FOR SCIENCE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 42, 13 November 1907, Page 4

FOR SCIENCE.

fc THE -ISLANDS : .'■■- V £■■:■■ '-■'! EXPEDITION. (;•:":; ;■ . (;;', ITS ;§COPE :; AND, bBJECTS;'V';."-^; k'- (Specially Wiutten'/fob Thb Dominion.); £..■ By. Jame3 Drummorid, F.L.S. '-,■ - Tho"httW' land" ; 'of- investigators-' ''who : -,loave for the Southern, Islands-to-day will i carry with thorn tho- good wishes of all Now .. Zealanders, and the keen intorest of, all scion- ; tists. will go to tho Auckland Islands and i,';: the Campbell Islands, two small groups }'/' which .licin..tlio-Southern.Occan r -<vbout -300 '.. miles south of Now Zealand; Spending a , week or so on each group, thoy will subject ; the islands to a searching investigation; and ; it may bb presumed that whon thoy.return, I-) at tho beginning of Dccoinhor they will add to tho Dominion's; .knowledge of its sputhernf- , most possessions* Viid.to:' tliq-.world's,':know- ;■;.:'.., 'ledge- of tho island's plant and animal lifo. ! Sunk Beneath the'.Waves;;'ii.<."'::i..\>s ■ ';'"■';. Tho islands aro insignificant in size and j commercial value.T',':Tho': CampbeH' Group," is': ;' V , used as a sheep station by the Hon. W..H. V Tucker, of of in- ;■;■■' '■ .tUq-,Aiickla^d.,G'rqurj j is quite I -: : uninh'a'b'itbdi' 'Thoy havo' a romantic intc- '■ rest, however. They aro tho central points, i:. of a very beautiful theory."" It is supposed f that they arc the waifs,and strays of a vast 'y: : continent .rwjvjch :qxisted/,coiintlcss;, a'ges"..'agO(, ■'.--■' but which sank beneath tho deep waters of I ; :\ the Sbtithorn Ocean. The New Zealand ex- ;.';' ; pedition. may obtain from,.,the, jslandsi.mucb.. i''-.''Vevidenco to bliow what conditions prevailed ': -: on that old continent. Wo know a good ! deal about it already, but tho romancoof the- , mysterious has a .wonderful, fascination'-'-for 1 K ' /the and'' nOditiobal' item of in--1'",.,.' formation will-'be welbbmed. 1A DelightfuLLand, .„ ~,.. ' ' J *-. Antarctica was at tho height r of its. prosperity, it must-have been ono of ;;■':'-.' : the most delightful abodes in tho wbrldiMti ;;';'. cncircl r climate was Jt salubrious. It>was!cqvered in parts with cx- ■"■' .tensive forests and other vegetation of a rich, ;;; luxuriant, and almost tropical character. '(■■ The rains foil it. !.'•''; There wero wateVs' in "its ' wildernesses and ?;:'••,., streams in itsjaesorW, and,largo rivers' placedU{?. .".'.upon'', it and intq^thqsea..: : , Great {"■' and small animals, from insects to gigantic I'.: .hirds v larger than moas, lived in fertile dis- !■:'.[ trictsi'Srid.-Kpassed. tho-tinio-hiippily-- away,, i; 'until God stretched forth His hand against. 'V." ■•.'the land and cursed it with a dreadfulenrsqi. :-; bo thakspart* of tJio?bpt|qm-j-o| ;• -.' the sea' o.thcr 'tlierq .lias ;'-been 'clamped a cap'of ice, which, fitting ..tightly liko a stupendous : jrqfli. -helmet, has -•''' .changed the magnifibbiico !: .pf-,;■' presence :.; into the abomination of .desolation. :;'."'--,Lpst.''Antafrtlca?S'inhabltants l "-' " """V".''' ■ . At tone-ftime,,<it 'jjoined iNew with; South America on the'east l and ■■'with Aus- ,; tralia, and, perhaps): tho ; /Mauritius, Madagascar, and thp: island of , : ; 'J Iristaft-d'-Abu'nlia'-on-tti'<S ; -west/' '.T^pi'ayinjiils' i that roamed "througn'"'its 'yalloys' atid plains ;■ and upon its, shores, which wero lapped by. ~' aiicestor's'bf nteny/ .'■ '■, branches of the fauna {£? this P.oiliiuion and of vt :tho qther_ southern lands ..which still .enjoy , •-.■/•■ the,blessing I ?bf'a'g'ehi'ai cliitiat'e :: 'a'ii'd : a feftilfi-' '<:■■'[ soil. It is r prqhahlq : ,f,that- : -nia'ny..plants ,-afl.d .animateSvhich havo been the subjcct_ of much -.:■-.■.' inquiry aii(l speculation 1 bah. justly claim tritit '.',-;: their origin',dat'ds'o'ack"to thb''jpalm'y''days'bf'' ? that old time contineiit)"when"'lifo"'upon-it-was well worth ■living..vvM.;., ; lt.yj i S'!Cor,tai,ii tli»jt> ' many worthy representa|ivps; .t^ij ■',- plant and th'fc animal;, kingdoms .-found-;Lqit- ■ Antarctica.a-fcorivonient and.pleasaijt means :•',,-,by which/to \travel from" oho side' of" ! fhb" ~: globe.to thoaother.' ; Sqmq,of,.thqsq; ; Testlcss ( A; travellers left; their, tracks behind thom,y>and': ; „ their journoyings may.be.traced.tp (this,day, s E; . The Struthious '■\ ! -:'.a'^

There is a jhcory-that the 'ancestors' of .'tlio 1 , atruthious bhjds,!to which' tlio" riioa," tho emu, the! rhea, the cassowary,' arid' 'the * ostrich belong, lived in Lost Antarctica,'-arid- ■ wandered outnnto This theory is supported by;?tho distribution-'pf ; : ous birds. They now live, or havo lived, in southa.-n couiitrips all round tho:gl,obe,V.':,Al4' though the iplarids they,inhabited, arc. now.. separated byt;groat expanses of their kinship .is,.cstabh'shcd...beyond any!, .'.doubt.. Their distribution, in conjunction with other ovideyico,!shows that tfierg;.w;i's once;;']a'nd ! odji- ■ nection all round the: jSotifc'n;! F.qjs',i uniting Now Zealand to South continental areas. ; ., : ~v%V. ; '' • $?3. "ptfj. Shagis and .%$ '*%;; '{&$ Our. shags aro are more shags in Now Zealand than in any other country in 'the world. ■ It is supposed that this Dominion was a meeting placo for a migratory stream of these- birds, /"wpich camp from Patagonia across' the-old Antarctic Continont, where, finding no doubt that things were to their taste, .thoy tarried for many thousands of years. One group of Now Zealand shags, consisting of eight species, with pink or reddish legs and feet, came into the Southern Seas by way. of South America. After undergoing" r mahy'' 'altera- ■ tions inform, they'again traversed- the c'oh-i tincnt and took up their residence in South America, some 'going to Kerguelen Land. "Penguin Land!' would bo an appropriate namo for this Dpminion.l '.The; Dldc'stipbligu'im known to science rbmainsiviii, Now,' Zealand', 1 ooks, and' : thdre.j,is ionly;- one menus', of theso'\ rcniarkab}o,< 'fish'-lik© rbirdsV•■ thattiis■ not found in tkjs countryor its islands'; 1 -This' outsido genus; pfobably lived in l Lost iAnt'arti- '• tica. It travelled across, it from ..New..Zea-; land to Soutli America, and passed half way round the glpbW to'Sbutlf -Africa." Sh'ags'aticf'' penguins may, b'o safoly included'in-the"-list < of birds that inhabited Lost'Antactica. : Thoy must havo had. many'felldw-inb'a'bitants then, just as they have n6Sv/.'';Sm'6'ngst'thcs'o''tiier6' wore thei'ancestors of tho .N/ow 'Zealand 'seals;"" the ancestors, of. the three*seaV'fo'urid'exclusively in mo'dern Antarctica—Weddc'll's seal, Ross's seal,.;ahd. ancestors of the black-backed gull, the largo gull seen in New Zealand's Jsputhprn, ha.rbours; of tho restless the rare Notorni, of 'tho fanious .amph'ojbolai the salt-water snail"'fouVd'in'Now Zealand' estuaries, of tho kakapo, ; .vtho.., wry-bill,, and,other animals. Ciant Tortoises, ClyOiTheir..Testimony. ,;,„;, Another theory ''Set's 'out ]''tliat. 'giant'"'torf toises wore amongst "tho inhabitants of "tlio old continent, but the cvidonco in this re- ; gpect is not as clear'as-it 'is in regard to' other points. Giant tortoises aro in' existence. They excite curiosity on account of the isolated position thoy occupy on tho Galagagos Islands, whioh'-:lip' T 'almdst*"on'"tho Equator, and off tho ; .w.est coast of'AmericaV ■ There arc also a few surviving giant tortoises in the Mascarene: Group, ca3t of Madagascar,

but ftying-..representatives, of the race aro not fomid '* in any.' other part of tho world. The; two giants -havo- close, affinities, but in r ''neither caso have they any relatives on t-no continents that adjoin their island homes. Thoexplanation'olrorcd for this strange,tact is that tho ancestors of these animals lived in lost Antarctica; but travelled north by different traqks, ono wandonn'g up tho American coast, and tho-oth'or going.on towards a point in Lamuria, another lost continent, which fitted into a largo portion ,of tho space ."'■now- occupiod by tho Indian "Ocean. It is thought;."that:those 1 which remained on tho mainland-succumbed-to their onemies, but that those which were fortunate enough to reach tho islands, whore there were no enemies, lived in; security-.-;, , Tho rifleman, the tiniostrof I New Zealand's avifauna, and tho rock wren and green wren, H"far^aV.'th'dii'''aiiatbiiiieal'"stnict,ui , o is concerned, havo closo allies in.. Madagascar and South Americn, but do not show affinities with groups in other countries, except in ; and, in,.jpjhc- parts, pf. tho Indian Zoological region. An exclusive relationship of tho samq nature exists 'between tho birds of South America l and/Australia; showing a kinship that cannot "'bo satisfactorily explained except by tho theory of land connection across'thc'-South .Pole. ','-'". : Evidence of Humble Animals.,-,.., Ahothor link in tho. chain of evidence is tho 'discovery''in' Patagonia 'of 'marsupial re-' mains-, ploscly related to the marsupials of Australia. Tho prcsonco of "longicorn" bcctjlcs in New Zealand, Australia, and South America : .,J3;"iln'.'iinportant item of evidence. Tlj^jix^'s^W ol !^,! l63 of Now ca " ' 'land South American animals The crus- - oven: the spiders,';como forward and■ gijrQ.'their" testimony "as'lto :the;:existence of the iionoured home of an,Gostbrs. ■fThe strangest ovidcitceitifLall, liowevW, is given by'the Bonbain, of : Dunedin./inliis investigation of thoso animals a few years ago, brought to Might tho fact thq,^, there js found in New Zealand an earthworm that" hasr closer affi-' nities ! witlP species'occurring, in Patagonia, South,:',;G?oi^ia; : , , and.tlio';;Falkland ■ Islands, lifer -Ithcxbott'om.n.q^ with' /either^species'■'iiiiNow', Zoalahd." A sea journey, of course,'would not" be considered by and tho species that ilia's become so :widely distributed must have had land connection of somo kind. I i _.-,.,,.,(.,,..,. ~,.,.., ? . n ,;,„,, , Supported by the Plants.,'.;,.',! ,-',', Tho plants'support thbevidcrico. given by the 'an'i'mals. It was tho plants/ in' fact, that firsfrdiscloscd the wonderful tale to. Sir Joseph ' 'Hooker, tho famous botanist. Thoy induced 1 .'fliiini to declare, fifty years ago, that-' the similarity of tbqllora of all the' Antarctic, islands : Cape jlorn to Kerguel6n:;ljand—must be accounted'for'by a mucK.grcater extension' of land in tho SoutJi'efiC'Hqmisphere than thoro is at r pi:csqnt. Df , ,,:'Cbckay'no states that nqarly 19 por cb'ilt. of'tifb/fibra qf v i\ r cw Zealand'is composed of species found in the " :son*hern part, of South America.' ~- A" rata \ forest grows in'tlld Auckland Islands, r The rata, of course, is a typical Now!; Zealand tree 1 , nnd.jts presence on islands; 300 miles away, is takoii_as good evid'enco'-'that Nsw i -Zealand .once -extended south than it does now. On on Ewing Island, an.djin a. : few places ; jqn;;tho Auckland . Islands, olearia\i,jyalli;forest,'and' Dr. I Cockayne has cxpressed'Hhe' opinion that olea'ria lyalli "Tormcd tho forest-iof a part or ; Lost Antarctica,,-,' -The latest : ,ovidchco submitted ~,bj' tho pjOjiits,'. and- ( , probably tho strongest, is supplied by tlid' fossil leaves " "found~.it""a"" high "altitudo-in-Soutlr A 7 ictoria • Mr.':--Ferrar,'-: tho,f-"geologist' of the . National,.Antarctic. Expedition .which went to tho south ,in the .Discovery, Tho evidence \ jSpfjhijsfjJ corrobora- \ old plant' ■qo'vefihg"of thei continent, which must havo :-hadVa,"genial'clinia'to;-or, at any rate, a' less rigorous one, than it now,, possesses, in order '. -. '.A Dreadful! Fate-."'. 1 -.'!..; \ v:\:. ■'■" '"But'only a'fow of ''the'plant and animal in- ' ' habitants .'qf .'Lost .Antarctica can. bo traced. ,',' Manyjrd'qpartpd,; Icaying.- absolutely no record : tli9ir.existence.. Vl .,We, pii.ly guess what [, ..took .place, when tho. ,lancl... began to sink, when the climate cooled, and when tho ico crept slowly,but -surely .over-, -tho portion that ./was still'dry land. /'Sonic-' animals wandered out and escaped the dreadful fate that bv.cr- ■ took' ; thb''boautifW"'continont. Others, no ' -doubt,- adapted -themselvcs-to -tho changed '. .conditions, tUfltil ..o.you adaptation was in yam, ■-. and nothing but death remained. • ... I •Hjtli'}will;*})e' -New Zflaiandfs'ci'e4Wsp.'it : d. a'fli!l:rttb' ( !:pur , :'k'nowledgo : pf,-,-.tljo Lost' Cpiitlrient. ,\» too ; :,mueh should noi:-po' , espeoted'.'froni tijo-'ibxpedition. Tho ro- - v^i'irt-s'Kiria^lbbjgreat majrbo small. !i ' vmugli' dbpeiiijs' upon'.' th'e| ; weather,' and on ' othor considerations. A few rainy days will rotaid operations, 'ijew/. members of tho exr pedition havo definite linos of, work to go f '';UpbpTJli.':con'ncctioit.;Nvith.:;tljo.:'cpntiuent, but " Ithcy-will bo specially alive to'anything bear- '■ ing on the point.-, "' *'

There.Jß,,9f,-,cpurso,-p.lei]ty .to occupy their attention/ '-The. natural history of tlio-southern-islands has an interest of its own, as the natural history of all inlands, 1ia5..,..80th .groups, have. been visited by 'scientists' "before,, 'but tliero is always "something" fresh to'loam. 1 Ornithplogically, the Auckland Islands aro interesting on ac..onunt of several birds that aro.faund there anJ'in no other part of the world. There is, ■ : 'f or "instance, an Auckland Island '•merganser, /a'-bir'd called the "sea duck." 'No'-mcrganscr is 'found in Now Zealand or Australia, or any other country .nearer than Brazil'.'"' It would bV' interesting to know what that isolated j''species ■ is'' doing''in ; tlio Auckland Islands, •thousands of miles away from all the other members of the family. There is also, on tho Auckland"' Islands, a flightless duck, which" was'represented''iit the. rccqnt International Exhibition in' Christchurch". How iias.it lost the jiowcr of flight? A snipe, a lark,'and'a also are found only on Jjho...Auckland 'Islands.,"• Wo would like *-o know: moro than.Wq. do"; about tho habits >f those, birds. Thorn are tholiostsof sea birds on 'both 'groups of islands, and tho crustaceans,and ■insects, and other forms of life, r-aiirl theigeDlpgy.,and.botany. . : .' . Magnet jo. Observations;; :•,,.... "It is expr,cted..thatjinportaiit'.w,ork w ill bo ilbnb' ii'i the field f.f torrostial; magnetism. Dr. C.. Coleriflgo ..Farr, and Messrs. 11. P. Sky and. E! Kidsoji' will, undcrtako the obscrva"tioijs! iii .this' department of science. Their ..work "gain's^'in, importance by the .fact that 'the Nin!ro.d,!whjch'wi)j.:tako Lieut. Shackleton's. expedition to the Antarctic, will arrive at'iiyttelton soon, and will meet there tho Galileo, which has been sent out by tho Car .ncgio Instituto of. Washington. , Both these vessols aro equipped with apparatus for taking'lfiagii'dtitf observations. 'They will work 'iii*co-operation*with,the New,Zouland scientific expedition,,.and.;with the Christchurch 'Magnetic" Observatory. Id" this way much

will be done towards completing tho magnetic survey of tho South Pacific, representatives of tho United Kingdom, America, and Mow Zealand uniting in their efforts in this direction.

\ Tho expedition has been divided into two parties. One will go to each group of islands. It has been arranged that there will bo zoologists, botanists, geologists, and magnotic observers at both stations. There will be many enmeras in tho expedition, and tho Canterbury Philosophical Institute, which is advising tho Government in regard to the arrangements, will h'nvo a comploto sot of ill the photographs taken. This,, will bo very valuable for reference. There will bo prepared a comprehensive scries. of official reports, setting out tho results, and articles and photographs will, bo submitted to tho loading newspapers of tho Dominion in order that tho general public may-bo made, acquainted with tho expedition's operations. As Rtatr.il before, circumstancos may be against a high degree of success, and it would hardly bo right to expect too much from tho expedition; but all the scientists aro conscientious observers, and tho results of their enterprise will bo very interesting. The expedition is tiio most important of the kind got together in Now Zealand. It has give i scientific work in these parts a great impetus. Satisfaction is expressed at tho fact that the Government, has doho much to help it. In this respect, it might ,ho said; Sir. Joseph Ward's Government has made a hew* departure, as previous Governments have done very littlo in the interests of pure science.