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Despite
the poor commercial results, many geological and botanical
findings tweaked the interest of the Australian Antarctic
Committee, especially that of Professor T. W. Edgeworth
David. Both Bull and Borchgrevink went on the lecture
circuit in Melbourne and Sydney but could not raise enough
interest to finance a second expedition. Borchgrevink
immediately went to work on his expedition by purchasing the
Pollux, a 521-ton ship, which he re-named the
Southern Cross. The ship left London on August 23,
1898 and arrived at Hobart, Tasmania on November 28. They
departed Hobart on December 19 and sailed for 43 days before
sighting the Balleny Islands on January 12, 1899. They
crossed the Antarctic Circle on January 23 and on January 28
they sighted one of the Russel Islands, first seen by
James Clark
Ross in 1841. The Southern
Cross became caught in the ice and it was not until
February 14 that they broke free. Three days later they
sighted their landing place at Cape Adare. Bernacchi
wrote of the scene before them: "Approaching this sinister
coast for the first time, on such a boisterous, cold and
gloomy day, our decks covered with drift snow and frozen sea
water, the rigging encased in ice, the heavens as black as
death, was like approaching some unknown land of punishment,
and struck into our hearts a feeling preciously akin to fear
. . . It was a scene, terrible in its austerity, that can
only be witnessed at that extremity of the globe; truly, a
land of unsurpassed desolation". Landing
operations began the next morning and were completed some
ten days later. "Camp Ridley", named after Borchgrevink's
mother, was firmly established with prefabricated huts. The
wintering party consisted of ten men and 75 sledge
dogs. Until
winter arrived on May 15, various members of the party
surveyed the coast of Robertson Bay and collected specimens
of birds, fish, seals and penguins. Then the blizzards hit.
On July 24 the huts were nearly destroyed by fire as a
candle left burning in a bunk set the structure on fire. A
great deal of damage occurred before the flames were
extinguished. On the night of August 31, Hanson, Ellifsen
and Bernacchi were nearly asphyxiated by coal fumes as they
slept. Coal had been left burning in the stove and luckily
Bernacchi woke up in time to throw open the door before they
all died. One of the Finns fell to the bottom of a crevasse.
Fortunately he had a knife with him and, by cutting
toe-holds in the ice, he was able to climb out to safety.
Hanson, the expedition's zoologist, died on October 14. The
cause of his death is still a mystery. He was buried at the
top of Cape Adare and Bernacchi wrote "There amidst profound
silence and peace, there is nothing to disturb that eternal
sleep except the flight of sea-birds. In the long dark
winter night, the brilliant and mysterious Aurora
Polaris sweeps across the sky and forms a glorious arc
of light over the Cape and the grave. In the summer the
dazzling sunlight shines perpetually upon it". On
January 28, 1900 the Southern Cross returned for the
party and early in the morning, while all were asleep,
Captain Jensen knocked on the door, calling "Post!" The
first to winter over on the Antarctic mainland, Borchgrevink
and the crew sailed around the coast into the Ross Sea and
towards the Ross Ice Shelf. They landed on Possession Island
and found the tin box that was left there in 1895. They
later landed at the foot of Mount Terror where Borchgrevink
and the captain narrowly escaped drowning when a tidal wave,
created by a huge calving of ice, nearly swept them to their
death. During
their exploring of the area, a number of botanical specimens
were collected and magnetic observations taken. The ice
shelf had receded 30 miles since Ross first visited. On
February 16, Borchgrevink, Colbeck and one of the Finns set
out across the ice shelf and reached an estimated 78°50´S
which was the farthest south reached to that
time. It was
getting late in the season to be lingering in the area so
they sailed onwards to Franklin Island where they made
magnetic observations and determined the South Magnetic Pole
to be much farther north and west than previously assumed.
From here they sailed north out of the Ross Sea and crossed
the Antarctic Circle on February 28, 1900. Clearly
Borchgrevink's expedition contributed significantly to the
knowledge of Antarctica. But, the reception received in
England was poor, at best. At this time, all eyes were
turned upon Robert
Falcon Scott's upcoming voyage
in 1901. Besides, the authorities were still unhappy with
his funding by a fellow countryman. Nevertheless,
Borchgrevink continued to lecture in England and Scotland
and was finally made a Fellow of the Royal Geographical
Society. In 1902 he visited the United States where the
American Geographical Society held a dinner in his honor.
Norway also bestowed honors on their hero. He was created a
Knight of St. Olaf and later a Knight Daneborg. It was not
until 1930 that the English finally awarded Borchgrevink for
his efforts when he was given the Patron's Medal of the
Royal Geographical Society. The President of the Society
proclaimed that "When the Southern Cross returned,
this Society was engaged in fitting out Captain Scott to the
same region, from which expedition much was expected, and
the magnitude of the difficulties overcome by Borchgrevink
were under-estimated. It was only after the work of Scott's
Northern Party on the second expedition of 1912 . . . that
we were able to realise the improbability that any explorer
could do more in the Cape Adare district than Mr.
Borchgrevink had accomplished. It appeared, then, that
justice had not been done at the time to the pioneer work of
the Southern Cross expedition, which was carried out
under the British flag and at the expense of a British
benefactor". Carsten
Egeberg Borchgrevink made one more voyage, to the West
Indies in 1902 to examine volcanic eruptions, but for the
remainder of his life he lived in Slimdal, Norway where he
was active in literary and sporting activities. He died in
1934.
Carsten Egeberg Borchgrevink was
born in Norway in 1864. In 1888 Borchgrevink migrated to
Australia where, after four years of bouncing around, he
became a teacher. It appears safe to claim that Borchgrevink
had an inner passion for adventure and exploration. In 1893
he signed on as a "generally useful hand" with the Norwegian
sealing and whaling expedition led by Henrik Johan Bull.
Commander Leonard Kristensen and the crew of the
Antarctic investigated whaling possibilities
throughout the sub-Antarctic islands and eventually landed
at Cape Adare on January 24, 1895. Over the course of these
two years they visited Tristan da Cunha, the Prince Edward
Islands, Îles Crozet, Îles Kerguelen, the
Balleny Islands, Campbell Island and Possession Island. The
landing at Cape Adare was the first confirmed landing
on the Antarctic continental mainland. Commercially, the
expedition was a failure.
Falling on deaf ears, Borchgrevink left
for England. He presented his study to the Geographical
Congress in London which resulted in Dr. H. R. Mill
declaring "His blunt manner and abrupt speech stirred the
academic discussions with a fresh breeze of realism. No one
liked Borchgrevink very much at that time, but he had a
dynamic quality and a set purpose to get out again to the
unknown South that struck some of us as boding well for
exploration". The British went on a campaign to raise the
necessary funds and support for a significant expedition to
the Antarctic. Meanwhile, Borchgrevink offered to lead a
small expedition of his own with the primary goal of finding
the South Magnetic Pole. In 1897 Borchgrevink returned to
Australia to raise funds for his private expedition.
Unfortunately, his success was limited as Australian
interest was now with the Royal Geographical Society, under
the leadership of Sir Clements Markham, and their
large-scale plans. Never giving up, Borchgrevink turned to
his employer, wealthy British publisher Sir George Newnes,
and persuaded him to provide £40,000 for the small
expedition. The Royal Geographical Society was furious as
the money donated by Newnes would have been enough to "get
the National Expedition on its legs".
The average age of the wintering party was 27 years old. A
number of measurements were taken at the start and
conclusive evidence showed that the three Englishmen were,
on average, taller, stronger and heavier than the Norwegians
while the two Finns, although small in stature, were slim
and capable of withstanding any amount of cold.