ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3180, 28 March 1911, Page 2

ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION.

DR. MAYVSCN’S PROPOSED EXPE-

D ITS ON,

EXPLORER’S ADDRESS TO THE SCIENCE CONGRESS.

Under the auspices o be Geology and Geography Sections o< be Australasian Association for tlie •mcement of Science, Da - . Mawson, of aide, reeentlv addressed a crowded nee at the University on “Antare 1 with special reference to his forth. ? cxjiedition. Professor Henderson, the pres, t or the geography section, in opening the proceedings, said he thoroughly supported the proposal to send 1 an Australasian expedition to the Antarctic, and if such an expedition were organised, Dr. Mawson was the right man to direct it. (Applause.) He had conversed with Sir Ernest Shaekleton, who spoke in the highest terms of Dr. Mawson s endurance. and even of his heroism, in the expedition to the South Pole, and who without hesitation expressed his cordial recommendation of Dr. Mawson for conducting another expedition of the kind. (Hear, hear.) Professor Masson, who as presidentof the Australasian Association was then called upon to take the chair, said he heartily supported the proposed expedition and Dr. Mawson as its conductor.

Dr. Mawson, who had a most cordial reception, first reviewed the history of Antarctic exploration since the sixteenth century, explaining in a graphic fashion by means of a large map which he uncovered piece by piece the discoveries successively made by the great explorers such as Cook, Ross, the “Challenger,” and many others. The unfortunate "Belgica,” of the Belgian expedition of 1898, was the first ship thatever spent a winter inside the Antarcticcircle, her stay there being compulsory. The British expedition in the Discovery, under Captain Robert Scott, which sailed in 1901, wintered there in 1902-3, and did the first work of any magnitude on the Antarctic continent. The German expedition of 1901, though not regarded as satisfactory m its results by the German nation, yielded valuable scientific results. Of the expedition of Sir Ernest Shackleton he had no need to give the details. (Applause.) The Scott expedition was intended to follow that up, and promised first-class scientific results. The Swede Arundsen is now on his way to the South Pole, but from a side which the speaker did not think promised much success. Amongst other expeditions is the Japanese, reported to be now on its way to Sydney.