MAWSON EXPEDITION

Taranaki Daily News, 24 July 1930, Page 15

MAWSON EXPEDITION

THE NORVEGIA MET . DISCOVERY TURNS NORTH. REVIEW OF WORK DONE. By Sir Douglas Alawson. (All rights reserved,) No. HI. As wc made our way along the edge of the pack ice to the west-south-west, within sight of land, wc saw a conspicuous black rocky mountain on the coast in latitude GGdcg. ISinin. S-, longitude oldeg. 25min. E. This we named Mount Biscoe. It rises steeply from the sea front to a height of 1690 ft. Most of the northerly face is encrusted with guano from the countless flocks of Antarctic petrels and other sea birds which resort there during, the nesting season. Further south,. between latitude 67 deg. and 68deg. South, a notable range of rocky mountains extends from the coast to tlie cast. This line pf peaks was named the Scott Mounts, to copimemorate.the great contribution by the late Captain R. F» Scott to Antarctic exploration. The highest peak which came under 'observation was estimated to be 6100 ft. in height. During the evening of January 14 wffiile steaming west along the edge of the pack ice, just out of sight of land, the Norwegian exploring vessel NorVcgia hove in sight, coining toward us. from the west. At the ;: very moment) we were busily decoding a radiogram received from our committee in Australia advising the activities of the Norvegia in the 'Enderby Land waters, as gleaiv cd from the Norwegian press.. The slid-, den and unexpected appearance of- the, vessel..wds altogether quite dramatic,' ~ VISIT BY NOTED EXPLORER.

As they approached, it was noted that they were deeply laden with coal. and had on deck two large aeroplanes. . By flag signals and megaphone we learnt that . the noted explorer and . aviator Captain Riiser Larsen was on board. .Presently, in company with their chief officer, he paid the Discovery a visit. An hour was spent . exchanging ' views and roughly outlining our respective programmes. So greatly impressed were we, with the personality of Captain Larsen that all the ship’s company joined heartily in a cheer for .the Norvegia as our guests rowed away. ; It was ascertained that during the season the Norvegia had been'operating in Antarctic waters in close association. with the Thonshammer, a large mother ship of the whaling fleet. Returning along the pack edge to the east on January 16 we passed the Norvegia some ten miles distant heading to the west. SHIP DRIVEN BEFORE WIND. Gradually a strong, gale developed, which continued for some days. For two days Captain Davis was able to maintain the ship in, the coastal waters, on the Continental shelf which thereabouts maintains a uniform depth of about 160 fathoms over a considerable area, Eventually the force of the wind and the drift of the ice was so great that the Discovery, could hold on to her.position no longer and was driven 150 miles to the west-south-west. There the ship was hove-ti in a big sea. On the morning of January 22 the sky cleared sufficiently to allow sights to be taken to accurately fix the ship’s position. Chief Officer Mackenzie in his early morning watch sighted new icecovered land, evidently a south-westerly prolongation of Enderby Land. Following the pack edge cast, it was found to hove been considerably changed in position as a result of the gale. When off the Scott Mountains the swell was again too great to allow the aeroplane to take off. The remaining stock of co.‘l was now so limited that return to our. coaling base at Kerguelen was imperative within a. few days. Thus we could not tarry in the hope of calmer conditions.

The vicinity of Proclamation Island was reached on January 24. Several short flights were made, during which ranges of high peaks were observed risin<r from the ice plateau in the interior of Enderby Land. CHARTING THE COASTLINE. Other short flights were made on January 26 at a point a little further east, a fine view of the interior of Kemp Land being thus obtained. Of the many high peaks observed in the interior some were judged to attain an elevation of quite 7000 ft.. Reluctantly forced to turn north toward Kerguelen Island, we nevertheless were still able to spend some, time running a line of marine stations north from Enderby Land to the deep basin investigated by the Valdivia. Expedition some 30 years ago. The expedition has. removed a blank area of about 150,000 square miles from the charts of the world. The Antarctic coastline has been either charted or its location approximately indicated through 28deg. of longitude between 45deg. E. and 73deg. E. of Greenwich. Evidence deduced suggests that this land is portion of the great continental mass which occupies the major portion of the Antarctic regions. _ . The land, seen and charted includes the new area designated Macßobertson Land, together with lands further to the west known as, Kemp Land and Enderby Land, portions of which, though vaguely reported 100 years ago, were never since confirmed.. The whole of this land and ‘-lying islands have been claimed for the Crown.

A VALUABLE IVHALE FISHERY. So far ,as possible specimens of the rocks and minerals composing these lands have been collected for examination and report. These, together with collections . made from the Sub-Antarc-tic Islands visited, amount to several tons in weight. About 750 deep-sea soundings have been recorded, including an extended series made in waters off the Antarctic coast through 3.’deg. of longitude, throughout which length no previous determinations had ever been made. Also, additions were made to .knowledge of the sea floor around the Crozet Island, Kerguelen Island, Heard Island, and. in the Great Australian Bight, as well as along the entire ocean track followed by the Discovery. Without any further investigation it can now be definitely asserted that off the coast of Enderby Land there exists a very valuable whale fishery. It .would appear- that. the Norwegian exploring ; ..I ' .'i'l hi l-j.d <> ’

vessel, Norvegia, located this whaling ground simultaneously with ourselves. From that fishery no doubt millions., of pounds worth • of products will bo J e_ covered during' the J!hat .4 lo >■«.;•; s*' ! •, . • <’ It JfaH W U d

r discovery alone Is worth far more than all the cost of our exploring expedition. In amplification, of this general statement further particulars relating tb sev;i eral of the more important branches of :

investigation have been supplied by of* fleers responsible therefor, and appear under their several signatures.