THE ANTARCTIC

Otago Witness, Issue 3957, 14 January 1930, Page 28

THE ANTARCTIC

COMMANDER BYRD'S EXPEDITION. UNFAVOURABLE WEATHER. GEOLOGICAL PARTY RETURNING. Special to Press Association from the Byrd Expedition. By Russell Owen. (Copyright.) BAY OF WHALES, January 8. Dr Gould's geological party is returning rapidly despite unfavourable weather. Last night it was 229 miles south of Little America. Deep snow is making the travelling hard. 'lhe weather here at the base continues poor. A blizzard lasting three days ended yesterday, but the sky is still overcast. There has not been a dav for a month when extended flying has been possible. Despite the warm days the ice still clings to the bay. If it does not go out before the ships arrive loading them will be a difficult problem. SIR HUBERT WILKINS. FURTHER EXPLORATION. ARRANGEMENTS FOR FLIGHT. LONDON, January 7. Sir Hubert Wilkins, in a wireless message from Deception Island, says: “We have practically completed arrangements to continue our explorations westward of our recent discoveries. Further success depends largely upon the condition of the pack ice, which in December prevented us from getting within 150 miles of the shore southward of our position, the ship being unable to penetrate and the seaplane unable to take off on land. CHARTING THE COAST LINE. TWO NEW CAPES NAMED. LONDON, January 8. A copyright message from Sir Hubert Wilkins from Deception Island says: “We are back again, and have had time to plot approximately our discoveries. We have fixed the north coast of Charcot Land five miles south of its charted position. The cape where the coast turns south beyond the most easterly point is conspicuous enough to deserve a name, and I suggest that it should be called Cape Mawson. Another cape (longitude 76 degrees west, latitude 70 degrees south) I should like to be known as Cape Byrd. We sighted two islands which are possibly the most easterly of an uncertain number of islands belonging to the Finlay group. It is unlikely that we shall return to New York until April. We were unable to make the Ross Sea flight because of the absence of a suitable take-off. We are postponing our Arctic plans for this year.”