HOLIDAYS IN ANTARCTICA.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2470, 7 April 1909, Page 2

HOLIDAYS IN ANTARCTICA.

f UNIQUE SUGGIES+iON. ANNUAL SUMMER EXCURSIONS. “There is nothing,” said Mr. J. H. Bull,- the well-known whaling ; .expert, of Christchurch, to a “Lyttelton Times” representative, “in the way of natural difficulty to prevent' the in-, stitution of annual excursions, open to the public, to the Antartic regions, and there can be little doubt that they would pay handsomely. Since Spitzbergen, has been made the terminus of summer tours it lias been a very frequent- goal of tourists with taste, which grows:more; insatiable, for the unusual. And the extensions of the idea admits other advantages.” . . .• • The Suggestion in outline is that a suitable vessel, of the same type ,as the Discovery, should bo -purchased. Ordinary iron steamers are out of the question, and suitable wooden vessels are rare. The Discovery has been sold for use .since her Antarctic.* adventures, and the Gauss, a German prototype, lias also passed into other work. Besides these vessels, which Mr. Bull considers represent what is needed, there are a couple of new vessels .quite suitable for the purpose, arid probably available. An expenditure of eririie £20,000 would, he thinks, cover the cost of purchasing and fitting out the Sllip. ' ' * ; . .’ The journeys, Mr. Bull suggests, should commence from a New Zealand port about the middle of January, and the whole voyage should occupy about four weeks. At that time the risks would be at a riiinimum, and the whole voyage should be over in about four weeks. The short time occupied would be one of the strong points in. favor of the scheme.

As to the prospect from the passen-ger-carrying point of view there is much*'to be said. The man in the street avers stoutly that lie would not. dre am of going to Antarctica. But the - tourist community is a strange part of the race, and what might look a stiff fare on paper, say £IOO of £l5O, would not ho much to charge for such a journey, 'and, in Mr. Bull’s opinion, would certainly, not deter a. large number of passengers frorii travelling. Neither would the risks of thp voyage. That, however, is not the most important point about the scheme. Exploration work, and even the riiost limited recording of observations, have to whit the feW opportunities that occur under the system of financing special expeditions. Consequently very 'few men can exert theriiselves in extending knowledge,of the regions to.the south, and there are hundreds of ambitious scientists who might do much but never have, the opportunity. The ; establishment of a commercial vessel would allow observation and* exploration work to go on far more freely, and an enormous proportion of the expense which has to be undertaken in' sending out a hatch of workers could be defrayed .by 'he “drones.” Provision could alvfays be, made for allowing parties to remairi in the south for scientific purposes over the winter, and they, could thus-have-as riiuch time for work as any : especially equipued expedition. - ■ The question lias been asked: . What, is . the element .which ;draws ? men so strongly "to tlie; frozen zones, and, draws them c again' ' and again? The first thing Mr. Bell . referred -to in rthei-- course .of ' convec-

kh©,v. said; * ‘because;;, the Arctic •©nd : Antarctic regions are places of such marvellous' beauty and grandeur that .the greatest, privations yand misfortuno cannot' outweigh the pleasure of a sojourn there. It would need only better facilities for the voyage to prove how potent the .attractions are.” He added that the Antarctic, as lie saw it, had ©Harms- far beypnd the northern regions, whether hundreds of tourists repair every summer to view the “midnight sun.” . . . . ;A..: