"META INCOGNITA"

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 121, 18 November 1929, Page 13

"META INCOGNITA"

AN EXPEDITION'S RETURN

PLEISTOCENE ICE CAP

(From "The Post's" Representative.)

NEW.XOBK, 16th October

The locating of the last remnant of tho ice cap that once covered 4,000,000 square miles of the earth was one of the outstanding accomplishments of tho Canadian Arctic expedition of Lieut - Commander Donald MacMillan, just returned from the North. Other noteworthy achievements, were assembly of a collection of specimens for a comparative study of sea and brook trout, and the first scientific collection of flora and fauna from Frobisher 's Bay region. The Bowdoin, a sturdy schooner which lias taken the explorer north for a number of years, and which during the late summer withstood a 12-day assault by the ice pack, had the uncomfortable experience of being lifted clear of the water uitil an eddy whirled the pack and loosened the ice, and the schooner slid, back into the water. Lieut.-Com-mander MacMillan made his way out by trailing a large 'berg. The ice cap, or " Meta Incognita " (unknown land) lies between Hudson Strait and Frobisher's Bay. It now covers 700 square miles, and, so far as bieut.-Commander MacMillan could determine, is getting smaller. For years scientists have been seeking information concerning it, as it was the last remnant of the Pleistocene period, which covered all of North-eastern America tq a depth of 5000 feet. It is estimated that the ice cap existed for 35,000 years. Lieut.-Commander MacMillan took photographs, which will determine from year to year whether it is receding. Next summer he will erect rock cairns, to determine the rate of recession. ■. Dr. Endall, of the 'United States Bureau of Fisheries, told of finding the "gamest" fish he had ever known north of Frobisher's Bay. It appeared to bo true sea trout, as distinguished from the so-called sea trout of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

Buttercups, • violets, and dandelions were picked among the cracks and crevasses of rocky, barren land, with practically no soil.