On account of their uninhabitability, their difficulty of access, and their unknown commercial value, the antarctic lands have claimed far less attention than the north polar regions. The famous explorer, Captain James Cook of the royal navy, was commissioned by the British Government to undertake various exploring expeditions, and in carrying out his instructions he made several voyages to the antarctic. In 1773, with his two vessels, _Resolution_ and _Adventure_, he crossed the antarctic circle--so far as is known, the first time that it had been crossed by a human being. He continued farther southward, but finding an alarming increase of pack-ice and icebergs, he soon retreated north. In January of the following year he succeeded after a third trial in reaching latitude 71 deg. 10' south, the farthest south attained during the century. [Illustration: An antarctic summer scene] In 1839 an expedition was sent out by the United States Government under Captain Charles Wilkes. The exploring squadron consisted of five ships and more than four hundred officers and men, scientists, and crews. Wilkes was the first to discover the so-called mainland of the antarctic continent, in January, 1840. He then followed along this unknown coast-line amid icebergs, fogs, and storms for over fifteen hundred miles, taking such observations as were possible. For his polar achievements in discovery and exploration he was awarded a gold medal by the Royal Geographical Society. Considering that he was supplied with improperly equipped ships, he certainly accomplished wonders. The British Government, realizing the necessity for better magnetic charts of the south polar regions, and urged by the scientific societies of England, sent out a second expedition to the antarctic under the command of Sir James Ross. The expedition sailed from England in the fall of 1839 in the _Erebus_ and _Terror_, both of which were subsequently lost in the unfortunate Franklin expedition.[2] On this voyage Ross made many discoveries, the most important of which was Victoria Land. On this land is the south magnetic pole toward which the south-seeking end of the needle always points. Ross greatly desired to plant at the south magnetic pole the flag that had been displayed at the north magnetic pole in 1831, but he was unfortunately caught in the pack-ice and compelled to abandon the attempt. Two volcanic mountains were discovered on an island near Victoria Land. These mountains Ross named Erebus and Terror from the two ships in which he sailed. The former, thirteen thousand feet in height, was in violent eruption, and the latter, ten thousand feet high, was quiescent.