THE ANTARCTIC OCEAN HISTORICAL NOTES The discovery of the continent of America by Columbus revived in full force the theoretical notion of the old geogra phers relative to the existence of a vast continent to the south. The search for this Terra Australis Incognita—as the pro bable southern continent was called—engrossed the attention of the maritime nations of Europe for more than 200 years.
In Jan. 1600, a Dutch squadron, bound for the East Indies, passed through the Strait of Magellan into the Pacific. One vessel, however, commanded by Dirk Cherrits, failed to enter the straits, and was driven south, and in lat. 64° dis covered a snow-covered coast, afterwards named New South Shetland. Captain Kerguelen, in 1769-70, explored the area between Desolation or Kerguelen Island and Australia. The existence of a great continent was, however, still entertained, and on the 13th of July, 1772, the famous Captain Cook sailed from Plymouth in command of H.M.S. Resolution, accom panied by H.M.S. Adventure, Captain Furneaux. The object of the expedition is thus stated by the great navigator : " Whether the unexplored part of the Southern Hemisphere be only an immense mass of water, or contain another continent, as speculative geography seemed to suggest, was a question which had long engaged the attention, not only of learned men, but of most of the maritime powers of Europe. To put an end to all diversity of opinion about a matter so curious and important, was his Majesty's principal motive in direct ing this voyage to be undertaken." On the 22nd November, the same year, the expedition left the Cape of Good Hope for the south, and on the 14th of December they first sighted the ice. The Antarctic Circle was crossed on the 17th Jan. in long. 39%35' E., but the gradual accumulation of ice-fields and bergs obliged Cook to retrace his way north again. On the evening of the 8th February the Adventure was lost sight of in a fog, and pro ceeded to Queen Charlotte Sound, in New Zealand, where she was joined by the Resolution. The following summer the vessels again parted company on their way south. The Reso lution crossed the Antarctic Circle and pushed south, the highest point reached (30th Jan. 1774) being in 71° 10' S. lat., and 106° 54' W. long., where she was stopped by an immense ice-field, and obliged to return north. Cook says that this ice-field "extended east and west, far beyond the reach of sight . . . 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 composed of loose or broken ice, close packed together, so that it was not possible for any thing 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. I will not say it was impossible anywhere to get further to the south, but the attempting it would have been a dangerous and rash enterprise." In his third expedition to the south, Cook discovered South Georgia, and the Sand wich group called by him Southern Thule. Cook thus sums up the results of his observations :—" I had now made the circuit of the Southern Ocean in a high latitude, and traversed it in such a manner as to leave not the least room for the possi bility of there being a continent, unless near the pole"; and he considers that "a final end has been put to the searching after It southern continent, which has at times engrossed the attention of the maritime powers for two centuries past, and has been a favourite theory amongst the geographers of all ages "; but still he firmly believed that "there is a tract of land near the pole, which is the source of most of the ice that is spread over this vast Southern Ocean." The idea of a vast continent between the 50th and 70th parallels was thus dispelled, and Antarctic exploration was consequently neglected. The South Shetlands, first seen by Cherrits in 1599, were accidentaly re-discovered by Mr. Smith, of the brig William, bound for Valparaiso. Smith reported the discovery to H.B.M.'s Consul at Valparaiso, who sent the Andromache, Capt. Barnsfield, to explore the islands. In 1821 several discoveries were made to the south and west of the South Shetlands—Trinity Land, first seen by Powell ; Palmer's Land by an American, Palmer ; Petra and Alexander Islands by the Russian, Bellinghausen. In 1822 Weddell set out with two vessels, the Jane, of 160 tons, and the Beaufoy, of 65 tons, to procure seal skins in the South Seas. Ice was first met with in lat. 37', near the South Orkneys. The highest latitude was reached in January 1823, in lat. 74° 15', long. 35° W., nearly three de grees further south than Cook.