ANTARCTICA.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LX, Issue LX, 29 October 1910, Page 5

ANTARCTICA.

[By Telegraph: — Special to Star/] CHRISTCHURCH, Oct. 28. . There was a thick fog at the entrances to Lyttelton harbor to-day, and_ there was a big party of pressmen in the Harbor Board's tug that had to wait for several hours in the early morning watching for some sign of the TerraNova. At last, about 8 o'clock, the topmasts suddenly appeared above the bank of clouds ; and the vessel which will take Captain Scott 3 s band of explorer's to the Antarctic regions came slowly xowards the Heads, looking very stately and very 1 majestic, with her lines standing out clearly against the sky. The Terra " Nova was not built for show, but for honest hard workj and her first appearances do not^ count tor much. It is only with very close acquaintance that her qualities are recognised, and when the great strength of her structure is seen it is easy to understand how she faces the perils she is called upon to combat. The interest in the vessel herself is second only to the interest in the men on board. They are young men, with somewhat slight figures,, clean-shaven faces, menial manner, and cheerful temperament. Coming up the harbor this morning I met a friend in Dr Wilson, head of the scientific staff, whom I was fortunate enough to meet when he came to Christchurch some ten years ago with Captain Scott's first expedition. He is very enthusiastic in regard to the possibilities before the scientific branch of the expedition, and he talked freely of what he hoped would be done in ornithology, ichthyology^ bacteriology, and all the other sciences. He told me that the structure of the great ice barrier would be examined, and that many "* things would be at 'least attempted. The spirit which animates these en- • thusiastic scientists is shown by his reply to the question I made jokingly in regard to the probabilities of finding gold in the Antarctic: "We are not looking for gold," he said; "and we will be much better pleased if we find some fossil remains, or new parasite, or something of the kind." Each scientist has a special branch of investigation which he is determined x to follow as far as conditions in the South will allow. Another feature disclosed by conversations is the boundless confidence of all in' their commander, and the general spirit of comradeship which prevails. They are all determined to do something which will add to the knowledge of the regions to which they are going. Of course they all say that they must obtain the South Pole for the British Empire, and this object is evidently being kept steadily in view. There will be some disappointments if Captain Scott comes back without having unfurled the Union Jack at the t Pole; but the expedition - hopes it will have compensation for that in the feeling that it will have done something for science, and have shown what men can do in the way of endurance. The Terra Nova will be unloaded i»> Lyttelton, then loaded up again, and will probably be ready to begin her voyage south on November 20.

Herr Maximilian Harden, editor of 'Die Zukunft,'- and Dr Carl Peters, the founder of Germany's African Empire, state publicly that the inhabitants of German South-west Africa are so discontented with German rule that they contemplate abandoning the German flap: and joining the South African Fedorntion. These colonists are dissatisfied, presumably, with the bureaucratic control which is exercised over them by the officials, many of whom go straight from Berlin without any roal . knowledge of or sympathy with colonial life One German colony contains "n ore Government officials than whif© inhabitants, and it is a matter of common knowledge that Germans, when they emigrate, p,o _ preferably to British colonies, and, indeed, to any part of the world but one of their own posessions.