THE SIXTH CONTINENT.

North Otago Times, 1 December 1904, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE SIXTH CONTINENT.

A CKKAT I'.XPLOKF.Ii'S HE.MAJiIC AI!I;K TIIKOIiY UKCAIIDINC TIIK SOI'TH POLK. I'ltrsU'ii Burrhgrevink, the Am limit' <;x|iliin;r, declares the sixil i.'oniini'iil in* Ihe world lies nt lln Sonlli Pole. "As i.o Polar exploration, norll mid soulli." snys ho, "two thingt ire nhnve dispute In my mind : As the Xorlh I'oli' is surrounded by ivnli'r, so tlic Sulil.li Pole, is sill'roiimli'il liy hiliil. I hiivi< I lie best •■•iisoiis in lie world In believe Mini mi' oi' my successors in South Poll .•xploraiion. or myself, if I hurry, irill find llu'i'i' Comini'iil Xo. li. "I lliink the roiilinenl, of Hit loulh Pol.' is ulioiit i wire the size if Kurope. and I do noi base my en I - ■iilniioiis mi (henry alone. Here is !ir theoretical explanation: The •nrih is spherical or globular in duipe—dial is set tliml. is il mil. ? <n\v. tin- N'orilii'i'ii llcmcsphcre as nr ns known. measures far more him I hi' Southern Hemisphere, as ar as known. Therefore, if llierc is nil a great continent south, how ould (lie earth maintain its Imllllfl! '.' "I I'i'pi'iit. there is « great conlin'ii!. about. I hi.- Sonlh Polr. a sixth iiirl of llm world full of wonders iml enigmas, full of stange animals ormalions. anil people. ".Vi'w people, iimv civilizations, n'ff religious, new developments, wail us : for thai reason Smith 'oli.' I'.xploralion is inlinitnly more iiiportanl limn the finding of Ihe ''nrih Pole. In Uie north we have now and ice and water: in the onth we may find people. The inilionaire spending his money to tint! he Xoi'lJi Pole doubtless performs a real, service lo geography, Iml the mil who risks millions to discover he sixth continent will do Imnieasruhly more. "Helled on the possibilities of ndiug twenty, forty, or even a Imnrcil million human beings, of whoso xistonce we uever dreamt, who, incu the earliest ages, were sepnra:d from the other five parts of the lobe, even as we are separated from lavs."