CHALLENGE: see DUEL, JURY.
The scientific results of several short expeditions between 186o and 1870 encouraged the commissioning of a vessel for a prolonged cruise for oceanic exploration. H.M.S. "Challenger," a wooden corvette of 2,306 tons, under Captain (afterwards Sir) George Nares with a scien tific staff under Prof. (afterwards Sir) C. Wyville Thomson as director, was sent out in Dec. 1872. The staff included John Murray (afterwards Sir) and H. N. Moseley, biologists; Dr. von Willemoes-Suhm, Commander Tizard and J. Y. Buchanan, chem ist and geologist. The Atlantic was crossed several times. From Cape Town south-east and east the ship visited the various islands between 45° and 5o° S., reached Kerguelen island in Jan. 1874, and proceeded south about the meridian of 8o° east. She was the first steamship to cross the Antarctic Circle; early in March she made for Melbourne. Thence the route led by New Zealand, the Fiji islands, Torres strait, the Banda sea, and the China sea to Hongkong. The western Pacific was then explored northward to Yokohama, after which the "Challenger" struck across the ocean by Honolulu and Tahiti to Valparaiso. She then coasted south, penetrated the Straits of Magellan, touched at Montevideo, re crossed the Atlantic by Ascension and the Azores, and reached Sheerness in May 1876. The "Challenger" Report was issued in 5o volumes (London, 1880-95), mainly under Sir John Murray, who succeeded Wyville Thomson in 1882.
See also Lord G. Campbell, Log Letters from the "Challenger" (1876) ; W. J. J. Spry, Cruise of H. M. S. "Challenger" (1876) ; Sir C. Wyville Thomson, Voyage of the "Challenger,' The
Preliminary
of General Results (1877) ; J. J. Wild, At Anchor; Narrative of Experiences afloat and ashore during the Voyage of H.M.S. "Challenger" (i878) ; H. N. Moseley, Notes by a Naturalist on the "Challenger" (i879).
