STORM LASHES EXPEDITION

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28491, 22 January 1958, Page 8

STORM LASHES EXPEDITION

Weather Station In Antarctic

(N.Z. Press Assoeiatton—Copvrlght) ON BOARD THALA DAN, January 20.

A 90-miles-an-hour storm has been lashing tiny Lewis Islet, where three Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition technicians were left eight days ago to adjust and test a. new automatic weather station while the Thala Dan attempted to explore the coast ot Oates Land. This news came from the islet when the Thala Dan, the Australian expedition ship, re-established contact with the rest of the Antarctic world when she emerged from the fog and icepack west of the Balleny Islands last night. Those at Lewis Islet reported that all was well and that the installations had stood up to the battering of the furious storm excellently. The Thala Dan’s battle to escape from the pack delayed her for several days, and she is now unlikely to relieve those at Lewis before the week-end. Unknown Range

Mawson Station, more than 2000 miles to the west, reports that a field party led by Keith Matthew was turned back 370 miles south by a previously unknown mountain range and an area of heavy crevassing. They were now 320 miles from the base and expected to be “home” by February 10. The expedition has yielded valuable scientific information.

A dense winter pack linking a gigantic iceberg maze stopped the Thala Dan 100 miles off the shores of the continent on Wednesday morning. The explorers planned to investigate the little-known Ninnis glacier tongue, which shoots out from the coast of King George V Land, between longitudes 145 and 150, and also to map unknown sections of the coast near Cape Freshfield, but there was no chance of smashing through the frozen sea.

After twisting and turning in the sinuous passages of the iceberg fiords, the ship anchored in a calm pool amid the pack.