Farthest South

Farthest South refers to the most southerly latitude reached by explorers before the conquest of the South Pole in 1911. Significant steps on the road to the pole were the discovery of lands south of Cape Horn in 1619 and Captain James Cook’s crossing of the Antarctic Circle in 1773. From the late 19th century onward, the quest for FarthestSouth latitudes became in effect a race to reach the pole.

About Farthest South in brief

Farthest South refers to the most southerly latitude reached by explorers before the conquest of the South Pole in 1911. Significant steps on the road to the pole were the discovery of lands south of Cape Horn in 1619 and Captain James Cook’s crossing of the Antarctic Circle in 1773. From the late 19th century onward, the quest for FarthestSouth latitudes became in effect a race to reach the pole. In 1494, the principal maritime powers, Portugal and Spain, signed a treaty which drew a line down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and allocated all trade routes to the east of the line to Portugal. The exploration of the south began as part of the search for such a route. Unlike the Arctic, there is no evidence of human visitation or habitation in Antarctica or the islands around it prior to European exploration. But there is some evidence of Polynesian visits to some of the sub antarctic islands to the south of New Zealand, although these are further from Antarctica than South America. A shard of undated, unidentified pottery, reported as found in the Antipodes Islands, has been associated with this expedition by Ferdinand Magellan. Although Ferdinand transferred his allegiance to King Charles I of Spain, on his behalf he left on 10 August 1519, with a squadron of five ships, in search of a western route to the Spice Islands. It is unclear from the legends how far south Ui-te-Rangiora penetrated, but it appears that ice in large quantities was observed on the Antarctic mainland in 1820.

The discovery of the southern tip of the continent and sailing through the South American land masses, or finding the southern American coast of South America, or sailing around it around it, was the key to the success of the Magellan’s Magellan expedition in 1519 and 1519-19. In the years before reaching the pole was a realistic objective, other motives drew adventurers southward. The lure for mercantile adventurers was the great fertile continent of \”Terra Australis\” which, according to myth, lay hidden in the south. The Haush in particular made regular trips to Isla de los Estados, which was 29 kilometres from the main island of Tierra del Fuego, suggesting that some of them may have been capable of reaching the islands near Cape Horn. Fuegian Indian artefacts and canoe remnants have also been discovered on the Falkland Islands, suggesting the capacity for even longer sea journeys. There are also remains of a Polynesiaian settlement dating back to the 13th century on Enderby Island in the Auckland Islands. The British were pre-eminent in this endeavour, and Ernest Shackleton’s efforts fell short; Scott reached the pole in January 1912 only to find that he had been beaten by the Norwegian Amundsen. That left Spain, and later other countries, to seek a westernroute to the Pacific, which left Portugal dominance of the only known route.

Related posts:

Discovery Expedition Amundsen’s South Pole expedition Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition Shackleton–Rowett Expedition