The Antarctic.

Progress, Volume VI, Issue 5, 1 March 1911, Page 567

The Antarctic.

The Japanese Antarctic Expedition.

The arrival of the "Kainan Mam," three-masted schooner of some 200 tons, in Wellington in the middle of the month reminded the city of the reports that reached here some time ago of the expedition about to proceed south under Lieutenant Shirase, of the Japanese Army. Critics, we were told at the same time, versed in the conditions of Arctic travel, declared at the time that it would be impossible with a vessel like the "Kainan Maru," the expedition would never get through the pack ice, and thought it certain that in the event of its carrying them through the men could never endure the climate with their light equipment of food and clothing. In fact, it was broadly hinted that the expedition would end in the smoke of gossip. But all this the arrival of the vessel at Wellington made useless. Here she is. The question arose, What is she and how is she provided? The question was asked, but not answered, for it appeared that the Japanese commander and his crew, who might be supposed to know all things, as becomes good Japanese educated outside their native land for the good of their own, were short of just one piece of knowledge, namely, that of the languages of England,

France, Germany, Italy, Denmark and Spain. Therefore conversation went on largely in dumb show.' The commander and his little wiry staff landed, paraded ' the streets ■ with languid eyes, bowed low to the officers of the Marine Department, shook hands repeatedly with their Consul, wlio knew as much about Japanese as the Japs, knew about English and the other European tongues,, and making signs, managed to impress all and sundry that they wanted to buy food. Having got so -far they contrived to utter ,th,e word "cow," and thus was,established a fairly brisk trade in tinned meats. When " the, Chinese consul, the -urbane Mr. Hwang,' appeared on the scene, he produced the Chinese character, but the visitors, ', being as ignorant'' of the Chinese language as of English and; the ''Other European tongues, not much progress was made for a while. But gradually the ': Chinese character, with the . assistance of odd words which seemed to turn up out: of the mouth of Japan with opportune accidentally, helped matters, until quite a comprehensive knowledge was' acquired, of the ship and her company and her food and clothing equipment;- But very little transpired .about, the voyage or the. expectations of Antarctic achievement. About the latter, it transpired that the Japs, have the idea of getting to the "top of

the Pole,'- as they contrived in one of their moments of accidentally to call, it, somehow and from somewhere, in the neighbourhood of King Edward VII. Land. But this seems to

be as undecided as the English in which, it was slowly conveyed. The ship thus received and its crew thus communicated with, departed in due .course.

But before it got away, a curious thing happened—as Eider Haggard remarks more than once in the course of his hardly less veracious narratives. Some officers, to the number of half a dozen, having to wait for a remittance, came ashore to while away the time, as, indeed, often happens to remittance men, and being on shore experienced the further customary desire to spend money. They chose literature, not beer, and they satisfied their literary thirst by paying a visit to the book shop on the Queen's wharf, where they bought a number of English novels, including a dozen of Mr. Jacob's sea stories, about which and about English literature generally they conversed in English in a leisurely and finished style, which greatly impressed the worthy bookseller. He, when the Japs, were hull down over the horizon, communicated his knowledge of their proficiency in the language which for so many days, and before so many people, tliey did not understand. What this portends it is not given to every man to predicate. Add that the ship's log was written up daily, in English, and the mystery is complete. Anyhow, the Japs, are gone,' and they are, according to their own statement, bound for the South Pole, which they appear to expect to reach on "top" before the bulky and better found venture of Captain Scott. The ship was sixty-seven days coming from Kobe; she did not call, as intended, at the Sandwich Islands, she was here exempted from port dues, and her people were allowed to land without the penalties or securities required under the law in such case made and provided. The dietary scale consists largely of rice, which, Mr. Shackleton declares, is insufficient. But the commander has been three years in the Arctic travelling among the Esquimo, and may be said to have some knowledge of the business of Arctic voyaging. Certain it is that his ideas of comfort and;..necessity are very different from those of his rivals who started the other day in the Terra Nova. The ship turns out to be quite as ieeworthy—to coin a wordas is desirable or necessary.She was built of wood not long ago, and when acquired for the expedition the original hull, 3in. in thickness, was strengthened with a sheath of 3 inches, faced with iron plates. The hull is similar in design to that of the. ships which have preceded the "Kainan Maru" in Antarctic exploration.. The vessel is schoonerrigged, her three sturdy masts being strongly braced. Low bulwaks and deck-houses give her a curiously squat appearance, but everything seems strong enough, even for the ugly green seas which prevail in the Southern Pacific. The length of the vessel is 108 feet, her beam 24 feet, and gross tonnage 204. She has a compound surface-condensing engine, built in Japan, to provide auxiliary power; but the chief means of locomotion is by the three fore-and-aft sails. The owner is set down as "Shigenofu Okmna. This is the well-known Count Okuma, late Prime Minister of Japan, and Minister of

'■.-■■■. j..'■■■■.■"■'■'.'' ■"■■ ■''■:■' - Foreign Affairs. It is this influential backing which has enabled Lieutenant Shirase -to carry out his plans to the present point. All the equipment has been provided in Japan. There are six sledges, and it is intended to use dogs in hauling them, twelve having been brought from Manchuria for the purpose. Sixteen others died .on the voyage from Japan. Besides this, there is a tremendously strong but shallow boat, twenty feet long, for use in loose ice. So far as could be understood, this, apart from foodstuffs, completes the equipment.

An inquiry was made regarding the scientific equipment, and * the newspaper representative was shown seven barometers, including an up-to-date English aneroid with a magnifier on the rim to facilitate easy reading of the scale. A wind-gauge and a microscope, with the usual navigating instruments, completed the collection. The scientists and navigators are just as uncomfortable and cramped in their . quarters on the "Kainan Maru" as were the Britishers who took part in the Shackleton expedition. A tiny chart-room is situated aft, facing the steering wheel. One cannot stand upright in it, unless it is by the device of walking down a step of the companion-ladder leading into the main cabin below. Here the visitors, official and newspaper, were introduced to all the members of the expedition, the early arrivals departing to make room for the colleagues who followed. Lieutenant Shirase and two or three of his principal assistants enjoy the use of tiny cabins, but the majority, of their colleagues find sleeping accommodation in dark bunks along the ship's side, just off the saloon. Luxury is not a feature of the "Kainan Maru," neither does there appear to be a superfluity of equipment, but the men who stood around the little cabin looked healthy, determined, and intelligent, and they will probably do a great deal more in the Antarctic than has been prophesied of them by some of the Japanese newspapers. The chief officer is Mr. Z. Tanno, late of the steamer '' Kagashima Maru.'' The second officer is Mr. T. Tsuchiya, late of the "America Maru" and "Otaru Maru." He has visited Sydney and Melbourne in the Nippon Yusen Kaisha steamers. The engineer is Mr. K. Shimigi, late of the "Hongkong Maru." The scientific leaders of the expedition are Shirase, the commander, S. Mushiyo, the doctor and second in- command, ,T. Takeda and -E. Tada, scientists, and T. Shuna, who is responsible for the equipment and the provisioning.