In 1898 three expeditions started south. The first, a Belgian undertaking on board the _Belgica_, explored the coast to the north of Graham Land, and brought back valuable collections; the second, from Germany on the _Valdivia_, re-discovered Bouvet Island, whose position had long been lost; the third, from England, under Borchgrevink on the _Southern Cross_, landed the first party to winter in the Antarctic, reached Mount Terror, and sailed along the Great Ice Barrier, reaching latitude 78° S. In 1901 the problem was attacked for the first time by means of land-exploration; a well-equipped expedition leaving England in that year under Captain R. F. Scott voyaged along the ice-barrier, and found and named King Edward Land, first seen by Ross. Scott then proved Mount Erebus and Mount Terror to be on an island, and wintered on shore. In the following southern summer Scott, with Wilson and Shackleton, pushed southward and reached the latitude of 82° 17´, where the Great Ice Barrier reaches the foot of the lofty plateau on which the south pole is placed. Other parties traversed the ice-barrier in various directions, and much valuable scientific work was done in geology, biology, meteorology, magnetism, and glaciation. While Scott was in the Antarctic to the south of New Zealand, a German expedition, under E. von Drygalski, on board the _Gauss_, was working to the west of him, and had discovered and named Kaiser Wilhelm II. Land. Two private expeditions were also in the Antarctic at the same time, and the large number of synchronous meteorological and magnetic observations thus taken formed a valuable contribution to the knowledge of the southern continent. In 1903 a voyage was made by W. S. Bruce on the _Scotia_, which is important for the exploration of an entirely unknown sea lying between the tracks of Weddell and of Ross; the latitude of 74° 1´ was reached. Though the land could not be attained, its existence was proved by occasional glimpses and by the dredging up of continental rocks, and the name of Coats Land was given to it. In 1904 J. B. Charcot, a French scientist, cruised along Graham Land and found a new line of coast, which he named Loubet Land. Thus between 1902 and 1904 new land had been discovered in all the four quarters of the Antarctic circle--King Edward Land by Scott, Kaiser Wilhelm Land by Drygalski, Coats Land by Bruce, and Loubet Land by Charcot.