Exploration ceased for a time, the whaler Dallmann, some 30 years after (1873) reaching 64° 45' S. Twenty years later (1892) Robinson discovered Dundee Island. Larsen, sailing under the flag of Sweden in 1893, found fos sils on Seymour Land and added land along the east coast of Palmer Land to 68° 10', which he called King Oscar Land. Evensen in the same year at tained 69° 10' S., 76° 12' W. Sweden had by this time taken up Antarctic ex ploration very seriously, and a few years later a thoroughly well-planned scientific expedition under Baron Nordenskjold set out for the South Polar regions. Nor denskjold discovered two flora of the Jurassic and Tertiary periods on Sey mour Island, and mapped the eastern coast of Palmer Land to 66° 8'. A French explorer, Charcot, on two voyages, 1903 and 1910, extended the coast of Palmer Land to the southwest. He made im portant discoveries that added much to the knowledge of the region. He navi gated through what he named the Pour quoi Pas? from 60° to 124° W., chiefly between lat. 69° and 70°, sailing a great deal of unknown water. He discovered two entirely new regions which he named Loubet Land in honor of the President of France, and Charcot Land, presum ably in honor of himself. His chief contribution to South Polar geography was the proof that Palmer Land was a vast continuous area—in reality a con tinent, and not divided by water as pre vious explorers had held. Following these and previous explorations, there has ensued a development of the fisheries of these regions totaling yearly several million dollars, over which from 50° S. Great Britain has proclaimed control.
The Australian quadrant has always been regarded as the nearest and best way of reaching the South Pole itself. The largest portion of Antarctica, too, lies in this boundary. Still it was the last to invite the explorer. The first credit belongs to a Captain Balleny (1839), who added five islands to the maps in long. 165° E., lat. 67° S. The first enterprise of real importance was the small U. S. squadron under Captain Wilkes (1840), which followed the Ant arctic circle for 1,600 miles. Land was seen now and then. The same year a French squadron under D'Urville discov ered Adelie Land, whereupon a meteoro logical station was located. He was about 700 miles from Wilkes' route. Other so called land mapped by D'Urville, how ever, later proved to be only glacier. Drygalski (1902), following largely in the track of Wilkes, confirmed his dis coveries, which had been more or less discredited for half a century. Lieuten ant Ernest Shackleton's two expeditions in this section—in 1909 and 1912—were highly important to the annals of explo ration so far as it could be extended in such a region. Douglas Mawson set out from Australia in 1911 to explore much debatable country. He added King
George V. Land to the map, extending as far south as lat. 70° 30' S. His com panion Wild, meantime, discovered and mapped Queen Mary Land. Davis (1912) discovered unknown land between Maw son and Wild.
All these discoveries, extending over 55 degrees of longitude, have finally given some reality to the size of the great ice-continent, and it is now believed be yond question that Antarctica stretches unbroken between the Kaiser Wilhelm Land of Drygalski (1902) 86° E. and Carmel Land, discovered by Amundsen, in 158° W. over 116 degrees of longitude. Mawson discovered glaciers in King George Land, which cover more than 1,000 square miles in the ocean. One of Lieutenant Shackleton's discoveries was an ice-cap—named for him—cover ing 36,000 square miles of the Antarctic Ocean, and 180 by 200 miles in length and breadth. The largest ice-cap known, however, is Ross' Barrier, discovered by Ross (1841), of which Scott, one of Shackleton's lieutenants, estimates the surface area at 120,000 square miles, which is larger than the states of New York and Pennsylvania combined. No sketch of Antarctic discovery should omit the great value of the finds of J. C. Ross (1841). He added nearly 8 degrees of longitude to Victoria Land, discovered the Ross "Barrier," and reached lat. 78° 10' S., long. 161° 27' E. Borchgrevink (1900) passed the first winter by man within the Arctic Circle and reached 78° 50'.
Scott, of England (1901-1903), discov ered King Edward VII. Land between long. 152° and 153° W. He made a definite effort to reach the southern mag netic pole the following year, attaining 82° 17' S. Shackleton, in 1909, in a dash for the Pole, made a wonderful journey, by sledge, making the record of 88° 23' S. He got within 97 miles of the Pole and within 366 miles of the record. Scott's second expedition (1911-1913), was tragical, in that it resulted in the death of himself and four companions on their way back from having finally found the Pole. They reached it Jan. 18, 1912, to find Amundsen's record of his own discovery 35 days before. Roald Amund sen, long inured to Polar adventure in the north, set out from Norway in 1911 with the avowed conquest of the South Pole. He started from the edge of the great Ross Barrier where he had wintered in sledges, and after an 870 mile journey located the southern apex of the planet on Dec. 14, 1911. It is on a plateau of 10,500 feet altitude above sea-level—and there are no mountains in the vicinity. Amundsen also made the important dis covery of the southerly extremity of the Ross oceanic ice-cap (Ross Barrier) in 85° S. 164° W., adding to the knowledge of the extent of the continent of Ant arctica. See AMUNDSEN, ROALD.