Hauling Snow for Water Supply, Belgica Antarctic Expedition, 1897-99

When Rome flourished on the Mediterranean (md -tr- n-n) the known world was limited to parts of three continents. Southern Europe, Northern Africa, and Western Asia, with the Mediterranean Sea as a center, was the extent of the geography the pupils then studied. It is true that occasional travelers brought back marvelous tales of Cathay (China), but their stories were mostly wild tales of hearsay. Following the Middle Ages came the awakening, and the vessels of Spain, France, Portugal, England, and Holland opened up the western world. In the attempt to find the Northwestern Passage to China, the Arctic Ocean north of North America was first entered by the ships of white men. During the last century men have tried hard to explore and to map the great areas about the poles. Several attempts were early made to find what the waters, the plant life, and even the land was like about the South Pole. On August 24, 1897, the Belgian Expedition, in the ship called the Belgica, left Ostend. It touched at Rio de Janeiro (r d zha-n r), then went southward to Montevideo (mn t-vd -), thence to Punta Arenas (pn tä ä-r näs), and from there southward into unexplored waters. From Jan. 13, 1898, to March 28, 1899, nothing was heard of the party. Some of the brave sailors never returned. But the explorers learned much about the weather, the geography, and the animal life of the southern end of the earth. The view shows the Belgica frozen in the ice. The sailors are seen hauling a sled load of snow to the ship to melt into water. Keystone ID: 13326 Note: All titles, descriptions, and location coordinates are from the original Keystone Slide documentation as supplied by the Keystone View Company. No text has been edited or changed.