THE ANTARCTIC.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXIII, Issue 15901, 12 April 1912, Page 9

THE ANTARCTIC.

CAPTAIN AMUNDSEN IN SYDNEY

THE JAPANESE. EXPLORERS

Captain Amundsen, tho successful | Norwegian explorer, told the people of Sydney how lie conquered the South Pole in the course of a lecture last week. He looked nervous, according to the reporters, but he told his story • in a clear, straight-forward manner. Professor David supported the explorer on the platform. “ All honour,” said Professor David, “ to this magnificent explorer, the hero of the, South Pole and the North-west ■Passage. (Loud applause.) He is a splendid, all-round man, a groat sportsman, a wonderful navigator, and enthusiastic scientist, and a great, self-deny-ing explorer, whose ono aim in life is to . do the best for scientific advancement. In the paper to-day you have read how the noble and heroio Scott struggled in order to place his country’s flag at the Pole, next the flag of old Norway. “A statement appeared somewhere that Amundsen did not give notice to Scott of his intention to be a competitor in the race for the South Pole. This is not correct. ' Before he left Captain Amundsen telegraphed, saying: ‘ TheFram'is going to the Ant-' arctic.’ Thero was nothing unsportsmanlike in Amundsen’s dash for the Pole. All was fair and square and above board. to-day no single individual in the world questions his right to the honour he has won. Captain Scott will ere this have reached the South Pole. When he returns his first action will be to send a hearty and ungrudging message to the successful competitor from the land of heroes, dear old Norway.”

THE JAPANESE STORY,

KING EDWARD VII. LAND AN t 1 ISLAND.

‘.‘ We cannot give you full information at present,” said Professor Takeda, of tho Japanese Antarctic expedition, to a representative of the Sydney “Daily Telegraph.” “We are preparing to hand over a record of the trip to . Professor David. This we will do when we get back to Japan, and he will forward the account. on to the Cambridge University in England. The work will be of considerable value, including, as it does, meteorological, astronomical, as' well as biological and feological observations. After wo left ydney on November 19 we went straight to the Bay of Whales, which is in 78deg S. latitude and 14odeg to , .lfktdeg W. longitude. Here we took triangular surveys, and collected a largo variety of stones, rocks, etc. To one part of a very big icefield we gave the name of Yamato Plain. “ A great question in the scientific wprld is whether King Edward VII. Land and Victoria Land are connected by land. We have proof now that King Edward VII. Land is an island. Professor David thought this, too. Another 'interesting observation was as to the structure of tho ice barrier, and the cause of the peculiarities of its formation. We specially consulted Professor David before we left on this matter, and we took’ a specimen and made microscopical investigations, which caused great interest. “We found the land at the Bay of Whales and King Edward VII. Land different from what it is shown on the chart. Wo surveyed' both land and sea. The specimens we collected hero, the soundings and other data, wo will hand over to Professor David before proceeding to Japan. We also investigated all tides, the warmth of the water, its saltness and other things. Wo had four trips in the Boss Sea, j and took the average of each observation. The photographic work we are 1 preparing to send to the Sydney University from Japan. :. « Y«s, we found our experience pretty

hard, but we are all in tlio best of health. The only man who suffered was the ship’s carpenter, and ho to only a small extent. The most dangerous part we met was the Bay of Whales. The ice barrier there is 300 ft high. It just resembles the Sydney Hoads, only that the cliff is of ice, with rough and jagged overhanging ledges, ready to break down at any minute. It was here wo saw the Fram. According to Captain Amundsen, it took his party a month to land his provisions. Unfortunately we had not much time, and we did it in two and a half days. We cut our road from the bottom. The party took twenty-nine dogs with them, and brought back half the number. It is expected that the exploring ship will reach Japan in June.”