than  one  great  expedition  for 
scientific  exploration  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  was  fitted  out 
in  France,  a country  which  always — even  when  the  worst 
passions  were  raised  against  his  land — cherished  a de- 
voted admiration  for  the  work  of  James  Cook  such  as 
one  nation  rarely  extends  to  the  subject  of  another. 

The  expedition  of  La  Perouse  in  1785-88  and  the  mys- 
tery which  enshrouded  its  fate  increased  the  interest  of 
the  French  people  in  the  Pacific  to  a pitch  not  now 
easy  to  realise,  and  the  successive  search  expeditions  of 
Bougainville  and  d’Entrecasteaux  kept  that  interest  alive 
for  many  years. 

Amongst  French  naval  officers  of  that  period  the  glam- 
our of  the  Great  Ocean  seemed  to  dominate  the  life  of 
one  in  a preeminent  degree,  and  indirectly  led  to  an  im- 
portant step  in  Antarctic  exploration.  At  the  age  of  six- 
teen Jules  Sebastien  Cesar  Dumont  D’Urville  after  failing 
to  enter  the  Polytechnic,  joined  the  navy.  From  child- 
hood he  had  been  devoted  to  the  study  of  travels  and 
especially  of  voyages  of  exploration,  and  he  rapidly  dis- 
tinguished himself  by  his  remarkable  powers  as  a lin- 
guist, and  his  enthusiastic  interest  in  various  branches  of 
science,  especially  ethnology.  He  was  destined  to  touch 
history  in  several  points  curiously  remote,  but  all  em- 
braced in  the  duties  or  opportunities  of  a naval  officer. 
When  engaged  with  the  fleet  in  the  eastern  Mediterran- 
ean in  1820  the  French  consul  in  the  island  of  Melos  took 
him  to  see  an  old  Greek  statue  recently  unearthed,  and 
Dumont  D’Urville  wrote  home  in  terms  of  such  rapturous 
appreciation  of  its  beauty  that  an  order  was  sent  to  secure 
the  statue  for  the  Louvre  at  any  cost.  To  the  majority  of 


Admiral  Dumont  D’Urville. 

(From  D’Urville’s  Atlas.) 


[To  face  /.  194. 


DUMONT  D’URVILLE 


195 


cultured  mankind  the  discovery  of  the  Venus  de  Milo  will 
probably  be  held  the  crowning  glory  of  a life ; from  the 
point  of  view  of  this  volume  we  can  refer  to  it  merely  as 
a picturesque  incident. 

Returning  to  Paris  in  1821  D’Urville  joined  with  Du- 
perry  and  others  in  founding  the  Paris  Geographical  So- 
ciety, now  the  oldest  association  of  the  kind  and  always 
one  of  the  most  active  in  promoting  the  science  of  the 
Earth.  The  two  naval  officers  drew  up  plans  for  a sci- 
entific voyage  of  circumnavigation  which  were  approved 
and  they  were  appointed  to  carry  it  out  on  board  the 
Coquille,  on  which  service  D’Urville  was  at  sea  from  1822 
to  1825.  He  was  not  altogether  satisfied  with  the  result. 
He  considered  that  some  branches  of  science  in  which 
he  was  particularly  interested  had  been  unduly  neglected 
and  he  planned  another  expedition  to  the  islands  of  the 
Pacific  by  which  this  wrong  would  be  redressed.  This  also 
was  approved,  but  the  Ministry  of  Marine  imposed  upon 
it  the  additional  duty  of  seeking  out  the  recently  reported 
traces  of  the  ships  of  La  Perouse.  The  Coquille  was 
again  placed  under  D’Urville’s  command  but  at  his  urgent 
request  she  was  rechristened  Astrolabe  in  memory  of  one 
of  La  Perouse’s  vessels.  For  three  years,  1826  to  1829,  Du- 
mont D’Urville  was  at  sea  on  this  great  mission  in  which 
he  was  entirely  successful,  discovering  the  wreck  of  La 
Perouse’s  ship  and  recovering  many  relics  of  the  explorer. 
On  his  return  he  settled  down  to  prepare  the  description 
of  the  voyage,  a work  extending  to  twenty  volumes. 

When  deep  in  the  congenial  task  he  was  rudely  inter- 
rupted by  the  revolution  of  1830  and  had  to  perform  the 
ungrateful  duty  of  escorting  King  Charles  X.  from 
France.  By  a strange  coincidence  D’Urville  had  been 
an  officer  on  the  ship  which  brought  the  Orleans  family 


1 96  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

back  to  France  on  the  fall  of  Napoleon.  And  so  he  sped 
the  parting  King  on  his  way  to  the  dignified  seclusion  of 
Holyrood,  where  the  banished  monarch  lived  some  years 
in  the  historic  palace  of  those  Stewarts  whose  exile  in 
France  had  been  brightened  by  the  hospitality  of  his  an- 
cestors. D’Urville  executed  his  mission  in  a manner 
which  gave  rise  to  much  unpleasant  criticism  from  the 
parties  both  of  the  old  King  and  the  new.  The  captain 
was  not  a diplomatist;  his  nature  was  acknowledged  by 
his  friends  to  be  brusque  and  morose,  though  lit  by  a 
southern  enthusiasm  that  laughed  at  real  difficulties. 

From  whatever  cause  there  now  intervened  a period 
of  eclipse  if  not  of  disgrace.  The  seafarer  retired  in 
1835  to  Toulon  where  he  brooded  over  his  plans  for  com- 
pleting the  gigantic  task  of  studying  the  ethnology  of 
the  Pacific  Islands  and  fell  into  such  poor  circumstances 
that  he  was  compelled  even  to  stop  his  subscription  to 
the  Geographical  Society.  The  Society  chivalrously  de- 
clined to  lose  so  distinguished  a member  and  placed  him 
on  the  honorary  list. 

The  Ministry  of  Marine  no  longer  favoured  voyages 
of  discovery  and  the  explorer  who  had  spent  his  life 
afloat  felt  himself  stranded  and  deserted.  A change  oc- 
curring in  the  government  Admiral  Rosamel  became  Min- 
ister of  Marine  and  D’Urville  hearing  a good  report  of 
his  character  and  disposition  resolved  to  make  another  at- 
tempt to  carry  out  his  favourite  scheme  of  an  anthropo- 
logical expedition  to  study  the  Pacific  Islands ; “ I have 
the  vanity/’  he  said,  “ to  believe  that  few  men  to-day 
know  Oceania  as  I do,”  and  in  this  he  was  right. 

The  proposal  was  well  received  at  the  Marine  and  the 
plans  prepared  by  D’Urville  were  submitted  to  King  Louis 
Philippe  in  due  course.  We  have  D’Urville’s  word  for 


DUMONT  D’URVILLE 


197 


it  that  the  King  himself  proposed  an  important  preliminary 
operation,  nothing  less  than  a trip  into  the  Antarctic  seas 
to  surpass  the  record  of  Weddell  toward  the  South 
Pole.  How  far  this  was  a whim  of  the  Citizen-King 
we  cannot  tell;  but  it  seems  more  likely  to  have  been 
the  plan  of  some  official  personage  or  man  of  science 
prudently  presented  through  His  Majesty.  Baron  Hum- 
boldt was  frequently  at  the  court  of  Louis  Philippe 
throughout  his  reign  and  is  known  to  have  been  on  terms 
of  personal  intimacy  with  the  French  King,  so  that  it 
seems  highly  probable  that  the  author  of  the  letter  to  the 
Duke  of  Sussex  urging  the  British  Government  to  es- 
tablish magnetic  stations,  was  also  responsible  for  the  ad- 
dition to  D’Urville’s  plan.  The  additional  commission 
was  accepted  by  D’Urville  without  enthusiasm,  tie  was 
not  at  all  sanguine  as  to  the  result  of  an  Antarctic  cruise 
and  in  an  address  to  the  Paris  Geographical  Society  in 
1837  he  said  : 

“ If  the  enterprise  is  bold  and  perhaps  impracticable 
for  certain  spirits,  it  is  at  least  honourable  to  attempt  it, 
and  whatever  be  the  result  it  must  at  least  give  occasion 
for  interesting  observations.” 

By  this  time  the  fact  that  an  American  expedition  was 
nearly  ready  to  set  out  was  known  to  D’Urville,  and  at 
the  same  meeting  of  the  Paris  Geographical  Society  at 
which  he  announced  his  own  plans  he  presented  a full 
translation  of  the  letter  of  A.  Z.  to  the  President  and 
Council  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society  of  London 
which  curiously  enough  is  now  only  accessible  in  this 
form,  the  original  publication  having  been  only  by  a 
privately-distributed  pamphlet. 

No  serious  steps  were  taken  to  fit  the  two  vessels  set 
apart  for  the  service  to  navigate  an  ice-infested  sea. 


198  siege  of  the  south  pole 

Some  attempt  to  plate  the  bows  with  metal  is  recorded 
but  it  proved  ineffectual  and  the  whole  plan  of  a man-of- 
war  of  the  period  with  the  sides  pierced  by  great  square 
ports  for  guns  was  unfavourable  for  navigation  with  any 
degree  of  comfort  in  high  latitudes.  The  ships  were  two 
corvettes,  the  Astrolabe,  of  which  D’Urville  once  more 
took  command  and  the  Zelee,  under  the  command  of 
Captain  Jacquinot.  The  Paris  Academy  of  Sciences 
gave  elaborate  instructions  as  to  the  scientific  observa- 
tions which  it  was  most  important  to  make  through- 
out the  voyage  and  especially  in  the  far  south ; but  it 
was  evident  that  the  sympathy  of  the  commander  was 
with  the  human  rather  than  the  physical  group  of  sciences, 
and  that  the  honour  of  France  was  the  leading  motive  that 
led  him  to  struggle  with  the  polar  ice.  His  health  was 
not  good,  indeed  he  was  a martyr  to  gout ; and  he  himself 
told  with  infinite  humour  how  on  the  first  occasion  when 
he  hobbled  down  to  his  ship  as  she  lay  in  harbour  he  over- 
heard a sailor  remark : “ Oh,  that  old  chappie  won’t  lead 

us  very  far,”*  and  how  he  grimly  resolved  to  lead  his 
crew  a great  deal  farther  than  any  of  them  would  care 
to  go. 

The  ships  sailed  from  Toulon  on  September  7th, 
1837  and  made  their  way  southward  through  the  Atlantic 
to  Magellan  Strait  where  they  worked  for  some  time  at 
the  survey  of  that  miserable  channel,  the  despair  of  every 
sailor  who  shunned  the  Scylla  of  Cape  Horn  to  fall  into 
its  Charybdis.  Early  in  January,  1838,  D’Urville  set  out 
for  the  south  with  the  object  of  repeating  Weddell’s  fa- 
mous voyage,  and  securing  for  France  the  glory  of  get- 
ting still  nearer  to  the  pole.  This  service  had  been  spe- 
cially put  before  him  by  the  King  and  the  portion  of  the 

* “ Oh ! ce  bonhomme-la  ne  nous  menera  pas  loin ! ” 


DUMONT  D’URVILLE 


199 


Antarctic  region  south  of  South  America  was  the  only 
part  which  his  instructions  required  him  to  explore. 
There  was  little  to  chronicle  until  January  22nd,  1838, 
when  the  ships  reached  the  edge  of  the  ice-pack  in  63°  39* 
S.  and  440  47'  W.  Unfortunately  the  ice-pack  was  very 
close,  or  perhaps  appeared  so  to  the  inexperienced  eyes 
of  the  French  officers;  but  at  any  rate  the  ships  did  not 
penetrate  the  pack  or  approach  within  a considerable  dis- 
tance of  the  Antarctic  circle  between  the  meridians  where 
Weddell  had  made  his  farthest  south.  D’Urville  was  not 
a little  annoyed  at  this  check;  as  he  had  failed,  he  began 
to  think  that  Weddell  could  not  have  succeeded,  and  he 
made  what  old  Dalrymple  would  have  termed  “ groundless 
and  illiberal  imputations  ” on  the  common  honesty  of  the 
daring  sealer.  The  Astrolabe  and  Zelee  hovered  about 
the  region  for  nearly  two  months,  now  and  again  find- 
ing their  way  northward  to  the  South  Orkney  Islands, 
now  and  again  returning  to  the  edge  of  the  pack,  once 
indeed  being  surrounded  by  ice  and  getting  free  with  diffi- 
culty, experiencing  the  usual  miserable  weather  of  those 
latitudes  and  making  a great  number  of  minute  and  often 
interesting  observations  on  the  appearance  and  move- 
ments of  the  ice.  An  artist  of  real  talent  was  amongst 
the  staff  and  his  drawings  of  the  icebergs  and  floes 
splendidly  reproduced  in  the  volumes  describing  the 
cruise  are  remarkably  faithful  and  beautiful. 

On  February  27th,  1838,  when  to  the  southwest  of  the 
South  Shetlands  the  ships  sighted  land  in  63°  S.,  unques- 
tionably part  of  the  same  land  that  had  been  seen  by  Pal- 
mer and  Biscoe  although  on  account  of  the  frequent  fogs, 
the  general  uncertainty  of  all  determinations  of  position 
in  polar  regions  and  the  sketchy  nature  of  the  charts  in 
his  possession  D’Urville  cannot  altogether  be  blamed  for 


200  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


supposing  that  it  was  a new  discovery.  However,  his  own 
account  of  the  subsequent  examination  of  the  coast  shows 
a lack  of  enterprise  which  cannot  but  be  deplored.  The 
land  was  followed  toward  the  northwest  and  found  to 
consist  of  two  mountainous  snow-covered  islands.  The 
larger,  which  was  dutifully  named  Louis  Philippe  Land, 
appeared  to  be  separated  from  the  Trinity  or  Palmer  Land 
of  the  charts  by  a strait  called  Orleans  Channel  which 
was  seen  but  not  navigated  as  the  season  was  now  far 
advanced,  although  as  far  as  can  be  gathered  from  the 
narrative  it  was  by  no  means  blocked  by  ice.  The  two 
highest  mountains  were  named  after  the  tw’O  captains  of 
the  French  expedition,  and  another  after  Bransfield  the 
first  navigator  of  the  channel  between  the  South  Shet- 
lands  and  Louis  Philippe  Land.  The  smaller  island  to 
the  northwest  was  named  Joinville  Land;  but  no  land 
exploration  was  undertaken  nor  collections  of  any  kind 
procured  from  the  shore. 

On  March  5th  the  season  for  southern  navigation  was 
so  nearly  over  that  D'Urville  felt  fully  justified  in  leaving 
the  icy  waters  and  pursuing  the  main  object  of  his  expe- 
dition in  the  Pacific  Ocean.  There  in  much  more  con- 
genial surroundings  he  spent  the  greater  part  of  two  years 
and  gave  a very  good  account  of  his  time  when  so  em- 
ployed. 

Before  the  end  of  his  great  voyage  D’Urville  resolved 
once  more  to  make  an  attempt  to  penetrate  the  Antarctic 
ice.  Lie  took  this  task  upon  himself  in  excess  of  his 
instructions,  being  led  to  do  so  in  the  virgin  field  south 
of  6o°  S.  between  120°  and  1600  E.,  by  the  probability  of 
finding  the  magnetic  pole  in  that  neighbourhood;  and  as 
he  frankly  states  in  his  official  report,  by  the  competition 
of  the  expeditions  of  Ross  and  Wilkes  directed  to  that  par- 


Thk  u Astrolabe ” and  “Zelke”  in  the  Ice. 
(From  D’Urville’s  Atlas. 


[ To  face  fi.  900. 


DUMONT  D’URVILLE 


201 


ticular  area.  The  last  motive,  there  is  little  reason  to 
doubt,  was  the  strongest  of  the  three.  Although  appar- 
ently fully  informed  as  to  Ross’s  plans  he  says  that  he 
had  then  no  idea  that  Balleny  had  anticipated  his  in- 
tended voyage.  France,  he  thought,  might  still  be  in  time 
to  share  the  laurels. 

At  the  end  of  1839  the  Astrolabe  and  Zelee  were  lying 
at  Hobart  Town  and  the  Commodore  formed  his  plan  of 
sailing  southward  and  exploring  some  part  of  the  region 
between  120°  and  160°  E.,  where  the  parallel  of  6o°  S. 
had  not  been  crossed  by  Cook,  Bellingshausen  or  Biscoe. 
D’Urville  declared  in  his  published  journal  that  his  only 
object  was  to  find  at  what  latitude  the  solid  ice-pack  was 
to  be  encountered  and  then  to  cruise  along  the  edge  of  it 
returning  to  the  Auckland  Islands  or  some  port  in  New 
Zealand. 

The  corvettes  sailed  on  January  1st,  1840,  the  day  of  the 
death  of  M.  Goupil,  the  artist,  who  died  on  shore  where 
a considerable  number  of  the  crew  of  both  ships  remained 
in  hospital.  The  vacancies  were  filled  by  English  sailors 
obtained  with  great  difficulty  and  ready  in  the  Commo- 
dore’s opinion  to  desert  at  a moment’s  notice.  The  course 
was  set  S.  E.  in  order  to  reach  the  magnetic  meridian  or 
line  of  no  variation  and  advance  southward  along  that 
line,  for  D’Urville  was  now  filled  with  a burning  desire 
to  advance  the  science  of  terrestrial  magnetism.  On  the 
nth,  the  fifty-first  parallel  was  crossed  close  to  the  posi- 
tion assigned  in  the  charts  to  Royal  Company  Island  of 
which  no  sign  was  seen,  and  about  this  time  the  alba- 
trosses which  had  convoyed  the  ships  from  Hobart  Town 
ceased  to  follow. 

The  first  ice  was  met  on  the  16th  in  6o°  S.,  and  two 
days  later  in  64°  the  Commodore,  struck  with  the  clearness 


202  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


of  the  sea,  was  gratifying  himself  with  the  anticipation 
of  reaching  the  seventieth  parallel  without  obstruction 
when  a number  of  ice-islands  appeared  and  brought  with 
them  a foreboding  that  land  would  be  found  to  bar  the 
way.  The  ice-islands  were  large,  tabular,  with  unbroken 
edges  showing  no  marks  of  erosion  by  sea-water  but  as 
fresh  as  if  only  broken  off  yesterday  from  some  ice- 
covered  land.  Petrels,  penguins,  seals  and  a whale  were 
observed,  all  hailed  as  signs  of  land.  The  weather  had 
turned  fine,  the  sun  shining  with  dazzling  brilliancy  on 
the  crystal  walls  of  a fleet  of  ice-islands  produced  magical 
and  charming  effects,  and  there  was  not  a man  on  the  sick 
list  in  either  ship  when  the  corvettes  crossed  the  sixty- 
sixth  parallel  on  January  20th  and  the  crews  prepared  to 
celebrate  the  passing  of  the  circle  in  proper  style.  Cap- 
tain Dumont  D'Urville  had  received  a formal  notice  that 
Father  Antarctic  would  visit  him  next  day,  and  like  a good 
fellow  had  replied  that  he  would  be  the  first  to  submit  to 
any  initiation  ceremonies.  A postillion  mounted  on  a 
seal  received  the  welcome  answer  amid  a deluge  of  rice 
and  beans  in  place  of  the  “ ablutions  which  are  only  sup- 
portable under  the  torrid  zone  ” usual  on  crossing  the 
line.  However  the  night  brought  an  event  more  remark- 
able than  the  preparations  for  the  frivolities  of  the  men, 
nothing  less  than  the  discovery  of  land.  The  officers 
thought  several  times  during  the  day  that  they  saw  an 
appearance  of  land  more  substantial  than  those  which 
had  often  deceived  them  for  a time,  but  at  10.50  p.  m., 
when  the  sun  at  length  touched  the  southern  horizon  it 
showed  up  an  unmistakable  sharp  outline  on  which  the 
attention  of  everyone  on  board  was  riveted. 

Next  day  the  weather  was  magnificent,  but  there  was 
no  wind  and  the  two  ships  lay  with  flapping  canvas  pow- 


IN 

O 

<N 

< 


D’Urville’s  Expedition  amongst  the  Ice  Islands. 


DUMONT  D’URVILLE 


203 


erless  to  move  though  the  sea  was  clear,  dotted  only  by 
ice-islands  harmlessly  drifting  toward  them  across  the 
unattainable  circle.  D’Urville  suffered  the  tortures  of  Tan- 
talus, he  says,  for  the  land  stretched  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach  to  the  southeast  and  the  northwest  with  an  apparent 
altitude  of  from  3000  to  4000  feet ; no  prominent  summit 
broke  the  uniformity  of  the  sky-line,  no  trace  of  earth 
or  rock  was  visible  and  the  shore  was  an  unbroken  ver- 
tical cliff  of  ice  so  like  that  of  the  floating  ice-islands 
that  no  one  on  board  could  for  a moment  doubt  that  the 
bergs  were  simply  broken  off  from  the  land  ice.  So  clear 
was  the  atmosphere  that  the  snow  covering  the  gently 
receding  slopes  of  the  ice-covered  land  was  seen  to  be 
thrown  into  waves  like  those  formed  by  the  wind  in  desert 
sand. 

Father  Antarctic  evidently  got  tired  of  waiting  for  the 
corvettes  to  enter  his  domain;  and  during  the  idle  calm 
of  the  forenoon  he  appeared  on  board  in  all  his  pomp  sur- 
rounded by  a retinue  of  penguins  and  seals,  while  a swarm 
of  sea-birds  flew  screaming  round  the  becalmed  ships.  A 
mock  religious  ceremony  was  held,  including  a blasphe- 
mous sermon  which  would  have  horrified  the  commanders 
of  the  other  expeditions  had  they  known  of  it,  and  termi- 
nating in  a banquet  where  wine  flowed  freely  and  the  ships 
resounded  with  mirth,  but  everything  “ passed  off  per- 
fectly well  and  there  was  not  the  least  disorder.”  Every 
officer  and  man  having  paid  his  footing  the  portals  of  the 
Antarctic  were  thrown  open ; and  with  the  rising  sun  of 
January  21st  “ a pretty  little  breeze  ” conducted  the  ships 
along  the  newly  discovered  coast  through  an  avenue  of 
“ those  palaces  of  crystal  and  diamonds  so  common  in 
fairy  tales.”  The  rare  days  of  perfect  weather  in  the  far 
south  were  never  before  so  fully  appreciated  or  so  vividly 


204  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

described  as  by  the  impressionable  French  commodore, 
his  official  report  being  even  more  picturesque  in  its  de- 
scriptive colouring  than  the  more  popular  account  of  the 
voyage  edited  by  other  hands. 

The  ships,  wafted  by  a light  breeze,  steered  east- 
ward along  the  coast  which  was  only  five  or  six  miles 
distant,  the  sailors  shouting  at  their  best  in  reply  to  the 
hoarse  cries  of  the  startled  penguins.  At  noon  a good 
observation  gave  the  position  as  66°  30'  S.  and  138°  21'  E. 
The  dipping  needle  showed  an  inclination  of  86°  and  the 
compasses  were  moving  wildly,  no  two  agreeing  together. 
It  seemed  as  if  the  magnetic  pole  lay  no  great  distance 
inland  from  the  coast  which  ran  from  east  to  west  along 
the  Antarctic  circle.  The  fairy  palaces  of  floating  ice 
sometimes  came  inconveniently  near,  and  the  ships 
seemed  to  be  threading  the  narrow  streets  of  a city  of 
giants.  The  orders  of  the  officers  were  echoed  and  re- 
echoed mockingly  by  the  vertical  walls  of  ice,  the  sea 
rushed  roaring  into  the  ice-caves  along  the  water-line 
setting  up  eddies  that  would  have  seriously  menaced 
the  vessels  had  the  breeze  dropped.  The  steady  heat  of 
the  sun  was  melting  the  snow  on  the  flat  tops  of  the 
bergs  and  cascades  of  water  poured  down  their  sides. 
One  floating  berg  was  dark-coloured  as  if  -mixed  with 
earth. 

The  magnetic  observers  were  impatient  to  land  while 
the  fine  weather  lasted  either  on  the  coast  itself  or  on 
an  ice  island,  and  at  last  at  6 p.  m.  a berg  was  noticed 
sloping  gently  to  the  water’s  edge  to  which  MM.  Dumou- 
lin  and  Coupvent  with  their  apparatus  were  safely  con- 
veyed in  the  whaleboat.  They  reported  that  the  bergs 
were  all  afloat  and  the  instruments  showed  that  they  were 
subject  to  a very  perceptible  drift.  This  proved  that  the 


DUMONT  D’URVILLE  205 

sea  was  of  considerable  depth  but  soundings  beyond 
100  fathoms  could  not  be  taken  from  the  corvettes  be- 
cause “ unfortunately  all  our  sounding  lines  were  almost 
useless.”  While  the  corvettes  were  laying-to  waiting  for 
the  return  of  the  magnetic  party  and  testing  the  useless 
sounding  lines,  the  officer  of  the  watch  on  the  Astrolabe, 
M.  Duroch,  caught  sight  of  unmistakable  rocks  on  the 
shore.  A second  boat  was  got  out  under  his  command 
and  the  Zelee  not  to  be  behindhand  sent  a boat  also  under 
M.  Dubouzet.  The  two  crews  pulled  hard  for  the  honour 
of  being  the  first  to  reach  the  land  and  an  exciting  race 
was  the  result.  The  Astrolabe's  boat  had  a good  start 
and  reached  the  nearest  islet  a few  minutes  before  the 
other.  The  islet  was  one  of  a group  of  eight  or  ten  ly- 
ing in  a chain  a few  hundred  yards  off  the  ice-cliffs  of 
the  coast.  There  was  a considerable  surf  breaking  on  it, 
but  the  men  succeeded  in  landing  and  made  prisoners  of 
the  previous  inhabitants,  a troop  of  non-resisting  pen- 
guins. Following  the  ancient  custom  “ faithfully  kept 
up  by  the  English”  the  tricolour  flag  was  run  up  and 
the  land  formally  annexed  to  France;  a bottle  of  Bor- 
deaux was  emptied  in  honour  of  the  great  occasion  and 
then  all  hands  were  set  to  work  to  collect  scientific  speci- 
mens. The  'animal  kingdom  was  represented  only  by  the 
penguins  not  a shell  of  any  kind  was  to  be  found  on  the 
rocks,  not  even  a trace  of  lichen  could  be  discovered  and 
a diligent  search  revealed  only  one  dry  seaweed  that  had 
probably  been  carried  by  birds.  The  only  thing  to  be 
found  was  the  rock  itself  and  pieces  of  that  were  soon 
knocked  off  as  specimens.  It  was  noticed  that  fragments 
of  stone  obtained  from  the  crops  of  penguins  killed  the 
day  before  were  of  exactly  the  same  kind  of  rock  ( D Ur- 
ville  calls  it  a granite  of  various  colours)  as  that  which 


206  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


composed  the  islet,  and  this  suggested  the  utilisation  of 
birds  in  such  conditions  as  geological  collectors. 

At  9.30  p.  m.  the  boats  left  the  islet  and  got  safely  on 
board  the  corvettes  two  hours  later,  the  sinking  of  the 
sun  bringing  on  a very  cold  night  with  a temperature 
of  24  0 F.,  which  sheathed  the  oars  and  the  outsides  of 
the  boats  with  ice.  The  first  cape  seen  on  the  icy  coast 
was  named  Cap  de  la  Decouverte,  that  near  the  landing 
place  Pointe  Geologie,  and  the  land  as  a whole  was 
named  Terre  Adelie,  as  the  gallant  but  garrulous  leader 
puts  it  in  his  official  report : “ This  name  is  destined 

to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  my  profound  regard  for 
the  devoted  companion  who  has  three  times  consented 
to  a long  and  painful  separation  in  order  to  allow  me 
to  accomplish  my  plans  for  distant  explorations.  These 
thoughts  alone  have  urged  me  on  in  my  naval  career  since 
my  most  tender  childhood.  On  my  part,  then,  this  is 
merely  an  act  of  justice,  a sort  of  duty  which  I perform, 
from  which  no  one  could  possibly  withhold  his  approba- 
tion.” 

For  two  days  the  ships  slowly  proceeded  to  the  east- 
ward along  the  land  to  which  closer  observation  now 
enabled  the  more  reasonable  height  of  1500  feet  to  be 
assigned  as  a maximum.  In  135 0 30'  E.  the  edge  of  the 
pack  was  found  running  from  south  to  north  barring 
the  way  to  any  further  eastward  advance,  and  on  the 
24th,  as  the  ships  were  working  their  way  northward 
between  the  drifting  bergs,  they  were  struck  by  a sudden 
gale  and  separated.  The  Astrolabe  had  her  mainsail 
torn  to  ribbons  and  there  was  the  greatest  anxiety  for 
the  safety  of  her  masts,  but  both  corvettes  weathered  the 
storm,  escaped  collision  with  the  bergs,  and  met  again 
next  day,  though  more  damage  had  been  done  to  their 


Hoisting  the  French  Flag  on  Adelle  Land. 


DUMONT  D'URVILLE  207 

rigging  in  twelve  hours  than  in  the  previous  six  months. 
The  ships  went  north  to  nearly  64°  S.  to  clear  the  ice,  and 
then,  on  the  28th,  once  more  turned  southwestward,  and 
on  the  29th,  nearly  in  65°  S.,  a solid  pack  was  again  seen 
to  the  south.  The  weather  was  still  bad,  the  wind  blew 
strong  from  the  east,  and  frequent  fogs  made  navigation 
amongst  the  ice  very  difficult. 

In  the  afternoon  when  in  about  65°  S.  and  135°  E.  just 
as  the  Astrolabe  was  going  to  set  more  sail  to  clear  a berg, 
which  loomed  up  out  of  the  fog,  a strange  sail  was  sighted 
running  towards  the  French  vessels.  She  was  a brig  flying 
the  American  colours  and  D’Urville  immediately  realised 
that  she  was  one  of  Wilkes’s  squadron,  bound  on  a similar 
service  to  his  own.  The  tricolour  was  hoisted  at  once, 
the  order  to  make  more  sail  delayed  to  allow  the  stranger 
to  come  up  with  the  Astrolabe ; then  as  the  American  brig 
was  moving  so  quickly  through  the  water  the  delayed 
order  was  given  and  the  Astrolabe  shot  forwaid  in  order 
says  D’Urville,  to  keep  up  with  her  and  have  a longer 
time  for  speaking;  but  the  American  evidently  thought 
the  Frenchman  was  trying  to  run  away,  and  turning 
sharply  southward  was  lost  in  the  fog  without  exchang- 
ing signals.  D’Urville  does  not  mention  this  episode  in 
his  official  report,  but  in  the  account  of  the  voyage  he 
explains  how  the  misunderstanding  arose,  declaring  that 
he  wished  nothing  so  much  as  to  compare  notes  with  the 
other  expedition  and  give  it  full  information  as  to  the 
discoveries  of  the  French  ships.  But,  nettled  by  the  report 
of  Wilkes’s  comments  on  the  encounter,  he  goes  on  to  say 
that  while  his  own  conduct  was  always  actuated  by  per- 
fect frankness  towards  other  explorers,  the  Americans 
were  always  very  reserved  as  to  their  doings  and  kept 
their  discoveries  a profound  secret.  1 his,  as  we  shall  see, 


208  siege  of  the  south  pole 


was  not  really  the  fact,  although  Wilkes’s  instructions 
actually  enjoined  such  secrecy  upon  him;  and  no  doubt 
both  commanders  were  far  better  fellows  than  either  sup- 
posed the  other  to  be. 

In  1310  E.  and  64°  30'  S.  a solid  wall  of  ice  was  seen 
to  the  southward  and  all  day  on  January  30th  the  ships 
sailed  along  a coast  similar  to  that  of  Adelie  Land.  From 
a distance  of  three  or  four  miles  it  was  seen  to  be  a 
line  of  vertical  ice-cliffs  from  120  to  130  feet  high.  A 
sounding  was  taken  with  200  fathoms  of  line  and  no 
bottom  found.  The  ice-barrier  was  perfectly  horizontal 
on  the  top,  showing  no  appearance  of  mountains  behind 
it  nor  of  rocks  in  front;  but  judging  from  analogy  with 
Adelie  Land  D’Urville  decided  that  so  great  a mass  of 
fixed  ice  must  either  envelope  land,  or  a group  of  rocks, 
or  at  least  must  rest  on  an  extensive  shoal  lying  off  the 
coast  of  a land  existing  farther  to  the  south,  and  in  this 
belief  he  named  it  Cote  Clarie  after  Madame  Jacquinot. 

Next  day,  the  course  having  been  followed  to  the 
westward,  the  ships  lost  sight  of  the  solid  barrier  and 
were  confronted  by  an  ordinary  ice-pack  through  which 
there  was  no  inducement  to  try  to  penetrate.  A last 
attempt  was  made  to  get  magnetic  observations  on  an 
iceberg,  but  it  was  impossible  to  effect  a landing.  D’Ur- 
ville felt  that  his  task  was  now  fulfilled.  He  was  himself 
in  bad  health  and  constant  suffering,  and  though  he  be- 
lieved that  the  greater  part  of  the  Antarctic  circle  was 
surrounded  by  land  which  might  be  reached  by  anyone 
bold  and  fortunate  enough  to  penetrate  the  surrounding 
ice-pack,  he  thought  it  would  be  cruelty  to  force  his 
exhausted  crews  to  fresh  exertions.  At  any  rate  they 
had  now  learned  that  the  “ old  chappie  ” was  able  to  lead 
them  farther  than  they  wished  to  go.  So  on  February 


DUMONT  D'URVILLE 


209 


1st,  1840,  the  French  flag  retired  from  the  South  Polar 
Seas  and  the  part  played  by  France  in  the  long  history  of 
the  Antarctic  came  to  an  end  for  the  nineteenth  century. 

D'Urville  was  led  to  make  his  second  dash  to  the  south 
by  the  hope  of  anticipating  the  labours  of  Ross,  and  as 
Ross  did  not  care  to  visit  those  parts  after  the  French 
and  American  expeditions  had  cruised  through  them, 
the  resolution  of  the  French  captain  quite  possibly  led  to 
the  postponement  rather  than  the  advancement  of  dis- 
covery; since  one  expedition  under  an  experienced  ice- 
navigator  with  specially  fortified  ships  and  selected 
crews  could  certainly  do  more  than  two  or  any  number  of 
expeditions  in  ill-found  vessels  manned  by  inexperienced 
and  enfeebled  men. 

D'Urville’s  discoveries  of  land  were  of  but  little  ac- 
count. He  twice  traced  out  considerable  stretches  of  a 
solid  barrier  of  ice,  and  at  one  point  saw  and  landed  upon 
rocks  in  front  of  it;  but  he  could  only  give  the  vaguest 
account  of  what  lay  behind  the  barrier.  Perhaps  the  best 
part  of  the  work  of  the  Astrolabe  and  Zelee  in  the  far 
South  is  the  vivid  and  fascinating  description  of  Ant- 
arctic scenery,  and  the  splendid  illustrations  which  ac- 
companied the  volumes  describing  the  expedition. 

The  French  expedition  continued  its  researches  in 
the  Pacific  where  the  commander  was  at  home,  an  enthu- 
siast riding  his  hobby  to  his  own  infinite  satisfaction  and 
to  the  advancement  of  the  science  of  geography.  The 
ships  were  back  in  France  early  in  November,  1840,  and 
D’Urville  at  once  set  himself  to  the  task  of  editing  the 
record  of  the  cruise.  He  was  promoted  Rear-Admiral 
and  appointed  President  of  the  Council  of  the  Paris 
Geographical  Society  in  December,  1841,  an  honour 
which  much  gratified  him. 


14 


2io  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


On  May  8th,  1842,  he  yielded  very  reluctantly  to  the 
entreaties  of  his  wife  and  son  to  leave  his  work  and 
take  a little  holiday  to  see  the  fountains  playing  at  Ver- 
sailles. As  the  party  was  returning  an  accident  hap- 
pened, the  train  caught  fire  and  all  three  lost  their  lives, 
the  charred  remains  being  identified  with  the  utmost 
difficulty.  It  was  remembered  that  half  a century  before 
while  an  infant  Dumont  D’Urville  had  fallen  into  the 
fire  and  been  rescued  not  a moment  too  soon,  a tragic 
coincidence  that  caught  the  public  fancy  for  a moment. 


CHAPTER  XI 


CHARLES  WILKES  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES  EXPLORING 

EXPEDITION 

“ There  was  a Door  to  which  I found  no  Key, 

There  was  a Veil  past  which  I could  not  see; 

Some  little  Talk  awhile  of  Me  and  Thee 

There  seemed — and  then  no  more  of  Thee  and  Me.” 


HE  name  of  John  N.  Reynolds  has  already  been 


mentioned  as  a warm  advocate  for  American  ex- 
ploration in  the  Antarctic  seas.  Before  the  “ infant  expe- 
dition ” on  the  Seraph  and  Annawan  in  1829-30,  he  had 
urged  the  dispatch  of  national  exploring  ships  for  the 
survey  of  the  routes  of  whalers  in  the  Pacific  and  for  dis- 
covery in  the  far  south.  Congress  had  considered  the 
matter  in  1828,  and  the  House  of  Representatives  re- 
quested the  President  to  send  out  such  an  expedition.  The 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  for  the  time  being  adopted  the 
scheme  too  soon,  appointed  the  U.  S.  ship  Peacock  for 
the  service  and  advised  the  selection  of  a scientific  staff 
and  the  purchase  of  a second  vessel  and  the  necessary 
instruments.  He  informed  the  House  that  the  object  of 
the  expedition  was  to  examine  islands  and  coasts,  both 
known  and  unknown,  as  far  south  as  circumstances, 
safety  and  prudence  would  permit ; and  he  asked  for  more 
money.  The  Senate,  displeased  at  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  acting  on  a resolution  of  the  House  alone  in  a 
matter  which  had  not  come  before  the  more  august  assem- 


■Omar  Khayyam. 


211 


2i2  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


bly,  only  sanctioned  a small  expedition  for  surveying 
work  in  the  Pacific. 

Reynolds  made  a cruise  in  the  Pacific,  circumnavi- 
gated the  globe  and  returned  more  determined  than  ever 
to  obtain  an  expedition  on  an  adequate  scale  for  mari- 
time exploration  under  the  American  flag,  though  on  find- 
ing the  greatest  opposition  shown  to  the  part  of  the 
scheme  relating  to  south  polar  research  he  laid  more 
stress  on  the  exploration  of  the  Pacific.  The  practical 
importance  of  this  appealed  to  the  popular  mind  for  one- 
tenth  of  the  American  merchant  tonnage  was  embarked 
in  whaling  ventures  and  trade  with  China  on  those  seas. 

The  importance  of  having  competent  scientific  men  to 
take  advantage  of  the  opportunities  for  research  likely 
to  be  afforded  by  such  a voyage,  led  the  organisers  of  the 
expedition  to  provide  liberally  for  such  a staff,  on  which 
Reynolds  of  course  expected  to  have  a leading  place. 
This  part  of  the  plan  was  naturally  distasteful  to  the 
Navy  Department,  which  was  by  no  means  sympathetic 
with  the  expedition  as  a whole  and  adopted  the  instinc- 
tive attitude  of  the  fighting  man  toward  the  mere 
civilian.  Unable  to  prevent  the  nomination  of  a scientific 
staff  the  Department  could  at  least  balk  the  one  enthusiast 
of  the  opportunity  for  which  he  had  worked  so  long,  and 
“ for  the  sake  of  harmony  ” Reynolds  was  not  allowed 
to  go. 

The  Act  of  Congress  authorising  an  American  Ex- 
ploring Expedition  was  at. last  passed  on  May  18th, 
1836.  A squadron  was  set  apart  for  the  service  and 
Captain  Ap  Catesby  Jones,  U.  S.  N.,  appointed  to  com- 
mand it.  Lieutenant  Charles  Wilkes,  an  American  officer 
of  English  parentage  was  dispatched  to  Europe  to 
consult  with  scientific  men  there  and  to  make  pur- 


CHARLES  WILKES 


213 


chases  of  the  necessary  instruments  for  the  expedition. 
In  his  absence  troubles  thickened  round  the  promoters 
of  the  expedition,  which  it  is  now  unnecessary  even  if 
it  were  possible  to  particularise.  On  his  return  Wilkes 
found  that  he  was  expected  to  act  as  a member  of  the 
scientfic  corps  and  not  as  an  executive  officer.  This  he 
felt,  he  could  not  do  with  honour  to  himself  and  he 
gave  up  all  connection  with  the  expedition,  betaking  him- 
self to  marine  surveying. 

The  Navy  Department,  while  compelled  by  the  Act  of 
Congress  to  equip  the  expedition,  did  so  without  any 
heart  for  the  work.  The  friends  of  Mr.  Reynolds  felt 
that  they  had  a serious  grievance,  nor  did  they  hesitate 
to  say  so,  and  for  two  years  things  went  from  bad  to 
worse.  Jones  threw  up  the  command,  the  next  two 
officers  to  whom  it  was  offered  declined  or  were  unable 
to  accept  it.  Captain  Gregory  who  got  the  next  offer 
refused  to  have  anything  to  do  with  it  as  he  was  a friend 
of  Reynolds  and  resented  the  treatment  that  gentleman 
had  received. 

All  this  time  supplies  of  all  sorts  were  being  accumu- 
lated without  supervision,  the  ships  appointed  for  the 
service  were  surveyed  and  overhauled  in  a perfunctory 
manner,  and  although  the  learned  societies  of  the  United 
States,  especially  the  Philosophical  Society  of  Philadel- 
phia, formulated  plans  for  scientific  work,  there  was  no 
one  to  see  that  the  arrangements  necessary  for  their 
accomplishment  were  made. 

Discontent  had  already  taken  root  amongst  the  idle 
crews,  tired  with  the  long  delay.  The  public  were  dis- 
gusted with  the  procrastination  and  vacillation  of  the 
authorities  and  the  expedition  was  denounced  as  an  utter 
failure  before  ever  it  started.  At  last  on  March  20th, 


214  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

1838,  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  passing  over  several 
senior  officers,  gave  orders  to  Lieutenant  Charles  Wilkes, 
then  forty  years  of  age,  to  undertake  the  command  and 
reorganise  the  whole  expedition.  Wilkes  was  much 
surprised  at  the  appointment,  but,  after  insisting  that  it 
should  first  be  offered  to  all  the  officers  above  him  in  the 
service  he  accepted  the  task,  well-knowing  that  it  was  be- 
set with  more  than  ordinary  difficulties.  A month  later 
he  was  informed  that  the  squadron  assigned  to  him  would 
consist  of  the  sloops  of  war  Vincennes  and  Peacock,  the 
brig  Porpoise  and  the  store-ship  Relief,  the  last  being 
the  only  vessel  of  the  larger  squadron  originally  intended 
for  the  purpose,  and  although  new  a very  slow  ship. 
Two  pilotboats,  the  Sea  Gull  and  the  Flying  Fish  were 
subsequently  added. 

The  official  orders  describing  the  scope  and  aims  of 
the  expedition  were  dated  August  nth,  1838,  and  signed 
by  J.  K.  Paulding  of  the  Navy  Department.  The  fol- 
lowing quotations  from  this  document  are  necessary  in 
order  to  understand  the  real  object  of  the  expedition  and 
to  show  how  far  the  ships  were  intended  to  work  in  the 
polar  seas. 

“ The  Congress  of  the  United  States,  having  in  view 
the  important  interests  of  our  commerce  embarked  in 
the  whale-fisheries,  and  other  adventures  in  the  great 
Southern  Ocean,  by  an  Act  of  the  18th  of  May,  1836, 
authorized  an  Expedition  to  be  fitted  out  for  the  purpose 
of  exploring  and  surveying  that  sea,  as  well  to  deter- 
mine the  existence  of  all  doubtful  islands  and  shoals, 
as  to  discover  and  accurately  fix  the  position  of  those 
which  lie  in  or  near  the  track  of  our  vessels  in  that 
quarter,  and  may  have  escaped  the  observation  of  scien- 
tific navigators.  . . You  will  accordingly  take  your 


Lieutenant  Charles  Wilkes,  U.S.N., 
Commanding  the  United  States  Exploring  Expedition. 
(From  the  Narrative  of  the  Expedition.) 


I To  /ace  p.  >14. 


CHARLES  WILKES 


215 


departure  from  Norfolk,  and  shape  your  course  to  Rio 
Janeiro,  . . . determine  the  longitude  of  that  place, 

as  well  as  of  Cape  Frio;  after  which  you  will  either  de- 
tach a vessel  or  proceed  with  your  whole  squadron,  to 
make  a particular  examination  of  Rio  Negro.  . . . 
Having  completed  this  survey,  you  will  proceed  to  a 
safe  port  or  ports  in  Terra  del  Fuego,  where  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Scientific  Corps  may  have  favorable  oppor- 
tunities of  prosecuting  their  researches.  Leaving  the 
larger  vessels  securely  moored  and  the  officers  and 
crews  occupied  in  their  respective  duties,  you  will  proceed 
with  the  brig  Porpoise,  and  the  tenders,  to  explore  the 
Southern  Antarctic,  to  the  southward  of  Powell’s  Group, 
and  between  it  and  Sandwich  Land,  following  the  track 
of  Weddell  as  closely  as  practicable,  and  endeavoring  to 
reach  a high  southern  latitude ; taking  care,  however,  not 
to  be  obliged  to  pass  the  winter  there,  and  to  rejoin  the 
other  vessels  between  the  middle  of  February  and  be- 
ginning of  March.  The  attention  of  the  officers  left  at 
Terra  del  Fuego,  will,  in  the  meantime,  be  specially 
directed  to  making  such  accurate  and  particular  exam- 
inations and  surveys  of  the  bays,  ports,  inlets,  and 
sounds  in  that  region  as  may  verify  or  extend  those  of 
Captain  King.  . . . 

“ You  will  then  on  rejoining  the  vessels  at  Terra  del 
Fuego,  with  all  your  squadron,  stretch  towards  the 
southward  and  westward  as  far  as  the  Ne  Plus  Ultra 
of  Cook,  or  longitude  105°  W.,  and  return  northward  to 
Valparaiso.  . . . Proceeding  once  more  from  that 

port,  you  will  direct  your  course  to  the  Navigator’s 
Group,  keeping  to  the  southward  of  the  place  of  depart- 
ure, in  order  to  verify,  if  possible,  the  existence  of  cer- 
tain islands  and  shoals,  laid  down  in  the  charts  as  doubt- 


2 1 6 SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


ful,  and  if  they  exist,  to  determine  their  precise  position, 
as  well  as  that  of  all  others  which  may  be  discovered 
in  this  unfrequented  track.  When  you  arrive  in  those 
latitudes  where  discoveries  may  be  reasonably  antici- 
pated, you  will  so  dispose  your  vessels  as  that  they  shall 
sweep  the  broadest  expanse  of  the  ocean  that  may  be 
practicable,  without  danger  of  parting  company,  lying-to 
at  night  in  order  to  avoid  the  chance  of  passing  any 
small  island  or  shoal  without  detection.  . . . From 

the  Navigator's  Group,  you  will  proceed  to  the  Feejee 
Islands.  . . . These  objects  will,  it  is  presumed, 
occupy  you  until  the  latter  end  of  October;  and  when 
attained  as  far  as  may  be  possible,  you  will  proceed  to 
the  port  of  Sydney,  where  adequate  supplies  may  be 
obtained.  From  thence  you  will  make  a second  attempt  to 
penetrate  within  the  Antarctic  region,  south  of  Van  Die- 
men's Land,  and  as  far  west  as  longitude  45 0 E.,  or  to 
Enderby's  Land,  making  your  rendezvous  on  your  return 
at  Kerguelen's  Land,  or  the  Isle  of  Desolation,  as  it  is 
now  usually  denominated,  and  where  you  will  probably 
arrive  by  the  latter  end  of  March,  1840. 

“ From  the  Isle  of  Desolation  you  will  proceed  to  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  by  such  route  as  you  may  judge  best, 
from  the  information  you  may  acquire  from  such 
sources  as  fall  in  your  way.  . . . Thence  you  will 
direct  your  course  to  the  Northwest  Coast  of  America. 
. . . You  will  then  proceed  to  the  coast  of  Japan, 
taking  in  your  route  as  many  doubtful  islands  as  possi- 
ble; and  you  have  permission  to  pass  through  the 
Straits  of  Sangar  into  the  Sea  of  Japan,  where  you  may 
spend  as  much  time  as  is  compatible  with  your  arrival 
at  the  proper  season  in  the  Sea  of  Sooloo  or  Mindoro. 

. . . Having  completed  this  survey,  you  will  pro- 


CHARLES  WILKES  217 

ceed  to  the  Straits  of  Sunda,  pass  through  the  Straits  of 
Billiton,  which  you  will  examine,  and  thence  to  the  port 
of  Singapore,  where  it  is  probable  you  may  arrive  about 
the  beginning  of  April,  1841.  . . . Having  com- 

pleted this  service,  it  is  presumed  the  objects  of  your 
enterprise  will  be  accomplished,  and  you  will  accordingly, 
after  receiving  your  supplies  at  Singapore,  return  to  the 
United  States  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  taking  such  a 
course  as  may  be  most  likely  to  further  the  great  pur- 
poses of  the  expedition.” 

The  foregoing  extract  indicates  the  route  to  be  pur- 
sued and  the  general  allocation  of  time.  The  trips  into 
the  Antarctic  regions  were  designed  to  be  short  sum- 
mer cruises,  and  no  preparations  were  accordingly  made 
for  penetrating  the  pack-ice  or  for  wintering  in  a high 
latitude. 

A large  part  of  the  instructions  is  devoted  to  hints 
for  the  treatment  of  savages;  the  scientific  staff  of  nine 
civilians  was  selected  with  a view  to  studies  in  the 
tropical  and  temperate  zones,  and  as  a matter  of  fact 
they  were  not  carried  on  the  Antarctic  cruise.  The 
hydrography  and  geography  of  the  various  seas  and 
countries  were  to  be  studied  by  the  naval  officers  to 
whom  were  entrusted  all  researches  connected  with 
these  departments  as  well  as  with  astronomy,  terres- 
trial magnetism  and  meteorology.  Wilkes  insisted  upon 
this  as  one  of  the  conditions  of  accepting  the  command. 

Very  stringent  orders  were  given  as  to  the  com- 
munication of  the  results  of  the  expedition  to  outsiders. 

“ You  will  prohibit  all  those  under  your  command 
from  furnishing  any  persons  not  belonging  to  the  Ex- 
pedition with  copies  of  any  journal,  charts,  plan,  memo- 
randum, specimen,  drawing,  painting,  or  information 


218  siege  of  the  south  pole 

of  any  kind  which  has  reference  to  the  objects  and 
proceedings  of  the  Expedition.  . . . You  will  adopt 

the  most  effective  measures  to  prepare  and  preserve 
all  specimens  of  natural  history  that  may  be  col- 
lected, and  should  any  opportunity  occur  for  sending 
home  by  a vessel  of  war  of  the  United  States  copies 
of  information  or  duplicates  of  specimens  . . . 

you  will  avail  yourself  of  the  occasion  ...  at  the 
same  time  strictly  prohibiting  all  communications  ex- 
cept to  this  Department,  from  any  person  attached  to 
the  Expedition,  referring  to  discoveries,  or  any  circum- 
stances connected  with  the  progress  of  your  enter- 
prise.” 

The  services  of  Lieutenant  Hudson  as  second  in 
command  of  the  Expedition  were  only  secured  by  the 
express  declaration  on  the  part  of  the  government  that 
the  Expedition  had  no  military  character  so  that  that 
officer,  could  without  transgressing  naval  etiquette 
serve  under  Wilkes,  who  was  his  junior.  The  scien- 
tific staff  seems  to  have  been  frequently  discontented, 
the  exclusion  of  Mr.  Reynolds  not  appearing  to  have 
secured  the  harmony  that  was  expected.  The  cause 
of  the  discontent  was  largely  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
civilians  were  kept  entirely  in  ignorance  of  the  essential 
objects  of  the  expedition.  Wilkes  himself  gives  this 
explanation.  He  scarcely  conceals  his  contempt  of  civ- 
ilian men  of  science,  and  he  appears  to  have  seen 
nothing  wrong  in  treating  them  like  common  sailors  in 
so  important  a particular.  What  possible  harm  could 
result  from  the  plans  of  a national  expedition  being 
known  to  those  who  took  part  in  it  is  difficult  to  imagine ; 
the  effect  of  secrecy  should  have  been  easy  to  foresee. 

A hint  as  to  other  troubles  which  beset  the  kcom- 


CHARLES  WILKES 


219 


mander,  and  of  the  condition  of  the  crews  may  be 
obtained  from  the  following  conspectus  of  the  official 
list  of  officers  and  men  taking  part  in  the  expedition. 

There  were  altogether  83  officers  and  12  members 
of  the  civilian  staff  including  men  of  science  and  art- 
ists. In  addition  to  these  the  five  ships  sailed  with  a 
total  crew  of  345  men  of  whom  only  221  returned  to 
the  United  States  with  the  expedition  or  were  sent 
home  on  vessels  of  the  United  States.  Of  the  remain- 
der 62  were  discharged  abroad,  47  deserted  at  various 
ports  and  15  died  or  were  lost  in  the  Sea  Gull.  To 
take  the  place  of  the  losses  240  men  were  engaged  at 
various  ports  and  of  these  80  deserted,  8 died,  26  were 
discharged  and  126  were  brought  back  to  the  United 
States  so  that  the  number  at  the  end  of  the  long  voyage 
was  practically  the  same  as  at  the  beginning.  That 
there  were  127  desertions  out  of  585  men  engaged,  or 
22  per  cent,  of  the  ships’  companies,  shows  the  service 
to  have  been  far  from  popular.  Many  of  the  officers 
also  were  not  devoted  to  their  commander  and  some  of 
them  were  almost  openly  antagonistic  to  him. 

Captain  Wilkes  pointed  out  before  sailing  that  his 
requisitions  for  many  necessary  stores  had  been  totally 
disregarded  by  the  Navy  Department,  and  that  the  ves- 
sels had  not  been  properly  inspected  or  repaired  before 
being  sent  out.  The  alternatives  before  him  were  ex- 
tremely difficult,  either  to  resign,  as  the  commanders 
previously  designated  had  done,  to  delay  the  expedi- 
tion until  the  ships  were  properly  overhauled  and 
equipped  and  thereby  further  exasperate  public  opinion 
and  increase  the  discontent  of  the  crews,  or  finally  to 
sail  and  take  the  great  and  unnecessary  risks  put 
upon  him,  in  order  to  save  the  honour  of  his  country. 


220  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


He  chose  the  last  as  the  least  objectionable  course,  and 
he  found  it  hard  enough. 

The  squadron  was  hastily  got  ready  for  sea  and 
sailed  on  the  date  Wilkes  had  fixed  shortly  after  his 
appointment,  August  18th,  1838.  The  ships  were  as 
follows : 

The  Vincennes  was  a sloop-of-war  of  780  tons,  orig- 
inally single-decked,  but  for  the  purpose  of  the  cruise 
a light  upper  deck  was  added  thus  increasing  her  ac- 
commodation to  that  of  a small  frigate.  This  was  the 
flag-ship  of  the  squadron  under  the  command  of  Lieu- 
tenant Wilkes.  In  addition  to  her  officers  she  carried 
six  of  the  civilian  scientific  staff. 

The  Peacock  was  a sloop-of-war  of  650  tons,  built 
ten  years  before  and  provided  with  an  extra  deck  like 
the  Vincennes.  She  had  been  so  carelessly  overhauled 
and  so  little  prepared  for  a voyage  involving  exceptional 
risks  that  Lieutenant  William  L.  Hudson,  who  com- 
manded her,  reported  officially  a month  after  sailing: 

laken  as  a whole,  the  Peacock  has  been  fitted  out 
(so  far  as  the  navy-yard  was  concerned)  with  less  regard 
to  safety  and  convenience  than  any  vessel  I ever  had 
anything  to  do  with. 1 She  carried  four  of  the  civilian 
staff,  including  James  D.  Dana,  the  mineralogist.  It 
creates  no  surprise  that  she  did  not  complete  the  voyage ; 
she  was  wrecked  on  July  18,  1841,  though  fortunately 
without  loss  of  life. 

The  Porpoise,  a gun-brig  of  230  tons,  had  been 
specially  fitted  with  a forecastle  and  poop-deck  for  the 

voyage.  She  was  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  Cad- 
walader  Ringgold. 

The  Sea  Gull  was  an  old  New  York  pilot-boat  of  no 
tons,  and  served  as  a tender  under  the  command  of 


CHARLES  WILKES 


221 


Passed-Midshipman  James  W.  E.  Reid.  She  was  lost 
at  an  early  period  in  the  voyage,  about  the  1st  of  May, 
1839,  and  all  on  board  perished. 

The  tender,  Flying  Fish,  was  a similar  craft,  but  still 
smaller,  only  96  tons.  She  was  commanded  by  Mr. 
Samuel  R.  Knox,  and  did  not  complete  the  cruise,  having 
been  sold  at  Singapore. 

The  Relief  was  a store-ship  which,  although  new,  was 
an  unwieldy  vessel,  built  only  for  carrying  cargo.  She 
was  commanded  by  Lieutenant  A.  K.  Long  and  carried 
two  of  the  civilian  staff.  She  was  sent  home  early  in 
the  cruise,  having  proved  a drag  on  the  other  ships  on 
account  of  her  slowness. 

In  command  of  such  a squadron,  with  such  a history, 
Captain  Wilkes  set  out  on  a beautiful  day  with  a smooth 
sea  and  light  wind,  but  naturally  enough  a prey  to  dark 
forebodings.  He  says : 

“ It  required  all  the  hope  I could  muster  to  outweigh 
the  intense  feeling  of  responsibility  that  hung  over  me. 
I may  compare  it  to  that  of  one  doomed  to  destruction.” 

On  February  17th,  1839,  the  squadron  was  united  in 
Orange  Harbour,  Nassau  Bay,  in  the  extreme  south  of 
Tierra  del  Fuego.  There  the  Vincennes  was  left  at 
anchor,  the  Relief  was  sent  to  Magellan  Strait  to  carry  out 
surveys,  and  the  other  vessels  sailed  for  the  Antarctic 
ice.  Wilkes,  himself,  went  in  the  Porpoise,  accompanied 
by  the  Sea  Gull,  under  Lieutenant  Johnson,  to  explore 
the  southeast  side  of  Palmer  Land,  while  the  Peacock 
and  Flying  Fish  were  dispatched  to  the  westward  as  far 
as  the  Ne  Plus  Ultra  of  Cook  in  1060  W.  Both  parties 
sailed  on  February  25th,  the  mind  of  the  leader  again 
greatly  depressed  with  the  thought  of  the  difficulties  be- 
fore him. 


222  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

The  Porpoise  and  Sea  Gull  encountered  the  first  ice- 
islands  on  March  1st,  and  later  in  the  day  sighted  the 
northern  islands  of  the  South  Shetland  group.  The 
weather  for  several  days  was  so  thick  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  attempt  a landing.  Smoke  was  seen  issuing 
from  the  sides  of  Bridgeman  Island,  and  a strong  sul- 
phurous smell  was  noticed  as  the  ships  passed.  On  March 
3rd,  Wilkes  fixed  the  position  of  “ the  eastern  extremity 
of  Palmer’s  Land  or  Mount  Hope  ” in  63°  25'  S.,  5 70  55' 
W.,  a position  corresponding  to  that  of  the  Mont  d’Urville 
of  the  French  expedition,  which  had  visited  these  waters 
the  year  before,  of  whose  proceedings  Wilkes,  of  course, 
could  have  had  no  information.  The  land  was  closely 
beset  by  ice  and  the  American  ships  were  obliged  to  keep 
clear  of  it.  The  weather  continued  abominable  and  the 
conditions  of  life  on  board  were  wretched : 

“ A strong  gale  now  set  in  from  the  southward  and 
westward.  The  brig’s  deck  was  covered  with  ice  and 
snow,  and  the  weather  became  excessively  damp  and 
cold.  The  men  were  suffering,  not  only  from  want  of 
sufficient  room  to  accommodate  the  numbers  in  the 
vessel,  but  from  the  inadequacy  of  the  clothing  with 
which  they  had  been  supplied.  Although  purchased  by 
the  government  at  great  expense,  it  was  found  to  be 
entirely  unworthy  the  service,  and  inferior  in  every 
way  to  the  samples  exhibited.  This  was  the  case  with 
all  the  articles  of  this  description  that  were  provided 
for  the  Expedition.” 

The  gale  continuing,  determined  Wilkes  to  give  up 
all  idea  of  keeping  on  to  the  southward  and  on  March 
5th,  he  ordered  the  Sea  Gull  to  touch  at  Deception 
Island  and  return  to  Orange  Harbour ; while  he 
intended  to  visit  the  site  of  the  phantom  Aurora 


CHARLES  WILKES 


223 


Islands.  However,  incipient  scurvy  appeared  amongst 
the  ill-clad  and  over-crowded  crew  so  the  Porpoise  also 
was  headed  for  Orange  Harbour,  stopping  only  to  make 
some  deep-sea  observations  on  the  way.  One  of  these 
experiments  was  made  with  a wire  sounding-line,  one 
of  the  earliest  instances  of  such  an  arrangement  being 
used,  but  it  parted  at  340  fathoms  and  the  gear  was 
lost.  After  some  adventures  amongst  the  Fuegian 
Islands,  the  Porpoise  reentered  Orange  Harbour  on 
March  30th,  where  she  found  the  Sea  Gull  had  arrived 
eight  days  before.  Lieutenant  Johnson  had  spent  a 
week  at  Deception  Island,  and  had  searched  for,  but 
failed  to  find  the  minimum  thermometer  left  there  by 
Captain  Foster  in  1829.* 

The  Peacock  and  Flying  Fish  left  Orange  Harbour 
on  February  25,  1839,  with  orders  to  proceed  south- 
westward  to  Cook's  Ne  Plus  Ultra,  the  point  where  the 
great  navigator  reached  his  most  southerly  latitude  in 
105°  W.,  and  then  striking  southward  and  eastward 
they  were  to  steer  to  the  south  of  Bellingshausen’s 
route,  to  pass  southward  of  Peter  I.  Island  and  of  Alex- 
ander I.  Land,  and  so  return  to  Orange  Harbour.  The 
achievement  fell  far  short  of  the  plan.  The  two  vessels 
lost  sight  of  each  other  in  a gale  the  very  day  after 
they  sailed,  and  the  Peacock  finding  that  it  would  waste 
too  much  time  to  beat  up  to  the  various  rendezvous 
appointed  for  a meeting  in  case  of  separation,  held 
on  her  course  and  met  the  first  icebergs  in  63°  30'  S. 
in  8o°  W.  on  March  nth,  and  struggled  through  an 
ice-encumbered  sea  (reaching  almost  as  far  as  98°  W. 

*The  thermometer  was  found  by  a sealer,  W.  H.  Smiley,  in 
1842,  and  the  minimum  temperature  in  the  13  years  that  it  had 
been  exposed  found  to  be  — 5°  F. 


224  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

at  one  time)  until  on  March  25th,  she  got  as  far  as  68° 
S.  in  950  44'  W.  in  bad  weather  and  after  constant 
fogs.  Here  to  the  surprise  of  all  on  board  a sail  was 
sighted  and  proved  to  be  the  tender  Flying  Fish.  That 
little  schooner  under  Lieutenant  Walker  had  been 
much  more  successful  than  her  larger  consort.  She 
had  faithfully  carried  out  the  instructions,  had  visited 
each  of  the  appointed  rendezvous,  and  then  proceeded 
to  105°  W.,  where  on  March  21,  she  was  running  south- 
ward at  8 knots,  approaching  the  seventieth  parallel 
and  seemed  certain  to  get  beyond  Cook’s  farthest,  when 
ice  appeared  ahead  and  the  way  was  barred  in  70°  S. 
Next  day  Walker  began  to  work  his  way  back  to  the 
north,  and  his  official  report  so  pithily  described  his 
escape  from  being  frozen  in,  that  we  quote  it  verbatim: 
“ The  weather  grew  thicker  and  intensely  cold, 
though  the  thermometer  did  not  fall  below  30° ; I 
attributed  these  changes  to  the  ice  to  windward,  and, 
believing  that  we  were  getting  into  a clear  sea,  I 
stepped  below  to  stick  my  toes  in  the  stove.  I had  not 
been  below  certainly  five  minutes  when  the  look-out  called 
to  me  that  the  fog  had  lifted,  and  that  we  were  sur- 
rounded. I jumped  on  deck,  and  such  was  too  truly 
the  case ; narrow  fields  of  ice  with  narrow  passages  of 
water  between,  and  extending  longitudinally  in  a direc- 
tion perpendicular  to  the  wind,  formed  a complete  circle 
round  us  stretching  in  all  directions  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach,  and  beyond,  icebergs,  packed  and  floating 
ice.  I did  not  know  at  first  how  I should  proceed,  but 
after  a careful  look  round,  I ran  over  to  the  weather 
shore  of  the  pond,  and  stood  along  it  in  search  of  a pas- 
sage that  I could  not  find ; but,  observing  at  intervals 
* sutures  ’ in  the  ice,  where  it  did  not  appear  firmly 


CHARLES  WILKES 


225 


formed,  I resolved  to  take  advantage  of  this,  and  if  possi- 
ble force  a passage,  feeling  it  necessary  at  all  hazards  to 
extricate  ourselves  as  soon  as  possible.  Having  the  wind 
free,  I gave  her  the  main-sheet,  and  manned  it  well,  and 
having  got  about  six  knots  way  on  her,  kept  close  to  the 
ice,  and  when  at  the  proper  distance,  put  the  helm  down, 
hauled  the  main-sheet  forcibly  to  windward  and  let  fly 
the  head-sheets;  this  brought  her  round  suddenly  before 
she  had  passed  through  sufficient  water  to  deaden  her 
way ; the  ice  cracked,  we  slipped  over,  or  brushed 
through,  and  before  eight  o'clock  we  had  got  into  a toler- 
ably clear  sea.” 

When  the  two  vessels  met  it  was  evident  to  both  the 
commanders  that  it  was  time  to  turn  northward  and  Cap- 
tain Hudson  ordered  this  to  be  done,  magniloquently 
stating  that  it  required  more  moral  courage  to  bring  his 
mind  to  the  decision  than  he  could  well  describe  as  there 
was  less  ice  at  the  moment  about  them  than  usual  and 
personal  ambition  prompted  another  attempt  to  get  a 
high  latitude. 

The  whole  squadron  made  for  Valparaiso  Harbour, 
where  all  except  the  unfortunate  Sea  Gull  safely  arrived 
and  proceeded  on  their  cruise  in  the  tropical  Pacific  in 
the  month  of  May. 

At  the  end  of  November  1839  the  Vincennes,  Peacock, 
Porpoise  and  Flying  Fish  reached  Sydney  Harbour,  the 
Relief  having  been  sent  back  to  the  United  States  as  use- 
less for  the  purposes  of  the  expedition.  Here  the  natur- 
alists were  informed  that  they  would  not  be  required  on 
the  second  cruise  to  the  Antarctic  and  advised  to  devote 
themselves  to  the  more  profitable  study  of  the  natural 
history  of  Australia  and  New  Zealand. 

Vessels  worse  adapted  for  the  cruise  now  undertaken 

15 


226  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

would  be  difficult  to  find.  The  larger  ships  pierced  for 
guns  with  large  square  ports  could  hardly  be  kept  dry 
between  decks  in  any  breeze.  The  ports  were  not  tight- 
fitting  and  in  the  case  of  the  Peacock  the  sheer-strake  to 
which  they  were  hung  and  the  bulwarks  attached  was  so 
rotten  as  to  cause  the  greatest  anxiety.  All  possible  steps 
were  taken  to  keep  the  inside  of  the  ships  dry.  All  the 
openings  were  caulked,  and  the  seams  covered  with  tarred 
canvas  over  which  sheet-lead  was  nailed.  On  starting 
the  ships'  boats  were  filled  with  bread  as  there  were  not 
bags  enough  to  contain  it  all  nor  proper  space  in  which 
to  stow  it. 

By  this  time  particulars  of  the  equipment  of  the  British 
Antarctic  expedition  had  been  received  at  Sydney  and 
the  American  ships  were  visited  by  numbers  of  the 
citizens  anxious  to  see  what  Antarctic  equipment  was  like. 
Wilkes  describes  the  circumstance  with  a touch  of  the 
grim  humour  that  flickers  now  and  then  over  the  sternest 
facts  in  his  narrative. 

“ All  seemed  disappointed  at  not  being  able  to  see  the 
same  complete  outfits  in  our  vessels  as  they  had  seen  de- 
scribed in  the  published  accounts  of  these  of  the  English 
expedition  commanded  by  Captain  James  Ross.  They 
enquired  whether  we  had  compartments  in  our  ships  to 
prevent  us  from  sinking  ? Plow  we  intended  to  keep  our- 
selves warm?  What  kind  of  antiscorbutic  we  were  to 
use?  And  where  were  our  great  ice-saws?  To  all  of 
these  questions  I was  obliged  to  answer,  to  their  great 
apparent  surprise,  that  we  had  none,  and  to  agree  with 
them  that  we  were  unwise  to  attempt  such  service  in 
ordinary  cruising  vessels;  but  we  had  been  ordered  to  go, 
and  that  was  enough ! and  go  we  should.  This  want  of 
preparation  certainly  did  not  add  to  the  character  for 


CHARLES  WILKES 


227 


wisdom  of  our  government,  with  this  community ; but 
they  saw  us  all  cheerful,  young,  and  healthy,  and  gave 
us  the  character,  that  I found  our  countrymen  generally 
bear,  of  recklessness  of  life  and  limb.  The  tender  Flying 
Fish  excited  their  astonishment  more  than  the  ships, 
from  her  smallness  and  peculiar  rig;  and,  altogether, 
as  a gentleman  told  me,  most  of  our  visitors  considered 
us  doomed  to  be  frozen  to  death.  I did  not  anticipate 
such  a fate,  although  I must  confess  I felt  the  chances 
were  much  against  us,  in  case  we  were  compelled  to 
winter  within  the  Antarctic.  From  every  calculation, 
we  could  not  stow  quite  twelve  months’  provision,  even 
upon  short  allowance;  our  fuel  was  inadequate  to  last 
us  more  than  seven  months,  and  the  means  of  protecting 
ourselves  in  the  ships  for  winter  quarters,  were  anything 
but  sufficient.  My  mind  naturally  suffered  a great  deal 
of  anxiety  on  all  these  points,  and  I felt  myself  not  a 
little  depressed  by  it,  particularly  when  I considered  the 
state  of  the  Peacock.  . . . 

“ We  made  up  our  minds  that  it  was  absolutely  neces- 
sary for  the  credit  of  the  Expedition  and  the  country  for 
her  to  perform  it;  for  we  were  well  satisfied  that  im- 
proper imputations  and  motives  would  be  ascribed  to 
us  if  she  did  not,  and  was  detained  undergoing  repairs, 
in  a state  of  inactivity,  during  the  season  for  operations 
in  the  high  southern  latitudes.  The  necessity  I felt  of 
subjecting  so  many  lives  in  so  unworthy  a ship,  caused 
me  great  anxiety  during  the  whole  cruise.” 

On  December  26th,  1839,  the  day  decided  upon  before 
leaving  home,  the  squadron  sailed  from  Sydney.  On 
January  2nd,  1840,  the  little  Flying  Fish  was  lost  sight 
of  in  a fog  and  the  opinion  was  general  in  the  other 
vessels  that  she  had  shared  the  fate  that  befell  the  Sea 


228  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

Gull  off  Cape  Horn.  Next  day  the  Peacock  dropped  out 
of  sight,  and  as  the  current  and  wind  were  unfavourable, 
Wilkes  decided  not  to  visit  the  first  rendezvous  at  Mac- 
quarie Island  but  to  push  on  to  the  second,  Emerald  Isle, 
or  its  supposed  locality.  Here  neither  ships  nor  island 
were  to  be  seen,  and  on  the  ioth,  the  first  ice  was  met 
with  in  61°  S.  and  162°  30'  E.  Two  days  later  the  Por- 
poise vanished  from  the  flag-ship  in  a fog,  and  the  Vin- 
cennes pursued  her  way  alone  to  the  westward  amongst 
floating  bergs  along  the  edge  of  a close  ice-pack  in  64°. 

On  the  15th  of  January  the  Peacock  and  Porpoise 
met,  and  on  the  16th  they  came  up  with  the  Vincennes 
in  1 570  46'  E.  longitude,  but  the  latitude  is  not  stated  in 
Wilkes’s  narrative,  though  from  his  chart  it  is  seen  to  be 
about  66°  S.  The  sea  was  much  discoloured,  but  a 
sounding  with  230  fathoms  of  line  from  the  Vincennes 
failed  to  reach  the  bottom;  the  Peacock  found  a depth 
of  850  fathoms  close  to  the  ice.  On  this  day  appearances 
believed  to  be  land  were  seen  from  all  three  ships,  and 
the  fact  was  sworn  to  subsequently  in  court.  Wilkes 


Ringcold’s  Knoll. 

(From  the  Narrative  of  the  U.  S.  Exploring  Expedition.) 


published  the  accompanying  sketch,  which  he  made  of 
what  he  himself  saw  and  named  Ringgold’s  Knoll;  but 
it  is  not  stated  whether  the  sketch  was  made  at  the  time 
or  from  memory.  He  says : 


CHARLES  WILKES  229 

“We  ourselves  anticipated  no  such  discovery;  the 
indications  of  it  were  received  with  doubt  and  hesitation ; 

I myself  did  not  venture  to  record  in  my  private  journal 
the  certainty  of  land,  until  three  days  after  those  best 
acquainted  with  its  appearance  in  high  latitudes  were 
assured  of  the  fact ; and  finally,  to  remove  all  possibility 
of  doubt,  and  to  prove  conclusively  that  there  was  no 
deception  in  the  case,  views  of  the  same  land  were 
taken  from  the  vessels  in  three  different  positions,  with 
the  bearings  of  its  peaks  and  promontories,  by  whose 
intersection  their  position  is  nearly  as  well  established 
as  the  peaks  of  any  of  the  islands  we  surveyed  from 
the  sea. 

“ All  doubt  in  relation  to  the  reality  of  our  discovery 
gradually  wore  away,  and  towards  the  close  of  the  cruise 
of  the  Vincennes  along  the  icy  barrier,  the  mountains  of 
the  Antarctic  Continent  became  familiar  and  of  daily 
appearance,  insomuch  that  the  log-book,  which  is 
guardedly  silent  as  to  the  time  and  date  of  its  being  first 
observed,  now  speaks  throughout  of  1 the  land. 

Wilkes  accordingly  adopted  January  16th  as  the  date 
of  first  discovery,  although  one  of  the  charges  subse- 
quently brought  against  him  and  disproved,  was  that  on 
the  19th  he  stated  that  he  had  seen  land,  well  knowing 
that  he  had  not  done  so.  Unless  the  latter  date  was 
considered  of  supreme  importance  it  is  difficult  to  imagine 
how  it  could  have  been  made  the  foundation  of  a charge, 
even  though  that  charge  was  proved  to  be  absolutely 
groundless.  Lieutenant  Ringgold  of  the  Porpoise,  also 
stated  that  on  January  13th,  he  was  strongly  impressed 
with  the  belief  of  the  close  approach  of  land.  It  is  quite 
possible  from  his  position  that  he  caught  the  distant  loom 
of  the  Balleny  Islands,  the  existence  of  which  was  un- 


23o  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

known  to  the  explorers,  though  they  had  been  discovered 
twelve  months  before.  The  question  of  priority  was  made 
much  of  by  Wilkes,  not,  indeed,  in  favour  of  Balleny, 
but  against  D’Urville,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  unquestion- 
ably discovered  land  in  the  same  locality  within  a few 
days  of  the  Americans.  As  the  land  would  have  been 
discovered  in  any  case  by  one  of  the  expeditions,  even  if 
the  other  had  not  been  in  the  field,  the  question  is  one  of 
purely  personal,  or  at  the  highest,  of  national  interest, 
the  controversy  is  of  no  scientific  importance  whatever. 
The  prior  discovery  by  Wilkes  or  D’Urville  in  no  way 
reduces  the  credit  due  to  both  explorers,  although  the 
nature  of  the  new  land  was  only  ascertained  by  either  in 
a vague  way. 

On  the  night  of  the  16th  the  fog  fell  thick  and  the 
Vincennes  suddenly  ran  from  a rough  sea  into  smooth 
water  to  the  great  alarm  of  the  watch  below,  who, 
awakened  by  the  sudden  stillness,  knew  that  she  had 
come  inside  a line  of  ice.  She  was,  in  fact,  embayed,  and 
it  cost  several  hours  of  anxious  navigation  to  work  her 
into  the  rough,  open  water  again. 

On  the  17th  the  Peacock  was  ordered  to  proceed  inde- 
pendently, as  the  attempt  to  keep  the  ships  in  company 
was  retarding  exploration.  Both  vessels  held  on  their 
way  westward  along  the  edge  of  the  barrier  of  close 
pack  ice.  On  the  19th  land  v/as  very  distinctly  seen, 
both  to  the  south-southeast  and  the  southwest,  the  Vin- 
cennes being  then  in  66°  20' S.  and  i54°3o'E.  The 
land  appeared  to  rise  to  a height  of  about  3000  feet.  At 
night  the  unusual  spectacle  was  seen  of  the  sun  and  the 
nearly  full  moon,  both  shining  at  the  same  time,  the  sun 
“ illuminated  the  icebergs  and  distant  continent  with  his 
deep  golden  rays,”  -while  the  moon  “ tinged  with  silvery 


CHARLES  WILKES 


231 


light  the  clouds  in  its  immediate  neighbourhood.”  The 
continent  was  however  more  distant  than  the  observers 
thought,  for  subsequent  voyages  show  that  no  land  larger 
than  a small  island  can  occupy  the  position  assigned. 

The  course  along  the  ice-barrier  lay  amongst  huge 
flat-topped  perpendicular  ice-islands,  rising  from  150  to 
250  feet  above  the  sea,  and  other  bergs  caverned,  split 
and  carved  in  fantastic  forms,  the  whole  resembling  a 
huge  city  of  ruined  alabaster  palaces  with  streets  of  water. 
On  the  22nd,  while  within  sight  of  land,  the  Peacock  got 
soundings  in  320  fathoms,  a confirmation  of  the  vicinity 
of  land,  which  was  much  appreciated.  Two  days  later, 
while  attempting  to  work  off  the  pack,  the  Peacock  went 
astern  and  drove  backwards  into  the  ice,  damaging  her 
rudder  so  seriously  that  the  ship  became  unmanageable, 
all  sail  had  to  be  furled  and  after  much  trouble  she  was 
made  fast  to  a berg  with  ice-anchors.  For  a time  these 
held,  but  the  wind  freshening,  they  were  torn  from  their 
hold  and  her  port  quarter  was  driven  against  an  ice- 
island  with  a tremendous  crash.  The  rotten  state  of  the 
upper  works  of  the  ship  prepared  Hudson  for  the  result : 

“ The  first  effect  of  this  blow  was  to  carry  away  the 
spanker-boom,  the  larboard  stern-davit,  and  to  crush  the 
stern-boat.  The  starboard  stern-davit  was  the  next  to 
receive  the  shock,  and  as  this  is  connected  with  the  spar- 
deck  bulwarks,  the  whole  of  them  were  started;  the 
knee,  a rotten  one,  which  bound  the  davit  to  the  taffrail, 
and  with  it  all  the  stanchions  to  the  plank-sheer  as  far  as 
the  gangway. 

“ Severe  as  was  this  shock  it  happened  fortunately 
that  it  was  followed  by  as  great  a rebound.  This  gave 
the  vessel  a cant  to  starboard,  and  by  the  timely  aid  of 
the  jib  and  other  sails,  carried  her  clear  of  the  ice-island, 


232  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

and  forced  her  into  a small  opening.  While  doing  this, 
and  before  the  vessel  had  moved  half  her  length,  an  im- 
pending mass  of  ice  and  snow  fell  in  her  wake.  Had  this 
fallen  only  a few  seconds  earlier,  it  must  have  crushed 
the  vessel  to  atoms.” 


For  days  the  ship  remained  in  the  direst  peril,  labour- 
ing frightfully  in  the  trough  of  the  heavy  sea,  grinding 
and  striking  against  the  masses  of  ice,  while  her  boats 
made  desperate  efforts  to  plant  the  ice-anchors  to  control 


The  “Peacock”  in  Peril. 

(From  the  Narrative  of  the  U.S.  Exploring  Expedition. 


CHARLES  WILKES 


233 


her  movements.  The  rudder  had  been  brought  on  board 
with  difficulty  and  the  carpenters  were  at  work  on  it 
trying  to  repair  it  sufficiently  to  allow  it  to  be  shipped; 
Mr.  Dibble,  the  carpenter,  was  on  the  sick-list,  but  he 
rose  from  his  bed  and  toiled  with  his  mates  for  four  and 
twenty  hours  without  intermission  to  accomplish  the 
herculean  task.  On  the  25th  the  rudder  was  hung,  though 
in  a very  unsatisfactory  state,  and  the  ship  was  at  last 
worked  out  of  the  bay  in  the  barrier  in  which  she  had  so 
nearly  perished.  She  was  in  a deplorable  condition.  In 
addition  to  the  other  damage,  her  stem  was  nearly 
ground  off  by  collisions  with  the  ice.  It  would  have 
been  madness  to  attempt  more,  and  the  only  chance  of 
safety  lay  in  an  immediate  retreat  to  the  north  by  which, 
if  the  elements  were  kind,  she  might  reach  Sydney.  On 
February  21st  she  arrived  at  that  port  with  all  well  on 
board,  after  a tempestuous  and  most  anxious  voyage. 
Captain  Hudson  had  shown  himself  a splendid  sailor, 
cool,  resourceful,  and  never  at  a loss  how  to  act  in  the 
most  trying  emergencies ; and  Wilkes  gives  him  un- 
stinted praise  for  his  seamanship,  courage,  and  devotion. 

The  Vincennes  and  Porpoise  were  left  cruising  west- 
ward along  the  icy  barrier.  On  January  22,  1840,  the 
Vincennes  passed  the  place  where  the  Peacock  unfortu- 
nately found  an  opening  on  the  following  day,  and  no 
break  in  the  line  of  the  barrier  was  observed.  The  alter- 
nate opening  and  closing  of  the  ice  was  attributed  by 
Wilkes  to  a tide  setting  along  the  coast  of  the  Antarctic 
continent.  On  the  22nd  the  sea  was  found  clear  to  the 
south  and  the  Vincennes  sailed  into  a wide  bay,  situated 
in  67°  4'  S.  and  1470  30'  E.,  hoping  this  time  to  reach  the 
land,  but  at  midnight  it  appeared  that  there  was  no  out- 
let to  east  or  west,  and  a solid  ice-barrier  formed  the 


234  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

bottom  of  the  inlet  which  Wilkes  named  Disappointment 
Bay.  The  weather  was  fine  and  clear,  and  next  day,  long 
after  leaving  the  bay,  the  commander  found  that  one 
of  the  officers  had  logged  without  reporting  to  him  the 
discovery  of  a wide  opening  in  the  ice  at  the  bottom  of 
the  bay.  Although  sure  that  no  such  opening  existed, 
Wilkes  put  the  ship  about  and  sailed  back  forty  miles 
to  convince  the  officers  that  Disappointment  Bay  was 
really  a cul-de-sac  in  the  ice.  About  this  time  Wilkes 
introduced  the  practise  of  charting  the  large  ice-islands 
as  he  proceeded  as  if  they  had  been  actual  islands,  be- 
lieving that  their  relative  positions  would  not  change 
much  in  the  course  of  a few  hours  and  that  the  rough 
chart  might  prove  serviceable  if  he  had  suddenly  to  re- 
treat from  his  position. 

On  January  25th  a snow  storm  came  on  and  the  wind 
shifted  to  the  southeast  for  the  first  time  since  the  squad- 
ron had  reached  the  ice,  a fact  that  surprised  Wilkes,  for 
on  the  strength  of  former  voyages  he  had  expected  east- 
erly winds  to  prevail  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Ant- 
arctic circle.  The  fair  wind,  come  at  last,  could  not  be 
taken  advantage  of  because  the  weather  was  unsuitable 
for  making  an  examination  of  the  coast,  which  was  now 
fully  believed  to  lie  within  the  southern  ice-barrier.  The 
Porpoise  was  sighted  several  times  on  the  26th  and  27th, 
as  the  Vincennes  continued  to  run  to  the  westward 
through  the  scattered  ice-islands  to  about  longitude  1420 
E.  Land  was  distinctly  seen  on  the  28th,  and  the  ship 
ran  towards  it  for  40  miles  through  an  extraordinary  num- 
ber of  ice-islands,  varying  from  a quarter  of  a mile  to 
three  miles  in  length.  At  2 p.  m.  the  barometer  began  to 
fall  and  the  weather  looked  so  bad  that  Wilkes  deter- 
mined to  regain  the  open  sea  and  tried  to  do  so  by  aid  of 


CHARLES  WILKES 


235 


the  ice-chart  constructed  on  the  way ; but  the  fog  was  too 
thick  to  identify  the  bergs,  and  it  seemed  safer  to  pro- 
ceed on  the  original  course.  All  the  afternoon  the 
barometer  continued  to  fall  and  the  gale  to  increase. 
Snow  storms  obscured  the  view  and  the  spray  that  broke 
on  board  froze  as  it  touched  the  deck  or  rigging.  The 
sail  was  reduced,  but  not  to  a mininum,  as  it  was  neces- 
sary to  keep  a good  way  on  the  ship,  and  the  navigation 
became  very  difficult  on  account  of  the  multitude  of 
bergs : 

“ At  10:30  p.  m.  we  found  ourselves  thickly  beset  with 
them,  and  had  many  narrow  escapes ; the  excitement  be- 
came intense;  it  required  a constant  change  of  helm  to 
avoid  those  close  aboard;  and  we  were  compelled  to 
press  the  ship  with  canvas  in  order  to  escape  them  by 
keeping  her  to  windward.  We  thus  passed  close  along 
their  weather  sides,  and  distinctly  heard  the  roar  of  the 
surf  dashing  against  them.  We  had,  from  time  to  time, 
glimpses  of  their  obscure  outline,  appearing  as  though 
immediately  above  us.  After  many  escapes,  I found 
the  ship  so  covered  with  ice,  and  the  watch  so  powerless 
in  managing  her,  that  a little  after  midnight,  on  the  29th, 
I had  all  hands  called.” 

For  seven  hours  all  hands  remained  on  watch,  the  ship, 
all  the  time,  being  in  the  most  extreme  peril.  Intense 
excitement  prevailed  on  board.  The  gunner  fell  on  the 
icy  deck  and  broke  his  ribs,  one  of  the  sailors  when  aloft 
got  imprisoned  on  the  lee-yardarm  by  the  sail  he  was 
endeavouring  to  furl  being  blown  over  the  yard,  and  he 
was  rescued  with  difficulty,  a rope  having  to  be  passed 
round  him  by  which  he  was  hauled,  nearly  frozen  to 
death,  into  the  top.  At  one  moment  the  ship  seemed 
rushing  on  to  destruction  against  a huge  ice-island,  but 


236  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

a narrow  passage  between  two  bergs  suddenly  appeared 
and  she  shot  into  the  treacherous  calm  of  the  narrow 
way,  her  sails  almost  thrown  aback  by  the  eddy  winds 
from  the  wall  of  ice,  and  the  roar  of  the  storm  stilled 
by  the  distance.  The  suspense  was  terrible,  but  the 
spirits  of  the  captain  rose  as  he  heard  the  howling  of  the 
tempest  once  more  and  emerged  into  the  furious  sea 
from  the  imminence  of  a terrible  death.  By  4 p.  m. 
the  gale  was  over,  the  wind  blew  from  the  southwest, 
and  the  ship  was  in  140°  E.,  63°  30'  S.  Wilkes  at  once 
started  retracing  his  track  to  the  southward,  once  more 
hopeful  of  reaching  the  land.  The  sun  rose  on  the  30th 
of  January  and  shone  brilliantly  on  a sea  beset  with  ice- 
islands  and  bergs  of  all  sizes  through  which  the  ship 
pursued  her  way  easily  under  full  sail,  her  crew  amazed 
beyond  measure  to  see  the  labyrinth  of  ice  through  which 
they  had  rushed  before  the  storm  unharmed  in  the  dark- 
ness. 

The  wind  quickly  freshened  and  the  ship  ran  into  a 
clear  space  at  the  rate  of  nine  or  ten  knots,  finding  her- 
self in  a bay  partly  enclosed  by  ice  and  partly  by  rocks, 
to  which  the  ship  approached  within  half  a mile.  The 
land  was  seen  rising  beyond  the  rocks  and  the  barrier 
to  a height  of  about  3000  feet,  and  could  be  distinctly 
seen  extending  fully  sixty  miles  from  east  to  west.  The 
position  was  66°  45'  S.,  140°  2'  E.,  and  soundings  gave 
a depth  of  only  30  fathoms.  The  wind  had  risen  again  to 
the  force  of  a gale  and  it  was  impossible  to  lower  a boat. 
Now  that  all  on  board  were  convinced  of  its  existence, 
Wilkes  gave  to  the  land  the  name  of  The  Antarctic  Con- 
tinent, and  to  the  indentation  in  which  they  were  that  of 
Piners  Bay,  after  the  signal  quartermaster.  This  was 
the  land  which  D tTrville  also  discovered. 


CHARLES  WILKES 


237 


Another  furious  gale  struck  the  ship  and  she  was  able 
to  show  only  a close-reefed  main-topsail  and  fore-storm- 
staysail,  and  once  more  she  had  to  run  before  it  amongst 
the  maze  of  ice-islands  through  another  dreadful  night 
of  watchfulness  and  fear,  this  time  with  added  anxiety 
for  the  wind  was  blowing  toward  the  barrier,  and  with 
every  tack  the  ship  drew  nearer  the  impenetrable  ice.  At 
6 p.  m.,  on  January  31st,  the  wind  abated  and  Wilkes  was 
anxious  to  return  to  Piner’s  Bay,  now  some  sixty  miles 
astern,  in  order  to  attempt  a landing.  Another  difficulty 
arose  from  an  entirely  unexpected  quarter:  The  ship’s 
company  appeared  to  the  leader  to  be  in  very  fair  health 
and  fit  and  willing  for  their  work;  but  two  of  the  sur- 
geons (the  third  at  the  time  was  under  suspension  from 
duty)  presented  a written  report  to  the  captain,  stating 
that  the  health  of  the  crew  was  so  seriously  impaired 
that  a few  days  more  of  such  trying  work  as  they  had 
recently  had  would  increase  the  sick  list  to  such  an  extent 
as  to  hazard  the  safety  of  the  ship. 

In  order  to  deal  with  this  sudden  crisis,  Wilkes  re- 
stored the  suspended  surgeon  to  duty  so  as  to  get  an 
additional  report,  and  also  asked  the  opinion  in  writing 
of  the  ward-room  officers.  A majority  of  the  officers 
supported  the  medical  report,  nevertheless  Wilkes  felt 
that  he  would  fail  in  his  duty  to  his  country  if  he  re- 
linquished his  cruise  along  the  barrier  while  the  sea  was 
open  and  the  crew  not  absolutely  disabled.  So  after 
full  consideration  he  did  not  adopt  the  advice  for  which 
he  had  asked,  and  ordered  sail  to  be  made  to  the  west- 
ward. On  February  2nd  the  ship  was  sailing  along  the 
icy  barrier  at  a distance  sometimes  as  little  as  2J  miles, 
and  the  high  land  was  seen  beyond  it.  Rows  of 
grounded  icebergs  were  in  sight  and  the  water  was 


238  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

much  discoloured.  Greatly  to  the  regret  of  Wilkes 
the  deep-sea  sounding  line  was  in  such  a bad  state  that  it 
could  only  be  used  to  the  depth  of  150  fathoms,  and  so 
failed  to  reach  the  bottom.  The  position  of  the  ship  on 
this  day  was  66°  12'  S.  and  1370  2'  E. 

The  number  on  the  sick  list  increased  to  twenty,  and 
the  nights  were  growing  longer,  thus  increasing  the 
strain  and  anxiety  on  the  navigating  officers.  A snow 
storm  and  gale  came  on  next  day  and  the  sick  list  rose 
to  thirty.  The  weather  remained  wretched  until  the  7th, 
and  the  ship  was  slowly  worked  to  the  westward,  some- 
times running  far  to  the  north  to  round  projections  of 
the  barrier  or  to  escape  from  the  proximity  of  dangerous 
icebergs.  The  7th  proved  finer  and  the  ship  cruised  all 
day  along  a perpendicular  wall  of  ice  about  150  feet  in 
height,  stretching  without  a break  to  1310  40'  E.  and  64° 
49'  S.,  where  it  trended  to  the  south.  Behind  it  the  out- 
line of  high  land  could  be  distinctly  seen,  the  Cote  Clarie 
of  D Urville.  The  ship  lay-to  till  daylight  at  the  bend 
in  the  coast  to  which  Wilkes  gave  the  name  of  Cape 
Carr,  after  the  first  lieutenant  of  the  Vincennes,  but  it  is 
not  stated  whether  the  cape  was  the  icy  angle  of  the  bar- 
rier or  the  assumed  promontory  within  it,  and  it  has 
even  been  suggested  by  an  American  author  that  the 
name  applied  to  the  “ snowy  heights  of  the  mainland,” 
but  Wilkes  was  certainly  too  good  a sailor  to  give  the 
name  of  cape  to  any  feature  not  touched  by  the  sea. 
Next  day  it  was  possible  to  get  only  a little  farther  south 
but  land  was  visible  in  the  evening  at  a great  distance 
and  the  westerly  course  was  continued. 

The  next  two  days  were  the  finest  experienced  on  that 
coast,  and  fine  views  of  the  barrier  were  obtained,  though 
the  appearances  of  land  were  neither  so  numerous  nor  so 


239 


CHARLES  WILKES 

distinct  as  before.  At  night  a magnificent  display  of  the 
aurora  australis  was  seen  curtaining  the  northern  horizon. 
On  the  1 2th  land  was  seen  again  to  the  southwest,  and 
again  hopes  were  high  that  it  might  be  reached,  but 
shortly  after  noon  the  loose  floe  ice  through  which 
the  Vincennes  was  sailing,  changed  to  a solid  barrier. 
The  position  then  was  64°  57'  S.,  112°  16'  E.,  and  the 
land  was  distinctly  seen  as  a lofty  snow-covered  moun- 
tain range,  showing  many  ridges  and  indentations.  No 
soundings  were  obtained  with  250  fathoms,  and  the  ship 
lay-to  for  three  hours  in  the  hope  of  finding  some  opening 
in  the  barrier  through  which  the  land  might  be  reached. 
Some  of  the  icebergs  showed  dark  earthy  stains.  On 
the  13th  high  rounded  snow-covered  land  was  dis- 
tinctly seen  extending  from  west-southwest  to  south- 
southeast,  when  the  ship  was  in  65°  57' S.,  106°  40'  E. 
It  was  about  twelve  miles  distant  and  there  was  no  bottom 
with  300  fathoms.  Next  day  was  clear  and  the  land  was 
seen  from  seven  to  eight  miles  distant,  extending  by 
angular  measurements  for  75  miles,  and  about  3000  feet 
high.  As  it  was  impossible  to  reach  it  from  the  ship,  a 
landing  was  made  on  one  of  the  biggest  ice-islands  from 
which  a large  collection  of  boulders  of  basalt  and  red 
sandstone  was  made.  The  largest  boulder  seen  was  five 
or  six  feet  in  diameter,  but  it  was  not  secured,  being  in 
an  inaccessible  position.  Parts  of  the  berg  seemed  to  be 
formed  of  a sort  of  conglomerate  of  rocks  cemented 
together  by  ice  of  flinty  hardness.  All  hands  showed  the 
keenest  interest  in  the  discovery  and  all  were  eagerly 
desirous  of  possessing  themselves  of  a piece  of  the  Ant- 
arctic Continent.  The  crew  enjoyed  themselves  in  sliding 
on  the  ice  covering  a pond  of  fresh  water  of  over  an 
acre  in  extent  on  the  top  of  the  ice-island,  and  on  break- 


24o  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

ing  this  ice  a vast  supply  of  the  purest  fresh  water  was 
found,  from  which  the  ship  replenished  her  tanks.  As 
this  berg  was  nearly  in  the  position  of  the  last  rendezvous 
appointed  for  the  squadron  a flagstaff  was  erected  on  it, 
and  orders  left  for  the  other  ships  to  continue  to  the  west- 
ward until  the  1st  of  March. 

On  February  15th,  the  sea  became  so  calm  that  Wilkes 
suspected  that  there  might  be  a quantity  of  ice  to  the 
northward  between  him  and  the  open  ocean,  especially  as 
he  was  200  miles  south  of  the  latitude  in  which  Cook 
had  found  the  barrier  in  1773,  but  he  kept  on  in  the  hope 
of  reaching  Enderby  Land.  Animal  life  was  now  ex- 
uberant, whales  abounded,  including  “ right  whales  ” it 
is  stated,  and  there  were  seals  and  penguins  in  abun- 
dance though  no  mention  is  made  of  these  being  used  for 
food.  Enormous  numbers  of  shrimps  were  seen  swim- 
ming around  the  icebergs.  Many  earth-stained  icebergs 
came  in  sight  and  some  of  them  were  visited.  The 
meridian  of  ioo°  E.  had  been  passed,  and  the  wind  for 
several  days  showed  a distinct  diurnal  periodicity,  blow- 
ing fresh  from  7 a.  m.  to  8 p.  m.,  and  dying  away  at 
night. 

On  the  1 6th  about  10  a.  m.,  the  barrier  was  seen  trend- 
ing to  the  northward,  and  next  day  it  was  found  that  there 
was  no  possibility  of  getting  farther  to  the  west.  The 
position  then  was  64°  1'  S.  and  970  37'  E.,  and  an  ap- 
pearance of  land  was  seen  to  the  southwest,  apparently 
trending  to  the  northward.  This  was  charted  as  Ter- 
mination Land  and  gave  rise  to  much  controversy:  it  has 
been  proved  not  to  exist  in  the  assigned  position,  though 
Drygalski  found  land  which  might  have  been  sighted  in 
the  same  direction  from  Wilkes's  farthest  point  to  the 
westward.  As  the  wind  still  held  from  the  east  it  was 


Yikw  of  the  Antarctic  Continent  from  an  Ice  Island  on  h ebruarv  iS4o- 

(From  the  Narrative  of  the  U.S.  Exploring  Expedition.) 


CHARLES  WILKES 


241 


necessary  to  beat  back  against  it  in  order  to  escape  from 
the  great  bay  into  which  the  Vincennes  had  entered. 
This  bay  abounded  in  finner  whales  of  extraordinary 
size,  puffing  like  locomotives  and  coming  much  nearer 
the  ship  in  their  total  ignorance  of  the  ways  of  man  than 
was  at  all  agreeable  to  those  on  board.  The  most  brilliant 
aurora  was  seen  at  night,  and  the  crew  when  not  at  work 
lay  flat  on  their  backs  on  deck  gazing  at  the  magnificent 
coruscations  darting  from  the  zenith  to  the  horizon  in 
all  directions  with  rays  of  every  colour. 

The  northern  side  of  the  great  bay  in  the  barrier 
seemed  interminable,  the  ship  having  to  follow  every 
bend  in  its  sinuous  shore  in  the  hope  of  finding  a way 
out.  The  sea  was  as  calm  as  a river,  but  at  length  the 
fears  of  the  crew  that  they  might  find  themselves  cut 
off  were  relieved  on  the  20th  in  ioi°  E.  by  the  lift  of 
a slight  swell  being  felt,  and  soon  afterwards  the  barrier 
edge  turned  northward  and  again  westward.  After  hav- 
ing worked  his  way  back  to  the  eastward  against  a con- 
trary wind,  Wilkes  had  the  disappointment  of  finding  it 
change  to  the  west  as  soon  as  he  was  free  to  resume 
his  voyage  in  that  direction.  He  was  anxious  to  reach 
Cook’s  farthest  point  in  the  Indian  Ocean  not  100 
miles  distant,  in  order  to  ascertain  whether  there  had 
been  any  change  in  the  position  of  the  ice  there. 

On  the  2 1 st  of  February,  1840,  Wilkes  determined 
to  return  to  the  northward.  It  is  curious  to  notice  that 
after  having  repeatedly  referred  to  watering  the  ship 
from  icebergs,  he  now  reduced  the  issue  of  water  to 
one-half  the  usual  allowance  because  there  was  only  a 
supply  for  25  days  on  board  and  3000  miles  lay  between 
him  and  his  next  port.  Probably  however  the  fuel  for 

melting  ice  was  running  short. 

16 


242  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

“ I have  seldom  seen  so  many  happy  faces,”  says 
Wilkes,  “or  such  rejoicings  as  the  announcement  of 
my  intention  to  return  produced.  But  although  the  crew 
were  delighted  at  the  termination  of  this  dangerous 
cruise,  not  a word  of  impatience  or  discontent  had  been 
heard  during  its  continuance.” 

The  health  of  the  crew  was  better  than  when  they  first 
reached  the  ice,  but  the  labour  and  anxiety  had  told 
heavily  on  Wilkes  himself  though  he  was  always  able 
to  attend  to  his  duties. 

On  March  1st  the  Vincennes  reached  the  latitude  of 
Royal  Company  Island  and  ran  for  eight  degrees  of 
longitude  along  the  parallel  but  without  seeing  any  indi- 
cation of  land.  The  wind  proving  unfavourable  for 
reaching  Hobart  Town,  Wilkes  set  his  course  for  Port 
Jackson,  and  on  the  nth  he  passed  between  the  Heads 
and  dropped  anchor  in  Farm  Cove,  Sydney  Harbour, 
the  crew  being  in  better  condition  than  when  they  had 
sailed.  The  Peacock  was  found  in  Mossman’s  Cove 
undergoing  her  necessary  repairs,  but  there  was  no  news 
of  the  Porpoise  or  Flying  Fish,  which  were  not  met 
until  March  30th  in  the  appointed  rendezvous,  the  Bay  of 
Islands,  New  Zealand. 

The  Porpoise,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  lost  sight  of 
by  the  Vincennes  on  January  27th  in  65°  41'  S.  and  1420 
31'  E.  Lieutenant  Ringgold  had  formed  the  mistaken 
idea  that  the  prevailing  wind  in  those  latitudes  was 
westerly,  and  as  it  was  blowing  fresh  from  the  east  he 
thought  it  would  save  time  to  run  straight  to  his  western 
limit  in  105 0 E.,  and  then  in  more  favourable  circum- 
stances examine  the  barrier  minutely  as  he  returned. 
He  accordingly,  after  a couple  of  days  in  the  ice  during 
the  heavy  gale  that  had  so  severely  tried  the  Peacock, 


CHARLES  WILKES 


243 


stood  clear  of  the  ice  and  held  on  his  course.  On  the 
30th  as  he  was  proceeding  two  strange  vessels  appeared 
and  as  they  were  smaller  than  the  Vincennes  or  the 
Peacock  Ringgold  concluded  that  they  must  be  the  ships 
of  the  British  expedition  under  Ross  which  he  knew 
were  expected  in  those  seas.  He  hoisted  his  colours  and 
was  “ preparing  to  cheer  the  discoverer  of  the  North 
Magnetic  Pole/'  when  the  strangers  showed  French 
colours  and  the  Americans  knew  that  they  were  D’Ur- 
ville’s. When  almost  up  to  the  flagship  his  “ intentions 
too  evident  to  excite  a doubt  ” Ringgold  saw  sail  being 
made  on  D’Urville’s  ship  and  jumping  to  the  conclusion 
that  an  insult  was  intended  he  instantly  hauled  down 
his  flag  and  bore  on  his  course.  Wilkes  was  much  ex- 
cited when  he  subsequently  heard  of  the  episode  and  said 
hard  things  of  D’Urville;  but  the  explanation  of  the 
latter  has  already  been  given.  It  is  simply  incredible 
that  any  commander  meeting  another  ship  in  such  a 
region  would  wilfully  insult  a friendly  flag,  and  we 
must  conclude  that  the  American  captain  was  too  quick 
to  take  offence. 

The  barrier  was  occasionally  sighted  and  the  usual 
difficulties  of  navigation  amongst  the  floating  ice  were 
successfully  overcome.  No  land  was  reported,  but  dis- 
coloured ice  was  frequently  observed  and  earth  and 
stones  were  several  times  collected  from  the  ice;  on  the 
13th  a number  of  stones  were  taken  “ from  an  immense 
mass  of  black  earth  identified  with  the  barrier,  some 
hundreds  of  yards  back  from  the  margin.”  On  Feb- 
ruary 14th  the  westward  limit  assigned  had  been  passed 
and  the  Porpoise  turned  in  ioo°  E.  and  64°  15'  S.  to 
examine  the  edge  of  the  barrier  as  she  sailed  eastward. 
The  crew  were  in  good  health  and  spirits  and  on  Feb- 


244  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

ruary  22nd  they  celebrated  Washington's  birthday,  re- 
ceived a number  of  compliments  from  the  captain  on 
their  good  behaviour,  and,  what  comes  nearer  to  Jack's 
heart,  an  extra  allowance.  On  the  24th,  after  having 
occasionally  sighted  the  barrier,  Ringgold  felt  that  he 
had  fulfilled  his  commission  and  being  then  in  64°  29'  S., 
126°  E.,  he  turned  the  brig's  head  northward.  The 
Auckland  Islands  were  sighted  on  March  5th  and  on  the 
7th  the  Porpoise  dropped  anchor  in  the  harbour  of 
Sarah's  Bosom,  where  the  sailors  revelled  on  the  limpets 
and  fish.  After  a short  stay  the  Porpoise  left  and 
reached  the  Bay  of  Islands  on  March  26th,  finding  the 
little  Flying  Fish  there  before  her. 

The  Flying  Fish  had  been  lost  sight  of  by  the  squad- 
ron on  the  outward  cruise  on  New  Years'  Day  long  be- 
fore reaching  the  ice.  The  little  schooner  had  had  a 
mishap  with  her  sails  causing  her  to  fall  behind.  She 
had  proceeded  according  to  instructions  to  the  two  first 
rendezvous  without  meeting  the  other  vessels,  and  on  Jan- 
uary 2 1st  she  had  reached  the  icy  barrier  in  65°  20'  S. 
I59°  36'  E.  On  the  23rd  rocks  had  been  seen  in  65° 
58'  S.,  1 570  49'  E.  so  closely  beset  by  ice  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  approach  them.  Until  February  5th  she 
continued  to  cruise  amongst  the  ice,  encountering  sev- 
eral gales  and  having  a number  of  men  on  the  sick  list. 
As  the  crew  was  reduced  by  illness  it  was  impossible  to 
reef  the  mainsail  and  more  than  once  the  schooner  had 
to  lay-to  with  full  canvas  which  caused  her  to  labour 
frightfully  and  leak  to  an  alarming  degree.  Everything 
below  deck  was  wet  and  when  the  pumps  were  stopped 
for  a short  time  the  water  reached  the  cabin  floor.  The 
men  sent  a letter  to  Lieutenant  Pinkney,  who  was  in 
command  for  the  cruise,  pointing  out  the  deplorable 


CHARLES  WILKES 


245 


condition  in  which  they  were,  saying  that  they  had  no 
dry  place  in  which  to  lie  down  and  their  clothes  had  been 
continuously  wet  for  seven  days.  The  officers  concurred 
in  the  representation  and  Pinkney  himself  fully  realising 
the  hazardous  condition  of  affairs,  gave  the  order  to 
turn  northward  on  February  5th,  and  on  March  9th, 
after  a rough  and  dangerous  passage,  they  reached  the 
Bay  of  Islands,  where  the  scientific  staff  who  had  not 
been  allowed  to  take  part  in  the  Antarctic  cruise  were 
already  assembled  and  where  the  rest  of  the  squadron 
ultimately  joined  them. 

Considering  the  state  of  the  ships  which  made  this 
attack  on  the  south  polar  seas  the  length  of  time  they 
were  able  to  pursue  their  object  was  remarkable  and  in 
the  highest  degree  creditable  to  the  commanding  officers. 
Experience  has  shown,  however,  that  so  large  a squad- 
ron so  heavily  manned  is  not  the  best  instrument  of  ex- 
ploration in  polar  seas.  A couple  of  small  stout  ships 
of  the  Arctic  whaler  type  would  undoubtedly  have  done 
far  more  with  far  less  risk  than  the  two  French  and 
four  American  vessels  which  cruised  for  two  months  in 
those  inhospitable  waters. 

Still  a very  substantial  increase  in  the  knowledge  of 
the  Antarctic  was  made.  The  Balleny  Islands,  Sabrina 
Land  and  Biscoe’s  Enderby  Land  were  shown  to  be 
connected  by  patches  of  high  land,  which  was  sighted  at 
so  many  points  as  to  make  it  certain  that  it  forms  a 
range  of  islands,  if  not  a continuous  continent.  The 
fact  that  Wilkes  gave  the  name  of  Antarctic  Continent 
to  this  collection  of  land  does  not  of  course  prove  that  it 
is  a continent.  In  order  to  demonstrate  that  it  would  be 
necessary  to  do  much  more  than  fix  a few  points  along 
one  coast  and  the  work  remains  for  the  future. 


246  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

While  at  the  Bay  of  Islands  Wilkes  wrote  to  Captain 
Ross  expressing  his  friendly  feelings  toward  a brother 
explorer  and  giving  various  hints  for  the  navigation  of 
the  Antarctic  seas  as  well  as  particulars  of  the  weather 
to  be  expected.  He  stated  that  his  instructions  were 
stringent  as  regards  communicating  the  description  of 
discoveries,  but  at  the  same  time  he  sent  the  tracing  of 
a chart  showing  the  position  of  the  ice-barrier  and  indi- 
cating various  pieces  of  mountainous  lands  within  it. 
Ross  received  the  letter  and  chart  and  in  the  course  of 
his  voyage  sailed  across  one  of  the  lands  represented  in 
about  66°  S.  and  165°  E.,  finding  only  open  sea.  Hav- 
ing proved  that  this  land — shown  in  the  position  where 
Ringgold  on  the  Porpoise  thought  he  had  seen  high 
mountains — was  non-existent,  Ross  declined  to  adopt  any 
of  Wilkes's  discoveries  shown  on  this  chart,  because  it 
was  impossible  for  him  to  decide  how  far  they  represented 
land  actually  seen,  and  how  far  land,  the  existence  of 
which  was  inferred  from  indirect  evidence.  Wilkes 
heard  of  Ross’s  voyage  towards  the  end  of  1841  when  he 
touched  at  Oahu  in  the  Sandwich  Islands  and  then  ex- 
plained that  the  land  Ross  had  sailed  over  was  no  part 
of  the  American  discoveries  but  a representation  of  the 
Balleny  Islands,  of  the  discovery  of  which  he  had  heard 
in  Sydney  from  Captain  Biscoe,  whom  he  met  there.* 
This  discovery  of  Balleny  had  in  the  hasty  tracing  been 
left  without  any  statement  that  it  was  not  an  American 
claim,  and  the  lands  really  claimed  for  the  expedition 
all  lay  to  the  westward  of  the  meridian  of  160°,  beyond 
which  Ross  did  not  go.  Ross  however  pointed  out  that 

* Wilkes  always  spoke  of  Balleny  as  “ Bellamy,”  and  of  Biscoe 
as  " Briscoe,”  slips  that  give  rise  to  confusion  in  American  writers 
to  this  day. 


Facsimile  of 


Part  of  the  Chart  given  by  Wilkes  to  Ross,  with  the  Tracks  of  the 


“Erebus”  and  “Terror,” 


AND  OF  THE 


“Discovery,”  added. 


I To  Jace  p.  246. 


CHARLES  WILKES 


247 


the  land  in  question  did  not  correspond  to  the  position 
of  Balleny’s  discovery,  and  that  it  represented  a range 
of  mountains  in  the  position  in  which  they  were  reported 
by  Ringgold  and  not  five  small  islands.  He  stated  also 
that  Wilkes  had  seen  an  exact  account  of  Balleny’s  dis- 
covery in  the  Athcnceum  on  his  return  to  Sydney,  and  had 
ejaculated  on  seeing  it,  “ Then  all  our  labour  has  been 
in  vain.”  He  therefore  suggested  that  Ringgold’s  ap- 
pearance of  land  may  have  been  laid  down  on  Wilkes’s 
chart  and  erased  from  the  original  after  the  tracing  had 
been  taken.  To  this  Wilkes  replied  that  the  position 
marked  on  his  chart  by  Biscoe  as  Balleny’s  discovery 
was  all  the  information  on  the  subject  that  he  received 
before  writing  his  letter,  and  that  the  extent  of  moun- 
tainous land  shown  on  Ross’s  copy  of  his  tracing  was 
far  greater  than  appeared  on  the  original.  Wilkes  was 
by  no  means  perfect  and  committed  errors  of  judgment; 
but  we  view  his  communication  to  Ross  as  a friendly  and 
even  an  unselfish  act.  He  merely  carried  out  his  instruc- 
tions in  visiting  the  portion  of  the  Antarctic  region  in 
which  he  discovered  land,  and  Ross  was  not  justified  in 
including  him  in  the  censure,  which  D’Urville  possibly 
deserved,  for  having  tried  to  anticipate  the  work  of  the 
British  expedition  in  order  to  reap  the  glory  for  another 
flag.  On  the  other  hand  Wilkes  was  too  ready  to  report 
land  without  proving  its  existence,  and  Scott’s  track  in 
1904  to  the  south  of  all  the  land  on  Wilkes’s  chart  east  of 
the  meridian  of  155°  E.  somewhat  reduces  the  length  of 
coast-line  claimed  by  the  American  expedition.  We 
cannot  mark  on  the  chart  the  earlier  cruise  of  Tapsell  in 
the  Brisk,  but  that  would  seem  to  restrict  the  coast  seen 
by  the  American  ships  to  land  west  of  1430  E. 

Wilkes  was  deserving  of  the  greatest  sympathy.  His 


248  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

expedition  was  involved  in  trouble  before  ever  it  set  out, 
trouble  of  every  kind  dogged  its  track  in  tropical,  tem- 
perate and  polar  waters  and  the  troubles  did  not  end 
when  the  storm-tossed  ships  came  home  on  June  io, 
1842.  The  gold  medal  of  the  Royal  Geographical  So- 
ciety, the  highest  distinction  in  the  geographical  world, 
was  conferred  upon  Wilkes  a few  years  later,  sufficient 
evidence  of  the  esteem  in  which  his  geographical  results 
were  held  in  Europe.  It  cannot  be  said  that  his  own 
countrymen  received  him  with  gratitude  or  unqualified 
approval,  for  shortly  after  his  return  he  was  brought 
before  a court-martial  on  the  distinct  and  separate  charges 
preferred  by  his  own  officers  of  oppression,  injustice  to 
his  men,  illegal  and  severe  punishment  of  savages,  false- 
hood and  scandalous  conduct,  the  last  charge  including 
such  mildly  “ scandalous  ” acts  as  wearing  the  uniform 
of  a captain  while  still  technically  a lieutenant!  The 
trial  lasted  six  weeks,  and  reference  has  already  been 
made  to  the  charge  of  falsely  stating  that  land  had  been 
discovered  on  January  19,  1840,  the  only  one  in  any  way 
affecting  the  Antarctic  cruise.  The  result  of  the  trial 
was  acquittal,  and  Wilkes  rose  to  a very  high  place  in  the 
United  States  Navy.  He  was  a fine  fighting  officer  and 
did  good  service  for  the  North  in  the  Civil  War.  One 
of  his  notable  exploits  brought  the  United  Kingdom  and 
the  United  States  nearer  war  than  they  have  ever  been 
since  1815.  This  was  the  stoppage  of  the  British  mail- 
steamer  Trent  on  the  high  seas  on  November  8,  1861, 
and  the  arrest  of  two  envoys  from  the  Confederate 
States  who  were  proceeding  to  Europe.  He  retired  on 
account  of  age  in  1864,  and  was  appointed  Rear-Admiral 
in  1866;  he  lived  until  February,  1877,  when  he  died  in 
Washington  in  his  eightieth  year. 


CHAPTER  XII 

■ • ' *•  ■'  ■ 

JAMES  CLARK  ROSS 

“With  the  tumultuous  past  the  teeming  future, 

Glorious  with  visions  of  a full  success.,, 

— Robert  Browning. 

THE  British  Antarctic  Expedition,  fitted  out  by  the 
Admiralty  in  accordance  with  the  plan  submitted  by 
the  British  Association  and  approved  by  the  Royal 
Society,  was  designed  for  its  commander,  whose  personal 
qualities  and  exceptional  experience  made  him  the  one 
man  possible  for  the  work.  It  would  be  interesting  to 
give  details  of  the  earlier  life  and  training  of  James  Clark 
Ross,  but  unfortunately  the  data  for  such  a memoir  are 
very  scanty. 

The  Ross  family  possessed  the  property  of  Balsarroch, 
in  the  parish  of  Kilmalcolm,  Wigtownshire,  at  least  as 
early  as  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  in 
1761  the  property  came  into  the  possession  of  the  Rev. 
Andrew  Ross,  minister  of  the  parish  of  Inch,  who  left 
four  sons.  The  eldest  of  these  was  General  Andrew  Ross, 
who  apparently  predeceased  his  father,  for  the  second  son, 
George  Ross,  merchant  in  London,  succeeded  to  the  estate 
in  1792.  The  fourth  son  was  Admiral  Sir  John  Ross, 
famous  as  an  Arctic  explorer,  who  was  born  in  1777,  and 
after  a life  of  strenuous  effort,  died  in  1856.  George 
Ross  left  three  sons,  the  eldest,  Colonel  Alexander  Ross, 
who  succeeded  to  the  estate  in  1800,  while  the  youngest 
was  James  Clark  Ross,  the  hero  of  the  South  Polar  ex- 
pedition. He  was  born  in  London  on  April  15th,  1800, 

249 


250  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

and  as  we  have  seen  came  of  a family  of  soldiers  and 
sailors.  At  the  age  of  twelve  he  entered  the  navy,  being 
placed  under  the  care  of  his  uncle,  in  whose  ships  he 
sailed  until  1818.  In  1819  he  served  on  board  H.  M.  S. 
Hecla  under  Sir  Edward  Parry,  and  continued  for  eight 
years  with  that  great  Arctic  officer,  taking  part  in  several 
expeditions  to  the  northern  seas  including  the  famous 
attempt  to  reach  the  North  Pole  by  travelling  over 
the  ice  beyond  Spitsbergen  in  1827.  On  returning  from 
this  expedition  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Com- 
mander, and  sailed  again  in  1829,  with  his  uncle  Sir 
John  Ross  in  Sir  Felix  Booth’s  ship  Victory.  On  this 
occasion  the  expedition  spent  four  years  in  the  Arctic 
regions  and  was  almost  given  up  as  lost.  In  the  course 
of  it  James  Clark  Ross  did  an  immense  amount  of  sledg- 
ing work,  and  on  June  1,  1831,  he  reached  the  North 
magnetic  pole  and  had  the  pleasure  of  hoisting  the 
British  flag  on  that  interesting  spot.  He  was  promoted 
to  the  rank  of  Captain  in  1834,  and  was  in  command  of 
H.  M.  S.  Cove  in  Baffin  Bay  in  1836. 

Ross,  who  was  reputed  to  be  the  handsomest  man  in 
the  navy,  was  an  excellent  officer  with  a rigid  sense  of 
duty.  There  is  a curious  note  by  one  of  the  members 
of  the  expedition  which  proves  the  firmness  of  the  com- 
mander’s character  and  may  be  viewed  as  a compli- 
ment, though  intended  as  a censure.  “ Notwithstand- 
ing my  having  some  personal  influence  with  Captain 
Ross  ” — so  runs  the  complaint — “ both  of  us  having 
served  together  as  youths  under  our  mutual  old  com- 
mander and  friend,  Sir  Edward  Parry,  I could  not  in- 
duce him  to  cancel  any  order  he  had  once  placed  in  the 
order-book,  so  strong  were  his  prejudices,  and  as  a 
sequence  so  difficult  reason  with.” 


Sir  James  Clark  Ross. 

(From  a Water-colour  in  the  possession  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society.) 

[ To  /ace  p.  250. 


JAMES  CLARK  ROSS  251 

Another  member  of  the  expedition  thought  that  the 
discipline  on  board  the  Erebus  was  lax  compared  with 
that  on  the  Terror,  and  believed  that  Ross  permitted  too 
much  familiarity  between  the  officers  and  men.  The  two 
criticisms  are  not  consistent,  and  stress  need  not  be  laid 
on  either.  Ross's  old  friend,  Sir  John  Franklin  con- 
sidered him  to  be  an  ambitious  man  who  tried  to  do  every- 
thing himself,  and  was  not  ready  to  encourage  any  initia- 
tive on  the  part  of  his  subordinates.  Franklin,  in  the  same 
letter  which  contains  this  opinion,  bears  the  strongest 
testimony  to  Ross's  kindliness  and  generosity  and  to  his 
high  sense  of  honour.  He  had,  perhaps,  a tendency  to 
underestimate  the  qualities  of  foreigners,  but  that  is  not 
unusual  in  the  fighting  services  of  all  nations  and  is  per- 
haps to  some  degree  inseparable  from  the  overmastering 
devotion  which  a naval  officer  ought  to  bear  to  his  own 
flag. 

It  is  enough  for  us  to  know,  and  of  this  there  cannot 
be  a shadow  of  doubt,  that  there  was  no  other  man,  not 
only  in  the  British  navy  but  in  the  British  Empire,  prob- 
ably in  the  whole  world,  who  was  so  thoroughly  fitted 
to  take  command  of  a great  polar  expedition.  And  the 
result  proved  the  truth  of  the  opinion  of  his  contempo- 
raries. 

Having  taken  part  in  the  magnetic  survey  of  the  British 
Isles  with  Sabine  and  Lloyd,  Ross  was  familiar  with  the 
latest  developments  of  the  science  of  terrestrial  magnetism 
and  so  was  in  a position  to  be  the  scientific  as  well  as  the 
executive  chief  of  an  expedition  designed  mainly  for 
magnetic  work.  The  expedition  was  purely  naval,  the 
scientific  equipment  was  utterly  inadequate  and  no  scien- 
tific staff  was  carried,  although  the  naval  surgeons  at- 
tached to  the  ships  were  selected  on  account  of  their 


252  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

scientific  tastes.  At  least  one  of  the  assistant  surgeons 
entered  the  navy  for  the  express  purpose  of  taking  ad- 
vantage of  the  scientific  opportunities  afforded  by  this 
voyage. 

The  command  of  the  expedition  was  conferred  on 
Captain  Rpss  on  April  8th,  1839,  when  he  was  appointed 
to  H.  M.  S.  Erebus,  while  his  old  shipmate,  Commander 
Francis  Rawdon  Moira  Crozier,  was  a month  later  ap- 
pointed to  command  TI.  M.  S.  Terror,  the  second  ship  set 
apart  for  the  expedition.  Suggestions  had  been  made 
as  to  the  desirability  of  employing  steamers  for  polar 
exploration;  but  steam  power  was  still  new  in  the  navy 
and  not  to  be  thought  of  for  an  expedition  to  such  dis- 
tant waters.  The  Erebus  was,  in  naval  parlance,  a 

bomb,  that  is,  a vessel  specially  made  for  carrying 
mortars  designed  to  throw  bombs  of  large  diameter  at  a 
high  angle  of  elevation.  She  was  consequently  very 
strongly  built,  entirely  of  wood,  as  were  all  sailing  ships 
of  that  date  and  for  long  afterwards,  and  possessed  of  a 
capacious  hold  well  adapted  for  the  stowage  of  stores. 
She  was  a small  vessel,  only  370  tons  burden,  with 
clumsy  rounded  bows  and  a slow  sailer  excelling  only  in 
her  power  of  rolling,  but  she  had  the  compensating 
advantage  of  light  draught  of  water,  and  a small  crew 
was  sufficient  to  work  her. 

The  second  vessel,  the  Terror,  of  340  tons,  was  prac- 
tically of  the  same  size  and  build  and  she  had  already 
proved  herself  capable  of  contending  with  polar  ice.  In 
I^37  she  had  been  strengthened  for  the  purpose  and  dis- 
patched to  the  relief  of  the  whaling  fleet  which  had 
been  frozen  up  in  Baffin  Bay  the  previous  winter. 
Under  Sir  George  Back  she  had  made  a vain  attempt  to 
reach  Repulse  Bay,  sustaining  some  damage  in  the  effort. 


JAMES  CLARK  ROSS  253 

All  repairs  had  already  been  effected,  and  in  a very  short 
time  both  the  Erebus  and  the  Terror  left  the  hands  of 
the  dockyard  workmen  as  strong  as  ships  could  be  made 
after  the  experience  of  generations  of  northern  whalers 
and  explorers.  The  decks  were  made  of  two  thicknesses 
of  the  stoutest  planking,  separated  by  layers  of  water- 
proofed cloth,  the  bow  and  stern  internally  were  filled  up 
nearly  solid  with  timbers,  and  externally  all  projections 
were  removed  and  a thick  outer  skin  of  planking  added, 
varying  in  thickness  so  as  to  present  the  greatest  strength 
in  those  parts  likely  to  come  in  contact  with  the  floating 
ice.  The  hulls  were  double  coppered,  and  copper  was 
substituted  for  iron  in  the  fastenings  wherever  it  was 
possible  to  do  so. 

The  ships  were  provisioned  on  the  usual  naval  system, 
but  a remarkable  feature  for  that  time  was  the  large 
supply  of  fresh  tinned  meats  and  soups  and  the  enor- 
mous quantity  of  vegetables — there  being  nearly  five  tons 
of  carrots  alone,  and  over  four  tons  of  pickles.  Warm 
clothing  of  the  best  quality  procurable  was  supplied  for 
gratuitous  issue  to  the  crews,  who  were  all  volunteers 
and  in  receipt  of  double  pay  from  the  time  of  sailing. 
The  officers  were  selected  by  Ross  from  a large  number 
who  applied  for  permission  to  take  part  in  what  was 
from  the  first  a popular  expedition.  Each  ship  car- 
ried in  addition  to  the  captain,  three  lieutenants,  a mas- 
ter, surgeon,  purser,  three  mates,  assistant  surgeon, 
and  second  master,  together  with  a crew  of  64  men. 
The  surgeon  of  each  ship  was  specially  charged 
with  observations  in  zoology  and  geology;  they  were 
Mr.  Robert  McCormick  on  the  Erebus,  who  had  already 
had  much  experience  in  the  Arctic  regions,  and  Mr.  John 
Robertson,  on  the  Terror.  The  assistant  surgeons  were 


254  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

in  like  manner  charged  with  botanical  observations,  and 
for  this  work  the  Erebus  was  singularly  fortunate  in 
having  Dr.  Joseph  Dalton  Hooker,  son  of  Sir  W.  J. 
Hooker,  the  eminent  botanist.  The  youngest  officer  on 
the  expedition  (he  was  only  21),  Sir  Joseph  Hooker  has 
outlived  all  his  shipmates  and  risen  to  the  first  rank 
amongst  British  men  of  science,  always  cherishing  the 
memory  of  those  years  of  unprecedented  interest  passed 
on  the  great  voyage  of  discovery  and  largely  instru- 
mental sixty  years  later  in  securing  the  renewal  of  Ant- 
arctic research.  The  assistant  surgeon  on  the  Terror 
was  Mr.  David  Lyall,  and  the  second  master  of  that  ship, 
Mr.  John  E.  Davis,  was  a skilled  draughtsman  who  pre- 
pared the  charts  of  the  expedition,  took  advantage  of 
every  opportunity  presented  to  him,  and  in  his  letters 
home  gave  a very  vivid  account  of  the  incidents  of  the 
cruise. 

Sir  John  Franklin,  whose  ability  to  judge  of  the  quali- 
ties of  polar  explorers  is  not  likely  to  be  challenged,  did 
not  think  much  of  the  subordinate  officers  of  the  expedi- 
tion when  he  met  them  in  Tasmania — 44  there  was  scarcely 
one,  with  the  exception  of  Hooker,  above  the  ordinary 
run  of  the  service/'  he  said,  in  a confidential  letter  when 
comparing  them  with  those  whom  he  had  selected  to 
accompany  him  on  his  last  and  fatal  voyage.  This  of 
course  did  not  refer  to  Captain  Crozier,  whom  Franklin 
subsequently  selected  as  his  own  second  in  command, 
and  Davis  also  might  justly  have  been  excepted. 

The  worst  risk  which  the  commander  of  a government 
expedition  of  exploration  runs  is  to  be  hampered  by  the 
minuteness  of  his  instructions  which  he  dares  not  disobey 
even  when  unforeseen  circumstances  turn  them  into  a 
prohibition  of  all  progress.  Ross  was  fortunate  in  com- 


Sir  Joseph  Dalton  Hooker,  G.C.S.I. 

(From  a pen-and-ink  sketch  by  T.  13.  Wirgman.) 

f To  fact  p.  25  { 


JAMES  CLARK  ROSS  255 

manding  the  confidence  of  the  Admiralty  to  such  a degree 
that  his  orders  were  qualified  by  a general  discretion 
which  left  him  wide  freedom  of  action.  The  instruc- 
tions given  on  September  16th,  1839,  defined  the  pur- 
pose, order  and  duration  of  the  cruise.  It  is  of  interest 
to  compare  them  with  the  instructions  given  to  the  com- 
manders of  the  other  expeditions,  and  we  accordingly 
quote  their  principal  clauses: 

“ Whereas,  it  has  been  represented  to  us  that  the 
science  of  magnetism  may  be  essentially  improved  by  an 
extensive  series  of  observations  made  in  high  southern 
latitudes,  and  by  a comparison  of  such  observations  with 
others  made  at  certain  fixed  stations,  and  whereas  prac- 
tical navigation  must  eventually  derive  important  benefit 
from  every  improvement  in  that  science,  we  have,  in  con- 
sideration of  these  objects,  caused  Her  Majesty’s  ships 
Erebus  and  Terror  to  be  in  all  respects  prepared  for  a 
voyage  for  carrying  into  complete  execution  the  pur- 
poses above  mentioned ; and  from  the  experience  we  have 
had  of  your  abilities,  zeal,  and  good  conduct,  we  have 
thought  fit  to  entrust  you  with  the  command  of  the  ex- 
pedition, and  to  direct  Commander  Crozier,  whom  we 
have  appointed  to  Her  Majesty’s  ship  Terror,  to  follow 
your  orders  for  his  proceedings. 

“ You  are  therefore  required  and  directed,  as  soon  as 
both  vessels  shall  be  in  all  respects  ready,  to  put  to  sea 
with  them,  and  on  your  way  to  your  ulterior  destination, 
you  will  touch  at  the  Island  of  Madeira,  in  order  to 
obtain  the  sea-rates  of  the  several  chronometers  with 
which  each  vessel  has  been  supplied.  From  thence  (but 
making  a short  series  of  observations  at  the  Rock  of  St. 
Paul)  you  will  make  the  best  of  your  way  to  the  Island 
of  St.  Helena,  where  you  are  to  land  the  observers  and 


256  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

the  instruments  for  the  fixed  magnetic  observatory  in- 
tended for  that  station.  . . . 

“ At  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  the  instruments  and  ob- 
servers for  the  second  fixed  magnetic  observatory  are  to 
be  carefully  landed;  and  having  completed  your  water, 
and  replaced  the  stores  which  you  have  expended,  you 
are  to  proceed  to  the  eastward,  touching  at  Marion  and 
Crozet  Isles  for  observations,  if  the  weather  and  other 
circumstances  should  be  favourable  for  that  purpose. 

“ As  we  have  provided  the  expedition  with  invariable 
pendulums,  and  all  the  necessary  apparatus  for  determin- 
ing the  figure  of  the  earth;  and  as  it  is  desirable  that 
these  observations  should  be  made  at  several  points,  more 
especially  in  high  southern  latitudes,  it  is  probable  that 
Kerguelen  Island  will  be  found  well  suited  to  that  pur- 
pose, as  well  as  to  an  extensive  series  of  magnetic  and 
other  observations;  but  the  selection  of  these  stations  is 
freely  confided  to  your  judgment. 

“ If  the  operations  at  Kerguelen  Island,  or  at  such 
other  places  as  you  may  select,  should  be  completed  be- 
fore the  end  of  February,  1840,  you  will  possibly  find  the 
sea  sufficiently  open  to  proceed  directly  to  the  southward, 
to  examine  those  places  where  indications  of  land  have 
been  noticed,  and  to  make  the  requisite  observations  on 
any  out-lying  islands  that  you  may  be  able  to  discover; 
but,  at  that  advanced  period  of  the  season,  you  are  cau- 
tiously to  avoid  being  beset  in  the  ice,  as  your  early 
arrival  at  Van  Diemen’s  Land  is  of  far  greater  impor- 
tance to  the  great  object  of  the  expedition  than  any  re- 
sults you  could  hope  there  to  obtain.  . 

“ At  Van  Diemen’s  Land  you  are  to  communicate  with 
Lieutenant-Governor  Sir  John  Franklin,  who  will  have 
been  instructed  to  prepare  instruments  for  the  third  mag- 


JAMES  CLARK  ROSS  257 

netic  observatory,  which  you  are  to  establish  in  the  most 
advantageous  position,  and  to  place  in  charge  of  an 
officer.  . . . Having  brought  this  observatory  into 

active  operation,  you  will  lose  no  time  in  proceeding  to 
Sydney,  which,  according  to  the  views  contained  in  the 
before-mentioned  report,  will  be  a station  eminently  fitted 
for  the  determination  of  all  the  magnetic  elements,  and 
which  will  hereafter  be  the  centre  of  reference  for  every 
species  of  local  determination. 

“ The  remaining  winter  months  may  be  advantageously 
employed  in  visiting  New  Zealand  and  the  adjacent 
islands.  . . . but  taking  care  to  return  to  Van  Die- 
men’s Land  by  the  end  of  October,  to  refit  Her  Majesty’s 
ships,  and  to  prepare  them  for  a voyage  to  the  southward. 

“ In  the  following  summer,  your  provisions  having 
been  completed  and  your  crews  refreshed,  you  will  pro- 
ceed direct  to  the  southward  in  order  to  determine  the 
position  of  the  magnetic  pole,  and  even  to  attain  to  it  if 
possible,  which  it  is  hoped  will  be  one  of  the  remarkable 
and  creditable  results  of  this  expedition.  In  the  execu- 
tion, however,  of  this  arduous  part  of  the  service  en- 
trusted to  your  enterprise  and  to  your  resources,  you  are 
to  use  your  best  endeavours  to  withdraw  from  the  high 
latitudes  in  time  to  prevent  the  ships  from  being  beset 
with  the  ice : . . . Should  the  expedition  have  been 

able  to  avoid  wintering  in  a high  latitude,  you  will  return 
to  Van  Diemen’s  Land,  availing  yourself  of  every  oppor- 
tunity you  can  seize  of  pursuing  there,  or  in  such  other 
places  as  your  deliberate  judgment  may  prefer,  those 
series  of  observations  and  experiments  best  adapted  to 
carrying  out  the  leading  objects  of  the  expedition. 

“ On  the  breaking  up  of  the  succeeding  winter,  you 
will  resume  the  examination  of  the  Antarctic  seas  in  the 

17 


258  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

highest  latitude  you  can  reach,  and  proceeding  to  the 
eastward  from  the  point  at  which  you  had  left  off  the 
preceding  year,  you  will  seek  for  fresh  places  on  which 
to  plant  your  observatory  in  all  directions  from  the 
pole. 

“ In  the  event  of  finding  any  great  extent  of  land,  you 
will,  as  far  as  may  be  practicable,  lay  down  the  promi- 
nent parts  of  its  coast  line;  and  you  will  endeavour  not 
only  to  correct  the  positions  of  Graham  Land  and  En- 
derby  Land,  and  other  places  which  have  been  seen  only 
at  a distance,  but  to  obtain  some  knowledge  of  the  nature 
of  those  yet  unvisited  tracts  for  geographical  research; 
and  the  magnetic  objects  of  your  voyage  may  be  so  con- 
ducted as  mutually  to  assist  each  other.  . . . 

“ The  South  Shetlands,  or  the  Orkneys,  or  perhaps  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  and  lastly,  the  Falklands,  will  prob- 
ably terminate  your  magnetic;  labours  in  the  Antarctic 
seas ; and  if  at  those  latter  islands  you  should  not  receive 
further  orders  from  us,  you  will  return  to  England  by 
such  a route  as  yO_u  may  think  most  conducive  to  the 
ruling  object  of  the  expedition. 

“ In  an  enterprise  of  the  nature  which  has  been  briefly 
stated  in  these  orders,  much  must  be  left  to  the  dis- 
cretion, temper,  and  judgment  of  the  commanding  officer; 
and  we  fully  confide  in  your  combined  energy  and  pru- 
dence for  the  successful  issue  of  a voyage,  which  will 
engross  the  attention  of  the  scientific  men  of  all  Europe. 
. . . We  also  caution  you  against  allowing  the  two 

vessels  to  separate ; and  we  direct  you  to  appoint,  not  only 
a sufficient  number  of  well-chosen  rendezvous,  but  to  keep 
up  the  most  unreserved  communication  with  the  com- 
mander of  the  Terror,  placing,  in  him  every  proper  con- 
fidence. , . . ..  .We  also  recommend  that  a frequent 


JAMES  CLARK  ROSS  259 

change  should  take  place  of  the  observations  made  in  the 
two  ships,  in  order  that  any  scientific  discovery  made  by 
the  one,  should  be  quickly  communicated  to  the  other,  as 
well  for  their  advantage  and  guidance  in  making  their 
future  observations,  as  for  the  purpose  of  more  certainly 
ensuring  their  preservation.  ...  In  the  event  of 
any  fatal  accident  to  yourself,  Commander  Crozier  is 
hereby  authorised  to  take  command  of  the  expedition, 
either  on  board  the  Erebus  or  Terror,  as  he  may  prefer 
(placing  the  senior  lieutenant  in  command  of  the  other 
ship),  to  carry  these  instructions  into  execution. 

“ In  the  event  of  England  being  involved  in  hostilities 
with  any  other  power  during  your  absence,  you  are 
clearly  to  understand  that  you  are  not  to  commit  any 
hostile  act  whatever ; the  expedition  under  your  command 
being  fitted  out  for  the  sole  purpose  of  scientific  dis- 
coveries and  it  being  the  established  practice  of  all 
civilised  nations  to  consider  vessels  so  employed  as 
exempt  from  the  operations  of  war.  ...  On  your 
arrival  in  England,  you  are  forthwith  to  repair  to 
this  office  in  order  to  lay  before  us  a full  account  of  your 
proceedings,  taking  care  before  you  leave  the  ship  to  de- 
mand from  the  officers  and  all  other  persons  on  board, 
the  logs  and  journals  they  had  kept,  and  the  charts,  draw- 
ings, and  observations  which  they  had  made,  and  which 
are  all  to  be  sealed  up ; and  you  will  issue  similar  direc- 
tions to  Commander  Crozier  and  his  officers,  etc.;  the 
said  logs,  journals,  and  other  documents  to  be  thereafter 
disposed  of  as  we  may  think  proper  to  determine.  You 
will  also  receive  our  future  directions  for  the  disposal 
of  all  such  specimens  of  the  animal,  vegetable,  and 
mineral  kingdoms  as  in  the  course  of  the  voyage  may 
have  been  collected  by-  any-  person  on  board  of  either  of 


260  siege  of  the  south  pole 

the  ships,  and  which  you  are  to  endeavour  to  preserve, 
as  far  as  may  be  done  without  inconvenience.” 

In  addition  to  the  Admiralty  instructions,  the  Royal 
Society  prepared,  through  a series  of  committees,  in- 
structions for  scientific  observations  to  be  made  on  ter- 
restrial magnetism,  geodesy,  tides,  meteorology,  oceanic 
depths  and  temperature,  astronomical  phenomena, 
geology,  zoology,  and  botany,  the  whole  forming  a vol- 
ume of  a hundred  pages.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
all  that  was  enjoined  was  the  collection  of  observations 
and  of  specimens  to  be  dealt  with  at  home  after  the 
return  of  the  expedition;  and  that  the  various  sciences 
were  still  in  such  an  unspecialised  state  in  1839  that  the 
acute  observations  of  intelligent  amateurs  in  the  leisure 
afforded  them  by  their  official  duties  were  capable  of 
yielding  results  of  very  great  value.  This  has  long 
ceased  to  be  the  case,  and  the  absence  of  a staff  of  trained 
scientific  specialists  from  an  expedition  of  exploration 
would  nowr  be  as  gross  an  absurdity  as  the  absence  of  a 
skilled  engineer,  or  electrician,  or  torpedo  officer,  from 
a ship  of  war  on  active  service.  In  1839,  life  in  the  navy 
and  in  the  laboratory  was  a simpler  affair  than  it  now  is, 
and  it  was  as  possible  then  for  a naval  officer  of  scien- 
tific tastes  to  conduct  a scientific  expedition  with  all  the 
completeness  desirable  as  it  is  now  for  a scientific  man 
with  a taste  for  the  sea  to  navigate  his  own  yacht.  The 
surgeons,  it  must  also  be  remembered,  were  men  of  scien- 
tific training,  and  amongst  them  there  was  one  who 
speedily  showed  himself  worthy  to  rank  with  Charles 
Darwin,  who  had  recently  completed  his  circumnaviga- 
tion on  H.  M.  S.  Beagle,  and  with  T.  H.  Huxley  who,  a 
few  years  later,  pursued  his  researches  off  the  Australian 
coast  in  the  cramped  quarters  of  H;  M.  S._  Rattlesnake. 


JAMES  CLARK  ROSS  261 

Still  it  cannot  be  denied  that  had  the  expedition  of  the 
Erebus  and  Terror  been  organised  on  the  lines  subse- 
quently followed  on  that  of  the  Challenger  the  gain  to 
science  would  have  been  enormous. 

As  the  Erebus  and  Terror  lay  in  the  Medway  ready  to 
start  on  their  momentous  expedition  the  little  Eliza  Scott 
entered  the  Thames  returning  from  her  daring  voyage 
in  the  seas  to  which  the  expedition  was  bound,  and  Ross 
was  made  aware  of  the  discovery  of  the  Balleny  Islands, 
which  were  hailed  as  a possible  station  for  magnetic  and 
pendulum  work  in  the  most  interesting  region. 

One  may  assume  that  Smith,  the  discoverer  of  the 
South  Shetlands,  was  acquainted  with  Weddell,  who 
knew  Morrell,  who  was  a friend  of  Palmer,  who  met 
Bellingshausen  in  the  most  romantic  way,  and  Weddell 
also  met  Biscoe,  who,  in  turn,  knew  Wilkes,  D’Urville  and 
Balleny,  while  Balleny  returned  in  time  to  see  Ross,  and 
Ross’s  assistant  surgeon,  Sir  Joseph  Hooker,  was  ac- 
quainted personally  with  the  leaders  of  the  Antarctic  ex- 
peditions of  the  remainder  of  the  nineteenth,  and  of  the 
twentieth  century. 

It  might  be  possible  to  find  some  link  connecting  Smith 
and  Cook  could  one  but  penetrate  the  mist  enveloping  the 
history  of  the  seal-trade  of  South  Georgia,  which  began 
on  Cook’s  return  and  was  not  quite  extinct  forty  years 
later  when  the  record  of  the  nineteenth  century  discov- 
eries opened.  The  chain  was  indeed  completed  through 
Bellingshausen’s  call  for  Sir  Joseph  Banks,  the  shipmate 
and  constant  friend  of  Cook;  and  thus  by  the  joined 
hands  of  Russian,  American  and  British  explorers  the 
great  navigator  was  brought  into  living  touch  with  Scott, 
Drygalski,  Nordenskjold  and  Bruce. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


THE  DISCOVERY  OF  VICTORIA  LAND 

“The  fair  breeze  blew,  the  good  ship  flew 
The  furrow  followed  free. 

We  were  the  first  who  ever  burst 
Into  that  silent  sea.” 

— Coleridge. 

TF  dark  and  lurid  names  could  cast  a gloom  on  the 
prospects  of  an  expedition  little  harmony  or  satisfac- 
tion could  have  been  expected  when,  on  September  25th, 
1839,  ^e  steamer  Hecate  towed  the  Erebus,  followed  by 
the  Terror,  into  Margate  Roads  to  await  a favourable 
wind.  In  this  case,  however,  there  was  nothing  in  names, 
and  when  the  wind  came  away  from  the  east  on  Septem- 
ber 30th  the  Erebus  and  Terror  set  sail  and  beating  round 
the  Foreland  dropped  their  pilots  and  made  their  way 
down  Channel  bound  for  the  south  magnetic  pole. 
The  ships  were  separated  in  a gale  on  October  3rd,  and 
the  Erebus  proceeded  alone,  losing  sight  of  the  Lizard  on 
the  5th,  rejoicing  to  meet  the  open  sea,  all  the  worry  of 
preparation  safely  over  and  Ross  himself  finding  it  “ not 
easy  to  describe  the  joy  and  light-heartedness  ” of  being 
fairly  embarked  on  the  enterprise  he  had  so  long  de- 
sired to  undertake.  Scientific  observations  were  at  once 
reduced  to  a system,  and  even  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay 
attempts  at  deep-sea  soundings  with  from  300  to  600 
fathoms  of  line  were  made.  Madeira  was  reached  on 
October  20th  and  the  Terror  arrived  four  days  later.  A 
barometric  estimate  of  the  height  of  Pico  Ruivo  was 

262 


VICTORIA  LAND 


263 

made  and  the  cairn  erected  by  Wilkes’s  officers  the  year 
before  was  pointed  out  by  the  guides.  On  the  31st  the 
appearance  of  bad  weather  caused  the  ships  to  depart 
from  the  open  roadstead  of  Funchal  earlier  than  was 
intended,  and  make  for  Tenerife. 

On  November  13th,  the  expedition  reached  the  Cape 
Verde  Islands;  a week  was  spent  in  magnetic  observa- 
tions while  the  ships’  stores  of  fresh  provisions  were  be- 
ing replenished.  Thence  they  went  to  St.  Paul’s  Rocks 
and  South  Trinidad,  landings  being  made  on  both  these 
isolated  rocks.  The  equator  had  been  crossed  on  Decem- 
ber 3rd,  all  due  ceremonies  being  performed  on  those 
who  had  never  before  entered  the  southern  hemisphere, 
and  four  days  later  a much  more  interesting  line  was 
crossed.  This  was  the  magnetic  equator,  or  line  of  no 
dip,  where  the  freely  suspended  magnetic  needle  rested 
perfectly  horizontal.  Ross  had  made  the  excellent  rule 
that  the  result  of  any  important  observation  made  on  one 
ship  should  immediately  be  signalled  to  the  other,  and 
on  this  occasion  he  was  greatly  gratified  by  the  signal  of 
“ no  magnetic  dip  ” being  hoisted  at  the  same  moment  by 
both  vessels,  proving  that  instruments  and  observers  were 
alike  in  thorough  working  order. 

The  average  naval  officer  understands  something  of 
physical  observations,  but  the  collection  of  geological  and 
natural  history  specimens  is  a mystery  to  him,  and  he 
abhors  such  mysteries,  as  Mr.  McCormick  had  already 
occasion  to  find  in  his  efforts  to  induce  the  first  lieutenant, 
to  whom  “ everything  connected  with  science  is  a bore 
and  an  enigma”  to  provide  a place  for  his  ever  grow- 
ing collection.  No  doubt  the  lieutenant  sheltered  him- 
self under  the  happy  saving  clause  of  the  Admiralty 
Instructions  “ without  inconvenience.”  The  more  im- 


264  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

portant  problem  of  deep-sea  sounding  was  approaching 
a successful  solution  though  it  did  not  reach  it  on  this 
voyage.  Ross  had  a sounding-line  3600  fathoms  in 
length  prepared  on  board,  strong  enough  to  stand  a lead 
weighing  76  pounds,  and  fitted  with  swivels  to  prevent 
the  strands  untwisting  in  the  water.  With  this  he  got 
a sounding  in  2425  fathoms  on  January  3rd,  though  the 
line  parted  in  heaving  in. 

On  January  31st,  1840,  the  two  ships  anchored  in 
St.  Helena  Roads,  having  had  a hard  time  of  it  beat- 
ing up  to  the  island  against  the  trade-wind.  Steps  were 
immediately  taken  to  select  a site  for  the  magnetic 
observatory,  and  Lieutenant  Lefroy,  the  young  artillery 
officer  who  was  sent  out  to  take  charge  of  it,  landed 
with  his  assistants.  The  ships  sailed  again  on  Feb- 
ruary 9th  and  made  their  way  leisurely  to  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  occasionally  stopping  to  sound  when  the 
sea  was  calm  and  boats  could  be  used,  and  always  mak- 
ing magnetic  observations  for  the  purpose  of  deter- 
mining the  line  of  least  intensity,  to  the  exact  position 
of  which  Sabine  attached  much  importance.  On  March 
17th  anchor  was  cast  in  Simon’s  Bay  and  the  magnetic 
instruments  were  at  once  landed  in  order  to  secure 
comparisons  that  would  enable  the  Antarctic  observa- 
tions to  be  properly  interpreted.  The  fixed  observatory 
was  set  up  close  to  the  Astronomical  Observatory  and 
Lieutenant  Eardley  Wilmot  of  the  Royal  Artillery  with 
three  assistants  who  had  come  out  with  the  Erebus 
were  landed  to  take  charge  of  it. 

Light  baffling  winds  made  it  a difficult  matter  to  get 
away  from  Simon’s  Bay  when  the  ships  set  out  on  April 
6th,  1840,  but  at  night  a succession  of  violent  squalls 
with  thunder  and  lightning  separated  the  two  vessels  and 


VICTORIA  LAND 


265 

the  Erebus  pursued  her  solitary  way  to  Prince  Edward 
Islands,  where  it  was  hoped  a landing  could  be  made. 
Marion  Island,  one  of  this  group,  was  reached  on  the 
2 1st,  but  the  weather  was  threatening;  it  was  impos- 
sible to  land  and  the  Erebus  continued  her  course  to  the 
Crozets  running  before  a heavy  westerly  gale.  „ The 
Crozets  were  reached  on  the  26th,  but  the  ship  ran  past 
Possession  Island,  her  rendezvous  with  the  Terror  and 
the  quarters  of  a sealing  party  to  which  Ross  had 
promised  a Cape  Town  merchant  to  convey  some  stores ; 
so  that  nearly  a week  was  spent  beating  up  against  the 
westerly  winds  of  the  “ roaring  forties  ” and  standing 
off  and  on  during  gales  in  order  to  recover  the  ground 
lost  in  a few  hours.  At  length  on  May  1st  it  was  pos- 
sible to  communicate  with  the  shore  and  the  sealers  were 
found  looking  more  like  Eskimos  than  civilised  beings, 
but  far  filthier  than  any  members  of  that  Arctic  race  that 
Ross  had  ever  seen.  They  had  been  eighteen  months  on 
the  island  and  were  expecting  a ship  to  bring  them 
home  instead  of  the  orders  which  now  reached  them  to 
stay  on  for  an  indefinite  time.  No  landing  was  made 
from  the  Erebus  and  she  held  on  her  course  for  Kergue- 
len Land,  where  she  met  the  Terror  in  Christmas  Har- 
bour on  May  14th. 

A magnetic  and  an  astronomical  observatory  were 
fitted  up  on  shore  at  the  head  of  Christmas  Harbour 
and  the  systematic  observations  made  on  May  29th  and 
30th,  two  of  the  days  set  apart  for  simultaneous  observa- 
tions at  all  the  European  and  British  stations,  proved 
of  exceptional  interest.  They  happened  to  be  days  of 
great  magnetic  disturbance  and  it  was  subsequently 
proved  that  every  movement  of  the  needle  at  Kerguelen 
was  simultaneous  with  a similar  movement  of  the  needle 


VICTORIA  LAND 


267 

tinue  at  work  for  a few  hours  more  in  order  to  finish 
the  job,  for  which  of  course  they  could  expect  neither 
pay  nor  privilege.  This  request  was  refused  as  it 
would  have  involved  encroaching  on  the  early  hours  of 
Sunday. 

During  their  stay  at  Hobart  the  officers  of  the  expe- 
dition were  received  with  the  utmost  hospitality  by  Sir 
John  Franklin.  The  diary  of  Mr.  McCormick  shows 
that  he  dined  every  alternate  Monday  at  Government 
House  in  order  to  take  part  in  the  meetings  of  the  Tas- 
manian Natural  History  Society  which  were  held  there 
at  the  Governor’s  invitation.  This  Society  developed 
into  the  Royal  Society  of  Tasmania,  and  the  earliest 
paper  communicated  to  it  was  the  description  of  a fossil 
tree  by  Hooker.  Balls,  concerts,  picnics  and  entertain- 
ments of  every  kind  were  lavished  on  the  members  of 
the  expedition,  who  enjoyed  to  the  full  their  last  glimpse 
of  civilisation  before  plunging  into  the  unknown  world 
of  ice.  Franklin  assisted  personally  in  the  magnetic 
observations  on  the  international  term  days,  when  it  was 
necessary  to  enlist  the  aid  of  volunteers  to  carry  on  a 
double  set  of  readings  in  the  permanent  and  temporary 
observatories. 

News  was  received  at  Hobart  which  weighed  heavily 
on  the  mind  of  the  leader  of  the  expedition.  Notices  in 
the  Australian  newspapers  acquainted  him  with  the 
doings  of  Dumont  D’Urville’s  ships  in  the  previous  year 
and  the  letter  from  Wilkes,  to  which  reference  has 
already  been  made,  gave  information  as  to  the  American 
discoveries  in  the  very  region  to  which  the  Erebus  and 
Terror  were  bound  in  pursuance  of  the  Admiralty  in- 
structions. There  is  no  doubt  that  Ross  was  very  angry 
at  being  forestalled,  though  as  we  have  seen  Wilkes’s 


266  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

in  Toronto  almost  at  its  antipodes.  The  ships  remained 
at  their  anchorage  for  more  than  two  months;  furious 
gales  were  experienced  on  forty-five  days  in  that  time, 
and  there  were  only  two  days  on  which  neither  rain  nor 
snow  fell,  but  the  magnetic  observations  were  kept  up 
hourly  day  and  night  without  a break.  An  opportunity 
was  afforded  for  the  ships’  companies  to  become  ac- 
quainted with  penguins  as  an  article  of  diet,  and  Ross, 
who  resembled  his  great  predecessor  Cook  in  his  power 
of  digesting  strange  food,  experimented  on  other  sea 
birds  also. 

The  observatories  were  taken  down,  and  on  July  20th, 
1840,  the  Erebus  and  Terror  left  Christmas  Harbour. 
The  weather  was  exceedingly  tempestuous,  the  boat- 
swain of  the  Erebus  was  blown  from  the  rigging  and 
drowned,  four  men  of  the  party  who  attempted  to  rescue 
him  nearly  sharing  the  same  fate,  and  the  two  ships 
were  soon  separated  not  to  meet  again  until  they  arrived 
at  Hobart  Town  on  August  16th. 

Sir  John  Franklin,  the  Governor  of  Van  Diemen’s 
Land,  was  ready  to  receive  the  expedition  and  furthered 
its  progress  in  every  possible  way.  He  had  all  the  ma- 
terials ready  for  building  a magnetic  observatory  and 
the  day  after  the  Erebus  arrived  he  assisted  Captain 
Ross  to  select  a site  which  received  the  appropriate 
name  of  Rossbank.  By  dint  of  hard  work  the  observa- 
tory was  finished  and  ready  for  work  a few  hours  before 
the  international  simultaneous  observations  of  August 
27th  had  to  be  commenced.  The  interest  which  every- 
one in  the  colony  took  in  the  work  of  the  expedition 
was  curiously  shown  by  the  gang  of  convicts  who  had 
been  engaged  in  roofing  the  observatory  from  6 a.  m.  to 
10  p.  m.  one  Saturday,  begging  to  be  allowed  to  con- 


268  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


instructions,  dated  a year  before  his  own,  left  that  officer 
no  choice  but  to  proceed  on  the  course  he  followed,  and 
in  any  case  the  high  seas  are  free  to  all  to  sail  where 
they  will  or  can. 

Ross  however  interpreted  his  instructions  in  the  light 
of  the  large  discretion  that  had  been  left  to  him.  His 
reasoning  was  that  of  a sailor  rather  than  a man  of 
science,  based  on  patriotic  rather  than  scientific  consid- 
erations and  revealing  incidentally  that,  specialist  as  he 
was,  his  mind  ran  no  less  on  geographical  discovery  than 
on  terrestrial  magnetism.  Fortunately  in  this  case  the 
reasoning  led  right.  He  says : 

“ Impressed  with  the  feeling  that  England  had  ever 
led  the  way  of  discovery  in  the  southern  as  well  as  in  the 
northern  regions,  I considered  it  would  have  been  incon- 
sistent with  the  preeminence  she  has  ever  maintained  if 
we  were  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  the  expedition  of 
any  other  nation.  I therefore  resolved  at  once  to  avoid 
all  interference  with  their  discoveries  and  selected  a 
much  more  easterly  meridian  (170°  E.),  on  which  to  en- 
deavour to  penetrate  to  the  southward,  and  if  possible 
reach  the  magnetic  pole.” 

The  reason  he  selected  this  meridian  was  that  on  it 
Balleny  two  years  before  had  found  an  open  sea  in 
69°  S. 

The  new  plans  once  adopted  and  the  magnetic  obser- 
vations at  Hobart  being  placed  under  the  charge  of 
Lieutenant  Kay  and  two  mates,  preparations  were  made 
for  the  expedition  to  put  to  sea.  Stores  had  been  com- 
pleted, officers  and  men  were  in  the  best  of  health  and 
the  highest  of  spirits,  looking  forward  eagerly  to  the 
adventures  that  lay  before  them.  On  November  12th, 
1840,  Sir  John  Franklin  came  on  board  the  Erebus  at 


VICTORIA  LAND 


269 

7.30  a.  m.  and  accompanied  the  ships  to  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  leaving  at  1.30,  when  the  crews  manned  the  rig- 
ging and  saluted  the  Arctic  hero  with  three  cheers  as 
they  passed  out  on  their  own  great  voyage.  How  gladly 
Franklin  would  have  left  the  troubles  of  his  uncongenial 
governorship  to  face  the  lighter  difficulties  of  navi- 
gating an  unknown  and  ice  encumbered  sea  was  prob- 
ably not  suspected  by  his  friends;  nor  could  he  or  they 
foresee  the  tragic  bond  that  was  to  associate  him  with 
the  ships  which  were  now  bound  south.  The  Auckland 
Islands  were  reached  on  the  20th  and  a landing  made  to 
set  up  the  magnetic  observatory  in  readiness  for  the  next 
international  term  day.  Two  conspicuous  notices  were 
found  recording  the  call  of  the  Astrolabe,  Zelee  and 
Porpoise  in  March  of  the  same  year  on  their  return  from 
their  voyages  along  the  Antarctic  circle. 

Sail  was  made  again  on  December  12th  and  next  day 
Campbell  Island  was  reached  and  in  getting  the  ships 
into  Perseverance  harbour  there,  both  of  them  went 
aground,  but  were  soon  got  afloat  again  without  damage, 
the  Erebus  being  warped  off  by  hawsers  made  fast  to  the 
trees  on  shore;  the  Terror  floated  off  by  the  rising  tide. 
Both  here  and  at  the  Auckland  Islands  Dr.  Hooker  made 
large  botanical  collections,  working  up  the  flora  of  the 
islands  to  a surprising  extent  considering  the  very  short 
time  at  his  disposal  and  the  rough  nature  of  the  country 
away  from  the  shore. 

Ross  now  decided  to  proceed  to  the  southward  on  the 
meridian  of  Campbell  Island  (169°  E.),  instead  of  going 
on  to  the  meridian  of  Hobart. 

Campbell  Island  was  left  behind  on  December  17th, 
and  joy-  a:nd  satisfaction  beamed  on  every  face  as  the 
crews  knew  that  nothing  now  lay  between  them  and  their 


270  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

goal.  The  increasing  number  of  petrels  of  various 
species,  the  penguins  which  began  to  appear  and  the 
albatrosses  sweeping  round  the  ships  raised  hopes  of  the 
proximity  of  land.  The  weather  was  not  too  favourable, 
midsummer  as  it  was.  The  Christmas  dinner  was  eaten 
while  laying-to  in  a gale  of  wind,  Captain  Ross — who, 
following  the  custom  of  the  navy,  messed  alone — was  on 
this  occasion  the  guest  of  the  officers  in  the  gun-room. 
Two  days  later  the  first  iceberg  was  seen  in  63°  20'  S., 
and  before  night  fifteen  were  in  sight.  A great  many 
whales  were  seen,  so  tame  that  they  allowed  the  ships 
to  pass  quite  close  to  them.  They  were  “ the  common 
black  kind,  greatly  resembling,  but  said  to  be  distinct 
from  the  Greenland  whale,”  and  any  number  of  them 
might  have  been  killed. 

On  the  30th  the  ships  crossed  Bellingshausen's  track 
in  64°  38'  S.,  1 730  10'  E.,  and  as  it  fell  calm  in  the 
afternoon  a sounding  was  taken  with  5000  fathoms  of 
line  on  the  reel,  and  bottom  was  struck  at  1560  fathoms. 
Temperature  observations  were  made;  but  as  the  spe- 
cial thermometers  designed  to  withstand  the  pressure  of 
the  water  which  had  been  ordered  to  reach  the  expedi- 
tion at  Hobart  Tov/n  had  not  been  received,  the  results 
were  of  no  value.  This  day  the  beautiful  snow-petrel 
appeared,  its  body  of  spotless  white  with  jet  black  beak 
and  legs,  a premonition  of  the  approach  of  ice,  for  it 
was  soon  discovered  that  the  bird  never  strays  far  from 
the  main  pack. 

At  9- a.  m.  on  the  last  day  of  the  year  a long  line  of 
ice  appeared  on  the  horizon  which  soon  proved  to  be 
the  edge  of  the  pack.  The  weather  fell  calm  and  the 
two  ships  lay  in  front  of  the  low  line  of  ice  unable  to 
approach  or  to  retire  from  it.  Other  Antarctic  ex- 


(From  a photograph  taken  by  the  National  Antarctic  Expedition.) 


VICTORIA  LAND 


271 


plorers  in  a like  position  would  have  whistled  for  a wind 
to  carry  them  out  of  the  reach  of  the  ice,  but  not  those 
on  board  the  Erebus  and  Terror.  Never  before  had  the 
Antarctic  circle  been  approached  by  ships  for  which  the 
ice-pack  had  no  terrors.  Cook  had  to  retire  before  the 
pack-edge  in  his  strong  north-country  colliers,  the  sealers 
in  their  little  craft,  the  circumnavigators  of  Russia, 
France  and  America  dared  not  venture  within  it  for  their 
ships  would  have  been  crushed  like  egg-shells  in  the 
grinding  ice.  To  all  his  predecessors  therefore  the  edge 
of  the  pack  was  as  effectual  a barrier  as  the  glacier 
fronts  that  girdle  the  Antarctic  land,  but  to  Ross  it  was 
only  an  encumbered  path.  Early  on  the  morning  of 
New  Year’s  Day,  1841,  a breeze  rose  and  the  ships 
moved  up  towards  the  pack  and  the  same  afternoon 
crossed  the  Antarctic  circle.  There  was  a heavy  swell 
and  too  little  wind  to  give  the  vessels  steerage  way 
amongst  the  ice,  so  they  held  off,  while  the  crews  were 
entertained  by  the  issue  of  extra  rations  and  the  presen- 
tation to  each  man  of  the  special  warm  clothing  provided 
for  the  polar  seas,  including  the  quaint  form  of  head- 
covering known  as  a Welsh  wig.  An  iceberg  was  seen 
next  morning  much  discoloured  with  earthy  matter  and 
carrying  a large  block  of  stone,  specimens  of  which  were 
taken.  This  first  evidence  of  Antarctic  land  proved  to 
be  a rock  of  volcanic  origin.  A fresh  breeze  sprang  up, 
but  with  it  came  fog  and  snow-showers  and  Ross  stood 
to  the  northward  not  anxious  to  commence  navigation 
in  the  ice  in  unfavourable  conditions.  The  setting  sun 
took  17 1 minutes  to  sink  from  sight  as  it  skimmed  along 
the  southern  horizon  and  commenced  to  rise  again  im- 
mediately afterwards. 

The  pack  was  at  length  entered  on  the  morning  of 


272  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

January  5th,  No  ships  had  ever  before  been  able  to  make 
so  determined  an  attack  on  the  secret  of  the  south  pole. 
After  about  an  hour’s  hard  thumping  from  the  heavy 
ice  of  the  pack  edge  the  ships  forced  their  way  into  a 
series  of  open  holes  connected  by  lanes  of  water.  Most 
of  the  ice  was  of  one  year’s  growth,  but  here  and  there 
were  hummocky  masses  formed  by  pressure  in  much 
older  ice,  the  whole  however  was  far  less  formidable  than 
the  reports  of  earlier  explorers  had  led  Ross  to  expect. 
By  noon  in  latitude  66°  55'  S.  and  longitude  1740  34'  E. 
it  was  no  longer  possible  to  make  out  the  open  sea  from 
the  mast-head,  nothing  but  ice  could  be  seen  on  every 
side.  The  leads  which  opened  before  them  enabled  the 
ships  to  pick  their  way  southward  without  great  diffi- 
culty though  collisions  with  the  ice  occasionally  occurred 
so  violent  as  to  have  been  fatal  to  any  ships  less  strongly 
fortified.  A remarkable  appearance  of  land  was  re- 
ported, the  illusion  being  so  perfect  that  many  on  board 
would  not  believe  that  it  was  merely  a cloud  of  a firm 
and  mountain-like  outline  until  the  ships  had  actually 
passed  over  the  position  it  had  appeared  to  occupy. 
Flocks  of  penguins  followed  the  ship,  attracted  by  the 
sailors’  imitation  of  their  own  cries,  and  though  the  birds 
floundered  more  slowly  over  the  ice  than  the  ships  could 
sail  along  it,  they  soon  caught  up  when  they  took  to  the 
water,  playing  round  the  vessels  like  porpoises.  The 
dark  sky  indicative  of  open  water  now  appeared  in  the 
southeast,  but  the  pack  grew  closer  and  progress  was 
very  slow,  the  whole  pack  drifting  steadily  to  the  north- 
ward. By  taking  advantage  of  every  opportunity  of 
progress,  at  5 a.  m.  on  January  9th  the  ships  ran  out  of 
the  pack  into  the  open  sea  to  the  south,  reaching  69° 
15'  5.  in  176°  15'  E at  noon.  An  easterly  gale  sprang 


VICTORIA  LAND  273 

up  and  when  it  moderated  next  day  not  a particle  of  ice 
•was  to  be  seen,  nothing  appeared  but  open  sea. 

It  was  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  discovery : the  magic 
wall  from  before  which  every  previous  explorer  had  to 
turn  back  in  despair,  had  fallen  into  fragments  at  the 
first  determined  effort  to  break  through  it.  The  oppor- 
tunity opening  before  the  triumphant  ships  was  one  of 
those  that  occur  but  once  or  twice  in  the  course  of  the 
ages — the  first  seafarer  to  pass  the  Pillars  of  Hercu- 
les, Diaz  when  he  doubled  the  Cape  of  Storms,  Columbus 
when  he  sighted  the  West  Indies,  Balboa  when  he  first 
saw  the  Pacific  “ silent  upon  a peak  in  Darien,”  Magel- 
lan when  he  forced  his  way  through  his  strait  into 
the  trackless  ocean  had  experienced  similar  moments. 
It  was  impossible  to  predict  how  much  might  lie  beyond 
that  unbroken  expanse  of  clear  sea.  The  expedition 
seemed  to  be  a success  at  its  very  start.  The  course  was 
set  for  the  south,  straight  for  the  magnetic  pole  which 
the  increasing  dip  of  the  needle,  now  85°,  showed  could 
not  be  very  far  away.  Just  as  hopes  of  reaching  the 
magnetic  pole  were  at  their  height  came  the  report  of 
land  ahead,  a discovery  that  was  actually  a disappoint- 
ment, coming  as  it  did  in  the  form  of  an  obstacle  to  the 
immediate  attainment  of  the  principal  object  of  the  ex- 
pedition. 

The  land  was  first  seen  at  a distance  of  fully  one 
hundred  miles,  its  lofty  peaks  rose  higher  and  higher 
as  the  ships  steered  straight  for  the  culminating  sum- 
mit, to  which  Ross  gave  the  name  of  Mount  Sabine 
after  “ the  first  proposer  and  one  of  the  most  active  and 
zealous  promoters  of  the  expedition.”  At  6 p.  m.  on  Jan- 
uary nth  the  land  was  only  a few  miles  distant,  but  the 
wind  was  blowing  on-shore  and  the  surf  wras  beating 


274  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

upon  a line  of  heavy  pack-ice,  making  a landing  im- 
possible. A notable  promontory  of  the  new  coastline 
opposite  the  position  of  the  ships  was  named  Cape  Adare 
after  Viscount  Adare,  M.P.,  who  had  been  one  of  the 
warm  supporters  of  the  expedition.  It  stood  up  in  high 
dark  cliffs  of  apparently  volcanic  rock  in  strong  con- 
trast to  the  snow-covered  heights  behind  and  the  white 
ice-pack  in  front.  Two  great  ranges  of  mountains  were 
now  plainly  to  be  seen,  for  the  evening  was  perfectly 
clear  and  the  snowy  summits  stood  out  sharply  against 
the  sky,  their  heights  ranging  from  7000  to  10,000  feet 
above  sea  level.  Here  and  there  black  rocks  broke 
through  the  covering  of  snow,  here  and  there  from  the 
valleys  great  glaciers  projected  for  several  miles  into 
the  sea  and  terminated  in  perpendicular  cliffs  of  solid 
ice. 

The  range  of  mountains  running  to  the  northwest 
from  behind  Cape  Adare  Ross  called  the  Admiralty  Range 
and  on  each  peak  he  enthroned  the  name  of  one  of  the 
Lords  of  the  Admiralty  under  whose  orders  he  was 
serving.  This  happy  Board  of  Admiralty  which  looks 
out  forever  over  Ross  Sea  consisted  as  the  map  will 
always  remind  us,  of  Earl  Minto,  First  Lord,  Admiral 
Sir  Charles  Adam  and  Admiral  Sir  William  Parker,  the 
two  senior  Naval  Lords,  Admiral  Sir  Edward  Trou- 
faridge,  Captain  Sir  Samuel  Pechell  and  Lord  Dalmeny, 
the  Junior  Lords.  P'ew  indeed  would  now  remember  these 
names  had  they  not  been  so  commemorated.  The  ships 
were  full  of  jubilation  that  for  the  first  time  since  Bel- 
lingshausen’s voyage  the  most  southerly  known  land  of 
the  globe  was  once  more  a British  discovery. 

The  magnetic  observations  indicated  that  the  pole  for 
which  the  expedition  was  bound  lay  about  500  miles  to 


Admiralty  Range. 

(From  a photograph  taken  by  the  National  Antarctic  Expedition.) 


VICTORIA  LAND 


275 


the  southwest,  straight  across  the  land.  It  was  necessary 
to  decide  whether  the  effort  to  turn  the  edge  of  the  land 
was  to  be  made  by  following  it  northwestward  or  south- 
ward from  Cape  Adare  (71 0 S.).  The  latter  course  was 
adopted  as  it  would  be  sure  at  least  to  lead  into  higher 
latitudes.  During  the  night  the  ships  got  within  two  or 
three  miles  of  a group  of  small  islands  close  inshore, 
and  on  the  morning  of  January  12th,  1841,  Ross  and 
Crozier,  leaving  the  ships  in  the  charge  of  the  first  lieu- 
tenants, got  into  their  boats  and  pulled  toward  the  shore 
to  try  to  land.  The  coast  of  the  mainland  was  quite 
inaccessible  on  account  of  the  continuous  belt  of  ice 
projecting  into  the  sea  beaten  upon  by  heavy  surf.  A 
strong  tide  carrying  with  it  floating  masses  of  ice  ran 
between  the  ice-bound  mainland  and  the  group  of  rocky 
islands  so  that  the  boats  were  almost  unmanageable. 
They  were  fortunate  however  in  getting  into  an  eddy  in 
the  lee  of  the  largest  island  and  so  were  able  to  land  on 
a beach  of  large  loose  stones  and  lumps  of  stranded  ice. 
The  weather  had  changed  for  the  worse  and  was  very 
threatening,  the  ships  were  flying  signals  to  recall  the 
boats  so  that  the  formalities  had  to  be  hastened.  No 
time  was  lost  in  setting  up  a flagstaff,  in  hoisting  the 
Union  Jack  as  it  had  been  hoisted  on  so  many  strange 
shores  in  distant  seas,  though  never  before  on  so  strange 
and  distant  a land  as  this,  and  never  in  the  presence  of 
so  unsavoury  and  clamourous  a crowd  of  natives.  Not 
human  savages,  but  “ little  old  gentlemen  in  evening 
dress/’  as  D’Urville  called  the  penguins,  assisted  in 
inconceivable  myriads  ranged  along  the  ledges  and 
packed  close  on  the  level  places  of  the  island,  when  the 
first  formula  in  which  the  name  of  Queen  Victoria  was 
pronounced  in  taking  possession  of  a new  land  was 


276  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

followed  by  the  cheers  of  the  landing  party.  Possession 
Island  was  the  name  given,  and  its  position  is  71  ° 56'  S., 
1710  7'  E.  No  trace  of  vegetation  of  any  kind  was 
found,  and  the  penguins  must  have  felt  they  had  success- 
fully repelled  the  invaders  as  amidst  their  hoarse  cries 
the  men  got  back  into  the  boats,  not  a few  bleeding 
from  the  attacks  of  the  birds.  The  stench  of  the  guano 
was  overpowering  and  the  boats'  crews  were  glad  to 
get  safe  on  board  just  before  a thick  fog  and  strong 
north  wind  set  in  which,  had  they  not  pulled  so  lustily, 
would  have  made  it  impossible  to  regain  the  ships  and 
necessary  to  return  and  spend  the  night  among  the 
penguins. 

A heavy  storm  came  on  compelling  the  ships  to  stand 
out  to  sea,  and  the  captains  were  relieved  to  find  in  the 
gale  and  blinding  snow  storms  that  the  vessels  tossed 
violently  in  a heavy  sea,  for  that  proved  that  they  were 
not  locked  in  by  ice.  The  wind  changed  to  the  south 
and  blew  for  two  days  with  unabated  force  so  that  it 
was  all  the  ships  could  do  to  keep  their  ground.  On 
the  14th  it  was  again  quiet  and  clear  and  the  ships  stood 
in  toward  the  new  coast  passing  a great  number  of 
whales,  amongst  which  Ross  believed  the  spirited  mer- 
chants of  Great  Britain  would  soon  spread  consternation, 
and  tap  for  themselves  and  their  country  a new  source 
of  national  and  individual  wealth.  Next  morning  the 
chain  of  giant  mountains  running  southward  from  Cape 
Adare  formed  a spectacle  of  the  utmost  grandeur  and 
magnificence  rising  with  sharply  pointed  summits  to 
heights  of  from  12,000  to  14,000  feet,  one  sweep  of  spot- 
less snow  from  sea  to  sky.  To  these  summits  Ross  with 
happy  instinct,  gave  the  names  of  the  leading  members 
of  the  Royal  Society  and  the  British  Association  who 


Possession  Island. 


Penguin  Hunting. 

Sketches  from  “Ross’s  Voyage  to  the  Southern  Seas” 


| To  face  />.  276. 


VICTORIA  LAND 


2 77 


had  promoted  the  expedition,  and  so  the  names  of 
the  members  of  the  various  committees  of  advice  stand 
in  line  with  those  of  the  contemporary  Lords  of  the 
Admiralty. 

As  the  ships  beat  to  windward  south  along  the 
coast  they  were  still  attended  by  flocks  of  penguins  play- 
ing round  them  like  porpoises.  Constant  soundings  were 
taken  and  the  depth  was  found  to  range  between  60  and 
92  fathoms  at  a distance  of  between  two  and  four  miles 
from  the  shore.  The  coast  was  keenly  scanned  for  any 
harbour  in  which  it  would  be  possible  to  secure  the 
ships  and  allow  of  observations  on  shore  on  the  next 
international  term-day  which  was  now  approaching;  but 
every  valley  of  the  land  appeared  to  end  in  a bay  so  full 
of  glacier  ice  as  to  afford  no  shelter.  The  wind  con- 
tinued contrary  and  it  was  hard  work  to  keep  the 
position  already  gained,  while  the  brief  navigable  season 
was  slipping  past  with  little  prospect  of  getting  farther 
south  despite  the  open  sea.  On  the  17th  a new  point  of 
land  appeared  which  Ross,  true  to  the  sailor’s  tradition, 
called  Cape  Anne  after  his  fiancee  whose  birthday  it 
happened  to  be,  and  as  the  land  proved  to  be  an  island, 
it  was  named  Coulman  Island  after  the  lady’s  father, 
while  the  north  end  was  called  Cape  Wadworth  in  mem- 
ory of  her  uncle’s  house  Wadworth  Hall,  “ a spot  of 
many  happy  associations.” 

After  this  auspicious  event  the  weather  improved,  a 
southwesterly  wind  enabled  a course  to  be  made  to  the 
south-southeast,  away  from  the  land  but  into  an  abso- 
lutely unexplored  and  ice-free  sea.  Tacking  back  to- 
ward land  new  mountains  appeared  to  the  southward 
and  the  founders  and  secretaries  of  the  British  Associa- 
tion were  commemorated  in  their  names. 


278  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

Lying  becalmed  one  day  Ross  had  a dredge  put  over 
in  270  fathoms  and  was  rewarded  by  a rich  haul  of 
rock-fragments  dropped  by  the  icebergs  and  a surpris- 
ing profusion  of  animal  life.  One  of  the  finds  named 
Idotea  Baffini  from  its  occurrence  in  Baffin  Bay  had 
previously  been  considered  peculiar  to  the  Arctic  Seas. 
It  was  the  first  form  of  life  which  appeared  to  flourish 
in  both  polar  seas  and  to  be  absent  from  the  whole 
ocean  between. 

At  length  a fair  wind  came,  the  ships  made  all  sail 
for  the  south,  every  scrap  of  canvas  was  hoisted  that 
could  be  rigged,  and  with  studding-sails  set  on  both 
sides  the  Erebus  and  Terror  ran  to  the  southward, 
officers  and  crews  too  excited  to  sleep  and  hardly  leav- 
ing the  deck  in  case  they  should  miss  the  first  sight  of 
something  new.  Even  after  the  fog  and  snow  which 
were  found  to  accompany  north  winds  in  those  seas  had 
set  in,  the  ships  held  on  their  way,  approaching  the  lati- 
tude of  740  S.  on  January  20th. 

A mountain  higher  than  any  previously  seen  was 
sighted  on  the  21st  and  named  Mt.  Melbourne  in  honour 
of  the  Prime  Minister,  who  had  given  so  encouraging 
a reception  to  the  promotors  of  the  expedition.  It  was 
a mountain  so  strikingly  similar  in  outline  to  Mount 
Etna  that  on  both  ships  it  went  at  first  by  that  name. 
A field  of  close  unbroken  ice  extended  outward  from 
the  shore  and  it  was  hopeless  to  try  to  penetrate  it,  so 
the  ships  sailed  on  along  its  edge,  but  the  winds  and  cur- 
rents were  baffling  and  it  was  scarcely  possible  to  make 
progress.  The  night  of  Saturday,  January  22nd,  1841, 
was  exquisitely  clear  and  beautiful,  the  sun  at  midnight 
skimmed  along  the  southern  horizon  four  times  its  own 
diameter  above  the  sea-line.  An  extra  allowance  of  grog 


VICTORIA  LAND 


279 


was  served  out  to  let  the  sailors  rejoice  that  Weddell’s 
farthest  toward  the  south  pole  had  been  surpassed  and 
they  were  now  at  last  the  pioneers  of  the  human  race  in 
that  direction.  Captain  Ross  spent  the  evening  in  the 
gun-room  with  his  officers  and  all  drank  the  toast  of 
“ Better  luck  still.”  The  ships  continued  along  the  edge 
of  the  pack  that  fringed  the  land  to  the  eastward, 
the  dip  of  the  needle  increased  to  88°  and  the  mag- 
netic pole  was  now  calculated  to  be  less  than  250  miles 
away. 

On  January  27th  the  latitude  of  76°  8'  S.  was  reached 
and  an  island  discovered  which  was  called  after  Sir  John 
Franklin.  Here  a landing  was  made  with  much  diffi- 
culty and  Dr.  Hooker,  whose  turn  it  was  to  join  the 
landing  party,  slipped  into  the  water  in  jumping  ashore 
and  was  in  great  danger  of  being  crushed  between  the 
boat  and  the  rocks.  The  ceremony  of  taking  possession 
was  hastened  in  consequence,  and  all  in  the  party  were 
thoroughly  drenched  by  the  spray  before  they  got  back 
to  the  ships.  A large  collection  of  rock  specimens  was 
secured,  but  the  island  showed  no  sign  of  vegetation 
and  from  the  absence  of  any  plant  life  from  Possession 
Island  also  Ross  somewhat  rashly  concluded  that  the 
vegetable  kingdom  had  no  representatives  on  the  Ant- 
arctic lands. 

It  had  been  a memorable  day  and  at  midnight  it 
merged  into  one  of  still  more  remarkable  achievement. 
Several  distant  islands  were  logged  by  the  Erebus,  but 
they  did  not  appear  on  the  chart  because  a nearer  ap- 
proach made  it  evident  that  they  were  mountain  sum- 
mits on  the  mainland.  As  the  light  strengthened  on 
January  28th  the  summit  of  the  loftiest  peak,  which 
seemed  to  be  veiled  in  driving  snow  drift  was  discovered 


280  siege  of  the  south  pole 


to  be  really  emitting  dense  volumes  of  smoke.  The 
ships  approached  nearer  and  the  smoke  was  seen  to  be 
shot  with  flames  or  lit  up  by  the  dull  glare  of  molten 
lava  lying  within  the  crater,  while  some  on  board  even 
declared  that  they  saw  streams  of  red  hot  lava  pouring 
down  the  snow.  The  land  from  which  this  mountain 
rose  was  provisionally  called  “ High  Island,”  and  be- 
sides the  huge  volcano,  towering  to  a height  of  12,400 
feet  and  appropriately  named  Mount  Erebus  after 
the  leading  ship,  there  was  another  summit  but  little 
lower  (10,900  feet),  which  received  the  name  of  Mount 
Terror. 

The  discovery  was  of  a thrilling  nature.  A “burning 
mountain  ” was  the  last  phenomenon  of  Nature  that 
was  to  be  looked  for  amidst  the  eternal  ice  of  the  far 
south,  though  indeed  the  observation  of  Balleny  on  the 
islands  that  bear  his  name  two  years  before  might  almost 
have  prepared  one  for  it.  As  the  Erebus  and  Terror 
afloat  approached  the  Erebus  and  Terror  enthroned  on 
High  Island  it  was  with  the  hope  of  passing  that  island 
and  penetrating  far  beyond.  Ross  said  that  in  imagina- 
tion they  were  already  south  of  the  eightieth  parallel  and 
they  had  even  appointed  a rendezvous  in  that  latitude  in 
case  the  ships  should  get  separated.  But  this  was  only  a 
dream.  In  the  clear  sunshine  a line  of  white  cliffs  was 
made  out  running  east  from  High  Island  and  when  ap- 
proached this  was  found  to  be  a mighty  wall  of  ice 
unlike  anything  that  had  ever  been  seen  before  by  anyone 
on  board.  To  penetrate  this  barrier  was  as  impossible 
as  to  sail  through  the  cliffs  of  Dover,  all  that  could  be 
done  was  to  try  to  get  round  it.  Curiously  enough  the 
opinion  as  to  the  nature  of  this  most  southerly  land 
which  was  formed  when  it  was  first  sighted  was  correct ; 


(From  u Ross’s  Voyage  to 


VICTORIA  LAND  281 

but  on  approaching  nearer  Ross  convinced  himself  that 
High  Island  was  no  island,  but  part  of  the  continent 
and  he  caught  sight  of  high  land  over  the  wall  of  ice 
which  he  believed  to  be  a great  range  of  mountains  run- 
ning southward  from  Cape  Crozier,  the  point  where  the 
rocks  of  the  land  and  the  ice  of  the  barrier  met.  Years 
before  Sir  Edward  Parry  had  given  Ross’s  name  to  the 
most  northerly  known  land  on  the  globe,  and  with  a due 
sense  of  the  fitness  of  things,  Ross  gave  the  name  of 
Parry  Mountains  to  this  most  southerly  chain.  For 
sixty-three  years  this  fine  example  of  a grateful  mem- 
ory graced  the  map,  though  all  that  now  remains  is 
another  warning  that  in  the  polar  regions  the  sense  of 
sight  is  apt  to  play  sad  tricks — for  the  Parry  mountains 
do  not  exist,  and  Erebus  and  Terror  after  all  are  the 
peaks  of  an  island  separated  from  the  mainland  of 
Antarctica. 

The  dip  and  declination  of  the  magnetic  needle 
showed  that  the  ships  were  now  south  as  well  as  east  of 
the  position  of  the  magnetic  pole  towards  which  the  heavy 
land-ice  made  it  impossible  to  approach  by  steering  to 
the  westward.  The  only  thing  that  could  be  done  was  to 
follow  the  edge  of  the  ice-barrier  to  the  eastward  in 
the  hope  that  it  would  ultimately  trend  to  the  south- 
ward. The  ships  accordingly  approached  within  three 
or  four  miles  of  the  perpendicular  ice  cliffs,  which  rose 
smooth  and  solid  to  the  height  of  from  200  to  300  feet 
and  formed  a straight  line  against  the  sky.  Even  from 
the  masthead  it  was  impossible  to  see  over  the  wall,  and 
all  that  could  be  ascertained  regarding  it  was  that  it 
was  flat-topped.  The  swell  broke  in  a heavy  surf  upon 
the  ice,  and  the  sea  was  seen  to  have  hollowed  caves  in 
the  lower  part  of  the  ice-wall.  Mount  Erebus,  towering 


282  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


above  the  ships,  suddenly  broke  into  violent  eruption, 
throwing  out  a column  of  smoke  between  200  and  300 
feet  in  diameter  to  a height  of  from  1500  to  2000  feet. 
The  display  commenced  about  4 p.  m.  and  continued  in 
spasmodic  spurts  of  smoke  at  intervals  of  about  half  an 
hour. 

Not  only  the  officers,  but  all  the  crews,  were  filled  with 
admiration  at  the  sights  they  saw,  though  the  working  of 
the  ships  left  little  time  for  contemplation.  As  the  irre- 
pressible Irish  blacksmith  of  the  Erebus  put  it,  when 
writing  a description  of  the  first-seen  land — “ My  friend 
if  I could  only  view  and  study  the  Sublimity  of  Nature — • 
but,  lo,  I had  to  pull  the  brails ! ” Nevertheless  he  had 
time  to  burst  into  song: 

“ Awful  and  sublime,  magnificent  and  rare, 

No  other  earthly  object  with  the  Barrier  can  compare!” 

For  five  days  the  ships  worked  their  way  eastward, 
keeping  the  barrier  in  sight  for  the  most  part,  but  some- 
times making  detours  to  the  north  to  escape  the  floating 
ice.  Soundings  were  taken  at  frequent  intervals  and 
the  depths  found  to  vary  between  250  and  500  fathoms. 
At  places  it  would  appear  that  the  great  Southern  Bar- 
rier was  resting  on  the  bottom,  but  at  other  places  it  was 
undoubtedly  afloat,  and  the  huge  flat-topped  bergs  which 
drifted  northward  with  the  current  were  obviously  por- 
tions of  the  mass  that  had  broken  off.  The  size  of 
the  bergs  may  be  realised  from  the  remark  of  a sailor 
that  the  whole  of  London  might  float  away  on  one  of 
them.  Experienced  as  Ross  was  in  all  the  forms  of 
Arctic  ice  the  gigantic  dimensions  of  the  great  Southern 
Barrier  were  as  amazing  to  him  as  to  anyone  on  board. 
When,  on  February  2nd,  the  ships  got  close  up  to  the 


VICTORIA  LAND 


283 

barrier  and  reached  the  highest  latitude  for  the  trip, 
78°  4'  S.,  they  had  followed  the  icy  wall,  though  some- 
times at  too  great  a distance  to  see  it,  for  a continuous 
length  of  250  miles.  At  that  point  it  was  160  feet  high, 
the  cliffs  of  ice  rising  sheer  from  the  water,  and  con- 
sidering the  depth,  it  must  have  been  afloat  so  that  the 
total  thickness  of  this  sheet  of  continental  ice  could  not 
have  been  less  than  a thousand  feet. 

Nearly  every  day  a bottle  containing  a note  of  the 
position  of  the  ship  was  thrown  overboard,  in  the  hope 
that  they  might  ultimately  be  picked  up  and  throw  some 
light  on  the  currents  of  the  Southern  Ocean.  But  in 
those  days  the  southern  continents  were  but  thinly 
peopled,  and  it  is  not  altogether  surprising  that  none  of 
the  messengers  from  the  edge  of  the  ice  ever  appeared 
again.  The  days  were  full  of  work  and  anxiety,  for  the 
cold  was  becoming  severe,  the  pack-ice  was  sometimes 
so  dense  as  to  imprison  the  ships  in  a pond  of  water  in 
which  they  had  little  room  to  manoeuvre,  and  young  ice 
was  beginning  to  form.  A bay  was  observed  in  the  edge 
of  the  barrier  in  about  187°  E.,  and  here  the  ice-wall,  at 
one  point,  was  only  fifty  feet  high,  and  for  the  first  time 
it  was  possible  to  catch  a glimpse  of  the  upper  surface. 
The  Erebus  stood  in  to  within  a quarter  of  a mile  of  the 
ice-cliffs  at  5.40  a.  m.  on  the  9th,  Ross  stating  that  he 
could  not  permit  himself  to  relinquish  so  favourable  an 
opportunity  of  getting  quite  close  to  it.  McCormick, 
however,  who  had  spent  the  whole  twenty-four  hours 
of  continuous  daylight  on  deck,  insinuates  that  the  officer 
of  the  watch,  instigated  by  himself,  ran  the  ship  in  so 
close  that  the  ice-cliffs  took  the  wind  from  her  sails  as 
she  tried  to  go  about,  and  while  she  hung  in  stays  the 
captain  came  on  deck  and  rated  the  lieutenant  in  charge 


284  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

for  venturing  so  near.  McCormick’s  strictures  on  the 
captain,  however,  do  not  always  bear  critical  examina- 
tion. 

The  farthest  east  reached  had  been  167°  W.,  on  Feb- 
ruary 5th,  and,  although  the  ships  struggled  for  another 
week  to  explore  the  edge  of  the  barrier  farther  in  that 
direction,  they  did  not  get  so  far  again  and  Ross  was 
at  length  obliged  very  reluctantly  to  give  up  the  attempt 
for  the  season.  On  February  14th,  the  expedition  turned 
back  toward  the  magnetic  pole  in  order  to  seek  a harbour 
in  which  they  might  lie  safely  for  the  winter.  Franklin 
Island  was  sighted  next  day,  for  the  wind  had  been 
favourable  and  the  sea  open.  On  the  16th,  Mount  Ere- 
bus was  in  sight  in  magnificent  eruption,  and  it  was  then 
that  the  island  on  which  it  is  situated  appeared  to  form 
part  of  the  continent.  The  deep  bight  to  the  southwest 
was  named  McMurdo  Bay,  but  instead  of  examining  it 
closely,  Ross  turned  northwards  in  order  to  make  one 
more  attempt  to  land  in  the  latitude  of  the  magnetic 
pole.  The  pack  lay  thick  along  the  coast  of  Victoria 
Land,  and  it  was  impossible  to  get  nearer  the  shore  than 
15  or  16  miles,  so  after  consultation  with  Crozier,  Ross 
decided  to  give  up  the  attempt,  and  as  he  could  see  no 
place  in  which  it  seemed  practicable  to  winter  he  resolved 
to  return  to  Hobart  as  speedily  as  possible. 

This  decision  was  not  an  agreeable  one  to  arrive  at 
He  says : 

“ It  was,  nevertheless,  painfully  vexatious  to  behold 
at  an  easily  accessible  distance  under  other  circumstances 
the  range  of  mountains  in  which  the  pole  is  placed,  and 
to  feel  how  nearly  that  chief  object  of  our  undertaking 
had  been  accomplished;  and  but  few  can  understand  the 
deep  feelings  of  regret  with  which  I felt  myself  corn- 


Ross’s  Chart  of  the  Great  Southern  Barrier,  with  the  Track  of  the  “Discovery”  added. 


VICTORIA  LAND 


285 

pelled  to  abandon  the  perhaps  too  ambitious  hope  I 
had  so  long  cherished  of  being  permitted  to  plant  the 
flag  of  my  country  on  both  the  magnetic  poles  of  our 
globe.” 

The  very  flag  that  had  been  raised  at  the  North  mag- 
netic pole  was,  in  fact,  on  board  the  Erebus  ready  for 
its  second  service  if  the  fates  had  been  kind.  The  range 
amongst  which  the  magnetic  pole  was  believed  to  lie 
was  named  the  Albert  Mountains,  and  the  name  of 
Victoria,  which  has  since  been  given  to  a colony,  to  many 
towns,  lakes,  rivers,  and  mountains,  was  given  first  of  all 
to  “ the  whole  of  the  great  southern  land  we  had  dis- 
covered, and  whose  continuity  we  had  traced  from  the 
seventieth  to  the  seventy-ninth  degree  of  latitude.”  The 
name  was  thus  evidently  intended  to  apply  to  the  Ant- 
arctic continent,  not  merely  to  the  stretch  of  coast  which 
had  been  followed  southward.  One  other  name  was  be- 
stowed before  the  land  dropped  from  sight.  This  was 
Cape  Washington,  a headland  to  the  south  of  Mt.  Mel- 
bourne, called  for  the  former  secretary  of  the  Royal 
Geographical  Society,  whose  strenuous  advocacy  of  the 
renewal  of  Antarctic  research,  although  falling  on  deaf 
ears  in  the  council  of  his  society  had,  as  we  have  seen, 
helped  to  stimulate,  not  only  British,  but  also  French 
interest  in  exploration  to  the  south. 

The  season  was  rapidly  advancing  and  the  whole  sur- 
face of  the  sea  was  curdling  with  young  ice  when  Ross 
realised  that  there  was  no  good  place  to  winter  in  and 
that  it  was  necessary  to  return  northward.  It  was  some- 
what difficult  to  escape  from  this  ice  which  was  too 
strong  for  the  ships  to  sail  through  with  a light  breeze, 
and  at  the  same  time  not  firm  enough  for  men  to  work 
the  ice-saws  upon  it.  It  was  ultimately  broken  up  by  the 


286  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

use  of  boats,  the  weight  of  which  cracked  the  ice  and 
opened  a way  for  the  ships  to  reach  clear  water. 

On  February  21st,  the  ships  were  once  more  off  Cape 
Adare,  and  several  days  were  spent  searching  along  the 
ice-bound  coast  for  a harbour  in  which  it  would  be  pos- 
sible to  winter,  or  at  least  for  a place  where  a landing 
could  be  made,  but  neither  could  be  seen,  although  the 
weather  was  clear  and  bright,  affording  fine  views  of  the 
land  which  was  finally  lost  sight  of  on  February  28th. 
The  approach  of  winter  was  now  heralded  by  the  length- 
ening nights  which  allowed  the  aurora  australis  to  ap- 
pear for  the  first  time.  Whales  of  great  size  were  very 
numerous,  and  Ross  believing  them  to  be  a valuable 
species  looked  on  them  as  hopeful  pioneers  of  explora- 
tion tempting  the  whaling  fleets  to  visit  those  seas,  but 
much  more  than  half  a century  was  destined  to  pass 
away  before  a whale-ship  ventured  within  a thousand 
miles  of  them. 

The  ships  were  steering  northwestward,  and  on  March 
2nd  they  sighted  two  lofty  islands  or  mountains  at  a 
great  distance.  These  were  almost  certainly  part  of  the 
Balleny  group,  but  they  received  new  names  on  the  occa- 
sion of  their  rediscovery — Russell  Peak  and  Smyth 
Island.  Two  days  later  a third  was  sighted  and  named 
Francis  Island.  A strong  appearance  of  land  to  the 
westward,  high  and  broken  into  islands,  was  also  made 
out  before  thick  weather  blotted  out  the  distance.  In 
the  evening  the  Antarctic  circle  was  crossed  northwards 
after  the  expedition  had  spent  the  unprecedented  time 
of  sixty-three  days  continuously  to  the  south  of  it.  A 
good  look-out  was  now  kept  for  the  mountainous  land 
on  Wilkes’s  chart,  which  Ross  naturally  supposed  to  rep- 
resent one  of  the  discoveries  of  the  American  expedition, 


VICTORIA  LAND  287 

though  Wilkes,  as  we  have  seen,  subsequently  explained 
it  as  a clumsy  attempt  to  show  the  approximate  position 
of  Balleny  Islands.  One  of  the  officers  indeed  reported 
an  appearance  of  land  bearing  in  the  exact  direction  of 
the  Balleny  Islands,  but  these  were  seventy  or  eighty 
miles  distant.  Although  Wilkes  had  claimed  no  per- 
sonal discoveries  so  far  to  the  east,  the  opinion  pre- 
vailed on  board  the  British  ships  that  they  had  sailed 
over  a part  of  the  “ Antarctic  Continent  ” of  the  Ameri- 
can exploring  expedition.  We  have  discussed  the  un- 
pleasant episode  of  the  controversy  in  sufficient  detail  in 
an  earlier  chapter. 

It  remained  to  traverse  the  belt  of  pack-ice  which  in- 
tervened between  the  comparatively  open  sea  to  the  south 
along  Victoria  Land  and  the  ocean.  This  was  a task  of 
danger  and  difficulty,  but  it  was  accomplished  without 
damage,  thanks  to  the  skill  born  of  long  experience  with 
which  the  ships  were  handled,  and  by  March  20th  the 
pack  was  cleared. 

A point  of  interest  in  magnetic  theory  remained  to  be 
cleared  up,  and  as  his  crews  were  in  excellent  health, 
Ross  sailed  along  the  pack  to  the  westward  in  order  to 
determine  the  magnetic  dip  on  the  line  of  no  variation  in 
longitude  135  0 E.  This  was  done  in  a thorough  manner 
and  on  some  days  when  the  wind  fell  calm  the  insatiable 
explorer  had  the  boats  out  and  took  deep-sea  soundings, 
one  of  them  striking  bottom  in  the  depth  very  rarely 
measured  in  those  days  of  1540  fathoms. 

On  April  6th,  1841,  Ross  had  the  pride  and  satisfac- 
tion of  sailing  into  the  Derwent  River  in  Van  Diemen’s 
Land,  after  an  absence  of  145  days  in  the  Antarctic 
regions,  with  his  ships  in  as  good  condition  as  when  they 
started,  with  every  man  who  sailed  with  him  still  on 


288  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

board,  and  all  in  perfect  health.  Rarely,  if  ever,  has  an 
explorer  come  in  from  unknown  seas  with  so  great  a 
load  of  discovery  and  so  complete  an  absence  of  bad 
news  as  the  Erebus  and  Terror  brought  back  from  the 
first  voyage  beyond  the  75th  degree  of  south  latitude. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


HAIRBREADTH  ESCAPES  IN  THE  ICE 

“The  ice  was  here,  the  ice  was  there, 

The  ice  was  all  around. 

It  cracked  and  growled,  and  roared  and  howled 
Like  noises  in  a swound.” 

— Coleridge. 

SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN,  the  last  to  take  leave  of  the 
departing  ships,  was  the  first  to  greet  the  returning 
heroes  of  the  Antarctic  when  the  Erebus  and  Terror 
dropped  anchor  in  the  Derwent  on  the  morning  of  April 
7th,  1841,  and  it  is  easy  to  imagine  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
“ heroic  sailor  soul  ” when  he  heard  of  the  great  achieve- 
ments of  the  summer.  Communication  with  the  mother- 
country  was  slow  in  those  days  and  three  months  had  to 
elapse  before  the  news  was  received  in  London.  Amongst 
all  who  were  interested  in  the  progress  of  discovery  or 
in  the  affairs  of  the  navy  there  was  but  one  feeling  of 
satisfaction  and  pride  that  the  renewal  of  British  naval 
exploration  had  been  rewarded  with  such  splendid  re- 
sults. The  Royal  Geographical  Society,  though  it  had 
taken  no  part  in  promoting  the  expedition,  was  prompt 
in  its  praise,  and  at  the  next  distribution  of  its  annual 
awards  the  Founders  Medal  was  adjudged  to  Captain 
Ross. 

For  the  wearied  members  of  the  expedition  the  stay 
in  Hobart  was  paradise  enough.  They  were  feted  by 
the  Governor  and  the  people.  A special  play  entitled 

289 


19 


29o  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

“ The  Antarctic  Expedition  ” was  composed  and  per- 
formed in  their  honour,  a compliment  kindly  meant, 
though  as  one  of  the  spectators  remarked,  “it  was  but 
rather  indifferently  got  up  and  not  much  better  acted.” 
There  were  parties  and  picnics  ashore,  and  in  return  the 
officers  gave  a grand  ball  on  board  the  two  ships.  The 
Erebus  connected  with  the  shore  for  the  purpose  by  a 
covered  bridge  of  boats,  was  the  ball-room,  the  Terror 
moored  close  alongside  her  consort,  and  entered  by 
covered  gangways,  was  the  supper-room,  and  the  enter- 
tainment lasted  til)  4 a.  m. 

Three  months  were  spent  in  well-earned  rest  and  re- 
freshment, but  by  no  means  in  idleness,  for  the  ships 
were  refitted,  the  magnetic  observations  kept  up,  and  Dr. 
Hooker,  with  the  few  other  members  of  the  expedition 
who  were  inclined  to  scientific  studies,  made  valu- 
able collections  in  the  course  of  their  excursions,  which 
threw  much  light  on  the  geology  and  botany  of  Tas- 
mania. 

On  July  7th,  the  two  ships  sailed  for  a cruise  in  the 
warmer  Australasian  seas,  and  a week  later  they  entered 
Port  Jackson.  The  people  of  Sydney,  who  remembered 
the  visit  of  Bellingshausen  twenty  years  before,  and  had 
so  recently  seen  much  of  the  French  and  American  ex- 
peditions, were  now,  for  the  first  time,  able  to  examine 
ships  thoroughly  equipped  for  service  in  the  ice,  which 
had  in  consequence  been  able  to  cross  the  Antarctic  pack 
and  penetrate  to  the  edge  of  the  great  barrier.  While 
the  Australians  satisfied  their  curiosity  and  offered  their 
hospitality  the  Antarctic  officers  were  hard  at  work  in- 
stalling a magnetic  observatory  on  Garden  Island — for 
the  more  desirable  site  at  Fort  Macquarie,  where  Wilkes 
had  made  his  observations  in  1839  had  been  rendered 


HAIRBREADTH  ESCAPES  291 

useless  for  magnetic  work  by  the  erection  of  fortifications 
containing  such  masses  of  metal  in  the  guns  and  cannon 
balls  as  to  disturb  the  needles.  The  preparations  were 
delayed  by  bad  weather,  and  on  one  day  a total  rainfall 
of  8^  inches  was  registered — one-third  of  the  quantity 
that  usually  falls  in  a year  in  the  east  of  England.  All 
was  ready,  however,  for  the  term-day  on  July  21st, 
when  simultaneous  magnetic  observations  were  made 
at  hourly  intervals  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  This  work 
over,  the  expedition  sailed  as  soon  as  the  instruments 
could  be  dismounted  and  brought  on  board. 

They  left  Sydney  on  August  5th,  and  the  Erebus  made 
great  efforts  to  keep  ahead  of  a merchant  ship  which 
left  the  harbour  at  the  same  time;  but  the  usual  fate 
of  the  leading  ship  of  a squadron  befell  her  and  she  had 
to  shorten  sail  to  wait  for  the  Terror  to  come  up,  allow- 
ing the  merchantman  to  sail  away  to  the  great  mortifica- 
tion of  the  man-of-war. 

For  three  months  the  Erebus  and  Terror  lay  at  anchor 
in  the  Bay  of  Islands  on  the  northeast  coast  of  the  North 
Island  of  New  Zealand.  Much  valuable  collecting  work 
was  done  on  shore,  but  the  officers  were  not  allowed  to 
make  any  long  excursions  from  the  ships  on  account  of 
the  growing  discontent  of  the  aboriginal  Maoris  with  the 
ways  of  the  white  man.  It  is  not  our  province  to  chroni- 
cle the  holiday  tasks  of  Antarctic  explorers ; however,  two 
incidents  in  the  direct  line  of  our  narrative  must  be  men- 
tioned— the  meeting  of  two  foreign  men-of-war.  One 
of  these  was  the  French  corvette  Heroine,  whose  com- 
mander gave  Captain  Ross  a chart  showing  the  dis- 
coveries of  D’Urville,  which  he  had  not  previously  seen. 
The  other  was  the  American  corvette  Yorktown,  through 
whose  commander,  Captain  Aulick,  the  circumstance  of 


292  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

the  British  expedition  having  sailed  over  what  was  rep- 
sented  as  land  in  Wilkes’s  map,  obtained  premature  cur- 
rency with  unfortunate  results. 

The  approach  of  the  southern  summer  at  length  made 
it  possible  to  return  to  Antarctic  waters.  Live  stock  and 
fresh  provisions  of  all  kinds  had  been  taken  on  board 
until  the  deck  looked  like  a farmyard,  and  on  November 
23rd,  1841,  the  Erebus  and  Terror  sailed  from  the  Bay 
of  Islands,  accompanied  for  a few  hours  by  H.  M.  S. 
Favourite,  Commander  Sulivan,  who  was  stationed  there. 
1 he  weather  proved  fine  and  good  progress  was  made  to 
the  southeastward,  the  object  being  to  endeavour  to  find 
a way  to  the  ice-barrier  beyond  the  farthest  point  reached 
on  the  previous  trip.  Much  time  was  spent  on  the  way 
in  ascertaining  the  temperature  of  the  sea  at  great  depths 
in  order  to  find  the  point  at  which  the  temperature  was 
uniform  from  surface  to  bottom.  It  was  believed  that 
along  a certain  line  in  the  Southern  Ocean  an  invariable 
temperature  of  39.5 0 F.  was  maintained  from  surface  to 
bottom  all  the  year  round;  to  the  north  of  this  line  the 
surface  water  was  warmer,  and  to  the  south  of  it  the 
surface  water  was  colder  than  the  great  mass  of  water 
below.  Ross  located  this  circle  of  uniform  temperature 
in  55°  18' S.  on  December  13th;  but  the  thermometers 
with  which  he  was  provided  were  probably  not  ade- 
quately protected  against  the  excessive  pressure  which 
prevails  at  great  depths,  and  consequently  the  results 
were  not  to  be  trusted.  There  is,  as  a matter  of  fact,  no 
part  of  the  open  ocean  either  in  the  south  temperate  or 
even  in  the  tropical  zone  where  water  so  warm  as  39.5 0 
F.  is  found  at  the  bottom  where  the  depth  exceeds  1000 
fathoms. 

The  weather  grew  cold  and  an  intense  fog  set  in,  con- 


HAIRBREADTH  ESCAPES  293 

cealing  each  ship  from  her  consort,  although  they  were  so 
near  that  the  orders  given  on  one  vessel  were  distinctly 
heard  on  the  other.  When  the  fog  lifted  it  was  to  show 
the  first  iceberg,  a flat-topped  ice-island  rising  130  feet 
above  the  surface  of  the  water,  its  sides  caverned  by  the 
action  of  the  waves  and  a long  line  of  loose  pieces  fallen 
from  it  tailing  away  to  leeward.  This  was  in  latitude 
58°  S.  and  longitude  146°  W.,  the  meridian  on  which 
the  new  attempt  to  reach  a high  latitude  was  to  be  made. 
The  course  was  now  altered  to  due  south,  and  on  Decem- 
ber 18th,  the  edge  of  the  ice-pack  was  met  with  a little 
south  of  the  sixtieth  parallel.  The  pack  was  loose  and 
the  ships  sailed  through  it  for  about  thirty  miles  before 
it  grew  heavier  and  compelled  a change  of  course  to  the 
southwest.  The  look-out  from  the  crow’s-nest  at  the 
masthead  guided  the  ships  from  one  pool  of  open  water 
to  another  through  the  lightest  part  of  the  intervening 
pack,  making  slow  progress.  The  life  of  those  seas 
swarmed  about  the  ships,  curious  but  not  alarmed.  The 
numerous  whales  seemed  almost  to  take  the  vessels  for 
fellow-cetaceans  and  they  scarcely  moved  aside  for  them 
and  once  the  Erebus  passed  right  over  a whale  and  ex- 
perienced a shock  which  started  a discussion  as  to 
whether  the  ship  had  struck  the  whale  or  the  whale  had 
struck  the  ship.  The  opportunity  was  taken  to  land  the 
magnetic  instruments  on  a large  piece  of  the  floe  in  order 
to  reverify  the  correction  allowed  for  the  attraction  of 
the  iron  on  board. 

The  Antarctic  Circle  was  approached  on  Christmas 
day,  the  ships  working  to  and  fro  in  the  pack  wherever 
a lead  seemed  to  open,  and  usually  shrouded  in  fog.  But 
the  few  miles  required  to  reach  the  Antarctic  regions 
proper  were  not  made  until  the  end  of  the  year.  On  the 


294  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

30th  the  wind  fell  and  the  two  ships  were  moored,  one 
on  each  side  of  the  largest  piece  of  floating  ice,  so  that 
they  might  not  drift  against  each  other  and  get  dam- 
aged. Twelve  tons  of  ice  hewn  from  the  floe  were 
taken  on  board  the  Erebus  to  replenish  the  water  supply, 
and  some  of  the  ship’s  company  found  it  a very  chilly 
cargo  as  it  gradually  melted  on  the  deck.  The  magnetic 
instruments  of  both  ships  were  tested  on  the  mass  of  ice 
that  formed  a fender  between  them,  and  when  the  fog- 
closed  thickly  around  them  one  great  source  of  anxiety 
was  removed  for  a collision  between  the  two  vessels  was 
impossible.  The  mass  of  ice  projecting  beyond  the  ships 
fore  and  aft  also  acted  as  a buffer  against  collision  with 
other  bergs,  while  its  size  was  not  so  great  as  to  pre- 
vent some  way  being  made  in  a favourable  wind  with 
both  vessels  under  full  sail.  The  crews  of  the  ships  had 
an  opportunity,  which  they  much  appreciated,  of  ex- 
changing visits  across  the  ice,  as  the  Erebus  and  Terror 
lay  about  fifty  yards  apart  the  ice  became  a sort  of  play- 
ground, and  a unique  ball-room  was  excavated  in  it, 
adorned  with  statuary  hewn  out  of  ice  which,  in  that  cli- 
mate had  the  permanence  of  marble.  The  most  ambi- 
tious effort  was  a seated  Venus,  the  combined  work  of 
Dr.  Hooker  and  Mr.  Davis,  the  versatile  and  accomplished 
second  master  of  the  Terror.  Here  a great  celebration 
was  held  to  bring  in  the  new  year  1842.  The  refreshment 
room,  equipped  in  true  sailor  fashion,  was  a conspicuous 
feature  of  the  ball-room,  and  was  furnished  by  tire 
bo’sun,  who  played  the  part  of  landlord  of  the  Antarctic 
Hotel  with  a highly  symbolic  sign  depicting  Bacchus, 
Britannia,  and  other  figures  surrounding  the  proud  title — 
“ Pilgrims  of  the  Ocean  ” on  one  side,  and  on  the  other, 
“ Pioneers  of  Science.”  The  arrival  of  the  New  Year 


HAIRBREADTH  ESCAPES  295 

was  greeted  with  all  the  noise  that  both  the  crews  could 
raise,  each  ship  sounding  forty-two  bells  and  the  men 
joining  in  with  all  manner  of  musical  and  unmusical  in- 
struments, including  the  surviving  pigs,  which  the  sailors 
carried  bag-pipe  fashion  under  their  arms,  squeezing 
them  until  they  became  vocal  in  protest.  Both  captains 
entered  very  heartily  into  the  entertainment  which  ended 
in  a great  snow-ball  fight  and  left  something  to  talk 
about  for  many  a dreary  day  to  come.  After  the  ball 
was  over  the  ships  drifted  across  the  Antarctic  circle 
and  the  polar  clothing  was  issued  to  the  men.  By  a 
curious  coincidence  it  was  on  the  same  day  of  the  pre- 
vious year  that  the  circle  had  been  crossed  on  the  former 
voyage  some  1400  miles  farther  to  the  west. 

Progress  on  this  occasion  was  exasperatingly  slow. 
On  January  4th  the  pack  and  the  ships  with  it  were  driven 
to  the  northward  for  twenty  miles,  so  the  piece  of  floe 
was  dropped  and  the  two  vessels  recommenced  their  un- 
ceasing tacking  and  wearing  in  the  small  pools  of  open 
water,  scarcely  a quarter  of  an  hour  passing  without 
having  to  go  about.  Then  a gale  from  the  south  drove 
them  back  to  65°  59'  S.  on  the  10th.  In  such  circum- 
stances there  was  nothing  to  be  done  but  to  hope  for  a 
favourable  change,  and  Ross  was  fortunately  able  to 
interest  himself  in  the  opportunities  of  scientific  work 
which  abounded.  Several  of  the  gigantic  penguins  first 
seen  on  Cook’s  expedition  were  killed,  the  weight  of  the 
largest  specimen  being  75  pounds,  and  the  commander  of 
the  expedition  skinned  some  of  them  and  preserved  others 
in  pickle  with  his  own  hands.  The  capture  of  these  huge 
birds  was  a constant  delight  to  the  sailors  while  in  the 
pack,  and  two  stalwart  tars  might  sometimes  be  seen 
marching  a solemn  penguin  in  custody  toward  the  ship, 


296  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

each  grasping  a flipper.  Birds  of  other  kinds,  and  seals, 
too,  were  secured;  but  those  responsible  for  the  expedi- 
tion must  have  had  anxious  thoughts  for  the  future  as 
week  after  week  of  the  short  Antarctic  summer  went  bv 
and  the  ships  still  drifted  with  the  pack.  There  was 
more  immediate  anxiety  occasionally,  for  the  pack  was 
so  loose  that  it  did  not  stop  the  ocean  swell,  and  when  a 
gale  blew  the  position  of  the  ships  amongst  the  masses 
of  floating  ice  was  perilous  in  the  extreme. 

On  January  18th  a gale  sprang  up  while  the  two  vessels 
were  slowly  forging  through  the  fog,  towing  between 
them  the  heavy  mass  of  floe  which  held  them  apart.  At 
midnight  the  wind  went  round  to  the  northwest  and  the 
plight  of  the  expedition  must  be  described  in  Ross’s  own 
words : 

“ All  our  hawsers  breaking  in  succession,  we  made 
sail  on  the  ships,  and  kept  company  during  the  thick  fog 
by  firing  guns,  and,  by  means  of  the  usual  signals ; under 
the  shelter  of  a berg  of  nearly  a mile  in  diameter,  we 
dodged  about  during  the  whole  day,  waiting  for  clear 
weather,  that  we  might  select  the  best  leads  through  the 
dispersing  pack ; but  at  9 p.  m.  the  wind  suddenly  fresh- 
ened to  a violent  gale  from  the  northward,  compelling  us 
to  reduce  our  sails  to  a close  reefed  main-top-sail  and 
storm-stay-sails ; the  sea  quickly  rising  to  a fearful  height, 
breaking  over  the  loftiest  bergs,  we  were  unable  any 
longer  to  hold  our  ground,  but  were  driven  into  the  heavy 
pack  under  our  lee.  Soon  after  midnight  our  ships  were 
involved  in  an  ocean  of  rolling  fragments  of  ice,  hard  as 
floating  rocks  of  granite,  which  were  dashed  against 
them  by  the  waves  with  so  much  violence  that  their  masts 
quivered  as  if  they  would  fall  at  every  successive  blow ; 
and  the  destruction  of  the  ships  seemed  inevitable  from 


The  “Erebus”  and  “Terror”  in  a Gale  in  the  Pack. 
(From  “ Ross’s  Voyage  to  the  Southern  Seas? ) 


HAIRBREADTH  ESCAPES  297 

the  tremendous  shocks  they  received.  By  backing  and 
filling  the  sails,  we  endeavoured  to  avoid  collision  with 
the  larger  masses;  but  this  was  not  always  possible:  in 
the  early  part  of  the  storm,  the  rudder  of  the  Erebus 
was  so  much  damaged  as  to  be  no  longer  of  any  use; 
and  about  the  same  time  I was  informed  by  signal  that 
the  Terror's  was  completely  destroyed,  and  nearly  torn 
away  from  the  stern-post.  We  had  hoped  that,  as  we 
drifted  deeper  into  the  pack,  we  should  get  beyond  the 
reach  of  the  tempest ; but  in  this  we  were  mistaken.  Hour 
passed  away  after  hour  without  the  least  mitigation  of 
the  awful  circumstances  in  which  we  were  placed.  In- 
deed, there  seemed  to  be  but  little  probability  of  our 
ships  holding  together  much  longer,  so  frequent  and 
violent  were  the  shocks  they  sustained.  The  loud  crash- 
ing noise  of  the  straining  and  working  of  the  timbers 
and  decks,  as  she  was  driven  against  some  of  the  heavier 
pieces,  which  all  the  activity  and  exertions  of  our  people 
could  not  prevent,  was  sufficient  to  fill  the  stoutest  heart, 
that  was  not  supported  by  trust  in  Him  who  controls 
all  events,  with  dismay ; and  I should  commit  an  act  of 
injustice  to  my  companions  if  I did  not  express  my 
admiration  of  their  conduct  on  this  trying  occasion; 
throughout  a period  of  twenty-eight  hours,  during  any- 
one of  which  there  appeared  to  be  very  little  hope  that 
we  should  live  to  see  another,  the  coolness,  steady  obedi- 
ence, and  untiring  exertions  of  each  individual  were 
every  way  worthy  of  British  seamen. 

“The  storm  gained  its  height  at  2 p.  m.,  when  the 
barometer  stood  at  28.40  inches,  and  after  that  time 
began  to  rise.  Although  we  had  been  forced  many  miles 
deeper  into  the  pack,  we  could  not  perceive  that  the  swell 
had  at  all  subsided,  our  ship  still  rolling  and  groaning 


298  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

amidst  the  heavy  fragments  of  crushing  bergs,  over  which 
the  ocean  rolled  its  mountainous  waves,  throwing  huge 
masses  one  upon  another,  and  then  again  burying  them 
deep  beneath  its  foaming  waters,  dashing  and  grinding 
them  together  with  fearful  violence.  The  awful  grandeur 
of  such  a scene  can  neither  be  imagined  nor  described, 
far  less  can  the  feelings  of  those  who  witnessed  it  be  un- 
derstood. Each  of  us  secured  our  hold,  waiting  the  issue 
with  resignation  to  the  will  of  Him  who  alone  could  pre- 
serve us,  and  bring  us  safely  through  this  extreme  danger ; 
watching  with  breathless  anxiety  the  effect  of  each  suc- 
ceeding collision,  and  the  vibrations  of  the  tottering 
masts,  expecting  every  moment  to  see  them  give  way 
without  our  having  the  power  to  make  an  effort  to  save 
them. 

“ Although  the  force  of  the  wind  had  somewhat  dimin- 
ished by  4 p.  m.,  yet  the  squalls  came  on  with  unabated 
violence,  laying  the  ship  over  on  her  broadside,  and 
threatening  to  blow  the  storm  sails  to  pieces ; fortunately 
they  were  quite  new,  or  they  never  could  have  withstood 
such  terrific  gusts.  At  this  time  the  Terror  was  so  close 
to  us,  that  when  she  rose  to  the  top  of  one  wave,  the 
Erebus  was  on  the  top  of  the  next  to  leeward  of  her; 
the  deep  chasm  between  them  filled  with  heavy  rolling 
masses;  and  as  the  ships  descended  into  the  hollow  be- 
tween the  waves,  the  main-top-sail  yard  of  each  could  be 
seen  just  level  with  the  crest  of  the  intervening  wave, 
from  the  deck  of  the  other:  from  this  some  idea  may  be 
formed  of  the  height  of  the  waves,  as  well  as  of  the  peril- 
ous situation  of  our  ships.  The  night  now  began  to 
draw  in,  and  cast  its  gloomy  mantle  over  the  appalling 
scene,  rendering  our  condition,  if  possible,  more  hope- 
less and  helpless  than  before ; but  at  midnight,  the  snow, 


HAIRBREADTH  ESCAPES  299 

which  had  been  falling  thickly  for  several  hours,  cleared 
away,  as  the  wind  suddenly  shifted  to  the  westward,  and 
the  swell  began  to  subside ; and  although  the  shocks  our 
ships  still  sustained  were  such  that  must  have  destroyed 
any  ordinary  vessel  in  less  than  five  minutes,  yet  they 
were  feeble  compared  with  those  to  which  we  had  been 
exposed,  and  our  minds  became  more  at  ease  for  their 
ultimate  safety. 

“ During  the  darkness  of  the  night  and  the  thick 
weather  we  had  been  carried  through  a chain  of  bergs 
which  were  seen  in  the  morning  considerably  to 
windward,  and  which  served  to  keep  off  the  heavy  pres- 
sure of  the  pack,  so  that  we  found  the  ice  much  more 
open,  and  I was  enabled  to  make  my  way  in  one  of  our 
boats  to  the  Terror,  about  whose  condition  I was  most 
anxious,  for  I was  aware  that  her  damages  were  of  a 
much  more  serious  nature  than  those  of  the  Erebus,  not- 
withstanding the  skilful  and  seamanlike  manner  in  which 
she  had  been  managed  and  by  which  she  maintained  her 
appointed  station  throughout  the  gale. 

“ I found  that  her  rudder  was  completely  broken  to 
pieces,  and  the  fastenings  to  the  stern-post  so  much 
strained  and  twisted,  that  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  get 
the  spare  rudder,  with  which  we  were  fortunately  pro- 
vided, fitted  so  as  to  be  useful,  and  could  only  be  done, 
if  at  all,  under  very  favourable  circumstances.  The  other 
damages  she  had  sustained  were  of  less  consequence; 
and  it  was  as  great  a satisfaction  as  it  has  ever  since 
been  a source  of  astonishment  to  us  to  find  that,  after 
so  many  hours  of  constant  and  violent  thumping,  both 
the  vessels  were  nearly  as  tight  as  they  were  before  the 
gale.  We  can  only  ascribe  this  to  the  admirable  manner 
in  which  they  had  been  fortified  for  the  service,  and  to 


300  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

our  having  their  holds  so  stowed  as  to  form  a solid  mass 
throughout.” 

As  soon  as  the  gale  had  subsided  the  first  care  was  to 
capture  another  great  fragment  of  the  floe  and  make  it 
fast  between  the  two  crippled  ships,  while  all  hands  set 
to  work  to  get  the  ruins  of  the  ponderous  rudders  un- 
shipped and  hauled  up  on  deck.  The  carpenters  and 
armourers  were  at  work  almost  without  intermission  for 
two  days  making  good  the  damage  to  the  rudder  of  the 
Erebus,  and  constructing  an  entirely  new  rudder  for  the 
Terror  to  keep  in  reserve  while  the  spare  rudder  carried 
on  board  was  fitted  to  the  ship.  By  the  evening  of  Janu- 
ary 24th  the  repairs  were  complete  and  full  sail  was  made 
on  both  ships,  but  without  making  any  progress  through 
the  pack  which  was  now  drifting  bodily  northward  at  the 
rate  of  about  half  a mile  per  hour.  After  all  the  efforts 
of  the  officers  and  men,  all  the  buffetings  of  the  ships, 
they  were  again  in  almost  the  same  position  which  they 
had  gained  three  weeks  before. 

On  January  26th  the  pack  loosened  and  a northerly 
gale  enabled  the  ships  at  last  to  move  more  rapidly  than 
the  great  icebergs  that  had  so  long  convoyed  them  in 
their  drift.  Next  day  the  ships  unmoored  from  the  floe 
and  resumed  their  individual  struggle  with  the  ice,  but 
when  at  last  an  observation  of  the  sun  was  possible  on 
the  28th,  they  were  found  only  to  have  reached  67°  39'  S. 
on  the  meridian  of  136°  W.  After  forcing  their  way 
through  more  than  800  miles  of  pack-ice  the  Erebus  and 
Terror  were  thus  only  half  a degree,  or  30  miles  farther 
south  than  Cook  had  been  on  the  same  meridian  without 
entering  the  pack  at  all.  This  is  only  an  example  of  the 
uncertainties  of  polar  exploration  in  ignorance  of  the 
laws  of  ice-drift  or  the  causes  which  make  one  season 


HAIRBREADTH  ESCAPES  301 

differ  so  remarkably  from  another,  and  there  was  nothing 
for  it  but  to  struggle  on,  trying  to  make  way  toward 
the  southwest  where  there  was  some  appearance  of  the 
existence  of  open  sea.  The  situation  was  difficult,  and 
to  add  to  the  troubles  of  the  Terror  an  alarm  of  fire  was 
raised  and  two  feet  of  water  had  to  be  pumped  into  her 
hold  before  it  was  extinguished,  but  fortunately  no  harm 
resulted,  as  the  smoke  had  been  caused  by  the  roasting 
of  some  wood  which  had  been  stowed  inside  the  pipes 
of  the  hot  air  stove  and  forgotten  until  the  fire  had  been 
lit. 

On  February  ist  the  appearance  of  water-sky  grew 
clearer,  and  just  at  dark — for  the  brief  days  of  the  mid- 
night sun  in  those  latitudes  had  passed — the  edge  of  the 
pack  was  descried  with  the  heavy  swell  of  the  ocean 
beating  against  the  close  masses  of  floating  ice  and  form- 
ing a line  of  fearful  breakers.  Either  a storm  or  a calm 
at  this  juncture  might  have  been  fatal.  The  commander 
felt  that  at  all  hazards  he  must  get  his  ships  through  the 
breakers  into  the  open  sea  while  the  breeze  held  and  the 
weather  was  good,  for  any  delay  in  that  zone  of  turmoil 
would  mean  severe  damage  and  perhaps  destruction.  The 
wind  was  rising  and  it  was  necessary  to  shorten  sail,  but 
at  midnight  the  Erebus  reached  the  belt  of  broken  water 
at  the  edge  of  the  pack,  and  after  two  hours  of  terrific 
thumping  and  straining  the  two  ships  gained  the  open 
sea  southwest  of  the  pack  in  67°  29'  S.  and  1590  W.  The 
object  now  was  to  advance  southward  and  at  the  same 
time  keep  as  far  to  the  east  as  possible  so  as  to  strike  the 
great  Southern  Barrier  beyond  the  point  to  which  it  had 
been  followed  the  previous  year.  The  edge  of  the  pack, 
however,  was  found  to  run  south  and  east,  and  as  the 
season  was  now  far  advanced  it  was  hopeless  to  think 


302  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 


of  penetrating  it  again  in  the  expectation  of  getting 
farther  to  the  east,  so  the  only  course  was  to  follow  the 
edge  of  the  pack,  keeping  as  close  to  it  as  possible  and 
losing  no  opportunity  of  getting  to  the  south. 

On  February  8th  in  70°  30'  S.  and  1730  10'  W.  a huge 
iceberg  was  observed  measuring  about  four  miles  in 
diameter,  and  identified  by  Ross  with  a berg  which  had 
been  seen  on  February  13th,  1841,  in  76°  11'  S.  and  1720 
7'  W.  If  the  identification  was  correct  this  proved  an 
average  drift  of  nearly  one  mile  per  day  for  the  year  in 
a northerly  direction. 

Strong  winds,  fog,  and  driving  snow  made  it  impossible 
to  keep  the  course  so  that  the  ships  were  driven  to 
the  westward  of  the  180th  meridian  before  reaching 
75°  S. 

It  was  now  past  the  middle  of  February  and  three  days 
earlier  in  the  previous  year  the  formation  of  new  ice  had 


forced  the  expedition  to  turn  back  from  following  the 
great  barrier  towards  its  eastern  termination.  A fortu- 
nate shift  of  the  wind  to  the  northward  enabled  a good 
stretch  to  the  southeast  to  be  covered  and  at  last,  on  Feb- 
ruary 19th,  a strong  ice-blink  in  the  south  proclaimed 
the  vicinity  of  the  great  barrier.  The  depth  of  the  sea 
was  only  250  fathoms,  but  still  the  barrier  was  not  in 
sight.  The  wind  shifted  to  the  southward  and  the  air 
grew  very  cold,  the  thermometer  dropping  to  190  F. ; 
yet  this  was  70  warmer  than  the  year  before,  and  the 
ships  were  now  in  open  water,  thirty  miles  farther  east 
than  the  pack  had  reached  in  1841.  The  decks  and  rig- 
ging were  encased  in  frozen  spray,  and  the  crews  suf- 
fered severely  in  the  endless  work  of  breaking  off  the  ice 
from  the  hull  to  ease  the  ship,  and  from  the  tackle  to  let 
the  ropes  run  freely. 


HAIRBREADTH  ESCAPES  303 

So  intense  was  the  cold,  on  this  occasion  that  a small 
fish  which  was  dashed  against  the  bows  of  the  Terror  was 
frozen  to  the  ship  and  speedily  buried  in  a block  of  ice. 
When  hacked  out  and  set  aside  for  scientific  description 
the  ship's  cat  unfortunately  spied  the  specimen  and  dis- 
cussed it  with  a satisfaction  not  shared  by  the  disap- 
pointed surgeon,  who  hoped  to  have  made  the  discovery 
of  a species  “ new  to  science."  The  Terror’s  cat  indeed 
seemed  possessed  by  a rooted  hatred  of  scientific  work, 
for  not  long  before  she  had  got  into  a drawer  in  the 
chart-table  and  torn  up  several  of  the  original  track- 
charts,  to  the  sorrow  and  trouble  of  the  second  master, 
who  was  responsible  for  them. 

On  February  22nd  in  latitude  76°  42'  S.  a sounding 
was  obtained  in  190  fathoms  and  the  surrounding  ice- 
bergs seemed  to  be  aground.  With  a fair  north  wind  the 
ships  were  speeding  southward,  when,  just  before  mid- 
night the  great  barrier  was  sighted  at  last.  Next  morn- 
ing the  ships  turned  eastward  five  or  six  miles  from  the 
vertical  cliffs  of  ice  and  hopes  once  more  rose  high  that 
in  spite  of  the  lateness  of  the  season  they  might  reach 
the  end  of  the  huge  ice-wall  and  there  find  a way  open 
to  the  south.  Young  ice  soon  blocked  the  way,  but  on 
February  28th  the  ships  sailed  to  within  a mile  and  a half 
of  the  barrier  where  progress  was  stopped  by  masses  of 
broken  fragments  cemented  together  by  young  ice.  This 
was  the  extreme  point  reached  by  Ross,  and  for  sixty 
years  it  remained  the  highest  southern  latitude  attained 
by  any  man.  The  mean  latitude  calculated  from  the 
observations  of  the  two  ships  was  78°  9'  30"  S.,  and  the 
longitude  at  that  point  was  i6i°27'W.  The  sea  was 
290  fathoms  deep,  and  as  the  ice-cliffs  forming  the  bar- 
rier were  only  107  feet  high  at  the  highest  part  and  very 


3o4  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

considerably  lower  elsewhere,  Ross  concluded  that  it  must 
be  afloat. 

Towards  the  east  the  barrier  trended  northeastward, 
and  in  sailing  along*  it  the  expedition  found  parts  where 
the  height  was  only  about  80  feet,  and  it  was  possible  to 
get  a good  view  of  the  top  of  the  ice  from  the  mastheads. 
It  was  seen  to  rise  to  the  south  in  such  a manner  as  to 
suggest  the  possible  existence  of  land  beneath  the  icy 
covering.  This  appearance  must  have  been  much  less 
marked  than  the  non-existent  Parry  Mountains  which 
Ross  never  doubted  he  had  sighted  the  year  before.  In 
view  of  the  recent  discovery  of  King  Edward  VII  Land 
the  reasons  which  threw  doubt  on  the  existence  of  land  in 
this  direction  in  1842  deserve  to  be  set  forth  in  detail. 
Ross  says: 

“ . . . We  perceived  from  our  mastheads  that  it 
gradually  rose  to  the  southward,  presenting  the  appear- 
ance of  mountains  of  great  height,  perfectly  covered  with 
snow,  but  with  a varied  and  undulating  outline,  which  the 
barrier  itself  could  not  have  assumed;  still  there  is  so 
much  uncertainty  attending  the  appearance  of  land,  when 
seen  at  any  considerable  distance,  that,  although  I,  in 
common  with  nearly  all  my  companions,  feel  assured  that 
the  presence  of  land  there  amounts  almost  to  a certainty, 
yet  I am  unwilling  to  hazard  the  possibility  of  being  mis- 
taken on  a point  of  so  much  interest,  or  the  chance  of 
some  future  navigator  under  more  favourable  circum- 
stances proving  that  ours  were  only  visionary  mountains. 
The  appearance  of  hummocky  ridges  and  different  shades, 
such  as  would  be  produced  by  an  irregular  white  surface, 
and  its  mountainous  elevation,  were  our  chief  grounds 
for  believing  it  to  be  land,  for  not  the  smallest  patch  of 
cliff  or  rock  could  be  seen  protruding  on  any  part  of 


HAIRBREADTH  ESCAPES  305 

the  space  of  about  thirty  degrees  which  it  occupied.  I 
have,  therefore,  marked  it  on  the  chart  only  as  an  ‘ ap- 
pearance of  land.’  ” 

The  day,  it  should  be  added,  was  beautifully  fine,  the 
clearest  and  brightest  of  the  cruise,  according  to  Mc- 
Cormick. Curiously  enough  Ross  appeared  to  attach  no 
significance  as  signs  of  the  proximity  of  land  to  the 
numerous  hauls  of  stones  he  had  made  with  the  dredge 
from  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  or  to  the  several  cases  of  ice- 
bergs with  pieces  of  rock  embedded  in  their  substance 
which  he  recorded  from  the  neighbourhood  of  his  farthest 
south.  These  were  really  strong  confirmatory  evidence. 

On  February  24th  the  main  pack  was  found  extending 
right  up  to  the  edge  of  the  barrier,  and  the  intensity  of 
the  cold  made  it  quite  plain  that  there  was  no  more  polar 
work  to  be  done  that  season.  The  attempt  to  reach  a high 
Southern  latitude  had  been  far  less  interesting  in  its  out- 
come though  more  dangerous  and  laborious  than  that  of 
the  previous  year,  the  net  result  being  an  advance  of  some 
six  miles  towards  the  pole  and  the  doubtful  discovery  of 
land  about  the  meridian  of  160°  W.  This  result,  slight 
as  it  was,  was  not  accomplished  without  great  risk,  and 
it  was  indeed  very  nearly  too  late  to  return.  The  sea 
as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach  from  the  masthead  was  a 
continuous  sheet  of  new  ice,  through  which  only  a strong 
wind  could  force  the  ships.  Fortunately  a strong  south- 
easterly breeze  was  blowing  and  by  crowding  all  canvas 
even  to  royals  and  studding-sails  the  Erebus  and  Terror 
tore  through  the  young  ice  for  thirty  miles  to  north- 
westward and  regained  the  open  sea.  The  object  now 
was  to  follow  the  edge  of  the  pack  northward,  and  take 
the  shortest  course  across  the  South  Pacific  Ocean  to 

the  Falkland  Islands,  where  it  was  intended  to  winter. 

20 


3o6  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

Fine  weather  favoured  the  northward  run  and  on 
March  ist  the  ships  crossed  the  180th  meridian  and  the 
70th  parallel  still  keeping  to  the  northwest  following  the 
edge  of  the  pack,  which  lay  to  the  eastward  studded  with 
a range  of  gigantic  icebergs.  The  rise  of  air-tempera- 
ture to  36°  F.  was  hailed  with  delight  as  if  the  summer 
had  come.  The  course  was  now  set  more  easterly,  and 
at  7 p.  m.  on  March  6th,  1842,  the  two  ships  crossed  the 
Antarctic  circle  to  the  northward  after  having  passed 
sixty-four  days  battling  with  the  ice  within  it,  one  day 
longer  than  in  the  previous  year,  and  far  longer  than  any 
other  expedition  before  that  time.  The  course  to  the 
northward  had  kept  the  ships  well  out  of  sight  of  Victoria 
Land  and  except  for  the  “ appearance  of  land  ” at  their 
most  southerly  point  not  a cliff  or  island  had  been  seen 
during  the  two  months. 

The  latitude  of  6o°  S.  was  reached  on  March  9th  and 
as  the  sea  was  clear  of  ice  Ross  ordered  a due  easterly 
course  so  as  to  reach  the  Falklands  as  soon  as  possible. 
For  three  days  the  sea  remained  clear  and  good  progress 
was  made,  but  on  the  12th  the  wind  rose  and  heavy  snow 
showers  obscured  the  lookout.  Many  small  pieces  of  ice 
also  appeared  and  Ross  had  just  made  up  his  mind  about 
midnight  to  lay-to  until  daylight,  when  the  greatest 
danger  of  the  whole  expedition  was  suddenly  encoun- 
tered and  for  one  terrible  hour  the  total  loss  of  both  ships 
and  all  on  board  appeared  to  be  inevitable.  Many  of  the 
members  of  the  expedition  had  been  in  positions  of 
deadly  danger  before,  but  none  had  ever  experienced  a 
more  appalling  hour  of  suspense  and  fear.  When  it  was 
over  some  even  of  those  who  had  borne  themselves  most 
calmly  confessed  that  the}r  could  not  remember  what 
they  had  done  or  how  the  ships  had  been  saved.  Four 


HAIRBREADTH  ESCAPES  307 

accounts  of  the  disaster  are  accessible,  the  official  record 
by  Captain  Ross,  the  subsequent  description  by  Mr. 
McCormick  on  the  Erebus,  a contemporary  account  by 
Sullivan,  the  literary  blacksmith  of  that  ship  and  an  un- 
published letter  by  Mr.  J.  E.  Davis  the  second  master  of 
the  Terror  and  cartographer  of  the  expedition  which 
has  been  privately  printed.  The  first  and  the  last  may  be 
quoted  as  they  are  in  large  measure  complementary  and 
between  them  throw  the  scene  into  a sort  of  stereoscopic 
relief. 

Captain  Ross  on  board  the  Erebus  says : 

“ . . . A large  berg  was  seen  ahead  and  quite 

close  to  us ; the  ship  was  immediately  hauled  to  the  wind 
on  the  port  tack,  with  the  expectation  of  being  able  to 
weather  it;  but  just  at  this  moment  the  Terror  was 
observed  running  down  upon  us,  under  her  top-sails  and 
fore-sail;  and  as  it  was  impossible  for  her  to  clear  both 
the  berg  and  the  Erebus,  collision  was  inevitable.  We 
instantly  hove  all  aback  to  diminish  the  violence  of  the 
shock;  but  the  concussion  when  she  struck  us  was  such 
as  to  throw  almost  everyone  off  his  feet;  our  bowsprit, 
fore-topmast,  and  other  smaller  spars,  were  carried 
away ; and  the  ships  hanging  together,  entangled  by  their 
rigging,  and  dashing  against  each  other  with  fearful 
violence,  were  falling  down  upon  the  weather  face  of  the 
lofty  berg  under  our  lee,  against  which  the  waves  were 
breaking  and  foaming  to  near  the  summit  of  its  perpen- 
dicular cliffs.  Sometimes  she  rose  high  above  us,  almost 
exposing  her  keel  to  view,  and  again  descended  as  we 
in  our  turn  rose  to  the  top  of  the  wave,  threatening  to 
bury  her  beneath  us,  whilst  the  crashing  of  the  breaking 
upperworks  and  boats  increased  the  horror  of  the  scene. 
Providentially  they  gradually  forged  past  each  other, 


308  siege  of  the  south  pole 

and  separated  before  we  drifted  down  amongst  the  foam- 
ing breakers,  and  we  had  the  gratification  of  seeing  her 
clear  the  end  of  the  berg,  and  of  feeling  that  she  was 
safe.  But  she  left  us  completely  disabled;  the  wreck  of 
the  spars  so  encumbered  the  lower  yards,  that  we  were 
unable  to  make  sail,  so  as  to  get  headway  on  the  ship; 
nor  had  we  room  to  wear  round,  being  by  this  time  so 
close  to  the  berg  that  the  waves,  when  they  struck  against 
it,  threw  back  their  sprays  into  the  ship.  The  only  way 
left  to  us  to  extricate  ourselves  from  this  awful  and 
appalling  situation  was  by  resorting  to  the  hazardous 
expedient  of  a stern  board,  which  nothing  could  justify 
during  such  a gale  and  with  so  high  a sea  running,  but 
to  avert  the  danger  which  every  moment  threatened  us 
of  being  dashed  to  pieces.  The  heavy  rolling  of  the 
vessel,  and  the  probability  of  the  masts  giving  way  each 
time  the  lower  yard-arms  struck  against  the  cliffs,  which 
were  towering  high  above  our  mastheads,  rendered  it 
a service  of  extreme  danger  to  loose  the  main-sail;  but 
no  sooner  was  the  order  given,  than  the  daring  spirit  of 
the  British  seaman  manifested  itself — the  men  ran  up 
the  rigging  with  as  much  alacrity  as  on  any  ordinary 
occasion;  and  although  more  than  once  driven  off  the 
yard,  they  after  a short  time  succeeded  in  loosing  the 
sail.  Amidst  the  roar  of  the  wind  and  sea,  it  was  diffi- 
cult both  to  hear  and  to  execute  the  orders  that  were 
given,  so  that  it  was  three-quarters  of  an  hour  before  we 
could  get  the  yards  braced  bye,:  and  the  maintack  hauled 
on  board  sharp  aback — an  expedient  that  perhaps  had 
never  before  been  resorted  to  by  seamen  in  such  weather : 
but  it  had  the  desired  effect;  the  ship  gathered  stern- 
way, plunging  her  stern  into  the  sea,  washing  away  the 
gig  and  quarter  boats,  and  with  her  lower  yard-arms 


HAIRBREADTH  ESCAPES  309 

scraping  the  rugged  face  of  the  berg,  we  in  a few 
minutes  reached  its  western  termination ; the  “ under- 
tow/' as  it  is  called,  or  the  reaction  of  the  water  from 
its  vertical  cliffs,  alone  preventing  us  being  driven  to 
atoms  against  it.  No  sooner  had  we  cleared  it,  than 
another  was  seen  directly  astern  of  us,  against  which  we 
were  running;  and  the  difficulty  now  was  to  get  the 
ship's  head  turned  round  and  pointed  fairly  through  be- 
tween the  two  bergs,  the  breadth  of  the  intervening  space 
not  exceeding  three  times  her  own  breadth;  this,  how- 
ever, we  happily  accomplished;  and  in  a few  minutes 
after  getting  before  the  wind,  she  dashed  through  the 
narrow  channel,  between  two  perpendicular  walls  of  ice, 
and  the  foaming  breakers  which  stretched  across  it,  and 
the  next  moment  we  were  in  smooth  water  under  its  lee." 

As  befits  a commander,  Ross  painted  the  accident  from 
the  point  of  view  of  the  expedition,  but  McCormick 
added  several  human  touches.  All  hands  had  been  called 
on  deck  at  a moment's  notice,  the  sense  of  danger  after 
the  first  collision  drove  all  other  ideas  from  their  minds, 
and  in  the  bitter  cold  of  the  Antarctic  night  they  rushed 
to  their  stations  in  the  scantiest  of  clothing — one  officer 
is  described  as  “ clinging  to  the  capstan  in  his  nightshirt 
only." 

Davis  in  the  letter  to  his  sister  after  describing  the 
collision  with  the  Erebus  goes  on  to  say: 

“ All  this  time  we  had  been  bodily  drifting  on  the  bergs 
so  that  when  we  cleared  the  Erebus  we  found  an  enor- 
mous iceberg  close  under  our  lee.  A dreadful  shipwreck 
and  death  then  appeared  inevitable ; there  was  no  alterna- 
tive but  to  run  for  the  dark  place  we  had  seen  before, 
which  might  be  an  opening,  or  be  smashed  on  the  face 
of  the  cliff.  The  helm  was  immediately  put  a-starboard. 


3io  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

and  with  the  assistance  of  the  sails  she  answered  it  very 
well.  We  were  immediately  rushing  past  an  enormous 
berg,  the  ship  being  perfectly  covered  with  the  foam 
caused  by  the  sea  breaking  against  it.  Every  moment  we 
were  expecting  the  ship  to  strike  ice  right  ahead.  ‘ Hard- 
a-port’  was  screamed  out  from  forward  (then  indeed 
hope  died  within  us)  ; ‘ Hard-a-port ; brace  round  the 
head-yards.’  ‘ Shiver  the  main  top-sail,’  cried  the  Cap- 
tain, as  if  he  were  steering  into  any  harbour.  The  men 
flew  to  the  ropes,  although  I should  think  at  that  moment 
that  there  was  not  one  on  board  but  thought  all  hope  was 
fled.  She  came  round,  and  passed  through  an  opening 
between  two  bergs  not  twice  the  breadth  of  the  ship,  the 
foam  and  spray  dashing  over  us  on  each  side  as  we 
passed.  Several  other  alarms  were  given  owing  to  the 
brash  (small  stuff  washed  from  the  bergs)  looking  like 
more  bergs  in  the  darkness,  but  we  were  safe,  but  did 
not  know  it.  The  next  cry  was  ‘Where’s  the  Erebus?’ 
— our  own  danger  had  made  us  entirely  forget  her  for 
the  time.  All  eyes  were  immediately  straining  through 
the  gloom  to  find  her.  We  burnt  a blue  light,  and  soon 
after  had  the  happiness  of  seeing  her  burn  one  which  we 
immediately  answered;  we  knew  then  that  she  was  safe, 
which  with  her  losses  we  never  expected.  We  then  lay-to, 
anxiously  waiting  for  daylight  to  find  the  extent  of  her 
damages.  As  soon  as  it  could  be  distinguished  she  made 
the  signal  that : ‘ All  was  well,  and  that  they  could  repair 
all  their  damages.’  We  answered : ‘ Thank  God,  we  are 
the  same.’  ...  We  might  go  a thousand  times 
more  to  the  South  Pole  without  experiencing  one-half  the 
dangers  we  have  this  time.  The  following  diagram  may 
give  you  an  idea  of  our  situation,  in  which  the  arrow 
denotes  the  direction  of  the  wind;  the  red  the  Terror, 


The  “Erebus”  and  “Terror”  in  Collision. 
(From  “ Ross's  Voyage  to  the  Southern  ScasV) 


HAIRBREADTH  ESCAPES  31 1 

and  the  black  the  Erebus;  the  dotted  line  the  passage  the 
ships  made  through  the  water.  You  are  to  suppose  your- 
self looking  down  on  their  decks,  and  the  strokes  across 
the  ships  are  the  way  the  yards  were  braced.  I cannot 


Davis's  Diagram  of  the  Collision  Between  the  Erebus 
and  Terror. 


attempt  any  sketches  of  the  ships  with  my  pen  and  ink, 
it  would  be  impossible  to  give  the  slightest  effect  of  the 
intense  darkness,  etc.  You  may  imagine  the  force  with 
which  the  Erebus  struck  us  when  I tell  you  that  her  spare 
anchor  in  the  act  of  falling  must  have  come  in  collision 
with  our  side,  which  drove  the  palms  of  it  right  into  her 


312  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

through  copper  and  all ; that  in  this  way  she  conveyed  it 
800  miles,  when  it  must  have  worked  out/' 

No  time  was  lost  in  getting  the  damage  temporarily 
repaired,  and  although  the  crippled  ships  had  to  run  be- 
fore the  wind  into  lower  latitudes  while  the  rigging  was 
being  renewed,  as  soon  as  they  could  be  handled  properly 
Ross  turned  south  again  to  the  sixtieth  parallel  to  make 
a series  of  observations  at  one  of  the  foci  of  maximum 
magnetic  intensity  in  6o°  S.  and  125 0 W.  This  was  suc- 
cessfully done  on  March  18th  and  on  that  day  also  the 
anchor  that  had  been  driven  into  the  skin  of  the  Erebus 
by  the  collision  and  had  hung  there  for  five  days  greatly 
impeding  her  progress,  worked  loose  and  sank  in  deep 
water.  The  voyage  was  slow  for  the  ships  sailed 
heavily,  but  it  was  devoid  of  incident  until  April  2nd, 
when  one  of  the  quartermasters  of  the  Erebus  fell  over- 
board from  the  main  yard,  and  as  the  sea  was  running 
too  high  for  a boat  to  live  had  it  been  lowered  an  unsuc- 
cessful attempt  was  made  to  bring  the  ship  alongside  the 
life-buoy  on  which  the  man  had  climbed,  but  before  the 
manoeuvre  could  be  executed  he  lost  hold  and  was 
drowned,  the  third  to  be  so  lost  from  this  ship.  Next  day 
off  Cape  Horn  a brig  was  sighted  the  first  sail  met  with 
since  leaving  New  Zealand  more  than  four  months  be- 
fore, but  it  was  blowing  too  hard  to  speak  her.  No  land 
was  seen  until  Beauchene  Island  was  made  on  April  5th, 
and  next  day  the  ships  dropped  anchor  in  Port  Louis, 
Falkland  Island,  137  days  after  leaving  the  Bay  of  Islands. 
To  the  disappointment  of  all  on  board  there  were  no  let- 
ters, but  from  a chance  copy  of  the  Navy  List  four  of  the 
officers  discovered  that  they  had  received  promotion  on  the 
day  when  Captain  Ross’s  report  on  the  first  voyage 
reached  the  Admiralty. 


HAIRBREADTH  ESCAPES  313 

Although  disappointing  in  its  results  compared  with 
the  first,  the  second  summer  of  the  expedition  in  the  Ant- 
arctic regions  had  been  by  far  the  more  trying  of  the 
two.  Twice  both  ships  had  been  in  the  direst  peril  and 
were  only  able  to  proceed  on  their  voyage  because  of  the 
forethought  which  had  provided  abundant  spare  gear  to 
replace  losses.  Scientific  observations  of  considerable 
interest  were  made,  although  the  deep-sea  temperatures 
on  which  Ross  had  bestowed  much  attention  were  ren- 
dered useless  by  the  unsuspected  imperfection  of  the 
instruments  employed. 


CHAPTER  XV 


THE  LAST  ANTARCTIC  VOYAGE  OF  THE  EREBUS  AND  TERROR 

“ We  have  had  enough  of  action,  and  of  motion  we, 

Roll’d  to  starboard,  roll’d  to  larboard,  when  the  surge  was 
seething  free, 


HE  first  care  on  arriving  at  Berkeley  Sound  in  the 


Falkland  Islands  was  to  send  home  dispatches  and 
the  scientific  collections  and  to  take  steps  for  overhauling 
the  ships.  Both  vessels  were  unloaded  of  all  stores, 
hauled  up  as  far  as  possible  on  the  shore  at  the  top  of 
high  water,  and  while  beached  their  hulls  were  thor- 
oughly examined  and  repaired.  At  that  date  the  small 
settlement  in  the  Falklands  could  offer  little  in  the  way 
of  its  own  resources  except  fresh  meat,  and  even  that  the 
blue-jackets  had  to  hunt  for  themselves,  for  the  herds  of 
cattle  and  horses  roamed  the  island  in  an  absolutely  wild 
state.  No  spar  suitable  for  making  a new  bowsprit  for 
the  Erebus  could  be  obtained,  but  an  urgent  request  had 
been  sent  on  to  the  headquarters  of  the  South  American 
sqadron  at  Rio  de  Janeiro,  and  toward  the  end  of  June 
H.  M.  S.  Carysfort  commanded  by  Lord  George  Paulet 
arrived  bringing  all  that  was  required  to  refit  the  expe- 
dition. It  was  the  end  of  July  before  the  Erebus  and 
Terror  had  been  refitted  and  were  ready  for  sea.  An- 
other month  had  still  to  be  devoted  to  magnetic  observa- 
tions on  shore,  and  it  was  no  easy  task  for  the  commander 


THE  EREBUS  AND  TERROR  315 

to  find  exercise  and  occupation  for  the  men.  A piece  of 
unenclosed  ground  had  hitherto  served  as  the  burial 
place  for  the  settlement,  and  this  the  blue-jackets  were 
set  to  work  to  surround  by  a stone  wall  not  likely  soon 
to  be  destroyed,  for  it  was  seven  feet  high  and  seven  feet 
thick.  To  the  newly-enclosed  cemetery  the  sailors  re- 
moved the  remains  of  Matthew  Brisbane,  who  had  been 
in  charge  of  the  cutter  which  accompanied  Weddell  on 
his  great  voyage  to  the  south.  The  colony  at  that  time 
had  a total  resident  population  amounting  to  only  46. 
While  the  Antarctic  ships  were  lying  in  Berkeley  Sound 
Captain  Allen  Gardiner,  a retired  naval  officer,  with  his 
family  arrived  there  in  a schooner  and  waited  for  an  op- 
portunity to  cross  to  Patagonia  and  prepare  the  way  for 
a mission  to  the  South  American  natives.  The  touching 
story  of  his  efforts  to  bring  Christianity  to  the  Pata- 
gonians and  his  tragic  fate  are  amongst  the  classics  of 
the  history  of  missions.  It  so  happened  that  forty  years 
afterwards  the  mission  vessel  bearing  his  name  rescued 
from  shipwreck  the  leader  of  a projected  Italian  Ant- 
arctic expedition. 

At  the  request  of  the  governor,  Ross  spent  a week  in 
examining  the  harbour  of  Port  Louis,  the  site  of  the  ex- 
isting settlement  in  Berkeley  Sound  and  Port  William, 
somewhat  farther  to  the  southeast.  He  strongly  recom- 
mended the  latter  as  in  every  way  more  suitable  for  the 
seat  of  government,  and  the  present  town  of  Stanley  is 
situated  in  Port  William  accordingly. 

Dr.  Hooker  made  a careful  survey  of  the  botany  of 
the  islands  and  drew  attention  particularly  to  the  gigantic 
sea-weeds  which  fringe  the  harbours  and  the  remarkable 
tussock  grass  characteristic  of  the  rocky  shores. 

A magnetic  station  was  left  at  Port  Louis  when  the 


3 16  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

ship  sailed  on  September  4th  for  a short  exploring  cruise 
in  search  of  a protected  harbour  in  the  immediate  neigh- 
bourhood of  Cape  Horn.  It  was  put  under  the  charge  of 
Lieutenant  Sibbald,  senior  lieutenant  of  the  Terror  in 
succession  to  Lieutenant  McMurdo  whose  health  had 
broken  down  under  the  strain  and  who  was  now  in- 
valided home.  He  was  a remarkably  efficient  officer, 
after  Ross  the  best  executive  in  either  ship,  and  to  judge 
from  the  regretful  comparison  with  the  senior  lieutenant 
of  the  Erebus  which  McCormick  was  never  tired  of  mak- 
ing, he  was  less  out  of  sympathy  with  natural  science 
than  most  naval  officers  of  his  generation. 

Cape  Horn  was  passed  on  the  19th  on  a fine  day  at  the 
distance  of  a mile  and  a half,  and  Ross  acknowledged 
that  he  was  disappointed  with  the  appearance  of  a cape 
which  had  won  for  itself  so  abominable  a notoriety.  At 
St.  Martin  s Cove  in  Hermite  Island  immediately  to  the 
northwest  of  the  Horn,  the  ships  anchored  and  a mag- 
netic observatory  was  landed  on  September  21st.  Sir 
Joseph  Hooker  recalls  how  on  term  days  when  all  the  ex- 
ecutive officers  were  on  shore  with  the  magnetic  instru- 
ments he  was  left  on  watch  on  board  with  hourly  read- 
ings of  the  barometer  to  make  for  the  twenty-four  hours, 
and  he  has  never  forgotten  the  hideous  “ Willie  waws  ” 
or  squalls  that  swept  down  the  valleys  and  smote  the 
water  of  the  cove  with  such  violence  that  the  ships  were 
in  danger  of  being  torn  from  their  anchors  and  driven  to 
destruction  on  the  Horn  island.  The  mean  level  of  the 
sea  was  ascertained  at  this  station,  as  at  other  anchorages, 
by  numerous  observations  and  a permanent  mark  cut  in 
the  rock  to  record  it.  The  long  stay  at  this  anchorage 
was  enlivened  to  some  extent  by  visits  from  the  native 
Fuegians;  but  it  musi.  have  been  a dull  time  at  best  for 


THE  EREBUS  AND  TERROR  317 

the  ships’  companies;  by  no  means  to  be  compared  with 
the  “ refreshment  ” between  south  polar  cruises  afforded 
to  Captain  Cook’s  companions  in  the  paradise  of  the 
tropical  Pacific  islands. 

On  November  7,  1842,  the  expedition  left  St.  Martin’s 
Cove,  and  reached  Port  Louis  again  on  the  13th.  This 
time  letters  from  home  were  waiting,  including  the  con- 
gratulations of  the  Admiralty  on  the  earlier  work  of  the 
expedition,  and  official  permission  to  spend  a third  year 
in  exploration  if  Ross  thought  it  desirable.  A merchant 
ship,  the  Governor  Halket,  had  put  in  from  Sydney  on 
her  way  to  England,  and  Ross  sent  his  men  on  board 
to  help  to  unload  her  and  stop  a leak  which  had  nearly 
caused  her  loss.  Living  up  to  his  rule  never  to  permit 
idleness,  the  remainder  of  the  crews  were  set  to  work 
planting  about  eight  hundred  young  trees  taken  from  the 
less  bleak  Fuegian  islands,  so  that  the  Antarctic  expe- 
dition lef-t  substantial  improvements  behind  it.  Mag- 
netic and  tidal  observations  were  kept  up  to  the  last 
while  the  ships  were  being  got  ready  for  sea,  and  on  De- 
cember 17th,  1842,  the  expedition  left  Port  Louis  for  the 
third  consecutive  summer  in  the  south  polar  ice,  no  one 
on  board  feeling  any  regret  at  leaving  this  poor  substi- 
tute for  a civilised  seaport. 

The  intention  was  to  go  south  on  the  meridian  of  55 0 
W.  in  the  expectation  of  meeting  with  a continuation  of 
Louis  Philippe  Land,  by  following  which  it  was  hoped 
to  combine  a survey  of  the  coast  with  the  attainment  of 
a high  latitude.  Should  the  way  to  the  south  not  be 
open  it  was  intended  to  endeavour  to  follow  in  Wed- 
dell’s track  of  1823  on  which  it  seemed  probable  that  an 
open  sea  would  be  met  with  extending  to  a very  high 
latitude.  The  first  iceberg  was  met  in  latitude  61 0 S.  on 


3 1 8 SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

Christmas  Eve,  and  a gale  of  wind  accompanied  it  which 
lasted  through  Christmas  Day  though  it  did  not  disturb 
the  due  celebrations.  On  the  26th  the  ships  came  up 
with  the  edge  of  the  pack  in  52 0 W.  longitude,  and  sailed 
along  it  toward  the  west  so  as  to  get  between  the  float- 
ing ice  and  the  land.  Joinville  Land  was  sighted  on  De- 
cember 28th,  and  the  rugged  forms  of  the  mountains 
were  examined  with  great  attention.  Captain  Crozier 
and  the  officers  of  the  Terror  believed  that  they  saw 
smoke  issuing  from  one  peak  to  the  southward,  but  Cap- 
tain Ross  and  the  officers  of  the  Erebus  were  of  opinion 
that  it  was  merely  a wreath  of  mist  or  possibly  snow- 
drift flying  before  the  wind.  The  probability  is  that 
the  Terror  was  right,  as  active  volcanoes  were  dis- 
covered fifty  years  later  in  the  same  direction,  which 
might  have  been  visible  from  the  ships.  The  weather 
was  unsatisfactory,  so  that  the  position  of  the  prominent 
points  on  the  land  could  not  be  fixed  by  astronomical  ob- 
servations; but  the  extraordinary  extent  of  the  snow 
and  ice-covering  for  the  latitude  was  plainly  seen,  and 
Ross  called  attention  to  the  way  in  which  the  glaciers 
descending  to  the  sea  broke  off  in  ice-cliffs  100  feet  high, 
a miniature  copy  of  the  great  Southern  Barrier.  A 
strong  tide  or  current  was  surging  southward  along  the 
coast,  swirling  through  a chain  of  grounded  bergs,  and 
moving  so  rapidly  as  sometimes  to  hamper  the  steering 
of  the  ships.  A group  of  rocky  islets  almost  concealed 
by  the  grounded  bergs  suddenly  appeared  and  made  it 
necessary  for  the  ships  to  bear  off  to  the  eastward,  and 
in  so  doing  through  the  fog  they  nearly  ran  against  the 
southernmost  of  the  group  appropriately  named  the 
Danger  Islets.  This  particular  rock  rose  so  perpendicu- 
larly from  the  watm-  that  a ship  could  have  been  laid 


THE  EREBUS  AND  TERROR  319 

alongside  it,  and  Ross  records : “ I named  it  Darwin 

Islet,  after  Charles  Darwin,  Esquire,  the  talented  com- 
panion of  Captain  Fitzroy  during  his  interesting  voy- 
age.” 

Here  again,  as  off  Victoria  Land,  the  number  and 
tameness  of  the  whales  struck  the  explorers,  and  Ross 
was  never  weary  of  expatiating  on  the  great  cargoes  of 
oil  which  might  be  obtained.  In  the  present  instance 
he  appears  to  have  believed  the  opportunities  for  whaling 
to  be  of  enormous  importance,  and  to  have  attached  to 
the  little  chain  of  islets  a value  that  one  can  hardly  un- 
derstand, for  he  says: 

“ Thus  within  ten  days  rfter  leaving  the  Falkland 
Islands,  we  have  discovered  not  only  new  land,  but  a 
valuable  whale-fishery  well  worthy  the  attention  of  our 
enterprising  merchants,  less  than  six  hundred  miles  from 
one  of  our  own  possessions.” 

The  enterprising  merchants,  however,  took  exactly 
half  a century  before  they  made  up  their  minds  to  send 
a ship  to  investigate  the  whale  fisheries  of  Weddell  Sea. 

On  December  30th  the  bold  outline  of  JTinville  Land, 
discovered  by  D’Urville,  was  clearly  een  and  the  moun- 
tains behind  it,  to  a number  of  which  Ross  gave  the 
names  of  naval  officers  who  had  assisted  the  expedition 
when  at  the  Falkland  Islands.  A remarkable  tower- 
shaped rock  on  the  south  side  of  Joinville  Land  he  after- 
wards named  D’Urville’s  Monument,  in  honour  of  the 
versatile  French  Admiral  who  had  discovered  the  land. 
On  New  Year’s  Day,  1843,  the  ships  were  becalmed 
off  the  land  in  64°  14'  S.,  and  the  usual  distribution  of 
warm  clothing  was  made  to  the  men,  although  they  had 
not  the  satisfaction  of  crossing  the  Antarctic  circle  as  on 
the  two  previous  New  Year’s  Days.  A fine  mountain 


320  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

rising  to  7050  feet  was  named  Mount  Haddington,  after 
the  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty,  and  a small  island 
was  called  Cockburn  Island,  after  the  senior  Naval  Lord. 

The  weather  became  thick  and  stormy  and  the  ice  was 
very  troublesome,  so  that  nearly  a week  was  spent  dodg- 
ing about  in  the  pack  off  Cockburn  Island.  On  Janu- 
ary 6th  the  two  captains  landed  on  the  island,  hoisted 
the  British  flag  and  took  formal  possession  in  the  name  of 
the  Queen.  Dr.  Hooker  accompanied  them  and  found 
that  the  only  plants  growing  on  the  volcanic  soil  of  this 
land  on  the  edge  of  the  Antarctic  were  nineteen  species 
of  minute  mosses,  algae  and  lichens.  McCormick  the 
senior  surgeon  remained  on  board  fuming  and  fretting, 
after  vainly  beseeching  the  captain  to  relax  his  inexora- 
ble rule  never  to  leave  the  ships  without  one  medical 
officer  on  each.  The  white  petrel,  whose  breeding  place 
had  not  been  found  previously,  was  discovered  nesting 
on  the  island. 

The  ships  proceeded  to  grope  their  way  southward 
along  a narrow  channel  between  the  land  and  a chain  of 
grounded  bergs.  It  was  an  unfortunate  choice,  for  the 
pack  grew  closer  and  the  ships  were  beset  before  they 
reached  the  65th  parallel.  After  a week’s  incessant 
struggling  to  return  or  escape  to  the  westward,  in  which 
all  hands  were  well  nigh  exhausted,  the  ships  forced  their 
way  into  open  water  on  January  17th.  The  main  pack 
lay  to  the  east,  and  as  it  seemed  to  involve  too  great  a 
detour  to  attempt  to  turn  it  by  the  north,  Ross  decided 
to  run  the  ships  into  it  in  the  hope  of  forcing  a 
way  through  to  the  southeast.  The  attempt  was  a com- 
plete failure,  for  the  pack  was  too  close  to  sail  through, 
and  it  was  drifting  north  so  rapidly  that  at  the  end  of 
the  month  the  Erebus  and  Terror,  after  heading  south- 


THE  EREBUS  AND  TERROR  321 

ward  for  a week,  were  actually  farther  north  than  when 
they  entered.  New  ice  was  forming  and  it  was  evident 
that  unless  the  ships  could  be  extricated  speedily  they 
would  run  a serious  risk  of  remaining  fast  for  a year. 
Several  days’  struggle  brought  them  out  in  latitude  64° 
S.  on  the  northern  side  of  the  pack,  and  the  first  part  of 
the  programme  having  already  consumed  six  weeks,  with 
no  result  so  far  as  a high  latitude  was  concerned,  it  re- 
mained to  try  to  carry  out  the  second  part,  the  repeti- 
tion of  Weddell’s  cruise  on  the  fortieth  meridian. 

The  expedition  accordingly  skirted  the  pack  toward  the 
east,  keeping  in  the  open  water,  the  temperature  of  which 
was  a sure  index  of  the  proximity  of  floating  ice  even 
in  the  thickest  fog.  On  February  14th  Weddell’s 
track  was  crossed,  but  there  was  no  way  open  to  the 
south.  The  edge  of  the  pack  was  in  latitude  65°  13'  S., 
some  75  miles  farther  south  than  when  D’Urville  passed 
that  way  four  years  before,  but  very  different  from  the 
time  when  Weddell  found  no  ice  for  550  miles  farther 
south.  D’Urville  had  cast  doubt  on  Weddell’s  veracity 
and  obviously  did  not  believe  that  there  ever  had  been 
open  sea  to  beyond  the  70th  parallel.  According  to 
McCormick,  Ross  did  not  wish  to  follow  in  the  track  of 
Weddell  or  anyone  else  and  deliberately  passed  the  posi- 
tion, but  it  is  impossible  to  accept  this  suggestion  for  the 
leader  himself  refers  repeatedly  to  his  desire  to  get  south 
on  Weddell’s  track  and  nothing  but  the  position  of  the 
ice  prevented  him  from  doing  so.  He  says : 

" ...  we  must  conclude  that  Weddell  was 

favoured  by  an  unusually  fine  season,  and  we  may  re- 
joice that  there  was  a brave  and  daring  seaman  on  the 
spot  to  profit  by  the  opportunity.” 

On  February  26th,  still  following  the  edge  of  the  ice, 

21 


322  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

the  Erebus  and  Terror  reached  the  meridian  of  12  ° W. 
and  found  at  last  that  the  edge  of  the  pack  trended  south- 
ward. Following  it  up  and  working  westward  as  well 
as  southward  through  fog  and  snow,  Ross  crossed  the 
Antarctic  circle  on  March  1st,  1843.  Next  day  the  sun 
appeared  unclouded  for  the  first  time  for  six  weeks,  and 
the  early  part  of  the  day  was  magnificent  though  the 
sea  was  rough.  The  latitude  was  found  to  be  68°  14'  S. 
and  the  longitude  12 0 20'  W.  The  following  day  was 
-aim,  and  the  boats  were  got  out  with  the  longest  sound- 
• ng-lines  to  make  a deep-sea  sounding.  Four  thousand 
fathoms,  or  24,000  feet  of  line  were  coiled  on  a huge 
drum  in  one  of  the  boats  and  the  whole  length  ran  out 
ithout  the  bottom  being  found.  It  was  the  deepest 
junding  ever  made  up  to  that  date,  and  as  Ross  was 
vperienced  in  the  work  and  the  conditions  were  en- 
’ rely  favourable,  it  seemed  not  unreasonable  to  believe 
that  a very  great  depth  existed  in  that  position.  The 
ecent  soundings  of  Mr.  W.  S.  Bruce  in  the  Scotia  with- 
1 one  mile  of  Ross’s  position  however,  make  it  plain  that 
die  thick  hemp  line,  caught  by  the  strong  undercurrent 
which  runs  there,  floated  the  comparatively  light  sinker 
employed  and  so  gave  a fallacious  reading.  The  real 
depth  proved  to  be  2,660  fathoms.  Temperatures  were 
observed  down  to  1,050  fathoms,  but  as  in  the  rest  of 
Ross’s  deep-sea  soundings  what  he  measured  was  not 
the  temperature  of  the  water  but  the  compression  of  the 
thermometer  bulb,  for  his  instruments  were  defective. 

On  March  4th  the  70th  parallel  was  crossed  about 
midway  between  the  tracks  of  Weddell  and  Bellings- 
hausen. Next  day  the  pack  was  sighted,  and  as  the  ice 
seemed  open  at  the  edge  the  ships  were  run  into  it  for 
a distance  of  27  miles,  when  the  pack  became  close  and 


THE  EREBUS  AND  TERROR  323 

heavy  with  new  ice  fonning  thickly  in  the  pools  and 
lanes  of  water.  Farther  progress  was  barred  in  lati- 
tude 71 0 30'  S.,  longitude  140  51'  W.,  and  the  third  at- 
tempt of  the  expedition  to  reach  the  south  pole  had  to 
be  given  up.  The  colours  were  hoisted  in  a last  salute 
to  the  southern  ice,  and  a barrel  was  thrown  over  con- 
taining a statement  of  the  position  and  date  signed  by  all 
the  officers. 

The  barometer  was  falling  rapidly  and  the  wind  ris- 
ing as  the  two  ships  picked  their  way  out  of  the  pack. 
Once  outside  a fierce  gale  descended  upon  them,  and 
two  days  and  nights  of  the  greatest  anxiety  followed,  for 
it  was  almost  more  than  the  ships  could  do  to  weather 
the  pack,  the  front  of  which  was  now  a roaring  line  of 
surf.  But  the  danger  passed  as  it  had  so  often  passed 
before,  and  on  March  nth,  1843,  the  two  ships  recrossed 
the  circle  and  emerged  from  the  Antarctic  regions  for  the 
last  time.  Their  work  was  done. 

It  cannot  be  said  that  the  third  season  added  much  to 
the  success  of  the  expedition,  the  chief  glory  of  which 
was  achieved  in  the  first.  The  terrible  strain  of  the  last 
two  years  had  told  heavily  on  the  officers.  Ross  himself 
was  not  the  man  he  had  been.  It  may  be  that  the  third 
season  was  the  worst  of  the  three  so  far  as  ice  and 
weather  went;  but  it  is  possible  also  that  the  jaded  leader 
had  lost  something  of  the  clear  perception  and  quick 
intuition  that  had  led  him  so  triumphantly  at  the  first. 
Not  that  he  failed  for  a moment  in  courage  or  resolve, 
but  from  the  time  of  leaving  New  Zealand  circumstances 
had  been  all  against  him.  A final  disappointment  re- 
mained in  the  unsuccessful  issue  of  the  attempt  to  locate 
that  child  of  the  mist,  Bouvet  Island.  It  would  almost 
seem  as  if  the  island  were  invisible  to  naval  officers. 


324  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

Cook  could  not  find  it,  Ross  could  not  find  it,  Moore  on 
the  Pagoda  failed  to  see  it,  but  between  these  attempts 
several  of  the  Enderbys'  whaling  skippers  had  visited 
and  even  landed  upon  islands  in  that  neighbourhood. 

On  March  ioth  the  appearance  of  a remarkable  beam 
of  light  in  the  sky  attracted  attention,  and  at  first  it 
was  taken  for  an  auroral  display,  though  its  true  nature 
as  the  great  comet  of  1843  was  speedily  recognised. 

Ross  crossed  the  meridian  of  Greenwich  in  latitude 
540  8'  S.,  and  at  noon  on  March  22nd  his  latitude  was 
540  11'  S.  and  longitude  6°  E.  He  says,  “Bouvet 
Island  should  therefore  have  been  in  sight,  bearing  S. 
55°  E.,  distant  nine  miles.  We  stood  exactly  towards 
it  until  we  had  run  twelve  miles,  but  not  seeing  it  we 
steered  east  to  keep  in  its  supposed  latitude.” 

Ross  did  not  then  know  that  Lindsay  in  the  Swan  had 
sighted  an  island  in  540  24'  S.,  30  15'  E.  in  1808,  but  after 
hearing  of  this  from  Mr.  Enderby  he  was  still  of  opinion 
that  the  island  did  not  occupy  that  position  which  he  had 
passed  so  close  as  certainly  to  have  seen  any  land  that 
might  be  there.  The  island  however  does  lie  in  540 
26'  S.  and  30  24"  E.  or  only  two  miles  south  and  about 
five  miles  east  of  the  position  assigned  by  Lindsay  so 
that  the  Erebus  and  Terror  would  seem  to  have  passed 
in  sight  of  it  although’  the  island  was  not  distinguished 
from  the  bergs,  so  difficult  is  it  even  for  the  most  prac- 
tised eyes  to  recognise  the  difference  between  a distant 
island  of  floating  ice  and  one  of  ice-covered  rock. 

There  was  a great  abundance  of  icebergs  that  season 
and  the  ships  were  never  out  of  sight  of  them  until  they 
reached  the  latitude  of  47 0 40'  S.  Land  was  sighted  on 
April  4th,  1843,  an(i  by  the  evening  of  that  day  the  Erebus 
and  Terror  dropped  their  anchors  in  Simon's  Bay,  beside 


THE  EREBUS  AND  TERROR  325 

the  flagship  of  the  South  African  squadron  H.  M.  S. 
Winchester.  For  the  third  time  they  had  come  back 
after  a long  and  trying  sojourn  in  the  Antarctic  ice  with- 
out a single  name  on  the  sick  list.  Although  no  one 
was  actually  disabled  on  board,  the  three  years  of  cease- 
less work  and  wearing  anxiety  had  told  heavily  on  the 
officers.  They  were  not  the  sort  of  men  to  complain, 
and  after  a brief  stay  to  refit  the  ships  they  sailed  again 
on  April  30th,  homeward  bound.  The  voyage  was  in- 
terrupted at  St.  Helena,  Ascension  and  Rio  de  Janeiro 
to  complete  the  magnetic  observations  at  those  stations. 

On  the  homeward  voyage  another  attempt  to  sound  in 
very  deep  water  was  made  in  latitude  15 0 3'  S.  and  longi- 
tude 23 0 14'  W.  The  day  was  nearly  calm,  the  water 
quite  smooth,  and  4600  fathoms  of  line  were  run  out 
without  finding  bottom.  Subsequent  soundings  in  that 
part  of  the  ocean  make  it  appear  unlikely  that  the  depth 
is  nearly  so  great,  and  it  seems  probable  that  the  line 
continued  to  be  drawn  off  the  reel  by  currents  after  the 
lead  had  reached  the  bottom. 

It  was  not  until  September  2nd  that  the  English  coast 
was  at  length  sighted,  and  rarely  if  ever  before  did  two 
men-of-war  return  to  port  after  so  long  a commission. 
On  September  23rd,  1843,  when  the  ships  were  paid  off  at 
Woolwich,  it  was  more  than  four  years  and  five  months 
since  they  had  commissioned  at  Chatham. 

Ross  was  received  with  the  welcome  that  so  unique  and 
successful  an  expedition  deserved.  He  received  the 
honour  of  knighthood,  the  gold  medals  of  several 
societies,  of  which  that  presented  by  the  Paris  Geo- 
graphical Society  perhaps  gratified  him  most,  and  as  the 
best  reward  it  was  currently  reported  and  even  announced 
in  responsible  papers  that  he  was  destined  for  the  com- 


326  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

mand  of  a still  greater  expedition  then  under  discussion 
which  had  for  its  object  the  final  solution  of  the  oldest 
of  Arctic  problems,  the  existence  of  a North-West  Pas- 
sage. 

Except  for  a voyage  to  the  Arctic  regions  in  1848-49, 
when  he  commanded  H.  M.  S.  Enterprise  in  the  search 
for  Franklin,  Ross  had  no  more  sea-service.  He  married 
immediately  after  his  return  and  devoted  himself  to 
literary  work  and  the  study  of  the  collections  of  marine 
invertebrates  made  by  himself  in  the  Antarctic  regions. 
He  died  at  Aylesbury  on  April  3,  1862. 


CHAPTER  XVI 


THE  GENERATION  OF  AVERTED  INTEREST 

“ The  best-laid  schemes  o’  mice  and  men 
Gang  aft  agley.” 

— Burns. 

IMMEDIATELY  after  the  return  of  the  Erebus  and 
Terror  it  became  evident  that  the  absence  of  magnetic 
observations  in  high  latitudes  south  of  the  Indian  Ocean 
would  detract  from  the  value  of  the  data  brought  back 
by  the  expedition,  and  the  Admiralty  resolved  that  having 
done  so  much  they  would  complete  the  work. 

Orders  were  accordingly  sent  out  in  the  summer  of 
1844  to  Admiral  Percy,  Commander-in-Chief  at  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  to  select  and  equip  a vessel  for  the  pur- 
pose. His  choice  fell  on  the  Pagoda,  a merchant  barque 
of  360  tons,  which  was  hired,  fitted  out  and  manned  by  a 
crew  of  thirty-five  volunteers  from  the  flagship  H.  M.  S. 
Winchester.  Most  of  the  six  officers  came  from  the 
same  ship,  but  the  command  was  given  to  Lieutenant  T. 
E.  L.  Moore,  R.N.,  who  had  been  Mate  on  the  Terror 
during  the  Antarctic  Expedition,  and  he  arrived  from 
England  at  the  beginning  of  January,  1845.  The  ship 
was  ready  for  sea  and  left  Simon’s  Bay  without  a day’s 
unnecessary  delay  on  January  9th.  Lieutenant  (now 
Major-General)  Henry  Clerk,  R.A.,  joined  the  expedition 
as  magnetic  observer.  The  Pagoda  met  the  first  icebergs 
on  the  25th,  in  latitude  530  30'  S.  on  her  way  to  the  as- 
signed position  of  Bouvet  Island,  the  search  for  which 
was  the  first  incident  in  the  voyage.  As  Bouvet  Island 

327 


328  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

was  looked  for  in  6°  E.,  naturally  enough  nothing  was 
seen  of  it.  Moore  knew  from  Ross's  failure  that  the  po- 
sition must  be  wrong  and  he  might  have  deduced  the 
fact  that  since  Cook  and  Ross  had  proved  that  the  Island 
did  not  lie  east  of  6°  E.  it  would  probably  be  found  con- 
siderably farther  west  in  or  near  the  given  latitude,  for 
the  mistake  in  position  would  most  likely  be  in  longi- 
tude, but  he  turned  southward  before  reaching  30  E., 
and  added  one  more  to  the  list  of  unnecessary  failures. 
The  Admiralty  sought  no  more  for  the  island  which  has 
never  been  seen  by  a British  naval  officer,  and  it  was  left 
to  be  picked  up  by  a pertinacious  German  merchant  cap- 
tain under  the  direction  of  a German  man  of  science  half  a 
century  later. 

When  in  latitude  about  6o°  45'  S.  and  longitude  about 
4°  E.  a singular  rock  was  seen  capped  by  a mass  of  ice. 
It  looked  so  like  land  that  Moore  sounded,  and  at  first 
thought  that  bottom  had  been  found  at  250  fathoms,  but 
the  ship  was  drifting  rapidly  before  a strong  wind,  and  it 
remains  uncertain  whether  this  was  an  islet  or  merely  an 
almost  submerged  iceberg  carrying  a great  mass  of  rock. 
Hie  Pagoda  proceeded  southeastward,  and  at  length,  on 
February  5th,  after  seeing  a strong  ice-blink  in  the  south, 
she  crossed  the  Antarctic  Circle  in  30°  45'  E.  The  edge 
of  the  ice-pack  was  met  with  on  the  nth;  it  extended  in 
an  unbroken  line  along  one-third  of  the  horizon  and 
checked  further  progress  to  the  south  in  latitude  67°  50' 
S.,  longitude  390  41'  E.,  the  farthest  point  toward  the 
pole  reached  on  the  cruise.  A course  was  then  set  for 
Enderby  Land,  but  a succession  of  calms  and  contrary 
gales  made  it  impossible  to  reach  the  assigned  position. 
Moore  had  no  choice  but  to  try  to  obey  orders,  but  it 
would  almost  seem  as  if  those  in  authority  had  issued 


AVERTED  INTEREST 


329 


their  commands  in  defiance  of  the  facts  of  nature.  Had 
the  orders  been  to  make  the  voyage  in  the  opposite  di- 
rection, proceeding  eastward  through  the  temperate 
Indian  Ocean  to  Australia  and  then  running  southward 
and  following  the  edge  of  the  ice-pack  toward  the  west 
to  the  meridian  of  Bouvet  Island,  the  somewhat  disap- 
pointing cruise  of  the  Pagoda  might  have  become  an 
important  voyage  of  discovery.  The  sailor’s  duty  is  to 
obey  and  “ not  to  reason  why ; ” and  the  Admiralty  might 
have  had  reasons  which  we  do  not  know  for  not  acting- 
in  harmony  with  the  facts  of  Antarctic  meteorology  dis- 
covered by  Cook,  confirmed  by  Bellingshausen,  Weddell, 
and  Biscoe,  and  quite  recently  supported  by  Balleny, 
D’Urville,  Wilkes  and  Ross,  which  dictated  a westerly 
course  for  circumnavigation  south  of  6o°  S.,  just  as  im- 
peratively as  the  Brave  West  Winds  dictate  an  easterly 
course  for  circumnavigation  in  the  roaring  forties.  Moore 
stuck  to  the  hopeless  task  of  trying  to  drive  his  ship 
against  the  prevailing  winds  until  a furious  gale  drove 
him  northward  to  where  a fair  wind  blew  and  allowed 
him  to  proceed  eastward  in  clear  seas.  Other  attempts 
to  get  south  met  with  no  better  success,  but  the  track 
kept  on  the  poleward  side  of  6o°  S.  to  the  meridian  of 
ioo°  E.  On  March  7th  in  64°  S.  and  some  distance  east 
of  the  fiftieth  meridian  the  ship  was  surrounded  by  bergs 
on  the  margin  of  a belt  of  pack  ice  ten  miles  wide  be- 
yond which  in  the  intervals  between  the  squalls  Moore 
saw  a high  ridge  of  ice  or  land.  He  says : “ It  was  more 
like  land  than  anything  before  seen  during  the  voyage,  and 
there  was  no  doubt  about  it;  but  we  would  not  say  it 
was  land  without  having  really  landed  on  it.”  The  ship 
then  bore  up  to  the  north  because  her  sailing  power  had 
been  damaged  by  the  loss  of  some  spars  in  a heavy  gale 


330  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

and  there  was  some  risk  of  her  being  carried  past 
Australia  and  failing  to  beat  back  to  it.  She  anchored 
in  King  George’s  Sound,  Western  Australia  on  April  ist. 
She  had  been  at  sea  for  eighty-two  days,  making  such 
magnetic  observations  as  were  possible  in  a small  vessel 
tossing  on  tumultuous  seas  and  battling  with  head-winds. 
Three  weeks  were  spent  at  Albany,  and  on  April  20th 
the  Pagoda  set  sail  and  proceeded  across  the  Indian 
Ocean  to  Mauritius,  continuing  the  magnetic  observa- 
tions, and  completed  her  voyage  at  Cape  Town  on  June 
20th,  1845.  During  this  voyage  Moore  remarks  that  more 
icebergs  were  seen  than  in  the  three  Antarctic  trips  of 
the  Erebus  and  Terror,  and  he  referred  with  satisfaction 
to  the  fact  that  he  had  run  through  more  degrees  of  longi- 
tude south  of  60 0 S.  than  any  previous  voyager. 

The  cruise  of  the  Pagoda  filled  an  important  gap,  and 
it  remains  memorable  for  the  fact  that  it  was  the  last 
Antarctic  expedition  carried  in  a sailing  ship  without  the 
help  of  steam.  Thus  terminated  the  greatest  era  in  the 
history  of  maritime  discovery,  and  the  scroll  on  which 
Prince  Henry  the  Navigator  began  to  write  early  in  the 
fifteenth  century  was  rolled  up  all  unconsciously  by  Lieu- 
tenant Moore,  R.  N.,  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth. 
Except  for  the  short  cruise  of  Enderby’s  ship,  the  Brisk, 
in  1850,  and  the  momentary  swoop  of  the  Challenger  in 
1874,  it  was  more  than  sixty  years  before  serious  explora- 
tion in  the  southern  ice  was  resumed. 

In  exploration  as  in  physics  there  is  a law  of  inertia. 
It  is  invariably  hard  to  start  a new  effort  to  extend  knowl- 
edge in  any  direction,  but  when  once  begun  the  tendency 
is  to  continue  unless  stopped  by  some  external  force. 
The  brilliant  voyages  of  Ross  and  Wilkes  seemed,  both 
from  the  discoveriej  that  were  made  and  from  the  acute- 


AVERTED  INTEREST 


33i 


ness  of  the  controversies  they  initiated,  to  promise  a 
succession  of  South  Polar  expeditions,  one  stimulated  by 
the  other  and  not  likely  to  cease  until  the  map  of  the 
Antarctic  area  was  at  least  as  clearly  outlined  as  that  of 
the  Arctic. 

The  heart  of  the  American  people,  however,  was  never 
greatly  in  their  Exploring  Expedition,  and  the  internal 
friction  within  the  expedition  itself  was  perhaps  sufficient 
to  deter  the  naval  authorities  from  repeating  the  experi- 
ment, whilst  the  scientific  element  naturally  preferred  to 
pursue  researches  in  which  they  met  with  encouragement 
and  even  reward.  Thus  there  was  little  reason  to  feel 
surprised  if  America  had  let  the  thread  drop  even  had  the 
violent  cleavage  of  the  nation  by  the  Civil  War  not  oc- 
curred. But  the  British  people  were  at  this  period  pro- 
foundly stirred  with  the  spirit  of  polar  discovery.  Ross 
had  brought  home  his  crews  in  a higher  state  of  health 
and  contentment  than  any  captain  had  perhaps  ever  done 
before  from  a voyage  of  great  duration  and  difficulty. 
A new  expedition  after  a few  years  was  the  natural, 
almost  the  inevitable  result,  yet  for  a generation  the  in- 
terest of  the  country  and  of  the  world  was  averted  from 
the  southern  ice.  The  reason  of  this  remarkable  cir- 
cumstance was  not  the  Russian  War  nor  the  Indian 
Mutiny,  for  the  British  Navy  has  not  been  wont  to  let 
war  interfere  with  discovery  when  the  right  man  has 
been  found  to  open  up  a worthy  field.  One  cannot  for- 
get that  Cook  sailed  on  his  last  voyage  of  exploration 
nearly  a year  after  the  American  War  of  Independence 
had  broken  out.  The  real  reason  was  the  action  of  the 
man  who  of  all  men  would  have  most  indignantly  de- 
nied the  possibility  of  his  proving  a barrier  to  polar  ex- 
ploration— Sir  John  Franklin. 


332  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

The  Erebus  and  Terror  were  no  sooner  safe  at  home 
again  than  their  services  were  required  for  a new  expe- 
dition, this  time  to  attempt  the  solution  of  the  three-hun- 
dred-year-old problem  of  a North-West  Passage  from  the 
Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  The  question  of  the  command 
received  some  anxious  thought  at  the  Admiralty.  Un- 
doubtedly had  Ross  wished  it  he  would  have  had  the  ap- 
pointment, and  his  name  was  freely  referred  to  in  the 
newspapers  of  the  time  as  the  one  man  for  the  post ; but 
he  declined  it  in  advance,  though  tempted  by  the  offer  of 
a baronetcy  and  a good-service  pension  if  he  would  con- 
sent to  go.  It  has  been  said  that  an  agreement  with  his 
wife’s  family  when  he  was  married  in  1843  prevented 
him  from  taking  the  command.  In  any  case  the  southern 
voyage  had  been  far  more  trying  to  the  captain  than  to 
the  crews,  and  the  wear  and  tear  of  the  ceaseless  respon- 
sibility and  anxiety  made  a prolonged  rest  desirable. 

Sir  John  Franklin  had  been  recalled  from  his  Governor- 
ship of  Tasmania  in  a manner  which  incensed  him  deeply 
and  made  him  at  the  age  of  fifty-nine  nervously  anxious 
to  prove  by  some  new  achievement  in  his  old  field  of 
Arctic  exploration  that  he  was  indeed  worthy  of  the  con- 
fidence in  which  he  was  held  by  the  public  and  by  all  de- 
partments of  the  Government  except  the  Colonial  Office. 
No  one  can  doubt  now,  and  probably  no  one  who  knew 
the  facts  of  polar  climate  doubted  then,  that  the  willing 
spirit  of  Franklin  caused  him  to  underestimate  the  weak- 
ness of  the  flesh.  The  polar  regions  are  fitted  only  for 
the  efforts  of  young  men  in  the  zenith  of  their  strength, 
the  only  possible  exceptions  being  tough  old  whalers 
who  have  never  had  time  to  be  softened  by  so  much  as 
a summer  at  home,  and.  the  fitness  of  whose  selection  is 
attested  by  the  fewness  of  their  contemporaries.  Frank- 


AVERTED  INTEREST 


333 

lin  was  not  a man  of  this  kind;  but  he  was  determined 
to  go.  The  nation  admired  his  pluck  with  the  generous 
impulse  that  prompts  admiration  of  any  action  in  which 
the  means  seem  inadequate  to  the  end  in  view ; the  Admi- 
ralty and  his  personal  friends  recognised  that  his  accept- 
ance of  the  command  would  heal  a painful  wound  and 
satisfy  the  feeling  dear  to  the  official  mind  that  seniority 
is  the  highest  claim  to  employment.  Moreover  the  Coun- 
cil of  the  Royal  Society  had  sent  a strong  recommenda- 
tion of  Franklin  as  the  best  possible  commander  of  the 
new  expedition,  and  that  of  itself  would  probably  have 
decided  the  Government  in  the  matter. 

The  Erebus  and  Terror  were  overhauled,  and  to  in- 
augurate the  new  era  then  dawning  in  the  control  of  the 
sea  they  were  fitted  with  auxiliary  engines  and  screw 
propellers,  being  thus  the  first  steam  vessels  to  meet  the 
polar  ice.  They  sailed  from  England  almost  simultane- 
ously with  the  return  of  the  Pagoda  to  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope.  Captain  Crozier  was  in  command  of  the  Terror 
as  he  had  been  under  Ross  in  the  Antarctic  voyage;  the 
popular  hero  Sir  John  Franklin  commanded  the  Erebus 
and  the  expedition.  On  July  26,  1845,  the  old  Antarctic 
ships  were  spoken  by  a whaler  in  Davis  Strait  and  re- 
ported that  both  crews  were  all  well  and  in  remarkable 
spirits;  then  the  curtain  fell. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  repeat  the  oft-told  tale  of  the 
long  absence  of  news,  the  growing  anxiety  of  friends  at 
home,  the  lavish  efforts  of  the  Admiralty  to  obtain  infor- 
mation by  means  of  naval  expeditions  which  were  singu- 
larly though  perhaps  not  inexplicably  unfortunate,  or  of 
the  magnificent  perseverance  of  Lady  Franklin,  and  the 
final  discovery  of  authentic  records  by  Sir  Leopold 
McClintock  during  a private  voyage  in  the  little  Fox.  It 


334  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

is  enough  to  say  that  the  halo  of  romance  thrown  round 
the  Arctic  regions  by  Franklin’s  fate  and  his  wife’s  de- 
votion turned  the  eyes  of  the  few  among  the  public  who 
cared  for  these  things  from  the  more  sombre  south.  All 
polar  exploration  and  polar  research  clung  round  the 
nearer  problem  of  the  north,  and  the  south  was  all  but 
forgotten.  The  fascination  of  the  valueless  North-West 
and  North-East  Passages  had  kept  the  world’s  attention 
for  centuries  while  all  the  time  the  whole  volume  of  trade 
flowed  in  the  South-East  and  South-West  Passages  by  the 
Capes  of  Good  Hope  and  Horn  through  the  all  but 
unknown  Southern  Ocean  where  no  exploring  ship  was 
destined  to  sail  again  for  yet  thirty  years. 

All  the  same  there  were  not  wanting  men  who,  con- 
cerning themselves  with  the  phenomena  of  nature  and 
the  safety  of  sailors  rather  than  the  emotions  of  the  gen- 
eral public,  saw  the  immense  importance  of  increasing 
our  fragmentary  knowledge  of  the  remotest  south.  First 
amongst  these  stands  Matthew  Fontaine  Maury,  an 
officer  of  the  United  States  Navy,  a profound  scientific 
investigator,  and  the  most  brilliant  writer  who  ever  at- 
tempted to  put  into  words  the  wonders  of  the  sea  as  they 
are  revealed  to  an  appreciative  mind  by  the  patient 
study  of  facts.  Maury’s  “ Physical  Geography  of  the 
Sea  ” is  so  full  of  charm,  so  permeated  by  his  own  enthu- 
siasm that  even  now,  after  the  data  have  been  corrected 
almost  beyond  recognition  by  subsequent  research,  and 
the  theories  shown  to  be  fallacious  or  imperfect,  the  book 
remains  the  most  popular  treatise  on  the  oceans.  As 
Superintendent  of  the  United  States  Hydrographic  Office 
Maury  did  much  to  improve  the  science  of  navigation 
and  the  study  of  oceanic  and  atmospheric  phenomena  not 
in  his  own  country  only  but  throughout  the  world.  His 


AVERTED  INTEREST 


335 


name  was  honoured  in  every  Admiralty,  he  corresponded 
on  terms  of  cordiality  with  emperors  and  princes ; scien- 
tific institutions  in  almost  every  country  showered  their 
honours  upon  him,  though  it  is  curious  to  note  in  the 
list  of  these  distinctions  that  the  British  Empire  is  repre- 
sented by  the  University  of  Cambridge  alone. 

In  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  steamers  were 
so  far  perfected  as  to  begin  to  come  into  rivalry  with  sail- 
ing ships  as  cargo-boats;  but  they  were  still  so  slow  and 
their  coal-endurance  so  limited  that  a well-found  clip- 
per, commanded  by  a thoroughly  trained  navigator  pos- 
sessed of  a sound  knowledge  of  winds  and  currents  could 
still  beat  them  on  long  voyages.  Every  improvement 
in  the  science  of  ocean  meteorology  gave  the  sailing  ship 
a fresh  advantage  and  prolonged  the  struggle  for  su- 
premacy on  the  sea  with  the  growing  power  of  steam. 
Thanks  to  Maury’s  teaching  American  merchant  cap- 
tains were  the  first  to  adopt  the  shortest  or  great-circle 
route  on  their  voyages  round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and 
Australia  to  China,  and  back  by  Cape  Horn.  In  doing 
so  they  necessarily  reached  high  southern  latitudes.  The 
common  use  of  maps  on  Mercator’s  projection  makes  it 
difficult  for  the  ordinary  reader  to  understand  how  the 
shortest  track  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  to  New  Zea- 
land can  possibly  lead  a vessel  south  of  the  Antarctic  cir- 
cle. The  full  explanation  in  words  would  fill  several 
pages  and  form  a wearisome  digression,  but  a piece  of 
thread  stretched  tight  from  Cape  Town  to  Dunedin  on  a 
common  school  globe  will  prove  in  half  a minute  that  the 
fact  is  beyond  controversy.  One  of  the  American  ships, 
inspired  by  Maury,  discovered  Heard  Island  south  of 
Kerguelen  while  pursuing  such  a course.  A British 
ship  making  a similar  course  lit  on  McDonald  Island 


336  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

close  to  the  same  position,  and  the  islands  were  inde- 
pendently discovered  more  than  once  before  they  ap- 
peared on  the  chart.  Many  vessels  encountered  great 
danger  from  the  floating  ice  and  the  contrary  winds  ex- 
perienced south  of  6o°  S.,  and  it  was  found  before  long 
that  the  quickest  passage  was  not  to  be  made  by  the 
shortest  route.  Ships  now  take  a composite  course,  find- 
ing it  more  economical  to  sail  a longer  distance  in  the 
clear  seas  and  favourable  winds  between  40°  and  50°  S. 
than  to  run  the  risk  of  long  nights,  floating  ice  and  con- 
trary winds  that  beset  the  shortest  track. 

While  these  things  were  being  discovered  Maury  felt 
the  need  for  a more  detailed  knowledge  of  the  Antarctic 
seas  and  especially  of  Antarctic  weather,  so  that  the  sail- 
ing directions  could  be  amplified  and  corrected,  and  he 
gradually  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  time  was  ripe 
for  the  resumption  of  Antarctic  exploration.  He  had 
been  successful  in  securing  international  cooperation 
in  the  study  of  maritime  meteorology  and  knowing  what 
could  be  done  by  voluntary  association  he  felt  that  the 
exploration  of  the  Antarctic  was  too  great  a work  for  any 
nation  to  undertake  single-handed,  though  this  also  he 
attempted  to  bring  about.  In  the  winter  of  i860  he 
visited  England  and  read  a paper  to  the  Royal  Geo- 
graphical Society  on  the  Physical  Geography  of  the  Sea 
in  connection  with  an  Antarctic  Expedition.  He  urged 
that  the  Admiralty  should  take  the  matter  up  in  the  in- 
terests of  navigation.  Many  comfortable  words  were 
spoken  in  the  discussion  which  followed.  Captain  Maury 
was  assured  of  the  high  esteem  in  which  he  was  held,  he 
was  reminded  of  the  immense  services  he  had  rendered 
to  all  seafarers,  and  the  President  said  that  a British 
expedition  towards  the  South  Pole  would  be  “ as  much 


AVERTED  INTEREST 


337 

for  the  general  benefit  of  mankind  as  it  was  for  the  glory 
of  this  country but  nothing  followed. 

Maury  next  sent  a letter  appealing  for  consideration 
to  the  Ministers  of  all  the  chief  Powers  at  Washington, 
and  the  letter  addressed  to  Lord  Lyons  was  transmitted 
by  him  to  the  Foreign  Office  who  referred  it  to  the  Ad- 
miralty, and  the  Admiralty  sent  it  to  the  Secretary  of 
the  British  Association  by  whom  it  was  put  before  the 
Department  of  Meteorology  at  the  Manchester  meeting 
in  1861.  The  letter  set  forth  reasons  for  believing  that 
though  the  summer  in  the  Antarctic  region  was  colder 
than  that  in  the  Arctic  the  winter  would  probably  be 
milder  in  the  south  than  in  the  north.  Accordingly 
Maury  suggested  that  an  expedition  should  be  dispatched 
with  a base  in  Australia  to  search  for  a safe  harbour  in 
which  one  or  two  vessels  to  be  sent  south  the  following 
year  could  winter  for  two  or  three  seasons,  with  relief 
provided  each  year  from  the  base.  His  arguments  did 
not  lack  force  or  eloquence.  After  referring  to  the  ex- 
peditions of  D’Urville,  Ross  and  Wilkes  (he  used  the 
alphabetic  order)  Maurv  proceeded: 

“ But  since  that  time  the  world  has  grown  in  knowl- 
edge, and  man  has  gained  wonderfully  in  his  power  for 
conquest  in  this  field  of  research.  We  have  now  the  sea- 
steamer,  which  former  Arctic  Explorers  had  not;  the 
experience  acquired  since  their  day,  in  polar  explora- 
tion about  the  Arctic  regions,  enables  us  to  overcome 
many  an  obstacle  that  loomed  up  before  them  in  truly 
formidable  proportions.  The  gold  of  Australia  has  built 
up  among  the  Antipodes  of  Europe  one  of  the  most  exten- 
sive shipping  ports  in  the  world.  By  steam,  it  is  within 
less  than  a week’s  sailing  distance  of  the  Antarctic  Cir- 
cle ; and  thus  those  unknown  regions  of  the  south 

22 


33B  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

instead  of  being  far  remote,  as  in  the  time  of  all  pre- 
vious explorers  they  were,  have,  since  exploration  was 
last  attempted  there,  been  actually  brought  within  a few 
days’  sail  of  a great  commercial  mart,  with  its  stores,  its 
supplies,  and  resources  of  all  kinds.  The  advantages 
and  facilities  for  Antarctic  exploration  are  inconceivably 
greater  now  than  in  the  days  of  Cook  and  others.  They 
are  greatly  enhanced  by  the  joint  system  of  national  co- 
operation for  the  purpose  of  searching  out  the  mysteries 
of  the  sea,  now  recognised  and  practised  by  all  maritime 
nations.  In  this  beautiful  and  beneficial  cooperation, 
officers  of  the  different  nations  have  learned  to  pull  and 
work  together  for  a common  good  and  a common  glory. 
This  habit  would  be  carried  to  the  South  Pole  by  co- 
operation among  the  different  nations  concerned  in 
sending  out  vessels  for  exploration  there.  Nay,  that 
great  unexplored  area  lies  at  the  very  doors  of  one  of 
the  Powers  that  is  most  renowned  in  this  field  of  dis- 
covery.” 

But  the  words  were  wasted.  The  British  Association 
took  no  action,  and  we  do  not  know  what  reply  was  sent 
to  Washington.  Probably  there  was  no  reply,  for  months 
before  the  letter  had  passed  through  diplomatic  channels 
to  repose  in  the  quiet  haven  of  the  archives  of  the  Par- 
liament of  Science,  Maury  had  resigned  his  commis- 
sion as  Superintendent  of  the  United  States  Hydro- 
graphic  Department  and  thrown  in  his  lot  with  the 
Southern  States.  Those  who  knew  the  intensity  of  his 
devotion  to  the  work  of  his  office  and  who  understood  the 
unique  position  he  occupied  as  the  centre  of  the  world’s 
maritime  research  could  alone  estimate  the  strength  of 
that  sense  of  duty  to  his  native  State  which  tore  him 
away  from  all  else  he  cared  for.  In  the  great  convul- 


His  Excellency  Geheimrath  Prof.  Dr.  Georg  yon  Neumayer. 


[ To  face  p . 338. 


AVERTED  INTEREST 


339 


sion  which  shook  America  the  plans  for  an  expedition  to 
the  South  Pole  fell  unheeded  to  the  ground.  The  Civil 
War  broke  up  the  small  band  of  Americans  interested  in 
such  matters.  Wilkes  and  Maury  found  themselves 
no  longer  brothers-in-arms  but  fighting  against  each 
other,  the  former  afloat  in  the  United  States  Navy,  the 
latter  organising  the  defence  of  the  Confederate  shores. 

The  life  of  His  Excellency  Professor  Georg  von  Neu- 
mayer,  a disciple  of  Maury’s,  exhibits  an  extraordinary 
pertinacity  in  the  advocacy  of  the  renewal  of  Antarctic 
work  for  more  than  half  a century.  If  there  be  any 
truth  in  the  saying: 

“ ’Tis  not  what  Man  Does  that  exalts  him, 

But  what  Man  Would  do.” 

Neumayer  should  take  one  of  the  highest  places  amongst 
those  who  strove  to  unbar  the  gates  of  the  South,  and 
if  the  name  of  a cherished  locality  is  ever  engraved  by 
the  earnest  thought  of  years  upon  a human  heart  Dr.  von 
Neumayer’s  is  surely  marked  broad  with  the  word 
Siidpol. 

On  taking  his  degree  in  1849,  Georg  Neumayer’s 
mind  was  full  of  the  exploring  voyages  of  Ross,  Wilkes, 
and  Dumont  D’Urville,  and  the  scientific  deductions  of 
Gauss  and  Sabine.  Resolved  to  pursue  his  studies  in 
terrestrial  magnetism  and  in  the  science  of  the  ocean,  and 
not  without  the  ambition  of  aiding  a United  Germany  to 
arise  and  grow  into  a maritime  Power,  he  made  a voy- 
age to  South  America  in  a Hamburg  ship  in  order  to 
acquire  a practical  knowledge  of  nautical  astronomy  and 
navigation.  On  his  return  he  passed  his  examination  as 
Mate,  and  spent  several  months  in  the  effort  to  obtain  a 
post  in  the  Austrian  Navy,  Austria  being  then  the  most 


340  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

powerful  maritime  State  of  the  German  Confederation. 
Failing  in  this,  he  gave  a series  of  lectures  in  Ham- 
burg on  Maury’s  theories  of  the  ocean  and  on  the  recent 
improvements  in  the  science  of  navigation;  and  since 
he  could  find  no  other  way  of  gratifying  his  craving  to 
see  the  southern  hemisphere,  he  shipped  as  a common 
sailor  and  landed  at  Port  Jackson  in  Australia  in 
1852.  Pie  spent  two  years  in  the  Australian  Colonies, 
part  of  the  time  as  a gold  digger  at  Bendigo,  and,  when 
the  digging  was  unfortunate,  as  a lecturer  on  naviga- 
tion in  a tent  to  audiences  of  sailors  disappointed  in  the 
quest  of  gold.  In  1854  he  returned  to  Europe  on  a sail- 
ing ship  with  a mutinous  crew,  and  he  came  back  re- 
solved to  leave  no  stone  unturned  to  get  up  a voyage  of 
scientific  exploration  toward  the  South  Pole,  or  a jour- 
ney into  the  then  unknown  interior  of  Australia. 

Neumayer  was  fortunate  in  making  the  acquaint- 
ance of  Alexander  von  Plumboldt,  the  chief  mover  as  we 
have  seen,  in  the  revival  of  Antarctic  exploration  twenty 
years  previously,  and  he  also  met  Dove,  the  meteorologist, 
and  the  great  chemist,  Liebig.  King  Maximilian  II  of 
Bavaria,  an  enlightened  patron  of  science,  who  con- 
sulted Liebig  as  his  chief  scientific  counsellor,  considered 
a memorial  drawn  up  by  Neumayer  on  the  important  re- 
sults bearing  on  Antarctic  research  which  would  accrue 
from  the  study  of  terrestrial  magnetism  at  Melbourne, 
and  granted  the  funds  for  establishing  the  well-known 
Flagstaff  Observatory.  I11  August,  1856,  before  leaving 
for  Melbourne  to  take  up  this  work,  Neumayer  laid  his 
plans  for  a physical  observatory  before  the  British  As- 
sociation at  Cheltenham,  and  received  the  approval  of 
Whewell,  Airy  and  Faraday. 

While  carrying  on  the  magnetic  and  meteorological 


AVERTED  INTEREST 


34i 


observations  at  the  Flagstaff  Observatory,  and  collect- 
ing on  Maury’s  plan  all  possible  data  as  to  the  naviga- 
tion of  the  Southern  Ocean,  Dr.  Neumayer  took  a 
prominent  part  on  the  Committee  which  directed  the 
exploration  of  the  interior  of  Australia;  but  in  1862  he 
once  more  returned  to  his  favourite  subject  of  Antarctic 
research.  In  a farewell  address  to  his  countrymen  at 
Melbourne  as  he  was  leaving  for  Europe  he  said: 

“ It  would  be  a glorious  moment  in  the  next  period  of 
my  career  if  I could  seek  the  Antarctic  regions  in  a Ger- 
man ship,  and  perhaps  sometime  you  will  see  me  return 
to  these  shores  accompanied  by  the  pick  of  the  youth  of  all 
German  races,  bound  on  a voyage  to  the  South  Pole.” 

So  far  did  the  coming  of  the  Gauss  cast  its  shadow 
before. 

Dr.  Neumayer  urged  the  practical  side  of  Antarctic 
research ; he  showed  how  it  would  increase  the  certainty 
of  navigation,  and  how  it  would  stimulate  the  spirit  of 
maritime  enterprise  which,  from  his  student  days,  he  had 
recognised  as  an  indispensable  element  of  national  great- 
ness. Thus  he  took  as  the  theme  of  his  first  serious  ap- 
peal on  returning  to  his  fatherland,  at  Frankfort  in  1865, 
the  importance  of  Antarctic  exploration  and  the  neces- 
sity for  the  foundation  of  a central  institution  for  the  sys- 
tematic study  of  oceanography  and  marine  meteorology. 
The  latter  suggestion  was  acted  on  in  a liberal  spirit, 
and  in  his  direction  of  the  Deutsche  Seewarte  at  Ham- 
burg, Dr.  von  Neumayer  has  fulfilled  his  life-work  and 
placed  his  country  in  possession  of  an  oceanographical 
institution  of  which  Maury  himself  would  have  been 
proud,  and  which  is  the  admiration,  if  not  the  envy,  of  the 
oceanographers  of  other  countries.  Not  only  has  it 
proved  of  inestimable  practical  value  to  the  seafarer,  but 


342  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

it  has  afforded  training  to  a number  of  scientific  men 
whose  names,  already  well  known,  are  destined  to  occupy 
a high  place  on  the  roll  of  students  of  nature. 

The  other  design  was  not  accomplished ; the  prophet  of 
the  Antarctic  was  never  to  enter  his  land  of  promise. 
Dr.  Neumayer  suggested  that  an  expedition  for  Antarc- 
tic research  should  be  fitted  out  as  a preliminary  to  the 
Transit  of  Venus  Expedition  in  1874.  The  Vienna 
Academy  of  Sciences  took  the  matter  up  cordially  on  the 
advice  of  Admiral  Tegetthoff,  and  Dr.  Neumayer  was 
promised  the  command  of  an  expedition  to  set  out  from 
Hamburg  towards  the  end  of  1870.  The  outbreak  of 
the  Franco-Prussian  War  and  the  birth  of  the  German 
Empire  interrupted  the  expedition,  but  Admiral  Tegett- 
hoff revived  it  in  the  following  year,  and  all  was  going 
well  when  the  sudden  death  of  the  Admiral  brought  the 
plan  to  an  untimely  end.  So  Austria-Hungary  lost  the 
honour  of  renewing  South  Polar  research,  and  Dr.  Neu- 
mayer the  opportunity  of  becoming  an  explorer. 

War  and  death — the  catastrophes  of  nations  and  of 
men — broke  the  smooth  run  of  the  thread  of  our  history 
not  once  but  many  times.  Yet,  after  each  check,  another 
voice  was  raised  in  support  of  a renewal  of  Antarctic  re- 
search. The  Astronomer  Royal,  Sir  G.  B.  Airy,  had 
pointed  out  the  desirability  of  securing  a station  for  ob- 
serving the  transits  of  Venus  of  1874  and  1882  south  of 
the  Antarctic  Circle  and  somewhere  near  the  meridian 
of  105°  E.,  and  the  general  voice  of  Arctic  navigators 
was  in  favour  of  this  being  done  by  dispatching  a pre- 
liminary expedition  to  find  a suitable  spot.  Staff  Com- 
mander J.  E.  Davis,  formerly  Second  Master  on  the 
Terror,  whose  vivid  description  of  the  collision  with  the 
Erebus  was  quoted  in  an  earlier  chapter,  read  a paper  to 


AVERTED  INTEREST 


343 


the  Royal  Geographical  Society  early  in  1869  “ O11  Ant- 
arctic Discovery  and  its  connection  with  the  Transit  of 
Venus  in  1882.”  He  pointed  out  that  while  the  names  of 
the  Arctic  discoverers  were  familiar  to  all,  scarcely  any- 
one knew  those  of  the  heroes  of  the  Antarctic,  and  but  for 
the  approaching  transits  of  Venus  which  could  best  be 
observed  in  high  southern  latitudes  he  believed  the  Ant- 
arctic might  remain  neglected  for  another  century. 
Davis  suggested  that  as  the  weather  in  the  Antarctic  re- 
gions when  fine  was  so  gloriously  clear  it  would  be  worth 
while  to  arrange  for  an  expedition  to  go  out  in  the  south- 
ern summer  of  1881-82,  if  not  in  1873,  to  Victoria  Land 
and  try  to  establish  an  observing  station  on  Coulman 
Island,  or  failing  that  on  Possession  Island  where  a land- 
ing could  certainly  be  effected.  There  was  a discus- 
sion in  which  the  Arctic  officers  who  had  supported 
Airy’s  suggestion  of  the  year  before  reiterated  their 
views,  but  nothing  came  of  the  proposal  beyond  kindly 
expressions  and  congratulations  on  the  previous  serv- 
ices of  the  pleader.  The  transit  of  Venus,  though  not 
neglected  by  astronomers,  had  no  longer  the  power  to 
stimulate  exploration  in  the  way  it  had  done  when 
Cook  set  out  on  his  first  voyage  of  circumnavigation. 
The  opportunity  was  lost.  From  what  quarter  the  first 
throb  of  steam  power  came  to  the  Antarctic  seas  will 
appear  in  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER  XVII 


THE  CHALLENGER 


* Fair  beams  the  torch  of  science  in  thine  hand. 

And  sheds  its  brightness  o’er  the  glimmering  land.” 


— E.  B.  Browning. 


RISTOTLE  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  marine 


biologist,  at  any  rate  he  described  a great  number  of 
the  denizens  of  the  zEgean  waters,  and  the  lantern-like 
dental  apparatus  of  the  sea-urchin  is  called  Aristotle's 
Lantern  to  this  day.  Far  back  as  the  time  is  when  Aris- 
totle studied  the  sea-creatures  of  the  Greek  Archipelago, 
we  have  to  go  all  that  way  if  we  wish  to  trace  to  its  origin 
the  line  of  thought  which  first  brought  steam  to  the  Ant- 


When  the  study  of  marine  zoology  began  to  revive  in 
modern  times  the  domain  of  the  naturalist  was  for  cen- 
turies restricted  to  the  shore  between  tide  marks,  unless 
when  rare  occasions  served  and  he  was  young  and  bold, 
he  voyaged  with  the  fishing  boats  and  made  great  booty 
of  their  “ rubbish.”  With  the  exception  of  some  shark 
fishers  off  the  coast  of  Portugal  who  brought  up  by 
their  deep-sea  lines  some  siliceous  sponges  rivalling  in 
beauty  the  “ Venus's  flower  basket,”  even  the  adventurers 
in  boats  were  limited  to  shallow  waters  near  the  shore. 

After  the  naturalist  borrowed  and  adapted  the  imple- 
ments of  the  oyster  dredger  and  the  trawler  he  still  fixed 
his  attention  on  shallow  water,  collecting  mainly  within 
what  he  knew  as  the  littoral  zone.  He  ascertained  that 


arctic. 


344 


THE  CHALLENGER 


345 


as  the  depth  increased  the  wealth  of  animal  life  dimin- 
ished rapidly ; and  at  the  time  in  the  “ forties  ” and 
“ fifties  ” of  last  century  when  the  records  of  the  British 
Association  bristle  with  Committees  to  promote  the 
exploration  of  the  British  Seas  by  means  of  the  dredge, 
that  attractive  expression  “ the  bathymetric  zero  of  life  ” 
figured  not  infrequently  on  scientific  pages.  There  was 
some  reason  for  it,  as  there  is  for  most  attractive  errors. 
In  the  Black  Sea  for  instance,  death  reigns  below  the 
depth  of  a few  hundred  fathoms,  and  the  mud  at  the 
bottom  is  putrid,  exhaling  sulphuretted  hydrogen.  More- 
over it  had  been  supposed  in  the  beginning  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  that  the  temperature  of  the  sea,  diminishing 
rapidly,  as  it  was  known  to  do,  must  fall  so  low  in  great 
depths  as  to  leave  the  bottom  covered  with  eternal  ice. 
Observations  carried  out  with  faulty  thermometers  led 
later  explorers  to  the  equally  false  and  much  less  logical 
conclusion  that  the  great  mass  of  the  ocean  below  the 
upper  skin  of  warm  or  cold  water  had  a uniform  tempera- 
ture of  390  F.  right  down  to  the  bottom.  This  delusion 
may  possibly  have  originated  in  some  person,  whose  opin- 
ion carried  too  much  weight  to  be  lightly  questioned,  for- 
getting or  never  learning  that  on  being  cooled  down,  salt 
water,  unlike  fresh  water,  does  not  attain  its  maximum 
density  some  degrees  above  the  freezing  point.  Be  that 
as  it  may,  the  construction  of  thermometers  adequately 
protected  against  the  enormous  pressure  of  great  depths 
set  the  error  right  soon  after  the  discovery  was  made  that 
long  submarine  cables  could  be  used  for  transmitting 
telegraphic  messages  across  the  oceans. 

The  contour  of  the  bed  of  the  North  Atlantic  was  soon 
felt  out  by  lines  of  close  and  accurate  soundings.  Cables 
that  had  been  deposited  for  some  years  in  very  deep 


346  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

water  were  hauled  up  for  repairs  and  found  to  be  crusted 
with  living  shells.  Then  the  authorities  concerned  with 
the  study  of  marine  life  remembered  a number  of  con- 
firmatory instances,  how  old  Sir  John  Ross  had  got  up 
sundry  curious  creatures  from  the  mud  at  a great  depth 
in  the  Arctic  regions  in  1818,  and  his  nephew  Sir  James 
Clark  Ross  using  the  same  “ deep-sea  clamms  ” had  se- 
cured very  similar  creatures  in  the  equally  deep  water  of 
the  Antarctic  seas  more  than  twenty  years  later;  and  it 
was  recognised  that  after  all  there  might  be  no  zero  of  life. 
Indeed  so  far  did  the  pendulum  swing  that  while  the 
researches  were  still  in  their  infancy  learned  biologists 
thought  and  even  spoke  of  the  whole  floor  of  the  ocean, 
down  to  the  depths  of  the  profoundest  abysses,  being 
clothed  with  a sheet  of  living  protoplasm.  No  grander 
idea  ever  entered  the  human  mind;  it  was  the  girdler 
snake  of  the  Northern  Mythology  revived  and  extended 
into  an  all-embracing,  pulsating  being,  without  beginning 
or  end.  One  could  picture  the  edges  of  this  living 
sheet  as  it  approached  the  shore-line  breaking  up  into 
protozoa  which  as  the  ages  ran  on  developed  into  every 
organism,  so  that  the  whole  range  of  organic  evolution 
could  be  traced  by  descending  into  the  depths  of  the  sea. 
Bathybius  haeckelii  was  the  name  of  this  hypothetical 
primordial  being  which  figured  but  for  a little  while 
upon  the  stage  of  the  microscope,  and  was  relegated  by 
later  research  to  the  limbo  of  the  kraken  and  the  roc. 

Dr.  W.  B.  Carpenter  from  the  time  when  he  wrote  his 
thesis  for  the  degree  of  M.  D.  on  the  Nervous  System  of 
Invertebrate  Animals  in  1839  took  the  keenest  interest 
in  the  life  of  the  sea.  Not  content  with  shallow  water 
dredging,  and  convinced  of  the  value  of  deep-sea  research 
in  its  bearings  on  the  science  of  life,  he  induced  the 


THE  CHALLENGER 


347 


Royal  Society  to  apply  to  Government  again  and  again 
for  the  use  of  naval  vessels  to  investigate  these  matters, 
and  as  a result  he  made  observations  from  the  Shear- 
water in  the  Mediterranean  in  1866,  and  secured  expedi- 
tions in  the  Porcupine  to  the  Bay  of  Biscay  in  1868,  and 
in  the  Lightning  to  the  North  Atlantic  in  1869  under 
Professor  Wyville  Thomson.  The  experience  of  each 
cruise  increased  the  ease  of  using  the  deep-sea  dredge 
and  trawl,  and  produced  fresh  evidence  as  to  the  abund- 
ance of  life  at  the  greatest  depths,  the  variety  and 
importance  of  the  distribution  of  temperature  and  the 
interest  attaching  to  the  deposits  of  the  deep  sea. 

The  various  instruments  used  in  deep-sea  work  were 
rapidly  improved,  especially  the  sounding-leads  which 
were  loaded  with  heavy  sinkers  that  became  detached 
automatically  when  they  struck  the  bottom,  remaining 
behind  and  leaving  only  a light  brass  tube  to  be  hauled 
up  with  a sample  of  the  deposit  contained  in  it. 

The  results  of  the  various  short  summer  cruises  were 
sufficient  to  show  that  if  an  expedition  could  be  fitted  out 
for  the  special  purpose  of  research  in  marine  physics, 
chemistry  and  biology  with  all  the  seas  of  the  world  as 
its  field  of  work,  an  immense  increase  in  knowledge  would 
be  the  result.  The  Hydrographer  to  the  Admiralty, 
Admiral  Sir  George  Richards,  indicated  to  the  Council  of 
the  Royal  Society  that  such  an  expedition  might  be  fitted 
out  if  sufficient  reason  were  produced  by  the  Society; 
and  the  lines  he  suggested  were  adopted  in  approaching 
the  Government.  The  Treasury  came  to  the  wise  decis- 
ion that  money  spent  on  such  a voyage  would  not  be 
wasted,  and  the  right  moment  in  the  history  of  science 
was  for  once  seized  in  the  right  way.  The  Govern- 
ment could  hardly  have  been  aware  at  the  time  of  the 


348  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

magnitude  of  the  work,  and  certainly  could  not  have  fore- 
seen the  immense  prestige  which  that  decision  was  to 
secure  to  the  British  name  amongst  the  intellectual  of 
all  countries ; but  the  work  once  undertaken  was  carried 
out  in  the  most  generous  and  ample  spirit. 

The  field  of  the  expedition  was  so  enormous  that  the 
chief  difficulty  in  planning  it  lay  in  finding  parts  of  the 
world  to  exclude,  rather  than  parts  to  include  within  its 
scope.  It  was  felt  from  the  beginning  that  whatever 
might  be  left  out  the  border  of  the  Antarctic  regions 
must  not  be  neglected,  though  a vessel  adapted  for  explo- 
ration in  the  ice  would  have  been  totally  unsuited  for  the 
long  sojourns  that  w'ere  contemplated  in  tropical  w’aters. 
The  promoters  of  the  deep-sea  expedition  kept  a double 
end  in  view.  They  wished  to  secure  a physical  as  well  as 
a biological  survey  of  all  the  oceans.  The  objects  of 
special  study  were  to  be  the  depth  and  configuration  of 
the  bed  of  the  oceans,  the  nature,  origin  and  distribu- 
tion of  the  deposits  resting  upon  it,  the  chemical  compo- 
sition, salinity,  temperature  and  movements  of  the  water 
from  the  surface  to  the  bottom,  and  finally  the  distribu- 
tion of  organic  life  throughout  all  depths  and  in  every 
accessible  latitude  and  longitude.  As  to  latitude  the 
Arctic  regions  were  left  out  of  account  for  the  time,  but 
the  Southern  Ocean  was  to  be  explored  “ as  far  as  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  great  Ice  Barrier.” 

The  Admiralty  assigned  to  the  service  H.  M.  S.  Chal- 
lenger a roomy  wooden  corvette  of  2306  tons,  provided 
with  auxiliary  steam  power.  She  was  not  fortified  for 
ice  navigation,  but  was  thoroughly  sound,  and  even 
without  steam  she  was,  except  for  her  size,  probably 
better  fitted  for  an  Antarctic  voyage  than  any  of  the 
ships  of  Bellingshausen,  Wilkes  or  D’Urville.  The 


Sir  John  Murray,  K.C.B.,  of  the  u Challenger. 

(Photo  by  Messrs.  Thomson,  London.) 


[To  face p.  348. 


THE  CHALLENGER 


349 


Admiralty  placed  her  under  the  command  of  Captain 
George  S.  Nares,  R.N.,  and  the  Royal  Society  nominated 
a civilian  scientific  staff  under  the  direction  of  Professor 
C.  Wyville  Thomson,  of  Edinburgh.  The  captain  and 
the  professor  shared  the  same  day  cabin,  and  their  sleep- 
ing cabins  were  in  positions  of  equal  dignity  and  advan- 
tage. While  the  captain  was  of  course  the  absolute 
master  of  the  ship  and  crew,  he  was  instructed  to  com- 
municate freely  with  the  director  on  all  matters  touch- 
ing the  scientific  work  of  the  expedition.  Part  of  that 
work  was  confided  to  the  naval  officers  who  undertook 
the  whole  of  the  magnetic  and  meteorological  observa- 
tions. The  civilian  staff,  who  were  of  course  “ expected 
to  conform”  to  the  usages  of  a ship  of  war,  included 
Mr.  J.  J.  Wild,  the  Artist  and  Secretary  to  the  Director, 
Mr.  H.  N.  Moseley  of  Oxford  and  Mr.  John  Murray  as 
biologists,  and  also  Dr.  von  Willemoes  Suhm,  who  died 
on  the  voyage ; Mr.  J.  Y.  Buchanan  was  charged  with  the 
chemical,  physical  and  geological  work. 

The  Circumnavigation  Committee  of  the  Royal  Society 
drew  up  a scheme  for  the  track  of  the  exploring  ship 
across  the  oceans,  one  portion  of  which  may  be  quoted  as 
showing  to  what  extent  the  Challenger  was  intended  to 
undertake  Antarctic  exploration.  The  route  after  lead- 
ing to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  was  to  proceed : 

“ Thence  by  the  Marion  Islands,  the  Crozets,  and 
Kerguelen  Land  to  Australia  and  New  Zealand,  going 
southward  en  route  opposite  the  centre  of  the  Indian 
Ocean,  as  near  as  may  be  with  convenience  and  safety,  to 
the  southern  Ice  Barrier.” 

This  was  in  order  to  investigate  the  especially  interest- 
ing fauna  of  the  Antarctic  seas  regarding  which  the 
Committee  said: 


350  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

Probably  investigations  in  those  latitudes  may  be  dif- 
ficult; it  must  be  remembered  however  that  the  marine 
fauna  of  those  regions  is  nearly  unknown,  that  it  must 
bear  a most  interesting  relation  to  the  fauna  of  high 
northern  latitudes,  that  the  region  is  inaccessible  except 
under  such  circumstances  as  the  present,  and  that  every 
addition  to  our  knowledge  of  it  will  be  of  value.” 

One  more  quotation  may  be  allowed,  this  time  from 
the  detailed  instructions  given  to  Captain  Nares  in  1872 
by  the  Admiralty,  where,  after  telling  him  when  on  his 
way  from  Kerguelen  to  Australia  to  “ look  at  ” Heard  or 
McDonald  Island  and  then  strike  southward  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  90°  E.,  he  is  informed  that: 

“ Captain  Moore  reached  to  the  parallel  of  65°  in  this 
meridian  in  1845  ar*d  observed  the  appearance  of  land  to 
the  westward.  It  is  not  desirable  however  that  you 
should  pursue  any  extended  hydrographical  exploration 
in  this  region  with  a single  unfortified  ship.” 

The  Challenger  sailed  on  21st  December,  1872,  pursu- 
ing her  course  across  the  North  Atlantic  and  back  again 
several  times,  calling  at  most  of  the  island  groups  on  the 
way  and  gaining  experience  in  the  use  of  deep-sea  instru- 
ments by  the  usual  unroyal  road.  Then  she  crossed 
the  South  Atlantic  to  Bahia  and  at  length  reached  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope  on  October  28th,  1873.  After  an 
interval  for  rest  and  refitting  the  Challenger  sailed  from 
Simon  s Bay  on  December  17th,  for  the  portion  of  her 
voyage  to  which  the  early  part  of  this  chapter  has  been 
introductory.  It  was  scarcely  an  Antarctic  expedition, 
yet  more  real  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  the  Antarctic 
regions  was  obtained  in  the  course  of  it  than  in  any  other 
voyage  up  to  that  time,  Ross’s  excepted.  This  was  not 
because  the  ship  went  far,  but  because  the  opportunities 


THE  CHALLENGER 


35i 

which  presented  themselves  were  used  to  the  full  at  the 
time  and  discussed  in  the  completest  way  possible  after- 
wards. 

The  ship  stopped  at  Prince  Edward  and  Marion 
Islands  and  made  a landing.  There  the  naturalists  ob- 
served for  the  first,  and  as  it  happened  the  only  time 
during  the  cruise,  the  curious  pouch-like  arrangement  of 
the  skin  on  which  the  penguins  carry  their  eggs  or  young, 
a feature  which  had  led  a mariner  shipwrecked  on  the 
Crozets  forty  years  before  to  compare  the  penguins  to 
kangaroos.  The  next  land  to  be  explored  was  in  the 
Crozets,  but  after  bringing  in  the  New  Year,  1874,  dodg- 
ing about  in  the  fog  off  the  inhospitable  shores  and  vainly 
trying  to  find  a sheltered  landing,  the  attempt  was 
abandoned.  The  ship  pursued  her  way  to  Kerguelen 
Land  running  before  a strong  northwesterly  wind  which 
raised  too  much  sea  to  allow  of  soundings  being  taken. 
On  January  7th  the  Challenger  anchored  in  Christmas 
Harbour,  Kerguelen  Land.  Here  a good  deal  of  survey- 
ing was  done,  and  three  weeks  spent  in  the  harbour  or 
cruising  along  the  coast,  for  Captain  Nares  was  charged 
with  the  selection  of  a suitable  site  for  observing  the 
transits  of  Venus  in  1874  and  1882. 

The  naturalists  had  a busy  time  in  studying  the  fauna 
and  flora  of  the  island,  while  the  officers  whose  tastes  lay 
more  in  the  direction  of  sport  than  science  were  no  less 
absorbed  by  the  ducks,  penguins,  and  seals  which 
abounded.  American  sealers  were  met  at  Kerguelen, 
where  they  still  continued  to  work,  whaling  also  in  the 
neighbouring  seas.  One  party  stayed  on  Heard  Island 
while  the  main  body  cruised  from  Kerguelen  in  small 
vessels,  a larger  ship  communicating  once  a year  with  a 
Connecticut  port.  The  importance  of  the  whale  fishery 


352  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

and  seal  hunting  carried  on  from  this  outpost  of  the 
Antarctic  had  dwindled  greatly  from  what  it  was  when 
Ross  paid  his  visit  thirty  years  before. 

On  February  ist  the  Challenger  left  Kerguelen  and  four 
days  later  passed  McDonald  Island  and  reached  Heard 
Island  where  Captain  Nares  landed,  accompanied  by 
Messrs.  Buchanan  and  Moseley.  They  were  greeted  by  a 
group  of  amazed  sealers  with  the  words,  “ Guess  you’re 
out  of  your  reckoning,”  for  these  men  could  not  imagine 
any  motive  but  the  search  for  seals  to  bring  a ship  to  such 
a remote  and  uninviting  spot  of  land,  and  the  Challenger 
was  obviously  no  sealer.  A dismal  enough  life  the  forty 
seal  hunters  led,  housed  in  huts  half  excavated  in  the 
ground  so  as  to  be  easily  covered  with  snow  for  warmth 
in  winter,  and  scattered  in  groups  along  the  coast  seldom 
communicating  with  each  other.  Part  of  their  work  con- 
sisted in  watching  the  landing  of  the  seals  and  driving 
them  back  to  sea  with  whips  made  of  sea-leopard  skin 
when  they  tried  to  come  ashore  on  beaches  which  could 
not  be  approached  by  the  schooners  on  their  annual  visit. 
The  rest  consisted  in  killing  the  poor  beasts  when  they 
landed  at  last  in  places  where  the  skins  and  blubber  could 
be  readily  shipped.  The  glaciers  creeping  from  the  cen- 
tral mountain  cut  off  the  different  segments  of  the  island 
from  one  another  and  made  them  very  difficult  of  access. 
The  attempt  to  travel  on  the  beach  round  the  coast  was 
even  more  hazardous  than  braving  the  crevasses  and  the 
fog  on  the  glaciers  of  the  higher  slopes.  The  weather 
was  so  bad  that  the  Challenger  could  not  survey  the 
island,  and  it  remains  to  this  day  uncharted  save  for  the 
rough  sketches  made  by  the  sealers.  They,  too,  have  now 
deserted  it  after  killing  off  the  seals,  and  ships,  as  we 
have  seen,  no  longer  enter  upon  those  seas  unless  driven. 


THE  CHALLENGER 


353 


far  out  of  their  course,  so  that  the  veil  once  lifted  has 
dropped  again,  and  Heard  Island  has  drifted  back  into 
the  unknown. 

On  February  8th,  1874,  the  Challenger  resumed  her 
course  southward  on  the  meridian  of  8o°  E.  and  fared  no 
better,  though  no  worse,  in  the  way  of  weather  than  did 
her  predecessors  in  the  same  seas.  The  first  iceberg  was 
seen  on  the  nth  in  61 0 S.,  a beautiful  flat-topped  mass 
700  yards  in  length,  floating  with  more  than  200  feet  above 
water.  For  some  days  the  weather  improved,  and  only  a 
few  icebergs  were  in  sight  at  a time,  though  these  were  of 
exquisite  beauty,  especially  on  account  of  their  deep  azure 
colouring.  It  was  found  necessary  to  lay-to  during  the 
few  hours  of  darkness,  in  order  to  reduce  the  risk  of  col- 
lision with  floating  ice,  and  as  fogs  were  frequent  and  the 
coal  supply  was  not  so  ample  as  to  encourage  the  use  of 
steam  when  sails  would  serve,  the  day’s  runs  were  often 
very  small. 

On  the  15th  a good  deal  of  ice  was  visible,  the  edge  of 
the  pack  being  in  sight  to  the  southeast.  A sounding  was 
made  in  65°  42'  S.,  790  49'  E.,  where  a depth  of  1675 
fathoms  was  found.  Temperature  observations  were 
made  as  usual  at  frequent  intervals  of  depth,  but  the  ther- 
mometers which  had  given  excellent  results  in  tropical 
and  temperate  seas  now  found  themselves  in  the  presence 
of  conditions  with  which  they  could  not  cope.  The  deep- 
sea  thermometer  used  by  the  Challenger  was  known  as 
the  Miller-Casella,  a modification  of  the  familiar  Sixe’s 
form.  A steel  index  in  one  limb  of  a tube  bent  into 
the  shape  of  the  letter  U was  left  at  a point  indicating 
the  highest  temperature  the  thermometer  had  passed 
through,  and  a similar  index  in  the  other  limb  was  left 

at  a point  indicating  the  lowest  temperature  to  which  the 

23 


354  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

instrument  had  been  subjected.  Before  the  thermometers 
were  lowered  into  the  water  the  two  indexes  were  set  by 


means  of  a magnet  so  that  both  indicated  the  tempera- 
ture at  that  moment.  Hitherto  the  surface  water  had 
been  the  warmest  and  so  when  the  thermometer  returned 


THE  CHALLENGER 


355 


to  the  surface  the  index  on  the  maximum  side  had  not 
moved,  while  that  on  the  minimum  side  showed  in  every 
case  the  temperature  at  the  deepest  point  to  which  it  had 
been  sunk,  the  temperature  falling  as  the  depth  increased. 
But  now  on  account  of  the  enormous  masses  of  ice  be- 
neath the  surface  the  coldest  layer  of  water  was  not  at 
the  bottom,  and  the  thermometers  from  all  depths  below 
the  zone  of  lowest  temperature  showed  merely  the  tem- 
perature of  that  zone  and  gave  no  information  as  to  what 
the  condition  of  things  might  be  beneath  it.  After  some 
experimenting  it  was  found  possible,  by  cooling  the  ther- 
mometers down  to  the  temperature  of  melting  sea-ice 
before  setting  the  indexes,  to  utilise  the  maximum  side 
for  reading  the  temperature  below  the  cold  zone  and 
thus  it  was  ascertained  that  in  the  depths  of  the  Antarctic 
Sea  there  were  layers  of  water  of  higher  and  lower 
temperature  sandwiched  one  above  another.  Since  the 


Outer  Case  of  Miller- Casella 
Deep-  Sea  T h er m o m eter. 


cruise  of  the  Challenger  deep-sea  thermometers  on  an 
entirely  different  principle  have  been  perfected,  making 
it  possible  to  ascertain  the  exact  temperature  at  any 
point  of  depth. 

The  interest  of  these  observations  does  not  lie  in  the 
gratification  of  an  idle  curiosity  as  to  how  warm  or  cold 


356  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

it  is  down  there,  but  in  the  evidence  which  is  afforded  as 
to  the  movement  of  the  water,  the  effects  of  which  are 
made  apparent  not  in  the  sea  alone  but  in  the  air  and 
in  the  weather  of  all  parts  of  the  Earth’s  surface.  This 
observing  station  was  peculiarly  interesting  for  it  was  the 
point  nearest  to  the  South  Pole  at  which  the  conditions 
of  the  deep  ocean  had  been  observed  and  the  forms  of 
life  dwelling  on  the  sea-bed  collected.  When  the  dredge 
was  hauled  the  ship  proceeded  along  the  edge  of  the 
pack  westward  in  the  hope  of  getting  into  a clearer  sea. 

On  the  1 6th  the  weather  was  remarkably  clear,  and 
from  the  masthead  the  ice  seemed  to  form  a continuous 
barrier,  though  on  steaming  toward  it  the  apparently 
smooth  wall  was  found  to  consist  of  numerous  separate 
bergs,  all  about  200  feet  high,  and  some  of  them  as  much 
as  four  miles  in  length.  For  a time  Nares  hoped  to  be  able 
to  make  a landing  on  the  ice  for  magnetic  observations ; 
but  the  smaller  pieces  were  rising  and  falling  with  the 
swell  so  as  to  be  useless  for  the  purpose,  while  the  steep 
sides  of  the  larger  ice-islands  made  their  flat  tops  quite 
inaccessible. 

At  2.30  p.  m.  on  16th  February,  1874,  the  position  of 
66°  40'  S.  was  reached,  8 miles  within  the  Antarctic 
circle,  in  78°  22'  E.  No  pack  ice  was  then  in  sight  and 
a clear  sky  to  the  southward  promised  well  for  an  attempt 
to  reach  higher  latitudes.  It  was  evident  that  the  pack 
seen  on  previous  days  was  only  a detached  floe.  Pen- 
guins and  whales  were  in  sight  and  many  pieces  of  broken 
ice.  It  was  not  however  the  intention  to  make  a high 
latitude  or  to  push  southward  until  the  way  was  blocked 
by  ice,  and  the  Challenger  turned,  content  with  having 
been  the  first  steam  vessel  to  touch  and  cross  the  magic 
circle  of  the  south. 


THE  CHALLENGER 


357 


A good  deal  of  disappointment  was  felt  on  board  that 
no  new  land  was  sighted,  and  that  the  great  ice-barrier 
believed  to  lie  not  far  within  the  pack  was  not  even  seen. 
However  something  definite  was  done,  and  the  reports 
of  extremely  abundant  whales  in  these  seas  was  con- 
firmed, though  as  there  were  no  practical  whalemen  on 
board  the  commercial  value  of  the  cetaceans  seen  could 
not  be  positively  known. 

The  serious  work  of  the  Challenger  lay  eastward  along 
the  margin  of  the  floating  pack  where  three  more  sound- 
ings and  dredgings  in  from  1300  to  1975  fathoms  were 
made  south  of  6o°  S.  All  were  extremely  rich  in  living 
forms  of  every  kind  possible  in  the  deep  sea,  in  fact  the 
hauls  teemed  with  life  more  than  in  any  of  the  other 
dredging  stations  of  the  whole  world-wide  cruise.  The 
usual  easterly  wind  proved  troublesome  as  the  ship  was 
attempting  to  make  her  way  towards  the  “ Termination 
Land  ” doubtfully  reported  by  Wilkes.  Many  observa- 
tions of  the  icebergs  were  made,  one  berg  was  bombarded 
with  a twelve-pounder  to  test  the  quality  of  the  ice,  and, 
what  is  much  more  important,  the  bergs  were  photo- 
graphed for  the  first  time  and  interesting  water-colour 
paintings  made  to  put  on  record  their  wonderful  depth 
and  richness  of  colour. 

On  February  23rd  the  ship  was  stopped  by  the  pack 
in  64°  18'  S.,  940  47'  E.,  only  20  miles  east  of  the  assumed 
position  of  Termination  Land,  of  which  nothing  was 
seen  though  the  horizon  was  clear.  A sounding  in  1300 
fathoms  was  obtained  at  this  point.  Next  day  a serious 
accident  was  narrowly  averted  as  described  without  emo- 
tion in  the  official  Narrative: 

“ At  this  time  the  weather  looked  very  threatening,  and 
snow  began  to  fall,  so  the  ship  steamed  under  the  lee  of  a 


358  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

berg  and  the  top-sails  were  close  reefed.  Whilst  keeping 
head  to  wind  under  the  berg,  steaming  slowly,  a sudden 
lull  for  a minute,  by  removing  the  force  against  which  the 
screw  was  acting,  caused  the  ship  to  gather  headway,  and 
before  the  engines  could  be  stopped  the  vessel  ran  into 
the  berg  and  carried  away  the  jib-boom,  martingale,  and 
one  of  the  whiskers.  The  ship  was  backed  astern  clear 
of  the  berg,  and  having  finished  reefing,  and  furled  the 
top-sails,  laid-to  under  fore  and  aft  sails  on  the  port  tack 
to  get  in  the  wreck  of  the  jib-boom.  The  weather  con- 
tinued to  get  gradually  worse  and  the  heavy  snow-fall 
obscuring  the  view,  rendered  the  position  an  anxious  one.” 
In  his  racy  “ Log  Letters  from  the  Challenger,”  Lord 
George  Campbell,  who  was  one  of  the  officers,  gives  a 
more  animated  account  of  the  circumstances  following 
the  loss  of  the  jib-boom,  though  no  less  permeated  by 
technicalities  and  not  to  be  understood  without  some 
vague  doubts  by  land-lubbers: 

“ We  drifted  on  all  forenoon,  seeing  no  bergs  through 
the  fog  and  blinding  showers  of  snow  though  we  knew 
that  they  were  close  around  somewhere.  In  the  mean- 
time we  were  hard  at  work  getting  in  the  wreck  of  the 
head  gear — no  easy  work  in  the  intense  cold  and  violent 
wind — when  suddenly,  at  three  o’clock,  in  the  middle  of  a 
tremendous  thick  squall,  comes  the  hail  from  the  fore- 
castle, < Iceberg  close  to  under  the  lee  bow,  Sir ! ’ There 
is  no  room  to  steam  ahead,  so  ‘ full  speed  astern  ! 9 Rattle, 
rattle,  goes  the  screw,  sixty  revolutions  a minute ; ‘ Clear 
lower  deck,  make  sail ! ’ shriek  the  boatswain’s  mates ; on 
deck  flies  everybody ; 4 Maintopmen  aloft ; loose  the  main- 
topsail  !’  ‘ Forepart,  take  in  the  fore  try-sail !’  The  Cap- 
tain and  Commander  howling  out  orders  from  the  bridge, 
hardly  heard  in  the  roaring  of  the  wind ; officers  repeat- 


H.M.S.  “ Challenger  ” after  Collision  with  an  Iceberg 
(From  the  “ Challenger”  Narrative.) 


THE  CHALLENGER 


359 


ing  the  howls.  The  weather-clew  of  the  maintopsail  is 
set  aback,  the  headsails  taken  in,  slowly  she  gathers  stem 
way,  keeping  her  head  turning  slightly  towards  the  berg, 
a towering,  dim  white  mass  looming  grimly  through  the 
driving  snow,  and  then  she  clears  it — a narrow  shave! 
The  violence  of  the  wind  prevented  us  then  from  making 
a friend  of  our  enemy  by  keeping  under  its  lee,  so  the  ship 
was  again  allowed  to  drift  on,  amid  dense  fog  and  snow, 
till  five  o'clock,  when  another  iceberg  was  seen  at  a little 
distance  ahead,  to  leeward  of  which  we  drifted,  where 
the  wind  being  broken,  the  ship's  head  was  turned  by 
means  of  steam  and  sail,  and  all  night  long  we  kept  dodg- 
ing backwards  and  forwards  between  these  two  bergs, 
where  we  knew  the  sea  to  be  clear  of  dangers.  In  the 
evening  the  weather  became  clearer,  though  it  still  blew 
hard ; deck  covered  with  slush  ice.  Anxious  work  enough 
for  the  officers  of  watches  and  the  Captain,  who  was  on 
deck  for  I don't  know  how  many  continuous  hours." 

Released  from  this  peril  the  Challenger  pushed  a couple 
of  miles  into  the  pack  until  she  was  only  about  fifteen  miles 
from  the  position  of  Termination  Land  as  charted.  See- 
ing nothing  of  it  she  turned  and  steered  a northeasterly 
course  and  passed  the  parallel  of  6o°  northward  on  the 
meridian  of  99  ° E.  on  February  28th,  having  been  south 
of  it  for  18  days  during  which  the  ship  sailed  over  22 
degrees  of  longitude.  On  March  17th  she  arrived  at 
Melbourne  and  the  Antarctic  part  of  the  voyage  was  over. 

The  actual  exploration  amongst  the  ice  on  the  surface 
was  so  little  that  on  a superficial  view  it  would  seem 
absurd  to  devote  a chapter  to  it ; but  the  study  of  the  sur- 
face fauna  and  flora  and  of  the  half  dozen  deep  soundings 
made  during  that  time  revealed  a wealth  of  new  informa- 
tion. A good  deal  of  the  biological  work  would  have  been 


360  siege  of  the  south  pole 

anticipated  by  Sir  James  Ross  had  the  collection  brought 
home  by  that  explorer  been  fully  worked  up,  and  it  is  the 
completeness  with  which  every  scrap  of  physical  and 
biological  information  obtained  by  the  Challenger  was 
subsequently  analysed  and  made  use  of  which  chiefly  dis- 
tinguishes the  expedition  from  all  that  went  before. 

With  regard  to  one  of  the  specific  problems  prescribed 
before  the  Challenger  sailed,  Sir  John  Murray  pointed 
out,  that  no  fewer  than  ninety  species  of  animals  known 
in  the  northern  seas  were  also  found  living  south  of 
Kerguelen,  but  had  never  been  reported  from  any  part  of 
the  tropical  seas  that  lie  between  the  two  polar  regions. 
For  the  rest,  the  study  of  the  deposits  showed  conclusively 
that  the  Antarctic  continent  exists  and  though,  as  Cook 
asserted,  it  is  eternally  frost-bound  it  is  a real  continent 
the  rocks  of  which  carried  northward  by  the  icebergs  and 
dropped  on  th'e  floor  of  the  ocean  are  of  a kind  only  found 
on  continental  land.  The  glaciated  rock  fragments  dredged 
by  the  Challenger  which  clearly  proved  that  continental 
land  existed  within  the  ice-bound  region  of  the  Antarctic 
were  gneisses,  granites,  mica-schists,  grained  quartzites, 
sandstones,  compact  limestones,  and  shales,  none  of  which 
occur  in  any  oceanic  island.  This  is  the  discovery  which 
gives  to  the  voyage  of  the  Challenger  its  chief  geographi- 
cal importance,  and  it  shows  how  unexpected  are  the  lights 
which  scientific  research  is  always  throwing  on  questions 
that  seem  at  first  sight  very  remote.  It  would  be  inter- 
esting to  conjure  up  the  flood  of  indignant  yet  dignified 
eloquence  with  which  old  Dalrymple  would  have  over- 
whelmed anyone  who  dared  to  make  the  “ illiberal  impu- 
tation ” that  his  great  Southern  Continent  was  to  be  dis- 
covered by  the  aid  of  a microscope  in  the  mud  from  a 
sounding  lead ! 


THE  CHALLENGER  361 

The  Challenger  left  the  Antarctic  question  in  this  posi- 
tion: there  is  undoubtedly  a continent  within  the  Ant- 
arctic circle  covered  for  the  most  part  with  an  immensely 
thick  coating  of  ice.  Sir  John  Murray,  taking  account  of 
every  indication,  drew  a hypothetical  outline  of  that 
continent  which  subsequent  discovery  has  not  as  yet 
materially  modified.  More  than  this,  the  study  of  the 
Challenger’s  meteorological  investigations  indicated,  as 
was  clearly  shown  by  Sir  John  Murray  and  Dr.  A.  Bu- 
chan, that  an  area  of  permanently  high  atmospheric  press- 
ure lies  over  the  ice-bound  continent  around  the  South 
Pole. 

We  have  seen  how  the  researches  of  the  mathe- 
matician Gauss  in  terrestrial  magnetism  led  directly  to 
the  great  Antarctic  expeditions  at  the  dawn  of  the  Vic- 
torian era.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  work  of  the 
Challenger  and  the  discussions  of  that  work  by  various 
men  of  science,  brought  about  the  still  greater  expeditions 
of  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 


STEAM  WHALERS  BOUND  SOUTH 

“The  bergs  like  kelpies  overside  that  girn  and  turn  and  shift 
Whaur,  grindin’  like  the  Mills  o’  God,  goes  by  the  big  South 
Drift. 

Hail,  snow  an’  ice  that  praise  the  Lord;  I’ve  met  them  at  their 
work, 

An’  wished  we  had  anither  route  or  they  anither  kirk.” 

— Rudyard  Kipling. 

ALTHOUGH  Dr.  Georg  von  Neumayer  was  disap- 
- pointed  of  the  command  of  an  Antarctic  expedition 
both  in  1870  and  in  1871,  he  never  ceased  to  urge  on  his 
countrymen  the  importance  of  renewing  exploration.  His 
voice  perhaps  received  more  attention  abroad  than  at 
home,  but  in  time  the  spirit  of  polar  exploration  was 
stirred  all  the  same  in  the  ancient  Hansa  towns  of  Ham- 
burg and  Bremen.  A German  Society  for  Polar  Navi- 
gation was  founded  in  Hamburg  to  promote  explora- 
tion as  well  as  whaling  and  sealing  in  the  northern  seas. 
Its  director,  Herr  Albert  Rosenthal,  provided  large  sums 
of  money  for  the  work  of  the  society,  and  in  the  words  of 
one  of  his  countrymen  he  did  more  for  German  polar 
exploration  than  the  Emperor  or  the  Empire.  His  atten- 
tion was  turned  to  the  southern  as  well  as  the  northern 
polar  seas,  and  in  1873  he  sent  out  one  of  the  Arctic 
vessels  to  try  her  luck  off  the  South  Shetlands. 

On  July  22nd,  1873,  the  steam  whaler  Gronland,  Cap- 
tain Eduard  Dallmann,  sailed  from  Hamburg  and  made 
her  way  southward  along  the  South  American  coast, 

362 


STEAM  WHALERS 


363 

reaching  the  South  Shetlands  at  the  beginning  of  the  open 
season  on  November  18th.  It  is  interesting  to  find  that 
Dallmann,  like  Bellingshausen  half  a century  before,  met 
a little  fleet  of  sealing  schooners  hailing  from  Stonington, 
Connecticut,  at  work  around  the  islands.  The  charts 
were  not  found  of  much  value  for  navigation,  and  twice 
the  Gronland  discovered  new  rocks  by  the  good  old  rule- 
of-thumb  method  of  running  upon  them,  though  fortu- 
nately, on  each  occasion,  she  slipped  off  into  deep  water 
with  her  stout  timbers  none  the  worse  for  the  shock. 

After  a disappointing  time  so  far  as  seals  went,  Dall- 
mann set  out  to  search  the  coasts  of  Palmer  Land  farther 
south  toward  the  Biscoe  Islands  ; and  on  January  9,  1874, 
he  sighted  Graham  Land  in  64°  45'  S.,  and  this  was 
apparently  the  nearest  approach  he  made  to  the  Antarctic 
circle.  He  found  that  the  coast  line  was  quite  different 
from  that  shown  on  existing  charts,  but  his  rectifications 
have  since  been  themselves  extensively  altered,  so  that  it 
is  not  necessary  to  describe  them  in  detail.  The  most  in- 
teresting feature  he  reported  was  a wide  channel  running 
eastward  which  he  named  Bismarck  Strait,  and  the  land 
northward  of  his  turning  point  he  found  to  be  a compli- 
cated archipelago  instead  of  a comparatively  simple  main- 
land. The  sea  was  clear  and  the  weather  favourable 
enough  for  farther  advance  southward;  but  the  number 
of  seals  was  diminishing  as  the  ship  proceeded,  therefore 
Dallmann  resolved  to  turn  back,  and  he  spent  the  rest  of 
the  season  hunting  with  some  success  round  the  South 
Orkneys.  At  the  end  of  February  the  lengthening  nights 
warned  him  that  it  was  time  to  leave  sub-Antarctic  waters, 
and  he  made  for  home,  anchoring  once  more  in  the  Elbe 
on  July  25,  1874,  after  an  absence  of  a year  and  three  days. 

Dallmann  reported  having  seen  a large  number  of 


364  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

whales  though  not  of  the  most  valuable  kind.  His  com- 
mercial results  were  not  encouraging  enough  to  secure 
the  dispatch  of  other  steamers,  but  the  first  visit  of  the 
German  flag  to  the  edge  of  the  Antarctic  must  be  looked 
upon  all  the  same  as  a very  creditable  exploit. 

The  recent  researches  of  Mr.  Balch  amongst  the  records 
of  Stonington,  Connecticut,  have  revealed  the  fact  that 
American  sealers  continued  to  visit  the  South  Shetlands, 
and,  before  and  after  Dallmann,  sailed  along  the  coast 
of  Graham  Land  and  made  landings  to  the  south  of 
Gerlache  Strait,  but  they  kept  their  results  to  themselves, 
or  a careless  public  failed  to  see  the  interest  and  impor- 
tance of  the  sealing  cruises. 

Projects  for  the  renewal  of  Antarctic  whaling  were 
frequently  mooted,  and  in  1875  it  almost  seemed  as  if 
New  Zealand  and  the  Australian  colonies  would  combine 
their  resources  and  endeavour  to  establish  the  industry 
from  one  of  the  Australasian  ports.  It  would  be  tedious 
to  cite  the  different  rumours  or  to  detail  the  various 
schemes  which  were  started  during  the  following  ten 
years,  for  the  subject  was  never  out  of  sight.  Dr.  von 
Neumayer  continued  both  in  Germany  and  in  England  to 
urge  the  dispatch  of  a scientific  expedition,  but  on  the 
return  of  the  Challenger  in  1876  the  scientific  director, 
Sir  Wyville  Thomson,  deprecated  anything  of  the  kind. 
In  a lecture  on  the  experiences  of  the  Challenger  in  the 
Antarctic  he  referred  to  the  long  series  of  disasters  and 
the  frightful  hardships  that  had  marked  the  history  of 
Arctic  exploration,  and  concluded  : “ We  can  only  antici- 
pate disasters  multiplied  a hundredfold  should  the  South 
Pole  ever  become  a goal  of  rivalry  among  the  nations.” 

The  argument  is  not  a sound  one,  for  the  risk  of  disas- 
ter has  ever  been  the  finest  incentive  to  the  true  explorer, 


STEAM  WHALERS  365 

and  it  has  been  happily  falsified  by  the  success  and  good 
fortune  which  have  attended  all  expeditions  to  the  far 
south  as  compared  with  those  to  the  far  north.  The 
pessimistic  view  was  not  shared  by  the  members  of  the 
Challenger  scientific  staff,  and  except  Dr.  von  Neumayer 
himself,  no  one  has  spoken  more  strongly  and  continu- 
ously in  support  of  Antarctic  exploration  than  Sir  John 
Murray,  and  he  has  been  ably  supported  by  Mr.  J.  Y. 
Buchanan. 

About  1880  Lieutenant  Bove  of  the  Italian  Navy 
planned  a scientific  expedition  which  was  to  spend  two 
winters  in  the  Antartic  ice  following  up  Dallmann’s  dis- 
coveries and  making  a circumnavigation  as  far  south  as 
possible  by  sailing  westward,  the  direction  which  our 
readers  are  now  perhaps  tired  of  hearing  has  been  shown 
to  be  the  most  promising  by  the  troubles  which  have 
befallen  everyone  who  followed  tradition  and  the  east- 
ward route. 

The  project  was  taken  up  with  enthusiasm  in  Italy,  and 
it  seemed  for  a time  as  if  the  nation  which  now  holds  the 
distinction  of  having  carried  its  flag  nearest  the  North 
Pole  would  have  anticipated  that  achievement  by  planting 
it  first  nearest  to  the  South  Pole.  The  time  was  pecu- 
liarly appropriate.  A great  scheme  of  circumpolar  re- 
search had  been  elaborated  on  von  Neumayer’s  initia- 
tive, in  which  almost  all  civilised  nations  were  taking 
part,  so  that  for  twelve  consecutive  months  in  1882-83 
simultaneous  meteorological  and  magnetic  observations 
would  be  made  at  the  highest  attainable  latitudes  right 
round  the  North  Pole.  It  was  on  one  of  these  that  Lieu- 
tenant Greely  of  the  United  States  Army  and  his  whole 
party  nearly  perished  from  that  terrible  danger  of  polar 
exploration — a relief  expedition  which  failed  to  relieve. 


366  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

Similar  observations  were  to  be  made  simultaneously  at 
all  observatories  in  the  south  of  the  southern  continents, 
supplemented  by  a body  of  French  men  of  science  at  Cape 
Horn,  and  of  Germans  on  South  Georgia.  Lieutenant 
Bove  hoped  to  add  another  to  these  stations  and  to  be  able 
to  observe  the  transit  of  Venus  of  1882  at  some  point 
within  the  Antarctic  circle.  Italian  enthusiasm  went  far, 
but  not  far  enough  to  raise  sufficient  funds,  and  Lieu- 
tenant Bove  rather  than  not  go  out  at  all  accepted  a post 
under  the  Argentine  government  for  the  exploration  of 
Southern  Patagonia.  On  that  inhospitable  seaboard  he 
met  with  shipwreck,  but  was  saved  by  the  British  mission 
ship  Allen  Gardiner.  The  circumstance  got  reported  in 
many  papers  as  a disaster  to  the  Italian  Antarctic  expe- 
dition, and  it  is  referred  to  here  merely  in  order  to  free 
Antarctic  exploration  from  the  responsibility  of  causing 
the  loss  of  a vessel  which  never  sailed  or  was  intended  to 
sail  beyond  Cape  Horn. 

The  rise  and  failure  of  one  other  attempt  to  renew 
exploration  claims  attention,  for  although  it  did  not 
succeed,  it  helped  to  arouse  the  sleeping  spirit  which 
animated  the  latest  and  greatest  attempt  to  wipe  off  the 
stain  of  ignorance  from  the  South  Polar  regions.  At  the 
meeting  of  the  British  Association  at  Aberdeen  in  1885 
a paper  was  read  on  the  renewal  of  Antarctic  research  by 
Admiral  Sir  Erasmus  Ommanney,  a veteran  officer  of  the 
Franklin  search  whose  active  service  at  sea  dated  back 
to  the  battle  of  Navarino.  He  had  followed  the  work 
of  Ross  with  interest,  had  supported  Captain  J.  E.  Davis 
in  his  plea  of  1869,  and  he  lived  just  long  enough  to  see 
the  triumphant  return  of  the  Discovery  in  1904.  The 
result  of  the  paper,  which  was  mainly  based  on  Neu- 
mayer’s  work,  was  the  appointment  of  a strong  com- 


STEAM  WHALERS  367 

mittee  of  the  British  Association,  consisting  of  Sir 
Joseph  Hooker,  Sir  George  Nares,  Mr.  John  Murray  (of 
the  Challenger),  Sir  Leopold  McClintock,  General  J.  T. 
Walker,  Mr.  Clements  R.  Markham,  Dr.  W.  B.  Carpen- 
ter, and  Sir  Erasmus  Ommanney  “ for  the  purpose  of 
drawing  attention  to  the  desirability  of  further  research 
in  the  Antarctic  regions.” 

Widespread  interest  was  awakened  and  the  colony  of 
Victoria  took  an  active  part  in  forwarding  the  scheme. 
The  Victorian  branch  of  the  Royal  Geographical  So- 
ciety of  Australasia,  and  the  Royal  Society  of  Victoria 
brought  pressure  to  bear  on  the  colonial  government  and 
secured  the  promise  of  liberal  premiums  to  any  whalers 
or  sealers  who  would  land  cargo  in  Melbourne  procured 
south  of  60 0 S.  The  colonists  could  not  afford  to  send 
out  an  expedition  without  help  from  the  mother  country, 
but  they  were  eager  to  do  what  they  could. 

At  home  Sir  John  Murray  delivered  a powerful  ad- 
dress on  the  Exploration  of  the  Antarctic  Regions,  in 
which  he  declared  that  a naval  expedition  of  two  ships 
was  necessary  and  that  before  anything  should  be  done 
to  organise  it  there  must  be  a guarantee  of  £150,000  to 
ensure  proper  equipment  and  adequate  support  for  a 
sufficiently  extended  cruise.  The  Council  of  the  Royal 
Society  of  Edinburgh  very  carefully  prepared  a complete 
scheme  for  an  expedition  to  carry  on  researches  in  every 
department  of  science.  The  Scottish  Geographical  So- 
ciety supported  the  proposals,  but  the  British  Associa- 
tion committee  in  1886  deferred  their  report  until  other 
Societies  not  so  forward  in  their  response  had  given  an 
answer,  the  committee  being  strengthened  meanwhile  by 
the  addition  of  the  great  names  of  Sir  William  Thomson 
(Lord  Kelvin),  Professor  Huxley,  Sir  John  Lubbock 


368  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

(Lord  Avebury),  and  Professor  Flower.  The  committee 
suffered  the  fate  of  most  committees.  It  had  grown  too 
large;  its  members,  though  not  without  interest  in  the 
renewal  of  Antarctic  research,  were  all  individually  more 
interested  in  other  things,  and  its  reports  do  not  indicate 
any  great  or  effective  activity.  The  Government  of  Vic- 
toria took  the  first  definite  action  by  memorialising  the 
Colonial  Secretary  and  offering  to  provide  £5,000  for  a 
preliminary  expedition  combining  trade  and  science, 
if  the  Imperial  Government  would  provide  a like  amount. 
From  the  wording  of  the  proposal  it  would  appear  as  if 
the  other  Australasian  colonies  also  intended  to  partici- 
pate, but  whether  by  subscribing  towards  the  £5,000  or 
by  making  supplementary  grants  did  not  appear  so 
plainly.  The  Colonial  Office  forwarded  the  proposal  to 
the  Treasury  with  a recommendation  that  the  money 
should  be  granted.  The  Royal  Society  and  the  Royal 
Geographical  Society  wrote  supporting  it.  It  was  gen- 
erally believed  that  Sir  Allen  Young,  a hero  of  the  Frank- 
lin search,  would  take  command  of  the  expedition  and 
subscribe  largely  to  its  funds.  The  importance  of  any 
national  expedition  being  on  a large  scale,  under  naval 
discipline  and  with  a purely  scientific  aim,  so  strongly 
insisted  upon  by  Sir  John  Murray,  seems  to  have  been 
lost  sight  of,  or  at  least  it  was  not  brought  forward. 
The  Treasury,  perhaps  looking  beyond  the  letter  of  the 
memorials  addressed  to  it,  and  divining  it  may  be  a lack 
of  conviction  in  the  petitioners,  refused  to  have  anything 
to  do  with  the  proposals.  The  British  Association  com- 
mittee lingered  on  for  a couple  of  years,  but  having 
achieved  nothing,  no  doubt  because  it  had  not  aimed  high 
enough,  it  was  at  length  disbanded,  ostensibly  because 
energetic  steps  were  being  taken  in  Australia.  The  Mel- 


STEAM  WHALERS  369 

bourne  societies  were  loath  to  give  up  an  idea  that  had 
become  popular  in  the  colony,  and  having  been  snubbed 
by  the  mother-country  they  tried  to  enlist  sympathy  in 
scientific  circles  abroad.  Negotiations  for  a joint  Swed- 
ish and  Australian  Antarctic  expedition  were  entered 
into,  and  rumours  circulated  that  the  great  geographer 
Baron  Nordenskiold,  the  victor  of  the  North-East  Pas- 
sage, would  himself  lead  the  expedition,  while  Baron 
Oscar  Dickson,  who  had  munificently  supported  the  voy- 
age of  the  Vega  around  Asia,  was  understood  to  be  ready 
to  make  the  project  financially  possible.  The  name  of 
Fridtjof  Nansen,  then  famous  for  his  crossing  of  Green- 
land, was  also  mentioned  as  a possible  leader.  But 
nothing  came  of  the  efforts,  and  rumours  of  a German- 
American  expedition  directed  by  Neumayer  and  financed 
by  a German- American  millionaire  were  justified  no 
better  by  events. 

The  renewal  of  Antarctic  research  came  neither  from 
the  zeal  of  men  of  science,  the  fostering  care  of  Govern- 
ments, nor  the  wealth  of  millionaires.  It  was  due  to 
plain  business  men,  seafarers  willing  to  undertake  a 
speculative  voyage  like  the  merchant  adventurers  of 
old. 

Seventy  years  ago  fleets  of  whalers  still  sailed  from 
many  ports  along  the  east  coast  of  England  and  Scotland 
to  the  Greenland  Seas,  and  much  of  the  Arctic  work  of 
the  Royal  Navy  in  the  earlier  decades  of  the  nineteenth 
century  was  called  forth  by  the  necessity  for  watching 
over  a considerable  source  of  national  wealth  and  suc- 
couring distressed  crews.  Twenty  years  ago  the  Green- 
land whale  (the  bowhead  or  right  whale — Balcena  mys- 
tic etis)  had  grown  so  scarce  that  the  fleets  had  dwindled 

to  a few  steam-vessels  sailing  only  from  Peterhead  and 

24 


370  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

Dundee,  and  the  last  of  the  famous  whaling  skippers  of 
Peterhead  was  David  Gray.  Captain  Gray  had  seen  the 
Greenland  whale  fishery  decline  from  its  zenith  until  it 
had  almost  disappeared  from  sight,  so  that  the  capture  of 
one  whale  had  come  to  mean  a successful  voyage.  The 
value  of  the  “ bone  ” had  run  up  to  an  almost  fabulous 
figure,  and  it  is  now  measured  by  thousands  of  pounds 
sterling  per  ton. 

Captain  Gray  felt  that  as  even  one  whale  might  cover 
the  expenses  of  a voyage,  the  reports  of  abundant  black 
whales  in  the  Antarctic  seas  were  worth  enquiring  into, 
and  if  verified  the  new  field  might  save  the  Scottish 
whaling  industry  from  extinction.  He  extracted  and 
classified  all  the  many  references  to  “ right  whales  ” in 
Ross’s  book,  and  going  back  to  the  time  of  Cook,  ob- 
tained notes  from  the  logs  of  various  Kerguelen  whalers 
of  the  temperate  seas.  He  also  secured  fresh  reports 
from  the  survivors  of  the  expedition  in  the  Erebus  and 
Terror,  including  the  private  log  of  Alexander  Craig  of 
Peterhead  who  had  served  on  board  the  latter  ship  and 
knew  a whale  when  he  saw  it.  Captain  Gray  issued  a 
prospectus  in  1891  inviting  shareholders  in  the  enterprise 
and  setting  forth  the  facts  on  which  he  based  his  con- 
clusions in  a very  frank  and  seamanlike  way.  The  region 
selected  for  the  experiment  was  the  portion  of  the  Ant- 
arctic between  the  meridian  of  Greenwich  and  90°  W., 
in  other  words  the  neighbourhood  of  Weddell  Sea. 
While  the  expedition  was  to  be  commercial.  Captain  Gray 
with  his  well-known  interest  in  matters  scientific  had 
provided  for  the  accommodation  of  a naturalist  on  board 
each  ship,  for  two  vessels  were  considered  absolutely 
necessary.  Unfortunately  the  response  of  the  public  was 
half-hearted,  sufficient  shares  being  taken  to  provide 


STEAM  WHALERS 


37i 


only  a single  ship ; and  the  promoters  declined  to  run  the 
risk  of  sending  out  a solitary  vessel  to  such  unfrequented 
seas.  The  money  was  accordingly  returned,  an  admirably 
thought  out  scheme  abandoned,  and  the  services  of  a 
singularly  competent  polar  navigator  were  lost. 

So  far  this  chapter  may  have  proved  dull  reading;  it 
has  certainly  been  an  unpleasant  chapter  to  write.  A 
record  of  fair  promise  nipped,  not  in  the  bud,  but  just 
before  fruition,  not  once,  but  again  and  again,  and  the 
labours  of  colonial  enthusiasts,  the  foremost  men  of 
science,  naval  officers,  and  whaling  skippers  equally 
wasted.  Fortunately  things  took  a turn  for  the  better. 
The  continual  coming  of  appeals  for  renewing  Antarctic 
research  had  wearied  the  public  into  a sort  of  semi-con- 
sciousness that  the  exploration  of  the  southern  ice  was 
in  the  air,  and  little  surprise  was  occasioned  when  it 
became  known  in  1892  that  a whaling  firm  in  Dundee  had 
resolved  to  send  ships  to  the  Antarctic  in  the  hope  of 
finding  a profitable  hunting  ground  there. 

On  returning  from  the  Arctic  regions  in  the  late  sum- 
mer of  1892  four  vessels  of  the  Dundee  fleet  were  rapidly 
equipped  for  the  long  voyage  to  the  south.  The  well- 
known  Arctic  explorer,  Mr.  Leigh  Smith,  whose  famous 
wintering  in  Franz  Josef  Land  was  only  an  incident  in 
his  polar  experiences,  took  a keen  interest  in  the  voyage 
and  secured  the  appointment  to  two  of  the  larger  ships 
of  surgeons  who  were  specially  interested  in  scientific 
investigations.  The  Royal  Geographical  Society  and  the 
Meteorological  Office  were  also  induced  to  equip  the 
ships  with  instruments  for  navigation  of  a much  finer 
description  than  those  usually  carried  by  whalers,  and 
with  a complete  meteorological  outfit. 

The  ships  were  typical  whalers  of  small  size,  immensely 


372  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

strong  in  construction,  being  built  of  successive  skins  of 
heavy  planking,  and  sheathed  over  all  with  the  hard 
slippery  greenheart,  the  hulls  unpierced  by  any  ports  or 
windows.  They  had  stood  the  test  of  many  years’  serv- 
ice in  the  Arctic  seas  and  their  captains  were  as  tough 
and  seasoned  as  the  ships  themselves.  All  the  vessels 
were  good  sailers,  their  steam  power  being  merely  auxil- 
iary, used  for  crossing  the  belt  of  calms  and  for  manoeu- 
vring in  the  ice,  sails  alone  being  trusted  to  for  making  a 
passage  in  ordinary  circumstances  and  for  the  actual 
pursuit  of  whales.  The  Balaena  (400  tons)  was  built  at 
Drammen  in  1872 ; she  was  141  feet  long,  of  31  feet  beam, 
and  under  the  command  of  Captain  Alexander  Fair- 
weather.  The  Diana  (34°  tons),  also  built  at  Drammen, 
was  135  feet  long,  29  feet  beam,  and  sailed  under  the 
command  of  Captain  Robert  Davidson.  The  Active  (340 
tons)  was  built  at  Peterhead  in  1852;  she  was  117  feet 
long,  and  her  master  was  Captain  Thomas  Robertson. 
Die  Polar  Star  (216  tons)  was  also  built  at  Peterhead, 
and  was  only  105  feet  long;  she  was  under  the  command 
of  Captain  James  Davidson.  Mr.  William  S.  Bruce,  an 
Edinburgh  naturalist,  received  the  appointment  of  sur- 
geon on  the  Balaena,  and  as  he  had  on  several  occasions 
taken  part  in  the  routine  work  of  Ben  Nevis  Observatory, 
he  was  a thoroughly  trained  meteorological  observer  as 
well.  The  known  enthusiasm  and  indefatigable  perse- 
verance of  Mr.  Bruce  were  a guarantee  that  every  oppor- 
tunity presented  to  him  would  be  taken  advantage  of  to 
the  full. . He  was  accompanied  as  a passenger  on  board  the 
Balaena  by-  Mr.  W.  Burn.  Murdoch,  an  artist  whose  ambi- 
tion was  to  paint  the  Antarctic  ice  scenery,  and  who 
became  also  the  chronicler  of  the  cruise.  The  surgeon 
of  the  Active  was  Dr.  C.  W.  Donald,  who,  although 


STEAM  WHALERS 


373 

following  medicine  as  a profession,  was  interested  in  nat- 
ural science,  and  had  a Shetlander's  love  of  the  sea. 

The  Balsena  sailed  from  Dundee  on  September  6th, 
1892,  amidst  a scene  of  great  excitement,  the  docks  being 
crowded  with  friends  of  the  sailors,  and  members  of  the 
public  interested  in  the  new  enterprise.  So  long  and 
uncertain  a voyage  as  that  contemplated  is  rare  nowadays, 
and  although  many  of  the  whalemen  had  never  spent  a 
summer  at  home  since  they  were  boys,  they  had  hardly 
ever  spent  a winter  away  from  their  families.  A few 
scientific  friends  accompanied  Mr.  Bruce  down  the  Firth 
of  Tay  and  were  landed  at  Broughty  Ferry  in  company 
with  half  a dozen  wretched  stowaways.  Those  unhappy 
“ out-of-works  ” were  unearthed  from  various  hiding- 
places,  and  begged  hard  to  be  allowed  to  proceed  on  the 
voyage  on  any  terms  before  they  obeyed  the  peremptory 
orders  to  get  into  the  boat.  They  had  evidently  no  idea  of 
the  nature  of  the  new  whaling  grounds,  their  one  thought 
being  that  here  was  a chance  of  food  at  least  for  a year 
to  come.  The  Diana  sailed  with  the  same  tide,  the  Active 
and  Polar  Star  followed  a few  days  later,  and  all  of  them 
had  a wild  burst  of  bad  weather  at  the  outset.  Five 
stowaways  were  landed  from  the  Diana  at  Stornoway, 
no  less  than  fifteen  from  the  Polar  Star,  at  Blyth,  and 
two  more  were  found  on  board  long  afterwards. 

The  ships  saw  nothing  of  each  other  on  the  whole 
long  outward  voyage,  but  the  Balasna  and  Active  reached 
the  Falklands  on  the  same  day,  December  8th,  and  sailed 
for  the  fishing  grounds  on  the  nth,  just  before  the  Diana 
arrived.  On  the  way  out  the  Active  had  sailed  for  a day 
in  company  with  an  American  whaler  off  the  coast  of 
Brazil.  She  had  been  twenty-seven  months  at  sea  hunt- 
ing the  sperm  whale  in  tropical  waters.  Visits  were 


374  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

exchanged,  and  amongst  much  interesting  information 
as  to  sperm-whaling  the  American  skipper  gave  the  news 
that  a Norwegian  whaler,  the  Jason,  under  the  command 
of  Captain  C.  A.  Larsen,  was  also  on  the  way  to  the 
Antarctic. 

The  ships  searched  diligently  for  the  bowhead  whale 
in  the  northwestern  part  of  Weddell  Sea,  but  found  none. 
Other  whales,  especially  tinners,  hunchbacks,  bottle-noses 
and  grampuses,  were  common  enough ; but  none  of  these 
yield  any  quantity  of  the  valuable  bone,  and  they  were 
not  worth  securing.  The  ships  do  not  seem  to  have  gone 
beyond  65°  S.,  so  that  they  did  not  enter  the  Antarctic 
regions  properly  so-called.  The  Balaena  was  never  within 
six  miles  of  any  land  except  at  the  Danger  Islands  off 
Joinville  Land,  and  what  scientific  work  could  be  done 
had  to  be  done  afloat.  There  was  little  opportunity  al- 
lowed for  scientific  work,  however,  for  the  expedition 
was  purely  commercial;  the  skippers  had  no  mind  to 
waste  time  that  could  be  turned  to  money,  and  as  whales 
could  not  be  found,  the  crews  were  set  to  work  to  fill  the 
ships  with  the  skins  and  blubber  of  seals,  which  were 
killed  by  thousands  on  the  ice.  A glimpse  of  the  life  on 
board  may  be  given  in  the  words  of  a member  of  the 
expedition : 

“ It  was  with  the  produce  of  seals  that  we  were  des- 
tined to  fill  our  ship,  and  till  February  17th  we  were 
literally  up  to  the  neck  in  blood.  All  the  sails  are  stowed ; 
the  captain  sits  in  the  crow's  nest  from  early  morning 
till  late  in  the  evening;  the  two  engineers,  relieving  one 
another,  take  charge  of  the  engines;  the  cook  or  the 
steward  is  on  the  lookout  on  deck  or  on  the  bridge ; and 
the  doctor  takes  +he  helm ; unless  he  can  manage  to  get 
away  in  the  boats,  in  which  case  some  other  non-com- 


STEAM  WHALERS 


375 


batant  has  to  take  his  place;  all  the  rest  are  away  after 
plunder.  Now  a full  boat  is  making  its  way  to  the  ship. 
We  steam  towards  her.  As  we  near,  the  engines  are 
stopped  and  she  glides  alongside.  The  cook  or  the 
steward  rushes  from  the  look-out,  the  doctor  from  the 
wheel,  one  working  the  steam-winch  and  the  other  un- 
switching the  skins,  while  the  boat's  crew  swallow  a 
hasty  meal.  The  boat  being  unloaded,  they  are  off  again 
for  another  fill.  Another  boat  is  seen  approaching,  and 
away  we  go  again,  dodging  this  piece  of  ice,  charging 
that  piece  with  our  sturdy  bows,  boring  a way  where  the 
ice  lies  closely  packed,  rounding  this  berg,  and  on  to  the 
next  until  we  reach  the  boat,  which  is  down  to  the  gun- 
wale in  the  water,  with  its  crew  cautiously  plying  their 
oars  as  they  lie  crouched  upon  their  bloody  load.  So  it 
goes  on  from  day  to  day.” 

In  such  conditions  exploration  was  out  of  the  ques- 
tion; if  the  ships  could  be  filled  in  63°  S.  the  captains 
would  never  dream  of  going  to  64°.  The  Active  how- 
ever was  more  fortunate  than  the  Balsena.  Captain 
Robertson  had  more  than  once  done  a bit  of  exploration 
in  the  little  known  fjords  of  East  Greenland,  and  he 
turned  the  eye  of  an  explorer  on  the  coast  of  Joinville 
Land.  The  southern  part  he  found  to  be  separated 
from  the  northern  and  he  named  it  Dundee  Island ; it  lies 
on  the  north  side  of  Erebus  and  Terror  Gulf.  The 
channel  between  the  two  islands  was  navigated  by  the 
Active,  which  left  her  name  on  a reef  where  she  grounded 
and  whence  she  happily  escaped  uninjured.  A landing 
was  made  on  a beach  on  the  south  side  of  Joinville  Land 
where  the  snow  had  melted  away,  and  it  was  seen  that 
the  ice-cap  of  the  island  and  that  of  Louis  Philippe  Land 
would  be  easily  accessible  from  the  shore.  Dr.  Donald 


376  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

paid  a visit  to  the  Jason  when  all  five  ships  were  lying 
close  together,  on  January  24th,  1893,  and  found  Captain 
C.  A.  Larsen,  who  had  been  sent  out  by  the  Oceana  Com- 
pany of  Hamburg,  full  of  interest  in  the  geographical 
problems  of  the  locality. 

From  the  same  ship  some  years  before  Larsen  had 
landed  Fridtjof  Nansen  on  the  east  coast  of  Greenland 
to  make  the  first  of  his  successful  journeys  on  the  bold 
principle  of  leaving  no  way  open  for  retreat  The  stimu- 
lus of  meeting  a scientific  enthusiast  like  Nansen  may  well 
have  left  its  influence,  and  Larsen  had  landed  on  the 
South  Orkneys  on  his  way  to  Weddell  Sea,  and  again  on 
Seymour  Island  at  the  south  end  of  Erebus  and  Terror 
Gulf,  where  he  had  picked  up  a number  of  fossils.  This 
was  a discovery  of  great  interest  to  geologists,  for  they 
were  the  first  indisputable  evidence  of  the  existence  of 
sedimentary  rocks  on  Antarctic  land.  Captain  Larsen 
believed  he  had  seen  land  to  the  westward  when  in  lati- 
tude 64°  40'  S.  and  longitude  56°  30'  W.  and  this,  which 
was  also  noted  from  the  Balsena  as  at  least  an  “ appear- 
ance of  land  ” was  undoubtedly  the  east  coast  of  the 
land  known  on  the  west  as  Graham  Land. 

The  Dundee  ships  were  filled  up  with  sealskins  and  oil 
before  the  end  of  February,  the  Balaena  having  secured 
about  6000  seals,  the  Active  and  Diana  about  4000  each, 
and  the  Polar  Star  about  2000.  The  fleet  left  the  Falk- 
lands  early  in  March,  and  by  the  middle  of  June,  1893, 
they  were  safely  docked  in  Dundee.  Without  having 
been  an  absolute  failure  the  experiment  was  not  so  suc- 
cessful as  to  lead  to  its  repetition,  nor  was  the  experience 
of  the  scientific  observers  altogether  a happy  one.  They 
certainly  made  the  best  of  their  opportunities,  but  the 
opportunities  were  fewer  and  farther  between  than  had 


STEAM  WHALERS 


377 

been  expected,  and  the  sealers  were,  naturally  enough, 
not  particularly  sympathetic  with  proceedings  they  did 
not  understand.  It  became  quite  clear  that  unless  under 
a very  exceptional  captain  a commercial  voyage  can  yield 
comparatively  little  of  scientific  value. 

The  Germans  seem  to  have  been  better  pleased  with  the 
results  of  their  seal-hunting,  for  the  following  year  found 
Captain  Larsen  back  again  with  the  Jason  in  Weddell 
Sea  for  the  Oceana  Company,  while  the  Hertha,  Captain 
Evensen,  and  the  Castor,  Captain  Pedersen,  tried  their 
fortune  on  the  other  side  of  the  land  in  the  sea  previously 
traversed  only  by  Bellingshausen  and  Biscoe.  These 
voyages  really  advanced  exploration,  and  Larsen  in 
particular  made  some  interesting  discoveries.  After 
sealing  for  some  time  among  the  floes  east  of  Seymour 
Island,  he  steered  southeastward,  and  on  December  1st, 
1893,  was  close  to  high  land  covered  with  snow,  in  lati- 
tude 66°  S.,  longitude  6o°  W.  In  accordance  with  cus- 
tom he  named  it  after  his  sovereign,  Oscar  II.  Land ; the 
prominent  cape  was  called  Cape  Framnes,  and  a lofty 
mountain,  Mount  Jason.  This  was  to  all  appearance  the 
eastern  coast  of  Graham  Land,  and  no  doubt  the  New 
South  Greenland  of  the  early  Yankee  sealers.  Part  of 
the  slopes  of  Mount  Jason  were  free  from  snow,  and  the 
land  looked  tempting  to  explore,  with  great  glaciers 
running  down  from  vast  snowfields  to  the  sea.  Larsen 
sighed  for  his  ski  and  a clear  conscience  to  land  and  travel 
over  the  snowy  expanse,  but  duty  kept  him  to  his  ship 
and  the  search  for  whales  and  seals.  He  continued  to 
coast  southward  along  the  broad  strip  of  ice  fast  to  the 
land,  the  sea  ice  proving  most  favourable  to  his  advance, 
and  on  December  3rd  the  Jason  had  the  honour  of  being 
the  second  steamer  to  cross  the  Antarctic  circle.  The 


378  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

ship  kept  on  a course  nearly  due  south,  along  the  edge 
of  the  flat  shelf  or  barrier  of  ice  that  extended  outwards 
from  the  coast,  until  on  the  6th,  farther  advance  was 
barred  by  heavy  ice  in  68°  io'  S.  The  land  appears  to 
have  been  continuous  all  the  way,  and  to  a very  moun- 
tainous portion  of  it  rising  into  four  conspicuous  peaks 
Larsen  gave  the  name  of  Foyn’s  Land,  after  the  great 
Norwegian  whaler,  who,  had  he  lived,  might  have  proved 
a second  Enderby  in  promoting  Antarctic  work. 

On  the  return  voyage  an  island  was  discovered  lying 
some  distance  off  the  coast,  in  about  66°  S.,  and  named 
Robertson  Island,  from  which  a chain  of  smaller  islands, 
named  collectively  the  Seal  Islands,  ran  to  the  northwest. 
Immediately  to  the  north,  two  active  volcanoes  came 
in  sight  in  latitude  65°  S.,  the  larger  on  an  island 
called  Christensen  Volcano,  and  the  smaller  connected 
to  it  by  sea-ice.  Captain  Larsen  landed  on  the  ice  close 
to  Christensen  Island  and  travelled  over  the  soft  snow 
on  ski  for  some  distance.  The  surface  of  the  ice  was 
strewn  in  places  with  blocks  of  volcanic  rock  evidently 
recently  ejected  by  the  volcano.  On  the  snowy  margin 
of  the  island  there  were  swarms  of  young  seals,  very  fat, 
and  friendly  to  the  strangers,  and  luckily  for  themselves, 
separated  from  the  sea  by  so  wide  a stretch  of  soft  snow 
that  they  were  left  in  peace.  The  interior  was  seen  to 
be  nearly  free  from  snow,  but  it  was  impossible  in  the 
time  to  get  more  than  four  miles  from  the  edge  of  the 
sea-ice  surrounding  the  island,  and  the  uncovered  land 
was  not  reached.  Many  other  small  islands  were  seen 
and  charted,  and  after  filling  his  ship  with  seals,  visiting 
the  coast  of  Tierra  del  Fuego  in  the  unsuccessful  search 
for  whales,  and  discharging  his  cargo  at  Port  Stanley, 
Larsen  found  time  to  make  another  trip  to  Erebus  and 


STEAM  WHALERS 


379 


Terror  Gulf  before  the  season  closed.  This  fine  season's 
work  had  not  been  surpassed  in  geographical  interest  by 
any  sealing  vessel  since  the  voyage  of  Balleny. 

The  Jason  was  a ship  with  a destiny  before  her  as  well 
as  a history  behind.  Re-named  the  Stella  Polare,  it  was 
to  be  her  fate  to  carry  the  Duke  of  the  Abruzzi's  Arctic 
expedition  to  Franz  Josef  Land,  whence  Captain  Cagni 
attained  the  nearest  approach  yet  made  to  the  North 
Pole.  But  while  the  Jason  was  still  in  Antarctic  waters 
the  Hertha  and  Castor  were  proving  worthy  consorts. 
They  were  working  amongst  the  islands  of  the  South 
Shetlands,  and  southward  west  of  Palmer  Land.  Captain 
Evensen  reached  an  even  higher  latitude  than  Larsen  had 
done  on  the  other  side.  He  made  his  way  southward  to 
the  west  of  Palmer  Land,  passed  between  the  Biscoe 
Islands  and  Graham  Land,  and  on  November  9th  he 
crossed  the  Antarctic  circle,  much  surprised  at  finding 
so  little  ice  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  open  season. 
Next  day  Adelaide  Island  was  sighted  and  drift  ice 
encountered.  After  a detour  to  the  northward  along  the 
Biscoe  Islands  the  Hertha  again  worked  to  the  southwest, 
and  on  November  21st  reached  the  remarkable  latitude  of 
69°  10'  S.  in  76°  12'  W.  without  hindrance  from  ice.  Next 
day  she  sighted  Alexander  I.  Land,  having  come  very 
much  nearer  to  it  than  either  Bellingshausen  or  Biscoe ; 
but  unfortunately  beyond  the  positions  we  have  quoted 
Evensen’s  voyage  has  added  little  to  our  knowledge.  On 
December  14th  he  met  the  other  Norwegian  ships  off 
Joinville  Island,  and  remained  in  company  until  they 
finally  left  Antarctic  waters  in  March,  1894.  The  three 
ships  returned  to  Norway  in  July  of  that  year. 

Svend  Foyn  of  Tonsberg  was  the  acknowledged  chief 
of  the  whalers  of  Norway,  a man  of  the  most  remarkable 


380  siege  of  the  south  pole 

perseverance,  courage  and  originality,  whose  genius  had 
grappled  with  the  problem  of  killing  the  hitherto  invul- 
nerable blue  whale  or  tinner,  and  the  creator  by  that 
achievement  of  a great  fortune  for  himself  and  a new 
industry  for  Norway.  When  his  countryman,  Mr.  H.  J. 
Bull,  who  had  been  captivated  by  the  fascination  of  the 
Antarctic,  had  tried  and  failed  to  induce  Australian  capi- 
talists to  invest  money  in  an  attempt  to  renew  Antarctic 
whaling,  he  left  Melbourne,  returned  to  Europe,  and 
applied  at  once  to  Commander  Foyn.  The  veteran  was 
eighty-four  years  old,  and  his  life  had  been  spent  in  per- 
fecting the  whale  fishing  off  his  native  coasts  and  in  the 
Arctic  seas,  but  he  was  willing  to  help  a new  enterprise  in 
the  other  hemisphere ; and,  entering  keenly  into  the  plans, 
he  placed  a vessel  at  the  disposal  of  Mr.  Bull. 

For  this  purpose  he  purchased  the  whaler  Cap  Nor, 
built  at  Drammen  in  1871,  a vessel  similar  in  build  to  the 
Balaena  and  Active.  For  her  new  work  she  was  re- 
christened Antarctic,  and  sailed  under  the  command  of 
Captain  Leonard  Kristensen,  with  Mr.  Bull  on  board,  in 
September,  1893.  On  her  way  out  she  spent  some  time 
sealing  at  Kerguelen,  and  reached  Melbourne  at  the  end 
of  January,  1894.  Mr.  W.  S.  Bruce,  fresh  from  his  ex- 
perience on  the  Balaena,  applied  to  Commander  Foyn  for 
permission  to  accompany  the  Antarctic,  and  the  Director 
of  the  firm  publicly  expressed  his  regret  that  the  quick 
despatch  of  the  ship  made  it  impossible  for  Mr.  Bruce 
to  reach  Melbourne  in  time  to  join  the  vessel. 

Amongst  others  bitten  by  the  fever  of  adventure  was 
a young  colonist  of  Norwegian  birth,  though  partly  Eng- 
lish in  ancestry,  Carstens  Egeberg  Borchgrevink,  who 
had  had  some  experience  of  land-surveying  and  proved 
himself  of  the  most  irrepressible  persistency  in  gratifying 


STEAM  WHALERS 


381 

his  ambition.  He  tried  hard  to  be  taken  on  board  the 
Antarctic  as  a passenger,  but  the  captain  would  have  no 
passengers  in  his  ship;  he  offered  to  go  in  any  capacity, 
and  got  his  way  at  last  by  “ signing  on  ” as  an  ordinary 
seaman.  The  voyage  of  the  Antarctic  has  been  described 
by  the  promoter,  Mr.  Bull,  the  master,  Captain  Kristen- 
sen,  and  also  by  Mr.  Borchgrevink,  the  various  versions 
agreeing  as  regards  the  events  of  the  voyage,  with  which 
alone  we  have  to  do. 

The  Antarctic  left  Melbourne  in  September,  and  spent 
a few  months  sealing  round  Macquarie  Island,  and  along 
the  edge  of  the  Antarctic  pack  which  was  met  in  latitude 
58°  S.  After  a visit  to  New  Zealand  to  repair  damage 
received  in  heavy  weather,  she  sailed  again  on  November 
28th,  1894,  and  in  little  more  than  a week,  entered  the 
pack  ice  in  63°  S.,  1710  30'  E.  The  Balleny  Islands  were 
sighted  on  the  14th,  and  the  Antarctic  circle  touched  on 
the  same  day  and  crossed  a week  later.  The  midnight 
sun  was  visible  on  Christmas  Eve,  but  the  ship  continued 
a prisoner  in  the  pack,  and  it  was  not  until  January  14th, 
1895,  that  she  worked  her  way  into  open  water  in  lati- 
tude 66°  55'  S.  Two  days  later  Cape  Adare  at  the 
northern  end  of  Victoria  Land  was  sighted  for  the  first 
time  since  Ross’s  voyage,  and  two  more  days  brought  the 
Antarctic  up  to  Possession  Island,  where  a landing  was 
made,  the  party  finding  the  place  aswarm  with  penguins 
exactly  as  Ross  had  found  it  fifty-five  years  before. 
Here  Borchgrevink  made  a botanical  discovery  of  con- 
siderable interest,  a lichen  growing  on  the  rocks,  the 
first  evidence  of  plant  life  obtained  within  the  Antarctic 
circle.  Possibly  enough  this  discovery  would  have  been 
made  on  the  former  visit  had  it  been  the  turn  of  Hooker 
.instead  of  that  of  McCormick  to  land  with  Ross,  the 


382  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

senior  medical  officer  of  the  Erebus  having  more  interest 
in  birds  than  in  plants.  Coulman  Island  was  sighted  on 
January  22nd,  and  then  in  latitude  740  S.  Kristensen 
decided  to  turn  back  as  no  whales  were  to  be  seen.  Next 
day  the  ship  was  back  at  Cape  Adare,  and  here  the  first 
landing  upon  the  Antarctic  continent  was  made  on  a low 
beach  at  the  base  of  the  cliff.  The  penguins  were  even 
more  numerous  than  at  Possession  Island,  and  the  same 
lichen  was  found  growing  on  the  rocks.  Returning  north- 
ward the  Antarctic  made  her  way  through  the  pack  in 
six  days,  and  entering  the  open  sea  on  February  1st,  she 
pursued  her  voyage  in  temperate  waters  and  reached 
Melbourne  on  March  14th. 

The  voyage  was  not  a commercial  success  and  has  not 
been  repeated.  The  “ right  ” whale  was  not  found ; the 
ship  was  too  large,  and  the  gear  was  perhaps  too  light 
for  taking  the  finner;  but  the  voyage  was  an  interesting 
demonstration  of  the  facility  of  visiting  Victoria  Land, 
and  supplied  a strong  argument  that  the  open  sea  found 
by  Ross  south  of  the  pack  was  not  a temporary  incident, 
but  the  normal  feature  of  an  ordinary  year. 

The  last  effort  of  the  whalers  and  sealers  had  done 
much  to  spread  interest  in  Antarctic  navigation,  and  it 
had  done  more  in  training  men  who  were  destined  to 
take  leading  parts  in  the  great  scientific  expeditions 
which  were  to  follow. 


CHAPTER  XIX 


THE  FIRST  ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

“ When  the  shadow  of  night’s  eternal  wings 
Envelopes  the  gloomy  whole 
And  the  mutter  of  deep-mouth’d  thunderings 
Shakes  all  the  starless  pole.” 

— Tennyson. 

EXPLORERS  of  the  South  Polar  seas  so  far  had 
flitted  to  and  fro  like  summer  migrants,  coming  after 
the  late  spring  and  retiring  northward  when  the  first 
breath  of  autumn  crisped  the  surface  of  the  sea.  They 
had  found  the  summer  cold  and  changeable,  liable  at  any 
time  to  showers  of  snow  and  chilling  fogs,  the  mercury 
of  the  thermometer  hovering  in  its  boldest  ascents  close 
to  the  freezing  point,  and  too  frequently  retreating  to  the 
neighbourhood  of  Fahrenheit’s  zero ; but  yet  it  was  sum- 
mer, the  best  quarter  of  the  Antarctic  year.  Every  ex- 
plorer has  spoken  of  the  marvellous  beauty  of  a fine  Ant- 
arctic day,  the  unbroken  genial  sunshine,  twice  round  the 
clock,  the  black  rocks  throwing  off  their  white  covering, 
and  growing  hot  under  the  persistent  radiation,  the  soft 
snow  on  the  levels  dissolving  into  water  which  gathered 
into  streams  and  almost  rivers,  every  block  of  ice  on 
land  or  sea  musically  adrip,  and  sea  and  land  alike  loud 
with  the  hoarse  voice  of  birds,  no  sweet  songsters  among 
them,  but  every  throat  clamorous  with  life. 

For  hundreds,  if  not  for  thousands  of  years  the  Arctic 
night  has  been  familiar.  The  Greek  philosophers  knew 
of  the  land  of  winter  darkness,  the  northern  Scandina- 

383 


384  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

vians  grew  up  with  December,  the  month  without  a sun- 
rise, as  the  dark  background  of  their  life;  and  whalers 
liable  to  be  caught  in  the  ice  as  they  lingered  to  the 
end  of  their  short  working  season,  grew  expert  in  de- 
vices for  counteracting  the  effects  of  intense  cold  and 
month-long  darkness  and  inaction.  But  the  winter  of 
the  south  remained  absolutely  unknown,  the  only  clue 
to  its  severity  being  the  solitary  minimum  reading  of  — 50 
on  Deception  Island  when  the  registering  thermometer 
left  by  H.  M.  S.  Chanticleer  was  recovered  by  Captain 
Smiley.  The  importance  of  observing  winter  conditions 
in  the  Antarctic  had  become  a plank  in  the  platform  of 
the  few  indefatigable  enthusiasts  who  were  still  hopeful 
of  securing  the  dispatch  of  a properly  equipped  expedi- 
tion capable  of  utilising  to  the  full  opportunities  which 
whalers,  who  had  to  pay  their  way,  could  only  recognise 
and  pass  unused. 

The  meeting  of  the  Sixth  International  Geographical 
Congress  in  London  in  1895  under  the  presidency  of  Sir 
Clements  Markham  was  made  the  occasion  of  an  interest- 
ing discussion  following  a long  historical  paper  by  Dr. 
von  Neumayer  and  an  account  by  Mr.  Borchgrevink  of 
Captain  Kristensen’s  successful  landing  on  the  Antarctic 
continent.  Sir  Joseph  Hooker,  the  last  survivor  of 
Ross’s  great  voyage,  Sir  John  Murray,  representing  the 
Challenger  expedition,  and  Sir  Erasmus  Ommanney, 
whose  efforts  at  one  time  seemed  likely  to  launch  a new 
ship  for  the  south,  took  part  in  the  discussion.  The  Con- 
gress adopted  a resolution,  which  may  be  looked  upon  as 
the  formal  beginning  of  the  strenuous  efforts  to  explore 
the  Antarctic  at  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  and  the  open- 
ing of  the  twentieth  centuries.  It  ran: 

“ That  the  Congress  record  its  opinion  that  the  explora- 


Lieutenant  A.  de  Gerlache. 


[ To  face  /.  3S4. 


FIRST  ANTARCTIC  NIGHT  385 

tion  of  the  Antarctic  Regions  is  the  greatest  piece  of  geo- 
graphical exploration  still  to  be  undertaken.  That  in 
view  of  the  additions  to  knowledge  in  almost  every 
branch  of  science  which  would  result  from  such  a 
scientific  exploration  the  Congress  recommends  that  the 
scientific  societies  throughout  the  world  should  urge  in 
whatever  way  seems  to  them  most  effective,  that  this 
work  should  be  undertaken  before  the  close  of  the 
century/’ 

The  direct  result  was  not  immediately  visible  and 
before  the  great  system  of  national  expeditions  for  ex- 
ploration and  research  at  which  it  aimed  took  effect, 
there  were  two  independent  attempts  to  penetrate  the 
southern  ice,  each  of  which  added  considerably  though 
in  different  degrees  to  our  knowledge  of  the  region.  One 
sailed  under  the  Belgian,  the  other  under  the  British  flag, 
but  both  were  in  Norwegian-built  ships,  manned  largely 
by  Scandinavian  sailors. 

Adrien  de  Gerlache,  a lieutenant  in  the  Belgian  navy, 
had  been  a prey  to  the  fever  of  Antarctic  exploration 
from  his  youth.  He  had  been  one  of  the  many  volunteers 
called  forth  by  the  announcement  in  1888  of  a possible 
Australian-Swedish  expedition  under  Baron  Norden- 
skiold.  Some  years  later,  in  1894,  he  propounded  a 
plan  for  an  expedition  which  he  would  himself  lead,  and 
succeeded  in  interesting  M.  Solvay,  a wealthy  Belgian 
man  of  science,  to  such  a degree  that  he  subscribed 
£1000  to  the  funds,  and  sent  the  would-be  explorer  for 
some  preliminary  training  in  the  Arctic  ice.  In  the  fol- 
lowing year  the  Brussels  Geographical  Society  opened  a 
subscription  list  and  a grant  from  the  Government  of 
£4,000  made  it  possible  to  commence  preparations,  and  in 

1896  a ship  was  bought.  She  was  a stout  Norwegian 

25 


386  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

sealer  of  about  250  tons,  known  as  the  Patria,  and  ap- 
propriately enough  re-named  the  Belgica. 

The  nucleus  of  a scientific  staff  was  brought  together, 
and  these  assisted  heroically  in  the  necessary  but  often 
nearly  hopeless  task  of  endeavouring  to  raise  funds ; the 
departure  of  the  ship  was  delayed  for  a year  in  conse- 
quence of  the  difficulty  of  getting  money.  Gerlache  was 
fortunate  in  securing  the  cooperation  at  an  early  date 
of  Henryk  Argtowski,  a Russian  Pole,  whose  ardour  in 
the  pursuit  of  the  sciences  of  chemistry,  geology  and 
meteorology  made  him  eager  to  seize  the  opportunity  of 
entering  an  absolutely  virgin  field.  A Rumanian  naturalist, 
Emile  Racovitza,  of  equal  enthusiasm  in  his  own  depart- 
ment, was  also  enlisted,  and  others  were  gradually  added, 
for  the  intention  was  to  make  the  Belgica  a purely  scien- 
tific expedition.  In  the  summer  of  1897  a desperate  effort 
to  raise  additional  funds  by  holding  a sort  of  exhibition 
and  fancy  fair  was  at  last  successful,  thanks  mainly  to 
the  cooperation  of  Mme.  Osterrieth  who  acquired  thereby 
the  friendly  title  of  Mother  Antarctica.  After  all  only 
£12,000  had  been  obtained  from  start  to  finish,  and  on 
that  grotesquely  inadequate  sum  the  whole  of  the  equip- 
ment and  work  of  the  Belgica  was  carried  out. 

On  August  16th,  1897,  the  ship  left  Antwerp,  and  on 
the  24th  finally  departed  from  Ostend.  M.  de  Gerlache 
was  in  command  of  the  expedition,  with  Lieutenant  Le- 
cointe,  also  a Belgian,  as  second  in  command  and  Roald 
Amundsen,  a Norwegian,  as  mate.  The  scientific  staff 
consisted  of  Lieutenant  Emile  Danco,  a Belgian,  as  mag- 
netic observer,  Emile  Racovitza,  the  Rumanian  naturalist, 
Henryk  Arqtowski  and  his  assistant,  Antoine  Dobrowol- 
ski,  both  Poles ; but  the  surgeon  had  given  up  his  post  at 
the  last  moment  and  the  ship  sailed  without  one.  The 


FIRST  ANTARCTIC  NIGHT  387 

two  engineers  were  Belgians,  and  of  the  nine  sailors  four 
were  Belgian  and  five  Norwegian. 

Dr.  Frederick  A.  Cook,  an  American  surgeon  who  had 
accompanied  Peary  in  one  of  his  Greenland  journeys 
and  had  for  years  set  his  heart  on  seeing  the  Antarctic 
regions  also,  cabled  to  Gerlache,  knowing  nothing  of  the 
difficulty  as  to  a medical  man,  but  asking  if  he  could  by 
any  means  be  taken  with  the  expedition.  He  had  himself 
tried  and  failed  to  get  up  an  American  expedition,  and 
now  gladly  responded  to  Gerlache’s  cabled  permission  to 
join  at  Rio  de  Janeiro. 

The  Belgica,  with  her  cosmopolitan  company,  pro- 
ceeded very  slowly  on  her  way,  lingering  unaccountably 
in  the  channels  of  Tierra  del  Fuego,  where  any  ship 
could  go  at  any  season,  and  not  leaving  Staten  Island  until 
January  13th,  1898.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Larsen 
and  Evensen  had  attained  their  highest  southern  latitudes 
in  clear  seas  two  months  earlier  in  the  season  four  years 
previously.  Even  at  that  late  date  much  work  was  done 
which  certainly  should  not  be  neglected,  but  might  quite 
suitably  have  been  left  until  the  return  journey.  This 
consisted  in  running  a line  of  soundings  from  Cape  Horn 
to  the  South  Shetlands,  a tract  of  sea  that  had  never  been 
sounded  before. 

On  January  20th  the  South  Shetlands  were  sighted, 
and  the  ship  ran  on  a rock,  giving  rise  to  some  alarm  but 
no  damage.  The  weather  grew  bad,  and  as  the  Belgica 
proceeded  southward  she  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  one 
of  the  Norwegian  sailors,  who  fell  overboard  and  could 
not  be  saved  despite  desperate  efforts  on  the  part  of  those 
on  board. 

Proceeding  into  Hughes  Gulf,  Gerlache  discovered  a 
wide  channel  running  southwestward  and  separating 


388  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

what  appeared  to  be  the  mainland  from  an  archipelago  of 
large  islands  forming  the  remainder  of  Palmer  Land. 
Three  weeks  were  spent  in  this  strait,  to  which  the  name 
of  the  ship  was  first  given,  but  afterwards  that  of  the 
commander.  No  less  than  twenty  landings  were  made 
and  magnificent  collections  of  geological  and  natural 
history  specimens  secured.  For  the  first  time  the  sub- 
Antarctic  land  was  invaded  by  men  of  science  who  could 
take  full  advantage  of  their  opportunities.  Too  much 
perhaps  was  attempted,  but  a great  deal  was  done,  and 
a double  line  of  Belgian  names  scattered  down  the  map 
from  64°  to  65°  S.  fixed  the  features  of  the  coast,  which 
was  charted  with  enough  care  to  give  us  more  confidence 
in  the  positions  of  the  various  islands,  headlands  and 
channels,  than  was  possible  before  in  any  part  of  that 
region. 

The  scenery  was  typical  of  Antarctic  land,  black  rocks 
projecting  from  sweeping  snow-fields  which  ran  down 
into  a ledge  of  glacier  ice  along  the  shore,  with  here  and 
there  a beach  of  pebbles  where  a landing  could  be  made. 
During  the  excursions  on  the  snowfields  in  bright 
weather  the  heat  of  the  sun  was  so  intense  as  to  become 
almost  unbearable,  a fact  which  makes  the  volume  of  the 
snow  the  more  remarkable.  Near  the  sea,  where  the 
rocks  were  bare  and  trickling  with  water,  lichens  and 
mosses  were  found  in  some  abundance,  and  even  a few 
insects  of  a very  humble  type.  Never  before  had  a 
single  degree  of  latitude  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood 
of  the  Antarctic  circle  received  so  minute  an  investiga- 
tion, but  the  scientific  men  were  insatiable  and  remained 
unsatisfied.  Argtowski  describes  one  of  the  landings  in 
these  words : 

“The  commandant  showed  himself  very  obliging;  but 


Typical  Landscape  of  fhe  Palmer  Archipklago, 

(Photograph  by  the  Belgian  Antarctic  Expedition.) 


! To  face  />.  ^33. 


FIRST  ANTARCTIC  NIGHT  389 

with  a little  good-will  we  could  have  landed  in  many 
other  places  and  collected  much  more  geological  material 
than  we  did.  For  this  eighteenth  landing  he  conducted 
me  himself  but  for  ten  minutes  only.  A few  strokes  of 
the  oars  brought  us  to  the  beach  amid  cries  of  ‘ Hurry 
up,  Arqtowski ! * I gave  a hammer  to  Tellefsen  with 
orders  to  chip  here  and  there  down  by  the  shore,  while 
I hurriedly  climbed  the  moraine,  picking  up  specimens  as 
I ran,  took  the  direction  with  my  compass,  glanced  to  the 
left  and  right,  and  hurried  down  again  full  speed  to  get 
a look  at  the  rock  in  situ;  meanwhile  Cook  had  taken  a 
photograph  of  the  place  from  the  ship — and  that  is  the 
way  geological  surveys  have  to  be  carried  out  in  the 
Antarctic/' 

On  February  12th,  1898,  the  Belgica  left  the  strait  and 
passed  southward  along  the  coast  of  Graham  Land  at  a 
date  when  all  previous  expeditions  in  these  waters  had 
been  making  haste  for  home.  Icebergs  became  more 
numerous  and  the  sea  along  the  coast  was  beset  with 
rocks  which  made  navigation  slow  and  difficult.  On 
February  15th  the  Belgica  crossed  the  Antarctic  circle 
steaming  southwest.  Next  day  Alexander  I.  Land  came 
in  sight,  but  could  not  be  approached  as  the  ice-pack 
extended  for  twenty  miles  from  the  shore.  It  lay  to  the 
south  and  seemed  an  aggregate  of  mountains  above  which 
some  lofty  peaks  rose  boldly.  The  glaciers  descending 
from  these  mountains  coalesced  along  the  shore  in  a 
broad  terrace  or  ice-foot  which  merged  into  the  pack. 
A large  island  or  mountain  was  seen  to  the  east,  ap- 
parently forming  the  southern  extremity  of  Graham 
Land,  which  seemed  to  be  separated  from  Alexander 
Land  by  a strait  or  at  least  a gulf.  Too  much  stress  must 
not  be  laid  on  the  features  of  land  seen  at  so  great  a 


390  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

distance,  and  indeed  different  members  of  the  Belgica’s 
company  gave  different  descriptions  of  what  they  saw, 
which  after  all  was  little  more  than  had  been  seen  by 
Bellingshausen  when  he  first  lit  upon  that  lonely  sentinel 
of  the  south. 

The  course  was  continued  southwestward  until  on 
February  28th  the  ship  was  in  70  0 20'  S.,  and  85°  W.  A 
gale  was  blowing  against  the  ice  from  seaward  and  great 
gaps  were  torn  in  the  edge  of  the  pack,  affording  tempt- 
ing openings  toward  the  south.  Despite  the  serious  late- 
ness of  the  season,  and  disregarding  the  views  of  the 
scientific  staff  who  were  anxious  to  place  the  results  of 
their  work  in  safety  before  risking  the  ship  in  unknown 
perils,  Gerlache  thrust  the  Belgica  into  one  of  the  open- 
ings, and  pushing  his  way  southward  with  increasing 
difficulty  he  reached  71 0 30'  S.  on  March  3rd.  An  at- 
tempt was  then  made  to  return,  but  it  was  too  late.  After 
advancing  a few  miles  to  the  northward  the  ship  was 
gripped  fast  in  the  pack,  and  for  a year  and  a month  she 
lost  all  power  of  independent  movement. 

The  ship  was  not  too  well  prepared  for  wintering  in 
the  farthest  south,  but  everything  possible  was  done  to 
minimise  the  inevitable  hardships.  Although  the  scien- 
tific staff  had  not  been  anxious  to  enter  the  ice,  each 
member  seized  the  opportunity  which  was  thrust  upon  him, 
resolved  to  take  the  fullest  possible  advantage  of  the  unique 
experience.  The  ice  gradually  thickened,  but  holes  could 
easily  be  cut  in  it,  and  through  these  holes  the  minute  crea- 
tures living  in  the  sea-water,  the  plankton,  were  caught  by 
fine  tow-nets ; the  depth  was  ascertained  and  observations 
of  temperature  were  made  at  all  depths  in  the  water. 
It  was  soon  apparent  that  although  the  Belgica  could  not 
move  away  from  the  floe  that  held  her,  the  ice  itself  was 


FIRST  ANTARCTIC  NIGHT  391 

never  at  rest,  but  drifted  within  certain  limits  in  all  direc- 
tions, the  several  floes  being  joined  by  leads  covered  with 
thin  ice  which  bent  and  cracked  in  bad  weather  giving  the 
pack  as  a whole  a sort  of  flexibility  and  power  of  move- 
ment. The  position  was  fixed  by  observations  of  the 
stars  whenever  it  was  possible  to  do  so,  and  the  drift 
could  thus  be  traced  from  point  to  point.  The  course  of 
the  ship  showed  no  general  onward  movement  like  that 
of  the  Fram  across  the  Arctic  Sea;  it  resembled  nothing 
so  much  as  a hank  of  tangled  wire.  Several  times  the 
ice  shifted  northward  until  the  latitude  was  a little  less 
than  70°,  and  the  depth  increased  to  nearly  1,000 
fathoms,  and  several  times  it  drove  south  until  the  latitude 
exceeded  71 0 31',  and  the  water  was  only  210  fathoms 
deep.  On  the  east  the  limit  of  the  drift  was  8o°  30'  W. 
and  before  the  ship  got  free  again  she  was  in  102°  W. 

The  nights  grew  longer  and  on  May  15th  the  sun  set 
almost  at  noon,  not  to  appear  again  for  seventy  days, 
though  three  days  later  a party  from  the  ship,  climbing  a 
high  iceberg,  caught  a glimpse  of  half  the  dull  yellow 
disc  peeping  above  the  northern  horizon.  During  the 
whole  dark  duration  of  these  ten  weeks  the  Belgica  wan- 
dered aimlessly  about,  clasped  in  the  ever  writhing  and 
rending  but  unrelenting  ice.  Fierce  storms  blew  over 
her  and  the  ice  cracked  with  horrid  noises  and  rose  in 
pressure  ridges,  but  though  land  no  doubt  lay  to  the 
south  there  was  no  shore  near  enough  to  offer  resistance 
sufficient  to  bank  the  ridges  to  a dangerous  height,  and 
the  storms  passed,  leaving  the  hull  unhurt. 

The  brilliance  of  the  moonlight  or  the  weird  glow  of 
the  aurora  australis  occasionally  lit  up  the  rough  surface 
of  the  pack  and  the  sheets  of  level  snow  with  lights  and 
shadows  more  cheerless  than  the  darkness  itself.  De- 


392  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

spite  all  efforts  to  work  and  keep  cheerful  the  darkness 
entered  into  the  soul  of  the  ship’s  company,  oppressing 
them  more  than  the  cold  and  more  than  the  inadequate 
and  uninviting  food.  The  food  was  abundant  enough, 
but  much  of  it  was  in  the  form  of  specially  prepared 
extracts  and  fibreless  meats  and  fish,  the  condensed  nour- 
ishment of  which  ceased  to  nourish,  and  for  some  un- 
explained reason  the  natural  dislike  to  penguin  flesh  was 
very  slowly  overcome.  Dr.  Cook  attributed  the  low  state 
of  health  on  board — a sort  of  polar  anaemia — to  the  un- 
satisfactory diet  as  much  as  to  the  darkness.  All  suf- 
fered from  impaired  circulation  and  deranged  digestion, 
the  heart  seemed  to  lose  its  regulating  power,  and  gave 
rise  to  alarming  symptoms,  while  the  complexion  became 
deathly  pale,  almost  greenish.  The  groaning  and  crash- 
ing of  the  ice  in  the  blackness  of  the  endless  night  was 
a horror  to  listen  to  and  the  sound  could  not  be  evaded, 
nor  the  darkness  dispelled,  nor  the  cold  resisted  outside 
or  the  damp  within.  Dr.  Cook  repeatedly  refers  to  it  all 
as  “ hellish.” 

Lieutenant  Danco,  whose  heart  had  not  been  sound 
when  he  started,  was  unable  to  resist  the  accumulation  of 
miseries  which  reduced  the  strongest  to  a state  of  lethargy 
and  depression.  He  died  on  June  5th,  before  mid-win- 
ter, and  was  buried  at  sea  through  a hole  cut  in  the  ice, 
the  commandant  making  “ a few  fitting  remarks,”  for  the 
sound  of  no  religious  service  ever  rose  through  the  dark- 
ness of  the  first  Antarctic  night.  Lecointe  fell  seriously 
ill  and  everyone  was  affected  more  or  less  in  mind  or 
body  or  both.  “ We  live  in  a mad-house,”  said  one  of 
the  cabin  party.  Dr.  Cook  devised  a treatment  for  polar 
anaemia  which  seemed  effective.  It  consisted  in  trying 
to  do  the  work  of  the  absent  sun  by  exposing  the  pa- 


FIRST  ANTARCTIC  NIGHT  393 

tient’s  skin  to  the  glow  of  the  hottest  fire  that  could  be 
obtained. 

The  winter  passed.  It  was  not  without  discovery,  for 
as  the  ice  was  driven  about,  south,  east,  west  and  north, 
with  apparently  no  serious  check,  it  proved  that  the  open 
sea  extended  far  in  all  directions,  and  as  Bellingshausen’s 
Peter  I.  Island  lay  to  the  north  of  the  drifting  ship  it  was 
clear  that  the  first- found  of  all  Antarctic  land  was  a lonely 
islet  and  not  the  immediate  outpost  of  a continent. 

The  light  returned  before  the  middle  of  July,  when  for 
an  hour  or  two  about  noon  the  dawn  day  by  day  made  it 
easy  to  read  for  a longer  and  longer  time.  Each  day 
the  colours  of  the  sky  at  noon  grew  brighter  on  the 
northern  horizon,  and  on  July  22nd  the  sun  appeared.  The 
return  of  day  brought  life  with  it,  the  health  of  the  ship’s 
company  improved,  and  the  scientific  observations  which 
had  dragged  heavily  were  resumed  with  a fresh  zest. 
But  the  impulse  was  temporary.  The  sun  brought  tem- 
pestuous weather  and  the  cold  increased,  the  lowest  tem- 
perature of  the  whole  period  being  reached  on  September 
8th,  when  the  thermometer  registered  45  degrees  below 
zero  Fahrenheit  and  the  mercury  froze. 

Summer  came  on  with  its  perpetual  sun,  Christmas 
Day  passed,  New  Year’s  Day  1899,  passed,  but  the  ice 
remained  unchanged.  The  particular  floe  in  the  centre 
of  which  the  Belgica  was  frozen  was  about  four  miles 
in  diameter,  and  unless  it  broke  up  speedily  the  awful 
prospect  of  another  winter  would  have  to  be  faced.  All 
hands  were  set  to  work  to  blast  and  saw  a passage  for 
the  ship  to  the  lane  at  the  edge  of  the  floe,  but  this  was 
a serious  matter  with  ice  ten  feet  thick.  The  food  supply 
was  running  low,  and,  willing  or  unwilling,  the  workers 
had  to  support  their  strength  on  penguin  and  seal  meat ; 


394  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

but  hard  work  and  hope  made  the  unsavoury  food  so 
welcome  that  seven  meals  were  disposed  of  in  the  twenty- 
four  hours.  On  the  14th,  thanks  partly  to  the  cutting 
and  partly  to  the  wind  the  ship  broke  loose  and  was 
water-borne  once  more,  but  another  month  elapsed  before 
she  was  able  to  win  her  way  to  the  open  sea,  and  it  was 
March  28th,  1899,  before  she  steamed  into  Punta  Arenas. 
Never  before  were  the  bleak  shores  of  Magellan  Strait 
so  welcome  to  the  seafarer,  and  the  harsh  autumn  wind 
from  the  forests  of  Tierra  del  Fuego  was  laden  with  all 
the  perfumes  of  spring  to  the  worn-out  explorers  who  for 
more  than  a year  had  lived  in  a world  of  ice  with  no 
natural  odour  more  fragrant  than  a penguin  rookery. 

The  Belgica  had  a splendid  reception  when  after  linger- 
ing in  South  American  ports  she  returned  to  Belgium 
early  in  November.  The  expedition  was  of  unprecedented 
importance  from  the  duration  and  regularity  of  the  rou- 
tine scientific  observations  in  the  far  south,  the  complete- 
ness of  the  collections  and  the  zeal  and  courage  of  the 
cosmopolitan  scientific  staff  who  toiled  in  great  discom- 
fort without  even  the  consolation  of  free  conversation  in 
any  language  equally  understood  by  all.  The  Belgian 
Government  undertook  the  elaboration  and  publication  of 
the  scientific  results  in  the  most  generous  manner,  and  the 
work  of  the  Belgica  will  be  an  enduring  monument  of 
scientific  enthusiasm. 

The  Belgica  had  found  no  new  land  south  of  the  Ant- 
arctic circle,  but  during  most  of  the  drift  she  had  been  in 
water  less  than  250  fathoms  deep,  gradually  shoaling 
toward  the  south,  in  fact  on  a continental  shelf  similar 
to  that  which  belts  about  the  sea-washed  continents, 
though  submerged  to  a somewhat  greater  depth.  The 
suggestion  is  inevitable  that  somewhere  not  very  far  to 


Carstens  Egeberg  Borchgrevink. 
(Photograph  by  Messrs.  Thomson,  London.) 


[To  face  f>.  394. 


FIRST  ANTARCTIC  NIGHT  395 

the  south  there  is  extensive  land.  The  temperature  of  the 
air  in  the  Antarctic  summer  south  of  70  ° S.  was  found  to 
average  290  F.,  not  half  a degree  higher  than  was  found 
by  the  Fram  north  of  84°  N. ; the  mean  temperature  for 
the  year  was  found  to  be  15°  F.  while  the  mean  for  July, 
the  coldest  month,  was  —8°  and  that  for  February,  the 
warmest  month,  340. 

Mr.  Borchgrevink  who  had  sailed  before  the  mast  on  Mr. 
Bull’s  Antarctic  whaling  expedition  of  1894-95  had  on  his 
return  to  Europe  tried  hard  to  get  up  a trading  expedition 
to  proceed  to  Victoria  Land  in  the  hope  of  securing  a re- 
munerative cargo,  perhaps  guano  from  Possession  Island  ; 
but  the  scheme  fell  through.  In  1898  however  he  suc- 
ceeded in  inducing  Sir  George  Newnes  to  fit  out  a scien- 
tific expedition  in  a single  ship,  and  the  plans  were  made 
without  requesting  any  official  recognition.  The  ship 
was  an  old  Norwegian  whaler,  the  Pollux,  similar  in  size 
to  the  Balaena,  and  she  was  provided  with  new  engines 
of  unusual  power  for  the  occasion,  as  well  as  with  a new 
name,  the  Southern  Cross.  Mr.  Borchgrevink  was  singu- 
larly fortunate  in  the  selection  of  his  staff.  As  captain  of 
the  ship  he  had  Bernhard  Jensen,  whose  interest  in  the  Ant- 
arctic regions  had  led  him  to  join  the  whaler  Antarctic 
as  second  mate  in  1894,  although  for  many  years  he  had 
commanded  his  own  ship  in  the  Arctic  whaling  trade. 
William  Colbeck,  a sub-lieutenant  in  the  Royal  Naval 
Reserve,  and  a first-rate  navigator  and  sound  surveyor, 
was  chosen  as  magnetic  observer,  and  Louis  Bernacchi,  a 
British  subject  of  Tasmanian  birth,  who  had  been  trained 
in  the  Melbourne  Observatory,  went  as  meteorologist. 
Mr.  Bernacchi  had  been  promised  a berth  on  the  Belgian 
expedition  if  the  original  intention  to  call  at  Melbourne 
had  been  carried  out ; but  as  time  passed  and  it  became 


396  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

plain  that  the  Belgica  had  been  caught  in  the  ice,  he  came 
to  London  in  order  to  apply  for  a post  on  the  Southern 
Cross.  The  other  members  of  the  staff  included  Dr. 
Herlof  Klovstad  as  surgeon,  Anton  Fougner,  Nicolai 
Hanson,  an  experienced  natural  history  collector  and  zo- 
ologist employed  at  the  time  of  his  appointment  at  the 
Natural  History  Museum  in  London,  and  Hugh  Black- 
well  Evans,  a typical  young  Englishman  and  thorough 
sportsman,  as  assistant  zoologist.  From  such  men  much 
was  to  be  expected.  The  expedition  carried  a number  of 
dogs  with  two  Lapps  as  dog-attendants.  Although  the 
Southern  Cross  had  been  equipped  privately  without  con- 
sultation with  the  National  Antarctic  Expedition,  which 
was  then  taking  shape,  and  without  any  definite  scheme 
for  cooperation  or  arrangements  for  relief  in  case  of  dis- 
aster, Mr.  Borchgrevink  laid  his  plans  before  the  Royai 
Geographical  Society  on  the  eve  of  sailing,  and  received 
a hearty  send-off  from  many  individuals  interested  in 
science  as  he  left  the  Thames  on  August  22nd,  1898.  The 
voyage  to  Hobart  occupied  ninety-eight  days  and  after  a 
short  stay  there  the  Southern  Cross  left  for  the  south  on 
December  19th. 

The  ship  soon  fell  in  with  the  pack  and  had  a long  and 
difficult  time  in  it.  Despairing  at  last  of  getting  through 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Balleny  Islands  the  commander 
worked  northward  again  to  the  open  sea  after  forty-eight 
days  in  the  ice,  and  re-entered  the  pack  farther  east,  where 
it  was  lighter.  In  six  hours  the  pack  was  passed  through 
and  the  Southern  Cross  ran  into  open  water  on  February 
nth  1899,  in  latitude  70°  S.,  longitude  1740  E.  Land 
was  sighted  on  the  16th,  and  on  February  17th  the  first 
anchor  ever  dropped  within  the  Antarctic  circle  struck 
ground  in  Robertson  Bay  off  the  low  peninsula  where 


FIRST  ANTARCTIC  NIGHT  397 

Kristensen  had  landed  from  the  whaler  Antarctic  in  1894 
at  the  foot  of  Cape  Adare. 

So  it  happened  that  at  the  same  time  in  nearly  the  same 
latitude,  but  on  opposite  sides  of  the  vast  unknown  Ant- 
arctica, all  hands  on  board  the  Belgica  were  toiling  with 
all  their  might  to  break  from  their  prison  in  the  floe  before 


Synoptic  Diagram  of  the  First  Two  Expeditions  Wintering 
in  the  Antarctic. 

Note — Each  vertical  column  represents  a month.  The  hori- 
zontal bands  show  the  duration  of  the  expeditions,  the  period 
passed  south  of  6o°S.  being  shown  in  solid  black. 

a second  winter  befell;  and  all  on  board  the  Southern 
Cross  were  straining  every  nerve  to  unload  stores  and  the 
material  for  a house  in  which  to  pass  the  first  long  night 
on  land  within  the  southern  circle.  The  task  of  unload- 
ing was  hard  enough  as  heavy  gales  sometimes  prevented 
communication  between  ship  and  shore,  and  the  time  was 
short  if  the  Southern  Cross  was  to  escape  from  the 
dangerous  bay  before  the  young  ice  formed.  By  March 
2nd  the  preparations  were  made  and  the  ship  departed  to 
winter  in  New  Zealand,  while  a party  of  ten  all  told 
settled  down  for  a year  of  unknown  hardship.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  commander  and  the  scientific  staff  there  were 


398  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

the  two  Lapps  in  charge  of  the  dogs  and  a Norwegian 
cook.  Meteorological  and  magnetic  observations  were 
started  and  natural  history  collecting  undertaken,  but  the 
exploration  by  land,  of  which  much  had  been  hoped,  was 
of  very  small  account.  The  pioneers  of  the  Antarctic 
land  were  after  all  closer  prisoners  than  the  wanderers  in 
the  Antarctic  pack.  A few  excursions  along  the  shores 
of  Robertson  Bay  or  across  its  ice,  climbing  the  cliff  of 
Cape  Adare  to  a height  somewhat  exceeding  3,000  feet, 
and  looking  at  the  coast  to  the  south,  summed  up  the 
exploits.  The  interior  ice-cap  was  not  reached,  and  no 
land  exploration  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  word  was 
accomplished.  The  scientific  observations  however  were 
interesting,  though  had  the  commander  of  the  expedition 
been  more  fully  instructed  in  the  method  of  getting  the 
best  work  from  his  expert  assistants,  by  leaving  them  a 
free  hand  in  their  several  departments,  they  might  quite 
possibly  have  been  better  still.  In  Antarctic  exploration 
as  in  life  generally,  however,  there  is  always  the  consola- 
tion that  while  things  could  have  been  better  than  they 
are,  they  might  also  have  been  worse ; and  despite  some 
faults  the  expedition  of  the  Southern  Cross  did  excellent 
work. 

The  winter  proved  terribly  severe.  The  storms  which 
shook  the  little  wooden  house  were  of  an  altogether  unex- 
pected fury,  and  fierce  blizzards  drove  the  snow  in  blind- 
ing sheets  which  made  it  impossible  to  walk  or  even  to 
crawl  on  all-fours  from  the  hut  to  the  thermometer  screen. 
The  sun  did  not  appear  above  the  horizon  from  May  15th 
to  July  29th,  a period  of  seventy-five  days,  for  Cape  Adare 
in  latitude  71 0 15'  S.  was  practically  the  same  distance 
from  the  Pole  as  the  Belgica  during  her  drift ; but  there 
was  no  day  during  the  winter  on  which  a glimmer  of 


FIRST  ANTARCTIC  NIGHT  399 

twilight  at  noon  failed  to  remind  the  watchful  that  the 
sun  was  shining  far  off  over  the  round  of  the  Earth. 

A peculiarity  of  the  storms  was  the  occasional  sudden 
rise  of  temperature  with  a south  wind,  the  thermometer 
sometimes  leaping  from  — 350  to  +20°  (a  rise  of  55 
degrees)  in  a few  hours.  The  party  got  on  no  worse 
than  the  majority  of  polar  wintering  parties,  and  they 
probably  felt  the  melancholy-breeding  monotony  less  than 
many,  for  they  had  excellent  tinned  foods  and  made  a 
point  of  eating  seal  and  penguin  flesh  and  penguin  eggs 
at  every  opportunity.  The  general  health  was  good, 
there  was  no  heart  trouble  and  the  distressing  symptoms 
from  which  the  Belgian  expedition  suffered  were  almost 
wholly  absent. 

A terrible  catastrophe  was  narrowly  escaped  towards 
the  end  of  the  winter.  The  hut  caught  fire  from  the  care- 
less placing  of  a candle,  and  the  flames  were  extinguished 
with  difficulty.  However  no  great  harm  was  done,  and 
the  escape  was  a useful  lesson  in  caution. 

A more  serious  trouble  of  the  long  night  was  the  illness 
which  attacked  Mr.  Hanson,  the  zoologist.  It  presented 
some  of  the  symptoms  of  scurvy,  but  if  it  were  that  dis- 
ease it  affected  only  one  of  the  party,  though  all  fared 
alike.  Mr.  Hanson  grew  rapidly  worse  and  died  in  the 
beginning  of  spring,  on  October  14th,  1899,  the  day  when 
the  first  sign  of  the  new  season  appeared  in  the  return  of 
the  penguins  from  their  northern  winter  quarters  to  their 
southern  nesting  places.  He  was  buried  in  a grave  blasted 
in  the  frozen  soil  and  dug  deep  into  the  heart  of  the  under- 
lying ice  of  a buried  glacier.  The  two  Lapps,  who  were 
much  affected,  concluded  the  funeral  service  by  chanting 
a hymn  in  their  own  strange  language.  Spring  advanced 
and  the  summer  of  the  Antarctic  came  with  the  never-dip- 


4oo  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

ping  sun,  the  swarms  of  breeding  penguins  crowding  on 
every  spot  of  bare  land  and  up  the  cliffs  for  a thousand 
feet,  and  the  seals  basking  on  the  shore.  A bright  look-out 
was  kept  for  the  return  of  the  ship,  but  mid-summer 
passed  and  the  first  month  of  the  last  year  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  was  nearly  done.  Deferred  hope  at  length 
made  the  watch  slack,  but  suddenly  one  morning  the  sleep- 
ing party  in  the  hut  was  aroused  by  a fresh  voice  shout- 
ing “ Post!  ” and  there  stood  Captain  Jensen  laden  with 
letters  and  newspapers.  This  was  on  January  28th,  and  on 
February  2nd,  1900,  men  and  dogs  had  embarked  on  the 
Southern  Cross,  and  the  hut  was  left  by  itself  in  good 
condition  with  stores  enough  to  be  of  material  service  to 
any  later  travellers  who  might  wander  there. 

The  course  was  laid  southward  along  the  coast  charted 
by  Ross,  and  some  fine  photographs  were  obtained  of  the 
islands  and  promontories  as  well  as  sketches,  for  Mr. 
Borchgrevink  could  draw  well.  The  photographs  show  a 
remarkable  similarity  to  the  scenery  of  the  Palmer  archi- 
pelago, the  snow  from  the  upper  slopes  accumulating 
below  the  cliffs  to  form  a confluent  shore  glacier  from 
which  miniature  icebergs  break  off.  But  in  addition  the 
coast  of  Victoria  Land  was  seamed  by  great  glaciers 
descending  from  the  immense  plateau  behind,  and  some- 
times thrusting  their  icy  tongues  far  into  the  sea.  A land- 
ing was  made  on  Coulman  Island  in  73 0 20'  S.,  but  the 
stay  on  shore  was  limited  to  twenty  minutes,  the  highly 
magnetic  basaltic  rocks  making  it  hopeless  to  attempt 
magnetic  observations.  The  Southern  Cross  was  fortu- 
nate in  being  able  to  enter  Wood  Bay,  which  was  found 
to  run  much  farther  into  the  land  than  Ross  had  supposed, 
and  a landing  was  made  at  the  base  of  the  grand  cone  of 
Mount  Melbourne.  Some  thick  reindeer  moss  was  found 


Emperor  Penguins. 

(From  a photograph  taken  by  the  National  Antarctic  Expedition.) 


3S. 


FIRST  ANTARCTIC  NIGHT  401 

on  shore  at  this  point,  indicating  that  Antarctica  is  not  an 
absolute  blank  to  the  botanist.  A broad  ice-foot  swept 
southward  along  the  coast  from  Cape  Washington,  but 
the  coast  itself  was  easily  visible  beyond  it,  as  the  South- 
ern Cross  found  the  sea  much  more  free  from  ice  than  did 
the  Erebus  and  Terror.  On  February  9th  a landing  was 
made  on  Franklin  Island  where  magnetic  observations 
were  secured  on  a beach  swarming  with  vociferous 
penguins.  Reindeer  moss  was  discovered  here  again. 
Next  day  the  ship  lay-to  off  Cape  Crozier  waiting  for  the 
clouds  to  disperse  and  reveal  the  forms  of  Mounts  Erebus 
and  Terror,  which  had  been  hidden  from  human  sight 
since  the  ships  that  brought  them  their  names  carried  Ross 
and  Crozier  back  to  the  open  ocean  sixty  years  before.  A 
landing  was  made  near  the  foot  of  Cape  Crozier  at  great 
risk,  the  party  who  scrambled  on  the  narrow  ledge  of 
rocks  being  nearly  washed  away  by  the  surge  raised  by  a 
mass  of  ice  falling  into  the  sea.  When  the  ship,  steering 
eastward,  had  passed  Cape  Crozier  a little  before  mid- 
night the  clouds  dispersed  and  Mount  Terror  stood  out 
plainly,  a large  part  of  its  upper  slopes  free  from  snow 
and  dotted  with  parasitic  cones,  each  with  its  crater.  At: 
the  foot  of  the  mountain  near  Cape  Crqzier  there  stretched 
the  largest  penguin  rookery  yet  seen,  Mr.  Bernacchi  esti- 
mating the  number  of  birds  at  millions.  But  the  most 
impressive  feature  of  all  was  the  great  ice-barrier  which 
now  began  to  drag  its  slow  length  past  the  ship,  commenc- 
ing at  Cape  Crozier  and  running  eastward  for  an  indefi- 
nite distance. 

As  the  Southern  Cross  steamed  along  the  face  of  the 

towering  wall  of  ice,  much  closer  than  the  fear  of  finding 

himself  on  a lee-shore  ever  allowed  Ross  to  sail,  the 

weather  grew  bitterly  cold.  Though  it  was  still  summer 

26 


402  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

the  temperature  fell  to  —8°  F.,  and  the  surface  of  the  sea 
was  swathed  in  a freezing  mist.  Up  aloft  in  the  crow’s 
nest  the  sun  was  shining  gloriously,  and  later,  when  the 
mist  lifted  for  a moment,  there  was  an  impressive  glimpse 
from  the  deck  of  the  great  mass  of  Mount  Erebus,  a flag 
of  smoke  trailing  from  the  summit.  The  glimpse  was 
momentary  and  no  photograph  could  be  taken.  On 
February  Iith  the  ship  had  out-distanced  the  Erebus  and 
Terror  toward  the  Pole,  and  the  party  were  farther  south 
than  any  man  had  been  before,  in  latitude  78°  21'  S. 
There  was  much  jubilation  on  board  in  consequence.  The 
weather  was  no  party  to  the  joy,  and  again  the  little  ship 
had  a tempestuous  time,  tossing  about  amongst  the  ice- 
bergs off  the  barrier.  As  she  proceeded  the  skies  smiled 
once  more,  and  the  nature  of  the  great  barrier  began  to 
change.  It  grew  lower,  the  edge  became  indented  by 
irregular  inlets  and  in  longitude  164°  W.  the  wall  dipped 
until  it  was  only  a quay  of  ice  inviting  the  traveller  to 
step  ashore.  The  invitation  was  accepted,  and  the  South- 
ern Cross  moored  alongside  as  if  she  had  been  in  dock. 
Here  she  lay  for  a whole  day  waiting  for  clear  weather. 
February  19th  was  one  of  the  finest  days  of  the  Antarctic 
year.  The  ice  stretched  beyond  the  reach  of  the  eye  in  a 
smooth,  uniform,  snow-covered  sweep  over  which  ski- 
travelling  was  a joy  to  men  so  long  cramped  up  on  ship- 
board. So  firm  and  smooth  was  it  that  Mr.  Bernacchi 
declared  that  it  would  serve  as  a road  for  a motor  car. 
Mr.  Borchgrevink  and  Lieutenant  Colbeck  made  a short 
sledge  trip  southward  over  the  ice,  attaining  78°  50'  S., 
and  thus  establishing  a “ record  ” for  southward  travel. 
No  particulars  of  this  trip  have  been  published. 

At  1 p.  m.  on  February  19th  the  Southern  Cross  cast 
off  from  the  barrier  and  not  • an  hour  too  soon ; the 


FIRST  ANTARCTIC  NIGHT  403 

intense  cold  had  already  transformed  the  surface  of  the 
sea  into  a field  of  young  ice  through  which  the  powerful 
engines  had  as  much  as  they  could  do  to  force  the  ship. 
Except  for  a second  landing  on  Franklin  Island  a straight 
run  was  made  for  the  nearest  temperate  land.  No  ice 
whatever  was  met  with,  the  pack  had  entirely  disappeared, 
but  the  weather  was  extremely  boisterous  and  it  was 
March  21st,  1900,  before  Auckland  Island  was  reached. 
In  June  the  scientific  staff  were  home  in  England. 

The  scientific  results  of  the  expedition  were  not  so 
great  as  had  been  expected.  The  zoological  collections 
had  suffered  badly  in  transit,  some  valuable  notes  by  Mr. 
Hanson  had  been  lost,  and  one  small  volume  comprises 
the  discussion  of  animal  life,  while  the  physical  observa- 
tions also  fill  but  little  space.  Mr.  Colbeck’s  careful 
and  trustworthy  map  of  the  great  ice  barrier  showed  that 
its  edge  had  receded  about  thirty  miles  since  Ross's  voy- 
age, and  the  coast  generally  was  less  encumbered  by  pack 
ice  than  it  had  been  sixty  years  before.  Interesting  as  a 
dashing  piece  of  pioneer  work,  and  useful  in  training 
men  for  later  service,  the  voyage  of  the  Southern  Cross 
was  the  last  effort  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  century 
which  had  solved  all  problems  of  geographical  discovery 
except  that  of  the  Poles. 

One  other  expedition  of  the  nineteenth  century  must 
be  noticed,  though,  as  in  that  of  the  Challenger,  Antarctic 
research  was  only  an  incident  in  its  work.  Professor 
Chun  of  Leipzig,  a prominent  zoologist,  had  induced  the 
Imperial  German  Government  to  supply  funds  for  a 
scientific  deep-sea  expedition  under  his  leadership,  which 
was  dispatched  on  board  the  Hamburg-America  Line’s 
steamer  Valdivia,  commanded  by  Captain  Krech.  No 
scientific  expedition  was  ever  more  comfortably  installed 


404  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

or  more  carefully  provided  for,  one  detail  being  that  the 
life  of  every  member  of  the  large  scientific  staff  was 
insured  for  £1,500.  Of  the  staff  it  is  only  necessary  to 
mention  here  Professor  Vanhoffen  of  Kiel,  one  of  the  zo- 
ologists, and  Dr.  Gerhard  Schott  of  Hamburg,  the  ocean- 
ographer. The  Valdivia  sailed  from  Hamburg  on  August 
1st,  1898,  and  after  visiting  the  Firth  of  Forth  to  receive 
special  advice  from  Sir  John  Murray,  made  extensive 
observations  in  the  Atlantic.  She  left  Cape  Town  on 
November  13th,  bound  for  Bouvet  Island,  which  no  eye 
had  seen  for  seventy-five  years,  and  which  had  been  sought 
in  vain  by  Cook,  Ross  and  Moore.  The  Valdivia  steamed 
slowly  westward  in  the  assigned  latitude,  and  although  on 
the  morning  of  November  25th,  a sounding  showed  the 
depth  to  be  1,890  fathoms,  the  multitude  of  sea-birds  made 
the  proximity  of  land  so  probable  that  a very  sharp  look- 
out was  kept,  and  at  3 p.  m.  Captain  Krech  had  the  satis- 
faction of  hearing  the  welcome  cry  of  “ Land  ahead ! ” 
and  there  seven  miles  off,  rose  the  sharp  outline  of  the 
elusive  isle.  It  proved  to  be  a small  volcanic  island 
measuring  about  six  miles  by  five,  almost  completely 
sheathed  in  ice,  though  it  was  then  close  on  mid-summer, 
and  the  latitude  corresponded  to  that  of  Belfast.  The 
exact  position  of  the  centre  was  found  to  be  540  26'  S. 
and  30  24'  E.  Ross  must  have  passed  eighteen  miles 
north  of  the  island,  Moore  must  have  turned  back  while 
only  about  fifteen  miles  east  of  it.  The  photograph  taken 
on  board  the  Valdivia  and  here  reproduced,  shows  this 
speck  of  land,  a true  child  of  the  mists,  the  first  report  of 
which  had  been  hailed  as  proof  of  the  existence  of  the 
mythical  Southern  Continent.  The  Valdivia  pursued  her 
way  southward  and  eastward  from  8°  E.  to  58°  E.,  as 
near  the  edge  of  the  southern  ice-pack  as  it  was  possible 


FIRST  ANTARCTIC  NIGHT  405 

for  a lightly  built  steel  vessel  to  go,  and  all  along  her  route, 
the  soundings,  taken  at  frequent  intervals,  showed  an 
unexpectedly  great  depth,  averaging  about  3,000  fathoms. 
On  December  16th  the  farthest  south  point  was  reached 
in  64°  15'  S.  and  540  20'  E.,  where  the  depth  was  2,540 
fathoms,  and  Enderby  Land  should  have  been  only  102 
miles  to  the  south.  The  dredge  and  trawl  came  up  loaded 
with  stones  which  had  been  dropped  by  the  melting  ice- 
bergs, and  when  examined  these  proved  to  consist  of  con- 
tinental rocks,  granite,  gneiss  and  schist,  with  one  huge 
block  of  red  sandstone  weighing  a quarter  of  a ton.  En- 
derby Land,  if  these  came  thence,  was  evidently  not  a vol- 
canic island.  More  than  180  icebergs  were  counted  in 
sight  at  once,  the  largest  ten  miles  long,  the  highest  ris- 
ing to  192  feet  above  sea-level.  At  that  time  the  crew  of 
the  Belgica  were  beginning  to  work  hard  in  the  attempt 
to  escape  from  a second  winter  in  the  ice,  and  the  South- 
ern Cross  was  lying  in  Hobart  ready  to  start  for  Victoria 
Land.  The  Valdivia  proceeded  to  Kerguelen,  where  a 
few  days  were  spent,  and  then  she  continued  her  sound- 
ings and  dredgings  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  returning  to 
Europe  by  the  Suez  Canal,  and  reaching  Hamburg  on 
April  30th,  1899,  after  a cruise  of  the  most  gratifying  suc- 
cess. 


CHAPTER  XX 


EARLY  EXPEDITIONS  OF  THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY 

. . We  ask 

To  put  forth  just  our  strength,  our  human  strength 
All  starting  fairly,  all  equipped  alike, 

Gifted  alike,  all  eagle-eyed,  true-hearted.” 

— Robert  Browning. 

EACH  of  the  recent  expeditions  has  happily  its  own 
leader  as  its  chronicler,  and  their  volumes,  not  this 
chapter,  are  required  to  body  forth  the  latest  achieve- 
ments. We  must  refer  to  these  great  efforts  in  order  to 
complete  our  story,  showing  how  the  triumphs  of  the 
twentieth  century  have  sprung  from  the  thought  of  the 
nineteenth,  and  how  far  they  have  extended  the  knowl- 
edge which  inspired  them.  We  endeavour  accordingly 
to  avoid  detail  and  to  supply  only  a skeleton  to  be  com- 
pleted by  the  official  narratives  of  the  various  expeditions. 

Some  questions  as  to  the  renewal  of  South  Polar 
research  must  at  present  be  handled  with  restraint.  When 
the  plans  for  the  various  expeditions  were  being  beaten 
into  shape  sparks  flew  about,  not  perhaps  so  hot  as  in  the 
days  when  the  American  flotilla  was  being  manned,  or  as 
in  those  when  the  verbosity  of  Dalrymple  evoked  the  curt 
profanity  of  a free-spoken  generation  of  Sea  Lords;  yet 
until  these  sparks  are  cold  in  memory  they  are  best  left 
unstirred. 

The  action  which  followed  the  International  Geograph- 
ical Congress  in  London  in  1895  first  took  shape  in  an 
effort  by  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  supported  by 

406 


Sir  Clements  R.  Markham,  K.C.B. 
(Photograph  by  Messrs.  Thomson,  London.) 


[To  /ace  p.  406. 


THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  407 

other  learned  societies,  to  induce  the  British  Government 
to  send  out  a naval  expedition,  but  this  was  unsuccess- 
ful. Sir  Clements  Markham,  as  president  of  the  Royal 
Geographical  Society,  thereupon  reiterated  his  declaration 
of  two  years  before  that  he  would  never  swerve  from  the 
task  until  it  was  completed.  From  that  time  the  whole 
strength  of  his  vehement  personality  was  thrown  into  the 
work  of  promoting  an  expedition  and  he  triumphed  over 
every  obstacle.  In  face  of  his  enthusiasm  others  who 
took  a different  view  as  to  organisation,  or  were  less  hope- 
ful of  the  practicability  of  building  a ship  or  dispatching 
an  expedition  until  all  the  funds  necessary  for  its  com- 
pletion and  return  were  secured,  gradually  offered  less 
and  less  opposition,  and  finally  ceased  to  urge  the  views 
they  continued  to  hold.  A remarkable  meeting  took 
place  in  the  rooms  of  the  Royal  Society  on  February  26th, 
1898,  when  all  the  leaders  in  the  movement  for  polar  dis- 
covery were  present  and  spoke  with  a unanimity  of  pur- 
pose which  no  one  who  heard  them  can  soon  forget.  Sir 
John  Murray  commenced  by  summarising  the  scientific 
conditions  which  required  investigation,  and  reiterated 
his  opinion  that  only  a naval  expedition  with  a credit  of 
£150,000  should  be  looked  upon  as  sufficient  for  the  task 
of  exploration.  Sir  Joseph  Hooker,  Dr.  Fridtjof  Nansen, 
Dr.  von  Neumayer,  Sir  Clements  Markham  and  many 
others  took  part  in  the  discussion,  which  was  prolonged 
to  an  hour  unprecedented  in  the  250  years’  annals  of  the 
Royal  Society. 

At  the  same  time  there  was  a fresh  movement  in  Ger- 
many, where  an  influential  Committee  presided  over  by 
Dr.  von  Neumayer  selected  as  the  leader  of  a German  Ant- 
arctic expedition  Dr.  Erich  von  Drygalski,  one  of  the 
Professors  of  Geography  in  the  University  of  Berlin,  and 


4o8  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

already  known  as  a student  of  Arctic  ice  in  Greenland. 
Steps  were  taken  to  collect  funds,  and  plans  were  elabo- 
rated for  an  attack  on  the  totally  unknown  region  south 
of  Kerguelen.  Through  much  talk  and  endless  delays  the 
various  Committees  in  both  countries  made  progress 
slowly.  The  scheme  for  a British  National  Expedition 
was  referred  to  a joint  Committee  of  the  Royal  Society 
and  the  Royal  Geographical  Society;  but  the  moving 
spirit  was  always  Sir  Clements  Markham.  Government 
was  approached  and  declined  to  help;  even  the  loan  of 
officers  was  declared  to  be  impossible  in  the  opinion  of 
those  best  acquainted  with  the  resources  of  the  navy. 
The  scheme  might  have  dropped  once  more  in  England 
had  not  two  wealthy  Fellows  of  the  Royal  Geographical 
Society  come  forward  with  magnificent  donations,  Mr. 
L.  W.  Longstaff  giving  £25,000  (more  than  double  the 
whole  cost  of  the  Belgica  expedition)  and  Sir  Alfred 
Harmsworth  giving  £5,000.  Fortified  with  this  promise 
of  success  an  influential  deputation  waited  on  the  First 
Lord  of  the  Treasury  and  urged  that  the  Government 
should  participate  in -the  work.  In  July,  1899,  the  reply 
came;  it  was  entirely  favourable  and  a sum  of  £45,000 
was  promised  in  aid  of  the  expedition,  and  shortly  after- 
wards the  Admiralty  agreed  to  allow  leave  to  such  officers 
and  men  as  might  be  selected  from  the  Royal  Navy. 
Committees  and  sub-committees  continued  to  meet  con- 
tinually, plans  were  proposed,  rejected  and  modified, 
appointments  were  made  and  cancelled,  differences  of 
opinion  arose  and  were  silenced;  but  at  length  in  1901 
the  British  and  German  national  expeditions  were  com- 
plete and  ready  for  sea.  For  each  a special  vessel  had 
been  built,  and  though  the  constitutions  of  the  expeditions 
were  radically  dissimilar,  a basis  for  co-operation  in  sim- 


Captain  R.  F.  Scott,  R.X.,  C.Y.O. 
(Photograph  by  Messrs.  Thomson,  London.)"* 


[ To  face  p.  408. 


THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  409 

ultaneous  observations  had  been  arrived  at,  and  in  the  first 
year  of  the  twentieth  century  the  two  ships  passed  south- 
ward through  the  Atlantic  and  entered  on  their  task. 

The  old  name  of  “ Discovery  ” was  given  to  the  new 
British  ship  built  at  Dundee  of  solid  oak.  A large  area 
of  the  hull  was  kept  entirely  free  from  any  magnetic 
metal,  so  that  the  most  delicate  magnetic  observations 
could  be  made  on  board.  She  was  barque-rigged  with 
short  masts  and  a small  spread  of  canvas,  but  had  power- 
ful engines  for  a vessel  of  her  type.  The  command  of 
the  expedition  as  well  as  of  the  ship  was  given  to  Com- 
mander R.  F.  Scott,  R.N.,  formerly  a torpedo  lieutenant, 
and  a man  not  only  born  to  command  but  sympathetic 
with  every  branch  of  scientific  work.  The  second  in  com- 
mand and  navigating  officer  was  Lieutenant  Albert  Armi- 
tage,  R.N.R.,  who  had  taken  part  in  the  Jackson-Harms- 
worth  Arctic  expedition  in  Franz  Josef  Land  and  so  had 
seen  something  of  polar  ice.  The  other  officers  were 
Lieutenant  C.  Royds,  R.N.,  who  had  charge  of  the  mete- 
orological observations  in  addition  to  his  naval  duties, 
Lieutenant  M.  Barne,  R.N.,  and  Lieutenant  E.  Ii.  Shack- 
leton,  R.  N.  R.  Engineer-Lieutenant  Skelton  was  the 
official  photographer  of  the  expedition.  The  four  warrant 
officers,  seven  petty  officers  and  most  of  the  crew  of  27 
men  were  picked  from  a very  large  number  of  volunteers 
from  the  Navy.  In  spite  of  the  naval  character  of  the 
ship's  company  she  sailed  under  the  blue  ensign  as  a 
yacht.  Two  surgeons  accompanied  the  expedition,  Dr. 
R.  Koettlitz,  an  enthusiastic  naturalist  who  had  served  in 
the  same  capacity  on  the  Jackson-Harms worth  expedition, 
and  Dr.  E.  T.  Wilson,  who  was  also  an  extremely  talented 
artist.  To  each  of  these  special  scientific  duties  were  as- 
signed. Three  other  members  completed  the  scientific 


4io  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

staff,  Mr.  L.  Bernacchi,  who  had  been  on  the  Southern 
Cross  expedition  and  had  wintered  at  Cape  Adare,  was 
magnetician  and  physicist ; Mr.  T.  V.  Hodgson,  an  inde- 
fatigable natural  history  collector,  was  zoologist,  and 
Mr.  H.  T.  Ferrar,  a young  Cambridge  graduate,  was 
geologist  Mr.  George  Murray  of  the  British  Museum, 
who  accompanied  the  expedition  as  far  as  Cape  Town 
only,  was  appointed  scientific  director.  The  whole  ship’s 
company  of  fifty  composed  a splendid  body  of  young  men 
all  in  the  highest  state  of  health  and  intensely  interested 
in  the  expedition  on  which  they  were  bound. 

A better  set  of  fellows  than  the  officers  and  scientific 
staff  were  never  afloat  together,  and  whatever  might  have 
been  the  case  on  other  expeditions  harmony  and  good-will 
reigned  on  board  the  Discovery ; each  was  determined  to 
do  his  very  best  and  each  did  it.  How  much  better  they 
might  have  done  with  a more  thorough  preliminary  train- 
ing in  scientific  work  we  cannot  tell,  but  as  it  was  the 
officers  and  scientific  staff  of  the  Discovery  were  able  to 
do  more  and  better  work  than  anyone  could  have  antici- 
pated when  they  set  out. 

Leaving  Cowes  on  August  6th,  1901,  and  Madeira  on 
the  1 6th,  the  Discovery  reached  Simon’s  Bay  on  October 
3rd,  and  after  a short  stay  sailed  for  New  Zealand  on  the 
14th.  In  the  course  of  the  passage  a detour  southward 
was  made  when  south  of  Australia,  in  order  to  carry  out 
some  special  magnetic  work  and  to  give  the  ship  her 
baptism  of  ice.  The  pack  was  encountered  in  62°  S.,  140° 
E.,  and  was  penetrated  for  a few*  miles  on  November  16th, 
but  there  was  no  time  then  to  spare  and  the  ship  headed 
for  New  Zealand,  calling  for  a few  hours  at  Macquarie 
Island,  and  reaching  Lyttelton  on  November  29th.  Cer- 
tain repairs  were  necessary  and  fresh  stores  had  to  be 


THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  41 1 

obtained.  The  people  of  New  Zealand  were  much  inter- 
ested and  very  enthusiastic,  and  when  the  Discovery 
finally  sailed  from  Port  Chalmers  on  December  24th, 
1901,  she  was  laden  with  welcome  gifts  in  the  form  of 
fresh  mutton  and  vegetables. 

The  main  objects  of  the  expedition  were  officially  stated 
to  be  to  determine  as  far  as  possible  the  nature  and  extent 
of  that  portion  of  the  South  Polar  lands  which  the  ship 
would  be  able  to  reach,  and  to  conduct  a magnetic  survey. 
The  question  of  wintering  was  left  to  the  discretion  of 
the  commander,  but  a relief  ship  was  arranged  for 
to  communicate  with  the  expedition  in  the  following 
summer. 

The  Discovery  met  the  pack  on  January  1,  1902,  almost 
on  the  Antarctic  circle,  and  worked  her  way  through  in 
exactly  a week,  finding  open  sea  in  70°  25'  S.,  1730  44'  E. 
A landing  was  made  at  Cape  Adare  on  the  9th,  and  next 
day  the  ship  commenced  her  southward  progress  along 
the  coast,  though  troubled  occasionally  by  drifting  ice. 
Several  landings  were  made  and  records  set  up  on  shore 
to  guide  the  relief  ship  in  the  following  year.  On  Janu- 
ary 22nd,  a party  landed  at  the  base  of  Mount  Terror  near 
Cape  Crozier.  The  ship  then  coasted  the  great  barrier 
eastward,  finding  soundings  of  about  300  fathoms,  until 
the  29th,  when  in  165°  E.  the  water  shoaled  to  100 
fathoms,  and  for  two  days'  journey  farther  east  it  varied 
between  100  and  70  fathoms,  a sure  indication  of  the  im- 
mediate proximity  of  land.  Land  was  discovered  stretch- 
ing north-eastward  from  1550  to  150°  W.  where  a heavy 
pack  made  it  necessary  to  turn  back.  The  bare  rocks 
were  seen  projecting  from  the  snow-covered  hills,  and  in 
King  Edward  VII.  Land  Scott  had  the  good  fortune  to 
prove  the  truth  of  those  signs  which  Ross  had  recognised 


412  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

at  his  farthest  east,  but  could  not  altogether  trust.  Return- 
ing along  the  barrier  the  ship  was  moored  to  a low  quay 
of  ice  in  164°  W.,  where  the  balloon  was  landed  and  a 
captive  ascent  made  in  order  to  get  a wide  view  toward 
the  south  and  Mr.  Armitage  made  a sledge-trip  across  the 
undulating  surface  of  the  barrier  to  78°  50'  S. 

On  February  10th,  the  Discovery  entered  McMurdo 
Bay  and  anchored  a few  miles  to  the  south-west  of  Mount 
Erebus,  in  a sheltered  harbour  where  it  seemed  safe  to 
winter.  She  sailed  over  the  slopes  of  the  mountains  as 
laid  down  on  Ross’s  chart,  almost  the  only  instance  in 
which  that  cautious  navigator  had  drawn  land  from  in- 
sufficient evidence.  Here  all  possible  precautions  were 
taken  to  secure  the  ship  and  to  ensure  the  safety  of  any 
land  party  should  the  ice  suddenly  break  away  and  carry 
the  Discovery  out.  Huts  were  erected  on  shore  and 
many  short  excursions  undertaken,  in  the  course  of  which 
it  was  found  that  Ross’s  first  impression  that  Mts.  Erebus 
and  Terror  were  on  an  island  was  correct,  that  the  Parry 
Mountains  did  not  exist,  and  that  McMurdo  Bay  was  not 
a bay  at  all,  but  a strait  leading  southward  between 
“ High  Island,”  as  Ross  first  called  it,  and  the  mainland,  a 
lofty  mountain  on  v/hich  was  named  after  the  Discovery. 
On  one  of  the  excursions  the  only  fatal  accident  during 
the  whole  stay  in  the  Antarctic  regions  occurred,  a party 
being  overtaken  by  a blizzard  when  crossing  a dangerous 
snowfield  terminating  in  a vertical  ice-cliff,  over  which 
one  of  the  sailors  fell  into  the  sea  and  was  lost. 

Early  in  April,  1902,  the  cold  became  very  severe,  tem- 
peratures more  than  40  degrees  below  zero  being  re- 
corded ; but  even  as  late  as  the  first  week  of  May  all  the 
ice  was  blown  out  of  the  strait  to  within  200  yards  of  the 
ship.  The  winter  passed  cheerily,  everyone  was  busy 


“Discovery”  alongside  the  Great  Southern  Barrier. 
(Photograph  supplied  by  the  National  Antarctic  Expedition.) 


THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  413 

with  the  observations,  with  preparations  for  the  sledge 
journeys  in  the  spring  or  with  the  compilation  of  a brilliant 
literary  and  artistic  production,  the  South  Polar  Times . 
No  one  before  this  date  had  ever  wintered  so  far  south 
by  nearly  500  miles,  and  although  the  night  was  long,  and 
some  cause  for  anxiety  appeared  in  unmistakable  symp- 
toms of  scurvy,  no  one  gave  way  to  melancholy,  and  the 
disease  yielded  to  treatment. 

In  spring,  early  in  September,  the  long  sledge  journeys 
began,  and  they  were  gradually  extended  as  depots  were 
laid  down  to  the  south.  Finally  with  nineteen  dogs  in 
good  condition  and  pulling  well,  Scott,  Shackleton  and 
Wilson  set  out  from  the  ship  on  November  2nd,  1902, 
on  the  main  journey  over  the  sea-ice.  The  winter  quar- 
ters were  in  770  49'  S.,  1660  E.,  and  the  route  lay  due 
south  until  the  parallel  of  8o°  was  crossed  on  November 
27th,  and  then  the  course  was  altered  for  a time  to  south- 
west. Depots  were  laid  down  at  intervals  and  provisions 
left  to  be  picked  up  on  the  return  journey,  but  going  was 
difficult  and  progress  very  slow,  for  the  whole  load  could 
not  be  carried  at  once  and  every  mile  made  to  the  south- 
ward entailed  three  miles  of  heavy  marching.  To  the 
west  the  land  rose  above  the  flat  surface  of  the  barrier 
on  which  the  first  Antarctic  land  travellers  were  toiling 
along,  and  when  the  latitude  of  82°  17'  S.  was  reached 
on  December  30th,  Scott  determined  to  make  an  effort 
to  reach  the  base  of  the  fine  mountain  range  then  in  sight, 
but  toward  the  shore  the  ice  became  so  broken  and  abrupt 
that  the  attempt  had  to  be  given  up.  Mount  Markham 
(15,100  feet)  and  Mount  Longstaff  (9,700  feet)  are  situ- 
ated in  about  83°  S.,  huge  summits  which  have  taken  the 
place  so  long  held  by  Mounts  Erebus  and  Terror  as  the 
most  southerly  ever  seen.  It  would  be  impossible  to 


414  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

overrate  the  importance  of  this  splendid  journey,  and 
from  the  modest  descriptions  of  those  who  made  it  we 
have  some  difficulty  in  realising  its  tremendous  nature. 
At  the  farthest  point,  after  travelling  59  days,  the  three 
were  380  miles  from  their  ship,  on  sea-ice,  although  in 
sight  of  the  great  range  which  continues  the  coast  line  of 
Victoria  Land  to  the  southward.  They  had  lost  or  ex- 
hausted most  of  the  dogs  and  the  stock  of  food  had  been 
nicely  calculated  to  bring  them  back  to  the  ship  if  they 
never  had  a full  meal  all  the  way  and  picked  up  each  of 
the  depots  left  in  the  trackless  waste.  The  return  jour- 
ney was  a heroic  achievement.  The  dogs  were  useless 
and  the  weather  very  bad.  The  first  depot  was  ap- 
proached in  a fog,  with  nothing  to  guide  the  travellers, 
and  only  two  days’  provisions  were  left  when  it  was 
found.  Laden  with  the  supplies  left  there  Scott  and 
Wilson  had  to  pull  the  sledges  alone,  for  Shackleton  had 
broken  down,  and  only  his  indomitable  will  made  it 
possible  for  him  to  walk  along  without  burdening  his 
companions  further.  The  ship  was  reached  on  February 
3rd,  1903,  the  return  journey  having  been  accomplished 
in  only  34  days,  as  with  the  lighter  loads  it  was  not 
necessary  to  do  the  work  by  relays.  The  total  absence 
from  the  ship  had  been  93  days,  and  results  of  startling 
novelty  as  to  the  nature  of  the  great  ice  barrier  had  been 
secured. 

Meanwhile  Armitage  and  Skelton  made  a journey  from 
the  ship  up  one  of  the  glaciers  which  descends  from  the 
western  mountains,  nearly  in  latitude  78°  S.  They 
reached  the  summit  of  a snow-clad  tableland  beyond  the 
bare  granite  peaks  of  the  mountains,  and  before  they 
were  compelled  to  turn  they  were  9,000  feet  above  the 
sea  and  130  miles  distant  from  the  winter  quarters. 


THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  415 

Many  shorter  journeys  were  made,  valuable  collections 
of  geological  and  natural  history  specimens  were  secured, 
and  the  meteorological  and  magnetic  observations  were 
kept  up  day  and  night  without  intermission.  The  Dis- 
covery had  good  reason  to  be  content  with  her  first 
season’s  work. 

Meanwhile  at  home  the  Royal  Geographical  Society, 
responding  to  the  stimulus  of  Sir  Clements  Markham,  had 
bought  another  ship,  a stout  Norwegian  whaler,  the  Mor- 
gen, a name  translated  into  the  Morning  for  her  new 
work.  She  was  placed  under  the  command  of  Lieuten- 
ant Colbeck,  R.  N.  R.,  whose  work  on  the  expedition  of 
the  Southern  Cross  we  have  already  referred  to,  and 
sailed  from  the  Thames  on  9th  July,  1902.  Leaving 
Lyttelton,  New  Zealand,  on  December  9th,  she  crossed 
the  Antarctic  circle  and  discovered  a new  island  (since 
called  Scott  Island)  on  the  180th  meridian  on  Christmas 
Day.  After  picking  up  the  records  left  at  various  points 
on  the  coast,  Colbeck  sighted  the  Discovery’s  masts  from 
afar  on  January  25th,  1903.  The  ice  had  not  broken 
out  of  McMurdo  Strait  as  in  the  previous  year,  and 
stores  had  to  be  sledged  across  nearly  ten  miles  of  frozen 
sea.  The  Morning  left  on  her  return  voyage  on  March 
3rd,  a very  late  date  for  navigation  in  such  latitudes,  but 
she  got  through  safely.  Lieutenant  Shackleton  was  in- 
valided home  and  Lieutenant  Mulock,  R.  N.,  of  the 
Morning  took  his  place  on  the  Discovery.  The  ice  never 
broke  out  and  the  ship  remained  fast  for  another  year  of 
steady  work  and  arduous  exploration.  Great  stores  of 
seal-meat  and  of  skua  gulls  were  laid  in  for  food  before 
winter,  and  the  ship’s  company  were  thus  able  to  live 
almost  entirely  on  fresh  provisions.  The  ship  was  made 
snug  for  the  winter,  greater  comfort  being  secured  i\ 


416  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

consequence  of  previous  experience.  A vast  addition 
to  the  happiness  of  life  was  brought  about  by  the  use  of 
brilliant  acetylene  lamps  in  the  living  rooms.  The  winter 
passed  happily  and  surprisingly  quickly,  and  there  was 
not  a single  case  of  illness. 

With  early  spring  sledge  parties  began  to  go  out  on 
excursions  of  various  length,  and  intensely  bitter  cold 
was  experienced,  vying  with  any  met  with  by  Arctic  ex- 
plorers and  rarely  exceeded  even  in  northern  Siberia. 
The  temperature  for  days  together  kept  below  — 50°  F. 
and  once  fell  as  low  as  — 68°.  After  many  preliminary 
trips  the  main  journey  was  started  on  October  26th,  when 
Captain  Scott  led  a party  including  Mr.  Skelton  and  at 
first  Mr.  Ferrar.  The  route  lay  nearly  due  west,  ascend- 
ing one  of  the  great  though  much  shrunken  glaciers  to 
the  vast  plateau  beyond  the  mountains.  The  high  altitude 
and  the  fatigue  told  heavily  on  some  of  the  party,  and  on 
November  22nd  Skelton  started  back  to  the  ship  with 
several  of  the  worn-out  men,  while  Scott  pushed  forward 
with  the  two  hardiest.  Although  about  9,000  feet  above 
sea  level  the  flatness  of  the  ice-surface  was  hardly 
broken,  and  the  most  careful  observations  with  a levelled 
theodolite  could  just  detect  the  slight  inequalities.  There 
were  no  dogs  on  this  expedition  and  so  everything  had 
to  be  hauled  by  hand  on  sledges.  On  November  30th, 
1903,  Scott  reached  his  farthest  point  and  fixed  the  posi- 
tion as  770  59'  S.  and  146°  33'  E.,  a distance  of  300 
miles  from  the  ship,  toward  the  centre  of  the  continent 
of  Antarctica.  The  return  journey  was  rapid,  and  the 
Discovery  was  safely  reached  on  Christmas  Eve  after  an 
absence  of  59  days,  the  average  daily  journey  having 
thus  been  about  To  miles,  as  compared  with  a daily  aver- 
age of  8 miles  on  the  great  southern  journey  over  the 


Me  Mur  do  Bay. 

(From  a photograph  taken  by  the  National  Antarctic  Expedition.) 


THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  417 

sea-ice  in  the  previous  year.  After  passing  the  glacier 
valley  and  the  mountain  border  there  was  nothing  to 
map,  nothing  to  see  but  snow  and  sky,  no  sound  of  life, 
no  gleam  of  colour:  the  visible  scene,  always  bounded  by 
the  narrow  horizon  that  a man’s  height  commands,  was 
more  uniform  than  the  sea.  From  the  nature  of  the 
surface  Captain  Scott  concluded  that  on  this  lofty  con- 
tinental plateau  the  evaporation  from  the  frozen  surface 
equalled  if  it  did  not  exceed  the  fall  of  snow. 

Preparations  had  been  made  to  commence  cutting  a 
channel  to  the  ship  through  the  ice  from  some  islets  nine 
miles  to  seaward,  where  open  water  was  expected  to  be 
found  in  the  middle  of  December;  but  at  that  date  the 
open  sea  was  still  separated  from  the  Discovery  by  seven- 
teen miles  of  ice,  about  seven  feet  thick.  The  progress 
of  this  work  by  means  of  sawing  and  blasting  was  so 
slow  that  it  soon  became  clear  that  the  ship  could  not  be 
relieved  in  that  way.  Everyone  however  was  in  exuber- 
ant health  and  high  spirits,  and  when  on  January  5th, 
1904,  the  Morning  appeared  at  the  ice-edge  with  peremp- 
tory orders  from  home  to  leave  the  Discovery  and  return, 
the  pleasure  of  receiving  news  from  the  living  world  was 
changed  to  gloom  at  the  thought  of  having  to  desert  the 
finest  polar  ship  ever  built,  in  perfect  condition,  and  sure 
of  ultimate  release.  The  Morning  was  accompanied  by 
another  and  larger  vessel,  the  Terra  Nova,  sent  out  by 
the  Admiralty  to  ensure  the  relief  of  a party  which  hap- 
pily was  in  no  need  of  assistance.  Hard  as  it  was  to  do 
so,  steps  were  taken  to  obey  orders,  and  by  the  end  of 
January  all  the  instruments,  registers,  collections  and 
valuable  books  had  been  removed  to  the  relief  ships. 
This  was  no  sooner  done  than  the  ice  began  to  break  up, 

and  on  February  3rd  the  open  sea  was  only  six  or  seven 

27 


418  SIEGE  OE  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

miles  from  the  imprisoned  Discovery.  The  crews  of  all 
three  vessels  now  set  to  work  making  holes  in  the  ice,  in 
which  charges  of  powerful  explosives  were  placed  in 
order  to  form  cracks  and  enable  the  ocean  swell  to  do  its 
work  more  quickly.  On  the  12th  the  breadth  of  the 
remaining  ice  was  three  miles,  and  on  the  14th  it  broke 
away  so  rapidly  that  the  relief  ships  came  close  up  to 
the  Discovery,  which  was  sealed  into  a little  bay  with  ice 
from  twelve  to  seventeen  feet  thick.  On  the  16th  a final 
explosion  set  the  ship  free,  too  soon  as  it  happened,  for  a 
furious  gale  drove  her  ashore  and  for  some  time  she 
bumped  heavily  on  a shoal  and  was  in  great  danger.  No 
real  harm  was  done,  and  when  the  storm  blew  over,  the 
relief  ships  proceeded  to  supply  coal  to  the  Discovery 
though  the  two  vessels  could  spare  only  75  tons  between 
them,  a ridiculously  inadequate  amount.  On  February 
1 8th,  1904,  the  three  ships  started  northward. 

On  March  2nd  land  was  sighted,  which  was  thought  at 
first  to  be  Ross’s  Russell  Island,  but  Scott  identified  it  as 
Sturge  Island  of  the  Balleny  group,  and  clearly  recog- 
nised the  other  islands  from  MacNab’s  drawing  given  in 
the  log  of  the  Eliza  Scott.  The  opportunity  now  pre- 
sented itself  of  verifying  Wilkes’s  discoveries  of  land, 
but  the  wretched  modicum  of  coal  supplied  by  the  relief 
ships  barred  a most  interesting  and  quite  practicable 
piece  of  research.  The  relief  ships  had  disappeared. 
Scott  made  the  most  of  what  coal  he  had,  and  for  two 
and  a half  days  held  on  his  course  westward,  well  to  the 
south  of  the  Antarctic  circle,  in  clear  weather  and  open 
sea  with  icebergs  in  sight  but  no  appearance  of  land,  and 
a great  ocean  swell  heaving  in  from  the  northward  over 
the  positions  assigned  to  Ringgold’s  Knoll  and  Eld’s 
Peak.  No  appearance  of  Cape  Pludson  could  be  dis- 


Professor  Dr.  Erich  von  Drygalski. 

(Photograph  by  Messrs.  Thomson,  London). 


[ To  face  418. 


THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  419 

cerned  when,  from  its  position  on  the  chart,  it  should 
have  been  a conspicuous  object. 

On  March  5th  the  Discovery  crossed  the  Antarctic 
circle  northward,  after  having  spent  the  unprecedented 
time  of  two  years  and  two  months  within  it,  and  on  the 
19th  she  anchored  in  Laurie  Cove,  Auckland  Island,  with 
only  ten  tons  of  coal  left  in  her  bunkers.  The  Morn- 
ing and  Terra  Nova  appeared  at  this  rendezvous  a few 
days  later,  and  the  fleet  proceeded  to  Lyttleton  in  com- 
pany. 

The  Discovery  returned  to  England  by  Cape  Horn  and 
received  an  enthusiastic  welcome  on  her  arrival  in  Sep- 
tember, 1904.  The  Royal  Geographical  Society  ex- 
pressed the  general  feeling  of  pride  and  gratification  at 
the  outcome  of  the  work  by  presenting  two  gold  medals 
to  Captain  Scott,  and  steps  were  immediately  taken  to 
have  the  large  collections  and  series  of  observations 
adequately  described  and  discussed.  Scott  showed  that 
there  were  grounds  for  believing  the  great  Southern 
Barrier  to  be  the  edge  of  an  immense  field  of  ice  which 
in  some  previous  period  had  filled  the  Antarctic  Sea,  but 
was  now  so  far  reduced  in  thickness  as  to  be  afloat.  The 
great  glaciers  descending  from  the  high  plateau  of  Vic- 
toria Land  were  also  found  to  have  shrunk  greatly. 

While  the  purely  geographical  achievements  of  the  Dis- 
covery are  things  that  take  the  eye  and  have  their  value 
instantly  recognised,  the  more  important  researches  on 
magnetism,  meteorology,  oceanography,  geology  and 
biology  cannot  be  fully  appreciated  until  they  are  set  in 
the  light  of  the  simultaneous  work  done  by  the  other 
national  expeditions,  and  this  requires  time.  Not  the  least 
important  for  purposes  of  comparison  are  the  results  of 
the  German  expedition,  which  were  planned  to  be  simul- 


420  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

taneous  and  comparable  during  the  whole  of  the  first 
year  in  the  ice. 

The  work  of  organising  the  German  expedition  by  Pro- 
fessor von  Drygalski  was  greatly  helped  by  the  active 
participation  of  Admiral  Count  Baudissin  of  the  German 
Admiralty,  and  by  the  enlightened  action  of  Count  Posa- 
dowsky,  the  Imperial  Home  Secretary,  who  secured  in 
April,  1899,  a government  grant  to  cover  the  whole 
expense.  The  plans  provided  for  one  ship  with  a supple- 
mentary station  in  Kerguelen  Land  where  a scientific 
party  was  to  remain  during  the  sojourn  of  the  main  body 
in  the  ice.  The  ship  was  built  at  Kiel,  entirely  of  timber, 
was  modelled  somewhat  on  the  lines  of  Nansen’s  famous 
vessel,  the  Fram,  and  rigged  as  a barquentine.  She  re- 
ceived the  appropriate  and  inspiring  name  of  Gauss  in 
memory  of  the  great  German  mathematician  who  had 
done  so  much  to  promote  the  theory  of  terrestrial  mag- 
netism, and  indirectly  to  foster  the  international  rivalry 
in  south  polar  exploration  sixty  years  before.  The  scien- 
tific staff  included  as  naturalist,  Professor  Vanhoffen, 
who  had  been  with  Drygalski  on  his  Greenland  expedi- 
tion and  also  on  the  Valdivia;  as  surgeon,  Dr.  Hans  Ga- 
zert ; as  geologist,  Dr.  Emil  Philippi,  who  had  spent  some 
time  with  Sir  John  Murray  in  the  study  of  deep-sea 
deposits ; and  as  magnetician  and  meteorologist,  Dr. 
Friedrich  Bidlingmaier.  The  captain  of  the  ship  was 
under  the  instructions  of  Professor  von  Drygalski,  as 
leader  of  the  expedition;  he  was  Captain  Flans  Ruser  of 
the  Hamburg-American  line,  and  had  accompanied  the 
Valdivia  as  first  officer  on  her  short  but  brilliant  cruise. 
The  subordinate  officers  and  crew  were  carefully  chosen, 
and  ultimately  there  were  on  board  five  members  of  the 
scientific  staff,  five  officers,  and  twenty-two  men. 


The  ‘‘Gauss”  under  Sail. 

(Photograph  supplied  by^Professor  E.  von  Drygalski.) 


[To  face  p.  420. 


THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  421 

Although  there  were  no  naval  officers  or  men  in  the 
party  the  Gauss  was  privileged  to  sail  under  the  Imperial 
ensign.  She  left  Kiel  on  August  nth,  1901,  and  made 
a slow  voyage  to  Cape  Town,  carrying  out  much  valuable 
oceanographical  work  on  the  way.  It  was  not  until 
December  7th  that  the  expedition  left  the  Cape  and,  call- 
ing at  Possession  Islands  in  the  Crozets,  by  the  way, 
anchored  in  Royal  Sound,  Kerguelen  Land,  on  the  31st. 
Rabbits,  descended  from  ancestors  which  came  over  with 
the  Challenger,  came  hopping  down  to  the  beach  to  wel- 
come the  strangers  of  whom  they  had  no  fear,  and  the 
small  party  of  German  scientific  men  which  had  been 
landed  some  months  previously  by  a steamer  chartered 
in  Australia  were  found  completing  their  observatory. 
The  Gauss  remained  for  a month  and  then,  after  calling 
at  Heard  Island,  she  steered  south-eastward  to  investi- 
gate the  region  about  90°  E.,  between  Knox  Land,  the 
most  westerly  reported  with  any  confidence  by  Wilkes, 
and  Kemp  Land.  The  parallel  of  6o°  S.  was  crossed  on 
February  12th,  1902,  in  920  E.,  and  icebergs  were  met 
with  in  considerable  numbers.  On  the  14th  a sounding 
was  obtained  in  1730  fathoms  within  60  miles  of  the 
position  assigned  by  Wilkes  to  Termination  Land,  but  a 
close  pack  made  it  necessary  to  change  the  course  to 
southwest,  and  for  two  days  progress  was  very  slow, 
and  no  land  was  seen.  On  the  19th  soundings  were 
suddenly  struck  in  only  132  fathoms  and  the  sea  was 
clear  of  ice,  except  large  bergs  drifting  before  a strong 
southeasterly  wind. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  February  21st,  1902,  land 
was  sighted,  entirely  covered  with  ice  or  snow  and  situ- 
ated almost  on  the  Antarctic  circle.  It  lay  in  the  direc- 
tion of  Wilkes’s  Termination  Land,  but  Drygalski 


422  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

seemed  doubtful  whether  it  could  have  been  visible  from 
the  most  westerly  point  reached  by  the  Vincennes,  and 
gives  it  no  name  on  his  map.  A severe  storm  came  on; 
ice  drifted  round  the  Gauss  and  held  her  fast;  great  ice- 
bergs came  up  and  ringed  her  round  and  it  was  impos- 
sible to  get  forward  or  to  go  back.  Preparations  had 
to  be  made  for  wintering  in  the  floe.  A house  was  built 
out  of  solid  blocks  of  ice  to  serve  as  a magnetic  observa- 
tory; an  astronomical  observatory  was  also  built,  and 
meteorological  instruments  set  up  on  the  ice.  After  the 
middle  of  March  when  the  position  of  the  ship  seemed 
unlikely  to  alter,  sledging  parties  were  sent  out,  and  one 
of  these  travelling  southward  over  the  ice  reached  the 
land  in  three  days  and  a half,  and  discovered  a hill  rising 
black  and  steep  above  the  ice  fifty  miles  from  the  ship. 
The  height  of  this  hill  was  estimated  at  about  1,000  feet, 
and  it  was  named  the  Gaussberg.  March  29th  was  a 
beautiful  day,  calm  and  clear.  The  captive  balloon  was 
inflated,  and  Drygalski  ascended  to  a height  exceeding 
1,500  feet.  He  remained  aloft  for  two  hours  photo- 
graphing the  ice  and  examining  the  horizon.  The  high 
land  to  the  east  was  seen  to  be  entirely  ice-covered,  and 
to  the  south  the  black  cone  of  the  Gaussberg  stood  up 
from  the  margin  of  an  ice-clad  land  which  rose  behind 
it  to  a greater  elevation  and  extended  far  to  east  and 
west.  This  was  named  Kaiser  Wilhelm  II.  Land. 

Before  winter  set  in  a band  of  emperor  penguins  ap- 
peared, floundering  clumsily  over  the  ice  to  examine  the 
strange  creatures  who  had  invaded  their  domain.  Other 
sledging  parties  went  out  and  crossed  the  floe  in  various 
directions  to  the  land,  just  entering  the  Antarctic  region 
proper  which  the  Gauss,  sealed  in  the  floe  north  of  the 
circle,  never  penetrated.  The  winter  was  passed  in  dili- 


Mt.  Gauss,  Kaiser  Wilhelm  II.  Land. 
(Photograph  supplied  by  Professor  E.  von  Drygalski.) 


THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  423 

gent  observations  of  all  the  phenomena  that  could  be 
studied.  The  days  were  short,  but  the  party  were  on  the 
sunward  side  of  the  circle,  and  there  was  no  week-long 
darkness  to  contend  with.  The  weather  however  was 
very  bad ; tempestuous  winds  raged  for  a week  at  a time, 
whirling  the  copious  snowfall  in  fierce  blizzards,  and 
often  threatening  to  tear  the  ship  to  pieces,  though  the 
sea-ice  was  never  cracked  or  even  thrown  into  dangerous 
pressure-ridges. 

When  spring  came  sledge- journeys  were  resumed,  but 
they  were  not  for  exploration  so  much  as  for  research, 
and  the  results  have  an  importance  which  cannot  be  stated 
at  once.  No  bare  land  was  seen  except  the  solitary 
nunatak  of  the  Gaussberg,  and  when  summer  came  all 
thoughts  turned  to  the  freeing  of  the  ship.  The  ice  was 
from  15  to  20  feet  thick,  and  blasting  made  no  impression 
on  it.  A deep  trough  was  melted  in  the  ice  to  the  depth 
of  six  feet  or  more  by  the  heat  of  the  sun  beating  down 
upon  the  black  surface  of  a path  of  cinders  that  had  been 
spread  from  the  ship  to  the  edge  of  the  floe  for  that 
purpose,  and  after  many  days  a storm  came  which  first 
freed  the  floe  and  set  it  adrift,  then  cracked  it  along  the 
sun-wrought  line  of  weakness  and  the  Gauss  was  free. 

Burning  the  oily  bodies  of  penguins  as  fuel,  the  ship 
began  to  move  on  February  8th,  1903.  For  two  months 
she  struggled  in  the  ice,  trying  to  work  her  way  to  the 
westward  through  the  drifting  bergs  and  floes,  and  at 
length  in  longitude  8o°  E.  she  gave  up  the  attempt  and 
struck  northward  into  the  open  sea.  Oceanographical 
work  was  continued  and  Cape  Town  was  not  reached 
until  June  9th.  Drygalski  was  anxious  to  spend  another 
season  in  the  Antarctic  in  order  to  investigate  the  condi- 
tions between  the  newly  discovered  Kaiser  Wilhelm  II. 


424  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

Land  and  Kemp  Land ; but  an  appeal  to  the  authorities  at 
home  brought  in  reply  definite  instructions  to  return, 
and  the  Gauss  anchored  in  the  Elbe  on  November  24th, 
1903.  The  Kerguelen  party  had  suffered  severely  on 
account  of  an  outbreak  of  beri-beri,  one  of  the  scientific 
observers  died  in  the  Isle  of  Desolation,  and  the  life  of 
another  was  saved  with  difficulty.  But  the  expeditions 
had  amply  fulfilled  their  primary  object  of  accumulating 
collections  and  observations  which  it  will  take  many 
years  to  work  out  fully. 

The  first  real  Antarctic  voyage,  that  of  Cook  in  1772, 
included,  it  will  be  remembered,  both  German  and  Swed- 
ish men  of  science,  and  the  renewal  of  national  Antarctic 
research  a century  and  a quarter  later  found  the  British 
flag  accompanied  in  those  waters  by  the  German  and 
Swedish  also.  Dr.  Otto  Nordenskjold,  a nephew  of  the 
hero  of  the  North  East  Passage  Baron  A.  E.  Norden- 
skiold,  planned  an  expedition  in  1899  and  succeeded  after 
many  disappointments  in  securing  from  private  donors  in 
Sweden  funds  sufficient  for  his  enterprise.  He  had  al- 
ready travelled  as  a geologist  in  the  south  of  South 
America  and  was  anxious  to  extend  his  researches  to  the 
land  projecting  from  the  unknown  region  toward  Cape 
Horn.  He  had  procured  the  Antarctic  as  his  ship,  the 
vessel  which  had  been  the  first  after  the  Erebus  and 
Terror  to  revisit  Victoria  Land,  and  had  since  been  en- 
gaged in  scientific  expeditions  to  the  coast  of  Greenland. 
As  captain  he  was  fortunate  in  securing  the  services  of 
C.  A.  Larsen  who,  when  commanding  the  Jason,  had 
twice  visited  the  region  for  which  he  was  again  bound, 
and  the  scientific  staff  consisted  of  eight  specialists,  to 
whom  a ninth,  Dr.  J.  Gunnar  Andersson,  was  subse- 
quently added.  The  expedition  left  Goteborg  on  October 


GUz* 


[ To  /ace p.  424. 


THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  425 

16th,  1901,  visited  Falmouth  and  then  proceeded  to  the 
South  Shetlands,  calling  at  Port  Stanley  in  the  Falklands 
and  at  Staten  Island.  A young  lieutenant  in  the  Ar- 
gentine navy  had  joined  the  party,  and  the  Government 
of  the  Argentine  Republic  had  previously  undertaken  to 
establish  an  important  magnetic  and  meteorological  ob- 
servatory near  Cape  Horn. 

The  first  island  of  the  South  Shetland  group  was 
sighted  on  January  ioth,  1902,  and  after  running  down 
the  west  coast  of  Louis  Philippe  Land  and  proving  that 
Orleans  Channel  did  not  extend  through  to  Weddell  Sea 
as  D’Urville  had  supposed,  but  was  merely  a part  of  Ger- 
lache  Strait,  the  Antarctic  proceeded  to  Weddell  Sea, 
and  tried  to  get  south  along  the  coast  of  King  Oscar  II. 
Land.  The  ice  however  was  unfavourable,  the  ship 
could  not  get  near  the  coast,  nor  could  she  penetrate  quite 
as  far  as  the  Antarctic  circle.  On  the  way  back  Nor- 
denskjold,  accompanied  by  three  members  of  the  scien- 
tific staff  and  two  sailors,  landed  on  February  12th  on 
Snow  Hill  Island  in  64°  25'  S.  with  material  for  estab- 
lishing a winter  house.  The  ship  went  north  to  carry  on 
researches  in  the  open  sea  and  return  in  the  following 
spring,  and  the  leader  saw  her  no  more.  The  winter  of 
1902  was  spent  at  this  station,  and  several  opportunities 
for  long  sledge  journeys  with  dogs  were  found.  The 
chief  journey  southward  traversed  the  broad,  flat  belt  of 
ice  attached  to  the  shore  of  King  Oscar  II.  Land,  through 
which  the  Seal  Islands  rise  as  nunataks.  This  ice  was 
compared  by  Nordenskjold  to  the  great  Southern  Barrier 
of  Ross,  though  of  course  on  a small  scale,  and  he  was 
of  opinion  that  it  was  formed  in  situ  by  the  freezing  of 
sea  water  and  the  accumulation  of  snow.  The  winter 
was  characterised  by  terrible  weather,  a combination  of 


426  SIEGE  OF  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

great  cold  and  tempestuous  wind  which  for  six  months 
practically  confined  the  party  to  their  house,  fortunately 
a comfortable  timber  structure  built  in  Sweden.  Sum- 
mer returned  but  not  the  ship,  and  a second  winter,  that 
of  1903,  had  to  be  passed  in  the  ice.  When  spring  drew 
near  in  October,  1903,  Nordenskjold  started  with  a sledge 
party  to  explore  the  land  to  the  westward  round  the  base 
of  Mount  Haddington.  He  found  that  the  mountain 
was  situated  on  an  island  which  he  named  after  Ross, 
and  while  pursuing  his  way  along  the  ice  of  the  channel 
separating  it  from  Louis  Philippe  Land,  he  suddenly 
encountered  two  beings  from  whom  the  dogs  fled  howl- 
ing, and  the  leader  with  difficulty  recognised  them  as 
human.  They  were  black  from  head  to  foot,  with  long 
black  hair  hanging  down  over  their  shoulders  and  black 
bushy  beards.  They  were  Dr.  J.  Gunnar  Andersson  and 
Lieutenant  Duse,  who  had  left  the  ship  Antarctic  during 
the  previous  summer  when  it  was  clear  that  she  could 
not  reach  the  winter  camp,  and  endeavoured  to  make  their 
way  to  it  on  foot.  They  had  been  obliged  to  build  a 
hut  to  winter  in,  and  to  eke  out  their  scanty  provisions 
with  seal  blubber  which  was  also  their  only  fuel.  The 
united  party  returned  to  Snow  Hill  and  resumed  the  dili- 
gent geological  and  natural  history  survey  of  the  locality 
while  waiting  anxiously  for  the  ship. 

On  November  8th,  strangers  were  seen  approaching. 
They  proved  to  be  Captain  Irizar  and  one  of  the  officers 
of  the  Argentine  naval  vessel  Uruguay  who  had  come  to 
offer  the  party  a passage  home  as  no  news  of  the  Ant- 
arctic had  been  received.  That  very  night,  by  one  of 
those  coincidences  so  improbable  that  fiction  would 
hardly  dare  to  copy  them  from  fact,  Larsen,  the  captain 
of  the  Antarctic,  appeared  at  the  camp  with  five  of  his 


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