MOUNTAINS OF ANTARCTIC.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 19502, 26 December 1928, Page 10

MOUNTAINS OF ANTARCTIC.

ICE-BOUND ACTIVE VOLCANOES.

SCENES OF RUGGED GRANDEUR

[By Alec F. ODonohce.]

At the present time, when so much interest centres around Antarctic exploration, when Explorer Byrd, with his well-equipped expedition, is actually on the threshold of the Great White South, at a time such as this it is opportune to discuss with the multitudes who are so keenly interested in the great undertaking, „ some of tho outstanding features of that treacherous, forbidding land over which the operations are to be carried out —a land that ever beckons the adventurous spirit into the depths of its secret treasures, where achievement and glory are won only after prolonged and determined straggles against the most bitter elements and most adverse conditions that this world presents to man.

But in the midst of all the terrors and rigours of the Antarctic Contingent there is a wealth of mountain grandeur so varied in its form, so overwhelming in its magnificence, that it has no parallel the world over, and the sight of which carries with it many compensations for the hardships endured. The most majestic of these mountains are situated on the borders of the Ross Sea, directly to the south of New Zealand, and about one thousand miles distant. The first to come into view as the south-bound ship 'hreads her way through the treacherous icefloes are the bewildering volcanoes. Mts. Erebus and Terror, standing like mighty sentinels on' Ross Island, at the very of the Great Ice Barrier, guarding the gateway to" the secrets that are hidden within the Great White 'nterior.

Mt. Terror, rearing her heights to 11,290 feet, is no longer an active volcano, but her companion, Mt. Erebus, continuously belches forth her columns of smoke and steam; with occasional flows of molten lava down her icebound slopes. Thus we have the extraordinary spectacle of a burning mountain of the utmost activity in the midst of this vast frozen isolation. The other, Erebus, the greatest of all the Antarctic mountains, reaches a height of 13,500 feet, being something more than 1000 feet higher than our Mt. Cook of the Southern Alps. . These two volcanoes were discovered by Sir James Clark Ross during his expedition in the year 1840, and named by him after the two ships which carried the expeditionary party. Sir James, too. discovered and mapped the frontier. The Great Ice Barrier, the greatest known ice-sheet on earth, the area of which is estimated to exceed 160.000 square miles, extends from South Victoria Land in the east to King Edward Land in the west, a distance of some 500 miles, and southwards to the mountains that border the Great Polar Plateau. The Great Barrier. Some controversy has prevailed among Antarctic explorers as to whether the Great lee Barrier is anchored on land or is floating oh tho open seas. The scientists of Scqtt's expedition are unanimousjy of the opinion that the Barrier is a floating ice-shelf, while Amundsen's scientists declare that it has its foundations on land, ft would be'reasonable to assume, however, that tho barrier has an extensive land anchorage protruding to the f»Mitre from its eastern, western, and southern land borders, with an equal flotation area along its expansive northern face, and from which the icebergs of the South Pacific are cast adrift each year. From the southern extremity of the Great Ice Barrier, the land commences to rise gradually until the maximum elevation of 10,000 ft on the Great Polar Plateau is reached, the distance between the southern extremity of the Ice Barrier and the South Pole, which is on the elevated Plateau, being 'approximately 450 miles. But the great mountain chain, the rugged grandeur of which has cast a spell over succeeding Antarctic expeditions, lies to the west of the volcanoes, Erebus and Terror, and is held in proud possession by the tempest-swept South Victoria Land, which is separated from Ross Island by the frozen waters of McMurdo Sound. This grand range bears the aristocratic name of the Koyal Society Range. It is about one hundred miles in length, extending in a south-easterly direction from Cape Adare. And for fifty mile's from its northern extremity it is studded with an array of mountain peaks, the magnificence of which has called from geographers such descriptive accounts as no other rugged scenes the world over can inspire.

The highest of this wonderful group is Mt. Lister, which attains a height of 13,000 ft above its icy throne. Lister is closely attended by Mt. Huggins, with a height of 12,870 ft, whilo Mt. Hooker, Mt. Victoria, and Mt. Ruclter, all bordering on the 12,000 ft mark, are studded at intervals, in a southerly direction along the rugged chain. Lesser peaks which play a prominent part in the adornment of the wonderful picture are Mt. Melbourne, Mt. Discovery, and Mt. Morning. The majority of the peaks were named by Sir James Clarke Ross. In addition to naming the volcanoes, Erebus and Terror, after the ships which carried this expedition, Mt. Lister was named after the great Lord Lister to whom Science and humanity owe an eternal gratitude; Mt. Hooker is named in honour of the renowned scientist-traveller, Sir Joseph Hooker, while Mt. Huggins and Mt. Rucker are named after onetime office bearers of the Royal Society. Mt. Discovery and Mt. Morning were named by Captain Scott, after two of his expeditionary ships.

Monarchs of the South,

Perhaps the most graphic description of these monarchs of the South is written by Mr H. G. Ponting, the official photographer and cinematographer to Scott's last tragic expedition. Ponting, in his charming book entitled, "The Great White South," refers to these j mountains in the following terms:— "Away to the west," he says, "whenever the weather was unusually clear, there unfolded to our view, a panorama j such as I doubt the world can elsewhere 1 parallel Since that memorable day when first we saw the Western Mouni tains across McMurdo Sound, we had seen the peaks under every phase of shade and light and shadow; we had seen th6m freshen to the morning, basking at noonday, and dozing in the evening in those sunny, summer days. And we had watched them sleeping with j wide open eyes under the mellow light, of the midnight sun. We had seen them j lashed and tormented by the autumn I tempests until obliterated from We had seen them suffused with gory j ifter-£?lows and retreat like spectres 1 into the polar night. We saw them' bear their fangs unto the moon and had watched them wake from their long winter slumber and blush to the kiss of the returning sun. _ , | "No words of mine, wrote Captain Scott, in his diary, "can convey the impressiveness of the wonderfu panorama that lay before our eyes. "For my part, adds Ponting, I have felt the spell of the rugged beauty of the Alps and the enchantment of the varying moodfl of the sacred Fujiyama,

I have seen morning gild the mighty Everest; and evening stain the snows'of. Kinchinjunga. I haye viewed the Spanish Sierras from the towers of the Alhambra; and pinnacles from the summit of Mont Blane. I have seen the rugged Canadian Rockies and the pine clad Sierra Nevadas; the shapely Californian Shasta, and the exquisite Javanese Merapi. "And in similar latitudes at the other end of the earth, I ; have seen the midnight sun shine on the crags and tablemountains of Spitzbergen. "Higher mountains I have seen —higher by far—but in all the world I know of none more serenely beautiful than those fifty miles of snowy heights in tempest-swept Victoria Land, as seen from Eoss Island, across the frozen sea." _ Thiß, then, is the considered opinion of a world-famed traveller and mountain climber, one who lias enjoyed and photographed the mountain scenery of every country of the world, giving his final decision in favour of these lonely mountains of the great Antarctic Continent. The history of the. Antarctic and ot Antarctic exploration opens up unlimited avenues for reflection. The unique ! bird, fish, and mammal life obtaining 1 there; the weird volcanoes telling of the I molten interior of that vast icebound continent; , the splendour of the great • icebergs, as they break away from the 1 Polar ice, and drift off on their north- ' em mission each year; the bewildering magnificence of the Aurora Australis, and the uncanny glow of the Midnight Sun; the dreary months of tho long, dark night; the bitter driving blizzards; | and, finally,' the sledging journeys with thoir attendant hardships, and the glorious accomplishments of the dauntless explorers, all awaken within us a keen appreciation for the wonderful works of Nature, and tin undying admiration for the invincible explorers, who have accomplished so much in the face of such terrible circumstance*