ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXII, Issue 19433, 20 October 1925, Page 2

ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION

CAPTAIN G. WILKINS’ NEW EXPEDITION. AEROPLANE FLIGHT. LONDON, August 26. Captain George Wilkins, who returned recently from Australia, after spending two years and a-half in the wilds collecting specimens for the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, has lost no time in making plans for a new expedition. Captain Wilkins was with Stcfansson in the Arctic, and he was a member of Shackleton’s laat expedition, and this time his thoughts are turned again to the Au tare tic Sea. It is proposed to set out in 1926 and follow the coastline from the Bay of Whales to Grahams’ Land, covering 1500 miles by aeroplane. As the scheme is not I )j ambitious and there will not be the expense of fitting out a vessel, it is likely that the expedition will be commenced vp to time and carried out with success. Captain Wilkins has just been to Norway, where he has been making arrangements for the purchase of the aeroplane in which Amundsen attempted to reach the North Pole. He found the Norwegian explorer sympathetic with the new scheme. The plane, which was used only for 25 hours, shows signs of contact with the ice, but it is in good flying order. Although the arrangements have not yet been completed, it is likely that Captain Wilkins will obtain the plane, which will be flown from Norway to England about the end of September. “ Having completed these arrangements with Amundsen’s representative, ” said Captain Wilkins, “I proceeded to Sandjeford, which is the centre of the whaling industry. From that centre the whaling ships leave, each year for Grahams’ Land. The Norwegian whalers realised the importance of the work we have in hand, and were only too glad to help to convey my machine and supplies to the Bay of Whales, whence I expect to start the flight at the end of 1926. “We expect to follow the coastline, to Grahams’ Land, covering 1500 miles of the new coastline and arriving at the areas visited by several whaling companies that employ between 40 and 50 boats during the whaling season. I have spent two summers with whaling captains, and they are prepared to give further assistance to a British expedition, and have agreed to take my aeroplane on its arrival and convey the party back to civilisation. This will eliminate the necessity of going to the expense of furnishing two boats, one to convey the. party to the Ross Sea and one to meet the expedition on its arrival. The Arctic Flight. “Captain G. H. Mathews, who was very nearly successful in reaching Australia during the first Australian flight will be the first pilot, and a Norwegian will be the second. We do not expect that we will meet with great difficulties on our Antarctic flight, for we shall be following a coastline from one known point to another, and if suitable conditions are found we will alight at several points to fix our position astronomically. “If the work is successful it will result in the exploration of more than double the coastline discovered by any other Polar expedition and give an idea of the geographical features some distance inland from the coast.’’ Whaling Research. Captain Wilkins also considers that the expedition will be advantageous from the point of view of whaling. “It is known that the whales leave Ross Sea and travel in an easterly direction,’’ he said, “and that they also arrive at the other side of the Pacific m a westerly direction. But it is believed that the whales found in the Ross Sea are of a slightly different species from those killed on the Grahams’ Land side. If this is true there must be a point lying somewhere in the area we hope to explore where the two migrations of whales must part which would be a most suitable spot for whaling. Such ; geographical exploration as we do may give us a knowledge of a favourable harbour for a whaling base.” The meteorological objective is to locate a position which will he suitable for the establishment of one of the stations in connection with a scheme for collecting meteorological data from the Antarctic.